A few more shots with Hipstamatic Disposable. This time using the “Unicorn MG” camera.
12 January 2012
The guys behind Hipstamatic have a new app called “Hipstamatic Disposable”. The basic app is free, and has additional “cameras” you can purchase in-app. Like the regular Hipstamatic, it takes photos with a pho-vintage feel to them.
There are two differences that are the big selling point. First, you can share a set of cameras with friends. Once all the photos from that virtual roll have been taken, everyone who has a camera in that set can see all the pictures. Second, you can’t see any of the pictures until you finish your roll.
This is really strange to go back to in the digital age. I have always been a shutter bug and always highly anticipated seeing the results of the photos I was taking. This forced waiting period before you can see the results has a strange appeal. Everything is so instantaneous these days, it’s a nice surprise to see how things turned out that you took a few days, or weeks, back.
Overall, I’m enjoying the experience. It’s worth checking out just as an interesting experience, even if you just stick to the built-in free cameras.
10 January 2012
On The Subject of Reblogging. Also, “Persist”.
Pain and torture 97% of the time? Yep, that sounds about right.
I try to avoid hitting tumblr’s “reblog” button. At best it’s a way to share something you feel is of note, and it links back to the original content poster. At worst it takes attention away from the original poster to bolster your own blog in an attempt to make yourself look more productive than you really are.
In fact, I think tumblr makes it too easy. It’s the reason 99% of sites hosted with it are worthless and have names that go a little something like [swearword] [exclamation] [reblog-subject].
Once in a great while, I come across something like this that I enjoy enough to want to share. On that rare occasion, I feel it appropriate to use the provided functionality.
I have some very specific writing goals for 2012. I am usually not one for outlining goals, and I won’t be listing them publicly. When things have been accomplished, I will definitely be writing about them here.
30 December 2011
I’m Blogging From My iPhone
I’m currently in a meeting were I don’t have as much to add to the conversation as I would like. Instead of wasting time, I decided to test out the blogging capabilities of the Tumblr app. Don’t worry, I’m still taking notes in the real world.
How about a NaNoWiMo update? As I expected, I am behind in my word count. But that’s ok!
This year I decided ahead of time not to get hung up on “winning” NaNo. Instead I am using it to motivate me to write every day. On that front things are going great. Not a day in November has passed where I haven’t busted out at least a few lines in my story.
After NaNo, I have several projects I want to pursue, and this has been a big help in knocking some of the rust out.
7 November 2011
NaNoWriMoing Again
For the third year in a row, I have decided to participate in National Novel Writing Month, or “NaNoWriMo” as the hip kids call it. The goal is to write a 50,000 word novel in the month of November, which comes out to 1,667 words per day.
I’ve had several friends ask me why I participate. Shouldn’t I just write on my own? Why does it have to be for a thing?
Those are completely valid concerns. The problem is that life is busy. Work, family (especially with a nine-month-old in the house), etc., and when are you supposed to have the time to actually get any writing done anyway?
You have to make the time, of course. There is no getting around that fact when you are not making your living at it.
The reason I decided to participate at the eleventh hour, was because my schedule has finally started to slightly clear up. This was directly related to Brittany’s work schedule finally normaling off (at least for now). I brought the idea of participating up to Brittany and she told me I should go for. “If nothing else it is a good motivational tool.”
She, as usual, is right.
That’s the reason I’m participating. I haven’t been writing regularly over the last several months, and I need the kick in the pants. NaNoWriMo’s official site has a tracker with handy graphs that show right away you if you start to let your goal get away from you.
But isn’t a novel written in a month going to be garbage?
That is highly probable.
But I think that is missing the point. If you want to be a good writer, you have to write all the time. This just brings us back to the point of it being a motivational tool.
I’m not expecting this to end up being some amazing piece of literature. What I’m really hoping for is to come out more skilled than I entered, and use those skills to get back to the other book I started and have let languish.
So if you are aspiring writer who has been looking for a good motivational tool, I highly recommend giving NaNoWriMo a try. You’re only one day behind, and that’s not too hard to claw you way back up from. Even if you don’t meet your goal this year, there is always next time.
And hey, the real point is to just get writing anyway. So what are you afraid of?Chicken.
Check out my NaNoWriMo Profile here.
2 November 2011
I’ve Been On Some Podcasts
In addition to my weekly show Barrel Roll, I have been on a couple of other shows that both happened to go up this week. You might be interested in checking them out.
A Fistful of Pixels - Episode 11, “Ascension Quad 5: We Climb Again”
Each week on A Fistful of Pixels, the hosts take user submitted phrases and turn them into the next great video games. It is an improv comedy show with a gaming tie in and I had a blast being on. I do need to warn you that there is some adult language used throughout by some of the other hosts.
I Am Error - Episode 1, “When Music And Games First met”
I Am Error is a new monthly show on WingDamage.com hosted by my friend Wesley Johnson. Each month he’ll be talking about strange and terrible retro games that are tied together by a common theme.
Check out the shows and let the hosts know what you think! Subscribe, review on iTunes, tweet/Facebook about them, etc. etc.!
26 October 2011
Google+ Impressions
In true Google fashion, their new Google+ service is currently in an invite only beta. A friend sent me an invite, so I decided to give it a try.
At a glance, it isn’t that different from other social networks you may already be using. It has a lot of the same functionality as Facebook, but without the millions of Farmville requests you are probably used to seeing (you can mute those, by the way).
(Image credit goes, of course, to XKCD)
The thing that I really like about the new service is the way it allows you to organize the other users you are following, and directly related to that, who sees what posts.
Your friends are organized into circles, which you can name and organize yourself. When you go to create a post, you choose if the post is public, or if only specified circles are allowed to see it.
The same goes for the feed you see. You can look at the combined feed of everyone you follow, or click on a specific circle and only view that feed.
My favorite part is that no one else can see what circles you have organized people into, or even what you have named those circles.
I’ve been wanting to dump Facebook for a while now. I am not a fan of the changes they have been making to the site over the last couple of years, and I really don’t like their privacy policies that seem intent on screwing over their users.
The only thing Google+ is currently lacking to meet my needs is the launch of the iPhone app (which is marked as “coming soon”) and Twitter integration.
Even if you are rolling your eyes going “not another social network”, I would recommend at least giving Google+ a try.
14 July 2011
Napalm Man vs. the GRMRB by Main Finger
My brother Jesse, aka Main Finger, has just set up a bandcamp account. His first release are the songs he did for the Grand Robot Master Remix Battle
Here is the official album description:
This free album collects all of my entries for the Grand Robot Master Remix Battle 2011. In this competition hosted by the OverClocked ReMix community, contestants chose a robot master, then went head to head in one on one remix battles making songs that incorporated both the elements of their own Robot Master theme and their Opponents
The tracks are free so you should definitely check them out.
He also set up a music page over on Facebook, so head over there as well!
7 July 2011
A video I made as a parody of DBZ.
It showcases the theme of the show; Guys screeming.
The website mentioned in the video no longer exists, just in case you were wondering.
(Source: youtube.com)
5 July 2011
Photo of the Day #74
Saturday night we went to a BBQ at my brother’s place. You might know Jeremy as the guy that does the fantastic artwork for Here There Be Robots. With life as busy as it’s been for both us and them, we haven’t been able to get together since Cora was born. It seems incredibly silly since we don’t live that far away from each other.
We had an amazing time hanging out with Jeremy and his wife Stacey, who has a been a part of the family since I was about 13 years old. And of course, Cora immediately fell in love with them.
Their landlords have a chicken coup in the backyard, and the chickens are very curious about everything. Jeremy brought over some blueberries and they would actually jump up to grab them out of his hand. This shot was taken right before it decided to go for it.
4 July 2011
Who Am I?
Jonah Gregory is the writer/creator of Here There Be Robots. He is the co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of WingDamage.com, an editorial gaming blog. He is a husband, a father, and is generally considered to be a pretty nice guy.
Copyright © 2010 Jonah Gregory. Theme created by 
Logo illustrated by ColinPanetta.com
