If you’re like me you want your files to be mobile, but find USB flash drives a less-than-ideal solution. USB flash drives get lost and they don’t connect well into mobile devices, like my iPhone. Emailing a file is okay, but it’s annoying, too. What if you want to email your friends a file that exceeds the file-size limitations of your email provider. What if you want to make the file available to many people, some of whose email addresses you may not know, like your Twitter or Facebook friends? Dropbox is the ultimate solution!

With Dropbox you simply create a free account (click here to sign up and you and I will both get 250MB of free space!) and that’s it! You can upload files directly from the website, put them in your public folder, and copy the direct link to the files to share with your friends. Then, when you’re at the library, you can return to the website on their public computer to access you’re file.

Dropbox - folder options

dropbox · files · free · storage · tip · tool · web

The iPhone 3GS has a 3.15 megapixel, autofocus camera. While it has its limitations, it’s good enough that I keep my DSL-R at home for all outings where photography isn’t the primary objective. It’s not very good in low light or where the scene has high contrast (the dynamic range is very low). In the right hands it can be a wonderful little camera for two reasons: it’s always in your pocket (or hands) and photos can be captured, processed and uploaded all from a single device.

To process photos on the iPhone I consistently turn to Photogene, an app that is quick, intuitive and very powerful. Here’s an example of what can be done in a few minutes with a few sliders.

Photogene - before and after

app · iphone · photogene · photography

For a couple years I’ve had a photography site at photography.brentdanley.com that few people visited. I built it as a project to learn the Flickr API and the JavaScript framework Prototype. I’ve been wanting to incorporate it into my main site for a while, and now it’s done.

Click on the Photography link to check it out.

The new Photography page at BrentDanley.com

css · flickr · jquery · photography · php · phpFlickr · webdev · wordpress

Yesterday I read an interesting article in .net magazine of Dries Buytaert, the founder of popular open source web content management system (CMS) Drupal. In the interview Dries mentioned a new offering from Drupal, Drupal Gardens. Drupal Gardens is a hosted Drupal solution, much like WordPress’s WordPress.com. It allows people who may not know Drupal or who need a quick site to build on on a powerful system with little cost or experience.

Brent's Drupal Gardens site

drupal · drupal gardens · webdev

The Mind of a Web Developer: An Illustrated Diagram
Matt, Mingle2, June 13, 2007

The Mind of a Web Developer

humor · programming · web development

The iPhone 3GS is, to put it mildly, the most amazing device I’ve owned. This shouldn’t be too surprising since sophistication, design and my purchasing power are expected to increase with time. I love to listen to live air traffic control communications, tweet, manage email, play amazing games and locate local businesses on my iPhone. The marriage of GPS, multi-touch screen, accelerometers, microphone, speakers and a magnetometer (compass) enable developers to create amazing applications. It also happens to have a phone, but that, for me, is hardly its greatest feature.

Old and new iPhone theme

It isn’t perfect, though. Only a few of the standard apps can be run in the background (mail, phone, email) and none of the apps in the App Store can. This means that if I want to listen to Pandora Internet Radio or LiveATC or track billable hours I cannot use my iPhone for anything else for the duration of time I’m using those apps. Also, the iPhone cannot be tethered to a laptop to share its internet connection. The iPhone won’t let me customize the background or icons, either (this is a minor issue).

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blackra1n · iphone · jailbreak