Have to Have It Just to Have It
I often come across users who tell me they just have to have something in the software I am designing for them: some data or a report or an export. When I ask them how they use this requested item, or why they need it, they usually answer that they just have to have it. Sometimes, they even try to justify the request using the excuse that they have always had it, so they should continue to have it.
The people who love something are its best critics
I have been accused of being an Apple fan-something as if this was a bad thing, a blinkered delusional existence, a sign of mental degradation. I could come back that it is a Stockholm Syndrome like relationship that binds Windows users to Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook. Or declare that Linux-on-the-desktop users are hallucinating when they claim productivity and usability in a sea of incomprehensibly complex, buggy and mediocre open source software.
18 Months of Octopress
A lot of reviews are written by people who played with the product for a few hours and report their first impressions. This is all about a product I have been using for 18 months every day: Octopress, the blogging platform behind hiltmon.com. Before Octopress I consolidated to hiltmon.com from a series of sites based on Wordpress and a static site generated by RapidWeaver. The Wordpress sites drove me crazy. Wordpress itself was (and still is) buggy, inexplicably complicated and slow to render.
Add GA OS and Browser to Status Board
Google has finally deprecated their GAPI interface which this used to talk to Google Analytics, sorry folks, it will no longer work. See the New Google Analytics for Status Board Server Edition for an updated version. Reader Brandon Cozart (@brandoncozart) asked if it were possible to add Browser and OS statistics to the Google Analytics for Status Board scripts. So I gave it a shot. Update: Download again if you use these scripts, a null value bug and sorting bugs have been fixed.
My TextMate 2 Setup
I switched back to TextMate 2 from Sublime Text 2 full time a while back and I am really happy with the way I have it looking and working. My “My Sublime Text 2 Setup” post is quite popular, so I though I’d create the same for TextMate 2.
Hourly Analytics for Status Board
Google has finally deprecated their GAPI interface which this used to talk to Google Analytics, sorry folks, it will no longer work. See the New Google Analytics for Status Board Server Edition for an updated version. Following up last week’s Google Analytics for Status Board graph and Top Pages table on Status Board, a reader asked for hourly stats instead of daily, so I created it (see the bottom-right graph).
Natsukashii - iPulse Sighting
Natsukashii (懐かしい) is a Japanese word for “feeling nostalgic” or “with fond memories”. I happened to click on a Mike Zornek (@zorn) link today and noticed that he is still running iPulse on his desktop. I used to run it back in the early days of OS X on my Titanium Powerbook. Back then, I had already returned to the Mac. But in 2003 or so, OS X was still very buggy and slow.
Top Pages in Status Board
Google has finally deprecated their GAPI interface which this used to talk to Google Analytics, sorry folks, it will no longer work. See the New Google Analytics for Status Board Server Edition for an updated version. Following up this morning’s Google Analytics for Status Board graph on Status Board, I also wanted a top pages for today view for Hiltmon.com. See also Hourly Stats and OS and Browser Stats. The steps are all the same as Google Analytics for Status Board, so follow along, only replace those script and the launcher files with these.
Google Analytics for Status Board
Google has finally deprecated their GAPI interface which this used to talk to Google Analytics, sorry folks, it will no longer work. See the New Google Analytics for Status Board Server Edition for an updated version. I wanted to see the 7-day Hiltmon.com web stats from Google Analytics on Panic’s new Status Board app. Here is how I got it to work. Update: For a far simpler install that runs on your web server using PHP, see Google Analytics for Status Board Server Edition.
Google Already Is Big Brother
You can, and probably already do, most of these without paying any money (in no particular order): Use Google’s browser Chrome to visit web pages, which tell Google Analytics what you did Find information using Google Search, which tracks and saves your searches, search attempts and selections; with the results customized by Google’s model of you Jump to your favorite sites using a Google Toolbar extension or built-in search that checks each site you visit Send and receive all your personal email via Gmail (and probably work emails too), analyzed and filtered by Postini Find out whats going on (and should be going on) in your life and around you using Google Now Chat with others on Google Talk Schedule your life in Google Calendar Maintain your relationships and connections in Google Contacts Socialize via Google+ and participate in Google Groups Use Google Maps for locating yourself and getting around Check in with Google Latitude Use a Google phone (Android) for mobile calls, using a Motorola or Nexus handset Call internationally using Google Voice Read the news via Google News and get your feeds via Feedburner Watch TV and other Video on YouTube Read books from Google Books Listen to tunes from Google Play Find a restaurant using Zagat Plan you next vacation on Frommers Log in to other services using your Google ID and OAuth Save and share your personal photos on Picasa Purchase stuff via Google Shopper using Google Wallet Save your files on Google Drive Track your shares and investments on Google Finance Click on ads served by Google, DoubleClick, AdMob, AdMeld, Teracent, and AdScape Create, edit and collaborate using Google Apps Write your blog on Blogger Save your code on Google code Access the internet over Google fiber (OK, so this costs some money) And then there’s bookmarks, offers, iGoogle, translation, alerts and scholar.