Maturity

Gruber linked to this post [http://weblog.muledesign.com/2009/12/philadelphia_my_love.php] today and noted [http://daringfireball.net/linked/2009/12/08/mike-monteiro]: > Seeking out the best solution, even if obvious, rather than the solution that makes the designer look the most clever or original, is a

Quick Thoughts on Dragon Dictation for iPhone

I downloaded Nuance’s Dragon Dictation for the iPhone this morning on my way to work and gave it a try. It’s a free app that allows you to record short messages which are then processed by Nuance’s servers and returned as text that you can copy and

The Wii Situation

Stepping Up With reports out of both Ubisoft and EA recently of flagging Wii game sales, a fresh round of “It’s a gimmick!” and “Casuals don’t buy games” has erupted on blogs. But the Wii situation is far more nuanced than the simplistic analysis that is often accepted.

Gift Ideas

This site has some interesting gift ideas. I like the stocking stuffers and the design stuff. I’ve been tempted to buy Field Notes for a while, even though I currently do absolutely no note taking. http://shawnblanc.net/2009/12/nerd-gift-guide/

If we get the design right, we can empow...

> If we get the design right, we can empower while clarifying; we can reduce complexity while enhancing functionality; we can expand freedom while not overwhelming with choice. Chris Messina [http://factoryjoe.com/blog/2009/11/16/the-death-of-the-url/]

What's Next for the iPhone?

I have a note on my iPhone, written nearly a year ago, listing phone features that I cared about that the iPhone lacked. Here it is (handily provided via OS 3.0’s copy and paste): * Send a contact * Save text message * Forward text message * Search email All of these

On App Approval

There’s been some chatter recently about the whole concept of the app store (as opposed to the ongoing chorus about the failings of the app store), or more specifically, about the concept of reviewing apps. A post [http://joehewitt.com/post/innocent-until-proven-guilty/] by Joe Hewitt, the Facebook app developer,

Planet Earth Questions

I’ve been watching Planet Earth on Blu-ray since Ashley got it for my birthday, and it’s amazing. The only downside is that, since it takes on such a huge topic (the entire earth) there isn’t as much depth and I’m left with a lot of questions.

Receipt Desired

I was at a Shell gas station around the corner this morning filling up my car. At the end of the transaction the screen prompted, "Receipt desired?" It was like a revelation. Since then I've been expanding on this grammar construct. "Fries sought?" It's really a much more compact form

Thoughts on Super Mario Galaxy

Note: This post isn't exactly finished, but I'm posting it anyway.I'm currently playing through Super Mario Galaxy as Luigi. If you're not in the know, that means that I've already collected all 120 stars as Mario; in essence, I've seen the entire game. I'd like to comment on it.

Step Back

If you read blog comments at all, you know there are a lot of angry people out there. Or, at least, people that sure sound angry when filtered through a text-only format. I'm fully aware of this, and for a long time never read comments at all. But in the

The return of the three-way

First off I would like to thank Jacob for allowing me to post on his namesake. I think what the world is missing on the invention of, or re-imagining of, the iPhone is the same glee we once held in our middle school years. Who hasn't been on the receiving

Outlawing video game sales - attempt 10

There are two bills currently in process in the New York legislature, both of which would make it illegal to sell a video game to children that has been deemed "adult" (either before the fact by the ESRB or after the fact by a court of law). You can read

Applications you might like

I just counted (well, I didn't count - I let the Finder do that) how many applications I have on my Mac: 137. Most of them I use infrequently (Thank goodness I'm not on a Windows machine, I hate those incessant "There are unused icons on your desktop" messages), but

Rare purchase

Shane Kim, Microsoft Games Studio executive, touted the value of Rare in an interview [http://www.shacknews.com/extras/2007/051407_shane_kim_1.x] with Shacknews Monday. He said, > “I think that the story on Rare is really going to be told in the next three to five years.

Mormon for president?

I read some opinion pieces on Mitt Romney in Slate recently that referenced an earlier Slate article [http://www.slate.com/id/2155902/] by Jacob Weisberg subtitled "A Mormon president? No way." I agree with his main assertion (that it's perfectly all right to not vote for someone because of

Propaganda

While reading a review [http://music.ign.com/articles/781/781271p1.html] of Nine Inch Nail's new album, Year Zero, on IGN, I came across this very pessimistic statement by reviewer Chris Carle: "Starting with Pretty Hate Machine, [Trent Reznor] set forth a world view that is fractured and flawed,

NFL takes cues from MPAA

I had a good laugh a few months ago when I read BBSpot's spot-on satire [http://www.bbspot.com/News/2006/11/home-theater-regulations.html] of the MPAA: a fake news article that claimed the MPAA was going to require licensing of home theaters. Part of the brilliance of that article

Just subtract 1

I'm amazed at the number of people that are surprised by the Wii's $249 price. I never thought it would be anything else, because of a simple rule that has never steered me wrong: when a company says it will release a product below a certain price, it means it

Fantastic phone

Xbox 360 shown to the consumers first

Microsoft has just announced that the Xbox 360 will be revealed to the world on an MTV special May 12. This is just four days before E3. Personally, I like Microsoft circumventing the press and going straight to the people - that focus is arguably part of the reason the

Multiplayer Map Details

Head on over to bungie.net to get the nitty-gritty details, but here are the highlights: nine new maps, four in late April. Two for free, two to purchase. All the maps free by late summer. Oh, and a 19.99 retail release of all nine maps. Sounds all right

New Halo 2 Maps Announced

Bungie just announced today their plans for new multiplayer maps. The plan is quite complicated - it feels very apparent that Microsoft is trying to straddle the fence between raw profit-mongering and we-love-our-fans service. It's a wide fence, but Microsoft may just be big enough to straddle it.

Halo 2 downloadable content announcement coming

The Korean Xbox Web site supposedly has a listing for a Halo 2 expansion pack up right now, and when asked about it Bungie had this to say: > "Next week, we’re going to have a major announcement about the details of our new maps. Right now, there are some

More Evidence of Revolution Online

In an interview with 1up.com, Reggie Fils-Aime had this to say: > "And we're also putting out there, for our fans, the fact that there's some things we could have done better on previous systems. The whole Internet gaming piece, we missed the boat on GameCube. We won't miss the