I am Charles Parra, and I am interested in digital communication technology. This site is used to capture things that I find worth sharing. I am currently working on a platform to support the development of cross-platform social games. I like to say that my head is in the cloud these days as I focus on defining a set of web services to support social game development. var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push([‘_setAccount’, ‘UA-424421-7’]); _gaq.push([‘_trackPageview’]); (function() { var ga = document.createElement(‘script’); ga.type = ‘text/javascript’; ga.async = true; ga.src = (‘https:’ == document.location.protocol ? ‘https://ssl’ : ‘http://www’) + ‘.google-analytics.com/ga.js’; var s = document.getElementsByTagName(‘script’)[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })();Tumblr (3.0; @charlesparra)http://blog.parra.com/<a href="http://walyou.com/retro-facebook-skype-youtube-ads/">I love these retro-style ads</a>: <p><img height="602" src="http://www.walyou.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/twitter-retro-ad-image-1.jpg" width="450"/></p>http://blog.parra.com/post/31483418930http://blog.parra.com/post/31483418930Thu, 13 Sep 2012 18:12:47 -0400<a href="http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/08/20/the-first-book-to-be-encoded-in-dna/">Book encoded in DNA</a>: <p>Interesting new developments in genomics</p>http://blog.parra.com/post/29828008051http://blog.parra.com/post/29828008051Mon, 20 Aug 2012 10:17:49 -0400<iframe width="400" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/R-rHDpEkDdE?wmode=transparent&autohide=1&egm=0&hd=1&iv_load_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&showinfo=0&showsearch=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br/><br/><p>Always fun to look back in time. Anyone remember the Frox? </p> <p>The remote control is pretty much a Wii controller.</p>http://blog.parra.com/post/29132261229http://blog.parra.com/post/29132261229Fri, 10 Aug 2012 13:15:16 -0400<a href="http://rogerandmike.com/post/24006177542/html5-the-next-big-thing-for-content">Roger and Mike's Hypernet Blog: HTML 5: The Next Big Thing for Content</a>: <p><a class="tumblr_blog" href="http://rogerandmike.com/post/24006177542/html5-the-next-big-thing-for-content" target="_blank">thehypernet</a>:</p> <blockquote> <p>by <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/moonalice" target="_blank">Roger McNamee</a></p> <p>“Hypertext Mark-up Language 5 (HTML 5) is just a programming language.” A famous investor said this to me 18 months ago. The statement is true, especially if you delete the word “just.” But it misses the point.</p> <p>As programming languages go, HTML 5 may be unusually disruptive….</p> </blockquote>http://blog.parra.com/post/26419741308http://blog.parra.com/post/26419741308Tue, 03 Jul 2012 10:26:49 -0400<a href="http://www.flavorwire.com/300509/12-dream-desks-that-will-make-you-more-creative">Dream Desks</a>: <p>I’m a little obsessed with workspace design at the moment and these desks are inspiring.</p> <p><img height="599" src="http://www.flavorwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/KWORK.jpg" width="600"/></p>http://blog.parra.com/post/25431312612http://blog.parra.com/post/25431312612Tue, 19 Jun 2012 09:07:18 -0400<img src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m5o2ha0SlN1qizm7jo1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>@ The Ascent in Brooklyn (Taken with <a href="http://instagr.am" target="_blank">Instagram</a>)</p>http://blog.parra.com/post/25163594876http://blog.parra.com/post/25163594876Fri, 15 Jun 2012 12:15:09 -0400<img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m5o2flBBlP1qizm7jo1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>@ The Ascent in Brooklyn (Taken with <a href="http://instagr.am" target="_blank">Instagram</a>)</p>http://blog.parra.com/post/25163544470http://blog.parra.com/post/25163544470Fri, 15 Jun 2012 12:14:09 -0400<img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m5o2awmpLT1qizm7jo1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>@ The Ascent in Brooklyn (Taken with <a href="http://instagr.am" target="_blank">Instagram</a>)</p>http://blog.parra.com/post/25163407829http://blog.parra.com/post/25163407829Fri, 15 Jun 2012 12:11:19 -0400<iframe width="400" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Lg9qnWg9kak?wmode=transparent&autohide=1&egm=0&hd=1&iv_load_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&showinfo=0&showsearch=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br/><br/><p>Genius use of limited space</p>http://blog.parra.com/post/24211176463http://blog.parra.com/post/24211176463Fri, 01 Jun 2012 16:14:42 -0400<a href="http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/slideshow/2012/05/21/windows-then-and-now/#slide=1">Microsoft Windows over the years</a>: <p><img src="http://a57.foxnews.com/global.fncstatic.com/static/managed/img/Scitech/660/361/windows_1.png"/></p>http://blog.parra.com/post/24147945458http://blog.parra.com/post/24147945458Thu, 31 May 2012 17:00:00 -0400<a href="http://www.guylaramee.com/">Stunning book carving art work by Guy Laramee</a>: <p><img height="675" src="http://www.guylaramee.com/files/gimgs/16_book-people-3s.jpg" width="900"/></p>http://blog.parra.com/post/24145710457http://blog.parra.com/post/24145710457Thu, 31 May 2012 16:25:39 -0400<a href="http://www.archdaily.com/230533/house-na-sou-fujimoto-architects/">House NA / Sou Fujimoto Architects House NA / Sou Fujimoto Architects (5) – ArchDaily</a>: <p>Mores homes I wish I could live in.</p> <p><img height="352" src="http://ad009cdnb.archdaily.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/1335764335-house-na-fujimoto-2953-528x352.jpg" width="528"/></p>http://blog.parra.com/post/23147775486http://blog.parra.com/post/23147775486Tue, 15 May 2012 23:31:00 -0400<a href="http://www.forbes.com/pictures/efel45egke/glass-home-by-santambrogio-milano-italy/#gallerycontent">Glass Home By Santambrogio Milano, Italy - John Giuffo - Forbes</a>: <p>Reminds me of the Apple Stores. What a home!</p> <p><img height="434" src="http://blogs-images.forbes.com/johngiuffo/files/2012/03/0a6JgvJbTv72u_1371.jpg" width="620"/></p>http://blog.parra.com/post/23147609737http://blog.parra.com/post/23147609737Tue, 15 May 2012 23:28:00 -0400<a href="http://venturebeat.com/2012/05/02/linkedin-ipad-app-engineering/#s:1-linkedin-ipad">New LinkedIn iPad app is a hybrid HTML5 mobile app</a>: <p>Great insights on the responsive design debate. Rather than designing a single HTML5 app using response design to have the app adapt itself to different screen sizes (think Facebook), LinkedIn decided to optimize the design for each target device. Great insight that is applicable to game design.</p>http://blog.parra.com/post/22685760137http://blog.parra.com/post/22685760137Tue, 08 May 2012 20:45:00 -0400<img src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m3nxzgh53M1qizm7jo1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>Taken with <a href="http://instagr.am" target="_blank">Instagram</a> at Calistoga</p>http://blog.parra.com/post/22594323809http://blog.parra.com/post/22594323809Mon, 07 May 2012 13:30:52 -0400<p>I&#8217;ve been thinking about using a keyboard with my iPad for when I need to take notes. The Apple wireless keyboard seems sufficient but not convenient for carrying from meeting to meeting.</p> <p><img src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m3gyeus0on1qhsqz7.jpg"/></p> <p>Logitech is soon to release a <a href="http://www.logitech.com/en-us/tablet-accessories/keyboards/devices/solar-keyboard-folio?WT.ac=psE%7C9856%7Chp" target="_blank">keyboard with a solar cell</a>, and currently offers a very <a href="http://www.logitech.com/en-us/tablet-accessories/keyboards/devices/ultrathin-keyboard-cover" target="_blank">thin version</a>. The <a href="http://www.zagg.com/accessories/zaggfolio-ipad-3-keyboard-case" target="_blank">ZaggFolio</a> is another great design. The <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/552506690/brydge-ipad-do-more" target="_blank">Brydge</a> kickstarter funded project looks great too and is about 30 days away from becoming reality.</p> <p>I think I might just go with the Logitech <a href="http://youtu.be/zsIJUiTlrGI" target="_blank">ultra thin keyboard cover</a> since I prefer a design that doesn&#8217;t force me to keep the ipad in a case all the time, and the Brydge design looks bulky and sets the ipad farther back than I would like.</p>http://blog.parra.com/post/22347505666http://blog.parra.com/post/22347505666Thu, 03 May 2012 19:17:00 -0400<a href="http://digitalfoosball.com/">Digital Foosball</a>: <p><img height="232" src="http://digitalfoosball.com/images/visuals/vs_demo_blueprint.jpg" width="350"/></p>http://blog.parra.com/post/22329414644http://blog.parra.com/post/22329414644Thu, 03 May 2012 14:21:14 -0400<a href="http://www.diffcase.com/DiffCase.html">New twist on an iphone case</a>http://blog.parra.com/post/21380231055http://blog.parra.com/post/21380231055Thu, 19 Apr 2012 10:06:58 -0400<a href="http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/12/04/12/apple_wants_to_make_it_easy_for_non_programmers_to_build_ios_apps.html">A new digital content authoring tool from Apple could make it simple for people without a background in programming to build their own iOS applications for the iPhone and iPad.</a>: <p><img height="565" src="http://photos.appleinsider.com/patent-120412-1.jpg" width="749"/></p>http://blog.parra.com/post/21019852129http://blog.parra.com/post/21019852129Fri, 13 Apr 2012 07:51:32 -0400<a href="http://bullettrain.com/express.html">I want one!</a>: <p>Mac keyboard/trackpad tray</p> <p><img height="498" src="http://bullettrain.com/images/blue_express_keyboard_large.png" width="860"/></p>http://blog.parra.com/post/20965922672http://blog.parra.com/post/20965922672Thu, 12 Apr 2012 11:14:00 -0400