Monday 5/12/2008 – 3:43 pm
I’ve changed the look of the site temporarily to try to squash some WP2.5-related bugs with my usual design. You’re free to call me and complain if this persists for too long.
Friday 4/18/2008 – 8:37 pm
Bruce Schneier at the NJ ACLU
Noted security guru Bruce Schneier gives an informative and well-reasoned talk about the state of security, “security theater,” and what it means to be secure.
(tags:
security
)
Thursday 4/17/2008 – 8:35 pm
Build a Pocket Theremin on the Cheap (Popular Science)
This will be my next electronics project. I have a feeling that Roxy (2yo daughter) would like to play with it too!
(tags:
electronics
diy
theremin
technology
gadgets
project
music
)
Wednesday 4/16/2008 – 8:35 pm
PHP Cheatsheets - VisiBone
Bob Stein of VisiBone fame adds PHP cheat sheets to his repertoire. If these are anything like his excellent JavaScript references, expect great things. (The JS regular expressions reference is especially fine; I’ve lent it to Perl coders at times.)
(tags:
PHP
development
web
)
Tuesday 4/15/2008 – 8:40 pm
Sony Design: Interaction Design
Sony’s Interaction Design Group shows off their chops with a three projects. While details are fairly light, simple and powerful interactions are shown off via video, adding a sense of the richness a well-designed single-purpose interaction can provide.
(tags:
future
interaction
design
)
Wednesday 4/2/2008 – 8:35 pm
Change We Can Believe In (Ask H&FJ | Hoefler & Frere-Jones)
Another example of design by committee producing inferior results to a single talented individual: the new British currency versus “new” American currency.
(tags:
design
currency
)
Wednesday 2/27/2008 – 8:28 pm
30 of the Most Creative Bookshelves Designs (FresHome)
I especially like the “Quad” bookshelves and the wall of diagonal cubes. And the Ceiling Bookshelves (mounting a shelf under the ceiling joists) would have been a great way to store items the co-op in grad school; I wish I had thought of it then.
(tags:
design
furniture
shelves
[…]
Thursday 2/7/2008 – 2:54 pm
Gianni Botsford Architects : 092 : Casa Kike
. Excellent continuation of the cross-bracing into the built-in shelves. Pretty and graphic.
Thursday 2/7/2008 – 9:09 am
Exploratory Design — Homage to the Stamp
Thursday 1/17/2008 – 8:25 pm
The Road Witch Trial
Road witchery is DIY traffic-calming. The folks behind this site experiment with non-destructive legal and quasi-legal ways to alter traffic patterns in their neighborhoods, slowing drivers down, by focusing on the driver’s experience.
(tags:
art
community
creativity
design
diy
environment
transportation
cars
safety
activism
)
Monday 1/14/2008 – 8:21 pm
Want to Make an iPhone-Killer? Think This Over. (the product usability weblog)
Jasped van Kujik makes the obvious point that is somehow lost on most directors and above: making an exceelent product, an “iPhone killer” or something else more “like Apple” requires both investment and commitment. Time, money, people, and will.
(tags:
business
design
devices
apple
iphone
[…]
Saturday 1/12/2008 – 1:53 am
Progress
I’ve recently spent some time using
Wesabe
, during which one
Andre Arko
implemented one of my wishes (“archive” an account), and mentioned that he’d be working on the transaction view in the near future. Excellent. Transaction view is where I spend the most time in Wesabe, having not yet dug in to the social components. […]
Wednesday 1/9/2008 – 4:13 pm
Trapped on Palm?
My
Twitter
question about money management alternatives for iPhone hasn’t exactly borne fruit, but there are buds on the tree. I’ve been a loyal but increasingly less-satisfied Palm user since the
Palm III
launched in 1998. All that is preventing me from ditching Palm OS and getting an iPhone is my personal finance […]
Thursday 1/3/2008 – 9:38 pm
Congressman Xavier Becerra’s web site was recognized as best among the house membership by the Congressional Management Foundation. Heady stuff. Mr. Becerra is proud enough of this fact to trumpet it on his quarterly (print) newsletter, so I decided to have a look, navigated to said website, and fired off a message via the handy […]
Thursday 12/27/2007 – 8:25 pm
Airport Security Study (Schneier on Security)
Security guru Bruce Schneier once again exposes current TSA screening practices as security theater. While a certain amount of security theater is necessary, it seems that TSA is focusing on confiscating prohibited items rather than preventing attacks.
(tags:
security
travel
airport
)
Wednesday 12/26/2007 – 8:20 pm
Software That Converts Sketches into Interactive Mechanical Systems (TechEBlog)
From MIT, a sketch interface that results in models of simple mechanical systems. Reminiscent of Crayon Physics at kloonigames.com/crayon/ and Chalk at http://www.konjak.org/chalk.htm.
(tags:
software
interface
physics
sketch
)
Wednesday 11/28/2007 – 8:26 pm
Another thing that’s wrong with most strategic planning (Herd)
Most strategic planning is neither, apparently. (That’s neither strategic nor planning.) Good to know. Focusing on real things happening now makes sense. Guessing at mass behavior that you can’t really understand until after the fact? Not so much.
(tags:
planning
strategy
thinking
business
)
Tuesday 11/27/2007 – 8:26 pm
Knife Maintenance and Sharpening (eGullet Forums)
Chad Ward treats the mechanics of kitchen knives and their care, especially edges and sharpening. But what sets this longish article apart are the (unheralded) examples of researched user-centric thinking within.
(tags:
advice
knives
sharpening
cooking
userexperience
design
)
Tuesday 11/13/2007 – 10:19 pm
It alarms me that so many sites have no background color. That’s right, NO background color. Sure, they look fine, but only by accident: I changed my browser’s default colors to blue text on a yellow background, and I’m seeing a lot of yellow these days (and a little bit of blue). Not everywhere, but […]
Tuesday 11/13/2007 – 8:30 pm
Content AND Presentation (Mark Boulton)
Mark Boulton outlines his (at this time upcoming) Web 2.0 Expo talk about typography on the web. This is an excellent companion to Stephen P. Anderson’s
In Defense of Eye Candy
because both pieces remind us that function and aesthetics are inseparable.
(tags:
typography
design
web
ux
)
Monday 11/12/2007 – 8:27 pm
In Defense of Eye Candy (poetpainter)
Stephen P. Anderson demonstrates how aesthetcs and emotion are inseparable from function, how efficiency and ease-of-use support and are supported by enjoyment. A good presentation to have in your hip pocket as you prepare to wow the (formerly) unwowable.
(tags:
design
usability
emotion
)
Sunday 11/11/2007 – 10:25 pm
A new grocery store opened in my neighborhood last week.
Fresh & Easy
claims to provide high-quality food at “unbelievable” prices in a friendly, small-store format. They further claim caring for the environment and an emphasis on local sourcing of produce.
Our little slice of Los Angeles is grocery-starved, so Thursday’s hotly anticipated opening was well-attended. […]
Thursday 11/8/2007 – 8:25 pm
The United States and Iran: At a Dangerous Crossroads (CSIS TV)
Sen. Chuck Hagel speaks of the many colliding difficulties in the Middle East, and points out just how poorly the US is and has been responding to the overall situation, as part of a cogent treatment of US policy toward Iran. Starts slow, finishes strong.
(tags: […]
Wednesday 11/7/2007 – 8:29 pm
Using JavaScript as a Real Programming Language
Mikonnen and Taivalsaari of Sun Labs express what seems like astonishment that JavaScript can be used as a “real” programming language. The paper explores in part the stylistic and expressive possibilities of JavaScript. (hat tip to Douglas Crockford)
(tags:
javascript
development
toread
programming
)
The Elements of JavaScript Style, part 2: […]
Friday 11/2/2007 – 10:34 am
A further reminder that what you do IS your brand:
The Other Problem With ‘Welcome: Portraits of America’
.