Both Tim (Letter to Jane) and Buzz (Tumblr) wrote today pleading for better text tools on iOS. Natalie and I have recently felt similar pain working on a text-heavy iOS project. I assumed this was a research problem — how could iOS not include superior text handling? — until I actually started doing research and quickly found myself muddling through the CoreText reference in PDF… suboptimal.
The knuckleball is probably the most mysterious of baseball pitches, surrounded by a great deal of mystique. It is usually thrown at a speed significantly lower than that of “ordinary” pitches and with very little spin. The lack of spin means that the knuckleball does not experience the Magnus force that is responsible for the movement on ordinary pitches. Very early in the PITCHf/x era, we learned that the spin-induced movement of ordinary pitches bunches into relatively small clusters, with the size and location of the clusters—along with the release speed—serving as signatures for a given type of pitch thrown by a given pitcher.
Alan Nathan uses PITCHf/x to "Distinguish Perception from Reality" while answering the question — Does the Knuckleball flutter? I would actually challenge the word "perception," because even sitting very close to the field it's difficult to see a knuckleball moving.
It's the journey, not the destination, so I will go ahead and reveal the answer. Knuckleballs are "free to flutter and zig-zag" within the confines of a smooth arc, and that movement is rarely more than one-tenth of an inch in any direction. But the combination of the mystique of the pitch and the tenth of an inch is enough.
The truth is, software is research. It’s a matter of discovering the solution, not plodding through it. This is implicit in your story, because they keep encountering unexpected problems. But let’s make it explicit.
I mentioned a few weeks ago that I was hoping to see wider adoption of Open Street Maps this year, and the new site Switch2OSM.org is a great resource, with articles ranging from "Why Switch?" to different tiling sets & server strategies. With Google's recent announcement that they're going to share data and identity between projects & products, I expect this initiative will find the wind at it's back.
People don't think about location search as something that betrays confidential data, but of course it does — starting with where you live, work and shop. Of course lots of people proactively share this data with Foursquare, Facebook, Twitter, and other products, but as Google reduces the number of privacy controls that they allow users to control, they cede one of the last philosophical differences (advantages?) they had over Facebook.
He used his gifts to shrewdly foster change and connect leaders to the masses. He is stoic and steadfast, refusing to be diverted from his path toward justice. At age eighty, he still tirelessly works on behalf of youths and minorities to try to right the mistakes that humanity can’t seem to stop perpetuating.
This seems like a decent time to remark how much I love this video of Obama singing the opening lines of "Let's Stay Together." Everyone's seen it but here it is again:*
It's not just a good video because everyone loves Al Green, but also seems to mark a general thawing of the anxiety and disappointment surrounding Obama's presidency. It's not just that the Republican primaries have gone further off the deep end than even the most cynical lefty could have imagined (or hoped), it's that Obama seems to have reclaimed a confidence that was feared lost.
This is the kind of moment that cannot be scripted or acted. As he sings, he looks downward shyly. He loves Al Green - who doesn't? When the crowd applauds he looks at once surprised, appreciative, and embarrassed at the raucousness of their response. There's a difference between Obama's real smile and his "picture taken with a politician smile," and his sincerity is intoxicating. He briefly nods his head to the side in deference — a posture he rarely takes in public — to let the crowd know how much he's enjoying their reaction. Then the moment is over. He throws his shoulders back and reclaims his campaign persona, talking trash to his staff, an underrated staple of his stump speeches. Addressing Al Green in the audience: "Don't worry Rev, I can't sing like you, but I just wanted to show my appreciation."
That's the essence of leadership: "I can't do what you do, but I appreciate how well you do it."
*"Everyone's seen it but here it is again" is more or less my mission statement nowadays.
Staten Island gets cropped off! Lots of New Jersey though.
I would have assumed Broadway would be the boldest stroke on the map, but not quite that bold.
Why is the Williamsburg bridge shaped like a Charlie Brown stripe? Or is that something else?
There's a tweet from the walking plank that bisects the reservoir. I wish I could read that tweet!
People tweet over Roosevelt Island, but not on Roosevelt Island. No tweets from Islands Ellis, Riker's, Rat, Hart, or Governor's, but one from City Island. (I always misremember City Island as being called "Island Island").
Commercial iBooks textbooks are a marketing head fake. They're the equivalent of carbon fibre buggy whips. iTunes U is the game changer. Put iBooks Author and iTunes U into the hands of great teachers, put iPads in their students hands, put them all in a room together then step back and see what happens. That's the ballgame.
Fraser Speirs is one of the leading experts on using technology productively in the classroom. This goes beyond buying hardware & providing technical support; it includes writing curriculum, reinforcing basic reading and math skills, and training teachers. I couldn't agree more with his comment about iTunes U - it's much closer to my imagination of "the future of education" than iBooks, which reminds me of the Pat the Bunny app that Lev loves - lots of shiny, but very little meat on the bone.
Patti Smith holding the photographer Judy Linn’s Super 8 Bolex camera at Linn’s apartment in Brooklyn, early 1970s; from Linn’s recent book of photographs, Patti Smith 1969–1976
After following @joshtpm's HOLY CRAP link (I never gave up on Newt, for the record) my eyes were drawn (as always) to the permalink. What I saw was thrilling: holy_crap_8.php. Of course this led to me wonder - what happened to holy_crap_1 to holy_crap_7? I had the tools to find out.
Please allow me to share with you a playlist of TPM's "holy crap" links.
November 20, 2008 - Waxman ousts Dingell on Energy & Commerce. I'm surprised this isn't much earlier, but there you go.
holy_crap_2.php - lost to the ages. Perhaps it was a TPM Cafe post?
January 6, 2010 - Chris Dodd announces his retirement from Congress.
February 15, 2010 - Evan Bayh announces his retirement from Congress.
June 1, 2010 - Al and Tipper Gore are separating. I have to admit I forgot about this, and it made me a little sad again.
October 4, 2011 - Cain takes the lead in several state polls. In hindsight, Cain's run was less incredible considering how crazy the rest of the reds have gone.
December 2, 2011 - Cain launches “Women for Cain” in response to accusations of harassment & womanizing. This seems no less incredible than it did then.
You've reached the personal blog of David Jacobs. I live in New York City, and I'm eating two hamburgers a week on doctor's orders. When you're done with the front page, you can read the archives.
You can keep up with me elsewhere on my reblog, my vox blog, randomWalks or flickr, and last but not least, my Typepad profile.
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