Archive for January, 2009
Designers need design help
Jan 12th
I was recently sent a link to check out a website that needed some help with their corporate copy. Normally I’m all for it because well, work is work and in these trying times it’s tough to survive as a CEO let alone survive as a writer. Anyways, the link was sent over, and for the first time in my life I was stumped as to how I could help fix a problem. I’m not going to link to the site, nor am I even going to mention the name (I’m not a dick like that), but I’m posting this More >
Resisting… For A Second Time
Jan 11th
Resistance 2 Box Cover
Lately I’ve been combating insomnia with a new technique. Gaming…. I’m not a huge video game player, but I play enough to understand the concepts of most of them and I’m enough of a fan to spend an evening staying in and chatting through a head set telling people to “Flank left!” My latest game of choice? Resistance 2.
This game is somewhat what I’ve been waiting for since Desert Storm 2 for the original XBOX. I’m big on team and coop play so when Resistance came out, I checked out the online capabilities right away. To me More >
Grabbing my canoe and hitting the I-5
Jan 9th
Tons of flood warnings for the one weekend in January that I’ll be headed south. I had planned on going down to hang out with some friends, but from the looks of it, I should probably bring a life jacket and paddle.
BTW – it is ridiculously difficult to find informaiton (even on this internet thing) on the specifics of road closures and warnings driving from Vancouver to Seattle…
Myspace versus Facebook Round 2: Fight!
Jan 8th
Thanks to everyone that has chimed in so far, your comments are much appreciated and I’ve taken them into context for round 2.
Round 1 went to Myspace in my opinion strictly on staying power. It’s been around for a while and seems like it will continue to stay in existence for the next little while. For round 2 I’m going to focus mostly on interaction with other members and how each platform helps people communicate with a purpose.
First up, Myspace. The innovative online social network was actually introduced to me as an easy way to have a website. It didn’t More >
ESPN.com does it again – Fail
Jan 7th
I’m a big sports fan and a portion of my daily routine is to always check out the latest news and stats. One resource I usually rely on is espn.com, but I noticed a couple of weeks ago that they actually changed their already terrible interface. I’m not a designer, but I know what I like to see and I know what I like to use and ESPN’s new interface is not something I like at all.
After working in online sports news I understand that information architecture is a difficult task. It is impossible to please everyone, but because of More >
Playstation Home
Jan 6th
Playstation Home
I recently signed up for, downloaded and started using Playstation Home for the PS3 and first impressions haven’t been great. The interface is nice, the concept is there, but right now the whole experience just seems incomplete. It’s still very much in Beta, so I’ll be nice, but at some point there has to be a reason for it.
The micro transaction concept is something that Playstation has been waiting to tap into for a while now, but after going through the experience of signing up, learning about the environment and walking around for a while, I’m not sure if More >
Myspace versus Facebook: Round 1 – FIGHT!
Jan 5th
The argument for either can go both ways. I’m sure most people nowadays lean more towards Facebook, but online social networking has gone through a major growth period over the last 3 years. The decline of such networks as Friendster and High 5 brought a lot of question to the emergence of Facebook, but also said a lot for the staying power of Myspace so this first round is going to talk a bit more about staying power.
Myspace stormed onto the scene by giving artists a place to fully express themselves with some innovative tools at their fingertips. With image More >
The worst week for hockey fights
Jan 4th
I’m sure many hockey fans have heard the tragic fate of Don Sanderson. After getting into it with an opposing player, Don hit the ground sans head protection and ended up in a coma. Sadly, his life ended this weekend. Fighting is going to be debated for as long as people can speak, it’s just one of those subjects that people have an opinion of. For me, I think fighting is just a part of the game – but only for certain players.
There should be some rules put into to protect the players, but fighting should remain. Unless of course More >
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