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May 2008

The Archives

• 05.25.08
  Scout Photography, Writing | (1)
• 05.25.08
  Mars Phoenix on Twitter Writing | (0)

  I'll be the first to admit that Twitter has somehow made its way into my daily browsing routine. The simplicity of it compared to Facebook is what appeals to me, but it's the really cool applications that people are thinking up that I've been really drawn to. Case in point, someone over NASA's Phoenix Mars Mission have started Twittering, reporting the current status and location of the Phoenix scout. It's not automated, which I think is an advantage - the updates are written by a human in a personified voice of the scout, and as a result, readable by humans. Very ...

  Tagged: Science, Web
  
• 05.24.08
  In the Presence of Greatness Video | (2)

  So by some fluke of nature (we're still not sure how - maybe human intervention), the latest episode of Dear Toronto (a video podcast I co-producer with Ryan and Rebecca), Toronto Green Roof and Tree Tour ended up climbing to the #1 featured video on YouTube this week. As a result we've been flooded with subscriber requests, comments (mostly inane, but hey) and we're pretty damn surprised. It wasn't until I checked out the featured videos tonight where I had a bit of a fanboy moment - as you can see on the left above next to our video - that's ...

  Tagged: Dear Toronto
  
• 05.22.08
  blogTO This Week: Jewels, Bikes and Doors Writing | (0)

  I've been making a concerted effort to start writing more lately, and stepped it up this week a bit over at blogTO. This week's posts I wrote included: Swap Your Jewellery and Mash It Up Washington DC Gets Bike Sharing - Where's Ours? Your Guide to Doors Open Toronto 2008

  Tagged: blogTO
  
• 05.20.08
  Screw the Spotted Owl Writing | (2)

  Kudos to the guys over at Wired this month for their 15th anniversary edition cover. That's one hell of an engaging lead-in to the issue - it alone already pulled me into a discussion about carbon emissions a little earlier today. I read just about everything online these days, but I'm still a loyal subscriber to both Wired and Dwell. They offer something really special with every issue that is really hard to replicate online. Wired's articles and 'infographics' have really elevated to a superb level recently, and Dwell's recent re-design has made the thing so readable that it's really a ...

  Tagged: Design, dwell, magazine, wired
  
• 05.16.08
  Inside Out: How Not to do Error Messages Writing | (1)

  I just tried to buy some tickets to a film as part of Toronto's Inside Out Lesbian & Gay film festival only to be greeted with this message at the top of the page. That's right, there's a message there. Can't see it? No, there's nothing wrong with your eyes, that's actually hot pink text against a red background. What kills me about this message is that the intent to design something decent was there - it has a couple of the winning elements of a good error message: displayed prominently at the top of the page (after I've clicked the ...

  Tagged: undefined, Usability
  
• 05.14.08
  Good Music: Elsiane Writing | (2)

  I had no idea who Elsiane were until I heard they were opening for Robyn a couple weeks ago at the Phoenix, and aren't I glad I did some research ahead of time. Their tracks are pretty much on the opposite side of the spectrum from Robyn's as far as the pacing goes, but man does this girl have a beautiful and unique voice. Where I felt many of Robyn's tracks performed live felt kind of contrived and bland, Elsiane's were dripping with character and soul. It's the same kind of thing I saw when I went to see Air last ...

  Tagged: Music
  
• 05.14.08
  What Are You Craving? Writing | (2)

  I've been doing a lot of research today in Information Architecture and User Experience, and I came across Cookthink.com in Stephen Anderson's lovely presentation, Inspiration from the Edge: New Patterns for Interface Design. Cookthink really gets right down to the meat (no pun intended) of why you're at the site in the first place - you're looking to cook something, but need some ideas based on what you've already got in your head. If I were to ask what do you feel like cooking, I feel like making something with avocado or I want to eat something Indian tonight are both ...

  Tagged: UI, User Experience
  
• 05.01.08
  Good Music: Santogold Writing | (5)

  What I love about Santogold is that it is so far from the usual type of music I listen to, but I still just love it. Xavier has it right, she's going to be huge, and I think Hype Machine agrees. Santogold - You'll Find a Way (Switch and Sinden Remix)

  Tagged: Music
  
• 05.01.08
  Did You Mean Auspicious? Writing | (0)

  I heard the use of the word tacit today. I hadn't heard it in a while, and wanted to check what it meant by checking up on the definition at Dictionary.com. There it was, "understood without being openly expressed; implied". Then in the sidebar, this Ask.com graphic caught my eye: One of the links there is "How do you use Tacit in a sentence?". I was curious, so I clicked through, landing on an Ask.com page with the same question used as the search term. Here's what I was immediately faced with: Narrow? What does that mean? Narrow down the search result? ...

  Tagged: Usability, Web
  

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