Does this ring true for you?

Created by: Online Schools

Perceptive Pixel demos 82" multi-touch display

Vancouver Cleanup: Post-Riots

Vancouver Cleanup: Post-Riots, a set by Maurice Li on Flickr.

A much nicer side to a great city.

Fight of the Century: Keynes vs. Hayek Round Two

The Future of Collaborative Visual Communications

They Got it Right

Japan Earthquake Swarm Google Earth Animation

The World Has Changed...Just a Bit

Doing the Unlikely

Image source: Apple

Apple has managed to do something everyone else so far has failed at: make UNIX usable for non-geeks. In fact, Apple has turned UNIX into a mass-market consumer operating system. How? iOS, which powers the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad, is UNIX at its core. The typical iOS device user doesn't need to know this, and frankly, they don't care so long as their devices work properly. iOS shares core code with MacOS X, so there's a non-trivial degree of reusability between codebases, and lessons learned on iOS are transferred to MacOS X and vice versa. This is only to be expected, since both iOS and MacOS X trace their ancestry to NeXTSTEP, the platform on which Tim Berners-Lee invented the web in 1990. So UNIX is alive and well...and thanks to Apple, popular. Not bad for an OS first developed in 1969. For historical context, scroll through the UNIX timeline.

Is How We Read Changing?

Doing the Right Thing

On Dec. 19, 2010, I ordered three items from the Canadian online Apple Store for my brother-in-law's Christmas present. The package was delivered on Dec. 22 to his home in Metro Vancouver. Unfortunately, one of the three items I ordered, an Apple Remote, was not in the package. Today I called Apple to follow up. The automated interactive voice response system took my order details, which I spoke in complete sentences as requested, then transferred me to a customer service agent, Stacy, who apologized for the oversight and arranged to have a free replacement shipped at no charge to my brother-in-law's address. The entire interaction was pleasant and took just a few minutes, consistent with the positive user experience Apple strives for in all of its products and services. Attention to detail is what sets Apple apart from many other organizations. It's yet another reason I'm a long-time Apple customer.

Almost Like New Again

The old is new again

Last week I made an appointment at a nearby Apple Store to resolve issues with duplicate contact and calendar data on my iPhone. The staffer who helped me noticed my late-2007 Macbook was missing a sliver of plastic from the front edge of the top plate that supports the keyboard and trackpad. According to him, certain MacBooks had quality issues with the plastic used for this part of the case, so he offered to replace the part overnight at no charge even though the computer was well past warranty and I'd bought it from the refurbished section of the Apple Online Store.I got my computer back today. The keyboard and trackpad—indeed the entire top plate—were brand new, as promised. The outer case had been cleaned and polished, so scratches and scuff marks from almost three years of daily use were gone. The display surface was also the cleanest I've seen since I first got the computer. The entire unit was returned to me in better physical condition than when I handed it in for repair.

I've been an Apple customer for 15+ years. Apple's not perfect, but it sure gets a lot of things right.

In Flanders Fields

The Human Family Can Do Better

Data visualization is a 21st-century core competency

Ignorant spammers - pathetic

Say what?

Today I received this email (note the grammatical lapses):

As a result of unusual congestion in our email servers system, there would be removal of all unused Gmail Accounts. You will have to confirm your login details below for proper verification and for us to confirm your account activeness. Please feed us back with your login information below after clicking the reply button.

Account Name:
Password: 

Present Country:

Note: Failure to give Google Account Team your login information above will leads to suspension and elimination of your Account permanently. Your response with the required details is mandatory for your Account security.

Google Account Management.

Riight.

Feeding Time

Two Weeks With an iPad

I ordered my 64GB 3G iPad on May 10, and although it was scheduled for delivery on May 28, a flight delay meant I got it on May 31. No biggie. It was good to have a (relatively) distraction-free weekend. So now I've had it for almost two weeks. First impressions: iPad is heavier than I thought it would be; its screen smudges more easily than it probably should; the onscreen virtual keyboard is not really suitable for extended typing.

It sounds like I'm dissing it altogether. Perish the thought. Although I'm still getting used to it, I'm enjoying the different interaction mode it encourages: anytime-anywhere access to information in the cloud or on the device–my 64GB is nearly full, with over 130 high-def TEDtalks. The inertial scrolling, with its subtle and refined acceleration and deceleration, is sheer joy to use. Yes, it seems like a cliché, but Apple hit one out of the park with the user experience on the iPad. Going back to a conventional mouse-windows-icons-keyboard interface on my Mac feels so...20th century.

What Motivates Us?

Most businesses get it wrong, according to Dan Pink. Watch, listen, and learn.

TEDxCalgary

The first TEDx conference I attended was an eye-opener. Two months later, my second TEDx event confirms that these gatherings are well worth attending. The notion of "ideas worth spreading" is too tame. Some of the ideas presented are life-altering — in a good way. So why does it seem that so many people still don't know about TED and its philosophy? How else can I explain the knowledge silos that persist in so many places, such as — and it pains me to say this — the organization I work for? I've worked at other large companies, and they all suffer internal gaps in communication. The key point I took away from today is the foundational role that storytelling plays in culture, for any organization or society that wants to develop some form of robust self-understanding. Data + analysis + presentation = actionable insight. I intend to apply this to my work. I've feasted at a brain banquet. Now, to digest.