Interesting and Entertaining kindle

Instapaper has improved Kindle options

I’ve just been over to tweak the settings on my Instapaper account and found that the Kindle options are much improved since my last visit.  I tend to use the iPhone app mostly so I hadn’t noticed the changes before now.

If you’ve never used Instapaper and have no idea what it is you should check out Instapaper.com for all the details.  In short it is a service which you can sign up to free of charge and whenever you come across an article on the web that you’d like to read but don’t have time to do it now, you can use one of the various methods available to send the article to your Instapaper account to read later.

There is another service that does the same thing called ReadItLater and you can check that out at readitlaterlist.com.

The new Instapaper Kindle options allow you to set it to automagically email a digest of the articles you’ve saved straight to your Kindle.  The options are flexible enough to set the interval between mailings and the minimum number of new articles to wait for.  Importantly you can also choose between the free.kindle.com address or the default kindle.com address which may incur charges.

This puts Instapaper a step ahead of Read It Later which only has an export to HTML option and frankly makes the service far more functional.  It is especially useful if you commute to work and want to catch up on all those web articles you never read.

 
Photographer Photography

1954 Leica, 2011 Fujifilm – Boing Boing

BoingBoing have a great shot of a 1954 Leica and the 2011 Fuji X100 side by side.  The styling of the x100 stands up very well, but given a choice (and the money with which to make it) I’d have the Leica every day.  There’s just something magical about removing yourself from your comfort zone and working with some classical, timeless gear.

1954 Leica, 2011 Fujifilm – Boing Boing.

 
Asides Photography

Hacking an old lens and bellows onto a Canon DSLR – Boing Boing

Hacking an old lens and bellows onto a Canon DSLR – Boing Boing.

Interesting project for using some old kit.  :0)

 
Programming Web Development

Lean mean developing machine.

Lean is a buzzword in the world of software development applied to a process of getting better software out faster, whilst reducing the stress and strain of the development.  Basically making software developers happier more productive people.  The principles involved in Lean are pretty good and I’m a fan of sorts, though when it is done bad it can be bloody awful.

The Pragmatic Programmers have been preaching this stuff for years as have big software shops like Microsoft.  I was introduced to SCRUM years ago when working for a software house in Peterborough (UK)  and I actually found it worked for me.

Smashing Magazine recently ran a pretty good article on using lean in the context of UX (User Experience) design.  It touches on many of the benefits of Lean without getting bogged down on detail and is a good primer for anyone looking to brush up on modern software development techniques.  Pragmatic Programmers carry a few different books looking at Lean processes, SCRUM etc. and would be worth a look if you want to extend your knowledge in that area.

 
Interesting and Entertaining

Beware the end of the world…

I heard about this thing on the radio this morning where several key systems around the world rely on the signal from GPS satellites to get their time signals. I thought it nuts and then a buddy of mine sent me a link to the article on the New Scientist website.

First class example of how we cut corners too much in our ‘progressive’ societies.  When the apocalypse comes you want to be in the Australian outback with an Aboriginal tribesperson or in the African plains with a Masai warrior coz those ‘backward’ people will survive while the rest of us burn and starve coz the fracking Microwave won’t run and we’ve no fracking idea how to rub two drops of water together to make a fire.  Which reminds me, anyone got Ray Mears’ phone number?