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The Three Es

Best programs lately : Evernote, EventBox and Ecto.

Make your life better through shareware.

Also note that Entourage is NOT one of the preferred E apps.

Grids, Blocks, Behaviors and Attributes

Occasionally I work on projects that I know will turn out horribly.

This usually doesn’t slow me down, since I’m pretty confident I can turn it into something very cool.

Case in point, the shuffling block site I’m working on now. The projected behavior of the site reads like a list of UX no-no’s.

There’s a grid that doesn’t expand, despite the number of objects within, just starts scrolling downward.

The grid is filled with boxes of various sizes, interaction with the boxes makes them either grow larger, or link to other grids. No visible difference in boxes, just random behavior.

The grid re-shuffles every time a box is opened or closed, in a random order, like the system playing Tetris. Things that were there, are now over there.

Oh, but some boxes don’t move, and some boxes only have one size, and some boxes need to be marked so that on every shuffle, they get preferential treatment.

And somewhere in all of this is content.

If it turns out good, I’ll post a link. If it’s a magnificent failure, I’ll post a link.

If my worst fears come true and it’s sort of ordinary, you won’t hear another peep about it.

Map of Awesome Record Stores

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I’ve been keeping a google map of the finest record stores in the U.S. North America.

I’m sure there’s dozens out there I don’t have shown, but these are the ones I’ve personally visited.

Check it here

Mid-Year Best Albums (‘09)

Yes, it’s time.
I’ve been bouncing around a shitload of albums this year. Lots of good stuff, lots of different stuff, lots of older artists releasing fantastic, re-energized albums.

Without ado, the top 10 albums of 2009, so far.

New Model Army – Today is a Good Day
An amazing, surprising, refreshing album from a band I’ve been listening to for over 20 years. After all this time, they can still give me something new. Touring the US and Canada next month, catch them if you can, you won’t be the same after seeing them play.
New Model Army Official Site

Sonic Youth – The Eternal
Another surprising, energetic, hopeful and remarkable record. 25 years after I picked up Bad Moon Rising, I’m still astounded at how in the moment they sound.
Sonic Youth Official Site

Danger Mouse / Sparklehorse – Dark Night of the Soul
Google it, you’ll find it. Total record label fiasco makes it unavailable at retail. With a guest list to die for, and photos by David Lynch, it’s easily the definitive artistic statement of the year, stifled by inept money grubbers.
DNOTS site

Metric – Fantasies
Previous Metric albums were good, but failed to grab me the way this one does. When the last 2 songs are the best on the album, you know it’s good.
Metric Official Site

Japandroids – Post-Nothing
Loud, noisy, and awesome… this Vancouver duo bashes out great songs on guitar and drum like it’s all they know how to do.
Japandroids Official Site

John Zorn – O’o
Can’t really say I’m a John Zorn fan, but this album is great to listen to anytime, anywhere.
John Zorn MySpace

Stardeath and White Dwarf – The Birth
Great crazy music from the Flaming Lips former roadies. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, but don’t think they’re Lips Jr… they are their own flavor of crazy.
Stardeath Official Site

Yeah Yeah Yeahs – It’s Blitz
Dance music? me? Apparently so. I wasn’t sure the move to a more polished, synth heavy sound would suit the band, but I was happy to be proven wrong. A great album, beginning to end.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs Official Site

Life is short… filled with stuff

I read that Lux Interior died yesterday, which made me sad. All the punk rockers are starting to die of predictable and natural causes.

In a strange coincidence, this week is the 50th anniversary of Buddy Holly’s death.

I put a notice on Twitter about Lux and was a bit astonished at the small, but fervent outpour of related comments. There was a lot of hopeful skepticism about it, which got me thinking about how few iconic figures were left in music.

If the dude from Nickelback died, there’s a dozen to fill his place. Lux died, and he left a giant hole that won’t likely be filled.

Core Concepts of the Ruthless Monk

The Ruthless Monk is my general approach to site conceptualization. Here is my general overview of the tenets of hitting something Monk Style.

Centrism
The user’s current position is considered the center of the site. Wherever the user is, they are in the right place. Bring content to them, don’t use your navigation as advertisement. This only makes the user feel they are in the wrong place, and all other places are better.

Proximity
Items that are of more relevance are closer to user. This means, stop carrying navigation and global elements around the site. If the user chooses a path, their focus is on that topic or action. Leave shit behind when it’s not needed.

Volume
The degree to which items are presented and the visual and cognitive impact they will have. Not everything can be cranked to 11. A simple visual inspection of every screen should reveal the top 2-3 actions you want a user to take. These are the items with the loudest volume, the rest need to be turned down.

Workspaces
Discreet modal shifts within a current space. I call these ‘Flips’ they are nothing more than div layers that contain a complete and concise task. They are called when needed, and should adapt to user position and mindset.

Story Shaping
Arranging user opportunities through a story metaphor. If I asked you to tell me about your new camera, it’s unlikely you would organize your thoughts in the same manner as a camera maker’s site. Think about how a conversation evolves, how people will interrupt at moments of interest and change the course of the discussion. This is real time Story Shaping.

Actionable
Content will always beget an action. If it doesn’t provoke action, it is likely useless. Also, ask yourself what questions a user would have based on a piece of content. That is likely to inform your choice of actions you provide, and think ACTION, don’t always think movement.

Boldness
If it doesn’t add something, remove it. Be ruthless in your dislike for every object on the screen. Strong, single and simple actions will always beat complex, wishy-washy activities. At some point, everyone is a uni-tasker… realize the power in this.

Thunderbabe

Illegitimi non carborundum

The business of ratios

When there is no point to something, the best idea is to not do it

Food : Basil Lemon Shrimp

Good sized shrimp, cleaned and whatnot… chop up a bunch of fresh basil, zest a half a lemon, squeeze the juice in… a half spoon of chopped garlic… drizzle olive oil.. fresh ground pepper… cook in pan… put over pasta… swoon.