May 2013
1 post
5 tags
October 2012
1 post
7 tags
July 2012
2 posts
2 tags
Hardware vs Knowledge
A few weeks ago I was watching the keynote at the Google IO. They were demoing Google Now. This is where they took all of the little pieces of data they knew about you – like where you lived, where you worked, what topics you searched for – and started actually making that stuff useful. For example, Google Now knows how long your commute is and gives you an alternate route when you walk out the...
April 2012
1 post
2 tags
Why Read It Later/Pocket Went Free
Today we launched a brand new version of Read It Later (now named Pocket). As a part of this update we have made all of our apps free.
This is a big change to how we’ve operated in the past and I wanted to give some more insight into the decision. Personally, I always like to know how the services I love make money because quite simply: I want to know they will stick around.
I understand...
March 2012
1 post
2 tags
January 2012
7 posts
3 tags
http://readitlaterlist.com/blog/2012/01/what-device... →
Who says Android users don’t pay?
“The entrepreneur’s dilemma: Maintaining friendships. Building a great company. Spending time w/family. Staying fit. Getting sleep. Pick 3.”
@RandiZuckerberg
3 seems generous.
2 tags
@ReadItLaterTop →
@ReadItLaterTop, a curated feed of Read It Later’s most popular stories, videos, images and more.
“We should invent a new English word to describe the mixed feeling of relief and...”
– Max, our Android developer, after resolving a bug.
2 tags
Shifting reading habits boost Read It Later in... →
Had the pleasure of meeting Om a few weeks ago. Great conversation. Great guy. Honored to have him write about us.
4 tags
5 tags
Export Wordpress to Tumblr →
Well I finally made the switch. After ignoring my old (Wordpress) blog for 2 years I decided to make the move to Tumblr.
I didn’t want to lose all of my previous content but for some reason it was rather difficult to find a solid way to import my old Wordpress content into Tumblr.
The best I found was dhawalhshah’s project on GitHub.
After making a few quick tweaks, I was rolling on...
December 2011
1 post
3 tags
October 2011
2 posts
3 tags
4 tags
September 2011
1 post
3 tags
August 2011
1 post
4 tags
September 2010
2 posts
4 tags
A Few Words on the App Store
There are two articles on major publications covering Apple’s release of new guidelines this morning that quote me/Read It Later (one on the BBC and one on AP).
As both articles mention Read It Later’s recent rejection and my response to it, it does imply that I have a negative view towards the app store. (No fault to the writers of these articles, they only have so much space).
I...
4 tags
August 2010
1 post
3 tags
WatchFirst Run with Timelapse Dolly Prototype
This past weekend I built a DIY time-lapse dolly. Here’s an edit containing all of the tests I took while working on it. Still some smoothness/operator-error issues to work out but I’m really excited about the potential.
July 2010
1 post
5 tags
ShareKit
Overview
ShareKit is an open source framework that can be dropped into any iPhone or iPad app to instantly add full sharing capabilities.
How It Works
Integration is super easy.
A developer can take a url, image, piece of text, or file and just say “hey ShareKit, share this”. ShareKit will present the user with a list of services that support the content they are sharing, handle...
May 2010
1 post
On Instapaper
As Marco has opened up on the matter, I think it would only be fair to do the same.
Instapaper is a competitor to Read It Later. It launched as a web app few months after I launched my Firefox extension.
If you’ve ever spoken with me about Instapaper, you know that I do not consider Instapaper a competitor. While we certainly attempt to solve the same goal, we take completely two...
March 2010
2 posts
1 tag
Apple's iPad Video Walkthroughs
Apple has posted a number of videos that walk through each of the default apps for the iPad (via Macstories). They are worth a watch. Being able to see the iPad in action reveals a number of little details.
A nice touch in Safari, when you tap the location bar to start typing, a bookmark bar (like in desktop Safari) pulls down.
The Safari video also answers one question I had long...
3 tags
Apple Accepting iPad Apps Before We Have iPads
Of all the possible scenarios we (developers) considered for exactly how Apple planned to roll out iPad apps with the release of the iPad, this was the one I dreaded the most.
Apple is now accepting iPad applications to the review process. If you submit before March 27th, you may be included in the grand opening of the iPad App Store.
The only problem? No one has an iPad yet and won’t...
February 2010
1 post
2 tags
iNeedAShorterName
I really wish someone (probably Apple) would standardize a way to describe iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad apps in one word.
When you talk about apps for other devices you simply say: it’s an Android app, Blackberry app, Mac or Windows app. You do not have to specifically list all of the devices that the application works on.
You could simply say ‘iPhone (OS) app’, but because this...
January 2010
1 post
3 tags
The iPad: It wasn't created for us.
I’ve had some time to think about today’s release from Apple, the iPad. I’m finding that the more I think about it, the more disappointed I am. But I know why: The iPad was not created for us (and by us I mean the tech crowd).
Take a look at today’s release. Remove all of the changes to the software and the new iWork/iBook products. If you look solely at the hardware...
November 2009
1 post
3 tags
In Defense of the App Store Review Process
Trust me, I know how badly the App Store’s review process can burn you (*Ahem*). In fact, while I’m on the verge of trying to push out Read It Later 2.0 as the busier holiday season approaches, I’m expecting even more frustration.
Since Joe Hewitt quit the iPhone platform, a strong discussion has emerged and a lot of good ideas have been surfaced. However, one bad idea that...
October 2009
3 posts
3 tags
Going All In
Today, I am taking on Read It Later, iPhone development and Idea Shower projects full-time.
Two years ago, I worked for a small web design agency in the Twin Cities and on one random night after work I built a little project. A few months later I decided that I really liked making these little projects and made the call to leave my job and focus more time on my projects while doing contract...
2 tags
Credit Card Receipt Preferences
As I watch the receipt start printing, I always have the same thought in the checkout lane: “Why?”
That piece of paper the clerk is about to hand me is going to get shoved into my pocket and is going to end up god knows where. My desk, in my mail stack, in the lint trap, or discovered next winter when I pull my jacket from the closet again. No matter it’s destination, it will...
3 tags
Try It Button in the App Store
In the app store, it is very common to find that paid apps have an accompanying free or lite version. It’s a great way to let users get a taste of an application or game without having to blindly purchase it.
It’s so common that often when I’m browsing through the store and I find a game or an application that looks interesting, I’ll open up the search tab and look to...
September 2009
1 post
3 tags
One Touch Rotation Lock on the iPhone
One feature I get a lot of comments about in Read It Later Pro is the one touch rotation lock. When the user rotates their phone, it displays a lock icon for a brief second. If the user taps the lock, they can lock the rotation of the device so the view does not change. This is so much easier/faster than making a user go back out to the options screen and setting a toggle.
Since a lot of users...
August 2009
4 posts
5 tags
iPhone Developers: Prepare Featured Artwork Ahead...
If you are an iPhone developer, I’d highly recommend preparing Featured Artwork files ahead of time. If Apple contacted you and wanted to feature your app, would you want anything to stand in the way of that happening?
I received a brief email from Apple in early in August requesting artwork for a ‘potential marketing opportunity’. The opportunity turned out to be Read It...
2 tags
Invaluable Travel Tool: OffMaps - Offline Maps and...
During my trip to Japan, I used one of the most helpful iPhone applications I’ve downloaded yet.
Offmaps, in essence, is the iPhone’s native Google Maps application, that’s usable offline. This means you can still use GPS on your phone to get around a foreign town without incurring insane international data roaming costs.
There were multiple occasions while walking around...
2 tags
Reverse Tethering
During my trip to Japan, I only had access to hard LAN connections (no WIFI). This meant that I could not connect my iPhone without using the expensive data connection.
That was until I realized I could use my laptop to setup reverse tethering. Meaning, I could use laptop’s internet connection through my iPhone.
The process could not be easier (on a Mac):
Make sure Airport (wireless) is...
4 tags
4 Earthquakes, 1 Tsunami, My Laptop, and Me: Two...
Fushimi Inari Shrine
When your job does not tie you to one place, there exists the romantic possibility of breaking off the concrete and setting off wandering the globe. The idea of traveling around the world, working from my laptop is a thought that I’ve always entertained but never executed. Simply because as time has gone on, I’ve learned that a job is not the only thing holding...
June 2009
1 post
3 tags
How to Make Simple Cross-Domain Ajax Requests With...
For Read It Later for the iPhone, I built a ‘Tap to Save’ bookmarklet for Mobile Safari. When using Tap to Save, instead of opening a link when clicked, the link is saved to a user’s reading list. This makes it easy to save a few links from a web page without having to open each one individually.
The problem I came across however was I could not do an ajax request to send the...
April 2009
1 post
3 tags
Read It Later iPhone App Released
I am very excited to announce that Read It Later has come to the iPhone and iPod Touch and is now available in the App Store. » Get the Details
90 Second Demo Video
December 2008
1 post
LiftSift
View Prices of lift tickets at mountains/hills worldwide.
Filter based on price, vertical, distance and other factors
Sort based on many factors
Community Editable Prices and resort information is fully editable by the community.
Overview
LiftSift is a light-weight tool made to discover a user’s perfect skiing destination based lift-ticket price, vertical, distance, and a number of...
October 2008
1 post
2 tags
Read It Later 0.99 Released
Sort By Quality with PostRank
Read It Later is a great tool for saving things to read later, but now it’s great for helping you actually READ those pages too! By sorting your list by PostRank (from AideRss), you can quickly find what’s worth a read and start with your best content first.
Google Reader Integration
If you use Google Reader to manage your RSS feeds, you’ll now...
September 2008
2 posts
4 tags
Override Wordpress Htaccess with Custom Rewrite...
I was working on a client project that used Wordpress as it’s main method for content management. In addition to Wordpress, it had a seperate admin/member area hosted on the same domain. In this member area I had implemented several uses of Mod Rewrite to make cleaner urls.
However, when Wordpress was installed it’s htaccess rules took over request, no matter what I had entered and...
6 tags
How to Block Email From a Specific Address on a...
While working on a client project that had a mass member email function, I needed a way to test the system exactly as it would run in production. This meant, when it ran, it would send emails to all of the members in the directory instead of a test email address. The only problem was I didn’t want to send test emails out to the thousands of members in the directory.
So I wanted a way have...
August 2008
3 posts
3 tags
Read It Later Wins Mozilla's Extend Firefox...
On August 2nd 2007, just over a year ago, I walked through a little tutorial on how to make a Firefox Extension. It was that night I started working on an idea of mine, Read It Later.
I ‘released’ Read It Later a few days later on the 6th. I say ‘released’ because all I did was send it to a few friends and put an entry for it on my website, which was getting about 6...
2 tags
Find the Files/Folders Taking Up the Most Space in...
If you’re logged into your server and trying to pin down what folders are taking up the most space on your hard drive, there are simple commands to compile an organized list.
First, to see the disk space usage of your drives and partition, run:
df
This will output a list of all drives/partitions on your system, the size, usage and percent used.
If you’d like to see all of the folders...
2 tags
Quick Way to Help Optimize Mysql Databases
The Analyse procedure built into MySql can give you a wealth of information about your database tables, making it easy to find tables that can be tightened up.
If you query:
SELECT * FROM table_name PROCEDURE ANALYSE()
You’ll get a result back with the minimum/maximum value, minimum/maximum length, number of empty or zero strings, number of nulls, the average value/length, the standard...
July 2008
3 posts
4 tags
Another Batch of Read It Later Updates!
Make a Suggestion!
As you can see (by the users listed below who made each implemented suggestion), I take user suggestions very seriously.
If you have an idea on how to improve Read It Later (big or small), please let me know!
The Big Ones:
Online Access - Manage your list online, in any browser or mobile device. In Safari, Internet Explorer, or an iPhone. Click the ‘Access...
4 tags
Layer XUL Elements/Images/Backgrounds in Firefox 3...
While working on the Read It Later Firefox Extension, I wanted a way to layer multiple background images on a toolbar button so I could create a nice looking notification indicator like on the iPhone. (Note I opt-ed later to use a simpler look, but this method might still be helpful for other applications).
In order to make this work you’ll need to familarize yourself with XBL and XUL...
4 tags
Replace Standard Menupop in XUL
I came across a time I needed to open a different element then a standard popup menu when clicking the dropdown selector on a toolbar button. I wanted to open a panel instead. To open a different element and hide the popup you can do something similar to this:
<toolbarbutton type=”menu-button”>
<menupopup...
June 2008
2 posts
2 tags
Read It Later for Firefox 3 Released!
The new version of Read It Later with Firefox 3 support is now available!
Read It Later has been completely revamped and hosts a whole new bundle of features including built-in RSS feeds, syncing, offline reading, tagging, multi-language support and more.
You can read all about the new features and get a fresh copy on Read It Later’s project page.
Here is the original demo updated to show...
Idea Shower and Services Downtime
As some of you may or may not know, one of The Planet’s datacenters had a transformer explode, knocking out power to thousands of servers and websites.
The Idea Shower’s servers were among the lucky bunch.
I’ve moved the site onto a temporary server but some sites may be slow and may not be fully function until tomorrow.
Stay tuned.
