Archive for the ‘Review’ Category

Casual Gaming Without the Flashy Effects

Kari wrote last time (I like the idea of continuous conversations) that writing’s therapy, and there’s no way it isn’t. At a stressful time, such as end of the quarter financial reporting, for instance ( ), there’s nothing like taking a breather and reflect on things through text. Today’s topic… casual games and how they [...]

Instapaper 3 is out

Best.app.on.my.iPhone. Period. So Instapaper 3 is out on iOS, which makes the app a whole lot more social and collaborative. What Instapaper does is that it allows you to save articles to it, after which it takes out all colours, (most) pictures, and side-bars, so you can focus on what really matters. If it wasn’t [...]

A Guide to Twitter

“What is Twitter?” People still keep asking me this, 5 years after Twitter was founded (I joined mid-2009). This “guide” will be my answer from now on. Just read this if you want my understanding of what Twitter is. So what is Twitter? Is it… …a celebrity medium? Charlie Sheen is the latest addition to [...]

The Anti-Instagram

I have nothing against Instagram, I SWEAR, I have nothing against Instagram. The only inconsistency… I have never used Instagram. This post is an attempt to find out why. Shawn Blanc pointed me to the article “Instagram Founder Kevin Systrom’s 30-Second Rule for App Success,” which, exactly like the title states, is about how you [...]

The Great Divide

I sent off my V-moda headphone for repair. The address was somewhere in Los Angeles, California, and I live in the Netherlands. They checked it and sent me a replacement with no questions asked. The only problem? I sent them off on the 23rd of February and got them back yesterday, 15 days later. Even [...]

Dropkick – Syncable Todo’s Between Your Mac and iOS device

Briefly, as it’s an extremely busy week (but I am getting back into regular techiteasy-blogging, promised!) I’ve been looking for a syncable to-do list for a while. I’m a big BIG fan of SimpleNote, a syncable note-taking app that is free on your iOS device (with a premium service) and syncs with a number of [...]

Radiohead’s King of Limbs Album Review and a new look at Indie Music Distribution

I dig this album, else I wouldn’t review it, both in the context of riding the crap out my bike to make the train this morning, and while starting to write this post on SimpleNote at the station (In English: it works in a sports & and a creative context). There’s a lot of loops [...]

Radium, a smart and minimalist internet radio client for your mac

I only stumbled across this last night in the app-store and had very little expectations. But Radium, made by CatPig Studios, who’s interface is not much more than what you get from Spotlight, may well be the app that brings internet radio back into my office and living-room. This is how it works. Radium is [...]

State of the iPhone Apps

I’m writing a mail to some people about what apps I like on the iPhone these days & why, so it might as well get published here also. You’re going to have to search for these apps yourself, as iTunes app-linking is tedious work. In no particular order: Sleep Cycle App: This is supposed to [...]

A review of the 23andMe genetic profiling service

People frequently ask me why the $%^# I decided to ‘get my genes done.’ I get the feeling that this is a scary area for many of us and that is part of the reason why I did it, to explore something that has an interesting future possibly. I also thought it would be a [...]

On making Global Package Delivery a little better [Weekend Ramblings]

I’m currently on a tirade against two things. Global package delivery, which, every single time, seem to have me waste my time waiting for a doorbell to ring. And software-updates, which for some reason are a pretty fragmented affair. OK, there’s nothing to do about software updates and I already give up. Global package delivery, [...]

Single Purpose Browsing & Why Tabbed Browsing Makes for a Pretty BAD User Experience

When Firefox, previously called Phoenix and Firebird, launched tabbed browsing (well, after Bloatzilla), I was super-excited and pimping it to all my friends. It’s been a while since I felt this way and, with tab-saving in browsers (which I of course turn on), I tend to choose the browser with the least tabs saved in [...]

CeBit 2010: On 3D technology and its commercial potential

This year, I had the chance to visit CeBit 2010 for the very first time. It was an anticlimactic experience. Being raised with reports of CESs and Macworlds, you can’t help but hope to stumble on the next big thing, but what I was confronted with what had the air of a dusty town ripped [...]

Thoughts on the (iTablet) iPad – connectivity, apps, multitasking, integrating with Macs

The following is a draft I wrote prior to the announcement of the iPad, but which I didn’t publish because it was a series of hypotheses based on an as yet non-existing product. It’s a series of thoughts on how an interface of a touchscreen larger than an iPhone might look like. It is inspired [...]

FarmVille is a role playing game

As I argued in the comments in Vincent’s post about FarmVille, FarmVille is a role playing game (RPG). And pretty bad one at that. Like most RPGs, you don’t actually need any skills or develop any skill playing it yourself as your success is solely dependent on the amount of time you sink into it. [...]