Defending the Paint

It is my pleasure to share this TW Walsh track that I have been in love with for years and that has just now made it's way to Bandcamp and vinyl. Right in time for March Madness.

Marilyn

Just Natasha Khan, her telecaster, and some subtle percussion. Raw and wonderful. I think my favorite thing about this video is that the vocals are so clear and I no longer think she's singing "Ponyboy, you're touching the stars." Hey, if she sung a song about a Ralph Machio movie character (Daniel), who is to say she wouldn't do the same for a C. Thomas Howell character?

VHS Dreams

I miss these guys. ISO50 has a gallery.

It's Not Dead... Yet

Part of learning to focus is learning how to shut things down. Google has done well at that — but I'm surprised that Google Reader hasn't been shut down yet. Better a clean shut-down than an ungraceful end.

I believe the rumors of Google Reader's impending demise may be a bit premature. The sync issues were fixed, and I haven't seen any evidence that this is a common thing for the service.

The Case Against iCloud

Brent Simmons lays out the case against iCloud.

There are three things Apple could have done:

1. Not provided a syncing system.

2. Provided a syncing system.

3. Provided a syncing system that doesn’t work.

Of all the options, #3 is the worst, because it leads developers down a bad path, and because it makes users expect developers to use that syncing system.

Totally agreed. I’ve had such spotty results from iCloud, that I’m dropping it altogether for everything except native Apple apps, such as Reminders. It’s really third party developers, such as Dropbox, that make the Apple ecosystem viable to any sort of power user.

The Kitten Covers

The Kitten Covers has iconic album covers modified in the cutest of ways.