This simple OSX utility is handy. You can keep windows on top, change transparency and more.
This allows me to have my Keep todo list always on top, and stop hangout windows from staying on top.
Unexpected pleasure - Google Now and All Access let me know about new releases that I would have forgotten about.
1 min read
Unexpected pleasure - Google Now and All Access let me know about new releases that I would have forgotten about. In the past week it's highlighted a new single from M.I.A., the new CSS album and this gem from Austra.
Great new feature that makes it easier for people to follow your Google+ page from your newsletters and...
1 min read
Great new feature that makes it easier for people to follow your Google+ page from your newsletters and notifications.
In the past you had to add and verify all your sender email addresses (which were often noreply@hostname.com). Now the email hostname just needs to match your verified website, which is much easier.
Originally shared by Google Small Business
Customers can now follow you directly from Gmail
Posted by Saurabh Sharma and David Nachum:
Today we're expanding the Gmail people widget to include brands and businesses (), making it easier for your customers to connect with you on Google+. This way, when people receive emails from your domain, they can follow your Google+ page directly from their inbox! Your recent Google+ posts can also appear in the widget (alongside your email message), helping customers find and engage with your content.
To appear in the new Gmail widget, all your business or organization needs is a verified Google+ page and digitally-signed emails. Check out this page to learn more:
ZigBee in the hospital...
1 min read
ZigBee in the hospital...
Noticed these all over. Turns out they're used to track equipment and people as they move throughout the building, just like electronic toll collection.
Some interesting background info at share.net/Aware point
Has it been 2 years already? Time flies when you're +1'ing
1 min read
Has it been 2 years already? Time flies when you're +1'ing
[oh and the cake was delicious..]
Originally shared by Fred Gilbert
Happy second birthday +1 and happy donut day to you all! I hope y'all get a chance to pick up a free one at Krispy Kreme :)
I was talking to Brett Slatkin about authorship and he mentioned the Google Consumer surveys offers an A/B image...
1 min read
I was talking to Brett Slatkin about authorship and he mentioned the Google Consumer surveys offers an A/B image survey that would be perfect for Authorship profile photo optimization.
You also get geographic/demographic breakdowns so I suspect that it's a good deal more informative than the OK Cupid bestface system.
My problem with surveys is that what people say they'll click or appeals to them can differ from what they actually click when they aren't thinking about "I'm taking a survey"
IIRC the accuracy rate was on-par or better than traditional survey methods. **
As always how you ask the question matters a large amount too.
http://www.google.com/insights/consumersurveys/static/consumer_surveys_whitepaper_v2.pdf
Happy to see OAuth support for CalDAV. Still sad that it's always going to be saddled with legacy vCalendar issues.
2 min read
Happy to see OAuth support for CalDAV. Still sad that it's always going to be saddled with legacy vCalendar issues.
Both CalDAV and CardDAV suffer from their history and badly need redesigning. Not much has changed in the 10 years since I was hacking on libical. I mean, consider the following CDATA chunk from the RFC. No one should need to parse/generate this ancient format. It's complicated, finicky and plain awful.
BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//Example Corp.//CalDAV Client//EN
BEGIN:VTIMEZONE
LAST-MODIFIED:20040110T032845Z
TZID:US/Eastern
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
DTSTART:20000404T020000
RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYDAY=1SU;BYMONTH=4
TZNAME:EDT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0500
TZOFFSETTO:-0400
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
DTSTART:20001026T020000
RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYDAY=-1SU;BYMONTH=10
TZNAME:EST
TZOFFSETFROM:-0400
TZOFFSETTO:-0500
END:STANDARD
END:VTIMEZONE
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTAMP:20060206T001102Z
DTSTART;TZID=US/Eastern:20060102T100000
DURATION:PT1H
SUMMARY:Event #1
Description:Go Steelers!
UID:74855313FA803DA593CD579A@example.com
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR
Maybe I should standardize SnmpDav? At least it has XER which would make it slot into XML without the ugliness above.
In any case I hope that a new calendaring standard emerges from this muck that is more developer friendly.
truth:
1 min read
truth:
Another option is to take a hard look at how the accident actually happened, treat the engineers involved with respect, and learn from the event.
A couple more pull quotes:
"... at Etsy. We instead want to view mistakes, errors, slips, lapses, etc. with a perspective of learning. Having blameless Post-Mortems on outages and accidents are part of that."
"an engineer who thinks they’re going to be reprimanded are disincentivized to give the details necessary to get an understanding of the mechanism, pathology, and operation of the failure. "
"A funny thing happens when engineers make mistakes and feel safe when giving details about it: they are not only willing to be held accountable, they are also enthusiastic in helping the rest of the company avoid the same error in the future."
My favorite quote: "[Engineers who make mistakes] are, after all, the most expert in their own error."
I can honestly tell you that I've been the person who has primarily been involved in multiple incidents that were followed up with a postmortem. Each time it's been a great experience. There really is no blame. It doesn't even enter the picture. Each time we've learnt and improved the situation so that the same problems don't arise in future. Everyone wins.
My local electric utility PG&E has a low tech solution for their Smart meters.
1 min read
My local electric utility PG&E has a low tech solution for their Smart meters. If you want to activate the remote sensor you fill out this form and wait 5 days for your "HAN eligibility code".
Well.. it turns out that submitting this form emails customerservice@pge.com with the information (and cc's the person filling out the form). A quick check reveals that it posts to '/cgi-bin/pgemail.pl' with the included account number and other personal information.
I wonder how they'll send me this super secret code? Email too? But don't worry it's secure, they have "PKI certificates using Certicom Elliptic Curve Qu Vanstone (ECQV) technology."
At LinkedIn HQ they have a time-capsule made of legos.
1 min read
At LinkedIn HQ they have a time-capsule made of legos. I hope they invite me over when they decide to open it back up.
Of course this would be the handiwork of Adam Nash.
And thanks again to Brandon Duncan for inviting me over for lunch to see this and other LinkedIn wonders.
The beauty of All Access, thanks!
Raul Rios , Jun 21 2013 on known.dev.inuus.com