Leon Atkinson's Blog, page 26

Success is perseverance

It seems like the will to persevere relies on confidence. I remember reading Derren Brown arguing that confidence is indistinguishable from pretending to be confident. And so, could success be even simpler: just pretend like you’ll figure it out eventually.

Is the secret to success as simple as just not giving up?

We all know intelligence is important, creativity is important… but how much do these types of natural talent control really what you can achieve in life?

In ~95% of cases, they don’t.

Archos GamePad is an interesting form factor

This is an interesting form factor showing up for Android devices. It’s essentially a clone of a PSP with a touch screen. It must appeal to people wanting to run emulators because the choice of games for Android is sparse.

Latest ARCHOS tablets availability: ARCHOS 80XS, GamePad, Arnova Familypad and 7h G3 | ARCTABLET NEWS

Latest products releases with the ARCHOS GamePad, ARCHOS 80 XS (Gen10), Arnova 7h G3 and Arnova FamilyPad haven’t yet appeared in stores. Some offers for these tablets are showing as pre-orders, let’s hope they’ll hit the shelves before Christmas.

Tony Sly benefit in Walnut Creek includes NOFX

This is a curious show, mostly because of the location. Vices is the club in Walnut Creek that has the reputation for fights. I hate going to Walnut Creek, partly because parking is terrible and partly because there’s some weird pretentious vibe.

NOFX, Teenage Bottlerocket, Elway, and GFP to play benefit for Tony Sly

NOFX, Teenage Bottlerocket, Elway, and G.F.P. will be playing a benefit show for the late Tony Sly of . The fundraiser will take place December 15 at the Vice Ultra Lounge in Walnut Creek, CA with all proceeds going towards the Tony Sly Memorial Fund.

Tickets can be purchased here.

Google’s Ingress

It sounds like another good way to get people to gather data for free.

A Google Surprise — Worldwide Alternative Reality Game Ingress Revealed | Singularity Hub

Google is venturing again into the realm of augmented reality with its reveal of a new mobile game called Ingress. Though the multiplayer game is currently in closed beta, Google has built a marketing campaign around it that entices players who were drawn to TV shows like Fringe and Lost.

Phabricator

I forgot about Phabricator until recently. It certainly has a particular attitude that might be helpful for a medium-sized team I’m on.

Phabricator

Phabricator is a suite of web applications that help software companies communicate about software effectively. It was created at Facebook. Phabricator is also used at many other companies such as Airtime, Asana, Dropbox, deviantART, MemSQL, Path, Quora, and more.

Related articles

LLVM Turns To Phabricator As New Review Option

Do Math Problems Unconsciously

Only N=1, but I have noticed that while I am experiencing the aura effect during a migraine, I simultaneously have blind spots and in my vision and am able to keep reading. I cannot consciously see all the shapes of the letters of the words, but I can read them. For a while, I thought it was my brain being clever about filling in the gaps somehow. Now, I think perhaps some part of my brain still sees the words.

Researchers Show How We Can Do Math Problems Unconsciously

Can we actually read words and phrases and solve multi-step mathematical problems without our having consciously been aware of them? A team in the Psychology Department at the Hebrew University has conducted a series of experiments that give a positive answer: people can read and do math non-consciously.

Just buy the video since Louis CK insists on screwing you on ticket prices

The good news is, you can see Louis CK’s stand up material from this year in an upcoming video either via HBO or via a $5 download. It was irritating that in his most recent tour, he decided to screw with the free market on tickets by stopping scalpers from marking up the tickets. The demand has been much more than $40 face value, but Louis prevented the market to push those prices up. So, people who could afford to pay $100 didn’t have that choice. I read that he put these anti-scalper rules in place because he was uncomfortable with people being angry that prices from scalpers were high. Well, now he can deal with those of us who can afford higher prices getting screwed out of seeing him live.

To be clear: I have always liked Louis, well before the show on FX. And kudos for bucking the system with the DRM-free downloads. But what he’s done with ticket prices is stupid, obviously stupid. If he doesn’t want scalpers making money, he should either set prices appropriately high or offer more supply to bring demand in line with his preferred price. If that means a month of shows in SF, so bet it.

Louis CK to offer HBO show as DRM-free download, chip away at cable content deals

With certain exceptions, HBO has developed a reputation for being protective of where and how its content goes digital. That makes Louis CK’s plans for a 2013 comedy special a slight jolt to the system, even though it’s not his first digital release linked to the channel. While HBO will get a first crack at airing the show, which will be recorded during Louis’ ongoing tour, the comedian now plans to post the production online a few months afterwards using the same successful formulathat has become his calling card: $5, no DRM and no region restrictions. The offering doesn’t overhaul the industry, but it undoubtedly wrests control from the network as soon as the download link goes live. Think of Louis as making a small crack in cable TV’s content wall.

Webasyst Framework

This new framework might be a welcome relief from Expression Engine and Silver Stripe for those clients who are unwilling to use WordPress or Drupal (the #1 and #2 PHP CMSs).

Webasyst Framework

PHP framework for developing sleek multi-user web apps and complex websites. LGPL.

Netflix streaming on Ubuntu

We use the PS3 for Netflix, but this is handy thing to have as an alternative.

PPA for Netflix Desktop App | iheartubuntu

Yesterday, developer and programmer extraordinaire Erich Hoover and I spent several hours working out all of the Netflix Desktop kinks. Most users will have no problems with installation now.

Here is how to install the Netflix Desktop App on Ubuntu.

Linus Torvalds would rather code than make money

A good interview with Linus.

Why Linus Torvalds would rather code than make money | News | TechRadar

You probably use Linux and don’t even know it. We meet the man who started it all.