Attaching the electrodes of knowledge to the nipples of ignorance.

Those who know me have heard me talk about providing feedback to software developers and other companies.

What I will be attempting is each time I send feedback, be it about hardware, software, a service, or even a meal, I will repost it here, unless it could affect security or if it is harsh (in my mind, although I have rarely had to send anything with scathing nuclear-holocaust-like comments).

I would enjoy your opinions on any of the feedback I post.

Super-inexpensive iPhone stand using a MiniDV tape case, a photo by WTL-Ottawa on Flickr.

Given the amount of video that I have shot over the years on DV, I have a rather large number of miniDV tapes kicking around.

One day, I was capturing some footage and noticed that my iPhone fit into the DV tape case. Ever since, I’ve had one to two on my desk.

Many iPhones will fit, even with a case on it unless it happens to be an unusually thick one.

This will probably work with similarly sized- Android phones, too.

Practically free, and works very well.

This post was inspired by Suzemuse, who tweeted earlier today “Yesterday @wtl taught me to make an iPhone stand from an empty miniDV tape case. I’d take a picture of it, but my iPhone is on the stand.”

Being at #FridayOffice, I borrowed Mark’s iPhone to use as model and took a quick shot of it.

Back in late 2010, I recorded a video titled “How to make a screencast / video tutorial on a Mac using Quicktime“, which generated a lot of questions, so I thought I would follow it up with a new one, on how to record part of your Mac’s screen:

As always, questions, comments and requests are welcome.

Last night, my sister texted me to remind me that today was the twenteith anniversary of our mother’s passing away from Multiple Sclerosis.

This past year or so, a few friends have lost their mothers, so this this has been on my mind. I barely knew my mother – actually, I knew my mother’s mother (whom we called Grandma Claire) much better than I knew her.

For the decade prior to that I had very little contact with her for various reasons. I was (obviously) quite young when my dad and mom split, and was largely unaware of the massive legal battle my father waged to keep his children. After this point, my grandma (my father’s mother) became our main maternal figure until dad remarried, and she passed away last year.

What this has left me with is pretty much only the vaguest of memories of her, like going over to her place Sunday mornings and watching Star Trek on CBC while my sister and I did homework, or sitting on the front veranda at the farm, or that she liked to laugh.

So, I don’t really have much of a sense of who she was, and earlier today, I realized I couldn’t even really recall what she looked like, with the exception of the last time I saw her alive, when I don’t believe she recognized me or my sister – but even then, the fog of time has obscurred that as well. This led me to digging through a folder of nearly over eighteen hundred scanned photos my dad had given me at our xmas family gathering last year, looking for photos of my mother, and I only found a handful, including the one in this post, which dates from about 1976 when I was about four or so.

I love the fact that my dad and I chat on the phone (old school!) for ninety minutes at a time, usually at least once a week. We talk about whatever comes to mind, and that’s awesome. While I know it’s not at all possible to have those kinds of conversations with her, I can still dig through my brain and try to learn from what I remember, talk to others in my family and see what they remember to get a better sense of the kind of person she was.

How does this affect you? Well, it probably doesn’t. But, if for some reason you aren’t on speaking terms with a parent, opening a dialogue with them to find out who they are.

A burned bridge can be rebuilt, if you do it in time.

A bit over a day since I heard the news that Steve Jobs had passed away, and I’ve been thinking a lot about it – like many people from what I’ve gathered on Twitter and Facebook.

Two thousand, eight hundred and forty-one days ago, I became a Mac user, and as I’ve told many people over the years, I spent months wishing I’d done it sooner.

There have been many people posting tributes to Steve Jobs, how his vision and sheer willpower was able to completely change so many industries, so I do not feel the need to address that.

What I would like to say is that while he was here, he defined excellence.

Now it’s up to us.

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I’d like to add, for those of you reading on Friday, Oct 7, that ByMUG is having a special event tonight remembering Steve Jobs that is open to everyone.