I currently flip flop between TrillianAstra and Digsby as my Instant Messenger of choice. Trillian is a beautiful looking application, but some of the interaction design is lacking that I find really smooth in Digsby. The little widget on the right of my blog is ingenious and one of the reasons I usually go with…
Yesterday, I was introduced to this product called Balsamiq Mockups. After seeing Flash Catalyst and Microsoft Expression Blend 3 in action, I was hoping for something easier, simpler and more fun. I got all three. Using Balsamiq required no training or anxiety. Part of the reason is the limitations (constraints) the product imposed. You couldn’t…
I received an email about attending a Microsoft demo of their product Expression Blend. Specifically this part called SketchFlow. I spent a little under an hour trying to use it to see if it would help me communicate designs better. A little under an hour was all I could take without losing my grip. Warning: …
Clearly, the band on the Titanic under-reacted. Many government officials are under-reacting in response to the threats of global warming. Under-reaction is to either do nothing at all and ignore the issue or to do something toothless and symbolic. Under-reacting usually results in the problem festering until it gets so bad it is a crisis. On the…
Google detects an enormous amount of spam coming into my inbox. They segment it and put it in the Junk folder. Literally hundreds a day and thousands a month. I am sure some “good” non-spam email gets caught in there, but I really can’t spend the time to check. I am left with no choice…
Jared is going through a phase where he is extra nice. It’s great that phases like this exist. He is giving me extra hugs and cleaning up after himself and even cleaning up for Matthew. We often say about children, “Oh, they are just going through a phase.” I wonder if that keeps happening in…
I saw this on Bill Scott’s blog. It’s a presentation about the culture and values of Netflix. To me, this is a huge issue for most companies. They don’t understand their own values and don’t articulate them even if they exist. Most mission/vision statements are just happy talk. Netflix just went up a full star,…
I asked Ethan to tell me about his day and he got frustrated and annoyed. It is not natural to be able to tell a story and it takes practice. So I started Ethan’s education on The Art Story Telling. Disclaimer: This is highly simplified. Ethan is 9. A good story has a beginning, middle…
The last 5 days I have been on a family trip to Lake Tahoe. We stayed in a cabin with about 15 other people. Some of them were family, some of them were friends of family. When going on a trip, what you are really buying are interesting memories. You want to remember specific things…
In Harry Potter, all of the newspapers have pictures that move by magic. The reality is that this magic is pretty much here now. My inexpensive digital camera takes photos or short video clips. You can take video clips with your iPhone too. These short video clips are downloaded off the camera by Picasa and…
Google Chrome is really pushing the envelope in the browser experience. With their latest build, they added in this cool little feature in their omnibar. Unlike Internet Explorer and Firefox, the URL bar doubles as a search bar. I definitely like it it better as one. In the latest build, Chrome is going down a really interesting…
If you had to choose one, which would you prefer? A Great Plan or a Great Process. A Great Plan is the waterfall approach. You plan out all the details in advance. You design everything. You have lots of meetings to gain consensus. This is the way bridges and roads are built. Once the blueprint…
If you have a decent browser (not Internet Explorer), go to FlyOsity.com. Look closely at the fonts. They are embossed. He is using a css line like this: -webkit-text-shadow: rgba(255,255,255,.8) 0 1px 0 This puts a slight white shadow under the text and gives it the feeling of being etched into the page. I think…
Why do we care when we hit milestones? Life is too monotonous. Time flies by if you aren’t careful. The last 10 years for me has been a blur. It seems the older I get, the quicker time goes by. We need markers to keep our minds punctuated. We can’t just have a long giant…