Work

Why work doesn’t happen at work (TED) // Jason Fried with insights and provocative ideas about the workplace of creative types.

The Lost Steve Jobs Tapes // “There was a certain amount of fear and trepidation [between Pixar and Disney], but what always happened was that making a great movie was the focal point of everybody’s concerns. One way to drive fear out of a relationship is to realize that your partner’s values are the same as yours, that what you care about is exactly what they care about. In my opinion, that drives fear out and makes for a great partnership, whether it’s a corporate partnership or a marriage.”—Steve Jobs. I find that Brent Schlender “gets” the man better than biographer Walter Isaacson.

Entrepreneurship

Ask HN: How is your Start-Up Chile experience? // Start-Up Chile sounded like an amazing opportunity when it launched a couple of years back. This discussion, as well as @herval’s relating his often frustrating experience, sets expectations straight.

I’d Get A Super Yacht (The Talk Show, 33’–44’) // Dan Benjamin and John Gruber astutely commend the fantastic bookmarking service Pinboard: “From a business standpoint he’s doing everything wrong: Instead of a monthly fee, he has a one-time fee. If you want to upgrade, you’re credited. No lock-in at all; oh you want to leave? here’s how you can leave. – It’s so obvious that he cares, and it’s so obvious that he’s thinking: what would I want if I was the user of this service. And that’s what he builds.” (redacted) — I switched to Pinboard during the del.icio.us “sunset” debacle in December 2010. It’s awesome.

iOS dev

Apple Hates Brunettes // Every iOS developer’s nightmare: iKamasutra had been in the App Store since 2008, was refined and polished all the way to version 5.0, and now has been rejected and taken off the App Store. I see no good reason for Apple to pull this nicely made app; not liking sexual content isn’t a good reason. Let’s hope this mess gets resolved quickly.

AppSales-Mobile (ongoing development since 2009) // Ole Zorn’s nice open-source alternative to iTunes Connect Mobile. I am giving it a go as a replacement for AppStar 2.0 (Mac).

Cocoa Literature // Extensive index of useful blog posts.

Games

Kern Type, the kerning game // New-to-me typography game. Nice idea, executed well.

Getting pre-launch traction with web games // From the makers of Kern Type: “Pitching a game is a tricky proposition. … Tetris is a puzzle where you must accommodate colored blocks to form lines. Angry Birds is a game where you sling birds into blocks, which then collapse to crush pigs. Doesn’t sound like too much fun.”