February 2012
8 posts
3 tags
4 tags
how freemium products are like really good cups of...
Everyone loves a free cup of really good coffee. Even if it’s a really small cup of really good coffee, everyone loves free coffee.
What if, right after drinking that really small cup of really delicious coffee, I offered you a bigger cup of delicious coffee with your choice of cream and/or sugar for $1?
That’s how I think of the “freemium” model for stuff like...
3 tags
1 tag
criticism vs. cynicism →
Criticism is doubt informed by curiosity and a deep knowledge of a discipline related to your work. Whether the criticism you receive is constructive or not, it comes from knowledge.
By contrast, cynicism is a form of doubt resulting from ignorance and antiquated ways. Industry experts will often express doubt based on an ingrained muscle memory of past experiences that handicaps their...
4 tags
daily read app dot appspot dot com
I created a very simple tool that helps me keep up to date with sites I find interesting.
The point of putting together this little application was to attempt to solve a very specific problem that I have had for the past few years of using the internet: I’m interested in too much stuff, which means there are a lot of sites I want to visit. It’s hard to manage that list of sites.
I...
January 2012
2 posts
5 tags
A story of discovery
How I decided to download, trust and use another app
I’m fascinated by the way we discover “stuff on the internet.” With an increasing number of input channels feeding us all the data all the time, it’s is hard to know where you first heard about something, or where you found it originally.
A few weeks back, like many other days, I found something cool on the internet....
2 tags
December 2011
3 posts
4 tags
Why it's important that Android isn't sexy. →
A nice take on the non-premium smartphone market.
The takeaway is that the idea of Android is exciting because it gives mobile access to people who can’t/won’t pay for something like an iPhone. Sure, you don’t get that “polished” experience, but there are more situations than not where having mobile technology is more important than a cool sliding animation when you...
4 tags
Challenges of communicating a shipped project →
To start, this is the quote that offered the biggest insight for me:
A train track’s trajectory might, for example, set the angle of a bathroom urinal wall; but — regardless if the original alignment is visible or not — that wall experienced in place won’t necessarily bring a Johnny Cash rail song to mind while one is taking a leak.
Understanding architectural form has always...
November 2011
10 posts
6 tags
How sharing really hasn't changed all that much in...
When I picked up my 91 year-old grandfather last night from his apartment to bring him back to our house for Thanksgiving dinner, he had a page clipped from the NYTimes magazine in hand.
“It’s about martinis. They don’t use vermouth anymore! I want your dad to read it.”
My grandfather really likes martinis. In fact, most memories I have of martinis involve some...
7 tags
Watch
5 tags
NJ Transit unveils new map, designers pissed off
NJ Transit unveiled a the newly redesigned rail map on Wednesday. The most striking features are New Jersey’s weirdly morphed geometry, and cramped layout of lines nearest to New York City where the network is most dense.
The map was done by an in-house design team, and the final result helps reinforce Erik Spiekermann’s point that government agencies are awful design clients:
We...
2 tags
This Post has Been Declared a Link-free Zone →
Links in articles are distracting.
I thought that links would be a distraction from writing I hoped would be interesting enough in its own right to hold the reader’s attention.
But that was a long time ago and I soon came round. Today, when working on a post, I look forward to planting links that will shoot their tendrils outwards from the text. I want the links to be truly useful and I...
1 tag
The Coffeeshop Fallacy →
This is something that has always interested me, and it’s refreshing to see someone articulate it so well. Basically, it’s easy for us to want something despite a complete lack regard for the work required to get it.
The fallacy points out that your penchant for coffee shops is completely disconnected from the responsibilities of owning a coffee shop. The environment created in the...
3 tags
WatchErik Spiekermann on the problem with getting good design done:
We have great architects, we have great designers, we have great engineers. We don’t have clients. What we need is culture of clients.
Typography Legend Erik Spiekermann, On How He Works [Video] | Co. Design
2 tags
Bike Snob NYC: The Indignity of Commuting by... →
On how that one idiot biker that cut you off that one time (“Nü-Fred”) is ruining it for everyone:
Basically then, a single hapless Nü-Fred (though I suppose calling a Nü-Fred “hapless” is redundant, since the haplessness is implied) has the power to turn five New Yorkers against cyclists every single block. This means that, in the course of a 20 block journey during...
3 tags
Above Grade: New York City's High Line: Places:... →
Great read that covers the history and significance of the High Line park in Manhattan. Noteworthy bits and pieces follow.
City in motion:
Manhattan is a place where loitering in one place is done at your peril. Paris has boulevard cafes for cooling one’s heels, Rome comes to a rest at fountains and piazzas, but in Manhattan you keep moving forward. Well and good: I approve.
New York City...
3 tags
October 2011
20 posts
3 tags
“It’s easy to be cynical about this band’s body of work, but at this point...”
– I’ve hardly listened to Coldplay (for no particular reason), but would after reading this.
Fluxblog
4 tags
4 tags
“To be honest, we have no idea what is in fashion or not, and it’s not...”
– Justice Talk New Album: Audio, Video, Disco | News | Pitchfork
4 tags
WatchI made a mix of music that has an awesome medium tempo disco/electro groove. I hope you dig it.
I want to know what other tracks deserve to be in the mix. For starters, LCD’s “Yeah” isn’t there…
4 tags
“It’s almost like a Rorschach test, because some people get very mad when...”
– Articles: This Is Not a Photograph | Features | Pitchfork
Justice's AVD: "the album made me hate the french" →
There are just a few of the highlights:
“the album is not released. How can you write a review on it ?!?!?!” 1
“That said, I think this review is embarrassing. I think my kindergarten teacher once told me this: If you have nothing nice to say, why bother saying it?” 2
“Your arguments aren’t very good and your challenge isnt really a challenge. Are...
3 tags
“Steve was heading towards a car parked next to the curb with its door open,...”
– plucky tree: the last time I saw Steve Jobs
4 tags
“We reprint the map several times a year, and we are continuously trying to make...”
– Second Ave. Sagas
4 tags
3 tags
3 tags
CopyPasteCharacter.com →
They’ve got a new version of their site up!
3 tags
5 tags
3 tags
“The point is for some people not to get it.”
5 tags
4 tags
1 tag
“However, my friends who have the most serendipitous lives are actually planners....”
– hangger: Blogging With Friends
2 tags
“In fact, even Yankee Hotel Foxtrot‘s untouchable reputation as dissonant and...”
– Wilco: The Whole Love < PopMatters
2 tags
September 2011
9 posts
3 tags
“The trick is to figure out what you’re good at.”
– Sage advice, for the design student: Observatory: Design Observer
3 tags
3 tags
Delancey underground →
2 tags
“In all my 18 years of living in Canadian cities other than Toronto before moving...”
– Toronto the Younger | Toronto Standard | News, Media, Art, Business, Technology, Fashion, Events
1 tag
4 tags
2 tags
