Nerd Business

The scenario: with an impending 10 hour flight - you need to load up the iPad with entertainment.

The dilemma: you want to avoid using notoriously bloated iTunes.

Furthermore, you need an app that can play any format like DivX so you don't have to deal with converting files or compatibility issues.

On a recent trip to Japan, I faced this scenario - and was able to find the perfect solution just in time. Happily enjoyed a flight full of movies & TV shows (well, my girlfriend did - honestly I mostly just played Super Mario Bros on DS).

Anyway, I wanted to share the solution; to show how you can easily load your iPad with all the movies and TV shows you want - without needing to install big bloated iTunes on your computer.

GoodReader + CineXPlayer + AV Player HD = non iTunes movie playback solution

While Ubuntu runs on my laptop, my desktop system will remain a Windows machine for the foreseeable future.

For a while I had both systems running Ubuntu. As a long time Windows user, this was a pretty big nerd step for me. Booting up everyday for work into Linux instead of Windows took some getting used too. Of course, I still had Windows 7 within quick reach via a virtual machine. That allowed me to jump in and out of Windows when needed - particularly for the use of Adobe Creative Suite.

Yet, as I found out, given my time on the PC is spent mostly within Creative Suite there was not enough justification to deal with the performance hit when working through a VM. Though it was actually very snappy, for graphics design work you need perfection. So before long I was booting into Windows again.

A friend recently gave me the headsup on the Pomodoro technique. It's a time management strategy. As you may know, I've been evolving a time management strategy of my own for some time now. So by the time I learned of Pomodoro - I had already been practicing the main gist of it. Which is that, our days should be broken down into small chunks to maximize focus. But other than that, my technique is quite different.

Though one thing I did find really useful from Pomodoro was the use of a timer. In fact, I'm now using the app below to help track time in my day - and it was designed specifically for Pomodoro technique.

Focus Booster v1.2 (Mac, Windows, Linux via Adobe AIR)

If you're going to use it the right way (my way) here is what to do. Download the app. And set the timer to 90 minutes. Not 25, as suggested by the Pomodoro technique.

I'm currently reading quite possibly the coolest programming book ever written. The book is not teaching Python, nor C, and not even Assembly. Rather, the book is teaching Morse code. And electricity. And how these two concepts can be brought together to make anything from telegraphs to modern day computers.

If you're like me and are trying to take your programming skill to the next level, this might be exactly the kind of foundational knowledge you need.

The book is called CODE. I first got wind about it last week, after reading The Book That Every Programmer Should Read on Grigory' blog. Indeed, Grigory recommended every programmer read it - not because of what kind of new techniques you can learn, but rather, because of the broader understanding you will gain from this truly fundamental lesson on how computers work.

It is Directory Opus. It is the KING of file browsers. And in this review, I will show you why.

Truth be told, I'm trying to be less Windows-centric on my blog. To be a better Linux advocate (and occasionally share some love for Mac). But this I cannot resist. Not even the best file browser on Linux, Nautilus Elementary, can come close to the sheer awesomeness of the premium Windows file browser known as Directory Opus.

But wait! It's not just for Windows. That's right, if you have an Amiga you are in luck!

Above: Old school Directory Opus 4 for Amiga

The first iterations of Directory Opus were kick-started all the way back in the 1980s. Originally developed for the Amiga, Australian programmer Jonathan Potter would later rewrite his unique dual pane file browser for Windows in the early 2000s.

Update 2014: The best place to get this video course is from learnpythonthehardway.org. The video course is no longer available from Udemy.

It is the most popular Python programming book in the world. And now, thanks to Udemy - it's on video. So if you're looking to learn Python - should you download the book or watch it on Udemy? Well, you're asking the right guy: I just finished this excellent course. Here is the full review.

While we don't know if the figure is exactly $1 million we do know that DuckDuckGo has raised a substantial sum of money in its first round of financing UPDATE: the grand total was $3 million. So now that DDG has raised VC money... what's next? Will the Duck continue its champion message of privacy or have the ‘seeds of evil' been planted?

The fact is, DDG success to date is largely based on privacy - so there's no reason to assume the roots of this operation will go evil. In fact, if you know just one thing about founder Gabriel Weinberg you should know this: he is perhaps the most principled, friendly, fast thinking entrepreneur in tech today.

Ubuntu 11.10 is out today! Go download it. OR if you're still on the fence; pondering whether or not you should try dual booting it on your Mac or Windows system - read on.

Virtual Desktops are insanely cool

Out of the box, Virtual Desktops are perhaps the most impressive ‘wow' feature of Ubuntu. And not only do they look cool, but they‘re a tremendous boost for productivity. Its like having an array of dual, triple, or quad monitors (or as many monitors as you want) on a single screen. It exponentially increases the amount of program windows you can comfortably have open at a single time. And once you start using them - you won't ever want to go back to the single desktop paradigm of Mac or Windows.

Above: 6x6 virtual desktops. CTRL + Super key zooms out to this ‘macro view' where you can click and drag any window to different desktops. Or simply use CTRL + arrow keys to cycle one at a time.

Steve Jobs is gone, but long will his legend live on. Throughout his tech superstar career he occasionally shared some incredibly powerful insights on business, product design, and life. Today I was going to post a compilation of several of them here, but found one so powerful that it deserves a post of its' own.

Follow your heart

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything - all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart."