Merry Christmas…sh**ter was full!

Dec 7, 2009 by Dan Taylor    22 Comments    Posted under: Humor

Some of you might already know about my love of Christmas films.  I have about 7-8 that I go through during the holiday season, but one always remains the climax: National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.  While packed to the hilt with comedic gems, there’s one character, and one scene in particular that always does it for me.  ”Now how about some eggnog, Clark?”

Kids in Video

Jul 31, 2009 by Dan Taylor    2 Comments    Posted under: Video

In a return of the long lost friday funnies I’ve got two fun videos for ya’ll.  Enjoy!

Sent over my Dr. Poke.

and

Video interview with the Freckle team

Jan 30, 2009 by Dan Taylor    6 Comments    Posted under: Productivity, Technology

A few weeks back, my production partner Magda Pressel and I had the opportunity to sit down with Amy Hoy, Thomas Fuchs, Dieter Komendera, and Joe Markovics, a.k.a the team behind the time tracking solution, Freckle.

Watch the full HD version of freckle: time tracking rethought from Dan Taylor on Vimeo.

MP: This is the team of Lets Freckle, a cooperative effort between Slash7 featuring Amy Hoy, and naturally Thomas Fuchs and abloom featuring Dieter Komendera and Joe Markovics.  Amy and Thomas are well known and respected figures in the programming world, noteably for Thomas’ involvement in the development of Ruby on Rails.

MP: We’re here with the team of letsfreckle.com and I’m going to ask them some questions. So maybe just tell me something about yourself.

AH: My name is Amy Hoy, I’m the public voice, I write all the blog posts so far.  I’m an interaction designer, self taught, and I’ve been making web pages in various forms since 1994.

TF: My name is Thomas Fuchs and I’m more on the development side of things.  I’ve done web development since about the same time as Amy did. So, like fourteen years now.  Amy reminds me that I’m the author of script.aculo.us which is used by sites like Apple, NASA, (AH) CNN, yeah, sites like that.

MP: Joe and Dieter share a similar past, both working in web development for the past 9 years.

JM: I started during college, together with him.  We were at a kind of boarding school and we were bored all day.  That’s how we got into web dev, and that’s what we’re still doing right now.

DK: My name is Dieter Komendera, and I am more on the programming side of things.  I’m doing all the…most of the Rails stuff.

MP: All four members work as freelancers, and have spent a lot of their time trying to find a time tracking solution that was right for them; but often came up short.

AH: The idea came from looking at what other systems did not have that frustrated me.  The first thing that I did when I was really hungover and working Freckle out on paper was to look at all the assumptions that the other software makes that you have to do first and see which we can get rid of.

MP: Indeed the software is well structured and user friendly.  For example job codes can be created on the fly, and simply tagged.  However, Freckle still is a work in progress.  Customer feedback is quite important to the freckle team, but can sometimes go a little overboard.

TF: There were a couple of quite outrageous comments.  It’s very interesting to see people who are getting that enraged about a piece of software.

MP: But while a number of time tracking solutions on the market today offer a host of additional features that Freckle does not, that’s not to say that the team isn’t hard at work building out additional functionality, including an API.

DK: We definitely have plans to integrate invoicing to freckle so that you can just run a report on the time entries you have and it will generate an invoice for you.

MP: Freckle’s API is designed to both import and export time tracking data from a variety of sources.  With the Freckle API, developers can both push and pull data to and from Freckle.

DK: This of course can be used from any other application who wants to use Freckle or to integrate with Freckle.

MP: Like many small web application companies today, Freckle is 100 percent privately funded.

AH: We’re not funded in any way.  We have very low costs, so we’ve been funding it, quote/unquote, with our time.

MP: Freckle; four freelancers that couldn’t find a time tracking solution that fit their needs simply built their own solution from the ground up.  And in the process, they’ve successfully managed to create a new way of looking at time tracking.

Related articles

• Freckle: Time tracking with style (ajaxian.com)

CW 47 Friday Funnies

Nov 21, 2008 by Dan Taylor    2 Comments    Posted under: Humor

Comin’ back atcha with the weekly installment of Friday Funnies.  Without further adieu:

http://www.nytimes-se.com/ – ah if only the NY Times really would read like this.

http://adam.pra.to/public/pics/Killer_Biscuits_.JPG – note to self – NEVER buy biscuits in San Diego.

http://blog.twitad.com/ – Hmm, this requires further review.  If you’re not already – Follow me on Twitter

http://www.davezilla.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/wonder-sauna-hot-pants-lg.jpg – Seriously, who thinks/thought up this shit?

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/2008/11/19/google-voice-browser-baffled-by-scottish-accents-86908-20906707/ – having lived in the UK for a year and spoken with a number of North Englanders and Scots, it was only a matter of time before this came to the forefront.

http://ranajune.com/post/58196230/omfg – did someone mention Cheezburger?

http://www.ridelust.com/road-rage-101-tips-to-piss-off-other-drivers/ – Are you fucking kidding me?  As a seasoned driver of the Belt Parkway, the Long Island Expressway, and the New Jersey turnpike, all I can say is Are you fucking kidding me?  Douschbags.  the rest of the site is kinda cool though.

http://static.pyzam.com/img/funnypics/2/busted.jpg – Becks is like any other red blooded male.  With an ass like that who WOULDN’T look?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJUBFkVrk9s& – are you KIDDING me?  What marketing team was stoned at 3am and came up with this brand name?  Say it with me now….Tiddy Bear.

http://www.yesbutnobutyes.com/archives/2008/11/candy_wrapped_b.html – mmmm…Bacon.  I love bacon, is that site still around? Apparently so, but sadly, a pail comparison of what it used to be.  That was one of the first sites I landed as a client while working at bla-bla.com.

http://www.freakingnews.com/pictures/41000/Gonzo-Journalism–41262.jpg – will the real Gonzo please stand up?

Enjoy and have a GREAT weekend!  Ooo look, it just started snowing outside.  Which is better than snowing inside.

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CW 46 Friday Funnies

Nov 14, 2008 by Dan Taylor    4 Comments    Posted under: Humor

Back before the great database meltdown I used to have a Friday Funnies category.  I thought it might be time to resurrect this fun, useless category.  Without further adieu: Fun stuff I’ve found in my travels this week, pithy comments included.

http://www.livenews.com.au/Articles/2008/11/12/Nirvana_baby_recreates_album_cover__17_years_later – but wait…he’s fully clothed?

http://antigayblacklist.com/ – douschebags.

http://shouldiusetablesforlayout.com/ – view the source code for added fun.

http://www.alwayswatching.org/features/25-fantastic-indie-gems-made-less-1-million – for real?  No kidding!

http://www.ishkur.com/articles/trancecracker.php – esp. for Smartula

http://www.boreme.com/boreme/funny-2003/s_heathrow-p1.php – right up there with Heywood Jablowme.  But Better.

http://www.xymbiot.com/ – WTF?  Great…just encouraging litter and irresponsible non-recycling.  Douschbags x2.

http://www.iwatchstuff.com/2008/11/jerry_garcia_biopic_coming_in.php – awesome!  Remind me to dust off the bong.  But in all seriousness…I’m looking forward to this.

http://www.oneplusyou.com/q/v/caffeine – I scored a 207.  Beat it.

http://www.sonomawireworks.com/iphone/fourtrack/ – speaking of beat it.

http://www.threadbombing.com/data/media/48/obama_puppy.jpg – yes we did, and yes I AM!

http://www.obamacto.org/ - I voted for Godzilla.

Have a great weekend peeps!

Top 14 websites of 2008

Aug 12, 2008 by Dan Taylor    30 Comments    Posted under: Technology

Are you the über cool one who bogarts other’s lighters, had the iPod before Steve Jobs, and knows just about every cool site on the internets?  Yeah me neither.  But what I do have is an excellent list of the Top 100 undiscovered sites of 2008 recently round up at PC Mag on my hands.

Not just a simple directory, editors really dug deep for some of these gems, and the results are outstanding.  I decided to give each one of these sites a fair go, and devoted a minimum of 20 minutes/site and then select a category winner.  Categories include: Apps and Services, Fun, Health and Science, Info, Search and Reference, Lifestyle, Money and Real Estate, Music, News, Photography, Shopping, Social Networking, Technology, and Travel and Maps.

Without further dieu….the winners please!

Apps and Services

pageonce.com

Here’s a really nice, all in one (er).  To sum it all up, pageonce will wrap an enigma inside a riddle inside a….no wait…that’s for another topic altogether.  Pageonce is a one stop shop to manage all your online profiles.  Feed it your info, and this baby will present you with your stock portfolio results, myspace updates, facebook pokes, and youtube subscription updates.  Oh, and it looks mighty slick on an iPhone as well.  Finally…I just saved at least 17.6 minutes of wasted office time with this baby.  Be that good or bad.

Fun

someecards.com

I’ve personally used this one before finding this collection, and it validated my cool factor (ok, I haven’t yet obtained über level, but I do get points for have the two dot umlaut over the u, no?).  We’ve all received the ecard from someone, or better yet, forgot her birthday with that “oh crap…i know…send an ecard,” moment.  Well now someecards will let you send just the right card for just the right occassion.

Health and Science

zocdoc.com

From a pure practical point of view, this might be the winner of the collection.  In NYC for business and need a doc asap?  Maybe you’ve moved out to the island and need to do the necessaries, including finding a new doctor.  Zocdoc to the rescue.  Using a mashup of google maps, zocdoc lets you search for doctors and dentists by insurance plan, location, or even available appointments.  Zocdoc also features user reviews of doctors.  While zocdoc only works in the greater New York metro area for now, here’s to hoping this brilliant idea spreads like the plague (Oh wait….plagues are bad….mmmmmkay?)

Info, Search and Reference

howtocleanstuff.net

If you know me, you know I like it clean (have I said too much?).  As George Carlin says said, “A house is nothing more than a place to keep your stuff,” and chances are, you’ve got stuff.  So why not keep it clean?  In addition to the standards of LCD screens, White wall tires, and golf balls, howtocleanstuff also has methods of de-skunking, both human and animal, and features perhaps the best post on the internets ever: How to Polish a Turd

Lifestyle

inhabitat.com

Ok, score another one on my cool chart, as I knew about this one as well.  To be fair, I can’t take credit on this one, as Brian has sent me a few links from here that truly boggled my mind.  Not only is inhabitat an outstanding example of what web design could and should look like, they stay true to the golden rule, and deliver fresh, relevant, and in depth coverage of all things ‘OMFG, r u srus?’.  I’m not even sure if you’re cool enough to read about what they write about here.  Go visit them.  Now.  Do it!

Money and Real Estate

stockhouse.com

First off, great URL (I can only wonder what they paid for it).  Stockhouse is for the pro investor AND the plain ol’ Joe that’s workin’ on gettin’ that boat when he retires.  It’s also an information source for the financial world.  The site functions as a quasi investment portal/social networking tool.  Users can track stock prices, swap trading tips and advice, and make connections with other investors for possible joint ventures.  Ah…the power of social networking…monetized (of sorts).

Music

songza.com

You can get music on the internets?  Ok, all kidding aside, music and video are two of the highest ranking search terms on the net today.  When wading through the mp3 sea, there are bound to be a few choppy waves, and certainly a tropical island unto it self.  Enter songza.com.  While last.fm will let you select an artist and then generate a related playlist, songza lets you narrow that search down one further and stream the actual song you want to hear (by that artist).  Legal?  Pssssshh….who knows, let’s not ask, eh?

News

orato.com

Ok…citizen journalism, nothing new to see here people, move along.  Unless of course, YOU wrote an artilce that got published on orato.com.  One of the better of it’s brand out there, orato covers a wide range of topics, and get outta town, some of them are actually f#&*ing awesome!

Photo

squareamerica.com

A rather difficult choice for me as my love of all things damn good lookin’ runs deep, but squareamerica struck a particualr chord.  Perhaps it’s my current fascination with Madmen, and the behind the scenes look at 1960 America, but squareamerica is the web/photographic equivalent.  Featuring mostly black and white photos of yesteryear, viewers are presented with an interesting cross section of times gone by.  Uncle George and Aunt Minnie on the boat, Clara opening that big present on christmas morning, and every so often, the Kodachrome splendor of Uncle Don’s shiny new car.  Squareamerica.com, go over to songza.com, pull up ‘Moon River’ and start flipping.

Shopping

gazelle.com

*cough* early adopters regret *cough*  Did you hear something?  For those people, unlike myself of course, that may be a bit trigger happy with the credit card when it comes to all things gadgety, I give you…gazelle.com.  Not that I would have any experience in the realm of bought it last month, and two months later they came out with the magnesium bodied one that has the remote lens feature, gazelle is a selling point for all your previous silicon wafer goodness.  Plunk in the make and model of said gadget, and you’ll bet a price quote on the spot (or rather almost instantly, as there is no real physical ‘spot’).  You’ll get a return box sent to you in the mail, pack it, ship it, call it sold.  Gazelle accepts cameras, laptops, mp3 players, mobile phone and much more.

Social Networking

sosauce.com

Is this thing on?  Social networking has been the largest growth sector of the….bla bla bla.  I know what you’re thinking, christ, another social networking site?  I’m ripping my hair out already.  I know, I know.  Calm down, and have some dip.  While sosauce IS a definate niche site, the concept and interactivity are outstanding.  Sosauce is a travel and photo enthusiasts dream come true.  If this had been around during my ‘tour’ days this would have been…then again, perhaps it’s better some of those pictures never see the light of day.  While most social networks are built on a profle-based mechanism, sosauce is clearly about showing off sharing your photos and travel experiences.  Users can interact with others, create travel plans together, schedule meet ups, and even play multiplayer games online together during ‘down time’ (read: flight delay)

Technology

ohgizmo.com

Technology and humor?  Get out.  No really, such a thing exists.  Technology is a huge field, and yeah, you’re probably thinking, Gizmodo v Techcrunch v Mashable v who gives a f#*(&?  Fair enough, with an overly saturated market of ‘gizmo’ blogs, just another entry wouldn’t break more wind than a fart in church.  But what about frontpage coverage about mp3 players devoted to Journey?  Or Louis Vuitton trash bags?  The KOR ONE hydration module (sounds alot like water bottle to me) is a must see!

Travel and Maps

everyscape.com

Google maps and Earth are hot shit.  No joke, they’re the industry standard in online mapping.  But what if you’re cool with where your hotel is, the street view looks nice, you’ve cross checked your room and counted floors in the pic, and pretty much know where your room will be?  You still have no idea what the hotel looks like on the inside (hotel website photos don’t count).  everyscape takes you right inside the building.  As with the Google project, lots of photogs are snapping shutters everywhere as the database begins to grow.  Let’s just hope they catch some of the silliness that Mountain View’s boys caught.

So there we have it.  Creme de la creme.  A great collection of 2008 up and comers.  Now stop reading this and get clicking above!

Browsers Profiled

Jul 25, 2008 by Dan Taylor    2 Comments    Posted under: Technology

It’s been missing for a while now, but I’ve deemed this image truly worthy of a Friday Just for Fun.

While this might appear a bit obscure with a touch of ‘huh?’ factor to the average viewer, that’s kinda the point.  Those that fall into the ‘huh’ category, see the ‘Newbie’ category.  For those of you out there that are power users, this will make complete sense….and then some.

Highlights include:

• MOAR FEATURES
• I’ve never found this browser unstable – never had a problem with it.
• Holds up nose and scoffs at foolish IE and FF fanboys.
• No, seriously, guys.  WTF is it?

So without further adieu…TurntheScrew proudly presents:

Browsers Profiled, as viewed by those of us that make fun of the rest of you:

George Carlin dead at 71

Jun 23, 2008 by Dan Taylor    3 Comments    Posted under: News

Shit, Piss, Fuck, Cunt, Cocksucker, Motherfucker and Tits

God damn it.  George Carlin is dead.  FEK!  Sadly friends, it’s true, George Carlin.  Dead.  I think we all knew this one was coming for a while now, but still…I’m sad even to see him go.  I had just watched Carlin on YouTube a few weeks back, and caught some of his more recent material, and I have to admit, he looked old.

Carlin was probably one of my most favorite comedians; right up there with Sam Kinison, Eddie Murphy, and Andrew Dice Clay.  I think the first time I saw Carlin was at a very young age, somewhere around age 6 or 7, in his classic Carnegie Hall performance.  Little did I know at the time that this funny guy was jacked up on all sorts of Cocaine, but hey…whatever it takes…the guy was hysterical.

Carlin died of heart failure yesterday at his home in Santa Monica, CA.  Being a comic in the 70′s and 80′s could not have been easy (or maybe too easy…as there seemed to be quite a lot of comic fodder to poke at), and Carlin did it, and did it well.  A little known fact, George Carlin was actually THE very first host of Saturday Night Live in 1975.  He’s also appeared in a number of infamous HBO specials, along with a score of films.  From what I’ve read, what I know, and what I’ve seen…while he certainly became the spokesperson for curmudgeons around the world, it seems to me that he had a rather eventful, interesting, and introspective life.

Those of us that knew you, those of us that listened to you, those of us that believed in you George….we will miss you. Rest well friend, you brought hope, joy, and an occasional pants pissing laughter to a number of generations.  We thank you!