unraveled also

The Rube Goldberg Complex

Sat, 13 Mar 2010 23:56:00 -0800

Note: This post has embedded videos that don’t show up in the Tumbler Dashboard for some unknown reason.

After wondering what I should write about this week (I haven’t had the time to take my own medicine) I was fortunate to see this great talk by Adam Sadowsky, which was part of the wonderful Ignite Series of talks. Sadowsky is the president of Syn Labs, which was asked by OK Go to build a Rube Goldberg machine for their next video.

As I was watching this, I immediately thought of software. If you’re unfamiliar with Rube Goldberg machines, Wikipedia describes them as “over engineered machines that performs a very simple task in a very complex fashion.” A lot of software is like this. Microsoft’s Office suite is probably the exemplar of this. Sadowsky’s team was commissioned to make their machine messy and complex; a lot of software ends up messy and complex.

Sadowsky mentioned three tips for creating Rube Goldberg Machines in his talk. Unsurprisingly, if you want to create messy and complex software, this is a great way to do it.

Small stuff sucks.
Put the reliable stuff last.
Planning is very important.

So if these are the three tips for creating complex, messy software, can we take the inverse of these them and use them to create simple and elegant software?

Small stuff is awesome. Simple and elegant software is all about the small things: small feature sets, small design/development teams and small timelines.
Put the reliable stuff first. This one doesn’t translate directly but if you’re creating creating simple and elegant software, you need to focus on what works. This isn’t to say that you shouldn’t experiment and innovate to create the best possible user experience. Innovation is often needed to simplify, but innovation should be secondary to using existing, tried and true methods.
Planning is not very important. As Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson state in their new book, Rework, “Planning is guessing. There are just too many factors that are out of your hands.” When your creating software, you can’t plan more than about a week in advance, so just give up the guess work and just go for it.

I couldn’t post this article without including the final OK Go video, could I? It’s pretty spectacular.

Killer redesign (via Affectively) New Work: Bausch + Lomb | New...

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 21:19:38 -0800

Killer redesign (via Affectively)

New Work: Bausch + Lomb | New at Pentagram | Pentagram

"It’s a bad scene right now. The social value of patents was supposed to be to encourage innovation —..."

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 17:34:54 -0800

“It’s a bad scene right now. The social value of patents was supposed to be to encourage innovation — that’s what society gets out of it. The net effect is that they decrease innovation, and in the end, the public loses out.”

- Eric Von Hippel, professor of technological innovation at MIT, in an interview with The New York Times

timoni: ushishir: Illustration from The Wickedest Witch by...

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 10:26:14 -0800

timoni:

ushishir:

Illustration from The Wickedest Witch by Colin Stimpson

lonelysandwich: SHAKEDOWN!

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 18:40:52 -0800

lonelysandwich:

SHAKEDOWN!

fuckyeahvisualdata: twinleaves: State of the Internet...

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 15:22:09 -0800

fuckyeahvisualdata:

twinleaves:

State of the Internet Explained In One Giant Infographic [PIC]

Wow

Simple Weather for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad on the iTunes...

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 09:55:57 -0800

Simple Weather for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad on the iTunes App Store

via www.instapaper.com

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 18:47:11 -0800

via www.instapaper.com

Unless You’re Changing It, Quit Your Bitchin’

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 17:26:48 -0800

Unless You’re Changing It, Quit Your Bitchin’

On Writing

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 08:59:00 -0800

Today ends the 7th week of Project 52, and so far I’m 4 for 6, not including this week. I did well in January and turned out a new article every week, but my motivation to write was clearly higher a month ago than it is today. As I had just started the project, I was actively and regularly thinking about it throughout the week. So when it came time to write the article it was easier and faster.

The past two weeks have been much busier than usual at work, but I feel like that’s a lame excuse. Everyone is busy. Some are just better at finding time to capture thoughts and write about them. So what are some ways that amateur writers go about their life but still find a way to write great articles at the end of the day? Because I haven’t posted anything for the past two weeks, and I’m keen to keep it from happening again over the coming year, I thought it would be fitting to explore this topic a little more this week. After thinking a little about this over the past few days, these are the top three ideas I had to improve the quantity and quality of my writing in the context of Project 52.

Pick your topic as early as possible

It’s easy to avoid the topic of your mid-term essay and wait until the last minute to write it. Many of us have been there. Similarly it’s easy to put off thinking about any essay until the deadline closes in - especially if you’re writing a series of articles which can be about anything, as is the case for Project 52. When I haven’t thought through the topic of a longer article before I start writing it, I often end up spending a lot of time nailing down the topic and determining what angle I’ll take. However, when I pick the topic early, I can spend short blocks of time thinking about the article leading up to the actual writing. So when I need to sit down and write, I have the topic and some notes — or at least some reformulated thoughts — about the topic.

Dedicate time for thinking and writing about the topic every day

Even if you pick your topic early, if you don’t set aside time to think and write about the topic — every day — you won’t have much more than an idea and blank slate when you need to do the real writing. Some writers have the uncanny ability to know what they’re going to write about and just write, planning and structuring their article in real time. While I can try to do this, it often takes me considerably more time than it would if I had some notes or some rough ideas about the the topic. Part of my plan to get back on track with with Project 52 is to reserve at least 15 minutes every day to do a short amount of research and record at least a few thoughts about the article.

When it comes time to write, just start writing

Just write. This sounds too simple, but it’s probably one of the most important writing tips that I’ve relearned since starting this project. Motivating yourself to start writing can be hard. It’s analogous to physics: it takes more energy to get something to start moving than to keep it going. But once you get going, it just flows. Or at least you have something to build your thoughts on. Don’t worry about quality the first time around; you can always revise and edit later. In other words, don’t be afraid to write a shitty first draft, an idea from Anne Lamott in her book, Bird by Bird:

Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts. You need to start somewhere. Start by getting something — anything — down on paper.

Writing isn’t easy for everyone, but it doesn’t have to be hard either. With a little bit of planning, a daily commitment to the task and an acknowledgement that just getting on with it is the best way to start, writing can be a easier and more enjoyable for everyone.

How a Giant Shark Took Down an Airplane | FlowingData

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 17:17:58 -0800

How a Giant Shark Took Down an Airplane | FlowingData

A conversation I have every month or so

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 14:29:19 -0800

timoni:

dwineman:

Me: (tries to visit a local restaurant’s website via iPhone)
Restaurant website: I require Flash. Fuck off.
Me: I just want to know how late you’re open.
Website: Nope.
Me: But I’m on my phone. Don’t you have a little “HTML Version” link up in the corner or something?
Website: I’m ignoring you.
Me: What if I’m on my phone because I’m out, looking for a place to eat? Didn’t that ever occur to you?
Website: Fuck entirely off.
Me: (gives up, switches to computer)
Website: Oh! Hi! What can I help you with today?
Me: What are your —
Website: Hang on, I’m loading the music.
Me: Really.
Website: You’ll love it. It’s “Girl from Ipanema” arranged for steel drum and keytar.
Me: No, you don’t have to —
Website: Loading…
Me: All I want is —
Website: I SAID DOT DOT DOT.
Me: (drums fingers on desk)
Website: There we go. Isn’t that nice? It’s… what’s the word. Ethnicky.
Me: What are your hours?
Website: Take a look at our menu! It’s a PDF of a screenshot of a scan of a Word document printed on a dishtowel. With fonts!
Me: I don’t care. What are your hours?
Website: Don’t worry, the menu loads in a new window so the music won’t stop. Can I show you some broken images?
Me: What. Are. Your. Hou. Rs.
Website: I… I don’t know.
Me: (goes to Denny’s)

Goodness this is so true.

So true and so well told.

REWORK: Conference Call Meeting (via 37signals)

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 12:17:26 -0800

REWORK: Conference Call Meeting (via 37signals)

Me and some of my favorite people rocking out. Joshua Karaoke!...

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 07:57:52 -0800

Me and some of my favorite people rocking out.

Joshua Karaoke! at ixd10 on Vimeo (via Vimeo)

NorCal Design Council’s Home Tab Concept (via...

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 07:38:16 -0800

NorCal Design Council’s Home Tab Concept (via joshuakaufman)

What NorCal Design Council has been up to for the past month and a half. I’m very pleased with how it turned out. Big thanks to the rest of the team for all their time, ideas and work.

iPad as an eBook. Meh. iPad as an eComic. YES! Panelfly |...

Sun, 14 Feb 2010 16:02:27 -0800

iPad as an eBook. Meh. iPad as an eComic. YES!

Panelfly | Revolutionizing Mobile Comics | iPad

Infographic of the Day: Your Computer Use, Visualized Like a...

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 15:22:48 -0800

Infographic of the Day: Your Computer Use, Visualized Like a Jackson Pollock | Design & Innovation | Fast Company (via Molly Davis)

"If you are going to have less things, they have to be great things."

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 17:19:52 -0800

“If you are going to have less things, they have to be great things.”

- John Maeda, via boranikolic.com (via timoni)

REWORK Trailer 1: Staying Late - (37signals)

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 17:16:52 -0800

REWORK Trailer 1: Staying Late - (37signals)

timoni: benw: Unrefined thought on the iPad closed system/open system/old world-new...

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 09:37:02 -0800

timoni:

benw:

Unrefined thought on the iPad closed system/open system/old world-new world/learning to programme meme: We learned to programme and it made us smarter, better, improved our brains. We fear a world in which people cannot improve their brains in the same way. We fear that simpler, more refined interfaces will close off a route to getting smart, that people will be stupider as a result, or that access to knowledge we take for granted will beaccessible only to an elite.

But the thing we don’t see is that the hacking, programming and outlets for creativity and extending our brains on these new world platforms hasn’t emerged yet. We don’t see what it is that people will do on these new machines to get smarter. The first ones to use an iPad to push the limits of their brain will be the ones who discover what that is.

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.