Whimsy

Interesting observation is that “solo-dev” seems to be the new indie.

...In this case, I think it’s great when things get brought back to the basics… Work by just one person counts as something. It brings value to the table in ways that work by large teams never will because it’s the unique voice, perspective, and intention of just one person that you are experiencing when you are playing their game. Experimentation can thrive here.

...It is particularly interesting when you look at the tool space. Tools outside of the mainstream, made by just one person, a group of friends, or a small team… all asking “what if”, and then exploring how their tool can empower creation in an idealistically creative way.

Gather brings the best of in-person collaboration to distributed teams. Communicate, collaborate, and feel more connected in a persistent space that reflects your unique team culture.

Little Big Details is a curated collection of the finer details of design.

As Charles & Ray Eames put it:

“The details are not the details; they make the product.”

A work in process of mapping the creative coding community around the world.

The “case study?” column was the whole point of the spreadsheet — identifying which projects I still needed to write up for my portfolio — but at this point I looked at the sheet, and thought “This is honestly a better overview of the work I do than any ‘portfolio’ I’ve seen”.

So I tweeted a screenshot, joking/trolling that it WAS my portfolio (I didn’t include any winks or notes that I was still planning a “real” portfolio), but people didn’t respond with the lulz I expected — they got the idea, or took it at face value and said they were going to do their portfolio this way too!

An audacious attempt to reshape blogging, to see where it can go next!

Podcasts and video have really taken over - to the extent that it feels like reading may be falling behind. Can we enhance text and imagery on the Web? Try to give blogging new life?

A curated list of sites with an extra bit of fun.

a comic about growing up online

hi, im eva

im a developer and (un)professional pentester mostly interested in infosec, and a silly block game.

I made a new game with greg technology. It’s called Talk Paper Scissors. It lets you play rock paper scissors with strangers by calling a phone number.

It’s an attempt to make an audio-only stranger video. Here’s how it works:

1. you call a phone number
2. you’re asked to say rock, paper, or scissors
3. you aren’t allowed to say anything else
4. you hear a recording of what the stranger said and are told whether you won or lost

To play call 1-(515)-762-5762 (that’s 1-515-ROCK-ROC).

You will perhaps know that humans are far better at judging relative length than relative area, so a stacked bar chart is to be preferred to a pie chart. You will perhaps have graph color opinions. These preferences follow from a desire to create our visualizations in ways that work with known attributes of human perception and cognition.

...The most delightful kind of off-the-wall idea is both ludicrous and solidly correct.

If science fiction weren’t created by cowards, every time you see a bank of High Tech Screens monitoring some system, there would be a bunch of cartoon faces with expressions subtly animating...

Remember when tech wasn't all sleek slabs and monotone minimalism? When gadgets were vibrant, playful, and dared to be, well, weird? Yeah, me too.

...In the recent past, we used to get new devices all the time. Palm Pilots, Tamagotchis, calculator watches, even clunky walkie-talkies – they weren't all game-changers, but they were sparks in the tinderbox of creativity for engineers and product managers the world over. They pushed boundaries, sparked imaginations, and kept the tech world humming with the energy of ‘what if?’

That's the real magic of new funky gadgets. It's not about the specs or the price tag (though, let's be honest, who can resist a new toy, and at $200 it’s an easy purchase to tinker with). It's about the audacity to be different, to inject a little fun into what some would say is now simply another part of change-averse corporate America. It's a neon sign flashing: you don’t have to be a trillion dollar company to build a device. That’s cool.

Today I made an Exit page. So many people end their visit by hitting the Back button on their browser. The exit page is a last attempt to get them to explore the Blog Directory to find an entertaining blog. Or failing that to try a search on a search engine they may have never tried before.

Grills of iron are very necessary ornaments in the lines of walks, to extend the view, and to show the country to advantage. At present we frequently make thoroughviews, called Ah, Ah, which are openings in the walls, without grills, to the very level of the walks, with a large and deep ditch at the foot of them, lined on both sides to sustain the earth, and prevent the getting over; which surprises the eye upon coming near it, and makes one laugh, Ha! Ha! from where it takes its name. This sort of opening is, on some occasions, to be preferred, for that it does not at all interrupt the prospect, as the bars of a grill do.

Downpour is the best way to make games on your phone. Collage together photos, drawings and text, and then connect them into an interactive story. It's genuinely quick and easy to use — you can make a game before your tea has gone cold.