Thoughts on building a platform and an audience to share the things we have to say, but how those platforms can turn on us and stifle our creativity and inspiration. How do we keep out of the echo chamber in order to consistently create work we’re proud of and that has value and meaning?

Sponsored by:

• Igloo: An intranet you’ll actually like.

• The awesome members of shawnblanc.net: Their support makes the work I do a sustainable possibility.

Podcast: Download (Duration: 17:54 — 12.4MB)

On this week’s show:

• My history with to-do lists.
• Initial impressions of the new OmniFocus 2 for Mac beta and how it compares to OmniFocus on the iPad and iPhone.
• Thoughts on giving areas of responsibility a designated time-slot during the day / week.

Links:

• OF2 for Mac Beta
• What’s Best Next
• My reviews of Things in 2009 and then OmniFocus in 2010

Sponsored by:

• 22Slides: Portfolios for people who have better things to do than tinker with code.
• The awesome members of shawnblanc.net: their support makes the work I do a sustainable possibility.

Podcast: Download (Duration: 28:14 — 19.5MB)

On this week’s episode: analog vs digital; low-fi vs high-fi; old school versus new school; manual versus automatic — appreciating and taking advantage of today’s awesome technology while also celebrating the more traditional and hands-on way of doing things.

Show links:

• Dumb
• My preferred coffee gear and backyard cooking gear
• The Moto 360 smart watch

Sponsored by:

• EverWeb: the fastest and easiest way to create professional websites on OS X.
• The awesome members of shawnblanc.net: their support makes the work I do a sustainable possibility.

Podcast: Download (Duration: 19:17 — 17.8MB)

On this show I answer several listener-submitted questions, mostly related to picking a CMS, building an audience, and if there’s a difference between “writing” and “blogging”.

Sponsored by:

• CocoaConf: The developer conference for those who think different. Use the code BLANC to save 20% on tickets for any Spring event.

• The awesome members of shawnblanc.net: thanks to their support which makes the work that I do a sustainable possibility.

Podcast: Download (Duration: 21:17 — 14.8MB)

On today’s show I’m continuing on a topic from a Shawn Today episode last week regarding “writing the Internet you want to read”.

Brought to you by:

• The AXX 200: A Bluetooth speaker + Sound Blaster audio processor. On sale for a limited time.

• The awesome members of shawnblanc.net: thanks to their support which makes the work that I do a sustainable possibility.

Podcast: Download (Duration: 18:51 — 13.1MB)

On today’s show I talk about the lessons, goals, good parts, bad parts, and other related miscellany regarding the past 3 years of writing shawnblanc.net as my full-time gig.

Links:

• The 2014 membership drive and giveaway
• Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations

Sponsored by:

• Campaign Monitor: Get inspired with a collection of 2013’s best email marketing campaigns!
• The awesome members of shawnblanc.net: thanks to their support of this site for over three years and for making the work that I do a sustainable possibility.

Podcast: Download (Duration: 31:01 — 21.6MB)

For today’s show I’m joined by my friend, Patrick Rhone, to talk about writing. Topics include: doing the work, picking a publishing platform, building an audience, making a few bucks, and having fun.

Show Links:

• Minimal Mac
• Patrick Rhone’s personal site
• Patrick’s books
• Shawn Blanc membership drive
• Frivolity to Grow Your Soul
• A Cuckoo’s Calling

Sponsored by:

• Blocs.tv: The original home of the Apple TV (use coupon code “weeklybriefly” at checkout for 10% off).

• Appoint: the iPhone calendar that works for you.

Podcast: Download (Duration: 55:22 — 38.2MB)

On this week’s episode:

• How and why I got into mirrorless cameras in the first place
• How I think Micro Four-Thirds cameras stack up against APS-C and why I stuck with the M43 system
• Why I upgraded to the new E-M10 from the E-PL5
• An initial review of the E-M10
• Additional gear talk and some quotes/feedback from the listener survey

Links:

• Threes game
• e-pl5.com
• The OM-D E-M10
• The Panasonic 20mm f/1.7 lens
• The Panasonic Leica 25mm f/1.4 lens
• How to make perfect photos
• Shawn Blanc’s Flickr stream

Two very cool sponsors:

• Need: Need is a refined retailer and monthly lifestyle magazine for men.

• The Sound BlasterAxx AXX 200 by Creative Labs: Imagine your wireless speaker, on steroids.

Podcast: Download (Duration: 34:54 — 24.1MB)

On this week’s episode: Constraint breeds creativity, but… we also want the right tool for the right job, but… we don’t want to come down with gear acquisition syndrome. So where do we draw the line?

Sponsored by

• Mighty Deals: 21 Premium, Responsive, One-Page HTML5 Templates.

• CocoaConf: The developer conference for those who think different. Use the code WEEKLYBRIEFLY to save 20% on tickets for any Spring event.

Podcast: Download (Duration: 16:15 — 11.3MB)

Welcome to the inaugural episode of my new podcast, The Weekly Briefly. On today’s show:

• Defining creative success
• Micropatronage and the pros and cons of paywall-blocked content
• The rough elements of a successful creative business

Brought to you by:

• Scribe: Copy and paste anything from your Mac to your iPhone, without Wi-Fi.
• The subscribing members of shawnblanc.net

Podcast: Download (Duration: 21:24 — 14.9MB)

Welcome to the pilot episode of The Weekly Briefly.

On today’s episode I share about the genesis of The Weekly Briefly, what the podcast will be about, and who should subscribe.

The Weekly Briefly serves as the once-a-week public episode of Shawn Today.

Podcast: Download (Duration: 10:11 — 7.2MB)