Personal

Do good. Get even more apps.

Last year when I rebooted my little software company, one change I made was "Do Good. Get Apps" – which means, instead of buying my products, you can make a donation to one of nine nonprofit organizations, and I’ll send you a free license for the app of your choice. Starting today, I’m choosing a nonprofit organization of the month. I’m still offering a free license for any app if you send me your donation receipt, but now, any donation of $30 or more will receive a license for ALL of my current apps: TextBuddy Fastmarks Ears Rebudget Spotish In …

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Straight out of 2003

This post is way off-topic, but I hope you won’t mind a quick story about 90s boy bands and eighteen-year-old websites. In high school, my little sister was a rabid *NSYNC fan. Posters covering every square inch of her bedroom – my mom driving her from one end of the state to the other for her first concert, etc. More interesting, though, she took after her geeky older brother (👋) and built an *NSYNC fan website. This wasn’t GeoCities or Myspace – she built and maintained it by hand on a shared web host with her own domain name. Sadly, …

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Retina Studio

When I tell people, “I started my app business in 2007”, that’s not true. I never meant to start a business – it just happened. Because if I had sat down one afternoon and thought, “I’m going to begin selling software online today,” I sure as hell wouldn’t have intentionally named my company Click On Tyler.

For fourteen years, I’ve hated that name.

That Person Exists

Situations like these are never easy on the person’s family – no matter the medical condition. But Alzheimer’s is particularly vile because at some point, the person living with this disease…disappears. And other than the occasional fleeting glimpse of their old selves, the person that family loved and now has to take care of, is gone. It’s fucking cruel to witness the story play out over the remaining years. In my grandmother’s case, it took eleven.

My grandmother passed away in August of 2019 at ninety-five years young. Why am I writing this post now? Two years later? Before I get to that, let me tell you about her.

Six

There aren’t enough adjectives in the world to describe her giant-sized personality. So I’ll just say happy number six to the strongest girl I know.

Conversations in the Dark with a Six-Year-Old

To me, that’s fascinating. The direct connection between a piece of aluminum strapped to your wrist and the emotions overwhelming your brain. A tenuous but verifiable link between digital and analog. An opportunity to recognize something tangible and make a change.

This Only Happens Here

My five year old, driving home from daycare today, unprompted: I know what lockdown is. Like when we had to stay home for a long time last year? It’s when we turn the lights off and lock the door and hide in the fire room because a bad guy is coming. Pause. But, daddy. Why do bad guys have swords and kill all the people?

Time Machine

We opened the door and stepped out of our time machine — my children another year older.

TextBuddy is a Mac|Life Editor’s Choice

If you don’t mind, I’d like to interrupt my not-so-regularly-scheduled posts about silly macOS workflows and tech complaining for a not-so-humble-brag.

TextBuddy received a lovely review in the June issue of Mac|Life – including an Editor’s Choice seal of approval.

“The bottom line. A marvel. If you work with text, you need this app.”

As a nerdy kid who grew up in the 90s browsing the magazine section of Waldenbooks for the latest issues of Macworld, boot, and Next Generation, seeing one of my apps in a print magazine is a huge thrill.

An Email Followup About Standing Desks and Ultrawide Monitors

An online friend emailed me after reading my previous standing desk post with a few questions about the monitor pictured on my office desk.

My reply kept getting longer and longer (go figure) until I decided I might as well publish it here in case anyone else finds it interesting. Without further ado, here’s another 869 words about ultrawide and multiple monitor setups.