Snow Stream

#photography

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Fleetwood Mac Aging But Like A Fine Wine

http://youtu.be/35EQxchPwuI

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Lights On The Water

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The Coach Who Never Punts

Apply this type of attitude to business, and life, and you'll be a winner for sure. This video should be shared with everyone from the mail room to the board room.

"There are those kinds of people that want to be different because they just want to be different, and there are those kinds of people that want to be different because they are looking for something to help them be more successful." ... beautiful.

This coach takes a calculated risk every time he goes out on the field. He knows the percentages, who knows the odds; he generally knows what his team can and will do. What's interesting I think, is that he removes the the one factor that most football players expect, to punt on 4th down.

I can remember as a football player I hated punting. I hated it for a few reasons. One, I wasn't on special teams as it's called, and so I had to come out, which really sucks. Two, most of the time we could have made the yardage needed for a first down, but were denied the opportunity to try because traditionally if you punt you have a better chance of stopping the other team from scoring, and giving yourself another shot to score. But that is really not true.

Thirdly, it gave the entire team the feeling they were failing and the coaching staff didn't trust them to make the big plays. This is very demoralizing.

Do you give your team the same out? Do you push them to play through the fourth down, or cut out early on a project, scale back deliverables because there doesn't appear to be enough time, or the challenge seems to difficult? I would suspect a good leader, someone who knows their team, knows their ability, knows their drive, will let the team push through on fourth and goal, and not opt out for success.

I know the entrepreneur mantra is fail and fail often to reach success. I agree nothing is gained with nothing attempted, and this coaches attitude and drive would seem to fit right along those lines. Don't quit on fourth down, the odds are in your favor for success.

#business #leadership #life

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Early To Rise

Love a good sun rise.

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Let Me Show You How To Spell WordPress Correctly

It's spelt WordPress. See the difference from Word(p)ress?

Believe it or not, I typed in the title of this post into Google, and there wasn't a single post on the first page of results that was just about spelling WordPress correctly.

The WordPress team has spent an incredible amount of time coming up with logo styling and use (here), and I see so many variations of the WordPress logo I can't imaging trying to police the problem. But when I am reading around the net, reading posts, articles, blogs, whatever, and people spell WordPress as Word(p)ress, I just want to scream. Especially by people who know it's spelt WordPress. Not some variation.

Why is this important? Well, it's not really, but it's like spelling my name, which is Thom, not Tom. Even people who have known me for many years write my name as Tom. Thom is my name. Thom is my brand.

When you spell WordPress as Word(p)ress, it loses something, like it's a fake name, like you don't really know what WordPress is.

So here it is. The one post I hope makes it to the top of the search pages, so every knows how it's spelt. Now I need to write a bot to go out on the web and correct all the mistakes.

By the way, the WordPress system automatically corrects the spelling of WordPress. Read more here.

<off-soap-box />

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Apple iOS 7 Translucent UI Needs Help

I installed iOS 7 on one of my iPads today. The first thing that struck me was the change in the way folders and the system tray looked. Honestly, I didn't spend a whole lot of time studying every aspect of iOS 7 so some of this might not have been surprising with a little digging, but this really caught me off guard. As you can see from the image below, the folders and the system tray look skin color. I really wanted to puke. I thought, how could this be!

After my initial shock wore off, I changed the wallpaper and sure enough, the colors showed through what I guess is a translucent UI. I searched the settings to see if there was something that let change the percentage of translucency or even the color, and nope, nothing.

I do like the new fast app switch, but it took me a few minutes to figure out how to close down an app. It's not the old-fashioned way of hold and press the X, you simply perform the Android maneuver of sliding it off the screen. Closed.

 

This isn't a post knocking iOS 7, or Apple. Just my initial observation. I wish for a day I can control some of the UI look on my personal device. But that's another post.

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Guest Hosting The Unofficial KickStarter Podcast KickCast

@KTData invited me to guest host an episode of his KickCast podcast, which is all about KickStarters. You gotta love technology. Here is the video recording of the session.

 


Watch live video from KTDataVision! on Justin.tv

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Accidental Fry

Accidentally took this at lunch a few days ago. Looks cool to me. #pressgram

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Trying And Failing Really Sucks

I've always been the type of person who wants to learn everything. I have spent a good portion of my life trying to stay ahead of whatever curve was in front of me for fear that I would be left behind. So in a mad dash to make sure I'm immersed in whatever will help me stay ahead (programming, mobile, fitness), I take on about 100% more than I can actually do. I know from past experience I will fail at some things, find I don't have time for others, or decide to change course. But all of this mean many things fail, and that really sucks.

I know failing is the new word for try. As Yoda says "do or do not, there is no try." I don't know anyone who likes failing. A couple of days ago I was having a discussion with someone who was trying to decide what type of decision maker I was. Would I be someone who would try a hundred things until I found the right answer, or would I take my time, think through a problem, look at multiple options, then make a decision. I know in their mind they liked the try and fail a hundred times option because it "looked" like effort was being made. But I'm the later. I can make quick decisions if I'm given enough information. And for the times when I have very little information, I might take longer to make a decision. There are few cases in this world where choosing to fail a hundred times at something to come up with a solution trumps thinking through a decision, either in your head or with a team.

So why am I bringing this up? Well, all of this start, stop, fail, succeed, has given me an opportunity to think of what's next. Martin Sheen's character President Bartlet in the TV series The West Wing used the phrase "what's next?" when he got the point and wanted to move on. I love that phrase. I've done the same things  for over 30 years, now I want to move on... what's next?


Here are a few things on my What's Next list:

• I'm finally over managing web servers. I can't stand it any more, and I simply don't have the stomach to worry about all the possible issues that could go wrong. It's not part of my core focus. So I'll be transitioning all of my websites onto something that some company manages for me. I just want to write.


• Speaking of writing, that's the next big part of my next... writing more. Expanding and broadening my knowledge of some technologies, exploring their long term values, and of course finally putting pen to paper (so to speak) on Old Coder Comics. I've had this idea for a while, and I really want to put some effort into that. I also want to finally finish the ten sci-fi and thriller stories I've started and stopped.


• Fitness. It's never been part of my everyday fabric. But it needs to be.


• Photography. This is simply a pleasurable thing. But my problem has been putting in the time to really learn the craft. I don't want to be a pro. I don't want to call myself a photographer (so I don't incense my real photographer friends), but I do take pictures.

While I've spent a good majority of my life learning the intricacies of programming languages, staying up all night to write code, fix a broken site, and generally try to come up with ideas for the next big thing, it's simply not what I truly want to focus on. I'll try and fail for sure at some of this. Failing really sucks, but, it's also a great way to learn. I've sure typed a bunch of I's in this post. But that's what you get today.

Photo credit andrewhurley

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Patriot Day 2013

In remembrance of September 11th, 2001. I'm sure there are more who have passed on because of direct or indirect injuries from that day. They aren't on my wall, but I feel them and their families the same. 9-11 has become a day to remember loved ones lost and fallen heroes. But mostly I want to remember today as a day of courage and resolve to stand up for what is right. I play for this team, and will defend it to the end. Nothing is perfect. We just need to do good.

 

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Salt Lake Comic Con 2013 - Photos

Sharing some photos I took at Salt Lake Comic Con 2013.

[gallery ids="2749,2753,2751,2755,2756,2757,2758,2759,2760,2761,2762,2763,2764,2765,2766,2767,2768,2769,2770,2771,2772,2773,2774,2748" orderby="rand"]

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Salt Lake Comic Con 2013

Comic Con in Salt Lake City was certainly a success for sponsors and more or less for fans. The mother of Comic Cons in San Diego California had approximately 130,000 attendees, and Salt Lake, a first year con, had nearly 80,000 attendees on the final day. By noon on Saturday, the fire marshal threatened to shut the Salt Palace down because of potential safety risks. Some ticket holders were turned away, what a disappointment.

Generally I was pretty impressed with the organization and the quality of artists and panel speakers. There were several instances of confusion, especially the registration system meltdown on Saturday, and lack of attendees willing to pay additional money to high-profile celebs speak (William Shatner being one).

Now on to the positive. The art displayed was amazing. The image above is a life-size replica of the White Orc from The Hobbit, created by Weta Workshop. The New Zealand company had a great showing. There were also a number of well-known artists and just as many indie guys showing off their wares.

Overall I would say as a con goer this was an impressive first showing. There are obviously kinks to work out, and the group has a year to make it happen. I purchased some books and comics which I'll link to below.

The Runelords by David Farland. David is a great writer and has several books on the market. Checkout his Amazon page here. (Affiliate link)

Met an author named Michaelbrent Collins, yes, spelt correctly. A lady working at his booth sold me on a unique zombie story called The Colony: Genesis. On the back of the jacket it reads "In under 10 minutes, 99.9% of the world's population will be dead... Or changed. Conversion is instant. Headshots just make them angry. And they're getting smarter." Wow what a great hook. Had me, so I bought. Hope the story lives up to the great description.

Then I ran into a graphic novelist named Dixon Mullins, who has created a series called M.I.S//ing, a take on he IT world. Seemed pretty cool, and she had a great deal so I bought. Looking forward to reading the three volumes I purchased.

One final note, I've been to dozens of cons and I'm a little more strategic than most. I plan and plan my schedule for efficiency, giving me time to see everything, eat, drink, pee, and learn. I wish more people did this, I think the overall experience would be better.

See ya next year. (Get the VIP pass for sure).

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Google+ Blogging For The Past Month

This past month I took a challenge from +Mike Elgen to blog exclusively on. Turns out I was about as hit and miss with long form posts as I am here on thomallen.com. I always post short form images, links and likes several times a day, that didn't change. Bottom line, I didn't blog any more or less.

On the subject of blogging and this site, a friend has gone through my blog and given me some pointers on SEO. I suck at SEO and he doesn't, so I'm listening to him. His suggestions included blogging more often, longer, and on topics that are consistent. I've always looked at my blog as a personal space, no ads, no real focus that you could count on day in and day out. As it turns out, that's what I'll use Google+ for, the stuff that is more off topic than what I write here.

What did I learn from this experiment besides my posting habits? I made a lot of new connections. One of the things I miss here on my blog are social connections. Sure, someone can comment, but it ends there. Unless I actively seek them out on other sites, like their blog or Twitter or Google+, I'm less likely to engage with them. That has always been a problem for me. Social sites at least let me say in contact with the people I want to interact with.

I've also learned that successful posts, posts that have value to the reader and the search engines aren't the quick and dirty posts. There has to be meat and substance, both of which I have neglected the more I involve myself with social networks like Twitter and Google+.

For what it's worth, thank you for reading, and I hope you come back often. If you still subscribe via RSS, the link is here. Check out the right sidebar for more places to follow me which I leave links to new posts on this site.

Image link: glenn-

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Exclusively Blogging On Google+ For One Month

Follow me here. See ya in a month.

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Review: Learning Java

This is a pretty decent book. I'm new to Java but have an extensive development background.

I appreciated the exercises and examples. The only thing I really struggled with was Eclipse. I haven't used Eclipse in the past and so there was a steep learning curve for me.

I think this is a great book to get a decent understanding of the basics of Java. I will need a different book as a guide as I dive deeper into Java.

* Disclaimer: I was provided a free copy of this book to review.

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Review: Bootstrap

As more and more opensource frameworks hit the market, few if any contain documentation on their use. The Bootstrap framework has a great website dedicated to the features and simple use. Most throw code in github and call it a day. For some people, a little instructional help or code example and they will be off and running.

I recently completed Bootstrap written by Jake Spurlock. Full disclosure, I know Jake, but he didn't ask me to review this book. I'm interested in Bootstrap and was hoping to find a great reference. While I like web based reference material, the difficulty lies in needing to refer to the online documentation while you are learning or need help. Having a copy of this book in hand is worth the price of admission.

There's nothing earth shattering or mind altering here, but that is a strength I think. Jake walks you through the framework and gives some great examples and potential uses. I rate this book a 4 out of 5, mainly because 5's mean there is no room for improvement, and everyone should have to stretch. This book should be in your library for sure.

 



* Disclaimer: I was provided a free copy of this book to review.

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Ouya Is Still In Beta Mode

After spending a week with my Kicstarter backed Ouya, I must say, it's still in beta mode. I'm keeping in mind it's a $99 console, but honestly, I didn't want to have to do that. I don't want to make excuses for the device just because it didn't set me back $400.

I let my Son-in-law who is a very avid gamer take it for spin this past weekend, and he wasn't impressed. His first surprise was how cheap-ish the controller felt. Compared to an Xbox controller, he has a point. Second, we tried to play a few games, but they wouldn't load, and we tried to download a few games, but the download speed was so slow that it took an hour to download one game. Again, not impressed.

I'm not calling this device a failure, far from it. I know that it will get better over time. But I certainly thought the software part of the system would be a lot more solid than it is.

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I'm Using WordPress, Now What? Starter Edition

Here is the PDF of the presentation on GitHub.

The following is a list of plug-ins that we discussed during the presentation. All links are valid as of this post but not be in the future.

JetPack
Web hosting with BlueHost (*affiliate link)
Editorial Calendar
Security
SEO
Analytics - Clicky or Google
Cache - W3 Total Cache or WP Super Cache
Backup - BackWPup or VaultPress
Social Sharing

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Use Ubuntu To Access A Failed Windows Hard Drive

My daughter brought me her HP laptop that was running Windows Vista, but now won't boot. Like many users, she had years worth of data and no backup. All she wants are the photos and a few assorted documents. After trying various hard drive utilities, with no luck, I decided to try and create a bootable Ubuntu (Linux) USB stick. I know from past experience that booting Linux on a USB stick should get us by Windows but still allow us to get files off the hard drive.

Following these directions (I am using a Mac, but there are options for Windows too), I was able to create a bootable version of Ubuntu 12.10. Rebooting the laptop with the USB stick plugged in, I was able to boot to the USB stick, and start up Ubuntu. And like some kind of magic, the Ubuntu Desktop appeared. Bringing up the File Manager tool, and finding the folder where the photos and documents are located, I was able to download all 20GB worth of files to another USB hard drive I had plugged into the laptop.

Now we can rebuild the system using Windows Vista (because the system was built specifically for Vista, mainly because there aren't any Windows XP/7/8 drivers for the video/network/sound cards.

I might be able to make Windows 7 work, but it will be a stretch. I may just install Ubuntu 12.10 on the laptop and call it good. She'll have a system that is easy to use and will give her fewer problems. I guess it also means I'll have to do a little training.

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Opening Day For Microsoft Store At Citycreek Utah

People are lining up to be one of the first inside the new Microsoft retail store in Citycreek, downtown Salt Lake City, Utah. Here are a few pics.

[gallery]

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The Next 90 Days

I just finished a ninety day fitness challenge with some folks, including Alex Lawrence. We have been using a Facebook group and Twitter under the hash #tmfit, to track our progress and as a form of accountability. Most of us tracked our calories with MyFitnessPal. This tool also let's you track exercise, and you can share with your friends.

I wasn't sure if I wanted to be as open about my weight loss as I would need to be. I have a considerable amount of weight to lose, and will take quite a while to reach my end goal.

Speaking of goals, in the past 90 days, I managed to work out at least 5 days a week, some weeks more. I reduced my calories to 2000a day or less before taking workouts into account. I managed to reach my original goal of losing 20 pounds between January and March. Mission accomplished. I lost a total of 33 pounds.

I'd love to connect on MyFitnessPal, its great for tracking and accountability.

The next 90 days are going to be interesting. As we move into spring and summer, I'm hoping to move my exercise out doors. For me that means billing, riding a bike, and camping. So here's are my goals for the next 90 days:

1. Workout at least 5 times a week, more if possible.
2. Add 2 days of weight training, and at least 4 days of cardio.
3. Continue to eat less than 2000 calories.
4. Reduce my sugar intake. This will be hard to measure but I'm mostly trying to build awareness.
5. Go hiking add many times as I can.
6. Get a road bike. I have a mountain bike but I really need a road bike.
7. Go camping at least once before the end of June.
8. And finally, drink more water, a lot more water.

That's it for now. I'm stepping up my public accountability her on the website. Also going to try and take more pictures of my progress. I'll also share my activity from MyFitnessPal.

Here is a pick from day 1 and about day 90.

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Article: Flipboard: Now You Can Publish Your Own "Magazine"

Would you use Flipboard to curate your own magazine? I think its kind of a cool idea. I'm not sure I would spend a lot of time building a magazine product, but I'm sure many will be using it to promote their content. Flipboard: Now You Can Publish Your Own "Magazine" http://readwrite.com/2013/03/26/flipboard-expands-platform-enables-users-to-create-their-own-magazines

Lead image downloaded from the ReadWriteWeb article. It's not used with permission,

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Mobile Cameras No Longer About Megapixels

A feature of the iPhone that is very annoying is the low megapixel rear facing camera. For the longest time I wondered why can't Apple fit a really nice 13MP camera in the iPhone. And they could. But maybe it's not about megapixels any more. I ran across this from HTC today, http://www.htc.com/www/zoe/, the Ultra Pixel Camera, which will appear in the new HTC One. The company claims a 300% performance increase over a 13 megapixel camera. I'm not really sure what that means, but the specs talk about "advanced CMOS Sensor, ISP, and optical lens system that captures significantly more light than most 8 or 13 megapixel cameras."

I know most people are used to measuring a cameras value by the number of megapixels (I am/was one of those people). However, of the picture quality can be improved digitally, then I guess I don't care what the megapixels are, only that it produces a very high quality true image.

This Verge review of the HTC One kinda puts the Ultra Pixel camera to the test and didn't care much for it.

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Hire Me Facebook

I was watching the video in this post and at time index 3:03, Mark Zuckerberg says "Our policy is to literally hire as many talented engineers as we can find." Zuckerberg goes on to say their system limits are in part due to lack of resources to help the build what their products. Sounds like a good problem to have. He mentions lack of training as a reason they aren't able to find enough engineers. And I'll give him that, many of our schools aren't teaching the critical skills people need to build the technology of the future. I can attest to this first hand after a recent semester in college, the technology classes are outdated or not relevant.

I didn't want this to turn into a rant about education, but the bottom line is, Colleges and Universities need to be as forward thinking as companies need to be. It's not good enough to spend $100K on a degree and have to start with little or no knowledge of the tech field.

In this same video, Will.i.am talks about how our world runs on technology yet very few of us know how to code to make things work. I agree. Even a basic understanding of computer code can be valuable. And there are plenty of online learning tools.

http://www.codecademy.com/
http://girldevelopit.com/
https://www.udacity.com/

I'm not really looking for a job, and despite what personal feelings you may have about Facebook, I have my own, working for this company as an engineer would be very cool. So Facebook, let's talk! Here is my LinkedIn profile.

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Want To Be Cool? Learn To Code

If you want to be like the big kids these days, it might make sense to spend some time learning how to code.

What most schools don't teach.

http://youtu.be/nKIu9yen5nc

 

Photo found here

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Study, Think, Plan

I found this Tweet today, and it really resonated with me.

https://twitter.com/PhilReinhardt/status/302866234985308160

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Finally My Twitter Archive Link

After patiently waiting (how else can you do it?), I checked this morning and I have the Request Your Archive link available. I clicked it right away. Now I'll wait again.

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Android 4.2.2 Arrives For My Nexus 7

This little message popped up when I turned on the Nexus 7 today. w00t!

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Microsoft Comes To Utah City Creek

On my way to the office this morning I noticed the covers have finally been pulled off what I suspected to be the Microsoft retail store in City Creek.



Makes sense Microsoft would put themselves on what I call the Average Joe side of City Creek. What I mean by that is stores on the east side of the mall are places normal folks shop, like Disney, Solomon, Forever 21 and Claire's. On the west side of the mall, are places the 1% shop, like Tiffany & Co., Porche Design, Brooks Brothers, and of course, Apple.

Map of City Creek Center mall in Salt Lake City

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WordPress Plug-ins For 2013

Presenting tonight at the SLC WordPress user group tonight. Topic is "I'm Using WordPress, Now What? Plug-in Edition".

You can download the presentation here, and view it on Speaker Deck.

Please add your list of must have Plug-ins for 2013.

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Nexus 7 Here To Stay

I was pretty excited about winning a Nexus 7 at a recent Google Chrome Developer challenge. I wanted a Nexus 7, and it was on my "buy" list. As it stand right now, there's only one thing I can do (aside from rooting the device) on my iPad 3 that I can't do on the Nexus and that is watch Amazon Prime Instant Movies. That issue makes no sense to me, and is extremely frustrating. If there were an Amazon viewing app like the one on an iPad, I don't know that I would use my iPad as much.

I'm learning how Android works. It's much different than iOS. I'm also learning that the majority of apps aren't nearly as "good looking" as an iOS app. But generally, I can do nearly the same things on my Nexus 7 as I have done on my iPad. Here are some highlights so far.

Codeaway
I am a premium subscriber to Codeaway, the development IDE in the cloud. There is a great Android app (or I can also access via the web).

Twitter
There are a number of Twitter clients for Android (but I really wish Twitterbot was one of them), and they all work fairly nice. Most are not tablet ready, meaning it's really the phone version stretched to the 7" screen.

That seems to be the problem with most Android apps. Not all, but most.

Google
I am a Google user; Google+, GMail, Drive, Calendar, Picasa, and any other app they have out there. Google apps seem to work really well on the Nexus, I wonder why.

WordPress
There is even a fairly decent WordPress client available for Android.

One feature that I really dig is the ability to customize the look of my Nexus. I can change screen, icons, background, and widgets. All of things give me a very customized view of my Nexus.

What are pain points so far?

• Trying to do any amount of typing on the small screen is really difficult. It's not that you can't type, but you are limited to the amount of screen real estate you can view.


• Navigation is funky at best. I'm trying to get used to using the back arrow versus the back button.


• There is no back camera. Very difficult to take photos.


• The speaker is in an akward place when. When you are holding the device in landscape mode, your fingers tend to cover the speaker.


• Not a deal breaker, but it would be nice to have an external SD card slot.

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