05 Feb

Read More Resolution 1 of 24




Book: Ender’s Game

Fiction

First things first. About 80% of the books I read are non-fiction. I rarely pick up a “Story” unless recommended to me. I figured since I am trying to read 24 books this year it would be good to switch up my professional development reading with some fiction.

This was a suggestion from one of my industrial design colleague’s who is working on a new social validation platform. He had been reading this book and said it really inspired him on his current project, so I figured it was worth a look.

I ended up reading this over the course of a week often staying up until 2 am thinking “I’ll just read a couple more pages”. TEh story is about a futuristic Earth that had survived an invasion and are preparing a counter strike twenty years in the making. TEh hopes of humanity rely on Ender a gifted chid born into a family of  gifted children.

The book follows Ender through his years of training in the academy to become the most brilliant strategic mind the school has ever seen. Interestingly enough he is successful not only because of wit, but also his ability to empathize with people to see a situation for what it really is. The most interesting sections were the ones that took you through Ender’s thought process and to an ultimate decision.

One of the more amazing aspects of the book was the authors foresight into technology advancement. This book was written in 1994 but fluidly mentioned laptop like technology that operated on a global networked system (internet). Where people were judged by their interactions in social forums. It was so natural and true to the time that we actually live in, I didn’t think about the time disparity until about halfway through the book.

Overall it was a great read to get a fast start on my reading goal. Now onto some professional paradigm shifting.

Next Up: The Dip by  Seth Godin

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15 Jan

New Year’s Resolution: Read More




As part of my master plan for 2010 I made a challenge to myself to read 24 books this year. I figure two books a month isn’t incredibly taxing yet high enough to ensure I can’t slack for days at a time. So why am I telling you? Well, they say if you want to make a change in your life you have to set goals and then tell other people so they will hold you accountable.

Well, it’s been declared. Time to start reading. I will be posting my progress as I finish each book.

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15 Jan

Stompin’ (softly) in my Air Force Ones




Super talented designer ______ made these Ari Force One fold ups .Link to article

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05 Jan

Paper Parkour




parkour motion reel from saggyarmpit on Vimeo.

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30 Dec

Brief History of Communication




A breif History of communication from ljudbilden on Vimeo.

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28 Dec

More from Google Labs: Google googles




Visual search isn’t new, but has always been inconsistent and glitchy. While demo videos typically show the system working at optimal levels, it does appear that this is stable enough to release publicly. This is a really innovative concept that shows how the Android platform could start to differentiate itself from other systems. I wish this were available on my iPhone.

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22 Dec

Google’s Browser Size Tool




Google Labs has come out with another tool to help designer’s understand how their websites will be viewed: Google Browser Size. As you can see from the image above, it allows you to type in any URL and it overlays a visual representation of what “average” users can see based on mean percentages.

This is based on standard browsers and browser sizes, so it is more of an aggregate estimation, but provides useful insight when thinking about what elements will be seen by users immediately. With so much attention be drawn by what is and what is not above the fold, this can quickly give designers and developers  a reference point for key information placement.

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17 Dec

Money Oragami




img_0259Origami Camera

Check out this origami camera I folded out of $50 for my brother’s Christmas present this year. He is hard to shop for and I knew he was saving for a new camera, so I figured a little creativity would make a fairly thoughtless gift of cash look exceptional.

I found the instruction on the web from Won Park who has a sick portfolio of origami money.

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23 Nov

Baby Mangino




20081105babymangino2

I’m not trying to turn this into a KU fan blog, but I do feel obligated to post this. I might be a little late to the party on this, but this picture is the best Halloween costume I’ve ever seen! With all of Mangino’s trouble’s in the media lately at least his little counterpart can still make us smile.

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09 Nov

High Expectations




get_image

Kansas basketball gets the ESPN Magazine cover treatment this month as they ramp up to start a season full of expectation’s. Along with a preseason #1 ranking they also have two preseason all-Americans in Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich. Just in time to distract for Kansas fans from our football woes.

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