Shorts

"So I just did me some talking to the sun, I said that I didn’t like the way he got things..."

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 19:22:48 +0100

“So I just did me some talking to the sun,
I said that I didn’t like the way he got things done,
Sleeping on the job,
Those raindrops are falling on my head, they keep falling.”

- Hal David and Burt Bacharach (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid)

The Emperor’s New Antenna

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 07:09:00 +0100

The Emperor’s New Antenna:

Every recent consumer electronics product from Apple—definitely the iPad, but all iterations of the iPhone including the initial one—has been greeted with rounds of articles crowing about what an arrogant, foolhardy mistake it is and how this will finally, finally, be the moment the emperor is revealed to have no clothes.

The difference between Apple and others is that Apple succeeds by wanting to make better products than competitors, and others succeed by wanting their competitors to fail.

What the hell are you doing to our fonts Chrome?

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 07:04:01 +0100

What the hell are you doing to our fonts Chrome?

Think Before You Make

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 05:48:48 +0100

At Wordcamp ‘09 (January before last), in my talk I said “Plug-ins suck!”. I believe in it as much now as I did back then. But I want to take that thought and apply it to something bigger.

A platform is as useful as the uses it is put to. I guess it’s wrong to call out the platform because of its uses, but that’s how I see it. When you turn the browser’s chrome into a platform, people start doing some strange things with it just because it can be done. If you want the worst case scenario, look at Flock.

I’m just a little tired of seeing people make something but not care about how useful or meaningful it is. The web has undergone a Wave-ification, and I don’t like it. It has made developers believe “build and they will come” a little too seriously. Why think about a revenue model? Why think about its usability or the user-experience? Why think that the time you’re spending should return something other than good wishes and maybe turn you into a mini-celebrity. I wish we would start thinking about what we’re making long enough to make sense of it.

And if thinking about something long enough makes you not want to make it, there’s probably a reason.

I watched “Inception” yesterday with a few friends. Good movie, and the kind that forces...

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 05:49:05 +0100

I watched “Inception” yesterday with a few friends. Good movie, and the kind that forces people to try and make sense of it even hours after it is over. And that’s why I don’t like to watch interesting movies with other people.

“Oh wait! That top didn’t stop spinning!”

Yes, I noticed that. And a thousand other things that I know you missed. Like the fact that Saito wasn’t connected to Cobb and Ariadne when they were trying to save him from his limbo, but Cobb still managed to find him somehow. Or the fact that Fischer didn’t recognise Cobb in the second level of his dream (yet they masked themselves up for the first level to not blow their cover). I could go on, but it’s just a fucking movie. Watch, enjoy, and leave it in the theatre. Don’t think you’re the only one who saw it, and definitely do not keep bringing things up like high school students after an exam.

It’s okay to be excited, but don’t get annoying.

Bad Habits

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 07:17:00 +0100

You know those little things people do that annoys everyone around them? Like chewing loudly, or eating without closing their mouth. Or shaking a leg when they’re sitting — it’s just small things that you do unconsciously. I do none of those things. I was trying to think of one bad habit that I might have, and that’s probably that I chew my nails. But, again, I don’t do that when I’m not alone.

Part of the reason is that I know it annoys people, and if someone else did it, it would annoy me — so I don’t. Of course, you don’t need a real reason to not have a bad habit, do you?

I don’t have any bad habits.

ADDENDUM: A “bad habit” doesn’t have to be something that just harms you — like smoking. A bad habit is any habit that is considered undesirable¹.

1Bad Habits — Wikipedia ↩

This is how screwed up the otherwise good symbol for the Indian...

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 09:44:16 +0100

This is how screwed up the otherwise good symbol for the Indian Rupee really is. /via Naina

Amazing how the colours completely negate the smiling carrots....

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 14:17:58 +0100

Amazing how the colours completely negate the smiling carrots. /via graphiceverywhere

Ways To Be Seen at a Party

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 12:43:27 +0100

Be taller, bigger than the ones around you.
Be louder than the ones around you, and make sure people really hear you.
Jump up and down, using other people’s shoulders as leverage if you have to.
Break something or make a scene.
Climb up on stage and grab the microphone.
Get naked.
Tell a riveting story that lasts long enough for other people to finish their conversations and turn to listen to you.

"When you can fall for chains of silver you can fall for chains of gold, You can fall for pretty..."

Sun, 18 Jul 2010 12:34:00 +0100

“When you can fall for chains of silver you can fall for chains of gold, You can fall for pretty strangers and the promises they hold, You promised me everything you promised me thick and thin, Now you just say “Oh Romeo yeah you know I used to have a scene with him.””

- Mark Knopfler
(Romeo & Juliet)

Hollow (Submersed)

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 10:19:43 +0100

No Comments (Part 5)

Thu, 15 Jul 2010 10:17:40 +0100

No Comments (Part 5):

sasquatchmedia:

In the category of putting your money where your mouth is: I have no idea if people will be willing to pay to comment — if they’re reluctant to pay for online news why would they pay to comment on news? — but I’ll sure be watching this.

Not no comments, exactly, but “no” enough I’d say.

/via nostrich

So, Facebook

Wed, 14 Jul 2010 12:58:42 +0100

This was initially posted as a note on Facebook, but I can’t be arsed to figure out the privacy controls to make it visible to everyone (whether within Facebook or not) so I’m just cross-posting here so that I can link it to people who ask me why I hate Facebook.

Today, I disabled automatic Tumblr-to-Facebook posting, and hence severed the last bit of the real me that Facebook¹ sees. It’s funny how Facebook is the network which is supposed to be made up of people you know in real-life, but it is the completely contrasting Twitter that has connected me to more people who (for lack of a better word) know me better and I share a lot more in common with.

It isn’t my nature to just “talk” to people. And of course, with Facebook being full of complete retards from one corner to the other who have severe boundary issues, it makes me even more hesitant to say anything here. I am an opinionated person, and moderately loud about them. However, the things I am interested in doesn’t fly too well around here. This probably says more about me than Facebook, but I honestly believe Facebook has failed as a “network”. Facebook has failed to understand that the people a person knows in real life may not be their friends.

This is not about Facebook vs. Twitter, or Facebook vs. any other random social network you can think of. It’s about how the concept of social network has been diluted to just a site where you and your friends are registered. That’s it. What are the “social” aspects here? Farmville and photographs. And I’m not too sure about the photographs either. If all you do when you go somewhere new is take pictures of yourself against various backdrops, then power to you — but we can only look at so many vanity pictures before we tell you that you really aren’t as awesome as you think you are.

If you think about having an active discussion on anything important, the above-mentioned retardedness just washes over you like a flood. I mean, how can someone take a person “hu typez lk dis!!!!” seriously? The concept of status messages has been reduced to cryptic, emo and angst laden lyrics of songs that bring in a torrent of “Oh my god are you alright?!”s and “Call me!!!”s. Facebook has just gave the art of attention seeking a much bigger stage.

Anyway, as ranting is not in my nature, I’m going to cut this short. This mainly becomes a link for me to point people to when they ask me why I am not active on Facebook or dislike it. I’m only on Facebook because of a few message threads, my relatives and some friends (who really are friends), otherwise I would’ve deleted my account months ago².

I’m sure there will be tons of people who have discovered their meaning of existence by being on Facebook and making 1000+ friends who will disagree with everything I’ve said here, but hey, the worst you can do is leave a comment here, right? Go ahead. Make my day.

1 By Facebook, I mean the 127 “friends” that I have on here. I doubt any more than 10-15 actually see the stuff that gets posted, having more than 300-400 “friends” themselves. Really, how much value do you honestly get out of adding that one person you met 5 years ago at a bar for 10 seconds? ↩
2 Plus, since I found someone who is actually not on Facebook, I feel better about myself (if that’s possible). ↩

Bastards with Taste

Tue, 13 Jul 2010 12:57:43 +0100

People think of Apple as an industry leading company that makes beautiful and usable products, while also taking care of its customers in a way few other (if any) companies in the industry do. Somewhere in the back of their minds they know that Apple is like any other company that wants to make money, but that thought is lost in the emotional attachment they develop with their brand new iPhones or iPads. So it’s interesting to see people’s reaction when intentionally or unintentionally, Apple makes a mistake. Every other company has a field day, and they jump on their little window of opportunity to make themselves appear better. Of course, they botch it up with petty potshots and clever insinuations.

At the end of the day, people remember the product, not what you said about it. People remember what it looks like, how it makes them feel when they open it and turned it on. They don’t remember the hundreds of things you told them that it does better, but they will remember that it made that family picture you took five years ago look so much more beautiful you had ever seen it. Apple sells you an experience, not just a product.

Anybody who has ever bought a Nokia knows that the high point of your emotions are over about two minutes after you’ve turned your phone on. After that, it’s just a tool to get things done. But with things like the iPhone and iPad, a Macbook or a Macbook Pro, your journey has just begun. These too are tools to get things done, but Apple’s screwdriver comes with a rubber grip.

Apple might be a corporate company like others in that their goals are the same — to generate profits. So is the goal of a cab driver. But you’ll remember the taxi that smelled beautiful and had leather interiors, not the one that had a funny sticker at the back of the driver’s seat.

Hovering

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 12:56:00 +0100

Facebook now has hovercards.

I’m not surprised, considering they have slowly included almost every little Twitter nigglet there is. What does surprise me however is that they decided to make it a hovercard instead of a panel. With interaction moving towards swipe/flick gestures and touches, there has been some talk recently about the end of hover as viable interaction gesture. I use Facebook’s full site on my iPad, and won’t get any benefit from these hovercards. The same goes for Twitter, but I won’t complain because I use it mostly from apps. Facebook doesn’t have that luxury, and frankly, it doesn’t need it. I’ve always liked Facebook’s UI. They’ve made their interface as simple as they probably could given the amount of features they have.

I’ve never been a big fan of hover, always reserving the gesture to show more information, not to show or hide controls or change something. It’s too fiddly to code (don’t get me started), but it’s also fiddly to use. Ever seen that two level deep menu disappear because your mouse went just a little too outside its hit-radius? Clicks are much more deliberate, and can be treated as a solid statement from the user saying “Yes.” I like that; knowing that the user really did mean to do what he did. If you want some fair advice, don’t use hover for anything beyond showing information that the user doesn’t really need if you can.

References

The End of Hover

Another addition to my collection of headwear — a beautiful...

Sun, 11 Jul 2010 12:56:42 +0100

Another addition to my collection of headwear — a beautiful coffee brown Trilby. If you’re into hats, you have to give Panama Hat Shop a look. They’re absolutely fantastic.

Larry Page: Jobs is rewriting history

Sat, 10 Jul 2010 12:56:04 +0100

Larry Page: Jobs is rewriting history:

No Larry, and no Seth, Jobs isn’t rewriting history. Maybe you’re foggy on it since it’s been a while. Android was aimed at being a Blackberry competitor — you can see it in what Android looked like in the early early days. This article also conveniently skips the fact that the iPhone didn’t take 6 months to make — from the time of announcement to shipping. Jobs said that Apple began playing with the idea of a multi-touch display in the early 2000s, and shelved the tablet idea when it realised it could make a phone. Schmidt might have joined the board later, but a lot of Android’s current form and function comes from the iPhone. And if that’s not enough, Google itself proclaimed that Android was to prevent a “draconian future” where “one man, one company, one carrier” would be in control. Sounds like a response to me.

I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, or even if it’s a good thing. I’m just making sure everyone has their facts straight. Lets not kid ourselves. Both the operating systems went into development roughly about the same time, but Android’s focus shifted significantly once Schmidt became aware of the iPhone.

Face Door Hanger

Sat, 10 Jul 2010 09:41:00 +0100

Face Door Hanger:

This guy is awesome.

I’m so concerned about not having anything to read on the...

Fri, 09 Jul 2010 10:51:00 +0100

I’m so concerned about not having anything to read on the weekends, I allow the good content to pile up over the whole week so that I can go through it all over the two days there is a content-drought.

PS. This is feedly on Chrome.

Some optimizeLegibility Stuff

Thu, 08 Jul 2010 14:37:00 +0100

Now that we’re aware of text-rendering to enable better typography using CSS, I was annoyed when I saw it wasn’t make a difference on Shorts. While I initially thought there was something wrong with Typekit’s serving, I dug a little more into it and found a couple of things.

Chrome ¹ goes back to normal kerning when the text is made to re-render, like when you hover over a link. This fixes itself when you scroll.
Droid Serif and Georgia don’t support ligatures (unless I’m completely missing something). Neither does Palatino, which surprised me a lot. Gill Sans has limited support.

difficult / flora Droid Serif

difficult / flora Georgia

difficult / flora Palatino

difficult / flora Baskerville

difficult / flora Gill Sans

You can see how DejaVu Serif fails as well over at MDC. It’s hard to believe so many standard fonts don’t support ligatures. I can only conclude that I’m blatantly missing something, and hopefully someone will point out what it is.

I was hoping optimizeLegibility would force some sort of transformation for ligatures so that ‘fl’ would turn into ‘ﬂ’ and hence always be combined even if the font didn’t support it, but doesn’t seem like that’s the case.

1 I can’t verify if this is a Chrome-only issue since I can’t start up Safari since the recent update to version 5. ↩