words.abscond.org

Week #1148

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 23:08:16 +0000

I’m sitting on a train to Cornwall. I paid for it with cash as among the many things I didn’t do this week was ‘notify Nationwide about address change’.

It’s been a crazy week. Working at BERG is inspiring, reminding me to avoid working on dull projects as much as possible.

I’ve been finding it weird fitting in. The office is insanely dense with talented people I either vaguely know of or had never heard of (I think I have now reached capacity of interesting people to know). Something about this has jolted my usual process of settling into an office. However, now I’m beginning to deliver some tangible goods, it’s getting easier.

That job would be more than enough to keep me mentally tickled, but I also have Rewired State to direct, which has been going insane. The Home Office one, this thursday, is garnering insane attention, both inspiring me to put my best into it and freaking me out as I realise I don’t have much more best to give.

I had a crazy good weekend though. Birthday/Housewarming was beautiful. People came, people mingled, fun was had. The next day even more so in some ways - we tidied and made folk and simply relaxed - something I haven’t done enough of recently and plan to do more this summer. I promise.

It’s been too long since my last trip to Cornwall. My Mum’s now onto Radiotherapy, which means I’m allowed to visit despite having a cold from working too hard. This is a relief. I will however be working most of the weekend.

I need to figure out how to write these to encapsulate my week effectively. A few wishy washy things, or the whole week? Interesting or procedural - a constant problem for me.

fuckyeahslightlyamusing: bestrooftalkever: APOKALIPS strikes...

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 12:48:59 +0000

fuckyeahslightlyamusing:

bestrooftalkever:

APOKALIPS strikes again! This was my mid-day smile.

(via mcdavis)

ololinda: (via tumblrisforlulz)

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 12:46:44 +0000

ololinda:

(via tumblrisforlulz)

brownpau: What’s wrong with this picture?

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 08:21:12 +0000

brownpau:

What’s wrong with this picture?

It’s my mates!

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 10:20:43 +0000

It’s my mates!

Great travelling tune.

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 14:55:09 +0000

Great travelling tune.

Audio

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 11:43:26 +0000

Photo

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 16:44:00 +0000

"jontyw: Yes, you could print dildos."

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:22:16 +0000

“jontyw: Yes, you could print dildos.”

- pubstandards on 3D printing.

Forget the dolphins, better watch out for those legomen

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:17:26 +0000

Forget the dolphins, better watch out for those legomen

kryz: hammerito: lilykily: lickystickypickyme: Why so...

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 15:46:40 +0000

kryz:

hammerito:

lilykily:

lickystickypickyme:

Why so evil?

The Tyrant Clock, designed by Alice Wang has to be the meanest alarm clock concept ever invented.

The clock syncs up with your cell phone, randomly goes through your contact list, and then calls someone different every three minutes after your intended wake up time. It displays in a large size the name of the person who’s about to get their own wake up call from you. The potential for it to call someone and in some way completely ruin your life is huge. A disaster waiting to happen, which would make it the ideal alarm clock. Don’t want your boss, mom, or mistress awoken at some ungodly hour? Then get your butt out of bed and turn the Tyrant off.

via

THIS IS GENIUS.

!!!!!

Omigod, the machines, we build them to turn on us *by design* — we fools!

The definitive Kismac Article

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 21:58:29 +0000

The definitive Kismac Article

Why the iPad is a missed opportunity

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 18:17:00 +0000

All the discussion around the iPad seems to be based around whether it’s a good product or not. This I expected. But whether the iPad is successful or not, a good product or not, does not interest me as much how they presented it.

Apple has had more than their fair share of game changing opportunities - Macintosh, Newton and iPhone spring to mind - but they’re still incredibly rare. But so, so valuable. These are moments when you can throw out all current user expectations and legacies and focus on what you want to make this product. You can change the fundamental understandings of the project at a whim. If design is art working within constraints, then this is as close to art as design gets.

The tech media’s backlash against the backlash, claiming it’s a revolution and requires a rethink of personal computing, not a new idea, is correct, it’s just I just don’t think the iPad cuts the mustard. This doesn’t feel like the rethink of personal computing it could have been. So while, no, I disagree that this is just a big iPod Touch, it’s certainly closer to it in thinking than it needs to be. More offensively to me, it’s a bit close to personal computers of today. Let’s make a subtitle:

Old ideas

Spreadsheets. That’s what really got me. Fucking spreadsheets. I mean seriously. Apple puts people up on stage, in front of millions of indirect eyes, to say “You can organise your kid’s football games on Numbers”. Come on. Sure, you can, you have been able to for years. It’s these generic, catch-all nerdy tools that I thought we were abandoning along with file structures and window focus, and Apple were meant to be leading that charge.

Hang on, I think I have another subtitle coming.

Personal Computing is a dead concept

OK, that’s a bit of a lie, what I’m trying to say is that I think the “personal” but of personal computing is a bit out of date. Both the KVM and phone models are inherently lonely, but the iPad seems a perfect vehicle for an escape of this. Perhaps if they sold it as a household device, rather than as this “intimate” experience, they could make some serious headway in their apparently increasingly abandoned digital hub strategy.

In fact, the iPad could have replaced the PC as the digital hub.

Cheesy family unit imaginary scenario: I come home, throw on some music from the iPad to airtunes, find a note from school saying my daughter needs to bring in some pasta for cookery on Friday, I throw that onto the shopping list, which automatically gets added to our family budget expenses. I debate our next move me and my son will make in our chess game against his uncle and cousin in Edinburgh, replaying the game so far in front of the two of us, looking at it from all angles. We get a video call from the grandparents to catch up. After which, the son borrows it to catch up on facebooking, before bringing it down, and the two kids play virtual air hockey on it. We plug it into the TV and watch iPlayer. Oh, and after I organise a bloody game of bloody football on an app specifically designed for organising bloody games of bloody football.

Sure, this may all be possible with the iPad with the app platform, but that’s not the point. It’s all kinda possible Windows XP, but even Microsoft are beginning to figure out that’s not the point.

I dunno, I’m going to throw it out there, and I can eat my words later, Apple still make great and successful products, and I’m sure the iPad is going to be one of them, but they had an opportunity to do so much more, and they seem to already be making mistakes, which reminds me, they seemed awfully surprised when the iPhone app store was massively successful. Maybe making great products isn’t enough.

Careers with a Police Department

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 12:07:46 +0000

Careers with a Police Department

(via guysiblockedongrindr)

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 12:05:31 +0000

(via guysiblockedongrindr)

Video

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 11:58:27 +0000

Photo

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 18:04:15 +0000

21 year old who's single for first time in 'adult' life says:

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 12:22:22 +0000

1: It appears you have to be much nicer to people. You know, that “nice guy” thing. Crap.

Really nice graphic for choosing food in season, made by Leon.

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 17:29:40 +0000

Really nice graphic for choosing food in season, made by Leon.

Audio

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 16:24:09 +0000