Me Posts

  • 05.11.08 Stickies makes its music-video debut! (Me, Humor, Computers)

    Stickies and I hadn’t spoken in a while, but this morning I just heard it’s made its acting debut in a music video! That was unexpected, to say the least, but it’s an exciting career move, and I had to congratulate it; it does a great job.… MORE

  • 04.12.08 But First, This Brief Message About The End Of The World (Me, Music)

    Speaking of my projects, here’s a different one that’s actually finished: a new mix entitled The Fall Of The Towers.
    … MORE

  • 04.12.08 Unstealthing, Incrementally (Social Software, Me, Computers)

    I got about 14 minutes of fame back in January with a blog post, wherein I grumbled about (among other things) how I disliked Apple’s culture of secrecy, and announced that I’d left Apple to work on my own, unspecified, project. In the intervening three months, I haven’t said anything about what that project is, almost as though it were … secret.

    The irony of this is not lost on me.

    Admittedly, there are things about my … MORE

  • 03.23.08 My Debt To Arthur C. Clarke (Me)

    Arthur C. Clarke’s death hit me harder than other recent obituaries, even though it’s been decades since I read much by him. His were some of the first science fiction stories I read, at the age of ten or eleven; and for several years after that he was my favorite author.

    I remember, during one of our long summer trips visiting the extended family in Germany, finding one of his story collections in the small English-language … MORE

  • 03.18.08 The Origin Of The iChat UI (Ideas, Social Software, Me, Computers)

    I had lost this historical document for a long time, but finally found it the other day on an old backup CD. It’s the original 1997 sketch I made of a chat user interface based on speech balloons.
    … MORE

  • 03.10.08 Did I Miss The Boat For Developer Keys? (Me, Computers)

    Am I the only one who hasn’t yet gotten a response to their iPhone developer program application … including the precious, precious developer certificate that lets you download apps to an actual iPhone?

    I stupidly forgot to apply until Thursday evening (I was too busy trying to download the SDK), so there are probably three billion others ahead of me, and Apple did say they were accepting “limited numbers”.

    I did get GeekGameBoard running in the simulator … MORE

  • 01.24.08 FakeSteved! (Me, Humor)

    I used to think it was the Big Time if I got a link from Daring Fireball, but now someone just pointed out to me that the Fake Steve Jobs has taken note of my post.

    So … what does it mean for my post to be criticized by a fictional construct that embodies a parody of the CEO of the very same ex-employer my post criticizes? Especially when, more specifically, that fictional construct’s humor is … MORE

  • 01.24.08 3 Weeks (Me)

    I’ve been on my own for three weeks now, and I’m definitely enjoying it. I know that one of the general issues with self-employment is whether one can stay motivated without the external structure imposed by The Man. Fortunately I seem to have no problem with this — I’ve been coding at top speed. Mostly I work in the detached office, which is now clean and cozy, but sometimes I hang out on the couch … MORE

  • 01.10.08 Gone Indie (Me)

    Here’s a career update, for those of you who care: I’ve left Apple, and I’m now working on my own, from home, as an indie software developer. I have plans for at least two kick-ass Mac apps, I’ll probably contribute to a few open source projects, and I may dabble in some web stuff.

    (At least, that’s the plan for now! Everything is subject to change without prior notice. This document contains forward-looking statements. These statements involve risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ.)

    This is kind of a big change for me. I’ve been continuously employed for 19 years, 16 of those at Apple. I clearly like being part of a team, part of a company, and specifically part of Apple. But there comes a time when a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do.
    … MORE

  • 12.03.07 AppleScript team photo, 1993 (Me, Computers)

    Warren just emailed me this photo, commemorating the release of the first Apple product I worked on. That’s me on the second row, second from the right, with the dopey expression (but no gray hairs.)
    … MORE

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