Report from the reality distortion field
(As Apple announced it’s record quarterly net profit [7] of $18 billion this week, I’m re-posting/translating an article I wrote for the leading Greek newspaper Kathimerini [8], back in September 2014, after the Apple Watch announcement). This week saw the announcement of the new generation of iPhone models, as well as the most expected Apple [Continue reading]
Quantified self, Level 2
Good friend Dimitris Dimitriadis (@insideabox) was writing about his use of self-tracking apps. I would like to explore this a bit further, in an effort to provide more insight on the purpose of the quantified self excerice. While any kind of tracking will almost instantly change the monitored behaviour (even subconsciously), it can be more [Continue reading]
If you want to get scared about the Internet today, read this
A journalist walks into a bar along with a hacker and a spoofing device, and proceeds to sneak into people’s computers and then google them for their publicly-available personal information. If you’re intrigued and need a reason to clean up your social media profiles (do you really want to have your vacation photos set to [Continue reading]
The Apple Watch is not your next fitness tracker
This is an actual photo in the Apple page for the Sport edition of the Apple Watch. I’m not sure what kind of sport activity is displayed or in which manner the man on the right is aided by the watch. And this is the only photo of people using the Apple Watch on that [Continue reading]
How to sync RunKeeper data into HealthKit
Update (1/Dec/2014) : RunKeeper now syncs with HealthKit, on iOS you can find it in the app under Settings -> Apps, Services, and Devices -> Apple Health. RunKeeper can read/write calories, cycling, walking+running distance (not steps), weight, etc. RunKeeper hasn’t joined the HealthKit bandwagon just yet (although they promise they will on their official forums) but there [Continue reading]
HealthKit, what is it good for? Fitbit wonders
As I was previously writing (http://bit.ly/1toSgDp) Apple’s HealthKit platform might be a solution to a problem that has been solved. Now, a major player in the fitness trackers/apps world, Fitbit, is reluctant to follow on the hype, angering it’s customers. A thread in the official features request forum currently has 571 votes in favour (the [Continue reading]
Health App/Kit: failing to solve a problem that has already been solved
I’ve been excited by the announcement of the Health app and the accompanying Healthkit by Apple. I considered them to be both a way to bring more focus on interoperability between apps, as well as (for the app part) show software developers what can be done with access to fitness/health data. The result so far [Continue reading]
A new way to share on Google+ from any page
Friends+Me has a new Google Chrome #extension, allowing you to share any page you are currently visiting. A popup like the one you would get on G+ appears and you can write your post, tag people and use the hashtag autocomplete feature as if you’re inside G+. You can also choose to start a new [Continue reading]
CoSchedule: a full social media solution for WordPress?
The question mark in the title is because this is actually my first test post using CoSchedule. It brands itself as the perfect way to manage your social media scheduling with WordPress as your base. The concept is that you have a calendar where you can visualise your scheduled blog posts and all social [Continue reading]
Tracking the trackers: Garmin, Fitbit, Runkeeper, Moves
(Update: Scroll to the bottom for more results) I have long been mad for tracking pretty much anything, so when I started jogging, it was quite obvious I would be tracking my runs as well. I started with Moves (http://www.moves-app.com/) an iOS/Android app that tracks your steps all day long, but also can recognise running [Continue reading]
Is the new colour of your company taken?
Is the amazing colour you just picked for your new company close to something already used by a big company? See an extensive list of “taken” colours at brandcolors.net (collected by Galen Gidman) h/t +Nassos K.
Poetry in web motion
Ingredients: – a physics engine, – SVG graphics and – the Web Audio API. Bake and get something really cool (See it Chrome or Safari)
On algorithhms forming communities: my best photos of 2013 (according to 500px)
During this holidays break I setup a new site for my photography and new profiles in 500px and Flickr. 500px is set up in a manner that all new photos get some chance at being viewed a few times (Flickr’s Explore section has a threshold of some number of views). So while I was uploading [Continue reading]
11 Rules on being a productive creative by Henry Miller
Henry Miller (1891—1980) was one of the most controversial American novelists during his lifetime. His book, The Tropic of Cancer, was banned in the some U.S. states before being overruled by the Supreme Court. During his time working on his book, he came down to the following set of rules: 1) Work on one thing [Continue reading]
On failing algorithms
For some perverse reason, despite being my job to write algorithms, I love it when algorithms try and fail. For the “year in review” feature, someone at Facebook thought that just matching a phrase like “it’s a boy!” in a status text meant that this was about a newborn, so obviously it should be in [Continue reading]
The human knoweldge graph expanded?
Is this what the #web was created for? Croud-sourced #metadata (comments, photos and news links) on rap lyrics? :) Source: Rapgenius.com
How Do You Rate As an Influential Author?
A new tool is attempting to answer that: Virante AuthorRank. As Virante’s Mark Traphagen clarifies, Virante AuthorRank is not Google AuthorRank. It is an entirely indepedent formula based on various factors. The ratings it produces are: – AuthorRank: This is the author’s overall Virante AuthorRank score. It is a combination of all the factors we assess. Use this to [Continue reading]
It’s the end of an era for web design
Ryanair has redesigned it’s website. Before it looked like it was designed in 1992 (because it probably was). Now it looks like someone paid 15$ for a template. But even that is an improvement. You don’t have to prove you are a human in order to get a ticket for starters. I guess the lousy [Continue reading]
6+1 WordPress initial-setup plugins
In my most recent WordPress installations, these are the plugins I install first: 1) Acunetix WP Security: all sorts of changes in settings and file checks to increase security 2) Limit Login Attempts: Straight-forward plugin that blocks brute-force bots 3) Simple Login Log: exactly what you imagine ;) 4) Google Analyticator: adds GA tags on your [Continue reading]
Data visualisation porn
The Digital Attack Map is a live data visualization, built through a collaboration between Arbor Networks and Google Ideas, that maps “distributed denial of service” (DDoS attacks) designed to take down websites around the globe. Many websites face targeted digital attacks by people who aim to silence their speech. This tool and visualization specifically surfaces [Continue reading]
Parallax for the right reasons
I’m not a big fan of parallax web sites, mainly because it’s being overused without much point and it is usually not well implemented, resulting in slow-loading websites. Once in a while though, you get a website where the parallax effect is actually part of the concept of the website. Booking.com has an excellent new [Continue reading]
Breaking news: Old man doesn’t get the Internet
I love David Byrne’s music. Which is why it hurts me to read his article on The Guardian about the effect of web services on musicians (“David Byrne: ‘The internet will suck all creative content out of the world’“). Comments on some parts of it: “In future, if artists have to rely almost exclusively on [Continue reading]
How to learn to be a coder in 180 days
Just start coding! This is what Jennifer Dewalt did. In the last 6 months she create 180 small websites, day by day learning something new, from HTML/CSS to Javascript to working with APIs and then even “lower” to Rails and Node.js. You can start today too! :) See Jeniffer’s blog and sites
How to get rid of Google Maps, create your custom maps at Mapbox
MapBox is making it easy to setup a map that will not have the “everyone has it” Google Maps look. Already used by apps and sites like Foursquare and Evernote, Mapbox utilises open sourced map data from OpenStreetMap (www.openstreetmap.org) but also provides terrain and satellite layers. But the big difference from Google Maps is that [Continue reading]
What if your “page not found” 404-error message could help find missing children?
What if your “page not found” 404-error message could help find missing children? See how, here. h/t Lee Smallwood of NOD3x who have already implemented this.
Gadget of the day: Nokia USB external battery
Tried this out from a friend and ordered immediately one for myself! The Nokia DC-16 fits a 2200mAh #battery in 12cm for 25-30 euros, ready to charge your phone. It has a USB port so you can charge any phone, including iPhones (more information here, you can shop for it on Amazon and elsewhere). If [Continue reading]
Now, yes, this is a valid security concern on fingerprint scanners
The internet likes to ridicule new technologies, especially from high-profile companies like Apple. Even more, #Apple is a target for Android fans. So, you’ve probably seen the arguments about NSA and other secret government agencies being happy about now having access to a huge database of fingerprints (as if there aren’t already fingerprint databases in [Continue reading]
OHMYGOSH THE INTERNETS!
The Oatmeal (Matthew Inman) sums up everything that is wrong with today’s internet culture Surely you agree with me, right? :)
Statistics, statistics, statistics!
One of the best G+ tools, CircleCount has an update on their dashboard page. You now can get an nice summary with the following – number of public posts you have written – number of plusones/reshares/comments you have received for these posts – the same numbers but as average numbers per posts – the number [Continue reading]
How to build a stunning photo presentation
Here’s two things in one: a) a great set of New York photos and the locations to take them from, and b) guidance to developing an awesome photo/portfolio/whatever presentation. First head over to ReadyMag’s New York Photo Guide, enjoy the photos and absorb the user-friendly experience. From clear icons to keyboard shortcuts to AJAX-powered per-slide [Continue reading]