Entries in the Personal category:
It’s the App Store, stupid
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Last year, I resisted the temptation of the first generation iPhone. This year I’ve succumbed, and my iPhone 3G is on the way (my cunning plan to wait a week after the launch and just walk into an AT&T store and pick one up as been scuppered by the strong demand).
So what’s changed? Part of it is that my resistance has been worn down by the many reports and sightings of people happily using (and raving about) the phone. Also, we’re now just out of contract with Sprint, so there’ll be no early termination fees for jumping carriers.
But the 3G version of the phone also offers some solid reasons to jump on board now.
Apple Certified Pro
Monday, June 30, 2008
Last week I went to all4DVD in Orange County south of LA for a 2-day training course in Apple’s Aperture. And when the training was over I took the certification test, and passed. So I’m delighted to say I’m now an Apple Certified Pro Level 1 in Aperture.
The course, taught by Aperture Master Trainer Victor Maldonaldo, was pretty intense - it’s been a long time since I spent 2 days solid doing one thing in front of a computer, let alone trying to absorb all the information and instructions coming at me.
Vote David!
Friday, June 06, 2008
I’m happy to announce that I’ve been chosen as a finalist in the Radio Free Santa Fe/O’Keeffe Museum Landscape Photography of New Mexico contest.
To tie in with the ”Georgia O’Keeffe and Ansel Adams: Natural Affinities” exhibition running at the O’Keeffe at the moment, the contest (open to professionals and amateurs) is for black and white New Mexico landscape photography.
The ten finalists’ pictures (including mine) are currently on display at the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum Education Annex.
Democracy in action
The grand prize winner will be decided by the visitors to the Radio Free Santa Fe site - free registration is required to vote.
So head over to check out the finalists (at least 6 of them are from pro photographers), and if you’d like to vote for my entry, that’d be great.
Helvetica - the movie
Monday, December 03, 2007
I watched Helvetica last night. Watching a movie about a typeface marks me out as a consummate geek, but it was a great documentary.
By giving lots of information about Helvetica’s development and usage, it ends up as informal history of design over the last 50 years.
Great clips from graphic designers and type designers keep things moving along, and one of the things that struck me was how different American designers use of the font was from European use.
So far from being a fascistic typeface forcing conformity on us all (as the boomer-era designers insisted), it has within it the capability to create very different moods and impressions.
Lots of Apple gear on view in the designers’ studios of course, and I really want a Freitag bag now (made from recycled truck tarpaulins and used seat belts). With some Helvetica on it, of course.
Pilot Precise V5 - my weapon of choice
Friday, November 02, 2007
For a technologically-involved person, I spend a lot of time interested in analogue devices. Like pens and paper. This week, one of my trusty Pilot V5
I buy these pens in boxes of twelve, for fear they’ll stop making them. They’re reliable (they work perfectly up until the point when they meet their maker), smooth and very fine - allowing you to write neat tiny lines quickly.
At any one time probably four or five are divided between home, the office and my bag, so I’m never too far from one. When I left Dublin, my generous employer gave me a very nice Montblanc fountain pen, but that’s sitting in my pen mug at home because it doesn’t cover the paper so smoothly and precisely.
Teaching User Experience at Highlands University
Monday, August 27, 2007
As the new academic year begins, I’m happy to say I’m now an Adjunct Instructor in the Media Arts department at New Mexico Highlands University in Las Vegas.
I’ll be teaching a course on Designing for User Experience to upper-level undergraduates and to postgrads, covering the basics of user experience, usability and user-centered design.
It’s a nice to be back teaching (in Dublin, I devised a delivered a series of one-day training workshops as part of the iQ Content Boot Camp series), and the students are a good group.
I’ll be posting PDF versions of my presentations when I get the chance, for those who are interested, and while they might not mean much without my explanations, you’re all more than welcome to follow along.
New Photo Essay for JPG Magazine
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
This one’s slightly out of the ordinary. Just wanted to let you know I’ve written a photo essay for the photography site and magazine JPG. It outlines how my interest in all things photographic has grown since my daughter Fionnuala was born, and there are some photos to accompany it. So please head over and check it out if you’re interested.
JPG has an interesting model - people submit photos, essays and articles (often on particular themes), and the other users vote on them. The best end up in a print magazine that’s published every two months and available nationally (so a vote for my essay would be gratefully received).
Anyway, now back to work.
Memorial Day update
Monday, May 28, 2007
A quick note on what’s been happening at MC Towers recently - I’ve been a little lax with the news, because there’s been so much of it.
Santa Fe Prep site launched
This was actually a while ago, but we’re still filling out the range of content, so it’s never clear exactly when the site’s due for an announcement. As well as the planning, design and construction of the new site for Santa Fe’s premier independent school, we designed and set up a new email newsletter system for them, to keep all the parents, students, alums and other interested parties informed. You can visit the site now, and I’ll post more detailed case study in a while, as it was a complex but rewarding project.
Breakthrough Santa Fe
In another project for Santa Fe Prep, we built a sister site for their great tuition-free program in which talented high school and college students teach middle school students with limited educational opportunities the academic, organizational and social skills they will need to succeed in competitive high schools.
Back from Europe
Thursday, April 26, 2007
You might have noticed it’s been a bit quiet here recently.
We were away in England and Italy for a little over two weeks, but we’re back now.
Normal service will be resumed as soon as I recover from my jet lag, and get used to the altitude again.
On a slightly techie note, I brought the laptop with me, which was well worth it. Finn watched an Elmo DVD on the trans-Atlantic flight when all else failed, and I could review and backup the day’s photos that evening, which was a great improvement on waiting to get your films back when the holiday’s long over.
And in a hotel room in High Wycombe we webcammed with the in-laws in LA - a bizarre experience.
Anyway, if yoiu’ve been holding off on that phone call because you knew I was away, now’s your chance to get in touch.
The RAW and the cooked
Friday, March 16, 2007
I’ve used digital point and shoots for 9 years - I bought an Olympus when I moved to Manhattan, Kansas and wanted to show the folks back home in England and Ireland what I was up to.
I dropped that camera somewhere in Colorado on the way back from mountain-biking in Crested Butte, and replaced it with a nice sturdy metal-bodied 2.1MP Canon PowerShot S10 when I moved to San Francisco in 2000.
Twinned with a microdrive, it accompanied me as I hiked, mountain-biked and rafted from one side of Costa Rica to the other, and took all the shots on my cycling trips across Europe and down the Mississippi.
So I’ve ended up with a lot of JPGs, and manipulated them a little too. But that had in no way prepared me for how much I’m enjoying shooting in RAW on my new Digital Rebel XT (or 350D).