Valhalla Island

We had a very similar project to this in the pipeline at work...

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 18:26:55 +1000

We had a very similar project to this in the pipeline at work for showing real time stats to our journalists in the newsroom among other things. It was going to work exactly the same way, a vertically mounted LCD presenting an HTML page. I was really excited about it but unfortunately it fell by the wayside as more pressing issues (that is, news events) presented themselves.

This gorgeous portrait of Schapelle Corby is one entries to this...

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 07:43:57 +1000

This gorgeous portrait of Schapelle Corby is one entries to this year’s Archibald Prize. Look at those damn eyes!

This Too Shall Pass by OK Go

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 17:55:00 +1000

This Too Shall Pass by OK Go :

The complete artistic freedom to create whatever you want as a music video must be one of the greatest perks that come with being a successful musical act. Most artists squander the opportunity on bland, abstract rubbish so full of jump cuts and general over-editing they’re difficult to watch.

OK Go take full advantage, producing beautifully crafted and entertaining clips based on original ideas. There’s another video for the same track which couldn’t be more different for content but is equally creative and well executed. Meanwhile they’re uploading everything they do in 1080p to YouTube. In an industry where so many don’t, OK Go gets it.

Aaron Swartz's how to read more books

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 08:38:00 +1000

Aaron Swartz's how to read more books:

Paraphrased:

Don’t read anything that’s not a book.
Get books from the library.
Don’t have friends, other hobbies or interests.
Don’t fall asleep.

Reading 100 books a year is easy when you don’t do anything else.

I’m selling my Macbook Pro in preparation for replacing it...

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 11:15:09 +1000

I’m selling my Macbook Pro in preparation for replacing it with a 27” iMac and iPad combo. Tell your friends who might be interested. This is also an experiment in bypassing Ebay, Craigslist, Gumtree, Trading Post, et al.

Quicken Essentials for Mac

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 20:53:43 +1000

Since giving up on the frustratingly incomplete Cha-Ching months ago with no attractive alternative I have simply not been managing my money. Quicken was the last developer I expected to come to my rescue but after a few hours with Quicken Essentials for Mac I’m surprised to find it nails my personal requirements.

They are:

Fast data entry. An entry can be made super quickly using only the keyboard. Vital for consistently completing what is a chore.
A 100% customisable categorisation system. You’re provided you with a default set but it can be replaced with your own. This was one of my biggest frustrations with Cha-Ching.
Representation of upcoming scheduled transactions in the regular transaction list. At a glance you can see not only how much you have right now but how much you’re expecting to have in the near future. Also a simple way to keep upcoming expenses on the radar. Better yet, the future buffer period is configurable.
The concept of reconciled transactions. My ideal workflow is adding transactions as I make them before reconciling a bunch of transactions with my bank statement once every week or so.
Online integration must be fantastic for those who want it but nothing integrates with my obscure building society and I don’t want it to anyway. If my financial situation ever becomes so complex I can’t feasibly enter each transaction and reconcile the account manually something else has to change. For those who don’t want it, online integration stays out of the way in Quicken Essentials.
Maximum use of native UI widgets. Other OS X finance applications try too hard to be cute at the expense of clarity and usability.

As for downsides there’s an extremely sparse list of preferences. If Quicken wasn’t notorious for lack of software updates I’d suggest it’s no big deal for a first release.

The model of creating a user managed file to store data is used which usually bothers me a great deal for a library style app like Essentials. Although everything is done to make the model invisible to a user with the file automatically created in the Documents directory, no save function whatsoever and autoloading of the last open file which makes it a non-issue but I do wonder why they can’t just create the same file in ~/Library, out of sight.

They’ve obviously tried hard to go native with the UI but some quirks remain like these awkward dividers between accounts in the source list:

Other categories in the source list don’t have them, they’re plain unnecessary. That said, kudos to Quicken for using a traditional source list at all. Then there’s the inline transaction creator which functions beautifully but just feels weird:

If some small UI quirks are all I’ve got to complain about Quicken have done a great job, it feels great to be managing my money again.

Tumblr Features

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 19:53:53 +1000

Automatically posting huge reblogs as links is the most positive and useful feature Tumblr has implemented in a long time. Although 500 words isn’t a small enough limit. Duplicating content in full undermines the hyperlinks the internet is built on besides being plain unethical.

It comes after a string of strange feature additions like photo replies and ask a question which seem to be pushing Tumblr in a different, social network like (cringe) direction.

Meanwhile the largest reliable width photo you can use in your themes is only 500 pixels wide. There’s four other options, all smaller than 500 pixel. There’s a high res option that could be any size at any aspect ratio and if your image is below a certain threshold nothing will show at all..

I can ask a user a question natively within Tumblr (isn’t email for this?) but it’s impossible to reliably display photos larger than 500 pixels wide in my theme.

The Gruber 10

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 18:27:00 +1000

The Gruber 10:

John Gruber’s Macworld talk couldn’t have felt less Gruber-like. It was a general overview of obvious stuff with no real insight, the opposite of a great Daring Fireball post.

Sidenote: Macworld’s video player is a great example of video done wrong. Flash based playlist, no permalinks, weird tab scroller UI, crap all round.

What I want from Channel 9’s Winter Olympics coverage: Athletes performing in live Winter...

Sun, 21 Feb 2010 21:32:00 +1000

What I want from Channel 9’s Winter Olympics coverage:

Athletes performing in live Winter Olympic events.

What I get from Channel 9’s Winter Olympics coverage:

Interviews with Australian athletes by patronising hosts who belittle their profession by asking questions about the rules, how scary it must be and how cold snow is.
Analysis of events by panelists with little knowledge or even interest in Winter sports mostly spent marvelling at the scenery.
Special reports on the shopping and eating to be had in downtown Vancouver.
Long winded interviews with the people behind the opening ceremonies.
Special reports on the nightlife in Whistler.

Devine Homes build “communities” made of cheap...

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 20:33:00 +1000

Devine Homes build “communities” made of cheap cookie cutter houses off highways in the middle of nowhere and sell them at what seems to be too-good-to-be-true prices to people with a delusional idea of what makes a good home who’ll spend an hour and a half sitting in traffic each way on their commute to work every day.

I love Kottke’s one or two sentence year by year summaries on his about page. It boils down...

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 19:38:38 +1000

I love Kottke’s one or two sentence year by year summaries on his about page. It boils down his entire life into truly significant events. I can’t wait to start and continue keeping my own.

"Just one criticism - #f4f4f4 is a banal colour that should rarely (if ever) be used."

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 16:54:40 +1000

“Just one criticism - #f4f4f4 is a banal colour that should rarely (if ever) be used.”

- The most amazing comment to come out of our redesign at work.

He went on to suggest a number of other far superior colours in their hex values.

I’m reblogging A Solid Base because there’s no...

Sat, 13 Feb 2010 17:54:02 +1000

I’m reblogging A Solid Base because there’s no provisions for credits and I wanted to acknowledge prettify for the introduction. That and it’s just an incredible photo.

Not Facebook

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 06:55:00 +1000

Dear visitors from Google. This site is not Facebook. This is a website called ReadWriteWeb that reports on news about Facebook and other Internet services. To access Facebook right now, click here. For future reference, type “facebook.com” into your browser address bar or enter “facebook” into Google and click on the first result. We recommend that you then save Facebook as a bookmark in your browser.

I’ve experienced this first hand on two screenshots I posted to Flickr over three years ago. One of the Facebook login screen and the equivalent at MySpace. I think at the time it was for a blog post comparing the two. They have remained the two most viewed images on my Flickr account over four years by far. Each have a number of comments like these:

I love to talk and chat with people I do or do not know I am kind and hard working.

and

Hey ppl how is everyone doing me im fine im new here need to meet ppl.

None of these people have any photos attached to their accounts, it appears they’ve got to that page, created a Flickr account and commented before (if ever) realising that this screenshot isn’t actually Facebook or Myspace. It’s mind blowing.

Via marco and Zoya.

"The New Zealand Herald newspaper reports the doctor said “f…” at least three times..."

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 21:05:00 +1000

“The New Zealand Herald newspaper reports the doctor said “f…” at least three times after the 44-year-old obese woman told him she did not like the word “diet” and preferred the term “lifestyle”. The doctor told his patient she was “going on a f…ing diet”.”

- It has been recommended the doctor attend a communication skills course.

I think he communicated perfectly.

Prefabricated Housing

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 20:36:35 +1000

I think a lot about the kind of place I want to live and recently I’ve been watching Trailer Park Boys (an unlikely great show). It occurred to me that the kind of demountable trailers you find in a trailer park closely fits my ideal.

The entire concept of a trailer park appeals to me: small cheap lots, small cheap homes, no fences, plenty of shared areas and community spirit. It’s a shame they’re almost exclusively limited to petty criminals living on the poverty line. I’d move into one today if I wasn’t sure my TV, computer and bike would be stolen within a week. I stereotype, but still.

Prefabricated housing is more substantial than a trailer and right at home outside of a trailer park. They offer everything I want:

One or two bedrooms, all I need.
A small footprint that can be dropped on a relatively small (and therefore cheaper) block still leaving room for a backyard and shed.
Environmentally conscious design to make the best use of little energy or solely make use of natural energy.
A focus on large outdoor areas and openings.
and they’re cheap, less than $100,000 for one or two bedrooms.

Find a small block close to the city for $150,000 or less, drop a prefab house on it for $100,000 and you’ve got yourself a brand new, standalone and cheap home with a backyard for a third of the price of a traditional house. I don’t know why they’re not more common.

How wonderful things become guilty pleasures

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 09:08:55 +1000

How wonderful things become guilty pleasures:

Jessica Hag blows me away with beautiful insight like this every day.

"The publisher of Australia’s white and yellow pages, Sensis, has just received greenhouse..."

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 20:14:00 +1000

“The publisher of Australia’s white and yellow pages, Sensis, has just received greenhouse friendly certification from the Federal Government and plans to reduce its carbon footprint by 5%.”

- Sensis goes carbon neutral, but phone books here to stay

To get greenhouse friendly certification from the government just print millions of 3000 page phone books and litter them across the country. Sensis are literally manufacturing rubbish. The Australian government’s stance on the environment is a joke.

From Matt Haugley’s best of 2009 gallery including more...

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 10:02:21 +1000

From Matt Haugley’s best of 2009 gallery including more cyclocross and other great photos.

The iPad and the Kindle

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 16:16:47 +1000

Without having seen either screen I’m guessing the Kindle is much better for reading books. Better reading comfort and incredibly long battery life are the Kindle advantage.

Is that advantage plus the $230 you’ll save forfeiting an iPad purchase worth everything else the iPad offers including a book reader and Kindle app? If you don’t have an iPhone then I think the answer is no. If you do (who doesn’t), I think the answer is… how much do you read?

Is it realistic to own both? And an iPhone? I don’t think so.

It doesn’t look great for the Kindle. The thing that bothers me about the Kindle is that the $270 outlay gets you a device that’s pretty much useless until you spend more money at the same place, the only place you can buy books, Amazon.

Gruber writes:

I think Amazon is in the content business first, the device business second. A world where Kindle hardware sales pale in comparison to the iPad but where there’s a very popular Kindle app for iPad that competes against iBooks is not a bad situation for Amazon.

I agree but what reason does anyone have to buy books from Amazon over Apple’s (presumably) better integrated, more convenient (if only slightly) system? The more Kindle’s in people’s hands the more reason to buy content from Amazon, for both devices.

Amazon should sell the Kindle cheap. Cost or below. Sell it on its merits: simply the best book reading experience. Make money on what they always have, books, which can be read across devices including the iPad. Amazon’s history and success is in selling books, sell more Kindles, sell more books. The more Kindles the more reason there is to buy from Amazon.