My Failing Mac Experiment

Recently I migrated from a PC to a Mac. As part of the experiment, I wanted to use the client side apps written for the Mac (Address Books, iCal, Mail.) Today I just got rid of Mail. Not in favor of some other client program but in favor of Gmail. The primary problem was that I want to archive mail. As far as I can tell (and as far as I can google), there is no way to archive mail from Mail. I can read mail. I can delete mail. That's it. The ability for Mail to tell Gmail to archive a message is non-existent. If someone can tell me how to do this, please let me know.

I really would love to keep using Mail because I now have two problems.

Problem 1: I use Omnifocus to organize my tasks. This means that I need an easy way to copy mail from gmail to Omnifocus. It also means that when I get around to dealing with the mail, I probably need to pull up the original email in gmail. Both of these tasks are doable but Omnifocus has a tight integration with Mail. Going back and forth between gmail and Omnifocus is less efficient. This probably means I need another gtd that integrates with gmail but is not part of gmail. I don't think such a tool exist right now. :-(

Problem 2:Calendar invites that I get through gmail are not interpreted correctly in google calendar. This is very frustrating. I now have to manually enter in calendar invites until this get fixed by google.

If anyone on the Interweb has any suggestions to solve these problems, please let me know.

Thanks!

Update: Paul Paradise showed me the error of my ways (see comment thread). Mail.app is back for now.

Video Video Everywhere

Today I am guest-working at the downtown Los Angeles offices of The Groop. I wanted to spend an hour catching up on my "reading" and found that it was not possible. Much to my surprise, more than half of the articles I was supposed to "read" contained video.

Normally I would just plug in my headphones and consume the media in my rss inbox. However yesterday while sleep walking through LAX, I managed to step on my headphones. Not having headphones forced me to notice: A year ago this would not have been a problem. I year ago I was consuming text. Maybe I didn't even have an RSS reader. When did I start consuming so much video?

I am not complaining. I think video is a very useful medium for communicating information. I am just surprised that video has become such a substantial portion of my information mix.

Maybe I should post this on Seesmic. ;-)

Star Trek, Twilight Zone, other classics beamed onto 'Net

Star Trek, Twilight Zone, other classics beamed onto 'Net: "

CBS has begun streaming episodes of Star Trek, The Twilight Zone, and other classic shows on its Audience Network site.

Read More...

"

(Via Ars Technica.)

My First Seesmic Post

Stage6!

Check out Stage6. My friend Kevin Workman just turned me on to it. The video quality is stunning!

Polaroid no longer does Polaroids

Is this bumming anyone else out?

Polaroid no longer does Polaroids: "

Filed under: Digital Cameras

Well doesn't OutKast look silly now. The brand synonymous with instant film is killing off the Polaroid film format and attempting to reinvent the brand so it 'lives on for the next 30 to 40 years.' In the short term that means closing factories in Massachusetts, Mexico and the Netherlands, cutting 450 jobs, and breaking the hearts of hipster-photographers the world over. Obviously the concept of Polaroids was never going to be much more than a niche in the age of digital photos, and the Polaroid / Zink Digital Instant Mobile Photo Printer is filling the instant development void left behind, but it's still sad to see a format with so much history and fond memories die, especially since Polaroid spends the majority of its time these days slapping its de-valued logo onto rubbish commodity electronics.

'

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

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"

(Via Engadget.)

Testing Reposting via MarsEdit

Well that was fun. I just reposted a blog entry from Brad Feld. I read all my news in NewsGator's NetNewsWire. The latest version has a "Post to Weblog" button that lets you republish articles via MarsEdit "Powerful Blog Publishing For Your Mac."

It was easy and simple.

I love it when technology works.

When Is The Release?

When Is The Release?: "

A company I have a small investment in has been struggling to get the most recent version of their software shipped. A few weeks ago I ran into the CEO who grabbed me and said 'we are almost ready to go live.' I looked at him and said 'when is the release.' His answer was 'Friday.'

I gave him a Bronx cheer and said 'when on Friday?' He looked at me like I was an alien. I clarified - do you mean '12:01am on Friday, 4:59pm on Friday, or 11:59pm on Friday.' I then clarified some more: 'and I mean in Mountain time.' We agreed that 11:59pm on Friday was a good time (which they missed, but they got it out a few days later.)

At my first company (Feld Technologies), our client base got to the point where we were often doing multiple releases of different software on a weekly basis (we were a custom software company but used a very traditional software engineering approach to our projects.) For a long time, we used dates to mark releases (e.g. 'Friday.') After way too many 11:59pm releases (where our clients definitely were not sticking around the office to wait for us) and missed Fedex deadlines (this was back when you had to Fedex the disks to the clients in another state because modems were too slow to transmit the files), we learned that a release has both a date and a time. We also learned that the external release is - at the minimum - date + 1 of the 'internal release' especially on systems with live data. We also learned that the only appropriate days of the week for a release are Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday. I'll let you guess as to why this is.

As I work with new startups and first time entrepreneurs, I see people learning this lesson over and over again. I think it's just going to be part of the endless education of new software entrepreneurs that you never really learn until you are in the real world.

"

(Via Feld Thoughts.)

Rock On!

I spent hours yesterday playing Rock Band with a group of friends. What an amazing experience. I wrote about it on Fanista here. At the risk of repeating myself, I was struck by how the behavior that the game encourages is the antithesis of most game experiences. In my limited time playing games, I have found that the most popular variety is the first person shooter. It's a solitary experience where the goal is to kill things with guns. Sure there are pretty graphics, fancy explosions and scary monsters but most games seem to boil down to killing things with guns. Enter Rock Band. In this game, you and a group of friends get to start a band and live the dream by working hard to become a rock star. I had a room of five people - three guys and two gals, musicians and non-musicians in there 20s or 40s all playing this game together... for hours. I really don't think I have experienced anything like this before. It was so social, challenging, rewarding, exhausting and we didn't kill anything.

Hats off to Eran Egozy and Alex Rigopulos - the co-founders of Harmonix. And to Brad Feld, my fraternity brother who had the good sense to help them raise money back in the 90s. (Eran is also in my Fraternity but did not live in the house at the same time.)

They have created an game that lets non-musicians experience what it is like to be musician and live in the world of rock. Well done!

Candle Delirium Wins Best of LA!

I am please to announce that my partner Anthony Carro's store Candle Delirium has been named "LA's Best Candle Store for 2007" by Los Angeles Magazine.

If you like candle's or want to buy a gift for a candle lover, check out Candle Delirium's website or visit the store in West Hollywood California on 7980 Santa Monica Boulevard.

Congratulations Anthony!

Mom’s Got a New Blog

My mom has started a new blog titled 'Writings from the "Holler" with no name'. Though I am biased, she is surely one of the best bloggers alive today. Seriously, I enjoyed her latest entry 'mixed blood identity and agency'. The piece explores reasons for testing one's limits and mankind's reaction's to those who push the limits. If you want a bit of inspiration for your day, go read the article.

Mom - Welcome to the blogroll!

Listen to PodCast From Your Phone

Finally something useful to do in LA Traffic!!!

(from TechCrunch Article - http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/11/12/listen-to-podcasts-on-any-phone/

Reposted without permission)

Podlinez

Podlinez is a dead simple service that launched a few days ago. Go to the site and search for a podcast. If it’s already there, you can look up a dedicated phone number for that podcast. If the podcast is not included, anyone can add it and a dedicated phone line is associated with the podcast. To listen to the most recent episode of TalkCrunch, for example, just dial +1 (831) 480-3920 and listen. I assume the company will ad advertising to the site and to recordings at some point to generate revenue.

Fonpods

Fonpods, which is currently a TechCrunch sponsor, launched at DEMO in September 2006. It is similar to Podlinez, but has a single phone number for accessing all podcasts, +1 (712) 432-3030. Users can call that phone number (no registration required) and listen to pre-selected content in a number of categories. Registered users can also subscribe to podcasts and access that specific content if they call in from a phone that they’ve registered with the service. Fonpods also has detailed information about each podcast (TalkCrunch information page is here, for example). These podcasts can be added to a user listening list with a single click.

Even though Podlinez and Fonpods are similar services, they are both useful for different things. Podlinez, with it’s dedicated phone number for each podcast, is a good way to “subscribe” to a single podcast and listen whenever new episodes are released. It requires no registration and has zero setup time. Just call the number and listen. Fonpods requires registration and basic setup to subscribe to favorite podcasts, but is a good solution for people who listen to a wide variety of podcasts and want access from a phone.

BabelChat - Why hasn’t someone done this?

Why hasn't anyone created a chat client that translates between languages? All of the technology to do this exist *right now*. We have translating software on the web (e.g. AltaVista's BabelFish, and Google's Language Tools). We have any number of chat clients that support plug-ins (e.g. trillian, jabber). I'm surprised that all chat clients don't come with translate setting that will translate between two languages on the fly. It seems so obvious and beneficial.

Update 02-12-2006

This entry was posted on LazyWeb today (thanks Jim). I'm looking forward to comments.

I had fun discussing this post with Brad Rubenstein on his blog Odd Quanta.

Update 02-20-2006

I'm please to report that the Trillian plug-in suggested by jacob harvey has been very useful. I tried it out on a native spanish speaker who speaks english. At first he spoke to me in english but then switched to spanish. We had a good 30 minute chat with the translators help. I'm looking forward to using the translator with his mom - who does not speak english. Thanks to Jacob for pointing me in the direction of the translator.

Update 02-28-2006
A commentor suggested another translator at http://www.mecamessenger.com/translations.jsp

57 Hours

It took me 57 hours to get from Los Angeles to Cape Town South Africa. Yet it feels like I have not left home. I left my home in LA at 11am on Monday the 26th. Flew to Washington DC and slept about 5 hours in the Dulles Hilton. Boarded South African Airways in the morning, flew to Ghana West Africa then to Johannesburg. Went through customs, boarded a new plane and landed in Cape Town. Rented a car. Drove to our condo in the neighborhood of Clifton. Having only been here for a day, I can’t escape the feeling that I have not left home.

So much seems the same. I’m in a beach town that seems to be a close cousin to San Diego. The plants, quality of light, color of the buildings. I feel like I’m on the coast of California! My impression was only strengthened by the fact that the owner of the condo is off to San Diego for her son’s wedding. Her daughter works in New York as a yoga instructor.

The condo has a great view of the beach. The deck furniture is identical to what I have at home. The walls and furniture are done in tasteful earth tones – right out of a crate and barrel catalog. The insect that landed on my computer screen looks like it came from my back yard.

This morning I took a walk to the beach. All the houses have ADT security signs – just like in Los Angeles. Joggers and cyclist were on the street wearing colorful spandex attire. One gentleman wore a US post office t-shirt another an equinox gym shirt. The cars were the usual: Audi, Mercedes and Toyota. The bougainvillea, prickly pear cactus and palm trees – the same. I did see an unusual looking bird. A local couple informed me that it was a guinea fowl. Then the conversation turned to other things – their children in New York, this morning’s new coverage of the consumer electronics show in Las Vegas. Trippy.

I’m not saying that there isn’t an enormous amount of differences between Cape Town and the US. I just haven’t experienced any of it yet. And there is something very odd about traveling 57 miles to a place were you wake up and have Kellogg’s Honey Nut All-Bran and OJ spiked with sugar free Red Bull for breakfast.

Entertainment in the Singularity

I think entertainment is going to get very interesting.

Ray Kurzweil predicts that we will have nanobots in our brain connected to the internet that will allow us to be submerged in virtual reality worlds. For your Star Trek NG fans out there, this would allow us to create holodeck type entertainment scenarios.

Here is the added twist – while you are going through your entertainment scenarios, an AI can be tracking your responses and modulating the experience of the characters around you appropriately.

Let’s say you are recreating the scene from Who Framed Roger Rabbit, when the detective Eddie Valiant goes in the club in toon town where Jessica Rabbit performs.

In this holodeck scenario, you would be the Eddie Valiant character. Depending on what emotions you are feeling – the gorilla doorman might pick you up – or not. Depends on how scared you are. In fact, he could pick you up and growl at your for just the right amount of time to get the desired reaction. If you are over 18, the experience you have with Jessica Rabbit might be very different than if you are a child. The important point here is that the framework for the entertainment will be the same, but your interaction with the characters will be tailor to your demographics, pyschographics and real-time reactions – in a way that is not yet possible. I think this will allow for a level of emotional depth and a richness of experience that we currently only get from time to time when our mood and the movie we are watching sync up. I for one am looking forward to it.

Kurzweil does it again

Sometimes, I find Ray Kurzweil's predictions disturbingly accurate.
The Age of Spiritual Machines states that by the close of this decade (2010) that computers will be completed embedded in our clothing.
When I read this 1999, I was rather skeptical.

Checkout Eleksen. They make “Smart Fabric” – Conducative, washable fabric for integrating computing devices into your clothing. And they aren’t some fringe company. They are partnering with major companies like Logitech, Innovative Sports, O’Neill, and Spyder.

Holiday WishList

With all of this fuss about the future, what am I really interested in getting out of it and when do I think I will get it?

What: Generic Propecia
Why: Save Money!
When: June 2006

What: Universal Bluetooth Headphones
Why: Looking for one headset to mediate my audio input and interface with all of my devices
When: ??

What: Melanotan
Why: Causes body to tan without the sun. Protects against skin cancer. Looks great!
When: ?? The Australian company that is bringing this to market is taking forever.

What: Fat Insulin Receptor Gene Blocker
Why: Eat as much as you want without gaining weight. Live 20-25% longer
When: ?? Anyone want to ask Ray Kurzweil

What: Retinal Display
Why: Supports augemented reality. Would improve telepresence and enable memory assistants
When: ??

Dharamsala

Long before I had this website, I took a trip to Dharamsala India.

Hello world!

We are half way through the first decade of the new millenium. Its time for me make a real website.

Good Interview with Robert Freitas

Just read a very interesting interview with Robert Freitas.
Enjoy part one and part two