No News Today – Sorry

Stuff came up and I’ve been busy running errands, babysitting, cleaning up dog poop, and the works, so I’ve been unable to write an entry for today.

That said, to any of you with an iOS device running iOS 6, on your iOS device there’s a present waiting for you in Settings > General > Software Update.

Cheers!

Montana

21.5: We Got The Beat

Honestly the title has nothing to do with the following article, it’s just the song I’m listening to at the moment which happens to rock.

I mentioned recently that I’m planning on outright removing traditional web browsers from my life (with very few exceptions), and I don’t think that I explained why. I hope that this entry can make my stance crystal clear so that we can have an understanding.

I have a history of abandoning technologies and services that I view as being on the way out. Be it Adobe Flash, traditional computers (with exceptions), and even e-mail (with exceptions), I’ve consistently put my money where my mouth is. I’ve inconvenienced myself for a bit of time, but I’m vindicated with Flash and traditional computers.

As far as I can see, e-mail too is on its path towards irrelevance, meaning that I need to find more dying technologies to get rid of. Based on my own observations the next thing to die is traditional web browsers. Dedicated service apps — from social networking to media to news — are the future and I aim to help show people why traditional web browsers are antiquated comparably.

At the moment I’m thinking up a list of rules for myself and others to follow once written and published. Getting rid of traditional web browsers is so much more complex and harder than any other tech I’ve shelved because, at least at present, they’re integral to our lives.

I’ve learned recently, however, that traditional web browsers slow me down in the face of apps dedicated to services like Flipboard. Finding news is so much faster with that than it ever can be using a traditional web browser; I’ve been a fool to avoid Flipboard as long as I have simply because of its dumb animation.

The Flipboard, Tweetbot, TechCrunch, and Pocket [iTunes links] iOS apps are what make this blog possible. (slightly) unkommon was a slow-to-publish, aimless mess before I decided to start waning off of the Safari web browser to find information.

Today I can A) find approximately 20 articles that interest me, B) narrow them down to nine, C) write a paragraph or two about each one, D) write a 300-to-500 word post about something random, and E) edit it all in less than three hours. I find that kind of phenomenal, particularly as a junior writer. I can credit having an iPad mini as a companion to my big iPad as speeding me up, but the real stars are the news and information apps.

As always, the only way to usher in the future is to live in it prematurely. Be the change that you want to see in the world, and you can move mountains; at least that’s what I believe. And traditional web browsers will almost cease to exist in the future that I want to see.

21: Paying The Bills

1. Unlocking Phones Is Illegal Again

I’m not sure that this was ever a concern of mine, but this is an example of the US government just not getting the tech industry. I feel slightly ignorant since the decision to make unlocking phones illegal today happened in October, but one thing is clear: Jailbreakers beware.

via FlipBoard for iOS

2. Mean Girls Is Amanda Seyfriend’s Best Work, So Says Amanda Seyfried

Yesterday I basically raved about Amanda Seyfried, and she’s already in the news again; this time for telling IndieWire the film that she considers her best work.

I’ve just worked a long time. I’ve gotten a lot of cool opportunities here and there and I’ve made some good choices with the help of my amazing team…. I still look back at ‘Mean Girls’ as my best work.

I guess that I need to watch Mean Girls again.

via FlipBoard for iOS

3. Django Unchained Tied To Pulp Fiction

Now this is cool. Apparently Quentin Tarantino links his films together in little, pretty unnoticeable ways. Christopher Walken’s character in Pulp Fiction is a descendant to a gang member named in Django Unchained. It’s very interesting, and of course something that Tarantino would do.

via FlipBoard for iOS

4. Miley Cyrus Eats Pizza, Gets Sick

Honestly I’m slightly biased because I have a strong distaste for “Hannah Montana”; Miley Cyrus’s use of my name led to me being teased a lot by my friends. Some people outright called me “Hannah”, others who knew my nickname “Tanner” called me “Tannah Montana”, and it’s been very irritating.

So as far as I’m concerned, Cyrus getting sick from eating pizza is definitely news. Normally I don’t like to hear that people get sick, but in this case it’s awesome.

via @cambio on Twitter

5. Steve Wozniak Hates The Steve Jobs Movie (So Far)

Any Apple fan could have told you that the trailer for jOBS looks to be inaccurate, but no one has more authority than Steve Wozniak himself. So what does Wozniak have to say?

“Admin”, Studio Briefing:

in two emails to the Gizmodo tech site, has pronounced it “Totally wrong.” In fact, he said, he was “embarrassed” by the entire clip. What actually happened in real life, he said, is that he had been “inspired by the values of the Homebrew Computer Club” to build an affordable computer. “Steve J. wasn’t around and didn’t attend the club,” he pointed out. “Steve came from selling surplus parts at HalTed [and] always saw a way to make a quick buck off my designs.” As for how he himself was portrayed in the film by Josh Gad: “I never looked like a professional. We were both kids. Our relationship was so different than what was portrayed. … I never wore a tie back then. I wore blue jeans and the same style blue button-up shirt every day of my life.”

Not surprising at all. Tap or click here (YouTube link) to watch the clip in question.

via IMDb

6. Android Redefines Feature Phones

Preston de Guise, unsane.info:

Android is going into two entirely different markets when it comes to mobile phones. There’s the area everyone focuses on – smartphones. That’s where people get confused over number of phones sold vs web usage coming from the phones. Then there’s the other market – the market where the cheaper Android phones are going head to head against the feature phones.

And this is why Android’s market share means next to nothing. Android is a smartphone OS, but that doesn’t mean the phones it powers are deserving of the title.

I’d wager that if you were to remove the people who only use their Android phone to make phone calls and txt friends, the iPhone would have a higher share if the smartphone market than Android phones. But that’s just my guess.

7. Rumor: The Next iPad (5th Gen) To Look Like iPad mini

I use both a 5th gen iPad and an iPad mini; in fact at this moment I’m using the two side-by-side. It’s honestly disgusting how much better the iPad mini looks. It’s solid. It’s beautiful. It f***ing glistens in the light.

Apple should be ashamed that the iPad mini — which costs $170 less than the 5th gen iPad — looks so much better in comparison. If the 5th gen iPad doesn’t take design cues from the iPad mini, it will be a tragedy.

This rumor had better come to fruition.

via FlipBoard for iOS

8. Men Commit More Research Fraud Than Women

Now this is interesting albeit maybe unsurprising. Apparently, of researchers who commit fraud of one sort or another, 2/3 are men.

I say that this is “maybe unsurprising” because, while I don’t know the numbers, I’m guessing that male researchers outweigh female researchers. If A) there are more male researchers than female researchers, and B) we assume that each gender is equally ethical, then C) females would likely commit an equal amount of fraud as males.

Of course I have no proof of my above guess, so take it as the speculation that it is.

via @dougcoulson on Twitter

9. Apple Terminates Relationship With Chinese Manufacturer Because Of Underage Labor

Apple fired Guangdong Real Faith Pingzhou Electronics — one of its suppliers — for employing underage kids. Good for Apple.

I’m surprised that the headline of the original article doesn’t read “Apple Responsible For Layoffs In China”.

via FlipBoard for iOS

10. Paying For Articles

Despite me writing basically for free, I’ve long held the belief that writers deserve to be paid for their work. This stuff isn’t easy; it’s a job, paid or otherwise. My mom classifies blogging for yourself as an internship, which is a good way to think about it. I’m not getting paid but I am gaining experience and learning something new every day.

But even internships are considered “work”, and internships do lead to paying gigs in the future. Or so they should.

Some of my favorite blogs are written by writers who go unpaid. These are people who pour their heart out into onto the web sometimes every single day, putting in an hour or two or three, and receive nothing in return except satisfaction. Last I checked, satisfaction alone doesn’t pay a single bill, which is kind of unfortunate.

Some writers have a large enough audience where they can plaster ads on their site and make at least a little bit of money in ad revenue. That’s all fine and well, however the problem that I see is that our readers become a product that we’re selling to advertisers, which isn’t cool. If I’m going to earn money, I should be selling my articles, not selling you.

Unfortunately that isn’t reality, and sometime in the near term (1-2 years) ads will go up on unkommon.net, at least until I’m comfortable asking you to pay for my articles. I’m hoping that I never lose sight of my goal which is to make money in an honest fashion.

To remind me of my goal I do outright pay for some of my news, The Magazine and Matter. Those two publications are very good, and the reason they are very good is that they have to be worth paying for. With ad-based compensation, we only need to be good enough to drive traffic. If we’re asking you to pay us, our work better be outright fantastic otherwise you’ll go elsewhere.

If you’re a regular reader, and you spend four minutes on my blog every day of the week (in the future when I write more) on average, that’s two hours of entertainment that I’m giving you each month. The cost of a two hour movie in theaters is $10. Now, the cost of movies is overpriced, so if we’re comparing just time of entertainment, this blog probably deserves $4 each month from each daily reader.

Obviously I’m not good enough to ask $4 each month from anybody yet, but when I am good enough, that’s probably going to be what I ask to read articles here. Just a multi-year heads up. ;-) In the interim you should pay for other articles that are worth paying for; don’t be intimidated, trust me, those articles will usually be better than anything ad-based. Because they have to be.

18: Oh No! My iPad (3rd Gen) Fell And Cracked! :(

Well. Thankfully I at least gathered articles for today’s entry. I was saying goodbye to a cute girl and my iPad was on my lap, and it slipped and fell to the floor. The result:

Hopefully Apple replaces it. Fingers crossed. I’m too in shock to write blurbs on the nine news articles I want you to check out, so what follows is just a few links. I’m stunned.

1. Wrath Of The Titans Insults Intelligence

2. Intel (Finally) Ramping Up Investment In Mobile

3. How To Limit iOS Device Time For Your Kids

4. Pope Benedict XVI Tweets In Latin

5. iPad or iPad mini?

6. iPhone 5 Jailbreak “Behind The Scenes”

7. First Kick-Ass 2 Photo

8. Surprise: Google Doesn’t Like Microsoft

9. Anti-Apple Anger

17.5: Locked In

At present I own three computing devices that I use regularly — iPhone 4, iPad (3rd generation), and iPad mini — all Apple products running iOS 6. Including previous purchases, I’ve owned six iOS devices in a little over five years. My computing lifestyle is shaped by a single company, and what follows is an argument in favor of that scenario.

To say that I’ve invested a significant amount of time and money in the iOS ecosystem is an understatement. I’ve spent $2,554 just on iOS devices themselves over the course of a little more than five years, and probably a similar amount in software and services.

Let me rephrase the previous paragraph; even if I wanted to, leaving iOS for a competing platform would be difficult and the financial hit would be depressing. It’s in my best interest to stick to using iPhones and iPads because otherwise I’d have to start over which, again, is unreasonable. The kicker is that the longer I stay with iOS, the more I invest in it and the more locked-in to the platform I become!

Fortunately I haven’t ever wanted a device powered by Android (which you may know as Apple’s primary competition). In the history of iOS and Android I haven’t once paused and thought that Android might be the superior operating system; the “open” ideology behind Android clashes with my own behaviors, whereas I align with iOS.

Unfortunately I actually like what Microsoft has done with its Windows Phone operating system. So while I do still genuinely prefer iOS, my potential future with Windows Phone is definitely a casualty of being locked-in to the iOS ecosystem.

So the question becomes is it a smart idea to heavily invest in a single ecosystem and lock yourself into it? As far as I know, the time and money I’ve spent on iOS has let me get the most out of the platform, and its value to me is very high. If a company’s ideals closely match your own and you believe that it has a future, locking yourself into its platform and getting the most value for your time and money is probably smart.

If you aren’t sure, it’s probably a good idea to keep an open mind and not invest too much in a given platform until you find the one that you can stand behind no matter what. I’ve stuck with Apple in times good and times bad, and when the day ends I’m rewarded for it; but maybe that’s just me. I’ve copied and pasted the following quote before, but it’s one of my favorite web comments and it’s relevant enough to end with.

LareneDepopiet, CNET Commenter:

Companies, or brands have a style, a culture, a language, and that adds up to something close to a personality. This is very clear internally in the way decisions are made, priorities assigned, and generally what values are held. Finding that a companies values or priorities are a good match for your own, which you may not do consciously, will make you more receptive to its products or services. there is nothing wrong with that, it does not make you a fanboy or a zombie.
Just like you are more forgiving of your friends’ faults because you value their qualities, you can be more accepting of a product’s weaknesses because you appreciate a company’s culture. That does not make you stupid. In fact, in the long term, it may be smarter because you reward the companies who have values consistent with yours, even when their products are not, objectively, the absolute best in a category.

I agree completely. And this probably isn’t the last time I’ll post that quote, sorry in advance. ;-)

16: Don’t Kill Me Please

1. I Didn’t Come Here To Die

Check out the trailer [YouTube link] for this Horror flick that recently made its way onto digital avenues. I hear good things and intend to check it out this weekend. You can rent I Didn’t Come Here To Die on iTunes by tapping/clicking here, and on Amazon if you have a Prime membership.

via a friend on Facebook

2. Txt-Alternative For Kids

My search-fu is failing me at the moment, but based on personal interactions I’d wager that a significant amount of young kids send txt messages fairly regularly.

It’s no secret that txt messaging kind of sucks and is a pure cash grab by our mobile carriers, and that we’re all better off using alternatives like Facebook Messenger, iMessage, etc. Unfortunately services like Facebook Messenger aren’t incredibly youth-oriented, and now a youth-oriented alternative called Jongla is launching on iOS and Android.

Honestly I don’t particularly care what alternative service that kids use, but if we want to end the txting hegemony, all age groups need to contribute. If there are services targeting youth, I’m all for them.

3. Ashton Kutcher Really Really Looks Like Steve Jobs

The resemblance is striking. I’m still not convinced that he’ll do a fantastic job acting as Steve Jobs in the upcoming flick jOBS, however we’ll have to wait and see.

via FlipBoard for iOS

4. Self-Published Authors Kicking Butt On Kindle

At least in the UK, 15 of the top 100 best-selling Kindle books were self-published. That’s fascinating, and the situation is probably similar in many countries where Amazon sells Kindle books.

The world is changing.

via Thirst for iOS

5. The 6 Best Dresses At The Golden Globes

There are some days where you can’t not love The Onion.

via @acarboni on Twitter

6. 7 Men Gang Rape Bus Passenger In India

Faith Karimi and Shah Singh, CNN:

In an incident eerily similar to a sexual assault that sent shock waves worldwide, Indian police say a woman was gang-raped over the weekend by seven men after she boarded a bus at night.

So sad. It’s surreal to think of how much evil there is in the world. One of the things I hope to see in my lifetime is world peace, although I realize that it’s probably a few generations away. Maybe 100% hate-free is impossible, but I think that 99% can happen with time.

You can say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. [YouTube link]

via With Fetus

7. Wearable Computing Is The Next Big Thing

These days you can’t find a tech publication raving about watches and glasses that can do more than tell time and help you see, but do tech writers represent the general population?

I can see the value in reading my Twitter notifications without having to take my iPhone out of my pocket, but I’m not sure that everyone wants to make fashion accessories out of their mini-computers. I could be wrong though.

8. Easter Eggs In January

Arrested Development is one of the few TV shows that I’ve ever watched, and the fact that Netflix is bringing it back is fantastic. If you’re in the US (presumably — I can’t test anything in Canada or the UK) Netflix has a bit of a promotion going on. If you’re an Arrested Development fan, follow these instructions and enjoy!

via FlipBoard for iOS

9. Reason To Recover #709

100 Reasons To Recover:

Because one day my story will change someone’s life.

I’ve linked to 100 Reasons To Recover before, and if you haven’t checked out that blog yet, you really should. It’s kind of inspirational and it can satisfy as a life guide for most everyone feeling down.

10. The Death Glare

A common look that I receive from people who see me using both my iPad and iPad mini at the same time is the Death Glare. For whatever reason a solid amount of people have a problem with me carrying around two iPads; these people often tote around Macs which are more expensive than my two iPads combined, but that’s beside the point.

The iPad mini kills the larger iPad at “consumption” — it’s smaller size and weight makes it easier to use kicking back leisurely-like — so I use my iPad mini to find articles to share here. When it comes time to write bits about those articles, I keep the articles open on the iPad mini and type up my thoughts on the big iPad, which saves time as opposed to switching between writing and reading on a single iPad which I did before picking up an iPad mini. Not having to leave the app that I write in saves a whole lot of time, I can probably finish blogposts twice as fast now.

In addition, as I’ve mentioned before, I’m learning a nifty coding language called Processing. Prior to getting an iPad mini I switched between both the book and the Processing app on my iPad, which was slow. Now that I have an iPad mini I code on the larger iPad and read on the iPad mini. Again, having the iPad mini probably makes me go twice as fast.

There are genuine reasons that I have and use both an iPad and iPad mini. So what’s the deal with people?

I’m reminded of when I picked up my first iPad in 2010; I had an iPhone 3G at the time, and friends derided me for having an iPhone and a big iPhone that couldn’t make phone calls. The problem was that the differences between iPhones and iPads hadn’t yet been established, so to a lot of people I was seen as A) wasting my money and/or B) an upper class jerk showing off my wealth (which was a laughable idea if you knew my financial situation).

The iPad and iPad mini have loads of crossover, I won’t pretend that they don’t. But I have each for their differences; the iPad’s larger screen makes it good for typing, coding, drawing, and the type of content creation that I do, whereas the iPad mini’s smaller screen makes it good for leisurely gathering and consuming information, gaming, and consumption in general.

The hate that I’ve received is weird and, in my mind, unfounded.

13: I Remember When There Were 151

1. Apple Making A Low-Cost iPhone?

We’ve been hearing this for years, that Apple is going to make a cheap version of the iPhone for people who can’t afford the version with premium components. That’s a mistake in my mind, as Apple doesn’t have a tendency to create stuff that its executives wouldn’t use personally; a cheap iPhone would fall into that category.

If Apple is making a “cheaper” iPhone, it would be an iPhone nano. Much smaller, thinner, lighter, fully aluminum and available in a variety of colors. $99 off contract and highly ideal to pre-paid buyers. Think of the current iPod nano but with some phone components built-in.

2. Overkill

The next Human Centipede flick will feature a chain of 500 humans connected via orifices. This franchise is becoming so absurd that it isn’t even an insult to cinema anymore.

3. Warner Bros. Embraces Animation

While Warner Bros. has produced animated flicks in the past — Happy Feet Two, that Owl movie, etc — it hasn’t attacked the genre as other large studios have. Starting in 2014, however, expect to see one animated flick from Warner Bros. per year.

Given its history, however, don’t think that this means that Warner Bros. plans to churn out good animated flicks.

4. Pokemon X And Y

One day Nintendo will make a MMORPG “Pokémon World”. Until then, though, the trailer for the upcoming Pokémon games, Pokémon X and Pokémon Y, makes me want a Nintendo 3DS. The gameplay looks pretty incredible* and I’d wager that Nintendo has another winner on its hands.

Pokémon X and Y will be released worldwide sometime in October.

*I have, as of this writing, watched the trailer five times.

5. 500 Days In A (Simulated) Mars Mission

While it’s disconcerting that a 500 day simulated mission to Mars causes sleep problems, it’s fascinating to wonder when we’ll make the actual journey.

6. Nokia Open To Android

It’s good that Nokia is keeping an open mind about alternative platforms, but it seems to me that the reason Nokia is even slightly relevant is that it’s Microsoft’s premier partner with Windows Phone. Giving up that position to be just another phone manufacturer could be unwise.

7. Dish Wants Clear

Dish Networks is offering to purchase Clearwire for $5.15 billion. Unfortunately, Clearwire has a strong partnership with Sprint which basically kills the entire idea of a buyout. But this is certainly fun to think about.

Disclaimer: I used to be employed by Clearwire, although I did almost nothing for the company.

8. Who Woulda Thought: Robert Pattison And Kristen Stewart Like Mexican Food!

You have to love the gossiping media.

via @cambio on Twitter

9. Virtual Assassins

I’m not sure if this is good parenting or bad parenting: Instead of taking away his son’s computer, a Chinese man hired expert gamers to assassinate his son in the online games that he plays to discourage him from playing.

More or less a WTF of the Day.

via @sidewaysburnout on Twitter

10. Age Appropriate

One of the silly arguments which I got into on Twitter a while ago was whether or not it’s socially acceptable to like Pokémon as an adult. My argument: Hell to the yes. His argument: Hell to the no. With the Pokémon X and Y announcement, it’s appropriate to revisit that discussion.

So is it socially acceptable for adults to pick up Pokémon X or Y in October?

Hell to the yes.

Most of my fondest gaming memories involve the Pokémon games. While I haven’t been to one in a few years, I’ve attended Pokémon conventions as a little kid and as a young adult, and the audience at the conventions I’ve attended range from pre-teens to middle-aged adults.

Pokémon — be it the video games, trading card games, or TV shows — transcends age. As it’s okay to like Cinnamon Toast Crunch as an adult it’s okay to like Pokémon as an adult. Fun things aren’t restricted to minors and the idea that it’s not socially acceptable to have fun is absurd.

12: Go Science!

1. Giant Squid Filmed Alive

The video kind of stinks, but this is pretty cool. Japanese scientists filmed a live giant squid, which is the first time that one has been captured on camera alive! This is exciting because it means now we can look for other camera shy sea creatures.

Despite my outright fear of the ocean, the idea that there are so many creatures we probably can’t even fathom living on the same planet as us is fascinating, and while we already knew that giant squids existed, seeing a live one on film that isn’t CG is fascinating.

via @geekCouch on Twitter

2. Dreamies

If you’re like me and miss Twinkies, you can thank Mrs. Freshley’s for filling the void with a little snack called “Dreamies“. After I get settled into my new home this weekend, I’m going to give Dreamiest a test drive. Here’s hoping that it can live up to Twinkies at least a little bit.

3. The New Way Teens Shame

The next big thing in cyber bullying is teens dissecting other teen’s pictures.

I wasn’t ever bullied — let alone cyber bullied — so I have a difficult time empathizing with these bullied teens. But it’s clear that a few parents need to take a course in parenting.

4. iOS Users Have Downloaded 40 Billion Apps

The best part about this story is the comments section; Engadget’s commenter base is so anti-Apple despite the publication being fairly neutral that it’s scary.

Aside from that, it’s pretty impressive that iOS users have downloaded 40 billion apps in less than five years — half if that in just 2012. Consider that the 40 billion number doesn’t include pirated apps, and it’s clear why iOS is a highly desirable platform for developers despite the elephant in the room Android’s presence.

5. Beat Underestimation

Christa Campbell, one of Texas Chainsaw 3D‘s producers, is proving people wrong with the success of her film. “I love that people underestimate me”, Campbell says, and while I’m not aware of how often she is underestimated, it’s a great sentiment.

When someone tells you that you can’t do something, take it as a challenge to prove them wrong. You’ll probably fail a lot, but there are few things as rewarding as beating expectations. Live for that and you’ll live happily.

via @scottEweinberg on Twitter

6. News: Justin Bieber Might Be Crazy

If rumors are to be believed, Justin Bieber calls his ex-girlfriend Selena Gomez approximately 100 times per day.

I don’t buy this story, honestly, for a few reasons. Namely I’m not sure that Bieber has enough spare time to call an individual 100 times per day, and that Gomez is smart enough that she would seek a restraining order. Nonetheless, it’s fun to fan the “Bieber sucks!!!” fire among my peers.

via @cambio on Twitter

7. Huawei To Samsung: Top This

At CES yesterday, Huawei announced a 6.1″ smartphone which it calls Ascend Mate. I’m not aware of anyone with jeans that justify a 6.1″ phone, and what’s frightening is that this probably won’t be the only 6″+ smartphone released this year or next — infact 6.1″ might be viewed as small in a few years.

Please Apple, ignore this “trend”.

8. Goodbye, David R. Ellis

David R. Ellis, the director of Snakes on a Plane (which you may be aware is one of my favorite B-movies) passed away yesterday. He will be missed.

Not to be a shill for Netflix, but if you have an account, you can stream Ellis’s recent movie Shark Night. It’s a fun throwaway flick if you’re a B-movie fan.

via @scottEweinberg on Twitter

9. Huh

The designers of Microsoft’s Windows 8 logo, Pentagram Design, have redesigned NYC parking signs. I have little more to say than “huh”.

10. Being Wrong Redux

Part of the reason today’s post (Issue? Edition?) is a few hours late is that I spent more time talking with my associates than researching/writing. Probably the largest topic that we covered is pride; being immovable, right until proven wrong, creating straw men, etc. These types of discussions are healthy because they help to point out personality flaws that I choose to pretend don’t exist.

Yours truly, two months ago:

I make a whole lot of statements every day — it’s like an Olympic sport for me. Be it here, in person among physical people, or on Twitter or Skype, I talk a lot about things I know a lot about and things I know little about. Unfortunately I’m not right 100% of the time which is probably something to be expected. The most important thing is how I handle being wrong — I’d argue that it’s more important than being right.
…
Pride itself isn’t a bad thing, in fact I’m proud of a lot of things — but it’s when pride supersedes judgement that things take a turn from okay to not. I was very recently wrong in a very big way. Personally, I’m happy I was wrong, because it’s led to sometching so much better than the results that sticking to my guns would have yielded.

I decided to revisit this after a session of meditating followed by Screeching Weasel’s cover of I Can See Clearly Now, because I forgot what I myself wrote just two months ago. It’s true that I’m highly opinionated and have been for as long as I can remember, but my attachment to pride changed for the worse in a very short amount of time.

I’m at a point where I can say that my behavior is healthy — that drawing lines in the sand and alienating myself from others makes me an easy person to identify — or admit that I’m wrong and need to change. I believe that the latter is probably the healthiest thing to do. And if you find yourself in a similar slump, I hope that you have friends as good as mine who can call you out without judging you.

This is one situation where I really hope that I’m not wrong.

9.3: Apps for Directors

If you’re a movie director — large or small or aspiring — and you have an iPhone or iPad, you should check out this list of apps to download put together by Neptune Salad. These apps will genuinely help you on your quest as a filmmaker.

via Twitter user @horrorgeek

2.6: Instagram Disagrees

Instagram’s co-founder Kevin Systrom thinks that we’re overreacting and, quite frankly, wrong about how uploaded photos are going to be sold off. You can find his full defense of the Terms of Service changes at iMore.

Here’s my favorite of Systrom’s three paragraphs, however:

Instagram users own their content and Instagram does not claim any ownership rights over your photos. Nothing about this has changed. We respect that there are creative artists and hobbyists alike that pour their heart into creating beautiful photos, and we respect that your photos are your photos. Period.

Honestly I believe that he’s being honest, although he isn’t indicating that we’re wrong at least in respect to using user-uploaded photos in advertising. And I still have no reason to use Instagram.

Period.