I've been an Apple iPhone user since the first version was released in 2007. I upgraded to an iPhone 3GS when it was released and I've been immensely happy with the device for three years. But that's all about to change as I'm switching to Android.

I ordered an HTC Incredible nearly a month ago and have been patiently awaiting its arrival. With the Droid X announcement I decided to cancel my Incredible order and wait a little bit longer for a device with a 4.3 inch screen. While I continue to wait for July 15 - the date the Droid X becomes available on Verizon - I want to talk about why I'm switching to Android.

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Hey everyone, here's a video where I talk about the last two days in our flooding saga.

Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson, founders of 37signals, had their new book Rework hit stores today. I heard about this book several months ago and setup an OmniFocus reminder to notify me of its release. I've already sent a sample of the book to my Kindle and will be digging into the text a little later today.

If given a choice between investing in someone who has read REWORK or has an MBA, I'm investing in REWORK every time. A must read for every entrepreneur.

Mark Cuban, co-founder HDNet, owner of the Dallas Mavericks

Two weeks ago today I brought aaronwest.net live bringing all my content from trajiklyhip.com and trajiklyhip.com/blog to a brand new, consolidated interface on a new domain. Before I talk about my new site and what I like about it, I want to give a (somewhat) brief overview describing my sites evolution over the last 8 years. Keep reading after the break.

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This is just a quick video of the snow that's falling here in Nashville, TN. It's the second snow we've gotten in about nine days and I'm loving it!

As of the date/time of this blog post I am no longer supporting Internet Explorer 6. That's right, I've joined the IE6 No More campaign. If you're reading this blog post because you accessed my blog and were redirected here, then you are using an ancient, ancient Web browser and you need an intervention. A nice one. =)

It's time to upgrade. It's time to see the light. It's time to get into the modern age of browsers. So please, take a moment right now to click one of the logos below and download one of the fine browsers out there. If you don't, a litter of puppies will die, a thousand fairies will have their wings pulled off, and a hundred unicorns will perish of african sickness. You don't want all that on you do you?

Update: Over the last several weeks other organizations and countries have announced their lack of support of Internet Explorer 6. All of this is further reason to get a better browser:

• The French government joins Germany in recommending its citizens use something other than Internet Explorer. http://bit.ly/7Bap4c
• Google to end support of IE6 on March 1, 2010. http://bit.ly/an3z93
• From TechCrunch, a funeral is being held for IE6 on March 4. Browser to be buried without the body.
• From Ars Technica, YouTube to kill IE6 support on March 13, 2010

This so-called "quadricopter" is too cool! I recently purchased two small mini RC helicopters (here's one of them) and they pale in comparison to this puppy. If you're into remote control stuff - or just cool tech - check out this video. Did I mention the AR.Drone is built on a totally open platform? It's initially going to be controllable via iPhone (and probably iPod Touch) but developers can use an API to build a Blackberry, DROID, or other interface.

This is just a quick post to let everyone know I've been posting content - what I'm calling "digital bytes" - on Tumblr. A friend recommended I use Tumblr a few months ago and I've been posting content ever since. I like how easy Tumblr is to use and how there's an iPhone app (iTunes link) I can use to post photos, videos, and links. The reblog feature of Tumblr is also quite nice. If I see something someone else has posted that I really like I can reblog their content, placing it on my Tumblr page, with a few clicks of my mouse.

I view Tumblr as sort of a mini-blog and will continue to post content I think is relevant and interesting. Check it out and be sure to follow me if you also use Tumblr.

Several years ago I read Understanding the Psychology of Programming by Bryan Dollery. The article was written in 2003 but you'd never know it unless you saw the date. It talks about how programming is a creative activity and how the environment of a programmer plays a large role in their creativity. I've referred to the article dozens of times over the last 6 years when conversing with other technical managers and today I want to share it with you. If you're a programmer or you are directly or indirectly responsible for the management of programmers you must read this article.

Understanding the Psychology of Programming

Contrary to popular belief, programmers more frequently resemble artists than scientists. If you want to maximize the creative potential on your development team, you've got to start thinking about the psychology of the programmer and be willing to back it up with management policy.

Read it here.

The presenter was on stage and had gotten past the requisite introductions and background information. It seemed like he was nearing the part of his presentation described in the conference schedule and I was looking forward to what he had to say. Before getting to that, he took time to explain why he prefers programming in his language of choice. His first point was his language was incredibly dynamic. He didn't mean his language had a dynamic personality or anything like that. He meant he could do a ton of stuff in his language and it was pretty easy to do so. Continuing, he discussed how his language is best suited for rapid application development. Using his IDE (Integrated Development Environment) he could whip out code fast, code that created serious value and integrated with many other services. He talked about the tooling and the community, how everyone chipped in to increase the value of the language and what the language provided developers. He went on for a few more minutes speaking with great conviction about his love for his programming language of choice.

What language was this gentlemen referring to? Was it PHP? ColdFusion? Ruby? He wasn't talking about ColdFusion, but I'm not sure the actual language matters.

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I posted on Twitter how I was digging my new Logitech Anywhere Mouse MX. I decided to take a few pics this morning showing comparisons between the superb Logitech VX Revolution and the Anywhere.

Let me start off by saying I'm a huge fan of Logitech mice. The first really good one that got me hooked was the MX Revolution (click here for the latest MX). It's not a notebook, go anywhere mouse, but it's rechargeable and it has a nice heavy weight to it that helps it glide along your mousepad. A year after getting the MX Revolution I decided to get the notebook version since I wanted to be able to use the same mouse at work and at home. I bought the VX Revolution and have been using it for nearly three years. It's hands down the best mouse I have ever owned. It's impeccably comfortable, well built, and has the hyper-scrolling feature that's made Logitech mice so successful.

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I haven't had personal cards (as in NOT business cards) for a few years and I've been wanting to try out the MiniCards from Moo, so I ordered one of their stock packages. I spent a little while working on my own design but couldn't come up with something I really liked. I chose these super colorful cards costing $20 for 100. I'm finally advertising my Google Voice number, my Twitter name and my new Web site that, incidentally isn't live yet. It will be soon. The downside? I didn't have these at CFUnited last week.

If anyone is interested in trying out Moo cards, let me know. I have three 15% discount cards I'd be happy to give out.

A few weeks ago I was interviewed by Troy Malone, Chief Evangelist for Pelotonics, an online project management and collaboration tool. Troy and I discussed how the Dealerskins development team uses Pelotonics to manage projects, how we discovered Pelotonics and how it compares to similar tools like Basecamp. The interview lasted about half an hour but the Pelotonics crew have distilled it to 3 minutes of audio snippets of just my answers to Troy's questions. To listen to the interview point your browser to the Pelotonics Basecamp page and scroll down until you see the "Beyond Basecamp" text and the Dealerskins logo. Press the play icon to load a modal window that plays the interview audio.

If you are interested in what Pelotonics is and how one company (Dealerskins) finds it useful the interview is a good start. For more detail on the product and how you might benefit from using it check out the additional links below.

Why Pelotonics?
Pelotonics Tour
Pelotonics Info for Basecamp Users

I've had long hair for the better part of 15 years; it's been part of who I am for a long time. But, I decided I needed a change recently so I secretly scheduled an appointment with my stylist. I say secretly because I wanted to surprise my wife with the new cut. The four braids of hair I cut off were just long enough to send to Locks of Love, so they'll be mailed soon. To chronicle the experience I took before and after photos and shot some video. Click any photo thumbnail below to launch a fullscreen photo browser or play the time lapsed video. What do you think of the new "do?!" Note: All photos and video were edited using only Adobe CS4 products.

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