Ah, to be 2 again
Nov
25
2009
Nov
24
2009
Nov
24
2009
Best Laptop Makers Are ASUS, Toshiba And Sony (?)
Apple’s line of laptops ranked fourth in a multi-year reliability survey of nine notebook makers, according to a study of 30,000 portable computers published today by a company that provides after-sale warranties. SquareTrade, which broke out the warranty claims of its customers by manufacturers, said that Apple took the No. 4 spot, behind ASUS, Toshiba and Sony, which held No. 1 through No. 3, respectively. Over a two-year period, slightly more than 10% of Apple laptops — the company sells two lines, MacBook and MacBook Pro — failed in some fashion, said SquareTrade. The projected failure rate of Apple’s notebooks within three years, added SquareTrade, was 17.4%.
Mac laptops less reliable than ASUS, Sony notebooks
See Alexander Micek’s retort: When Information Overwhelms Facts
Nov
24
2009
Why do we Tumbl? In the end, we use Tumblr not because it’s a great way to connect with our readers (though it is that), or because we believe this or something like it is a part of a new way forward for interaction between publishers and audience (though we think that too). We use Tumblr because it’s fun and while, you know, you can’t eat fun, or trade it in for fistfuls of dollars to fund serious journalism, we believe there’s a value in doing things we like simply because we like to do them, and that hopefully our fellow Tumblrs will too.
Amen! I stopped Tumbling for a while but couldn’t stay away. It’s just too much fun.
Nov
22
2009
Nov
20
2009
Nov
19
2009
What Would Palin and Pelosi Agree On?
Given that American political discourse is just one step away from becoming a mass brawl, I wonder what specific political questions actually garner across the board support. Assuming we could take a hundred Americans of different ages, locales, religions, and political affiliations, and ask them a series of specific political questions (without telling them what our vaunted political celebrities say about the issues), would we find any broad swaths of common ground?
I’m not talking about obviously contentious issues like abortion, the wars, drug policy, global warming, immigration policy, and so on. At a more basic, more fundamental level, can we at least find some bedrock fundamentals that we can all agree are vital to our collective interest?
Freedom of speech has always been under continuous attack, and I suspect that out of 100 people a fair number would argue that it’s not really all that necessary. Given the widespread mistrust of Muslims, freedom of religion wouldn’t necessarily fare as well as expected either. The list goes on. Even the concept of a more perfect union seems to be under attack as well.
We don’t have to agree on everything, or even on most things. But we seem to be losing our desire to find common ground. We’re losing respect for opinions that differ from our own. We’re losing respect for our leaders and for each other.
So how do we find and celebrate common ground? Or is that an impossible (or not even desirable) goal? Labels are part of the problem, so if you reply to this, please do not use the words liberal, conservative, Democrat, or Republican.
Nov
16
2009
A Tome of Wonder for UI/UX Designers
I have been delving into Kim Goodwin’s Designing for the Digital Age: How to Create Human-Centered Products and Services. It’s a hefty 700+ page tome just jammed to the gills with the kind of truly in-depth material you don’t often find in UX/UI books. I am drawn to her emphasis on process. A tremendous amount of detailed advice is lavished on finding out what the people who will be using your product or service actually need.
It’s a lot to take in, and some of the processes Goodwin defines are too involved for use in the time- and resource-constrained world of startups. But that’s OK. A book this rich in detail makes me feel that even if I am unable to attend to half the factors Goodwin illuminates, at least my triage process is more informed.
The material on persona development alone is worth its weight in gold. I have at least a half a dozen books that discuss personas to one degree or another. Some of them are even primarily about persona development. Goodwin’s meticulous treatment of the subject makes most of these other discussions of persona development seem amateurish.
As you’d expect, the knowledge Goodwin imparts doesn’t come cheap. But if you are at all involved in user experience design, the $69.99 list is a very small price indeed.
Nov
15
2009
Nov
11
2009
The banana slugs wished us well:The banana slugs came out to say goodbye on move day. I will miss these little critters. There were always 3-4 sliming around the front yard each fall and winter day.
Fancy blur and saturation bump comes from the TiltShiftGen iPhone app (also available as a webapp!).
I'm Erik Schmidt. I'm a web producer at FastPencil, a company devoted to making books easier for anyone to write and publish. I write in greater depth at The Perils of Punditry, and I post photos at flickr. I'm also usually up on Twitter. This Tumblog is my own, as are my opinions.
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