The Perfect is the Enemy of the Ish

The Perfect is the Enemy of the Ish

I can’t draw. I’ve never been able to. But, one day back in elementary school, I got lucky. I drew a horse, and it actually looked like a horse! It was glorious.

But the tail wasn’t quite right. So I erased that part and tried again. But that one small revision screwed up the horse’s hind legs. So I erased them and re-drew that part too. This time the entire back half of the horse was smudged so I was forced to continue with what soon became an entire overhaul of my once beautiful steed.

By the time I was done fixing its tail, my horse – to this day the only good drawing I recall producing in my ENTIRE life – was destroyed.

I wish I’d read Ish before I drew that horse.

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CES-capades: Number Part 2

CES-capades: Number Part 2

Yesterday, I mentioned the trend towards combining technology with hands-on, physical components. Lenovo is using the term “phygital” to refer to their new tabletop tablet computer (see yesterday’s post for more info on the Horizon), and I ran into a handful of other products that aim to do the same thing with smart phones and tablets.

The one making the biggest – ahem – splash? The iPotty.

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CES-capades: Part 1

CES-capades: Part 1

Losing my Vegas virginity and my CES virginity on the same trip may not have been the best idea. There is a lot to take in.

Everything is just…big. Any by “everything” I mean the Strip, the conference itself, the casinos, the hotels, the crowds…the only thing that’s not big is the dividing line between the glamour of this town, artificial as it is, and the grunge that lies beneath, between and behind it. That line is razor-thin, as the walk from my hotel to the convention center made abundantly clear: from high-priced strip clubs to low-rent strip malls. But everything else? Big.

Of course, thanks to CES, that “everything” also includes the latest and greatest in technology, and I’ve seen a bunch of it.

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Speaking of Toys…

Speaking of Toys…

Lately I’ve been spending a lot of time whining about all the toys my son got for Christmas. Mostly I’m just jealous. But no worries, ’cause now it’s my turn! Today I head to Las Vegas (my first time!) to visit the Consumer Electronics Show. My visit has been sponsored by Lenovo, so expect someRead more about Speaking of Toys…[…]

The Gifts That Keep on Giving… Headaches

The Gifts That Keep on Giving… Headaches

As I discussed last week, Christmas is a double-edged sword.

The kid got way too many toys for Christmas and he had way too many toys already. But it’s not always the quantity of toys that is the problem. It’s the quality. Some toys are educational, some are musical, some are harmless and some are the devil.

Every kid has received a gift that immediately becomes the bane of their parents’ existence, for a variety of potential reasons. After a morning spent nursing a headache one of those gifts had given me, I reached out online and asked other parents what one gift they wished their child had never received, and why.

Here were the top three responses, plus one slightly more universal item:

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