mindplunge

Microsoft got their mojo back

Despite being a heavy Mac user I’m thrilled to see MS newest projects. My main search engine is still Google but I really enjoy Bing. The search results give me more angles to explore and graphically is simply looks better. Too bad the SERP’s are not up to par with Google’s.

This morning I was blown away by the Microsoft Courier. It just looks amazing! I totally can see me using one of these in the process of designing websites! The courier is an electronic sketchbook with endless possibilities. I don’t think it’s fair to compare the Courier with the iPad but I’m leaning more towards the Courier.

The Apple iPad

Today Apple finally revealed it’s Tablet. After months (even years) of speculation about this product, Steve Jobs presented the new mobile device. The Apple iPad. Here’s my two cents…

I’m a big fan of Apple products. I love the iMacs and iPods. I’ve been a Mac user for over 20 years and I was excited about this new product. My excitement was toned down a bit this afternoon as more information became available about the iPad. Some (missing) features that got me concerned:

• No multitasking
• No flash
• No camera
• No USB ports

Multitasking is a big thing for me. It’s a big let down if you can’t run two or more applications at the same time. No support for flash… Lots of content these days on the internet are flash based. Even in Steve’s demo you would see ugly white space with the missing plug-in icon. Hmm… A camera would be nice. I guess iChat is a no no on the iPad. No USB ports(?). It sounds like a pretty closed system and I can see the idea behind it but this could mean you are losing a lot of potential buyers.

I’m sure the web browsing on the iPad is phenomenal, much better than browsing on a netbook. The Calendar app really looked useful. So did the email app and the photos app. Again, the experience of these apps will be much better compared to a netbook.

I really wish it had a watered down (snow) Leopard OS. The iPad is basically an iPod touch on steroids. I guess when it comes out by the end of March I should test drive it. It still looks like an awesome gadget but I have my doubts when it comes to using the iPad as a productivity tool…

Back to the Basics… Modern Clix WP Theme

The loading speed of this website was just horrible. Having a ton of plug-ins, heavy javascript and automated installed it is asking for trouble. I’m giving up on the looks, bells and whistles. It’s back to basic! Simple layout, no fuzz, lot’s of white space and some nice fonts. Mindplunge converted to the Modern Clix WordPress theme. Just what I was looking for. I simply don’t have the time to develop my own WP theme again so why not use a free theme!

Rodrigo Galindez is a talented designer and his  Modern Clix WP Theme is beautiful. Over the next few days I will trick it out a bit but the delivered framework is and will be the work of Rodrigo. Well done!

Pretty Loaded

Once upon a time, in a land of sputtering dial-up connections, websites took ages to load. Folks yearned for the 100% mark. But as soon as that figure arrived, the beloved (or bemoaned) preloader disappeared, never to be seen or heard from again. Until now.

Pretty Loaded is an archive of preloaders that preload other preloaders… which in turn reveal yet more preloaders. Copy that? It’s a tribute to a vanishing art form amid a constantly changing digital landscape.

The infinite loader is being put together with help from friends across the interactive community. Pretty Loaded is created and curated by Big Spaceship.

(via Witold Riedel)

Personal Branding

Finally! After several years I now own the domain richardlemon.com. When I tried to register this domain 3 years ago it already was taken by a realtor in Florida sharing both my first and last name. The most annoying part was that he didn’t use this domain for years.

Two months ago I noticed his renewal was coming up and I was praying he didn’t have the auto-renewal turned on. He didn’t! After the domain expired it went into a grace period and I was able to bid on the domain. His last opportunity to renew the domain past as well and here we are. My brand new domain name.

I tried to transfer the domain to my current host Media Temple but since the domain has a new registrar I have to wait 60 days before I can transfer it. Currently it’s parked at GoDaddy and I could sign up for a hosting service. I rather have all my domains under 1 roof so Media Temple is the clear choice. Other then this Media Temple is also one heck of a host! I’ve been with them for over 5 years and their service is just outstanding. Great costumer service and there tools are phenomenal.

I’m using their Grid Server (gs):

• 100GB premium storage
• 1TB network transfer
• Host up to 100 domains
• 1000 email accounts
• Clustered architecture
• Rails & Django Containers
• MySQL SmartPool v.2
• FREE Urchin Analytics

More about Media Temple’s Grid Server

I guess I have to get started on designing my personal site pretty soon! Can’t wait to show it to you all.