Disqus - Latest Comments for Sean McDonald

Re: Bumming On Apple

Sean McDonald — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 16:45:45 -0000

yeah... but microsoft is still putting out cumbersome, less enjoyable products... so.....

Re: Facebook: Beacon woes are overstated

Sean McDonald — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 04:54:04 -0000

perhaps you're over simplifying just a little bit here? the average user won't understand the implications of beacon... transparency is an issue... amongst others. sure it will blow over, but that doesn't make the reaction uncalled for.

Re: At last, Facebook messages via email

Sean McDonald — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 15:26:45 -0000

that's because you are a little too flippant about the implications of beacon.... but yeah... it's a good addition (the messaging feature)

Re: At last, Facebook messages via email

Sean McDonald — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 15:26:45 -0000

that's because you are a little too flippant about the implications of beacon.... but yeah... it's a good addition (the messaging feature)

Re: Homeless voicemail: Only in the Valley

Sean McDonald — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 05:19:00 -0000

I'm that guy that's going to tell you it helps the homeless. You need to move beyond the image of the Toronto homeless that are at wit's end, dealing with substance or psychological issues that you see on the street asking for change - there are the 'near homeless' or those that go back and forth between having housing and not. It is those populations that can use voicemail to get jobs, stay in touch with family, etc...

Sure, google could have an 'eat for a day event' at the Googleplex or invest their money somewhere else (although you do know about their philanthropy) however... why not stick with what they know and provide a service as part of what they already have? Using San Fran as a pilot for giving the homeless access to Grand Central is a novel concept... why not?

My frustration with this piece is that you didn't give it a whole lot of thought - you just said... well... the homeless must be hungry and cold, so... why not just focus on that? There's lot of research around technology and the homeless, see here:

http://scholar.google.ca/scholar?q=homeless+voi...

You might keep your eye on this CHI student design contest that has challenged people to use technology to aid the homeless in some way, I'm sure it will yield some interesting results: http://www.chi2008.org/student_design_competiti... .

Re: Homeless voicemail: Only in the Valley

Sean McDonald — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 13:24:46 -0000

is the marketing op really all that good for google out of this? i'm not convinced this is that effective for lasting or impactful publicity.

Re: Homeless voicemail: Only in the Valley

Sean McDonald — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 13:28:12 -0000

oops - should have posted as a reply, sorry for doubling up (see below). i guess i don't see this as all that effective publicity.

glad you recognize the variations within homelessness.... and you're right, the homeless need homes - that's priority number one. however, there are things people can do to help even improve quality of life or to give some assistance and this is an area where google has resources and it's something that can be useful.

i recently did some research out of the university of toronto around the homeless and technology and you'd be surprised how many use e-mail and voicemail - i thought e-mail would be out of the question, but it's not.

Re: iPhone maintenence time (Scripting News)

Sean McDonald — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 21:25:02 -0000

you can keep your outgoing settings but mess up your incoming e-mail settings in mail.app to either an account you don't use or just mess it up for the one you use so it can't intake mail, but it can still send it.

just an idea, not sure if it will let you have incorrect settings.

Re: Why I deleted my GapingVoid account

Sean McDonald — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 20:14:21 -0000

agree totally... there's a lot about twitter people go all or nothing about. being in or out of it, whether it's useful or not, to follow or not to follow.... i think it's best used with some progression to figure out how it fits in your life or workflow and who you should follow or be followed by.

Re: Scattered Ideas - 3G iPhone unlocked?

Sean McDonald — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 21:05:04 -0000

it's not like it was that hard to change the sim card in the first version... i'm glad they're including a tool, i had to find all kinds of random things to open it whenever i needed to.

no chance it'll be unlocked, i can't imagine all that fuss would have gone on with rogers if that's the case.

Re: Fixed Nano

Sean McDonald — Fri, 02 Jun 2006 19:02:51 -0000

i've had similar luck... i dropped mine a few times (a 20 gig ipod at the time) and sent it in to ipod, detailing the inexplicable issues i was having with the casing. i was sent a new ipod within a week... which i then sold to a colleague at work to help finance my jump to a 40 gig ipod.

gotta love apple...

congrats.

Re: Fixed Nano

Sean McDonald — Fri, 02 Jun 2006 19:04:49 -0000

i've had similar luck. the casing on my 20 gig ipod became a bit wonky after i dropped it a couple times. so, i sent it in detailing the inexplicable issues i was having with the casing. a week later i was sent a new ipod which i then sold to a colleague at work to help finance my jump to a 40 gig ipod... gotta love apple.

congrats.

Re: Rumsfeld resignation summarized in Mac OSX screenshot

Sean McDonald — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 18:33:27 -0000

i had this up on my site too... cracked me right up.