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Apr 6, 2024: Weekend project! 📷 I’m having a blast getting back into analog photography. For many years, I had my own darkroom: a Besseler enlarger, a clunky old timer, trays, tongs, …
Mar 30, 2024: Leaving Apple Earlier this month, I said goodbye to Apple. I had an awesome five years with a wonderful team and got to create apps and training content that …
Nov 10, 2019: Creek Show 2019 at the Waterloo Greenway
Jul 23, 2019: San Francisco - China Town
Jul 17, 2019: 🎥 The Farewell I was back at Austin Film Society last night to catch a screening of The Farewell. It was a great film, and the writer/director, Lulu Wang, stuck …
Jul 14, 2019: 🍿 General Magic Earlier this week, I attended a screening of General Magic at Austin Film Society. The documentary tells the story of how General Magic attempted to …
Jul 13, 2019: Currently reading: The Frame-Up by Meghan Scott Molin 📚
May 16, 2019: Lia and I dressed up as Beetlejuice and Lydia for the Beetlejuice screening at the Hollywood Forever cemetery last weekend.
May 11, 2019: Dust to dust. Very impressive truck dirt art. I found 🔗 this article in the LA Times about the artist, Arnulfo Gonzalez.
Feb 3, 2019: Saw this at the grocery store tomorrow.
Jan 2, 2019: Dog Food Band
Jan 1, 2019: Rose Parade float decorating 🌹
Dec 31, 2018: 🍺 🥕 Enjoying some Madras carrot blossom mead from Heidrun Meadery
Dec 26, 2018: Lia and I took a a Christmas Day walk along the beach path from Santa Monica to Venice (and back).
Dec 24, 2018: LA Zoo Lights
Dec 23, 2018: Took a quick day trip to Solvang to celebrate Julefest. Of course, when you’re in Solvang, you have to get Arne’s famous aebleskiver. We get ours a la …
Dec 21, 2018: Had an incredible dinner (9 courses, plus wine pairings!) at Trois Mec! So cool to see Chef Ludo and his team in action!
Dec 20, 2018: Lia ordered a “Texas-sized” donut from DK’s Donuts to celebrate my birthday and recent move to Austin. Miu Mius included for scale.
Dec 18, 2018: Lia and I kicked off the holiday season with the annual screening of National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation on a cool rooftop in downtown LA. …
Dec 17, 2018: Invader “Into the White Cube” exhibit at Over the Influence in Los Angeles.
Dec 11, 2018: HyperDrive: World’s 1st USB-C Hub for iPad Pro 2018 by HYPER by Sanho Corporation — Kickstarter World’s 1st USB-C Hub specifically designed for …
Nov 27, 2018: I finally visited the Montana Shop L.A. over the weekend and picked up some new markers that I can’t wait to test out. I have a weakness for art …
Nov 27, 2018: 🎮 Lia and I visited Two Bit Circus while I was back in Los Angeles over the weekend. Despite a couple of minor tech issues, we had a great time. I …
Nov 26, 2018: 🍺 Had to swing by Iron Triangle over the weekend to try the Live By Night and a few other things. Delicious!
Nov 25, 2018: Hey Preppies! Grabbed a quick dinner at The Max :-)
Nov 24, 2018: Moonlight Forest at the LA Arboretum
Nov 21, 2018: Lia and I went to the Maccarone Gallery today to check out an exhibit of Jim Carrey’s political drawings.
Oct 1, 2018: Bye, car! See you in Austin!
Sep 18, 2018: Beautiful day hiking in the Rockies
Sep 13, 2018: Was going to go hiking today, but opted for art and beer instead. The sculpture is one of the pieces in the “Stampede: Animals in Art” exhibit at the …
Sep 12, 2018: The Zombies at the Troubadour.
Sep 7, 2018: Birthday girl and her new car!
Aug 27, 2018: 🍺 We wrapped up the weekend with at El Segundo Brewing Company taproom. Both the Brut AF and Cerveza Fresca IPAs were delicious.
Aug 23, 2018: Last night we were finally able to make it to Jeff Goldblum’s Jazz Night at Rockwell Table & Stage. It’s been on our LA bucket list for a while!
Aug 20, 2018: Strolling through the aisles of Sparrow Mart, a pop up filled with felt versions of grocery store items.
Aug 8, 2018: Want to read: Creative Selection: Inside Apple’s Design Process During the Golden Age of Steve Jobs by Ken Kocienda 📚
Aug 5, 2018: Enjoyed the 3D: Double Vision exhibit at LACMA yesterday. It was really cool to see how 3D art has been created throughout history.
Jul 29, 2018: Celebrated the 30th anniversary of Die Hard with a screening at “Nakatomi Plaza“
Jul 5, 2018: Spent the (ridiculously hot) day hiking in Malibu Creek State Park and found the old set for MAS*H
Jun 25, 2018: 2018-06-24 Saw some amazing graffiti at the Beyond the Streets exhibit this weekend 2018-06-25
Jun 18, 2018: Fun night at the “Best F(r)iends” screening! So excited to see Tommy and Greg! 🎥😎🏈
Jun 15, 2018: Point Reyes shipwreck
Jun 14, 2018: Quick trip to Apple Park Visitor Center after AltConf
Jun 14, 2018: Wrapping up a project where I got to use a bunch of new (to me) technology - Vapor 3, Vue.js, and Docker. As an iOS developer, I’ve really enjoyed …
Jun 4, 2018: Ready for the WWDC keynote stream at AltConf!
Jun 3, 2018: Waiting to board my flight to San Jose and ran into some iOS devs showing off their apps at the gate. This is going to be an awesome week!
May 21, 2018: Had some great strawberry ice cream made with liquid nitrogen at the LA Food Bowl yesterday
May 16, 2018: Netflix FYSEE Amazing to hear Ma Anand Sheela in conversation with Mark Duplass and the directors of “Wild Wild Country” at last night’s Netflix event. Sheela is so …
May 12, 2018: Tanaka Farms Pickin’ strawberries and pettin’ chickens, y’all. 🍓🐓
May 9, 2018: Finally bought my AltConf ticket and made travel arrangements to San Jose. I’m looking forward to the Micro.blog Meetup and also attending my first …
May 3, 2018: “Little horse is a big deal!” Li’l Sebastian, is that you??? 🐎😁
May 2, 2018: Sunset at Ventura Harbor
May 1, 2018: Could have spent all day at Bart’s Books in Ojai. It’s one of the coolest indie bookstores I’ve ever visited — and it’s outdoors! 📚☀️
May 1, 2018: Made a new friend at the olive orchard in Ojai 🐶☺️
Apr 25, 2018: 📚 Finished I’ll Be Gone in the Dark last week and attended Patton Oswalt’s talk at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books on Sunday. Today I’m …
Apr 4, 2018: Got my tickets for Grandoozy! The lineup looks awesome, and I’m excited to explore Denver again for a few days.
Apr 1, 2018: Enjoyed some awesome soup dumplings yesterday at Din Tia Fung! 🥟
Mar 31, 2018: Great day exploring and wine tasting in Santa Barbara 🍷
Mar 25, 2018: Ready Player One Challenge Search, play, take the leap. Had fun at the Ready Player One Challenge yesterday 🕹
Mar 22, 2018: I had a blast at the premiere of Game Over, Man! last night. Such a funny movie!
Mar 21, 2018: 🤞Fingers crossed!
Mar 20, 2018: One of my favorite iPad apps, Linea, just got a major update. I use the app daily for sketching UI ideas and taking notes and am looking forward to …
Mar 16, 2018: I hope we learn more about ClassKit at the Apple education event on the 27th.
Mar 11, 2018: 🎾 Drove to Indian Wells yesterday to watch some of my favorite tennis players at the BNP Paribas Open!
Feb 26, 2018: Finally received my Estimote Mirrors in the mail today. I’m looking forward to experimenting with them later this week!
Feb 24, 2018: Michael Jackson and Bubbles 🐒 at the Broad
Feb 21, 2018: Exploring The Huntington Library The Desert Garden
Feb 13, 2018: Peeling out on the 405 🍌 :-)
Feb 9, 2018: I had a great time at The Willows, a spooky immersive theatre experience, last night. If you live near LA, it’s definitely worth a visit! 💀
Feb 7, 2018: I’m building the web admin for a new project and decided to use UIKit instead of Bootstrap. So far, I really enjoying working with the framework.
Jan 30, 2018: 🔗 Vapor 3 Release Schedule I’m looking forward to the release of Vapor 3. I’ve been using the beta for a few weeks and really like it. Support for …
Jan 16, 2018: Workspaces App I’m currently working on a service that includes an API, website, and iOS client and have been using an app called Workspaces to efficiently switch …
Jan 16, 2018: Short rib radiatori at North Italia last night
Jan 10, 2018: Currently reading Server-Side Swift (Vapor Edition) by Paul Hudson. It is a fantastic book for anyone wanting to learn more about Vapor 3 (beta). 📚
Jan 4, 2018: First day back to work after a long, relaxing vacation. Starting a new Vapor project and filing for a new LLC. Great way to start the new year!
Jan 3, 2018: Checking out Bell Rock in Sedona on New Year’s Day.
Jan 2, 2018: White Sands National Monument. No snow during our road trip, but we did sled down some dunes here!
Dec 30, 2017: Giant 🤖 in the parking lot at Meow Wolf.
Dec 30, 2017: Had a blast visiting Meow Wolf’s House of Eternal Return today!
Dec 28, 2017: Spent most of the day hiking The Narrows at Zion National Park with @lia. It was so cold we had ice in our boots at the end of the hike. Totally worth …
Dec 26, 2017: Great day of hiking in Zion National Park. Some additional photos on Instagram
Dec 25, 2017: Hiking the Hoodoos. Beautiful location and weather. Some additional photos on Instagram
Dec 25, 2017: Merry Christmas!
Dec 24, 2017: Started the day with a trip to the neon boneyard. I’ve wanted to check this place out for a while!
Dec 24, 2017: 🚗 Wrapped up day one of our road trip with the Beatles Love by Cirque du Soleil
Dec 18, 2017: One of the many 🤖 at #robolights in Palm Springs.
Dec 7, 2017: Current weather condition is “smoke.”
Dec 3, 2017: Spent some time today hiking Vasquez Rocks.
Dec 3, 2017: Lia petting a jellyfish at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach.
Dec 1, 2017: 🔪 Knife skills workshop with Chef Ludo. Ready to julienne all my food now.
Nov 19, 2017: I went Obey Giant’s Damaged exhibit today and was surprised to see Shepard Fairey discussing his art and process!
Nov 17, 2017: Micro.blog Photo Challenge, Day 7: “Shadow”
Nov 16, 2017: Micro.blog Photo Challenge, Day 6: “Seasonal” - Pumpkin spice donut from Sidecar.
Nov 15, 2017: Micro.blog Photo Challenge, Day 5: “Liquid” - Miu Mius at her water bowl on the patio
Nov 14, 2017: Micro.blog Photo Challenge, Day 4: “Up Close” - lightbulb on a glass table
Nov 13, 2017: Micro.blog Photo Challenge, Day 3: “On the Move” - Axl Rose picture disc at 33 RPM
Nov 12, 2017: Micro.blog photo challenge day 2: “tasty.” Fish and chips from Batter Fish food truck.
Nov 11, 2017: Day one of the micro.blog photo challenge. Today’s theme is “squares.”
Nov 5, 2017: Sunday afternoon flight at Iron Triangle. Had to pick up a few bottles of Jawbone to take home, too! 🍺
Nov 3, 2017: From the Cosmic Dialogues exhibit at the Palm Springs Art Museum.
Nov 1, 2017: Remembering Barb #justiceforbarb - Dia de los Muertos shrine for Barb (Stranger Things)
Oct 30, 2017: Walking through a room filled with giant popsicle sculptures at the Museum of Ice Cream!
Oct 16, 2017: I think I found the most awesome halloween costume ever on Amazon :-)
Oct 12, 2017:
Quick Tip: Use Alfred to Look Up Apple API Errors
This morning I noticed a tip in the Core Intuition Slack group that DuckDuckGo has added a search !bang (!oss) for https://www.osstatus.com, a website …
Oct 12, 2017: 🔗 quicktype Given sample data, quicktype infers its type and writes the code needed to work with that data. Pick a sample or paste your own JSON, …
Oct 9, 2017: Finally made it to the Hollywood Bowl. At the premiere event for JANE, the new Nat Geo documentary about Jane Goodall.
Oct 9, 2017: I had a great time at CalJam 17 this weekend. Amazing performances by Queens of the Stone Age and Foo Fighters. Plus, Lia got to sit on Dave’s throne …
Oct 5, 2017: An evening of art and rock ‘n’ roll! 🤘At Nikki Sixx’s gallery opening and unveiling of the “Nikki Sixx” limited edition Leica Q
Oct 2, 2017: Had a fun, relaxing weekend. @Lia and I watched Kingsman: The Golden Circle and went to a Ben Schwartz and Thomas Middleditch improv show at the Largo …
Sep 29, 2017: 🔗 The power of switch statements in Swift — Swift by Sundell
Sep 26, 2017: I had a great time catching up with some old friends on the latest episode of the PSCC Mobile Talk podcast! It’s hard to believe that it’s been more …
Sep 19, 2017: I now have a bobblehead Brandon staring at me while I code :-)
Sep 19, 2017: 📱Upgrading my phone to iOS 11! I’ve been running the beta on my iPad since WWDC with very few issues. Let’s hope the good luck continues!
Sep 18, 2017: Paradise Cove Luau - our last evening in Hawaii
Sep 18, 2017: USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor
Sep 15, 2017: 🌊 🌊 🌊
Sep 15, 2017: Sailing around Waikiki
Sep 14, 2017: 🌊 Halona Blowhole 🌊
Sep 5, 2017: My first #fathead pizza 🍕
Aug 31, 2017: Lazy 🐈
Aug 28, 2017: Some new street art near the apartment. Artists' Instagram accounts - @lukek2s @quik_k2s
Aug 24, 2017: Really enjoyed watching Patti Cake$ last night, but now I’ve got the PBNJ track stuck in my head!
Aug 18, 2017: Nice file management library using Codable protocol in Swift 4. Disk.
Aug 17, 2017: Great Transmit 5 Review at Mac Stories. I’ve been using it for FTP and Amazon S3 access on my current Vapor projects and couldn’t be …
Aug 17, 2017: Poppy super bloom in the desert.
Aug 17, 2017: Mirage House
Aug 17, 2017: “Science, bitches!” 🔷 Great hearing Bryan Cranston talk about his new memoir! #heisenberg
Aug 17, 2017: Dave Grohl interviewing his mom about her new book 😄
Aug 17, 2017: Finally planted my Carolina reaper and ghost peppers! 🌶 🔥
Aug 17, 2017: Art on every corner in my neighborhood. #santamonica
Aug 17, 2017: Party on, Wayne! Party on, Garth! #excellent
Aug 17, 2017: Celebrating Prince’s birthday with “Princess” - Maya Rudolph’s awesome Prince cover band! Featuring special guest, Fred …
Aug 17, 2017: Hell if rhino 🦏 #becausevenice
Aug 17, 2017: Entering Westworld
Aug 17, 2017: Mick Jagger by Andy Warhol #revolvergallery
Aug 17, 2017: From the Counting Crows concert a couple nights ago. I love the Spice Girls photo in the background :-)
Aug 16, 2017: 300 Pitchforks #the14thfactory #losangeles
Jun 2, 2017: Want to celebrate #DonutDay? Fine a nearby donut shop using my iOS app, Go Donut - geo.itunes.apple.com/us/app/go…
May 17, 2017: Can’t wait to check out Vapor 2 - medium.com/@qutheory…
Apr 28, 2017: First post on micro.blog! Grabbed my username , @brandon, and hopefully setup everything correctly. Here goes!
Mar 6, 2017: Hiking in Studio City
Jan 2, 2017: Good way to finish the day!
Jan 2, 2017: View from Wayfarers Chapel
Dec 6, 2016: 🍩My latest app, GoDonut, is now available in iTunes! It allows you to satisfy your donut craving by searching for nearby donut shops.
Nov 26, 2016: Salvation Mountain #leicaq
Nov 24, 2016: Love wins. #leicaq
Nov 23, 2016: Interior shot of an old truck at Salvation Mountain. #leicaq #salvationmountain
Nov 23, 2016: Cabazon Dinosaurs #leicaq #blackandwhitephotography
Nov 13, 2016: Afternoon snack and Humble Potato // Shichimi garlic Parmesan fries and a cold “Expatriate”
Nov 11, 2016: #Repost @ga_losangeles with @repostapp ・・・ Congrats to our amazing students; the first iOS Immersive cohort at @generalassembly is graduating! We …
Oct 23, 2016: The #jesuswall
Oct 23, 2016: Seeing all the art today makes me want to create something! #breweryartwalk #losangeles
Oct 8, 2016: Awesome talk by Mathieu Bitton this morning at @leicastorela #leicalaccc
Oct 8, 2016: Rattlesnake and rabbit
Oct 3, 2016: The cafeteria inside #thehospital
Oct 3, 2016: #thehospital
Aug 19, 2016: In the jungle with @_lia_b! #losangeles #gunsnroses #notinthislifetime
Aug 14, 2016: Yum - 🦀 sandwich for lunch at #smorgasburgla
Aug 8, 2016: #venicebeach
Aug 7, 2016: Festival of the Chariots
Aug 7, 2016: Venice Beach graffiti
Aug 6, 2016: Craft beer at the zoo! #brewatthezoo #losangeles 🍻🐘
Jul 26, 2016: Testing out my new camera and captured a rare shot of Mius sitting still.
Jul 24, 2016: Santa Monica palm trees against a #sandfire sky
Jul 17, 2016: Parked by the #Aviato company car. 😁#bachmanityinsanity #piedpiper
Jul 5, 2016: Turnip cake fries at M Con
Jul 3, 2016: Hunka-hunka burnin' wisdom
Jun 18, 2016: Basquiat at The Broad
Jun 17, 2016:
Manage Tweet Collections With Charm
Charm is a free iOS app that works along with your favorite Twitter client to make collecting, organizing and sharing Tweets incredibly easy. The app …
May 30, 2016: Just had a raindrop cake with @_lia_b and @punch.it.in
May 16, 2016: Mius contemplating the meaning of life :-)
Dec 28, 2015: Brunch at @eggslutla with @_lia_b
Dec 24, 2015: Record shopping with @_lia_b at @amoebahollywood
Dec 23, 2015: The @sidecardoughnuts huckleberry donut is the best! #donuts #santamonica
Dec 8, 2015: Don’t think I have to worry about misplacing my new skateboard :-)
Sep 25, 2015: Pancake Brandon!
Sep 18, 2015: Alice in Chains @musicmidtown
Sep 18, 2015: Enjoying day 1 of @musicmidtown with @_lia_b
Jul 30, 2015: Astro Centipede
May 18, 2015: Central Park
May 16, 2015: Coney Island
May 15, 2015: Uptown funk you up.
May 15, 2015: Katz’s Deli . . . Yum! @_lia_b @blake291981
May 6, 2015: First day with #applewatch and I’m really impressed with most aspects so far. Dictation seems much better than on the phone.
Mar 15, 2015:
Innovations Conference Presentation Materials
Earlier this week I attended the Innovations Conference in Boston, Massachusetts. In addition to watching some great sessions on student engagement …
Mar 10, 2015: Boston Holocaust Memorial
Feb 19, 2015: Bummed a ride in a fancy private jet earlier today!
Feb 18, 2015:
Beacon Quest iOS App
In a previous post, I discussed the development QR Quest, an iOS app that encourages PSCC students to explore the many offices and services available …
Feb 17, 2015:
Announcing the Mobile Talk Podcast
I’m excited to announce the launch of Mobile Talk, a podcast from the PSCC Mobile Fellows. In this weekly series, Donn King and I will share …
Feb 17, 2015: CodeTN Presentation Resources Available Last fall, Pellissippi State Community College partnered with Greater Schools to launch the inaugural CodeTN kickoff event. Teams of high school …
Feb 12, 2015: Chaco Bacon Bliss Donut. @blake291981 next time you guys are in town we have to try this!
Jan 17, 2015: Took a nice hike to Rainbow Falls today
Jan 8, 2015: Got my ticket for tomorrow’s talk!
Dec 25, 2014: Sunshine cat
Dec 19, 2014: My first batch kegged. Looking forward to sampling it in a few days!
Dec 6, 2014: An evening with #Weezer
Oct 12, 2014: Whiskey Barrel fish
Oct 5, 2014: Making some hot sauce with homegrown jalapeño and ghost peppers plus a few cloves of garlic from our CSA.
Aug 9, 2014: Stuck in the hospital but finding ways to keep ourselves entertained :-)
Aug 3, 2014: Took a few hours to enjoy the lake today
Jul 30, 2014: Scavenger Hunts Using QR Codes Late last year I was accepted into my college’s first Mobile Engagement Fellows program. The program was created to encourage faculty and staff to …
Jun 29, 2014: Kayaking with Lia this afternoon.
Jun 28, 2014: Saturday night sour puss #grumpycat #freakerusa
Jun 21, 2014: Charred Citrus and fennel salad at #trustfallknox
Jun 20, 2014: One of two tiny bunnies that live somewhere in my front yard.
Jun 7, 2014: Hiking the trails near Concord Marina
May 31, 2014: Filming has begun! #k24hff
May 19, 2014: Watching Outcast at Hangout Fest
May 16, 2014: Taking a break at #hangoutfest
Apr 25, 2014: The English major in me is in pain.
Apr 25, 2014: I knew the ducks at work were strange, but apparently they are now cannibals. I caught these two sharing a delicious egg in the parking lot!
Apr 19, 2014: Discovered a new way of opening paint cans
Mar 22, 2014: Cleaning up the old house and found one of Miu Mius’s trophies
Mar 20, 2014: The park near our new house.
Feb 24, 2014:
Building a Better Tour App Using iBeacons
Since Apple introduced iBeacons at WWDC in June last year, we’ve seen plenty of announcements from retailers who plan on using the technology to …
Feb 13, 2014: Bottled some beer on my snow day!
Feb 13, 2014: Retiring the D2L Reference App I first released the D2L Quick Reference iOS application in February 2011. Over a three-year time period, the app has been downloaded thousands of …
Jan 25, 2014: Organic oatmeal at the Krispy Kreme counter.
Jan 1, 2014: Cleveland Rocks! Happy New Year!
Jan 1, 2014: Lia and I just ate a candle! Celebrating NYE at the Greenhouse Tavern.
Dec 31, 2013: GNR at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Dec 5, 2013: Holiday Spectacular!
Dec 3, 2013: It has to be good with a name like that
Dec 3, 2013: Wine tasting
Dec 3, 2013: Before my first NBA game
Jul 18, 2013: D2L Fusion 2013 This week, I attended Fusion, Desire2Learn's annual User's conference. I've been fortunate to get to attend Fusion for the past 5 years and have …
May 20, 2013:
A Semester With Glassboard
I’ve never been a big fan of Desire2Learn’s mobile interface. The Discussion tool, particularly, lacks many of the features that would …
Jan 26, 2013: D2L Book Update (Update - 4/18) According to the publisher, the corrected version of the book is now available through all channels! (Update - 2/1) Great news - it …
Dec 10, 2012: Special Delivery Hot off the press! Copies of my book arrived in the mail today. It’s neat to see months of my work all printed and bound. Plus, it’s very …
Sep 25, 2012:
Smart App Banners in iOS 6
One of the less-discussed new features in iOS 6 is the ability to display Smart App banners in Safari. These banners allow you to provide a link to …
Sep 19, 2012:
iOS 6 in Education - Guided Access
Guided Access helps students with disabilities such as autism remain on task and focused on content. It allows a parent, teacher, or administrator to …
Apr 30, 2012:
D2L Edge Challenge
Watchalearning is a native iOS application that uses streaming video and chat functionality to facilitate learning. The main screen of the application …
Aug 9, 2011:
iOS Application for Workshop Handouts
At the D2L UnConference I demoed an alpha version an iPad application I have been working on that is aimed at replacing traditional workshop handouts …