I’ve always looked at buying a couch as one of the final milestones of “becoming an adult.” Not a futon or a foam couch that sinks half a foot lower when you sit on it, but a good and proper single-purpose couch that weighs more than one person can carry. A couch that [...]
In which alephito and I share a family moment during the late summer in Vancouver (photograph).
In early 2009, thanks to the generous donations of friends and family, I attended the 2nd annual Interaction Design conference in my hometown of Vancouver. The three day event was exhilarating, educational, and inspirational. The hands-on workshops afforded insight and instruction from top practitioners in the field, the speakers challenged us, and the [...]
Over at LiFT Studios I’m learning the art of patience. During the course of recording and producing an interview with Chris Stone – UX designer at Nitobi and local IxDA leader – I was assaulted on all sides by angry deities of technology. From the imps that sucked the batteries dry (thanks guys, [...]
My brother is a creative kind of fellow, though his creativity is usually ephemeral or inaccessible – stacked rocks in the forest, writings trapped in his journal, fables stamped onto the hood of his car. As of late he’s been dabbling in the digital realm, doing a bit of Flash work and composing catchy [...]
Over at LiFT Studios I’m learning the art of the interview and the art of video production while working on the LiFT Studios Broadcast (LSB) – a weekly podcast about all things design. A while back I sat down with Haig Armen, the founder and director of LiFT, to talk about his approach to [...]
In which I try to find spring, but wind up snapping a photo of sneakers (photograph).
In April of 2008 I relaunched Protocol 7 with Oulipo, my personal variation on the black and white, grid-based design style. Over the months it was featured in a several galleries and I received a number of emails from people interested in using the theme on their own site. Now that I’ve redesigned [...]
I haven’t mentioned it before, but I’m attending the 2nd annual Interaction Design Conference this year. I’m so excited about it I can hardly sleep at night. Just check out the incredible program and speakers lined up this year and you probably won’t be able to sleep either. And as long as [...]
Okay, the title is completely gimmicky and has nothing to do with the current recession, but ’tis the season and, with beer in hand, I find myself indulging. A couple of people have nudged me with question marks regarding the site and the husband-boy was rather nonplussed considering I how much I liked the [...]
I like social media and its various incarnations, but usually find it too distracting to deal with in real time and concurrently Get Things Done. I go through phases though, where I keep everything on, plugged-in, and flowing, immersing myself in the ‘now’ of minutia. Thankfully, this week has been one of those [...]
I’m interested in ambient interfaces, unobtrusive data, and augmented reality, which is why this video, The Ambient Life, caught my eye over at johnnyholland.org. According to the post, The Ambient Life,
… was created for Freeband, a Dutch research program in which a.o. Philips and Delft University participate. The video tries to show a [...]
I swear, I’m going to corner the market for wakalixes. Anyways, now that I have an iPhone I’ve been wanting a place to aggregate visual impressions of my days as they pass by. I love the lo-fi quality of the camera and with CameraBag on board it’s like I have a magic-pocket full [...]
Yeah, so, shortly after paying the price of a small car for the privilege of tight seating and gastrically taxing food, I kind of slipped into a coma of daily logistics and totally stopped writing, much to my own mortification. I thought it would be good to start jotting down reflections of the years [...]
I have a confession to make. It’s the kind of confession that you normally wouldn’t bring up in mixed company, or with people you don’t know very well, but the blank buffer of cyberspace gives me enough false courage that I can talk openly. The whole thing happened a number of months back, [...]
When we first set off to live in Japan, five to ten years sounded like a good amount of time to spend battling robots and learning to be ninja. However, angry robots are a bit thin on the ground, and stealthy is hard to come by when you stick out like a sore thumb. [...]
Mal was found in the garden, unhatched, and incubated by a black chicken. She[1] came later than the rest, towards the end of the summer, once they had already fledged and left the hen house. It was clear she was a mallard, not a muscovy, and with that the decision was made. [...]