Linked List: July 13, 2009

Monday, 13 July 2009

Pinboard — Antisocial Bookmarking 

Remember when Delicious was simple and focused? So does Maciej Ceglowski. Pinboard, his new “antisocial” bookmarking site, hearkens back to Delicious’s early heyday. It even offers a way to import your bookmarks from Delicious.

In addition to the fact that Pinboard itself is promising and clever, Ceglowski has implemented a genius feature on the sign-up page: you must pay a small one-time fee to create a new account:

The signup fee helps discourage spammers and defrays some of the costs of running the site.

The fee is based on the formula (number of users * $0.001), so the earlier you join, the less you pay.

As I type this, the fee is $2.91; when I joined four days ago, it was $2.33. This is brilliant.

Update: 16 hours later and it’s now up to $4.33

iPhone and iPod Touch: About Backups 

Excellent documentation from Apple explaining the details of iPhone and iPod Touch backups. (Via Ted Landau.)

Notes on a Dual-Mode AirPort Extreme Network 

Excellent step-by-step instructions for setting up a dual-mode Wi-Fi network with two AirPort base stations. The idea is that you bridge two base stations and create one network with two modes: one using 802.11n at 5GHz and the other using 802.11g. This setup allows all clients to connect at their highest possible speed.

The very latest AirPort base stations can do this by themselves, with no need for a second base station. But if you’re like me and already have more than one AirPort base station, including one that supports 802.11n, there’s no need to buy a new base station. I put off setting this up until a little over a week ago — up until then, I’d been running just my 802.11n base station in “compatibility” mode. The difference has been dramatic, especially on n-capable clients — both speed and Wi-Fi signal range are better.

Mini-Microsoft on Microsoft and Google 

Mini-Microsoft:

Rather than pulling an Apple on us anymore, Google has picked up the nasty habit of pre-announcing technology. Guys, you stole the wrong playbook. And, uh, we don’t want it back.