Curtis Bridges

Google+ enabled! So far, I find this very interesting in concept, it will be even more interesting if/when more of my actual social circle joins. Here are my initial thoughts, good, bad and waiting for... The Good The interface: This is the best of webapp interfaces (for the most part) from a look and feel perspective. The user experience also looks to be much more refined than typical utilitarian Google services. Integration: Works well with all the Google apps, I like how it has the feel of a "Dashboard" of sorts with its positioning on the Google "Toolbar" that has now shown up for Google services. Having your chat contacts shown in the chat widget, email contacts available to drag into Circles, and major media personalities also prominently displayed Twitter-style is very good. Hangout: Not only a good "chat room" alternative, by far the best multiple party video chart service of its kind. The Bad Some activities aren't immediat...

I'm hoping the Time Capsule update goes live today, my house just doesn't work with a single wireless access point. It seems my timing is almost perfect to get this updated hardware, I'm thinking the 2 TB Time Capsule would be perfect and free up a USB port from my external Time Machine. Update : Airport Extreme and Time Capsules were officially released this morning, I purchased a 2 TB Time Capsule  shortly after they were posted, should be here in 2-3 days. Expect a quick review soon after.

Also of note, this link from Lifehacker. Click to Enlarge By Policy Expert View Other Infographics

Some very interesting and valuable insight into multiple mobile platform application development, especially from a higher volume but still single developer app. I also think the section describing Google Checkout as compared to the App Store is very telling to potential developers.

Andy Rubin seems like a very interesting character and further reinforces how a geek with a strong vision can change the world. Just check out that track record of his, some very successful ventures there and even the "failures" resulted in rather good outcomes, at least for him and his investors. Also, this is a very well written, long-form article, the type I find very enjoyable when combined with Marco Arment 's Instapaper or Readability . I can't stress enough how much those services improve reading information on the web.

Great idea: I'd love to see this in an IM-like list on my phone and computer. Combined with an app that had some basic rules you could set up based upon location, time and other factors create some basic contact rule routing would make me very excited. Also, I'd like to be able to send all non-contact phone calls straight to voice mail. If I don't know you, you should have to pass call screening first. Damn you, telemarketers.

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This is the type of story that makes you proud of an athlete. It is nice to point out the good stories to help balance the reporting of the often poor behavior of other star athletes. It is so easy to like this Bruins team. A great story of team and perseverance.

The evidence keeps piling up. I downloaded and installed this update myself and there are no user facing changes referencing new features for Apple's routers but I think this is the leading indicator for an upcoming new generation of AirPort Extremes/Time Capsules. I really need to replace my existing router; half my house is wifi crippled.

This is exactly the type of plot analysis that I love but never do in the books that I read (this being one of them). I often find I can easily rate what I liked and disliked but I do not often find plot holes upon first inspection. This is a very interesting criticism but even more interesting is the alternative story arc the post author provides. And I agree, the alternate arc would have been superior but doesn't make me like the original less. Harry Potter is still one of my favorites, it is so well crafted, end to end.

I've been debating for a long time whether to replace my 2 year old (mid-2009) 17" MacBook Pro with a new laptop but have struggled with what my next machine should be. I know I'll go back to a Mac - I've had a great experience in both hardware and software. The recently announced features of OS X Lion , I'm even more convinced that I like Apple's direction rather than Ubuntu's ( Unity / Gnome 3 ) or Google's ( Chrome OS ) direction in desktop operating systems. I have been saying for years that nothing can replace the experience of native applications combined with cloud-based storage is the most logical path to the future. And no, I don't think the latest HTML5 craze will solve the deficiencies in webapps. So what hardware should I be looking at? I waffle between the power of desktop solutions and the convenience of a portable computer. The more I think about it, the more I like the flexibility of a laptop and this is most epitomized by ...

This game keeps building and building... What I really like about this trailer is that given that it is an MMO in the Star Wars universe they still managed to make non-Jedi 'classes' look amazing (in this case, Bounty Hunter, Smuggler, Troopers, Sith) look really interesting and playable. Nothing worse than a game being dominated by a single class... That said, Jedi still looks the coolest. :-)

Today, Apple’s showing off MacOS 10.7, iOS 5, and iCloud, a new service that glues everything together. Overall it feels less like “we’re coming out with the next version of an existing thing” and more like “Here’s how we’re defining the direction of the company for the next five years.” Andy Ihnatko is one of my writing heroes and a damn fine technology analyst to boot. Plus, he wears a Red Sox hat on a regular basis, so he can't be all that bad anyway. He has a way with words like few writers do; he is an extreme rarity in the blogging world for this reason alone. Plus, he just seems like a nice, interesting guy. Check him out at his personal blog, professional gig with the Chicago Sun Times and his weekly podcast with Leo Laporte on MacBreak Weekly , please. Edit 1: Andy adds clarification to his post I linked above here . I think his insights into the coming announcements are good and logical.

Apple's logo I've been excited for weeks; I love the yearly grind of technology which seems to gain momentum slowly except for a few key milestones every year. This is one of those milestones, Apple's World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC) which takes place every June. This year, Apple changed tactics and pre-announced some of the topics on the opening day keynote agenda. There was nothing surprising on this list which includes iOS 5, Mac OS X Lion (10.7) and iCloud but it does underscore that most people don't believe there will be an iPhone 5 (or even iPhone 4S) announcement. So far, much of the speculation has been regarding what the iCloud service will entail. Almost all pundits believe that it will be a revamping of the existing MobileMe service as well as a streaming music service that further enhances the entrenched iTunes ecosystem and competes at least indirectly with offerings from Amazon and Google . So far, the reviews for those two services have ...

Writing As you can see, posting has dramatically increased as of late here on my blog. This site has been ignored it for too long. I've always said, even as much as I love creating software for a living, my first love has always been reading and writing. I'm a big believer in the fact that most people's personalities are hard wired early and those same traits cause a sort of natural selection of success in certain professions later in life. Despite this, if I could have picked my career path, I would have chosen to become a successful writer. With this in mind, every expert in the field say the only way to become a writer is to write. No brainer, right? Up until this point, I've never taken this line of thought to heart and actually attempted something meaningful. To that end, this space will be my publicly broadcast practice grounds. Writing on this site will entertain this itch but I don't have illustrious illusions of grandeur. My plans are simple: I ju...

I've yet to hear Merlin Mann speak and not be inspired. He'd hate to hear me say that, he'd insist that he is not the inspiration guy but I don't care. Merlin can't be categorized and you never know what subjects he'll address at any given time. It doesn't matter. He'll give you an insight and perspective on that subject that could escape observation for years. What I like most about Merlin is his ability to cut through the layers of crap we deceive ourselves with everyday and get to the heart of the problem at hand. There isn't a single podcast episode I've listened to of his that I haven't walked away from thinking, "Holy crap. That is going to change my life forever." You might recognize him from his other websites like: 43 Folders , Kung Fu Grippe , Inbox Zero or even his podcast, Back to Work with Dan Benjamin. For one of the single most defining posts on who Merlin is, check out his "Cranking" post , ...

A great talk at Webstock this year by John Gruber , looking back at the history of graphical user interfaces, how UI design has changed, some of the key historical points of each of the major players in computing. Love him or hate him (or his interests), he always has great insight on the industry, current events and the future of computing in general. Webstock '11: John Gruber - The Gap Theory of UI Design from Webstock on Vimeo .

Marco's write-up on the latest Nook as compared to the existing Kindle 3. As always, a good balanced and thorough review from him and I'm happy to see additional information from someone that has actually used the new Nook and knows e-readers.

An old phone I've reached the limit of my patience with the family landline. I am usually annoyed with the phone, given how intrusive an unexpected phone call can be, unlike an email, text or instant message that you can respond to when it is most convenient for you . Granted, there are times where people need to reach you in real time, emergencies and time sensitive requests where phone calls make sense... but most people use phones for calls. I personally use Google Voice , giving me one number that can ring both my cell phone and any other phone I would like to ring (as well as my current Gmail if I'm at a computer). I think cell phone technology has reached the point where I'd be perfectly happy for my wife and I to only use our cell phones as our only lines but she has a legitimate point: if we have babysitters or relatives watching the kids while we aren't home, there isn't a way to call emergency services if the need (God forbid) arises. So a landline...

It was driving me nuts. Maybe even a bit insane. It was time to act... I was Muppet crazy Over the years, I've reduced my TV watching habits from a show or two a night, to 4-6 a week, then two a week and now, none. During this time period, I also would watch a very high percentage of Red Sox games (pretty much all but the dreaded West Coast trips) and every New England Patriot game. Even my wife has reduced her sickening reality TV addiction from one a night down to two a week. My kids were only allowed one half hour show per night, time permitting, to relax. Given the above habits, even subscribing to the cheapest high definition (HD) package available from Comcast, our monthly bill was costing our family about $10 (or more) per show or even more scary - about $800 a year. At that rate, I'd rather purchase whole season DVDs of those shows and have them accessible at a whim and still have a significant savings. One problem: I live in The Boondocks. Well, by some pe...

I love my Kindle and evangelize it at every opportunity. Often people get to know me as the "eReader guy" and come to me for advice regarding the gadgets. Whenever someone asks me the "Kindle or Nook" question, my response has always been the same: They both are so close in features, some minor points in each device's favor, but overall, I feel like the Kindle beat a Nook in almost every way. I think that has all changed in the current landscape. I've always said I thought the Kindle's keyboard was a vestigial tail and is a design compromise at best. The new Nook really thumbs its nose at the Kindle's aging design choices and I hope this major failing is resolved with the next generation of the device. The size and shape of the device, the soft, contoured back, and the touch screen are all exceptional bragging points for the new Nook and I really like the improvements over their first generation device. I wish Kindle took as large a leap for...

Jeff Hilimire has a thought provoking post  regarding failure. I've often found myself not attempting a task due to fear of failure and this is the type of thought exercise that c an give a person an alternative perspective and overcome that anxiety in the future. So my belief is, if you’re not failing, you’re not going to be successful. --Jeff Hilimire  

After a short 2 days of vacation over Memorial Day, my family arrived home and eventually noticed that there was something significantly wrong with the family TiVo. What we noticed was a completely black screen and any option we chose via the remote would result in the TiVo error "bonk". I could see the device was working via my iPad connection to it, recording shows on schedule and serving up the guide with correct show times. I just couldn't find a way to get it out of this broken state. Even a cold reboot would only work as long as I didn't try to hit the "TiVo button" which launches into their custom user interface. As a brief history, I own a TiVo Premiere (and have had it for 17 months) and owned two TiVos prior to this one, dating back as far as 2002. In all that time, I've not had any significant issues and have been a very happy customer. On a whim, I decided to do a few Google searches to see if this was a common occurrence. Unfortunate...