small steps

I've finally updated my website. It took 3 years, a new version of RapidWeaver, and emails to developers who no longer had up-to-date versions of the themes that I'd originally used. But now, everything is back as it was except that it's newer, updated, and importantly, updatable.

Next project (well... next on the list that could be entitled "online presence"): updating this blog a little more frequently.

Letter from Connecticut

I can't bring myself to see when I last posted... but I'm moved to write something in response to the snow here in Connecticut. I'll not hide the fact that I love it. But it comes at a cost. And not just to the town (er.... what town?) that have to clear the roads (which they do with an efficiency that is quite extraordinary), and the folks who get stranded etc. etc. No... I'm talking about losing the 200lb concrete lids off the septic, and the top inch off the gravel driveway, both through over-zealous plowing. Or, as we Brits spell it, ploughing. We've a ton (or more) of gravel to somehow rake back onto all 700ft of driveway... And I'm told that I can't volunteer my graduate students to do it. Really? I can't?

When will it end??

I thought that when I gave up the editorship of Cognition, I'd be done with it... after 8.5 years of managing zillions of manuscripts each year, it was time to return to some semblance of a normal life. But of course, the manuscripts that I had chosen to handle myself were still in the system and I felt I had a responsibility to see those through. Silly me... Turns out there were 130 of those. As of this morning, there are still 20 left. Which means that I've so far, this year, processed 110 unique manuscripts this year, and written 185 action letters! So it's not as much fun as I thought it would be, not being Editor-in-Chief...

The new semester is in full swing. But with 34 degree heat expected tomorrow, I don't think we'll be doing much swinging outside. Won't be long before we're all looking forward to some wintery relief from the heat. But today's Labor Day (the equivalent, I believe, of May Day holidays in Europe). So no work today... just a few action letters...

I love this brain

I had a small part to play in conceiving of the analyses which resulted in the following image (if it were bigger, you'd see lines more clearly between some of the blobs, and those lines show that some blobs are connected: when there's activity in one, there's activity in the other). Thanks to Z. and K. for turning an idea into data!

The perils of a good To Do list...

After 16 flights in just 9 weeks, across 3 continents and 6 countries, it is little surprise that I got way less done than I should have, and that my To Do list has grown to such an extent that if all my items were laid end-to-end they would reach between here and eternity... In fact, it took so long to compile the list that in the time it took me to do that, I could have completed a substantial number of those To Dos and turned them into Now Done's (Dones?). My resolution for the rest of the week is to stop adding To Do's and to start Doing Do's. Oh... oh dear... that just doesn't sound right at all...

My attempts, when not adding to my To Do list, to whip up support for TagNotate continue unabated and shamelessly. Go TagNotate!

And you? Go Review TagNotate!

TagNotate 1.1 released

Yep... yet another version hits the app store today! Lots of improvements, and more still to come. But... we need more reviews! For reasons that escape everyone, a review written on e.g. the US App Store doesn't appear on the UK App Store even though it's the very same software! So this is the blogger's equivalent of begging (!) - please consider downloading the app, giving it a try, and writing a review on the App Store. It's still free for another few weeks as it picks up steam. There's at least one more major release (1.2) before we let it run its course for a while. If Kickstarter can crowdsource funding, surely I can crowdsource reviewing?!

To make it particularly easy for you, you can download it from here. And to write a review, scroll down to the bottom of TagNotate's page on the App Store, and under where it says Customer Reviews, click on Write a Review. Don't forget to select some (high!) number of stars as well! But a written review is what we need to get noticed by web sites and other blogs.

And except for a new version of TagNotate, there's not much else to tell. I'm in London for a surprisingly cold and damp week. Hanging out in Café Nero where the coffee is excellent, the furniture comfortable, and the wifi fast. Turns out, Café Nero was founded by another Gerry... I wonder if he wants to invest in TagNotate?

TagNotate: Day 3

Three days in, and 1100 downloads later, it's time to celebrate. TagNotate is super easy to use: Simply download, use, and review on the Mac App Store. Doesn't get much easier than that. Seriously, though, we need all the reviews we can get. Spread the word: Rooftops, social media, whatever it takes! It's still free.

Am currently in Barcelona en route from Australia to San Sebastian. Not only is it a great place to celebrate, it's also a great place to recuperate after the 30 hours of traveling from the southern hemisphere... (actually, recuperation hardly needed. A gin and tonic did the trick!).