mortarandpixel » software

Android 1.6 SDK has launched

Mickey Slater — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 19:00:57 +0000

Version 1.6 of Android has finally launched, and with it are a bunch of new features that developers will be excited for. And in grand Google tradition they have put out a fun little video demoing the new features.

Check it out in full

Rethinking your desktop in 3d

Mickey Slater — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 20:55:31 +0000

BumpTop is a fresh and engaging new way to interact with your computer desktop. You can pile and toss documents like on a real desk. Break free from the rigid and mechanical style of standard point-and-click desktops.

The ability to throw my documents around, and stack them up is pretty cool, in concept. Do I want this as my main interface with my computer? No thank you.

Worth looking at? You bet. Check out the video of it in action.

See for yourself : BumpTop.

Boxee vs a Big Boy and the future of tv

Mickey Slater — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 22:26:37 +0000

This past week Avner Ronen, founder of Boxee, had a healthy heated debate over the future of TV with media mongol Mark Cuban.

Boxee is being marketed as a ‘Social Media Center’, enabling users to view, rate, recommend their own media in addition to a variety of internet sources. From Flickr to Twitter to your DVD collection Boxee can handle it all.

From Mark Cuban

The concept of “users always want choice” really really sounds nice. It makes for a great panel argument. But the reality is that its not true. Ultimate choice requires work. Consumers like to think they have choice, but their consumption habits say they prefer easy.

From Avner Ronen

Innovation in the living room will not come from the set-top makers or the networks. if you would like to see the wild creativity of the Internet come to the TV screen, well you need to let the Internet come to the TV screen.

An enlightening read.
For anyone who is curious to see where TV is going, and what some of the hurdles that lay ahead I highly recommend reading the full conversation.

Read the debate : http://blog.boxee.tv/2009/03/21/a-lively-debate-with-mark-cuban/

Review of what Boxee is : http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/25/theres-something-about-boxee/

Mindmapping, a better way to map ideas

Mickey Slater — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 21:42:11 +0000

Mind maps can be used for many different tasks – including to-do lists, brainstorming, holiday planning, research, writing, project management – and in many different environments – school, meetings, workspace.

I was introduced to Mind Mapping software a couple years ago, and absolutely love it. Essentially its a really wonderful and easy way to get a smattering of ideas down quickly. If you find yourself having notes all over the place around a given topic, I highly recommend taking a look at this.

This is what a sample map looks like.

This is by no means an exhastive list of Mind Mapping software, but just a couple that I find myself using.

For the Mac I recommend MindNode which comes in both free and pro/pay versions.
For cross-platform I recommend Freemind, which as its name implies is free