August 2012
“Had Rabbi Meir Soloveichik given the opening blessing at the Republican National Convention, it would have been enough. Now comes word that Rabbi David Wolpe of Los Angeles has been tapped to deliver the benediction Wednesday at the Democratic National Convention. Dayenu!”
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Rabbi David Wolpe to Deliver Democratic National Convention Benediction – Tablet Magazine
Dayenu!
“Moral of the story: You only learn where a product needs improvement through serious long-term use. Users gain that kind of experience, but reviewers and pundits generally do not. Their observations tend to be superficial. That’s why reviews written after a few days using a product often miss the mark. The real greatness or lack of greatness in a product doesn’t show up for a few weeks or months. Sometimes even longer. This was a secret of mine, because most of my competitors not only didn’t listen to their users, but they didn’t even use their own products. If you want to make great products, never mind the degree in finance or marketing, though those skills are certainly important to running a business. Be both a user and a developer. That way you understand users, and you can make their dreams come true, because they are your dreams too. The reward for that is success.”
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Scripting News: What I wanted, part II
I describe myself as User Zero (like Patient Zero) for Menu + Hours. I built it because it’s something that I want to use myself. And since I had a working Alpha build I have used the heck out of it.
“This is not a comfortable reality for tech companies. They don’t like throwing people at a problem. The idea of a startup, after all, is to build a product that can scale, meaning each additional dollar earned cost less to bring in than the previous dollar. Robots make it easy to achieve that goal. A bloated headcount? Not so much. No matter, I’ve talked to a number of startups that began building algorithmic recommendation engine-type businesses, only to later scale back on that plan when they realized people crave recommendations curated by humans.”
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Big Data Be Damned, The Web Still Needs a Human Touch | PandoDaily
This. I can’t tell you how many conversations I’ve had with people who don’t understand why I’m not trying to automate every bit of Menu + Hours. They say things like “that’s a lot of work” as though “a lot of work” isn’t required for building something great and sustainable in the age of the interwebs.
Tapstream Blog: So You Want To Make An App? Try Starting At $10,000 →
blog.tapstream.com
You know making apps is not cheap, but have you ever tried to put a number to it? Most of us have had the experience of friends or family coming up with an app idea, and then having to ask an app developer friend for help. After all, how much can it really cost when everyone’s doing it? Well, next…
I’m asked a lot these days about how much it costs to develop a native mobile app and $10,000 is the starting point I give people, advising them that it’s the very low end if you aren’t a coder yourself.
#usawbbgear →
elmne.ws
USA Women’s Basketball won 5 gold medals but you can’t buy jerseys. Change that: http://elmne.ws/usawbbgear #usawbbgear
Menu and Hours: And There Was Much Rejoicing →
blog.menuandhours.com
This morning I submitted Menu + Hours to Apple.
Now we wait for Apple to review the app. Once Apple has approved it Menu + Hours can be released into the App Store. Based on the experiences of others that I’ve heard and read about it seems the review process can be as short as a few days or…
“But they do care—about each other. This is a family that is smart enough to know it’s going places, and nearly every episode contains at small attempt at betterment. Realizing her girls lack a certain polish, June sends them warily to an etiquette class with a teacher from Atlanta who treats them with the alarm of an assimilated Hebrew Aid worker assisting a bewildered greenhorn. (June also clips coupons with a ferocity familiar to anyone who had a bubbe who never threw out a paper bag or a rubber band.) Alana’s pageant career seems less about the ambitions of a stage mom channeling her frustrations into her daughter than having a goal and working toward it, and learning to work through the inevitable and frequent disappointment with no loss of enthusiasm—a challenge young Alana rises to with enough buoyancy to make Winston Churchill proud. When Sugar Bear, who works seven days a week in a chalk mine to make ends meet, shyly faces the camera with the family’s pet teacup pig cradled tenderly in his arms and his lips curled self-consciously around his bad teeth—as if to suggest “who knows? Alana could be Miss America someday”—I actually cried. It reminded me, vividly and searingly, of my beloved great-uncle’s assertion that his father wanted him to go to America because “there a Jew could be anything, even President of the United States.”
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“Honey Boo Boo,” Reality TV’s Convincing Take on Immigrant Aspirations – Tablet Magazine
The most interesting (and heartfelt) take on the Honey Boo Boo phenomenon that I’ve seen.
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It might not be warranted, but you won’t get far without it. Don’t bother going to that meeting or reading that book unless you can momentarily assume the message comes from a place of goodwill and generosity.
Skepticism doesn’t help you hear
Seth’s Blog: With an open heart and an open mind
Yes, this.
