|>http://piperedirect.com/2014-07-16T00:00:00-04:00> How well do you know the origins of English words?2014-07-16T00:00:00-04:00tonytag:piperedirect.com,2014-07-16:2014/07/16/how-well-do-you-know-the-origins-of-english-words.html<blockquote>
<p>Because of its peculiar history, English often has two words that mean the same thing: an earthier one from Anglo Saxon (e.g. brotherly) and a more elevated one from French (e.g. fraternal). Can you tell them apart?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Apparently yes, I can. I got 17/20 correct.</p>> Permanence2014-07-01T00:00:00-04:00tonytag:piperedirect.com,2014-07-01:2014/07/01/permanence.html<p>Matt Gemmell:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>That’s the reality of digital data: sometimes it degrades, but usually the technological ecosystem moves on around it, leaving it isolated and inaccessible.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I have so many thoughts about this subject that I've typed and discarded more drafts on it than I can count.</p>
<p>Perhaps I can sum it up:</p>
<p>No matter what you do, there will come a time when your files are inaccessible. All of them. Digital will never be permanent.</p>
<p>See also: <a href="http://www.thenewsprint.co/2014/01/29/giving-up-on-digital-notes/">This piece</a> at The Newsprint and the <a href="http://www.thecramped.com/why-im-giving-up-on-digital-notes/">commentary</a> on it at The Cramped.</p>> ∞ Syndication and Theft2014-06-18T00:00:00-04:00tonytag:piperedirect.com,2014-06-18:2014/06/18/syndication-and-theft.html<p>Ben Brooks:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>...if you get a popular post two things will happen:</p>
<ol>
<li>You will get those annoying emails Matt references.</li>
<li>Someone will outright steal your content and post it on their site.</li>
</ol>
</blockquote>
<p>You should click through to the article by Matt Gemmell that Ben links to. I'll put it <a href="http://mattgemmell.com/boost/">here</a> too in case you're feeling lazy.</p>
<p>I've never been asked, because nobody reads this site, but for the curious I'd charge $25,000 for a banner ad and $5,000 for a sponsored post. Prices are pro-rated to reflect said lack of popularity.</p>Google Automatically Disables Non Chrome Store Extensions2014-06-11T00:00:00-04:00tonytag:piperedirect.com,2014-06-11:2014/06/11/google-automatically-disables-non-chrome-store-extensions.html<p><a href='images/wtf_google.PNG'>
<img alt="WTF?" src="http://piperedirect.com/images/wtf_google_thumb.png" />
</a></p>
<p>I was greeted with this lovely message this morning when I launched Chrome. Did I miss a memo somewhere<sup id="fnref:1"><a href="#fn:1" rel="footnote">1</a></sup>?</p>
<p>I understand their rationale: security privacy<sup id="fnref:2"><a href="#fn:2" rel="footnote">2</a></sup> blah blah blah. But to make it impossible to re-enable an extension I've installed, even if I know it's from a trustworthy source, is ridiculous. </p>
<p><strong>Update 5 minutes later:</strong> Yup, seems like <a href="http://liliputing.com/2014/02/google-chrome-33-will-disable-extensions-from-outside-the-web-store-windows.html">everybody</a> <a href="http://lifehacker.com/google-is-now-blocking-chrome-extensions-outside-of-the-1582147116">knew</a> about it but me. Guess I need to follow the "Chrome on Windows" tech scene a little more carefully. </p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr />
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>Probably. <a href="#fnref:1" rev="footnote" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:2">
<p>Oh, the irony. <a href="#fnref:2" rev="footnote" title="Jump back to footnote 2 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>> Vantage Point magazine2014-06-09T00:00:00-04:00tonytag:piperedirect.com,2014-06-09:2014/06/09/vantage-point-magazine.html<p>Riccardo Mori:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I’m <em>finally</em>, officially launching my new project, Vantage Point magazine, a compact digital publication available on Apple’s Newsstand platform and produced by the great folks at Type Engine.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/vantage-point-magazine/id844593538?ls=1&mt=8">Subscribed</a></p>> Sourcegraph2014-06-02T00:00:00-04:00tonytag:piperedirect.com,2014-06-02:2014/06/02/sourcegraph.html<blockquote>
<p>Use Sourcegraph to find the code you need quickly, see anywhere in the open-source world that a function or library is used, and discover other like-minded programmers.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Only searches for Python, Ruby, JavaScript and Go. Still looks useful.</p>They Don't Call Them Test Tube Babies Anymore2014-05-30T00:00:00-04:00tonytag:piperedirect.com,2014-05-30:2014/05/30/they-dont-call-them-test-tube-babies-anymore.html<p>This was inspired by <a href="http://www.caseyliss.com/2014/5/14/finally">Casey Liss's</a> recent blog post about the issues he and his wife had getting pregnant. As such, it's full of squishy personal details. You probably don't want to read it.</p>
<p>My wife and I got married in 2006. Most of her friends were already married and on their way to real adulthood<sup id="fnref:1"><a href="#fn:1" rel="footnote">1</a></sup>. One after another, they got pregnant. We knew we wanted kids eventually, but we weren't in any hurry. Thankfully, there wasn't much in the way of familial pressure. Then came the second kids and we decided it was probably about time to try, at least casually. So we tried. And tried. And tried. For over a year we got nowhere. Not even a false positive on the pregnancy test. We started to worry. </p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>Digression 1</strong></p>
<p>I think most people focus on how difficult it is for the woman in this situation. And it is. Don't get me wrong, I've seen it firsthand. But it's not exactly a walk in the park for the dude either. It makes you feel inadequate and helpless. It's every bit as emasculating for a man as it is <a href="http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/32467/is-there-a-feminine-equivalent-of-emasculate">defeminizing</a> for a woman.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In 2009 we decided to go to a fertility specialist who had an office in the area to get help. They decided, given my wife's age and our lack of success, that it would be best to skip all the "lightweight" stuff and go right to IVF. </p>
<p>My wife's insurance covered four full attempts (mine covered none). We used all of them, plus a "half attempt" using viable embryos that had been left over from a previous try. None of them took. Let me repeat that: after five tries over almost two years, we had nothing to show for it except disappointment. We were spent. I was as supportive as I could be, but I wasn't the one whose body had been bombarded with unnatural amounts of hormones over two years. Again, I felt helpless. Mentally and emotionally exhausted, we started to discuss alternatives like adoption.<br />
</p>
<p>My mother-in-law, however, was not daunted. She researched the best IVF clinics in the country. She found one in New York City, which is easily reachable from where we live in central New Jersey. While their process was generally the same as our local doctor, their method of growing the embryos was <em>experimental</em>. At this point methodology wasn't our main concern. A change may have been what we needed. But could we handle yet another round of torture? After some discussion and consultation with the doctor in New York, we decided that yes, we could.</p>
<p>There was just one hitch: insurance would be of no help to us. All expenses would be out of pocket. And IVF is not cheap. Thankfully my in-laws came to the rescue again by promising to reimburse us for everything except our transportation costs. </p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>Digression 2</strong></p>
<p>Considering how much of a factor stress can play in the success of a pregnancy, it's funny just how stressful going through the process of IVF can be. There are tons of pills to take. There is extensive hormone monitoring, blood tests, and doctor visits. But I think the worst are the positive pregnancy tests that turn out to be non-viable pregnancies<sup id="fnref:2"><a href="#fn:2" rel="footnote">2</a></sup>. </p>
<p>Timing is crucial. Some of our trips to the local doctor involved driving in blinding snow storms. My wife and her mom drove into Manhattan in the middle of a hurricane. The whole thing was almost completely ruined because the train we took to an appointment broke down and we barely made it to the hospital in time. </p>
<p>And then there's the shots. Multiple times a day. Some are tiny little jobbies like diabetics use to take their insulin. Others are massive javelins that look more appropriate for use on a horse. Administering them was unpleasant enough, but I can only imagine what it was like to be on the receiving end. My wife took it all without complaining. Sometimes (believe it or not) we forgot to do a shot or we were somewhere where it would have been inappropriate for her to whip out her ass so I could jab a piece of stainless steel into it. Panic would set in. Had we just fucked ourselves?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Maybe the sixth time will be a charm, right? Six has always been a bit of a lucky number for me. After many harrowing trips into the city (see above), our first try with the new doctor looked really good. The pregnancy test was positive and my wife's hormone levels were right where they needed to be. We were cautiously excited.</p>
<p>I remember vividly our first ultrasound after that positive pregnancy test. I think I noticed it before everyone in the room, including the doctor. There were two little dots. The sometimes-dreaded "multiples". I wanted to laugh my ass off right there in the exam room. </p>
<p>Fast forward seven mildly worry-filled months filled with more ultrasounds. It was the day after my wife's baby shower and she wasn't feeling well. At 3:30 in the morning she asked me to take her to the hospital. When we get there, they tell us she's in labor. It was seven weeks too soon. I know this is not unusual with twins, but there was still more panic. Had we gone through all of that, carried the pregnancy almost to term, only to have it all ripped away from us with the goal in sight? Turns out no, we hadn't.<br />
</p>
<p>It's been a little over two years. Our twins are as healthy as can be and getting into all sorts of normal toddlery trouble. New challenges certainly await us as a family,<sup id="fnref:3"><a href="#fn:3" rel="footnote">3</a></sup> but after what we went through just to get here, I think we can probably handle it. </p>
<p>Fun Fact: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_Brown">Louise Brown</a>, the first person conceived and born using IVF, was born the same year I was. She's five months, almost to the day, older than I am.</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr />
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>I don't have any friends, so they don't fit into our story.  <a href="#fnref:1" rev="footnote" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:2">
<p>Pro Tip: Do not, under any circumstances, watch the movie Revolutionary Road after getting the news that you've had a miscarriage. <a href="#fnref:2" rev="footnote" title="Jump back to footnote 2 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:3">
<p>I'd be more than willing to accept donations for a college fund. Not looking forward to that one. <a href="#fnref:3" rev="footnote" title="Jump back to footnote 3 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Hastily Drawn Thoughts on the New Comixology2014-04-28T00:00:00-04:00tonytag:piperedirect.com,2014-04-28:2014/04/28/hastily-drawn-thoughts-on-the-new-comixology.html<p>The internet nerd rage machine is in full force again. This time their panties are all in a twist over the removal of in-app purchases from the Comixology app. I don't understand why anyone is surprised. </p>
<p>First let's consider the financial aspect of this change. Apple takes 30% of all in-app purchase sales. Call it an "Apple tax" if you will, but Amazon and Google don't put stuff on their store free of charge either. If you were Amazon and you had their infrastructure wouldn't you use it to avoid giving free money to a competitor? And let's not forget as a publicly traded company Amazon is legally obligated to maximize their profits (even if they don't generally do a very good job of it). That 30% is not insignificant.</p>
<p>Consider also, at least on iOS, there are limits to the amount of items you're allowed to make available for in-app purchase in a single app. Yes, it's something like 10,000. But this is a limit I suspect even Comixology, had it not been acquired, would have eventually run into themselves. It's also been my long-held opinion that Amazon's other apps (Kindle and the Amazon app itself) were "crippled" for the same reason. It's not just about the 30% and I think anyone who argues otherwise is being disingenuous. If Apple allowed infinite in-app purchase SKUs we might not be having this "conversation<sup id="fnref:1"><a href="#fn:1" rel="footnote">1</a></sup>". </p>
<p>Is this change inconvenient? Yes. Is this going to ruin the digital comics industry? I sincerely doubt it. Most consumers don't care about this shit and will continue buying their comics. It'll just take a few more steps. Is Amazon just being a big greedy company that's out to get all the monies for themselves? Possibly. But that's the nature of big business. Apple isn't suing Samsung just because they didn't have anything better to do<sup id="fnref:2"><a href="#fn:2" rel="footnote">2</a></sup>.</p>
<p>Now can we please go back to being outraged about something that actually matters: Condoleezza Rice joining the board of Dropbox.</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr />
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>But then again, we might. Much like the number of licks it takes to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop, the world may never know. <a href="#fnref:1" rev="footnote" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:2">
<p>Yes, I realize there's more going on there than just money. Calm down it's only an example.  <a href="#fnref:2" rev="footnote" title="Jump back to footnote 2 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Clean URLs and Send to Pinboard2013-11-13T00:00:00-05:00tonytag:piperedirect.com,2013-11-13:2013/11/13/clean-urls-and-send-to-pinboard.html<p>Last week, Viticci <a href="http://www.macstories.net/reviews/resolve-and-clean-urls-with-clean-links-for-ios/">wrote about</a> <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/clean-links/id623671942?mt=8">Clean Links</a>, an iOS app that cleans up those horrible URLs people pass around on the internet. He provided a few <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/launch-center-pro/id532016360?mt=8">Launch Center Pro</a> actions to demonstrate the app's URL scheme.</p>
<p>Because I like to keep my Pinboard tidy, I whipped up my own actions that would link<sup id="fnref:1"><a href="#fn:1" rel="footnote">1</a></sup> the two. I go back and forth between <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pinbook-for-pinboard/id564452716?mt=8">Pinbook</a> and <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pinner-social-bookmarking/id591613202?mt=8">Pinner</a><sup id="fnref:2"><a href="#fn:2" rel="footnote">2</a></sup> so I made actions for both.</p>
<p><a href="http://launchcenterpro.com/1v8lxp">Pinbook</a>:</p>
<p><code>clean-links://x-callback-url/clean?url=[clipboard]&x-success={{pinbook:///add?readlater=yes}}&retParam=url</code></p>
<p><a href="http://launchcenterpro.com/j1y8ns">Pinner</a>:</p>
<p><code>clean-links://x-callback-url/clean?url=[clipboard]&x-success={{pinner://bookmark?toread=1&shared=1}}&retParam=href</code></p>
<p>Both assume that you want the "Read Later" flag set to yes. It's a little more work than just hitting the "Send to Pinboard" button in Tweetbot/Felix, but I'm hoping to make it up by not having to manually edit them later.</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr />
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>Get it? <a href="#fnref:1" rev="footnote" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:2">
<p>Pinbook was always my default, but with iOS 7 it's looking a bit dated. Pinner was just updated with a more iOS 7-y look, but man is that icon ugly. <a href="#fnref:2" rev="footnote" title="Jump back to footnote 2 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>> Protect Notes with Vim Encryption2013-11-02T00:00:00-04:00tonytag:piperedirect.com,2013-11-02:2013/11/02/protect-notes-with-vim-encryption.html<p><a href="http://usevim.com/2013/11/01/vim-encryption">Alex Young</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>When you've got an open buffer, before saving type :X in Normal mode. Vim will prompt you for an encryption key twice. Then you can save the file with :w. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Another one from the Learn Something New Every Day department. </p>> Python one-liner to open a web site from the command line2013-11-01T00:00:00-04:00tonytag:piperedirect.com,2013-11-01:2013/11/01/python-one-liner-to-open-a-web-site-from-the-command-line.html<p><a href="http://jugad2.blogspot.com/2013/11/python-one-liner-to-open-web-site-from.html">Vasudev Ram</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>While importing the antigravity module, I came up with this Python one-liner to open a web site from the command line.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>You learn something new every day. I wasn't aware that the <code>webbrowser</code> module was in the standard library. I thought it was an additional module that Pythonista implemented on its own.</p>
<p>I would replace <code>sys.argv[0]</code> with <code>__file__</code>. It looks nicer and saves an import. </p>Search Your Library from Pythonista2013-10-14T00:00:00-04:00tonytag:piperedirect.com,2013-10-14:2013/10/14/search-your-library-from-pythonista.html<p>It's been far too long since I've posted any code, so here's something I was fiddling around with this weekend.</p>
<p>I have a large library of real, paper books. I keep them catalogued in <a href="http://www.delicious-monster.com/">Delicious Library</a>, which sadly has no mobile app (anymore). This makes it difficult to figure out if I already own a book when I don't have access to my Mac. I used to keep a <a href="http://macolyte.net/post/10533306666/weekend-project-steal-this-book-cover">parallel database</a> in Bento because it had iOS versions. But now Bento is going away and I need yet another solution.</p>
<p>Since Delicious Library has (frustratingly non-scriptable) export functionality, I can get a nice flat text file with all of my books. I can keep that file in Dropbox and search it using the following script in <a href="http://omz-software.com/pythonista/">Pythonista</a>. I've chosen to export only the author and title fields in a tab delimited format<sup id="fnref:1"><a href="#fn:1" rel="footnote">1</a></sup>, but there are a plethora of other fields and formats available to you.</p>
<div class="highlight"><pre><span class="kn">import</span> <span class="nn">re</span>
<span class="kn">import</span> <span class="nn">os</span>
<span class="kn">import</span> <span class="nn">sys</span>
<span class="kn">import</span> <span class="nn">webbrowser</span>
<span class="kn">from</span> <span class="nn">dropboxlogin</span> <span class="kn">import</span> <span class="n">get_client</span>
<span class="n">client</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">get_client</span><span class="p">()</span>
<span class="n">f</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">client</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">get_file</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s">'/path/to/Library.txt'</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">books</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">f</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">read</span><span class="p">()</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">split</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s">'</span><span class="se">\n</span><span class="s">'</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">template</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="s">'.*(</span><span class="si">%s</span><span class="s">).*'</span>
<span class="n">query</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">sys</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">argv</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">1</span><span class="p">]</span>
<span class="c"># I ganked this from http://www.cademuir.eu/blog/2011/10/20/python-searching-for-a-string-within-a-list-list-comprehension/</span>
<span class="n">regex</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">re</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">compile</span><span class="p">((</span><span class="n">template</span> <span class="o">%</span> <span class="n">query</span><span class="p">),</span> <span class="n">re</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">IGNORECASE</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">results</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="p">[</span><span class="n">m</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">group</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="mi">0</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="k">for</span> <span class="n">l</span> <span class="ow">in</span> <span class="n">books</span> <span class="k">for</span> <span class="n">m</span> <span class="ow">in</span> <span class="p">[</span><span class="n">regex</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">search</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">l</span><span class="p">)]</span> <span class="k">if</span> <span class="n">m</span><span class="p">]</span>
<span class="k">if</span> <span class="n">results</span><span class="p">:</span>
<span class="n">content</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="s">"""</span>
<span class="s"> <table border=1></span>
<span class="s"> <tr></span>
<span class="s"> <th>Author</th></span>
<span class="s"> <th>Title</th></span>
<span class="s"> </tr></span>
<span class="s"> {rows}</span>
<span class="s"> </table></span>
<span class="s"> """</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">format</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">rows</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="s">"</span><span class="se">\n</span><span class="s">"</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">join</span><span class="p">([</span><span class="s">'<tr></span><span class="se">\n\t</span><span class="s"><td>{0}</td></span><span class="se">\n\t</span><span class="s"><td>{1}</td></span><span class="se">\n</span><span class="s"></tr>'</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">format</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="o">*</span><span class="n">i</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">split</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s">'</span><span class="se">\t</span><span class="s">'</span><span class="p">))</span> <span class="k">for</span> <span class="n">i</span> <span class="ow">in</span> <span class="n">results</span><span class="p">]))</span>
<span class="k">else</span><span class="p">:</span>
<span class="n">content</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="s">"""</span>
<span class="s"> <p>No results found</p></span>
<span class="s"> """</span>
<span class="n">html</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="s">"""</span>
<span class="s"><html></span>
<span class="s"><head></span>
<span class="s"> <title>Search Results</title></span>
<span class="s"></head></span>
<span class="s"><body></span>
<span class="s">{content}</span>
<span class="s"></body></span>
<span class="s"></html></span>
<span class="s">"""</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">format</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">content</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="n">content</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="k">with</span> <span class="nb">open</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s">"results.html"</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s">'w'</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="k">as</span> <span class="n">f</span><span class="p">:</span>
<span class="n">f</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">write</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">html</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">pth</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="s">"file:///"</span> <span class="o">+</span> <span class="n">os</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">path</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">join</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">os</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">path</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">dirname</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">os</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">path</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">abspath</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">__file__</span><span class="p">)),</span> <span class="s">"results.html"</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">webbrowser</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">open</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">pth</span><span class="p">)</span>
</pre></div>
<p>I know it looks like a hot mess of string formats and list comprehensions, but I suspect that it's the most efficient way to go.</p>
<p>This version assumes it's running from something like <a href="http://contrast.co/launch-center-pro/">Launch Center Pro</a> or <a href="http://agiletortoise.com/drafts/">Drafts</a>. If you wanted to run it directly from Pythonista, change the <code>query</code> variable assignment in line 14 to something like <code>query = console.alert("Enter search query")</code>. And don't forget to <code>import console</code> if you do that. Obviously you'll want to change the path in line 9 in any case. </p>
<p>The gistified version is <a href="https://gist.github.com/macolyte/6953016">here</a>.</p>
<div class="footnote">
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<li id="fn:1">
<p>Why tabs instead of commas? I think it's prettier to look at a tab delimited file in the Finder or a terminal. <a href="#fnref:1" rev="footnote" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>A Couple of Links2013-10-09T00:00:00-04:00tonytag:piperedirect.com,2013-10-09:2013/10/09/a-couple-of-links.html<p>Two things that I've been really excited about launched last week. <br />
</p>
<p>The first is the <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/637878316/nock-co-pen-cases-hand-made-in-the-usa">Kickstarter</a> for <a href="http://nockco.com/">Nock Co.</a> I'm looking forward to the products these guys put out because I know they're going to be top quality. And if you're curious I backed at the Hightower Kickstarter Only Limited Edition color.</p>
<p>The other is <a href="https://readpaperback.com">Paperback</a>, a read it later service powered by Pinboard<sup id="fnref:1"><a href="#fn:1" rel="footnote">1</a></sup> and run by <a href="http://nickwynja.com/">Nick Wynja</a>. I've been beta testing it for a while and it's become my de-facto home page in my browser. </p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr />
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<li id="fn:1">
<p><a href="http://piperedirect.com/2013/06/06/the-freebsd-of-read-later-services.html">Sound familiar?</a> <a href="#fnref:1" rev="footnote" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>> BitTorrent Sync for iOS2013-08-29T00:00:00-04:00tonytag:piperedirect.com,2013-08-29:2013/08/29/bittorrent-sync-for-ios.html<p><a href="http://piperedirect.com/2013/05/01/bittorrent-sync.html">Back in May</a> I linked to <a href="http://labs.bittorrent.com/experiments/sync.html">BitTorrent Sync</a>. </p>
<p>There is now an <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bittorrent-sync/id665156116?mt=8">iOS client</a>. </p>> Breakfast: A Manifesto2013-08-27T00:00:00-04:00tonytag:piperedirect.com,2013-08-27:2013/08/27/breakfast-a-manifesto.html<p><a href="https://medium.com/the-ingredients-2/63a85f7b2127">J. Oliver Conroy</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>What is breakfast? Breakfast is the meal which exists in slight variants throughout the English-speaking world and includes eggs and meat and something made of potatoes or bread and a hot beverage. Breakfast is the Full English, or the Full American, or the Full Canadian. Breakfast is a triumph. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Not sure how I feel about linking to something on Medium, but this one is both funny and true. And I agree with it completely.</p>
<p>Except for the part about cupcakes. I hold no particular animosity towards cupcakes.</p>Feedpress2013-08-22T00:00:00-04:00tonytag:piperedirect.com,2013-08-22:2013/08/22/feedpress.html<p>Back in <a href="http://piperedirect.com/2013/05/03/site-update.html">May</a> I said that one tweak I wanted to make was to move my RSS feed tracking off of Feedburner. I was waiting for a solution that wouldn't make all of you RSS subscribers have to resubscribe. Well, that day has come. Today I flipped the switch and will now be using <a href="https://feedpress.it">FeedPress</a>. The migration is a pretty simple process so I hope I didn't screw anything up. If you want to be on the safe side and resubscribe anyway, the feed link at the bottom of the page has been updated accordingly. I'll also link it <a href="http://piperedirect.com/feeds/all.atom.xml">here</a>.</p>
<p>Thanks, as always, for reading.</p>> Marks2013-08-20T00:00:00-04:00tonytag:piperedirect.com,2013-08-20:2013/08/20/marks.html<p><a href="http://jeroenjanssens.com/2013/08/16/quickly-navigate-your-filesystem-from-the-command-line.html">Jeroen Janssens</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Put this in your <code>.zshrc</code> or <code>.bashrc</code> and you're ready to jump. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>It's like on-demand aliases without having to muck up your <code>.bashrc</code>. </p>
<p>via <a href="http://onethingwell.org/post/58703826506/marks">One Thing Well</a></p>> DEFCON: The Documentary2013-08-18T00:00:00-04:00tonytag:piperedirect.com,2013-08-18:2013/08/18/defcon-the-documentary.html<p><a href="http://ascii.textfiles.com/archives/3984">Jason Scott</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It’d be redundant to describe the event, since, you know, I made a movie about it, but suffice to say that it’s not just a bunch of presentations inside conference rooms and a strict agenda with a keynote each morning and bagels and butter waiting on tables for lunch. DEF CON is a massive, thriving, varied and strange gathering of people, one I’ve been part of for over a decade and which brings the stories by the bushel. My problem wasn’t having us film interesting things – it was trying to figure out how to shove all those interesting things into one single block of movie. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The thought of going to DEFCON scares the shit out of me, but I'm sure it would be a fascinating experience. I'm going to find some time to watch this sooner rather than later.</p>
<p>Scott has also done documentaries on <a href="http://www.bbsdocumentary.com/">BBSes</a> and <a href="http://www.getlamp.com/">text adventures</a> that I think I need to check out.</p>Instagram2013-08-08T00:00:00-04:00tonytag:piperedirect.com,2013-08-08:2013/08/08/instagram.html<p>Despite my loathing of all things Facebook, I've decided to re-open an Instagram account. </p>
<p>If you want to see pictures of pens, notebooks and my ridiculously cute kids, <a href="http://instagram.com/wtf_ynot">check it out</a>.</p>> Paris Review - The Art of Fiction No. 211, William Gibson2013-07-27T00:00:00-04:00tonytag:piperedirect.com,2013-07-27:2013/07/27/paris-review-the-art-of-fiction-no-211-william-gibson.html<p><a href="http://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/6089/the-art-of-fiction-no-211-william-gibson">William Gibson</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It's harder to imagine the past that went away than it is to imagine the future. What we were prior to our latest batch of technology is, in a way, unknowable. It would be harder to accurately imagine what New York City was like the day before the advent of broadcast television than to imagine what it will be like after life-size broadcast holography comes online. But actually the New York without the television is more mysterious, because we've already been there and nobody paid any attention. That world is gone. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Great, long interview with an author all of us geeks and nerds should be familiar with. </p>
<p>The Paris Review has done the whole world a favor and made their entire archive of <a href="http://www.theparisreview.org/interviews">writer interviews</a> going back to the 1950s freely available. </p>
<p>If audio interviews are more your thing, check out <a href="http://www.kcrw.com/etc/programs/bw">Bookworm</a> on KCRW or <a href="http://www.wiredforbooks.org/swaim/">Author Interviews</a> by Don Swaim. The latter had some pretty spectacular guests. </p>