Tech Hipster

Let me first introduce myself. My name is Wes. I’m the Director of Technology at Barrel, a digital creative and marketing agency based in New York City. The year 2020 was a tumultuous one, full of exciting, scary, and surprising changes.  On the business end at Barrel, we had to make some shifts in how […]

I usually will add a note when a really cool idea pops into my head. Maybe it’s been done before but maybe not. Perhaps I’ll create it someday, perhaps I won’t. Apparently I was really feeling the whole connected devices, or Internet of Things, movement back in 2013. But now, it’s 2016, and there’s Amazon […]

A little over a year ago I started off down a path to learn more about mobile app development. For this journey, I asked one of my Barrel coworkers at the time to help me ideate on what kind of app to build. We started meeting and planning weekly to talk about what to do, and […]

This marks an end of an era. In a time when nearly all websites are either entirely written in JavaScript or are JavaScript enhanced, it’s no surprise that the “modern browsers” are disabling flash, the web product from Adobe, coming from the likes of Safari 10 in Apple’s next OS release and now Firefox. Chrome for its part has […]

Today is Amazon.com’s self-proclaimed “Prime Day” holiday, in which the e-tailer (and soon to be retailer) discounts vast amounts of products from a wide range of categories exclusively for Amazon Prime members. Prime membership includes free two-day shipping on many products across the catalog, among other perks like Prime Video, Prime Music, et al. The […]

Evolution of Driving Driving of the four-wheeled variety has only been around for just over two centuries (my, is it really that young?!). In that time, the world has seen various iterations on the method of propulsion, which is still being considered to this day. Even more, cars are increasingly being mechanized, slowly merging with […]

Things to consider [when developing for an e-commerce site] Know when your site proper assets are served as well. Always use ssl kind of cart system kind of user/customer management kind of user/admin management kind of fulfillment kind of subscription kind of checkout includes discounting/coupon management supports transactional email has inventory and product detail management […]

What do we all hate about cable tv? It’s stagnant, kind of like getting cell phone service. Sure, you get hundreds of stations, but it’s not curated. It feels wasteful. I realize cable and the various networks of its industry are stuck in this pattern because it feels good to get fat on the dollars […]

Is it bad that I fiend for cold brew dayWhen regular coffee does not the same?Each day I look upon the fridgeBut no dark liquid is on the ridge.I try it hot or with some milkAnd even with sugary soy by silk.Alas to nolita the Mart I runAnd steal a cup for jolly good fun.Now […]

Currently on my smartphone… I have the Nexus 5, and I run stock Android OS. I use the Swype keyboard (because I’m a sucker for originals). Apps for connected things… AnyMote (Bluetooth IR blaster)Philips Hue (my lights)ThinkEco modlet (smart outlet for air conditioners)Muzzley (many smart APIs in one app)WeMo (smart outlet, not a good app though)Pebble (kickstarter 1st gen smart watch)Roku (remote for the tiny stick)Sense (kickstarter sleep […]