April 2013
2 posts
Elon Musk Is a Badass
Elon Musk is a badass. He starts pay pal, then moves on to change transportation on Earth with Tesla (and a solar company to boot) and finally space travel. He makes a great point with this Ted interview that the vast majority of the cost of getting to space is the rocket itself. The fuel is a fraction of a percent, so if we can reuse the rockets, than we can get to space very cheapily. So what...
Mad Men Theme #ringtone for your iPhone or Android
Who watched the episode of mad men last night? Soooo good. Celebrate the last season with this ringtone for iOS devices and Android and other phones
March 2013
7 posts
6 Time Saving iOS Tips You Aren't Using
I love saving time by making the common place more efficient, especially when it is with something I use for hours everyday. Here are a few quick iPhone tips I have found to be super helpful.
Back to drafts
For my personal Gmail I use Mailbox, which can’t compose drafts, but for work I use Apple’s default mail app. I write a lot of drafts on the subway in case someone has already...
Boss Button!
NCAA is streaming the games live from http://www.ncaa.com/ (a legal streaming option for a pro sports event in the USA, imagine that). On their full screen option they are offering a “Boss Button” in case your boss walks by your desk. Pretty funny.
Review of Mailbox After One Month
The proof is in the pudding…or in this case, the home-screen: I am still using Mailbox as my default gmail client on my phone after over a month. I wrote my initial thoughts on Mailbox after using the app for a few hours, I figured it would be good to get a thorough review down, especially considering they were just bought by Dropbox (which I’m very excited about because they aren’t getting...
The Black Swan (Book Review)
My wife and I recently took a vacation down to Mexico and although we had a rough start to the trip thanks to American Airlines, we enjoyed a very relaxing week of books, food, ocean and sun.
On our vacation I re-read Ender’s Game, definitely one of my favorite books, and Let My People Go Surfing by the founder of Patagaonia, which is an enjoyable easy read on how to run business in an...
American Airlines Sets New Low in Customer Service
Below is a letter I sent to American Airlines via their online form for some of the worst service I have ever witnessed, let alone experienced. I hope others continue to let them know why customers will pay extra for Virgin America whenever possible.
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Dear American,
My wife and I flew on your airline on February 23, 2013 from New York to Cancun on flight 1671. When we arrived to...
The Case of the Stolen Fruitcake
Two weeks ago, I got a call from the NYPD that a known thief in the area was apprehended walking out of my apartment building with two packages addressed to me. I told them I did not know this person, nor did I give him permission to enter our building and take our packages.
I can only imagine how many other packages he has stolen until he was finally caught. I testified before a grand jury, and...
February 2013
1 post
Initial Thoughts on Mailbox
This morning I was granted access to the elusive startup Mailbox, wait list now over 700k and growing, which is an iPhone app that has promised to reinvent how we use email. I’ve written before how I’m an ‘inbox zero’ email user and this seemed right up my alley.
Immediately upon entry you’re given a set of instruction screens that make the app easy to use and...
December 2012
3 posts
My Advice to RIM: FOES
As you may know, I talk to random people about their phones…a lot. People on the subway, in the elevator, people in the row in front of me at halftime; you name it. My latest obsession is asking people who have either a Windows Phone or a BlackBerry whether they like it and whether they are considering switching. Most of the time it’s because a corporate account pays for them, but...
Going Cloud
This post was originally written for the November 13th issue of Inside Mobile.
Every year between Christmas and New Years I spend a full day organizing and backing up all my data. Thousands of photos and videos, hundreds of music albums, and any personal documents I’ve created throughout the previous year. After doing this for over a decade, I’ve developed somewhat of a system for how...
November 2012
2 posts
Virtual Purdy now has an Email Newsletter!
A few months back my Dad asked how he could read my blog since he’s not on Twitter, doesn’t use Facebook often and didn’t know what a “Tumblr” was. I walked him through RSS and a solution using FeedMyInbox.com. It works to an extent, but formatting fails often and I have no way to control it or let others sign up.
Recently my sister texted me saying that she was...
Why I Volunteered for the @BarackObama Campaign...
Back in August I went to Pittsburgh to visit some friends who were finishing graduate school. While I was there, I spent some time with one of my best friends that I grew up with, who is the South Slope Field Manager for the Obama Campaign. After seeing the office I thought it might be fun to volunteer for the campaign, as I’ve always had pretty strong political opinions, but did not know...
October 2012
2 posts
The Arsenal Baton
Today I am launching my latest side project, the Arsenal Baton!
The Arsenal Baton will show how fans experience an Arsenal Matchday in different cultures around the globe. Each Matchday a new person “holds” the baton, which are the credentials to the @ArsenalBaton Instagram account and capture’s their typical Matchday, including getting ready for the day, heading to...
Ditching Cable & Getting HD Local Channels for...
Headline: Don’t spend $80 a month to cable or over $50 for a digital antenna. All you need is one “balun”, which is just a 75 to 300 ohm matching transformer, about $5 on amazon.
——
After my wife and I moved out to Brooklyn, the first task was geting internet up and running. After a brief trial with Clear Wireless that didn’t quite work out, we had Time...
September 2012
2 posts
The Summer 2012
A bit late this year but here’s my annual Summer mix. Eclectic mix from Khalifa to Gangnam Style. Grab a corona and enjoy. Full mix: http://gum.co/GCqS Singles: http://gum.co/kuGS
Track List: Passion Pit - Carried Away Calvin Harris - Feel So Close Wiz Khalifa - Young Wild and Free Miike Snow - Paddling Out The Whip - Secret Weapon Owl City - Good Time Sol - The Times Hot Chip - These...
Soccer is growing in the USA
More info here: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/blog/_/name/relegationzone/id/262?cc=5901
August 2012
2 posts
NYC Startup Community: Density and Opportunities
After growing up in Silicon Valley and living in San Francisco I moved out to New York three years ago. I am frequently asked how I like New York and what the technology and startup communities are like.
First off, let me say I love NY. What does that mean? As much as I miss my friends and family, I gauge a city on its own merit, and no city in the U.S. comes close to the plethora of...
Android Is... Still Getting Destroyed In Mobile... →
parislemon:
Mobile Safari hit 66.22% share of mobile browsing in July, the highest number yet that NetMarketshare has calculated for the browser. Android is growing too, at 19.41%, but amazingly, not as quickly.
John Gruber wonders how this could be given what we’re told about Android market share:
Not sure how to square the disparity here other than to assume that an awful lot of Android...
July 2012
5 posts
1st Annual Purdy Mobile Awards
Being in the mobile industry for almost 10 years, I consistently get the same question from friends and family: “What phone should I buy?” (So much so, I bought the domain, but haven’t used it)
Although I still get a few of these emails and texts a week, lately I am surprised how much a new question has been asked: “How do I get a job in the exploding mobile industry?” Job boards are filled with...
An Amazing Adventure & New Challenges - From the...
Two and a half years ago, I had an incredible opportunity to affect how the next generation of Americans will get their news. Very few people under 30 subscribe to a daily paper, assuming the news will come to them in alternative formats, via Twitter and Facebook streams, texts, emails and other sharing methodologies. As the events in the Middle East have shown during this last turbulent year, a...
Convergence + Multi-Tasking: Your Battery’s Worst...
It is 9:35 in the morning and my iPhone battery is down to 18%. How did we go from my Motorola Razr lasting 3 days to the latest and greatest iPhone 4S not even lasting a few hours? A deadly combination of convergence and multi-tasking.
In 2005, I bought the first mobile phone with a color screen available in the U.S., the Panasonic GU87. I also carried around my iPod, Palm Pilot, Gameboy...
1 tag
J5 - Break #musicmonday #ringtone
A nice fun ringtone from Jurassic 5. iOS: http://gum.co/YvnF Android: http://gum.co/xjJr
HTML5 vs. Native: What Technology Should You Use?
If you’ve thought about building a mobile product in the last 18 months, it’s likely you’ve heard of HTML5, which allows your phone’s browser to act more like a “native” application with features that were previously not possible, like storing data offline or accessing your GPS location. HTML and other core web technologies like JavaScript, CSS and HTTP were created to provide a static request to...
June 2012
13 posts
1 tag
Daft Punk - Make Love #musicmonday #ringtone
This was my ringtone for well over 6 months in 2009. Relaxing and smooth. Love it. Get it for iOS and Android+other devices.
Game Of Phones
Everyone knows how much I love infographics, and how commonly I write about mobile technology, so I had to share App Annie’s recent infographic, perfectly titled, Game of Phones. The main graphic below mostly highlights things we all suspected. For instance, Android has seen better penetration in Europe than Asia (Korean OS Bada keeps growing) and that iOS apps make 245% more money than Android...
In-N-Out in NYC!
I don’t remember exactly where I found this amazing recipe for In-N-Out burgers on Serious Eats, but once I did, I set out to make the most authentic In-N-Out burger anyone has ever had in New York. I scoured the grocery stores for the exact ingredients…or so I thought. I figured free-range, no antibiotic ground beef would suffice. Follow the directions and make it yourself. Also I got “Bread and...
1 tag
Dr. Dre - Still #musicmonday #ringtone
Classic hip hop ringtone. iOS devices and Android+other devices.
War of the Mobile Photography Apps & Services
There’s a war brewing over the management of photographs taken on your mobile phone. It’s not a hardware battle but one over software and services, and the stakes are huge. It will affect billions of dollars and trillions of images.
As many of you know, Facebook recently paid $1 billion to acquire Instagram, a young and fast growing software company that did three things incredibly well: 1)...
WWDC Day – A Christmas in Summer
For the past few years I have looked forward to the middle of June, eagerly awaiting Apple’s yearly announcements. It’s the biggest technology day of the year for all of us because it affects the services and tools we use for hours every single day. Even if you aren’t an Apple user, the services Apple announces will impact the products you do use. Simple changes like how you write an email, search...
1 tag
Nina Simone - Sinner Man #musicmonday #ringtone
Such a classic song, really dig this tune. Ringtone for iOS devices and Android+others.
Euro 2012 Intro and Mobile Apps Review
Tomorrow is a big day: the Euros are upon us! So what are the Euros? Back in 1960, the European Football Championship, Euros for short, began between the top 17 countries in Europe. Kind of like the World Cup, but only for European countries. This will be the final year that the tournament is 16 teams that qualified from over 50. Starting in 2016, the tournament will be expanded to 24 teams.
So...
The Next Maker Generation: DIY.org and Cain's...
As our country’s economy becomes more reliant on the service industry, we devalue those that physically create things. The makers who build new products, the creatives who design and think outside the box and the engineers who can code up a prototype in a weekend.
Zach Klein, founder of Vimeo, launched a new company to encourage the makers of the next generation. DIY.org has started small,...
1 tag
BT - 1.618 #musicmonday #ringtone
A melodic easy listening ringtone. I use this one regularly on relaxing days and soft alarms. iOS devices and Android and other devices.
My Favorite Slides from Mary Meeker
There’s been a lot of chatter about Mary Meeker’s 2012 Internet Usage report. It’s quite long, over 112 pages, but here’s the slide that’s got people talking the most.
Working in mobile at the AP I know first hand how much spend ad money is spent on print vs mobile, yet the usage is strikingly the opposite. The fact that people are spending more time on...
May 2012
8 posts
If I Was A Venture Capitalist: My List of 17 Hot...
A friend of mine recently graduated from college and asked me where he should apply to work. We talked for a while about what he’s looking for in a company, what he wants to do and the various positives and negatives a company can offer. Venture capitalists are all about finding companies ready to grow, invest money and take equity. I told my friend that if he was interested in taking a pay cut...
Data Storage in the Post-PC World
Last weekend I had the most fun technology conversation I’ve had in a long time. It wasn’t at a local iOS developer meetup or an industry conference. Instead it was with my brotherin-lawwho lives in Boulder, CO who was wondering what computer he should get to replace his 6 year old Toshiba which is on its way out.
I tend to get quite a few emails and requests from friends who I am in the mobile...
1 tag
Ice Cube - It Was A Good Day #ringtone...
One of the best hip hop ringtones for iOS here and android and all others here.
Side note: Actual day discovered:http://murkavenue.tumblr.com/post/16553509655/i-found-ice-cubes-good-day
Aereo - TV Without the TV
After my wife and I moved out to Brooklyn we “cut the cord”, deciding not to sign for a cable TV service. Although we have an upgraded internet connection through Time Warner that streams Netflix well, we do not have any reliable way to watch live TV. We tried a HD antenna and that worked about as well as you’d expect a $5 product to work. My friend Matt showed me this video which I plan to build...
How I Use Email + New iOS Mail Client Sparrow
When it comes to email, I am an adamant ‘inbox zero’ kind of guy. I love knowing how many emails I haven’t read. Whenever I see someone with “Unread: 4,534”, I shiver. How do they ever know if they received new email since the last time they checked? I’ve only had to commit email bankruptcy a few times (basically selecting all email and hitting either marked as read or archive), and those were...
1 tag
Mad Men Theme #musicmonday #ringtone
Who watched the episode of mad men last night? Soooo good. Celebrate the next to last season with this ringtone for iOS devices and Android and other phones
Click To Text
Everyone generally agrees that iOS is the cleanest, most intuitive mobile platform out there, but that doesn’t mean it is perfect. Do you ever search for an app that you thought you had on my phone and then, upon realizing you hadn’t downloaded yet or previously deleted it, have to close the search, open the app store and search again? Instead, the OS should automatically search in the app store...
Android Fragmentation Visualized
First there was this photo from Hong Kong based Android Development shop Animoca:
Just look at all those beautiful Android options. Great for the consumer, horrific to develop and support. I thought that was fun, but this article from OpenSignalMaps is even better. They went through all their logs and noted how many different combinations they’ve seen and then mapped them on everything from...
April 2012
6 posts
Louis CK - A Sign of The Future of Online Content
I’ve heard of Louis CK before, but never watched any of his standups. His bold move to invest over $200,000 of his own money to produce, edit and more than anything, DISTRIBUTE his latest stand up, was pretty surprising. Perhaps this is old news for the tech folks that usually really this blog, but I was really happy to see this big, bold paragraph from Louis CK directly:
To those who...
Photos = Social...and $1,000,000,000
I love where I work on days like today. AP is the place to be for breaking news, hands down. Upon seeing the breaking news tweet about Instagram being acquired for $1BB for cash and Facebook stock (right before IPO too…nice), I ran downstairs like a child on Christmas, with my air-rifle wrapped present being the background and insight that only these few people know. Everyone was already in a...
1 tag
ATB - First Love #musicmonday #ringtone
One of my favorite ringtones. Also a great alarm too. Soothing and easy listening.
iOS and mp3
