Archive for Uncategorized
You can pick your friends…and your panels?
For the second year in a row, the SXSW Interactive Festival is working the panel picker to help determine what panels and content get programmed into the festival. The deadline for voting on panels is tonight at 11:59pm…and there are over 730 panels to pick from. So, get picking fast.
iA Web Trendmap 2007
Interesting map that the fine folks at Information Architects Japan pulled together a few weeks ago. According to them:
In house, we use it as a consulting tool. It has helped us exploring, defining and explaining the Internet strategy and positioning of all of our clients since we first introduced it in January. Each website on the map stands as a (more or less) successful paradigm for an interactive brand, design or business model. In order to position yourself, you need to know your place on this map.
Indeed. You gotta know where you are before you can pick the right direction to go. Don’t know if this is the right map, but it sure is a compelling start.
Nurturing creativity: Sir Ken Robinson…no relation
Link: Sir Ken Robinson on TED Talks.
"If you are not prepared to be wrong, you’ll never come up with anything original."
The Future of Film on the Web
"While the Titanic is turning," DeVos explains, "there’s kids picking up cameras in Tulsa and Jacksonville and D.C. and making really compelling films – not just clips they’re posting to YouTube. That’s what we get excited about." <link>
Testing out IMified
Just testing out a new service just launched this month called IMified (www.IMified.com). IMified lets your access a number of web applications and other tools via your favorite IM service. I’m actually writing this post through Adium to AIM to Typepad. Neat idea…but I’ll have to use it a bit more to determine its practicality.
Friends With Money: Recommended
Link: Friends With Money (2006) – Spout.
I saw this film for the second time this weekend as part of the Spirit Awards. Friends With Money has been nominated under the category of Best Screenplay for Nicole Holofcener’s work as writer/director.
I gotta say, I enjoyed this film a lot more the second time around. Maybe it’s because I didn’t have to stay as focused to the plot and could pay lots of attention to the dialogue. Maybe it’s the company I kept during this screening.
The first time around, I saw this film at its premiere at Sundance 2006 with a group of 20-somethings. This time around I saw it with my wife. Although I won’t divulge the age spread there, suffice to say that I think a more mature audience will appreciate Ms. Holofcener’s work…our at least people who have been in a relationship for a while…years. What is portrayed in this film are subtleties. Quite often the most important things to be said aren’t spoken.
Although I’m not a huge fan of Jennifer Aniston, the cast of Frinds With Money includes: Francis McDormand, Joan Cusack, Catherine Keener, and Jason Isaacs (who I met on the streets of Park City one VERY cold evening). How can’t you enjoy a film with that list?
Final analysis: Friends With Money is not a revelation in either film making or how it depicts marriage and friendship. It is more of a comfortable recognition of what you know or already suspect about relationships – a second coming of age exists somewhere between 35 and 45…and we all ask the same questions (regardless of class).
Flock
Cool beans. I’m writing this post from within the built-in blogging tools on the Flock Browser – a self-acclaimed “social browsing” tool. Not much of an opinion about it yet, just some initial impressions:
- The blogging tools are clean and simple…but the formatting still has a few kinks.
- The integration with del.icio.us is pretty cool…although it means I need to start using del.icio.us more often.
- Tabbing works pretty well…but nothing new either.
- Sites seem to load quickly.
- Overall design looks pretty minimalist, but the tabs don’t align with the overall asthetic.
I’ll keep using it through the weekend and offer some more thoughts. If you want to test drive it form yourself, go here:
http://www.flock.com/developer/download/preview/
…and use these:
username: caveat
password: emptor
…and then tell me what you think.
EverNote
Let me start of by saying that I am always looking for a better way to work. For me that means considering new philosophies, methods…and trying lot’s of beta software. Some of it has been good, some bad. Some I have weaved into my everyday life (Firefox, TypePad, Skype and del.icio.us) and some I just can’t get myself to use with more frequency (like MindManager). All of it is an effort to streamline, improve, connect or expand my ability to think, create, work and be productive.
One of those things I wish I’d be better at is note taking. As I am not a naturally organized person, I have tried numerous systems (software, hardware and paper-ware) over the years to help capture ideas, to-do’s, and things I find interesting throughout my day. My use of solutions from Palm, Handspring, SmartPhone, Post-It Sotware, Levenger’s Circa system and Moleskine books have all been attempts (with varying degrees of success) to get my note taking in order.
Up until a few days ago I thought I had this all figured out. After working for awhile at a Microsoft Gold Partner, I got used to using OneNote – their electronic note taking system. I say "got used to" because, although it has provided the best solution to date for me, it has not been the more intuitive experience.
Enter EverNote – finally a more natural and organic way to take notes.
What do I like about it so far?
- organization through keywords and tags instead of folders
- ability to enter a wide variety on content – web excepts, handwritten notes, text, files, bookmarks, etc.
- and a groovy little extension for Firefox that allows you to highlight text/images and directly import them into EverNote…along with a source link
- fast search
As I’m just getting used to it, I’m sure I’ll find other benefits…as well as drawbacks. But until then, take a look at some of the comments coming from Slacker Manager (link and link) and theofficeweblog (link and link). I’ll give it a few more weeks of use and then report back.
