January 2011
37 posts
Western Spaghetti →
This has been around since July 2008, but it’s the first I’ve seen of it. The stop-motion animation short shows a meal being prepared, but with toys, currency, bubble wrap, and other non-food items creating the meal. See also Human Skateboard by the same studio.
For Non-Startups, Things Just Take Time
That was a nice 10-day break from blogging. I’m back after turning my attention to some projects that needed full-time attention.
Accordingly, I’m growing convinced that, unless one works late nights and weekends like a Bay Area startup, it’s difficult for an independent team of two or three to move much faster than a corporate team of twenty.
The team of twenty has quantity...
On Wearing the iPod Nano as a Watch →
John Gruber, referring to an article by Nilay Patel:
Relevant today because I just got my TikTok band for the Nano, as my reward for backing the wildly-successful Kickstarter project. The TikTok is everything I could have hoped for: the Nano fits perfectly and the wristband is supple and comfortable. But for the reasons outlined by Patel above, the current Nano just isn’t ideal for use as a...
On Hiring Front-end Engineers →
Speaking of freelance gigs and jobs, Chris Zacharias, former YouTube engineer (I believe), authors some thoughts on what to look for in front-end engineers.
On scripting:
Bad front-end engineers are dependent on jQuery and other libraries. Good front-end engineers make use of libraries like jQuery to empower themselves, but are not beholden to them.
On art:
Nearly every first rate web...
RØDE VideoMic Pro →
I like my current RØDE mic, but I definitely don’t like how cumbersome it is. Not only is this Pro version more compact, but supposedly it sounds much better, too. Scheduled to be released in a few weeks and retail at $230, or about $90 more than the current version.
Additional details and a sample video available over at Philip Bloom’s site.
Freelance Gig: iPad / iOS Developer →
Possibly the shortest listing ever posted to Authentic Jobs:
Worry Free Labs in Austin, TX is looking for an experienced iOS casual game developer to help us develop an iPad game in progress: http://fiveredwoods.com.
Work remotely.
Full stop.
Idea to Market in 5 Months: Making the Glif →
Dan Provost’s detailed account of the wildly successful Kickstarter project, the Glif, of which I’m a proud owner. The piece concludes with encouragement to make your ideas a reality:
The world is changing in a pretty incredible way, driving the financial risk for a project like the Glif basically down to zero. There is no excuse to not get your idea out there and see what happens....
Why Can’t We Walk Straight? →
Narrated by NPR’s Robert Krulwich, animated by Benjamin Arthur. Fascinating, in large part due to Benjamin’s wonderful style.
/via Swissmiss
:toggle →
A lovely toggle button demo by simurai using only HTML5 and CSS3. All it needs now is a badge.
/via CSS3 Watch
Frank Chimero on the 13” MacBook Air →
Frank gave up his 27” iMac in favor of the 13” Air and no external display. Here’s his reasoning:
A person only flails around in regards to their rig when they don’t have a clear idea of what constitutes their work. Suitability and fit is paramount, and one is never going to find what they’re looking for if they don’t know what they need. So, I looked at my work, I watched...
Badge of Shame →
Jeremy Keith’s thoughts on the W3C HTML5 logo unveiling:
What we have here is a deliberate attempt to further blur the lines between separate technologies that have already become intertwingled in media reports.
Don’t get me wrong; I don’t mind if marketers and journalists use HTML5 to mean everything under the sun, but I expect working web developers to be able to keep specs...
W3C Introduces HTML5 Logo →
Wait, is it April 1? Is this for real? Apparently so. Here’s the official word from W3C and the design notes from Ocupop.
/via @H_FJ
On Not Hiring →
As the owner of a job board, it might seem a little wonky linking to an article that argues against hiring. On the contrary, Gabriel Weinberg’s article doesn’t advocate a no-hire strategy, but instead suggests hiring for the right reasons and at the right time:
One approach I like that some of my portfolio companies are taking is to tie hiring decision points to traction...
Interview with The Satorialist’s Scott Schuman →
Scott Schuman (The Satorialist) really shines in this piece, coming across as a really down-to-earth guy who stumbled onto fame. It’s a promotional video for Intel, but thankfully it’s light on marketing noise. And no details about the equipment used are listed, but I would be willing to bet it was shot with a 5D or 7D. Update: Close. It was 1D Mark IV in the hands of Joe Aguirre...
DesignScene for iPad →
I’ve got an advance copy of this app, and I think it’s terrific. Similar to TweetMag or Reeder, but exclusively for designers. It comes pre-stocked with selected feeds from design-related sites, including this one. (Currently you can’t add your own feeds.)
Look for it in the App Store next week.
Calvin & Hobbes Search Engine →
At last one can find only the most coveted of the Calvin & Hobbies comic strips: the snowmen chronicles.
Turning Adversity to Advantage →
The Dalai Lama:
Murder, scandal, and deceit all have their origin in disturbing emotions.
This inevitably gives rise to the question — can we train the mind? There are many methods by which to do this. Among these, in the Buddhist tradition, is a special instruction called mind training, which focuses on cultivating concern for others and turning adversity to advantage. It is this...
How Nike’s Visual Tricks Made Oregon Look Fast →
Ah ha, so at least there was some strategic thinking behind Oregon’s brightly colored socks in last night’s game:
‘Oregon is one of the fastest teams in the nation, and we wanted them to look fast,’ Todd Van Horn, Nike’s top football uniform designer, tells us…. Visually, the colorway of the uniforms is meant to bring your eyes to the fastest moving parts of...
The Shepard Tone, a “Sonic Barber’s Pole” →
Wikipedia:
The auditory illusion of a tone that continually ascends or descends in pitch, yet which ultimately seems to get no higher or lower. It has been described as a ‘sonic barber’s pole’.
Click the embedded audio sample. It’s a pretty wild acoustic trick that I’d not heard of until today.
/via @H_FJ
Backyard Office by Deeds Design →
Earlier today a former colleague tweeted he’s beginning the build for a backyard office. I’ve contemplated doing the same before, and I finally have a home with a enough yard to make it a possibility. Coincidentally, I just stumbled on the above-linked slideshow showing the backyard office of architect Sarah Deeds. It’s absolutely stunning. I’m convinced to give a serious...
TUAW: Verizon iPhone News →
TUAW (The Unofficial Apple Weblog) has some good coverage of today’s Verizon iPhone announcement and related stories — the mobile hotspot feature for up to 5 devices, why it won’t handle data and voice simultaneously, subtle changes to the antenna and button placement, and (linked from the last article) why some existing cases won’t fit the new Verizon iPhone.
HTML5 Mania →
A gallery of sites using HTML5.
For Sale: Mid-Century Home from “Ferris Bueller’s... →
Designed by architects A. James Speyer and David Haid. 5,300 square feet of cantilevered steel-and-glass living space on a one-acre lot. Pretty reasonable at $1.65 million, if you ask me.
BrickCase for iPhone →
This $20 case makes your iPhone compatible with LEGO and similar brick building systems. Stupendous. As if kids didn’t already have enough reasons to ask for mom/dad’s phone. (Also available in white and clear.)
/via Daring Fireball
TED: Your Brain on Improv →
An enjoyable 17-minute presentation by surgeon, musician, and researcher Charles Limb. Wondering how the brain works during musical improvisation, he put jazz musicians and rappers in an fMRI scanner to find out. The talk is just as much about the nature of creativity as it is about the research results.
“The Danger is Not Distraction, It’s the Ability... →
Seth Godin:
I’ve become a big fan of tools like Freedom, which effortlessly permit you to turn off the noise. An hour after you haven’t kept up with the world, you may or may not have work product to show as a result. If you don’t, you’ve just called your bluff, haven’t you? And if you do, then you’ve discovered how powerful confronting the fear (by turning...
The New Pentagram.com →
I probably would have linked this up yesterday, but the site wouldn’t pull up from me — presumably due to all the traffic from the tweets about it. The latency is well-deserved. Their impressive portfolio is front and center, and there isn’t a lick of Flash as far as I can tell.
Even better, every portfolio piece has a unique URL. If there’s one thing agency sites...
Speaking at In Control 2011, Orlando (Feb 21-22) →
I’ll be keynoting at the AIGA-sanctioned In Control conference in Orlando, Florida, along with a wonderful line-up of talented speakers. Topics include responsive design, emotional design, HTML5/CSS3, jQuery, and more. (My keynote will highlight some of the more notable points from my Good vs. Great Design talks.)
Wordmark.it →
Simple idea, great execution — preview any text using the fonts installed on your computer, with samples shown all at once.
/via @behoff and @jasonsantamaria
Origins Typeface →
A calligraphy font with antique look and feel, “hand lettered with a Crow Quill pen on parchment paper.” From MyFonts’ Top Fonts of 2010.
Nerd Boyfriend →
The Sartorialist meets Uncrate Garb. Sort of.
iPad Publishing: What Went Wrong, Lessons Learned →
A really thoughtful article from Frédéric Filloux on what went wrong during the first six months of major publishers creating content for iPad, and some lessons learned for creating better experiences in 2011 and beyond.
Nike Better World →
Call it vertical parallax. Or just plain awesome, either one.
/via @jodyferry
Dave Barry: 2010 in Review →
A rather humorous look back at 2010, month by month. From July:
Just when all appears to be lost, BP announces that it has stopped the leak, using a 75-ton cap and what a company spokesperson describes as ‘a truly heroic manatee named Wendell.’ Although oil is no longer leaking, much damage has been done, so this important story remains the focus of the nation’s attention for...
The No. 1 Habit of Highly Creative People →
While the real number one habit of highly creative people is whatever works for them and only them (see this article), I can argue in favor of Leo Babauta’s top creative habit:
In a word: solitude.
Creativity flourishes in solitude. With quiet, you can hear your thoughts, you can reach deep within yourself, you can focus.
/via Hacker News
Matt Gemmell’s Review of the 11” MacBook Air →
Matt, an iOS and OS X developer, submitted his Air to a week-long review, and he summarizes the experience as follows:
I haven’t felt so thrilled by a new piece of hardware since I bought our first iPad, and the same feeling of experiencing a new class of device is present here too. If you’re tempted by the 11-inch model’s portability but are worried about whether you could get your work done,...
iPhone Alarm Glitch Leaves Users Snoozing →
Probably old news for many of you, but I found out only this morning that the glitch was a global thing and not just limited to our phones at home. I’ve been offline most of the past two days.
For me it’s been another subtle reminder of how dependent our lives have become on technology and what can happen when that technology fails, especially unknowingly. In our household,...