Thord D. Hedengren

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  • The things between tweets and essays

    We’re a lot of people who seems to enjoy, or at least miss, blogging. I’ve got my own thoughts on blogging as a term, but that’s a different post. For this one, I just wanted to quote Gina Trapani’s new blogging rules:

    If it’s a paragraph, it’s a post. Medium-sized content gets short shrift these days. Don’t go long. One or two paragraphs count. Then press publish.

    Andy Baio’s on the same track, and I found both of these post via Six Colors, where Steven Snell’s been publishing under the same conditions from the beginning. It’s refreshing to see and read.

    I obviously agree. The whole redesign of TDH.me, and the mixture of short quote and comment posts, and the essays, shows that well enough. Thing is, we’re not in this alone, there are others who’ve been blogging like this for years, of recently returned to it. Someone less pressed for time than me can probably put together a pretty exhaustive list. Maybe this also heralds the return of the Webring, or at least the Blogroll, wouldn’t that be great?

  • Verizon's SugarString gagged

    Verizon’s tech site SugarString is banning net neutrality and surveillance issues, so long as they pertain to the US. The Daily Dot:

    News of Verizon’s publishing venture and its strict rules first came to light to multiple reporters through recruiting emails sent last week by author and reporter Cole Stryker, who is now the editor-in-chief of SugarString. (Stryker has also previously contributed to the Daily Dot.) I was one of the reporters who received that email. The premise and rules behind the site were explained to me in a series of messages throughout the day. I declined the job offer.

    Other reporters, who asked not to be named, have confirmed that they have received the same recruiting pitch with the same rules: No articles about surveillance or net neutrality.

    This is obviously icky as hell, but come on, you had to see this coming, right? The lesson is to not trust so-called news outlets funded by questionable interests. There’s no way SugarString’s reporting can be trusted, because who knows what other Verizon interests, and partners, it might protect?

  • Record sales are down

    Forbes, reporting on record sales in 2014 thus far:

    In 2014, not a single artist’s album has gone platinum. Not one has managed to cross that million sales mark.

    One album has managed to sell over a million copies so far this year, but it’s a soundtrack. The ever-popular Frozen soundtrack may slowly be working its way down the charts, but it is by far the best selling collection this year. Though it doesn’t have any marquee names on it—those that are usually expected to sell the best—the soundtrack has managed to move 3.2 million copies so far, and with winter coming, that number is sure to rise.

    Sign of the times. Digital music sales are down, streaming’s growing in popularity, and a million records are a shitload of sales as it is. Billboard’s got more SoundScan numbers, where we learn that CDs are also down, but vinyl’s still up by large numbers.

  • Remember Rotten.com?

    The Daily Dot remembers Rotten.com:

    Rotten was the original shock site, a place where you could see images of people hit by trains, self-immolation, the gory aftermath of car crashes, failed suicide attempts, dismemberment, botched executions, orange juice enemas, and perverse pornography. These images—many of them reader-submitted, many fake or doctored—became Internet folklore. Rotten, for better or worse, is one of my first memories of the Internet.

    I remember that cesspool too, never my scene, but it’s interesting to think about what it preluded.

  • Thoughts on the iPad Air 2

    Thoughts on the iPad Air 2

    I’ve been using the iPad Air 2 for a few days now, and I’ve got some thoughts. I’m coming from using both the original iPad Air (still available), and the iPad formerly known as iPad mini with retina display, now just plain iPad mini 2.

    To me, iPad Air 2 is the perfect iPad. That’s because I create as much as I consume on my (primary) iPad. I picked up the iPad mini with retina display last year to question this, because the iPad Air felt unnecessarily big when reading. Granted, the iPad mini form factor is lovely, superior even, for reading, and I do that quite a lot. But I write a lot too, and edit texts, and although I often rely on external keyboards, there’s still a difference thanks to the screen size.

    But I digress. This piece is about the iPad Air 2. It’s also about how the device is reviewed, sort of, without turning into too much of a meta review.

    (more…)

  • Fireball är (kanske) giftigt

    Systembolaget stoppar försäljningen av Fireball (som inte är en whisky, oavsett vad det står på flaskan, efter att finska motsvarigheten Alko hittat för höga halter av giftiga ämnet propylenglykol.

    Hur orolig ska den vara som har druckit av den här spriten?
    – Man ska inte åka in till akuten. Men man ska sätta korken i flaskan. Och den som sedan vill lämna igen den till oss på måndag kan få pengarna tillbaka. Det gäller alltså även om flaskan är öppnad, säger Ida Thulin.

    För övrigt anser jag att Fireball smakar illa, men det har inget med giftiga ämnen att göra, misstänker jag.

  • Twitter acquires Twitpic

    Twitter acquires Twitpic, says the latter in a post.

    We weren’t able to find a way to keep Twitpic independent. However, I’m happy to announce that we have reached an agreement with Twitter to give them the Twitpic domain and photo archive, thus keeping the photos and links alive for the time being. Twitter shares our goal of protecting our users and this data. Also, since Twitpic’s user base consists of Twitter users, it makes sense to keep this data with Twitter.

    This is obviously a PR move on Twitter’s behalf. After the easily ridiculed turn of events surround Twitpic, the whole thing smells of a mercy thing. I hope Twitpic’s happy wih this, and that this whole mess is done and over with now.

  • Ubuntu turns ten

    Ubuntu, the Linux distro for humans, according to the old slogan, is celebrating ten years. Ars Technica has a nice retrospective on Canonical’s Windows alternative.

    Today, Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu, estimates that there are 25 million Ubuntu users worldwide. That makes Ubuntu the world’s third most popular PC operating system. By Canonical’s estimates, Ubuntu has roughly 90 percent of the Linux market. And Ubuntu is poised to launch a mobile version that may well send those numbers skyrocketing again.

  • Sweden's stealthy sub that just can't get caught

    In case you didn’t know, Sweden’s got a much feared submarine that you’ll never see coming.

    By mid summer of 2005 the Gotland arrived in San Diego and war games immediately commenced. Apparently the Navy got more than they were bargaining for when it came to finding and engaging the stealthy little sub. The Gotland virtually “sunk” many US nuclear fast attack subs, destoryers, frigates, cruisers and even made it into the ‘red zone’ beyond the last ring of anti-submarine defenses within a carrier strike group. Although it was rumored she got many simulated shots off on various US super-carriers, one large-scale training exercise in particular with the then brand new USS Ronald Reagan ended with the little sub making multiple attack runs on the super-carrier, before slithering away without ever being detected.

    Actually, there are five of these things, quite possibly hunting Russian submarines as we speak. Who knows, perhaps even the almost nonexistant Swedish military’s got some secrets? Oh, and there might be a small dash of hyperbole in this post’s title, but come on, it’s a smeaky sub from Sweden! What’s not to gush about?

    Anyway, the Jalopnik Foxtrot Alpha piece covering these stealthy killer machines from my native country was a good read on this very bleak Saturday morning.

  • Sundar Pichai now controls the important Google projects

    Google’s Larry Page is handing over the keys to, well, not the kingdom, but a whole lot of strategic fiefdoms, to Sundar Pichai. Recode’s got the scoop.

    The highly respected Pichai will now have purview over research, search, maps, Google+, commerce and ad products and infrastructure. And he will continue to keep his existing responsibility for Android, Chrome and Google Apps. The six executives in charge of newly added product areas, all of whom previously reported directly to Page, will now report to Pichai.

    The move seems born of Page’s concern — which is not new — that Google will become less innovative as it ages. In a memo to staff, he noted that the changes will create less of a bottleneck and also help him focus his attention on existing and new products. That said, he’ll continue to directly manage business and operations, including access and energy (a new unit run by Craig Barratt), Nest, Calico, Google X, corporate development, legal, finance and business (including ad sales).

    Pichai is behind Chrome’s rise, and manages Android too. Given the success, and the good reputation he’s got, this move seems like a good one.

  • Christian Bale to play Steve Jobs

    Christian Bale will play Steve Jobs in Aaron Sorkin’s movie, based on the hugely successful autobiography by Walter Isaacson. Sorkin had this to say, about Bale, to Bloomberg:

    “He has more words to say in this movie than most people have in three movies combined,” Sorkin said. “There isn’t a scene or a frame that he’s not in. So it’s an extremely difficult part and he is gonna crush it.”

    I actually think Bale will do a good job playing Steve Jobs. It’s an intense role, for an intense actor, and they’re at least somewhat alike so there won’t be too much makeup. That said, I’m not so sure this movie will be particularly good. Isaacson’s autobiography lacks focus, so I hope there’s a good script.

  • Russian company buys ebola.com for $200,000

    Remember Jon Schultz, owner of ebola.com? Well, he hawked it, to a Russian company interested in pot. The Verge:

    After buying Ebola.com for $13,500 in 2008, Schultz’s Blue String Ventures just flipped the domain for $200,000. According to this SEC filing, the buyer is a Russian company called Weed Growth Fund, which is paying $50,000 in cash and handing over 19,192 shares it holds in another pot-focused company, Cannabis Sativa. Those are valued at around $164,000. Based in Nevada, Cannabis Sativa is led by two-term New Mexico governor Gary Johnson and aims to grow its business by marketing marijuana products for recreational and medical use as legalization becomes more common around the world.

  • Free short story: I Just Snapped

    I’m happy that Ghostwoods Books was successful in their Kickstarter campaign. During a week moment, I promised a free short story – yet again – if the campaign was successful. Which it was, and thus, I’ll have to give you something.

    Last time around, you got a story about a guy with a sword. That one was a bit longer than I’d planned, when making the promise. This time I’m keeping things shorter, 1,000 words long in fact. The story’s called I Just Snapped, and it’s vaguely related to a novel I should rewrite.

    I hope you’ll enjoy I Just Snapped.

  • TkJ skriver om Tech Troopers

    Tommy k Johansson, mer känd som TkJ, skriver om Tech Troopers och möjligheten att tjäna pengar på tjänsten för teknik-kunniga. Det är en bra vinkel, för här finns det faktiskt en möjlighet att dra in en hacka genom att agera support, något många av oss gör vare sig vi vill det eller ej redan.

    För tydlighetens skull: Odd Alice är delägare i Tech Troopers, och jag sitter i styrelsen för ägandebolaget.

  • Don't respond to bad reviews

    Getting reviews can be rough, especially since you’ll forget about the good ones and cry over the bad ones. This is most likely universally true, for musicians and game makers alike. And authors too, I’ve got some first-hand experience there, as has everybody else who’ve sold some books.

    Kathleen Hale stalked a reviewer, and she’s written about it in The Guardian. It’s a fascinating piece, but also quite creepy. I don’t think this is the way to tackle bad reviews, although I can certainly understand the helplessness she must’ve felt. Naturally, the whole piece is her point of view, which may or may not conform with reality. I wouldn’t know. There’s certainly been reactions, and you’ll have no trouble finding them should you want to. For my own part, I side with Chuck Wendig on this one: Don’t respond to bad reviews. It’s that simple, and that hard.