Minimal Universe

Minimal Universe collect posts from our favorite minimal-related blogs listed on the right.
  • "The question I am often asked by friends, co-workers and pretty much anyone after I tell them that I..."

    “The question I am often asked by friends, co-workers and pretty much anyone after I tell them that I am a security researcher and a software developer is: Why is Windows so insecure and unstable?

    That’s not the question they should be asking. They should be asking instead: Why do people stick with Windows? Why, after years of suffering with an OS that clearly doesn’t work, people still pay money for it?”

    - Me this morning after explaining some of the new vulnerabilities found for Windows to a friend.


  • Uselen

    Letter opener Uselen is one of the latest pieces in the Alessi collection, and designed by the Italian Giulio Iacchetti.

    It is shaped like a hummingbird, and its elegant curves give it a nice sense of motion. And although is made from a single piece of polished stainless steel, there’s a soft and glossy feel to it.

    Uselen 03
    Uselen 02
    Uselen 01

  • The Read & Trust Newsletter

    The Read & Trust Newsletter:

    Many readers of this site may not know that I am also a proud member of the Read & Trust Network. A network of some of the best independent writers on the Internet. To say that I’m humbled to even be included amongst some of these names is an understatement. Seriously, this is the cream of the crop.

    Premiering in April is a new Premium Newsletter offering exclusive writing around a pre-selcted theme from a selection of these writers on a monthly basis, yours truly included. The theme for April is “The Process” and I’m very proud of the piece I have submitted to it.

    The price is only $5.00 a month. Seriously, this will be the newsletter to subscribe to. The contents will be exclusive to the newsletter and not available anywhere else. Subscribe today.

  • The Read & Trust Newsletter

    The Read & Trust Newsletter:

    Many readers of this site may not know that I am also a proud member of the Read & Trust Network. A network of some of the best independent writers on the Internet. To say that I’m humbled to even be included amongst some of these names is an understatement. Seriously, this is the cream of the crop.

    Premiering in April is a new Premium Newsletter offering exclusive writing around a pre-selcted theme from a selection of these writers on a monthly basis, yours truly included. The theme for April is “The Process” and I’m very proud of the piece I have submitted to it.

    The price is only $5.00 a month. Seriously, this will be the newsletter to subscribe to. The contents will be exclusive to the newsletter and not available anywhere else. Subscribe today.

  • The powerful, mystical Spotlight. On steroids.

    The powerful, mystical Spotlight. On steroids.:

    How on earth can it be so good, you ask? Well, it’s hard to say. But some have speculated that it runs on only the purest tears collected from Apple’s most prized unicorns. Alas, no one has ever seen one of these creatures, which are said to be stabled in a secret location outside of Cupertino.

    There are some great tips here. I have been using Spotlight as both my app launcher and file finding secret sauce since moving to my MacBook Air. Once you dig deep inside, you will find that, in fact, the above statement is not far from the truth.

    (Even though I’m subscribed to Practically Efficient, the via goes to Ben Brooks because I often read my friends feeds first.)

  • simpledesks: This is my custom designed and built sawhorse...



    simpledesks:

    This is my custom designed and built sawhorse desk, I have posted the entire design and building process [on my blog](http://www.thecheapgeek.org/designing-and-building-a-new-desk).

    Seriously, go read the post. Full of nerdery and beauty.

    Submitted by Jordan Patterson.

    This looks like a dream.



  • "Options are great things, but too much of any good thing is bad. Google’s nonchalant attitude..."

    “Options are great things, but too much of any good thing is bad. Google’s nonchalant attitude towards skins and carrier-loaded crapware has left many good phones crippled by software, not to mentions users annoyed. Fragmentation, multiple appstore experiences and more all leave Android users left to fend for themselves, but in the good, open way people were hoping for when Android shipped.”

    -

    Forkbombr: On the Promise of Android’s Openness

    To many options are sometimes bad. Less options, each one with good quality, are most of the time more.



  • Forkbombr — Jonathan Ive, on the Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh

    Forkbombr — Jonathan Ive, on the Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh:

    “We wanted to make sure the back of the product was as well resolved as the front”

    Stephen at Forkbomber strikes again with this wonderful find from the days when Jony had hair.

  • Forkbombr — SSD: Life in the Fast Lane

    Forkbombr — SSD: Life in the Fast Lane:

    My work machine is a 2.8 GHz Core2Duo 15-inch MacBook Pro with the matte screen and 8 GB of RAM. It’s the fastest notebook I’ve ever used. It gives our 3.2 Ghz Core i3 27-iMac at home a run for its money. Most articles I’ve read by people who have upgraded to a SSD have done it to older machines. I was skeptical of what kind of difference it would make in an already fast machine, to be honest.

    It turns out that this is the single best upgrade I’ve ever done for any computer. Period.

    If you’ve been wondering if upgrading your Mac with an SSD drive is worth the money, read this.

  • Seth's Blog: Are you making something?

    Seth’s Blog: Are you making something?:

    practicalopacity:

    Simple but bold: Only use your computer for work. Real work. The work of making something. Have a second device, perhaps an iPad, and use it for games, web commenting, online shopping, networking… anything that doesn’t directly create valued output (no need to have an argument here about which is which, which is work and which is not… draw a line, any line, and separate the two of them. If you don’t like the results from that line, draw a new line).

    Interesting idea. I know folks who, though not stated, treat their desktop and iPad this way. The iPad is the device for reading, social networking, rss and the desktop is for work only.

    Self reblogging here because all of this stuff is connected.

  • Meet up

    sweetmactips:

    If you’re in the Minneapolis/Saint Paul area, we’re having a bit of a meetup tomorrow evening of Mac folk. Patrick Rhone of Minimal Mac is going to be there too. If you’re interested, we’re meeting at the aLoft in the bar/lounge at 6pm. It’s got a funky vibe and is a good place to chill.


    View Larger Map

    Yep. I guess this is kind of officially a thing now. If you are in the Twin Cities area tomorrow (03.29.2011), come on down.

  • Amazon.com: The Hand of Andulain (The Tapestry Saga) eBook: Aaron Mahnke: Kindle Store

    Amazon.com: The Hand of Andulain (The Tapestry Saga) eBook: Aaron Mahnke: Kindle Store:

    This has northing to do with Macs or minimalism but, you know, when a friend does something you are proud of you should support them in every way you know.

    Well, my good friend Aaron Mahnke (who designed the Minimal Mac Logo) has published his first book – The Hand of Andulain. As a writer and soon to be author myself, I know what a holy-frakkin-mother-of-the-gods big deal this is. It’s a sci-fi/fantasy affair so I’m sure it will be right up the alley of some of the nerds that read this site. Here is the description:

    When his simple life is shattered, Bran Somnerson must enter a world of powerful magic, dangerous enemies and his own unknown destiny. Chased by hideous creatures from another land, and bound to an ancient bracelet that he cannot seem to remove, Bran is forced to leave his old life behind before he even knows what his new life may hold.

    But while forces of darkness pursue him and his companions across the vast leagues of the Four Realms, Bran discovers that he is being followed by something else. Something more ancient and deadly than he fully understands. And it is pursuing him in his dreams.

    Can Bran overcome the seemingly insurmountable obstacles, both around him and within him, that threaten his life? The fate of the Four Realms may very well rest in his hands.

    It’s only $2.99 on the Amazon Kindle store. It will be available in the iBookstore soon as well. Go support my friend and get a few hundred pages of quality reading in return.

  • Secure Colocation | Mac Mini Vault [Sponsor]

    Secure Colocation | Mac Mini Vault [Sponsor]:

    I have discussed before why the Mac Mini makes the perfect server. It’s small, affordable, fast, and when running Mac OS X Server, has all of the features you need to offer enterprise-class services in a machine a fraction of the size and price.

    That said, there are many reasons you may not want to host a server on your own. Security, power, and bandwidth are all very real concerns. Especially if you are doing hosting of web services, email or valuable personal data. For such things you want to ensure uptime and not everyone (i.e. only the privileged few) has a data center at their disposal.

    Mac Mini Vault is a colocation provider specifically designed to host the Mac Mini. Colocation (or “colo” for short) means that you place the Mac Mini that you own in their secure data center. They supply the power, bandwidth, and physical security allowing your Mac Mini to be ‘hosted’ on the internet. You can access it’s desktop or its command line. You can use it for file storage, web & database hosting, an e-mail server, or some of the built in OS X Server tools such as calendar, address book, wiki servers, etc. Because the hardware is compatible with Windows and Linux as well, you can configure it anyway you’d like before sending your Mini to them.

    The pricing is simple and quite fair with two generous packages that start as $29.99 a month. This includes a static IP, 15MB/s Burst Speed, remote reboot, network graphing, and free hands on support during business hours. They are located near Milwaukee, WI so, if you are within driving range, you have the option of making an appointment to drive your Mini down and they’ll help you get it going. Of course, you can always configure your Mini and ship it to them. Heck, you can even buy one from them and have them set it up and get it online for you. You can even purchase additional storage from them or add an external drive of your own. The choice is yours.

    Bottom line, this is the best-pratice route to go if you are looking to use the Mac Mini as a server solution. I use a Mac Mini as a backup server for my clients and I’ll be moving to Mac Mini Vault as soon as I’m able. If you have any interest in this stuff at all, you owe it to yourself to check them out.

  • Callum Innes

    Callum Innes is currently exhibiting a small collection of new paintings at Jensen Gallery in Paddington, Sydney.

    Innes is a Scottish-based painter and a former Turner Prize nominee (Damien Hirst won the Turner Prize the year Innes was nominated). His new collection of paintings are canvases divided into two halves, with two different approaches or techniques of painting to either half. Often one half is glossy, whilst the other is quite textural from the surface of the canvas. From my observations, it appeared that many different layers of paint were painted on top of each other, so the resulting surface had hints of the colour from the paint applied underneath. A minimal result, but a seemingly laborious process.

    The exhibition of Innes’ new paintings opened on the 8th of March and runs until the 21st of April. The textures of Innes’ painting are difficult to perceive from the documentation of his work. They must really be seen in person.

    Callum Innes-8
    Callum Innes-7
    Callum Innes-6
    Callum Innes-5
    Callum Innes-4
    Callum Innes-3
    Callum Innes-2
    Callum Innes-1

  • My friend Dawn recently posted these photos of her first Mac on...



    My friend Dawn recently posted these photos of her first Mac on Twitter the other day. There was something I found delightful about them. Not sure if it is the color, staging, or if I’m just a sucker for old Macs. Likely, it is just that I’m a sucker for Dawn.



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