Travis Smith: my resume, bio and photos back to the main blog page

Unbelievable: M?ni’s Bakery lowers cake prices & offers refunds 2 ANYONE who bought in past 3 months

A retro-active price reduction: have you ever heard of such a thing???? They're a client of ours, but I still think this offer is amazing and really, really smart.

posted at 5:31 pm
on Sep. 30, 2009

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Tweetie 2 Pricing Controversy: Good Interview About Hows and Whys of Charging for iPhone App Updates

PatrickJ really redeems himself here; his initial post was over-the-top, but his handling of the followup is classy and thoughtful.

posted at 4:44 pm
on Sep. 30, 2009

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If Only Warren Buffett Knew How to Work His Cellphone, Lehman Brothers Might Have Been Saved

Doubtful, but fun to think about. Designers: pay attention to your icons!

posted at 11:41 am
on Sep. 30, 2009

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Pepsi To Cease Advertising (The Onion)

One of the better satires I've read recently.

posted at 10:35 am
on Sep. 30, 2009

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iSinglePayer iPhone App about health care debate rejected by Apple for being political

Problem is there are other apps that are more political that are already accepted into the store. Do we really want a company deciding what all apps on its platform can be about? No way! Where's the Apple that said "Rip. Mix. Burn."?

posted at 7:10 pm
on Sep. 29, 2009

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Can anyone suggest more accurate/current rates of PHP4 vs PHP5 usage than this link?

I'd like to know how many people are still hosted on servers running PHP 4.

posted at 3:21 pm
on Sep. 29, 2009

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25 Gorgeous Paintings on Dirty Car Windows

Artist's name is Scott Wade.

posted at 12:54 pm
on Sep. 29, 2009

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Getting a migraine makes this guy type gibberish: random letters

I love blog posts like this. A glimpse into someone else's obscure yet interesting life experience.

posted at 12:45 pm
on Sep. 29, 2009

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Slimcado: a fat-reduced avocado?

That's like butter-reduced popcorn or boob-reduced Pamela Anderson. What's the point?

posted at 3:40 pm
on Sep. 28, 2009

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YouTube: Baby Dancing To Beyonce Video

heh.

posted at 1:40 pm
on Sep. 28, 2009

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douglas coupland rips off ze frank’s earth sandwich idea

Ze is so distraught that he forgets how to spell "Douglad" and "sandwhich".

posted at 11:31 am
on Sep. 28, 2009

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Is the universe friendly? How you answer affects how your life unfolds.

I think the universe is perverse.

posted at 11:09 am
on Sep. 28, 2009

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Lawsuits target Quorn, a fungus food supplement that pretends to be meat

Quorn sounds ... icky.

posted at 10:50 am
on Sep. 28, 2009

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Location-game showdown: Gowalla vs Foursquare

Winner: Both get me out of the house more often. Yay!

posted at 12:55 am
on Sep. 28, 2009

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Dvorak Users Left Out by Keyboards on Smartphones, iPhones

Which is especially odd on the iPhone given that a) Apple's been relatively pro-Dvorak, and b) it's a software keyboard...

posted at 9:22 pm
on Sep. 27, 2009

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BC’s move to a private healthcare option: the network of technically illegal private health clinics

Interesting story in the Los Angeles Times -- I like when a far away paper does an overview story of something local; often, they do a better job of summing up and explaining.

posted at 8:57 pm
on Sep. 26, 2009

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Luggage fees now charged on overseas flights: $50 for a second bag.

Airlines: You suck.

posted at 8:54 pm
on Sep. 26, 2009

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Hilarious, catchy song about a guy and his ‘Coder Girl’—finally, rap props to tech women

"Oh yeah, she got a data stack that's stunning."

posted at 10:41 am
on Sep. 25, 2009

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Librophiliac Love Letter: A Compendium of Beautiful Libraries

Nice pictures.

posted at 4:15 pm
on Sep. 24, 2009

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“French Maid Dog Costume”: This Is Why They Hate Us

sigh.

posted at 10:09 am
on Sep. 24, 2009

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Saying sorry is better than offering money to a business wanting to retain a customer

and cheaper. But most importantly: better!

posted at 10:07 am
on Sep. 24, 2009

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Which Has a Smaller Carbon Footprint, Beer or Wine? WashPost Has the Answer

The answer: I love you man! (hic)

posted at 9:47 am
on Sep. 24, 2009

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Today is National Punctuation Day

Full stop.

posted at 9:46 am
on Sep. 24, 2009

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The Ultimate Blog about Improving Productivity

Yep, not bad.

posted at 4:16 pm
on Sep. 23, 2009

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It it a Cheese name or a Font? Play the game and prepare to be stumped

Thanks @sarahfelicity @FierceKitty

posted at 12:30 pm
on Sep. 21, 2009

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Sale of inexpensive imports as ‘BC Wine’ by BC Liquor Board called ‘scandalous’...

... by BC Wine Growers. People who have to pay for wine call BC protectionist liquor prices 'scandalous'.

posted at 5:18 pm
on Sep. 20, 2009

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Insane killer escapes on trip to county fair (not an Onion article)

This is why I say: take killers only to matinees, not to fairs. Too much of an escape chance at a fair.

posted at 4:33 pm
on Sep. 18, 2009

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Having twins? Both parents will get maternity leave, says the Canada’s EI board

Truly surprising ruling. But hey, it kinda makes sense.

posted at 1:11 pm
on Sep. 18, 2009

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Debate: Should NYC ban smoking in all public spaces, and if so, what’s the justification?

Smoking outdoors doesn't hurt anyone except, arguably, the smoker. Littering and fire starting are dealt with by laws against that, not against smoking. What do you think?

posted at 12:59 pm
on Sep. 18, 2009

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Music publishers ASCAP and BMI want Apple to pay for each 30-second preview played in iTunes

Next, they want Apple to pay for anyone who hums the music that people listen to on their iPod. Then they want you to pay them $50 "just because we said so."

posted at 1:59 pm
on Sep. 17, 2009

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Google acquires reCAPTCHA, a spam-prevention tool that also digitizes old books

I'm pretty happy about this.

posted at 11:39 am
on Sep. 16, 2009

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Windosill is a short but fun mind puzzle from the creators of ‘Levers’: Vectorpark. Try it.

I played levers for the first time about 10 years ago.

posted at 8:02 pm
on Sep. 15, 2009

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A ghost ship fleet east of Singapore shows the plunge in shipping globally

Is this a sign the recession is still strong, or an over-hyped indicator of normal, though lagging business indicators?

posted at 7:28 pm
on Sep. 15, 2009

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J-Lab appeals for new media orgs to be up-front about funding sources; more transparency is needed

Jan Shaffer is a client of ours and we helped build this database, but her point is valid: any site calling itself a news site should be willing to disclose where the funding for their operation is coming from.

posted at 12:07 pm
on Sep. 15, 2009

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A single page, two-tip site: Make Photoshop Faster

Nice background.

posted at 10:32 am
on Sep. 15, 2009

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The 18 Mistakes That Kill Startups, by Paul Graham

Comprehensive list. I've seen about 9 of these take down startups I kno(e)w.

posted at 1:48 pm
on Sep. 13, 2009

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Degan Beley, Vancouver freelance writer with a focus on food, wine, travel, technical communication

Just giving a little link juice to Degan's personal site.

posted at 1:25 pm
on Sep. 13, 2009

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Scientists levitate a live mouse for lengthy periods using strong magnetic fields

Next step: Fast Mouse magnetic rapid transit lines -- ride a mouse to work!

posted at 5:33 pm
on Sep. 11, 2009

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Nerd Love Equation:Solve for u ( i

Awwwww.

posted at 5:21 pm
on Sep. 11, 2009

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The DHS threat level has been overall yellow (high) since 2004 and hasn’t been changed since 2006

DHS Secretary Napolitano announced a 60-day review of the Homeland Security Advisory System, about 60 days ago.

posted at 12:23 pm
on Sep. 11, 2009

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Google bumps up size of search box; this is news?

Typical -- marketing just can't leave white space alone. What's next, a third button? Where does it end? Oh yeah: see Yahoo.com 😊

posted at 5:12 pm
on Sep. 10, 2009

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Hilarious and Crazy Signage, Part 13

I like the one that says "Kittens: Open the Door. Save them."

posted at 3:26 pm
on Sep. 10, 2009

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Suzuki slags Vancouver 2010 for falling short of environmental goals

That David Suzuki, such a rapscallion.

posted at 10:38 am
on Sep. 10, 2009

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Why do smart people engage in negative thinking?

If the power is positive thinking is really all it's supposed to be...

posted at 3:33 pm
on Sep. 9, 2009

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New iPod nano: has video camera, FM radio with pause, built-in pedometer, still just one button

Lots and lots of features, but still just a clickwheel. Here's hoping they got the UI right.

posted at 11:34 am
on Sep. 9, 2009

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Article: The people who multitask the most are the ones who are worst at it

I think this is probably because ... Oooh! Wait! Let's go ride bikes!

posted at 11:12 pm
on Sep. 8, 2009

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Do a Google Search for “ascii art” and look at the logo

/\  /\__ _  | |__   __ _ 
 / /_/ / _` | | '_ \ / _` |
/ __  / (_| | | | | | (_| |
\/ /_/ \__,_| |_| |_|\__,_|

posted at 7:13 pm
on Sep. 8, 2009

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Flickr now has an iPhone App, but Daring Fireball says it’s crashy

I'll be testing it today.

posted at 10:18 am
on Sep. 8, 2009

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Picture: I Miss You

Don't read anything into it -- it's just a cool picture.

posted at 10:01 pm
on Sep. 6, 2009

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WordPress blogs pre-2.8.4 are undergoing a worm-type attack right now

Upgrade to version 1.6.8 (of ExpressionEngine) immediately 😉

posted at 1:43 pm
on Sep. 5, 2009

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Sept. 7 is the last day to vote for one of the 2,296 #SXSW panels. Every vote counts?

2,296 suggested panels. How are you possibly expected to find panels of interest? It's a world-wide high school popularity contest, but less well organized.

posted at 2:17 pm
on Sep. 4, 2009

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Want Google Gears / Gmail offline in Snow Leopard? Here’s the workaround.

This was written by the Mailplane guy, but works for Fluid and even for Safari if you switch it to 32-bit mode.

posted at 11:04 am
on Sep. 4, 2009

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Texas State Fair’s new food sensation: Deep Fried Butter

Thanks, Pat's Papers, for the tip (NB. He's a client of Hop Studios).

posted at 12:00 am
on Sep. 3, 2009

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Overheard

“The sad truth is that most evil is done by people who never make up their minds to be good or evil.”

...who said it?

“Almost every American I know does trade large portions of his life for entertainment, hour by weeknight hour, binge by Saturday binge, Facebook check by Facebook check. I’m one of them. In the course of writing this I’ve watched all 13 episodes of House of Cards and who knows how many more West Wing episodes, and I’ve spent any number of blurred hours falling down internet rabbit holes. All instead of reading, or writing, or working, or spending real time with people I love.”

...who said it?

“Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones.”

...who said it?

“I play with variables constantly.”

...who said it?

“Only the person who has learned Continual Love coming from a heart of Gratitude/Worship can effectively deal with the problem of loneliness.”

...who said it?

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