tech ronin

Recommending a Million Monkeys Typing

I've been reading A Million Monkeys Typing for a couple years now and every so often, I am just downright impressed. In fact, if the subject he writes about interests me the least bit, I can be virtually guaranteed to be greatly informed and entertained by his rich, interesting and well-crafted posts.

Douglas Johnston's so called random musings are often what I wish I would have written. My posts tend to be more often off the cuff thoughts only partially formed and thought through. His posts focus my mind and make me feel - well-informed. Kind of like an in-depth New York Times article but more authentic, casual and personal. And self-effacing. Which is so appreciated. I'm not diminished in the process – only enriched and stimulated in a salutary way.

You gotta bookmark this guy or subscribe if you like some of the subjects I cover here. You'll find less gadgets by far even though he's a technical kind of guy. And more and better of the best of what I've done so far.

One more thing, I can't leave the topic of Mr. Johnston without also pointing you to his cool D*I*Y Planner done with the same level of care. It's a planner system with custom pages. I believe he doesn't charge for his templates either. If you are a designer, you can take his templates and modify them if you like to your aesthetic taste. If you are not a designer, you might still like to customize the templates to meet your own particular needs.

Technorati Tags: DIY Planner, knowledgework, moleskine, Macintosh, GTD

Waterfield wallet is ultra comfortable and useable

I've owned Waterfield Design's leather wallet for 3 years. In fact, I just bought a new one since the inner pockets of my 3-year-old were wearing out. This wallet was just reviewed at The Gadgeteer with some really nice photos and thorough review. After a week of use, Julie, loves it.

Why is this such a functional wallet? One thing I've liked is that it accommodates a lot of stuff like lots of credit cards and it gets a lot thinner when you don't put much in it. Since it has a zipper, you can put change in it and stuff things in it if you are in a hurry and not worry that they'll fall out.

The zipper is excellent. It works with total reliability and curves around the side of the wallet so you can always see and get to anything in there in a hurry.

Like other items in the Waterfield Designs portfolio, workmanship is excellent. The new version has been improved in subtle ways. Now the inner pockets are stronger so I don't ever anticipate they'll fail like the old ones eventually did. The new wallet seems to have a slightly stiffer outer casing that makes it look better - it keeps its shape.

I own several other Waterfield items including their stylish and functional Cozmo bag and several of their awesome gear pouches. All are of excellent workmanship and design. Service is superb with amazing shipping turnaround times.

I live 12 miles from Waterfield Design and have been to their factory/warehouse/office. Founder, Gary, showed me options firsthand. If you are in the Bay Area, I highly recommend a trip over to the fringe of Hunter's Point to check out colors and textures and sizes firsthand if you have any question about what you'll get. That was over two years ago, so, since they don't operate a retail outlet, you may want to call ahead and see if you can schedule a visit.

Still made in San Francisco, maybe their site says it best:

In a nutshell, WaterField products are ridiculously well-made, fastidiously designed, have more personality than you can shake a stick at, and are so “user-friendly”, that you can actually operate them with one arm tied behind your back.

Technorati Tags: bags, cases, pouches

Best iPod cases Post

Playlist just released an excellent iPod cases gift guide. I was really impressed. Typically, you'll see information about a few cases from various sites and most are given mixed reviews. Here you get the best of and this is an impressive collection of cases with photos and commentary. If you are ready to make a purchase, this is your place to start.

Technorati Tags: iPod