Almost 10 years ago a startup screen which my brother Mike and I had designed was featured in the Japanese magazine Mac People. When I was approached to have the startup screen featured in the magazine and included on their CD, I had requested that they send me a copy of the issue. Long after my exuberance about being in a magazine at age 15 had passed, having assumed they passed on including our work, a package from Japan filled our mailbox.
My 15 minutes of fame has occurred and I suppose I’m at liberty to say, I’m Big In Japan I Was Big In Japan.
Instructions on how to operate a mouse are fairly rare these days. But there was a time when the mouse was a new method of interaction and we had to inform people on the mechanics of its operation. In a 1984 Apple brochure for the Macintosh they outlined how to use a mouse and what it could be used for. Reading it today, it sounds like a set of directions for something as pedestrian as a door handle.
User experience professionals seem to be in fairly good demand it appears. I only say this due to the amount of recruiter calls I receive. Typically 1 every other day. Lately though they have really stepped it up–calling my mobile phone, calling my office phone (by way of dialing the company switchboard), and emailing me.
Everyone gets the call saying that a friend or colleague had referred them and by the way they want to remain anonymous. But recently I got a call that topped that them all simply by being as ambiguous as possible.
Hi Bryan, this is Ron Gold. I’ve got something important to talk to you about. Call me back at 1-888-555-5555 ext 106
My old college roommate, Kevin, sent me a link today about a story of a woman who has started a pet rental service called Flex Petz. While in school Kevin and I, fond users of the ZipCar service, often joked about the idea of creating a company around the same model but with dogs–ZipDog (aptly named for the assumed buyout offer from ZipCar that was surely to come).
The idea was simple; not many people want to own a dog or can’t due to building rules, but do like to play with them. We envisioned package deals with ZipCar for weekend getaways to the beach where you not only rented the car but also a friendly companion to throw the frisbee around with. Most people balked at the idea, citing many reasons as far as people renting dogs simply to abuse them. All issues aside, it certainly was a missed business opportunity.
Word is Flex Petz is expanding to New York City in the fall. This will surely be interesting to see how it pans out. Although I know a fair amount of New Yorkers who would gladly lend their pet for a day or two, especially during the week days.
You almost can’t buy a TV today that isn’t a widescreen, yet the majority of our TV programming is still broadcasted in the traditional 4:3 aspect ratio (square shape) format. But you’ve got that nice widescreen tv so you got to use that all too common stretch feature, which more often than not produces a poor image and is not at all flattering for our favorite celebrities.
What was originally designed to be a feature to handle legacy content is unnecessarily making its way to the web. CNN, who broadcasts in 4:3, has just recently updated their web site and has implemented a new video player. Oddly, they have opted to replicate this stretching effect on their web site.
Maybe their assumption is that people are used to seeing CNN stretched or they are trying to give the impression that they shoot in widescreen. This is nothing new to CNN as Chris Fahey points out, they also stretch the video on the TVs in their studios.