Software
-
Better creativity through software
Check out the pros and cons of Rationale: an argument mapper for Windows. Conclusion? It’s a nifty addition to any journalist/blogger/critical thinker’s software toolbox. Chicken and egg, form and function, structure and agency: when I’m writing, I’m pretty certain that in order to be creative, to make something new, I need an argument, a structure, first. Without a sound argument, staring at the screen, blinking in time with MS Word’s cursor, I’m struck by a vast, chin-stroking, procrastinatory, angsty agony. Blinks. Strokes chin. How to start? Go figure, hippie permissives: for me, mapping out my arguments in geekish detail isn’t… >>>
-
Vista Launches… At Last
How come it took Bill Gates five years to revamp his flagship bunch of code? Was it laziness? Procrastination? Perfectionism? Did Bill mislay his copy of Getting Things Done? One straight-forward answer is that in trying to compete against Apple and internet-based companies, in trying to anticipate whatever the future may throw at the PC, Microsoft ran into problems with Vista’s code. The geeks made it too complex. Senior executives stepped in and refocused Vista. And shipping got delayed. – Microsoft milks the cow one last time, Independent – After delays, Microsoft in party mood for launch, San Francisco Chronicle… >>>
-
FeedDigest
Another day, another gee-whiz step forward in how I experience the net. I’ve just upgraded the web service which provides the recent bookmarks feed on iMakeContent’s left-hand column. Yeah, RSS is amazing. It promises to pull the pieces of our digital lives together. And it’s nearly there. FeedDigest is a free and easy way to tie del.icio.us posts, or any other RSS feeds, to your blog. The way I use it, FeedDigest takes my Del.icio.us feed and drops it automatically into iMakeContent’s html. Allows me to keep the blog ticking over even when I don’t have time to post properly.… >>>