06 March 09
The National Weather Services mission statement states that it exists to provide its services to aid in the “protection of life and property and the enhancement of the national economy.” Not a small responsibility.
Why is it then that they haven’t updated their communication standards to include upper and lower case in their text advisories. While severe weather is severe weather, WIND ADVISORIES scream at you as much as a TORNADO WATCH. In both cases I’m still likely to PANIC WHEN I READ ALL CAPS and HAVE A DIFFICULT TIME READING IT which FURTHER ADDS TO MY PANIC. In these new days of the Interweb we’re consuming more and more of our timely information on our computers and our mobile devices - all caps doesn’t read quite as well as it did on our old teletypes which we abandoned about 30 years ago.
When people panic they make bad decisions, and bad decisions lead to acts that work against what this agency strives to protect.
25 February 09
You’ve probably never heard of Warren Ellis. Unlike a few of the comic book luminaries that have transcended the industry, such as Neil Gaiman, Alan Moore, and Frank Miller, Warren hasn’t. Yet. This is in no way related to his talent — he’s one of the most widely regarded and respected writers in comics, and has been for a while. One of my favorites in fact.
Four or five years ago a friend recommended that I sign up for Warren’s mailing list Bad Signal, describing it as “chaotic and random, but good”. After signing up my inbox quickly began to fill up with emails (several often from the same day) on topics ranging from what comics he’s working on to the state of the world to profanity-filled ramblings to technology. Most of these sent from the pub using a fold up keyboard plugged into his cell phone.
I have to admit I was pretty skeptical of the whole e-book thing. The idea of carrying around a tablet-like device to read the morning paper just felt so 1993 to me. I just always had a hard time imagining myself curl up on a couch, relax on a beach, or ride on a train with an e-book. The hefty price tag on the original Kindle had me doubtful as well.
And let’s face it, our bookshelves say a lot about who we are. Could you imagine picking up someone’s Kindle at a party and skimming through their book collection?
Oh how wrong I was. Not only was the first Kindle very well received, but Sony followed suit with their own (sexier) model.
This past week my Twitter feed was abuzz with friends announcing that their Kindle 2 was en route, and links to very favorable reviews.
I also caught the above video from Geek Brief TV of the out of the box experience. Amazon has clearly put a lot of thought into the packaging and first time customer interaction. This is pretty impressive for a company that you don’t equate with design - and who’s product experience (website) is about as unemotive as you can get. Apple was no doubt a guiding light here - as well as on the new product design.
Don’t know if I’m ready to jump in. The price point for me feels like it’s more around $99. And yet I’m feeling the hype start to take ahold.
06 February 09
Looking to sound smart in front of clients or at cocktail parties? No problem. The books that can help you are easy to spot at your local bookstore. The serif typefaces give them the a scholarly look. The no-nonsense white canvas says “I mean business” and makes the buzz-word titles easy to spot. The sound bite on the cover gives you the immediate satisfaction of feeling smarter before you’ve even opened the book.
We laugh and we cringe when someone quotes from one of the white books. Yet we can’t stop buying them.
05 February 09
This past Tuesday Microsoft confirmed that it has no intention of making the purchase of the highly anticipated Windows 7 any less confusing that purchasing Vista.
The product SKU’s are as follows:
- Windows 7 Starter
- Windows 7 Home Basic
- Windows 7 Home Premium
- Windows 7 Professional
- Windows 7 Enterprise
- Windows 7 Ultimate
The only thing you can intuit from this list is that the Enterprise edition is clearly for enterprises. But, what’s the difference between Starter, Home Basic, and Home Premium? And what’s the difference between Professional and Ultimate?
While retailers will mostly be carrying Home Premium and Professional, online retailers carry more. And a lot of us are purchasing software online where the abundance of product selection and bundles can be quite daunting.
Why does Microsoft seem determined to require consumers to spend hours of research to understand feature sets? This move firmly keeps Microsoft’s brand in the “we don’t get it” camp.
The Internet is afire with negativity at this announcement, which is an unfortunate backlash to all the much needed positive buzz Microsoft had around the beta release of Windows 7 these past few months.
Engadget has a breakout of the feature sets.
