admin

Jun 29 2007
0

Facebook: honeymoon over.

Posted by | technology | No Comments

Here here! Jason has an excellent post about Facebook as the new AOL. Its a comparison that people don’t want to admit to being accurate, because AOL is everything that is considered unfashionable amongst the web’s key influencers, whilst Facebook is quite the thing. I must admit this short lived enthusiasm mirrors my own feelings. A couple of months ago I was breathless about it, largely because of its minimalist design. And now I find it pretty amateur and useless, despite its slick appearance. In short, there is something about Facebook that doesn’t feel like its a step forward in the development of the web. Facebook is the new AOL (kottke.org)

Read More
Jun 18 2007
0

The Design of Facebook

Posted by | design | No Comments

Almost as many people are going gaga about Facebook these days, as the iPhone and the knee-jerk reaction seems to be to focus the discussion on the ui design, since it is so conspicuously different from Myspace. Myspace is a ‘fugly’ mess, when Myspace was hip amongst the geeks, then fugly was hip. Successful things on the web, it was argued, are about customization and flexibility. The sticker-book-full-of-crap style of Myspace would do better than the stifling control enforced by some graphic design Nazi. Facebook is different, it really is well designed, and now I’m hearing some of the same people who debated the virtues of fuglyness promote facebook. Interestingly, not many people have picked up on the fact that Facebook is as different from what has become the web 2.0 style, as the Myspace style. Web 2.0 sites tend to use a lot of extraneous CSS and HTML to…

Read More
Jun 14 2007
0

Apple’s future rests on the keyboard – or lack of it.

Posted by | design | No Comments

NYTimes “If there is a billion-dollar gamble underlying Apple’s iPhone, it lies in what this smart cellphone does not have: a mechanical keyboard.” This pretty much sums it up. Apples nailed the perfect form factor with the iPod (a cigarette packet rather than the disastrous Newton brick). However, things have moved on since, in the world of smartphones and the Blackberry style keyboard beneath screen is ‘good enough’. I feel myself drooling over the iPhone but wishing it had a keyboard. And that seems worrying.

Read More
May 18 2007
0

T-Mobile Instant Message Scam

Posted by | Uncategorized | No Comments

T-Mobile charge 10c for every line of an IM conversation! Its worth checking the small print of your cell phone plan: Amazingly, T-Mobile are charging me 10c every single time I hit return, while using AIM on my Blackberry. They treat each individual line in an IM message as a separate text messag – which seems like a total scam. Can you imagine the outcry if using Instant messenger cost this on a computer? “Instant Messaging Use your existing username and Yahoo! Messenger or AOL Instant Messenger to see who’s available, then chat instantly–just like on your computer. Each instant message sent or received is charged or deducted as a text message. You may also be charged for all the administrative functions such as buddy list updates or signing on and off. “

Read More
May 16 2007
0

In defense of Technorati

Posted by | search engines | No Comments

After 911 AltaVista scored some rare Brownie Points against Google, in the press, because Google didn’t have news search, but AV did, via Moreover. Google News was built largely as a result of 911. It proved that Moreover was a news search engine, but it was too late. Our PR company had told us that ‘search is dead’ and without a revenue model for search engines, there was pressure from all sides to make Moreover something else – which resulted in all sorts of convoluted bullshit and meant that Moreover never had decent technology for full-text search. Eppur Si Muove. Technorati is in the same boat, there is probably a great deal of pressure not to call it a blog search engine, and perhaps for a different reason than Moreover – that Google is too difficult to take head on. I may sound arrogant, but I cant help feeling that…

Read More
May 11 2007
0

Blogfest Design Competition

Posted by | diary | No Comments

The Apartment has kindly offered Design Blogfest their Crosby Street window for the duration of New York Design Week. We thought it would be fun to show some indie design… are you a designer with a prototype that we could put in the window? If yes, please upload an image from your website or Flickr, a brief description and the keyword “designblogfest” here in Wists. All the entries will be available at wists.com/everyone/designblogfest. The Design Blogfest bloggers will create a shortlist on Monday afternoon after which we’ll ask you the readers to vote on the best design. Yeah, we know, it’s short notice, but then that’s what blogs are all about. 😉 Important dates: – Now, upload an image from your website or Flickr to Wists and tag “designblogfest” – Monday May 14, 12noon EST, deadline for entries via Wists – Tuesday May 15, shortlist of finalists, voting begins –…

Read More
May 08 2007
0

RIP Allan Woolley

Posted by | Uncategorized | No Comments

Dr. Allan Wooley was my school Chemistry teacher and ‘Form Master’ as they called the teacher that was responsible not just for your academic performance, but your general well being. And he really cared about people’s well being. Making it all the more tragic that he apparently took his own life last week. He was a great and memorable teacher. Nobody can have a more widespread, meaningful and lasting legacy than a great teacher.

Read More