Sleep Variations
I’m a graphs nerd I’ve come to find out. I like to see things rather than read them. I want to see visually how something is changing or not changing rather than just hearing about it. So, I got this thing called a FitBit a while back that does just that. It sort of stalks me. I wear it all the time and it basically tracks all my activity and even sleep. How awesome is that?
So obviously being on the road there are some pretty drastic changes between road sleep and home sleep, but I’ve never actually been able to track it… until FitBit. Check this out. The first chart is bus sleep from the other night. I don’t think I need to explain what’s happening on there. It’s pink and blue… with some numbers… check it out.
And here’s home sleep last night. All of the sudden it makes a lot of sense why there are times when we are all wandering around a venue looking like a deer in headlights. I “woke up” 53 times on the bus and only 12 at home? Now, I’m not sure what this thing classifies as “waking up” but talk about a drastic difference eh?
How’s your sleep?
Gowalla Over Foursquare
So here’s the deal. I’m not an expert, and I have openly expressed my thoughts on those that think they are experts here on the interweb, but I’ve had a ton of people has me, ‘Why Gowalla over Foursquare or Facebook Places’, so I thought I’d answer here. Quite simply. I like it better. I like that I can contact the CEO and several employees in the company and work with them to do things. I like that aesthetically they don’t look like they were made on a 2004 Windows machine. I like that they have strict “rules” as to what their product will look like. And I like that they stepped up to Foursquare and used their own API to incorporate it into their app.
Sure, they aren’t the biggest, but I love how they work and I love that they are making strides to become the best by doing things well. They don’t just want to crash into something and try to be the biggest. They want to be best before they are the biggest. And I think they are on their way.
So, while I know that Foursquare and Facebook Places might be the most widely used, I’m sticking to Gowalla and making it my goal to convince you all to go that way too. They deserve it. Not to mention they’ve got some cool things planned in the future… I’ve heard.
Which are you using?
The 3% Is Laughing At You
I’ve had more than one conversation with “non-web” people that ask me the importance of design. I’m there geeking out about how cool something looks or the little details of the way a logo looks or the way a mouse-over works, and I look up to a blank stare. Someone once told me about “The 3% Rule”. It’s the rule that in music, only 3% of people hear when a band member messes up on stage unless it’s a major screw up, where everyone notices. The 3% of people that hear it and notice that it’s wrong and can also appreciate the details of the notes that are hit perfectly. The rest…. They enjoy the show.
I’ve been told that it’s similar with web design stuff. I’ve heard that there’s really only 3-5% of people that care if the drop shadows are off, or if your artist website looks out of date. ”Most people just don’t care, and you only do because that’s what you do for a living”, they say. Fair enough. I might be looking at it through “web-nerd” glasses. Or maybe an art-director’s glasses. Who knows. Either way that might be the case. But it occurred to me yesterday, If your site is bad, it might be only 3-5% of people that notice, but those 3-5% are laughing at you.
3-5% of people think that you’re not spending enough time or effort on your web presence. 3-5% of people know that you took the easy route and didn’t care about them. The other 97% don’t care, but you’ve insulted that 3-5%.
Now, I totally understand that there’s a flip side to it as well. If your site has trees growing and leaves falling, blasts music as soon as it loads, and there are sounds of electricity in the background, but I can’t find the blog button, you may have offended the 97%… at least until they find the mute button. So I get there needs to be a balance, but I think this cartoon above nails it. Can it look good and have great content? Sure. Does it take a little effort and forethought? Yep.
So what do you think? Is the 3% Rule pretty accurate? How many of you actually pay attention to the aesthetic details of a site? Does it impress you when things “look” really good or just if you can use it?
New Twitter Layout
So Twitter is rolling out this new layout. So far it’s not available to everyone, but from what I can tell this thing is going to be pretty sweet. And by pretty sweet, I mean, cool if I’m ever looking at Twitter.com for anything. What I’m hoping is that Twitter is using this as a stepping stone to creating a ‘TweetDeck-like’ desktop application that I can have sitting on my desktop. I’m sure it’s in the works.
Clearly there’s some cool stuff going on here though. It’s taking Twitter.com to the next level for sure. I love the idea of seeing responses and images all in one place. I just don’t want to have to keep the website open all the time.
Anyway, how many of you look at Twitter at Twitter.com? Do you think this will change the way you watch what’s going on with Twitter? Good idea or pointless?
How Do You Browse?
So, I’ve been playing around with different browsers recently, and I wanted to throw this out there. Up to this point I’ve been a pretty loyal Safari guy and here’s why. My reasoning is totally shallow and completely ‘un-tech’, but I don’t care. I figure if I’m using Safari on my Mac, wouldn’t I go with Apple’s browser? And to take it a step further, I’m using Safari on my phone (because it’s Mac’s browser). Consistency right? Well this past week I’ve been having some issues with Safari and I’ve been playing with some different browsers landing on Google Chrome.
Now I’m not completely sold on it yet, but it has taken it’s permanent place in my computers dock, so we’ll see what happens. It’s throwing me off a little just because I’m so used to things, but I’m kind of liking it.
What browsers are you using? Any argument why I should be using one over the other or is it just a preference thing?
Learn Something New Every Day
I ask my boys almost every day what they learned that day. Whether it’s at school, at home, at a friends, I figure they must have learned something. Typically the answer is “nothing”, but every once in a while they answer with something they really did learn that day. It’s kind of awesome to see when that happens.
I’m no good with Excel. In fact, it’d be safe to say that not only am I no good with Excel, but I also am not a fan of Excel. I don’t like the way it works. I don’t like the columns. I don’t like that when I do something in one box it messes with other boxes. It’s just a jacked up program that I wish I knew better. I’m also no good with Wireframes. I love the idea of wireframes. I’m just not good at mapping something out like that and it takes me forever to get it right.
Recently I’ve started to realize that it seems like more days than not I go to bed having learned something that I didn’t know when I woke up that day. Not because I’m seeking out these things that I need to know, but because some circumstance that day has caused me to do something I either, (a.) hate to do and so I haven’t learned it, or (b.) something I didn’t know how to do but needed to get done. So I’ve started paying attention.
I’ve even started a little notebook where I’m writing down the things that I’ve learned. Now, let’s be clear, these aren’t Earth shattering things. In fact, I’m even a little embarrassed to admit that today I wrote down that Kristin taught me how to change Excel sheets from vertical to horizontal for printing. Seems easy enough right? Well, I didn’t know it because I hate Excel and never wanted to learn it. In fact, currently I am forcing my brain to remember how to do that so I don’t intentionally forget it because I ‘don’t want to learn it’. And yesterday I sat down with several sheets of paper and tried to learn wireframes. I ended up working it out and now it’s something I feel more comfortable with. Not perfect, but I’m getting there.
Anyway, all that to say, this is something I’m going to try to start doing. And like most posts on this site, I’m going to ask you. What’d you learn today? It could be something as lame as turning a page sideways in Excel, but we all learned something. Who’s with me in starting a little notebook and writing these things down. Imagine how cool it would be in a year to look back at all the junk you’ve learned.
24 Rooms In 330 Square Feet
My father-in-law sent this to me and it’s pretty awesome. Now, I’m not saying that I’d necessarily want to live in a 344 square foot apartment in Hong Kong, but how brilliant is this place? I absolutely love the idea of taking something you’re given and turning it into something way cooler than it is. Invention is awesome.
The Last Shall Be Middle… Then First
So, today this weird thing happened. I woke up completely not thinking about today being the day that AT&T stores were starting to sell the iPhone4. I got up with the kids, drank some coffee then remembered. Without much hope I called a couple different AT&T stores asking what the chances were of getting a phone today. One guy told me they’d been open for an hour and already gone through fifty phones. Another place told me that they had some but I’d better hurry because the line was getting longer and the supply was getting smaller. So Blue and I hoped in the car and headed that way.
When we got to the store there were about twenty people outside the store lined up so we took our place in the back. Not a huge deal if I can’t get one today, but at least I’ll be on some list or something for later this week. Customer after customer came out of the store holding a bag, but refusing to look up or speak. It was almost as if they had been sworn to secrecy in there. Kind of creepy really. Fast forward about 20 minutes and here I am seven or eight people back. A guy comes out, breaking his code with AT&T and yelling out, “There’s only two left.”. All at once the line in front and now behind me lets out this synchronized moan. Well no kidding. People were there at three o’clock this morning. I’m still in it for the sign up and phone call later this week.
Jump ahead now to five minutes later and I’m about four people back. An AT&T employee comes out and explains that they are, in fact, out of phones, but would be getting another shipment later today and it should be able to accommodate everyone in line. All we needed to do was fill out this sheet and wait for a call. ”Nice. I’ll get a phone today”, I told Blue. People were noticeably disappointed but I guess I had pretty low expectations so it worked out.
Fast forward one more time to now I’m the next guy in line. I’m still outside, but waiting for the guy to open the door and allow me in the store. As he’s opening the door another employee walks up to him and says quietly, “I found one more.”. The guy looks at me and says, “I guess today’s your lucky day.”. I guess so.
Five minutes later I was dropping my first call on my new phone with my dad who was in line in California waiting to get his phone.
I’m not sure the moral of this story, but I got a new phone and it seems pretty cool. Who’s getting / already got one?
On The Fence
It’s magical. It’s revolutionary. It will change the way I check my email. It’s all those things and more right? I’ll use it more than I’ll use my existing computer. It’s lighter than my laptop. I’ve heard all the arguments for me to run out and get an iPad. And don’t get me wrong. I want one for sure. But I’m still on the fence deciding if I need one.
I literally have been going back and forth with myself. Do I need it? Would I really use it enough to make it worth it? Do I go with the 64 gig if I do? 3G? See how this can mess with you?
Now, most of you know, I spend all sorts of time ‘online’. I’m always having to do something, most of which is possible to do from my phone, but not the easiest thing in the world. My question would be, is the iPad going to replace anything? It can’t replace my computer, it can’t replace my phone, it won’t replace my kids toys, but do I still need it?
Let’s hear it. Should I go get one?
Morgan Freeman – Career Killer?
I used to work with these two guys. One guy I was friends with and typically to pass the time during the day we would come up with some sort of “debate” to discuss. Even if we saw eye-to-eye on the specific subject one of us would take a ‘side’ and we’d spend the day thinking on that particular subject and debating both sides of the issue. Environmentalism, Politics, Business, Music. Anything was fair game because the debate passed the time, kept us thinking and quite honestly made the day go by faster. The second guy I worked with always tried to jump in on the discussions, and we’d typically let him. He could speak his mind and try to convince us why at least one of us should agree with him. Typically we’d include him and try to see his view on thing until he came up with the ‘Morgan Freeman Career Killer’ discussion.
Here was his theory. And this was his exact wording.
“Once an actor or actress is in a movie with Morgan Freeman, their career is over from that point on.”
What?! That’s not even remotely a valid way to start a debate. Not to mention the complete joke that that statement even is. Now, keep in mind that this was roughly around 2002-2003. And if I were to look at movies that were made in 2002-2003 and took all the actors in those movies and cross checked to see if any of those successful actors had ever been in a film with Morgan Freeman, there’s argument that it would completely kill the discussion even now. But really my argument came down to one person. Brad Pitt. Seven? Morgan Freeman. Brilliant movie, and I think Brad went on to have a couple of decent movies after Seven came out. Are you kidding me?
He tried for a while to keep the “discussion” alive by saying that none of Brad Pitts movies had done well (or were any good) after Seven and that his career was “basically over”. And he also tried to throw in that Morgan Freeman wasn’t necessarily the problem, because he was a good actor in good movies.
I’m pretty sure I ended up leaving early that day.
Anyone else heard of this completely asinine theory?
