BASEMENT.ORG
Posted by Richard Ziade on October 30, 2008, 09:42AMSweet Regular Expression Explorer
Regular expressions make up that dark and mysterious alleyway that every programmer occasionally has to walk through. Ryan Swanson has put out a very nicely designed Regular Expression Explorer. It’s built in Flex but is universally useful.
Posted by Richard Ziade on October 29, 2008, 10:14AMThree New Google Apps Lab Applications
Google Apps has released three new experimental applications that look pretty frickin’ cool. Here’s a quick summary from the Google Enterprise Blog:
- Google Moderator: Take Q&A to a whole new level -- manage feedback from the smallest video conference to the largest all-hands company meeting. Learn more
- Google Code Reviews: Collaborate with others to catch bugs in software changes before you check them in. Learn more
- Google Short Links: Create easy-to-remember links for both your internal and external web pages Learn more
Hey, free stuff is always good. You need a Google Apps account to play with these.
Posted by Richard Ziade on October 28, 2008, 06:57PMBreaking News: Windows 7 Is Vista
The buzz around Windows 7 is starting to build. Since it was formally introduced by the Windows 7 team, the speculation about features, date of release is starting to get louder and louder. We can all start to hear the humming of the Microsoft PR machine: “The days of suffering through Vista are nearly over. We’re going to right this ship with a new and improved, streamlined operating system.
Guess what kids: Windows 7 is just Vista…with some more stuff. It’ll feel faster and more responsive in some key areas because the Vista team will have finally gotten the opportunity to do the various pieces right. In fact, Microsoft has already drastically improved Vista. I’ve been using it for a couple of years now and the various upgrades (Search 4.0, the Service Pack) have improved things dramatically. The operating system runs very nicely for me.
But all these patches and repairs aren’t going to repair one key bug: the stigma and negative sentiment around Windows Vista. You can’t combat that negativity with a laundry list of patches and updates.
So what do you do if you’re Microsoft? Purge the Vista name and move on. The number “7” just sounds more efficient and streamlined. Yeh, there are a handful of “features” that look more like new mini-apps than a true overhaul. And of course, you’ve got the benefit of a tweaking and cleaning up Vista. Personally, I think Vista has matured into a capable, reliable operating system. But alas, fixing software is one thing, fixing perception is a whole other thing.
I’ve reviewed the changes in 7 and honestly, it looks really promising. The mindset seems to be all about streamlining and improving the user experience. I’m all for it. But don’t be fooled. This is Microsoft rebooting the Windows brand.
Strolling Around Amazon’s Window Shop
We’ve all been put in that awkward spot. We’re perusing the racks at some trendy clothing shop and we catch a glimpse out of the corner of our eye. He’s coming this way. We don’t need help, but here he comes:
“Can I help you with something?”
We roll our eyes (mentally at least).
“No thanks. I’m good. Just looking around.”
Shopping is recreational for many. It’s less about walking into Best Buy with printouts of exact model numbers targeting something specific and more about just killing some time rummaging through stuff. We may buy something, but there’s a good chance we won’t.
The online shopping experience is far different. Many of us do surf around and stroll through the virtual aisles, but it’s a very different hunt-and-peck sort of experience. The key difference with the online “no-thanks-I’m-just-looking” experience is that it transcends physical space or location. In a click, we can hop thousands of geographic miles. One minute we’re checking out a New York City boutique, the next we’re on the fringes of bizarre Japanese merchandising. It’s a manic, unpredictable experience.
The question for online retailers obviously leads to: “How do I keep that potential customer inside my ‘store’?” It’s a tough thing, and nobody’s really been able to nail it. Amazon has done an amazing job of building community and personalization around the shopping experience and it’s paid off so far. Now, they’re trying to bring the fiddling-around-the-shop experience to the Web with the Amazon Window Shop. Here’s a snapshot of it:
It’s a fun, virtual reality-style experience. They’ve kept it to music, games, books and movies/DVD’s (which makes sense). You don’t search for anything. You simply flip through the latest products. It’s a nice experience (for an even more impressive 3D-ish browsing experience, check out Cooliris) but I’m not sure this is going to connect for people for one key reason: there’s no search.
This may well be a first iteration and search may be upcoming, but the online shopping experience is all about search. As we rip through site after site we search…constantly. It’s become the way we pivot from place to place, honing in on what we’re after (or what we think we’re after). If we go astray, we reset our bearings by…searching yet again. In the world of online retail, perusal equals search. It’s how we stroll around. The problem with an experience like Window Shop is that it recreates the limitations around the physical world; a limitation that we were glad to obliterate and transcend on the Web. The visual experience is great, but it can’t be confined. It needs to go everywhere to be compelling.
As the economy turns for the worse, I think people are going to be doing a lot more perusing and a lot less buying. Experiences like Window Shop have a compelling halo effect for Amazon even if it doesn’t directly lead to purchases. Let’s face it. Amazon, at the very least, wants you at the mall. Even if you’re only gonna hang out at the food court.
Posted by Richard Ziade on October 27, 2008, 09:38AMHappy Link Of The Day : Kristofer Ström’s Animated Video Of Minilogue’s Animals
Director/Animator Kristofer Ström has taken Minologue’s quirky electronic sounds and visualized them into a beautifully animated music video. The result is all kinds of happy. Vimeo’s HD feature finally show’s its worth!
Posted by Richard Ziade on October 24, 2008, 10:18AM20 JQuery Plugins For Improving The User Experience
You can’t have enough JQuery plugin lists. Ever: 20 JQuery Plugins For An Unforgettable User Experience. Many new ones in this list (for me at least).
Posted by Richard Ziade on October 23, 2008, 09:47AMStalk Your Stuff With Trackthepack
Nicely design and infinitely useful, Trackthepack let’s you stalk your shipped packages on Google Maps. Nicely done.
Opera’s MAMA Project : Peering Into Web Pages
A few days ago, the kids at Opera Software launched a search engine that studies what most typical search engines ignore: what’s going on inside of a web page. It’s called MAMA for “Metadata Analysis and Mining Application.” MAMA is a “structural Web-page search engine—it trawls Web pages and returns results detailing page structures, including what HTML, CSS, and script is used on it, as well as whether the HTML validates.”
The initial results are insightful and occasionally fascinating. A few choice statistics:
- Over 65% of served pages in China use Flash vs. 35% in the U.S. for example (any theories behind this? Bizarre).
- A little over 4% of pages validate.
- People still use a ton of FONT tags and embedded (inline) CSS.
Opera has published key findings as well as a view of what “the average page” looks like.
Posted by Richard Ziade on October 22, 2008, 09:09AMDocuments & Settings 2.0
Anyone that’s used Windows XP in the last 10 years knows about the venerable Documents & Settings folder. It’s essentially a user-centric dumping ground where your “documents” (i.e. just about any asset you create) and your application-specific settings were stored.
Of course, it was a lot more complicated than that. You couldn’t ever just grab your documents and settings folder and just drop it on a new PC and hope things will go well. Installed applications have free reign to store their settings just about anywhere, including the system registry and other folders.
Part of the appeal of cloud-based hosted applications like Gmail and the Zoho suite is that they not only store your applications, but your data (“documents”) and state (“settings”) in one convenient place. It’s a pretty compelling selling point. Let’s take a look at each facet of what is really “stored” online.
The Application Itself
Let’s face it. It’s far more convenient to visit a URL than get hold of a CD installation disc and install. When we install software locally, It ends up in only one place (instead of everywhere) and updates are cumbersome at best (via patches and updates).
Unfortunately, online applications aren’t anywhere near the power and richness of desktop applications. Think Adobe Illustrator. Illustrator is a powerful and abundantly rich desktop application. It’s safe to say that a Web-based equivalent of Illustrator is years away. Even Web-based spreadsheet applications can’t compete with the power and speed of their desktop counterparts. So while Web-based applications are great, they’re just not their yet. Even applications like Google Spreadsheets feel slow and crippled compared to their desktop siblings.
Your Documents
Another convenience of online applications is that they keep track of your created assets like spreadsheets or documents online. This is also very convenient. You can easily pull up your assets without lugging your laptop around. There really is no reason to have the assets you create located in one offline location. This is one of the most appealing aspects of online apps: my stuff is available to me wherever I am.
Still, as mentioned above, I’m still married to certain desktop applications. Despite the ability to store my created assets in the cloud, the disparity between online and desktop apps is very wide. My own solution is to use a smart syncing platform like Dropbox or Microsoft’s Live Mesh. Both of these tools nicely sync up specially designated folders to the cloud. Everywhere I go, I’m able to access my stuff and I still get to use my heavy duty desktop applications like Microsoft Word and Photoshop.
Your Settings
Here’s the most serious missing link for desktop applications. Regardless of which machine I’m sitting down on at home or at work, my copy of Illustrator should boot up and have my palettes, my toolbars and my own specific settings ready to go. Today this is nearly impossible because desktop applications today are not designed to abstract out and isolate their settings to a more portable state.
While my documents are syncing nicely everywhere, I still find myself configuring and reconfiguring toolbars on my different installations. It’s not an overly complex tweak to make settings portable, but software developers need to buy into it.
My Portable Hack
One of the coolest hacks I’ve been able to pull off is to drop my portable version of Firefox into a Live Mesh folder. Since everything is self-contained under the install folder, my Firefox state syncs up on my three devices. My awesome bar, bookmarks, current set of tabs, even the add-ons I install sync up seamlessly across all my devices. It’s pretty great.
The Right Recipe
I would love to see more desktop software developers think about settings differently and more portably. We’ve solved the documents problem for the most part, but the wall still exists between the way state is treated online versus the desktop. There are a few rare exceptions. Digsby, a universal IM client, stores your settings on their server. Instead of setting up your four or five individual IM accounts every time you install it, you simply log into your Digsby account and your settings are downloaded instantly. Smart.
Beyond documents and settings, this is about bridging the chasm between desktop software building and web software building. Eventually, the two cultures need to realize they’re addressing the same set of problems. It’s not an either/or scenario. It’s about leveraging the strengths of each to come up with something better than either can deliver alone.
[Ed. – I apologize for the use of the '”2.0” label in the title of this post. I know the term has been beaten to death, but I’m simply not ready to give it up. Hey, at least I didn’t jump on the cornball 3.0 bandwagon.]
Posted by Richard Ziade on October 21, 2008, 09:19AMMeet Green Thing
Green Thing “is a public service that inspires people to lead a greener life.” What I like about Green Thing is it focuses on the little things people can do. Rather than just focusing on some big foundation or event, it speaks at a personal level and it does it with style. The stories are told through creative work by people from around the world. Here’s the Meet Green Thing video:
Meet Green Thing from Green Thing on Vimeo. Posted by Richard Ziade on October 20, 2008, 03:45PM
Yet More Creative Ads
I’m a sucker for creative ad compilations. Cerium’s Blog (in French) has just put its third compilation. Great source of inspiration (or just a nice diversion).
Posted by Richard Ziade on October 19, 2008, 05:06PMEverlasting Love In Product Development
As Arc90 continues towards redefining itself as not only a world class technology and design consultancy but as a product company, I’ve come to some realizations.
The path from product inception to product launch is a long one. Initially, there’s a high. The idea and vision feels fresh, strong and invincible. We throw around cool ideas that get us jazzed up. It’s a giddy time. It’s no wonder. It’s in that phase that we tend to idealize the great potential of what may come about. It’s a “honeymoon” phase.
As time goes by, and as the “newness” of it all begins to wear off, a harsher reality sets in. That newness is replaced by a feeling of being around each other just a bit too long. Still, we’ve committed to each other (us and the product that is) and we must see this thing through. Doubt and uncertainty inevitably seeps in. A desire for something fresh and new lingers, but there’s work to be done.
At Arc90, we’re nearing the homestretch for Kindling, our exciting new hosted idea management tool. It actually hasn’t been that long of a road compared to other ventures that can take years. Still, we’re in the midst of the less glamorous, less differentiating aspects of the effort. Things like security and payment gateways and handling all sorts of mundane logic. In other words, we’re in deep: for better or for worse.
People say “relationships take work.” You have to make certain you’re truly committed to one another and willing to work through the tougher and less idyllic times. Above all else, make sure someone (or even better, a few people) are passionate about and are in love with what you’re creating. That passion will carry you through the tougher days.
Posted by Richard Ziade on October 18, 2008, 12:43PMThe 2008 Cold Mud Brownie Olympics : The Winner!
A few days ago, we announced the World Class athletes that competed for the top prize in our 2008 Cold Mud Brownie Olympics. It was a tough race but the time has come and results are in.
The winner, after much deliberation (preceded by much ingestion) is New York Brownies Chocolate Chunk! As we’ve mentioned previously, this is a big, moist (but not too moist) fresh and very tasting brownie. New York Brownies didn’t go over the top with fancy packaging and other silliness. Even their website is a bit Spartan. But pay that no mind, the focus is in the right place. This is the best brownie of the bunch. Don’t fear mail-ordering these brownies. As soon as you open that white box, the rich cocoa flavor kicks you in the head.
Honorable mention also goes to Dancing Dear for delivering and solid brownie as well as Schmerty’s Blazer variety for its original style and salty flavor.
Now that the quest is over, it’s back to basement.org’s regularly scheduled programming…
Posted by Richard Ziade on October 14, 2008, 09:55AMThe Single Most Effective Way To Completely Mock Any Video (Pretty Much Not-Safe-For-Anything)
No, I have not lost my mind and forgotten about design and technology and the Internet. Yes, we will be returning to our regular programming, but first…I must share this:
A few weeks ago, I stumbled on a Youtube gem that involves Russian children sliding down what looks like an inflatable…umm…well just look:
Now before you unsubscribe and never visit basement.org again, hear me out. Yes, this is very funny for all the wrong reasons but if you turn your audio on, you’ll witness true genius at work. See, whoever stumbled on this most ridiculous video felt compelled to marry it with someone hand-farting Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody. You can find a video of the performance right here. Whoever chose to merge such visual and sonic absurdity is a true genius.
Soon after discovering this gem, I came to appreciate something more about that audio: it is, universally, the single most effective way to completely mock and ridicule anything else you're watching. Try it. Pull up any video, whether T. Boone Pickens rambling on about wind power or Bernanke and Paulson expounding on matters they don't seem to fully grasp in the first place, mute the audio on the video and then just play the hand-farting Rhapsody. It works like a charm.
To make life easier for everyone, I've extracted the audio and put it into an mp3 file which you can download:
Note, I’m pretty sure this interpretation of this Queen classic falls within the realm of “fair-use” or “derivative work” or something, so the RIAA wouldn’t want to come near this one.
Let’s just say it makes the world a better place and leave it at that.
Posted by Richard Ziade on October 13, 2008, 10:32AMThe 2008 Cold Mud Brownie Olympics : The Athletes!
In keeping the theme of this blog around design and technology, it was feeling a bit too narrow of late. So I decided to expose yet another passion of mine: chocolate, or more specifically: chocolate brownies. A couple of months ago I decided to use this blog as a platform to launch a Brownie Olympics of sorts. The kind folks at Cold Mud offered to co-sponsor this extravaganza of deliciousness and thus, The 2008 Cold Mud Brownie Olympics were under way.
Today, we’re going to run through the various participating brownies that are up for this most prestigious award, as well as our assessment of how tasty their brownies were. Before getting into the various brownies we tried (and we tried many), a brief summary of the ground rules:
- Our primary focus was taste, but we also factored in texture, presentation and other less-scientific factors like how good it makes us feel for the rest of the day.
- We’re all about chocolate. We avoided brownie with nuts, raspberry sauce or anything else that would taint the pure chocolate flavor we were going after. Chocolate chunks are OK. Chocolate chunks are always OK.
- No fudge. I repeat: no fudge.
And now, on to the…err…athletes!
Dancing Dear – Chocolate Chunk
Dancing Dear products can be found in many gourmet/higher-end markets. Their stuff is generally of very good quality. Their Chocolate Chunk is a solid, rich brownie. If you’re looking for decadent, you won’t be disappointed here. If anything, the Dancing Dear leans on the butter a bit too much, leaving little room for subtlety. Butter in brownies is sort of like Marlon Brando in Apocalypse Now. Yeh, it’s important to the story, but it’s not the star. Chocolate is the star. As to texture, one of our judges found it a bit “spongy” for a brownie, though I found its density just fine. Overall, a very good brownie.
Mari’s NY (Classic)
Mari’s NY heralds itself as a whole other level of brownie experience. The packaging is nothing short of stunning. It’s the equivalent of confectionary lingerie. As I unwrapped the box (oh so gently), I couldn’t help but think I was in for some sort of insane chocolate experience. Lord knows we paid for it. Mari’s brownies were far-and-away the most expensive of the bunch. As soon as I got to the actual brownie, I knew it wasn’t going to live up to the hype. It’s really not a brownie. It’s more like fudge. And calling fudge a brownie in these Olympics is the equivalent of taking anabolic steroids before the 100M. This was a real disappointment. It lacked the complexity of texture (flaky to dense and moist) we would expect in a quality brownie. Instead it was just one big block of chocolate mud. Pretty disappointing.
Schmerty’s (Blazer)
Schmerty’s Blazer (no it does not contain marijuana, despite the name) is a very interesting brownie. It’s texture is a bit too crumbly but it somehow does come through in terms of flavor. It is a salty brownie, but not to the point of repulsion (think chocolate-covered pretzels). You can taste the quality ingredients within. The blazer clearly stands on its own as the most unique of the contestants.
Geoff & Drew’s (Chocolate Chip)
There’s something very likable about Geoff & Drew’s brownies. They came in an old-school tin casserole and you had to cut them up yourself. They could have easily been mistaken for being bought at a church bake sale. So right out of the gate, we felt a nice, homemade vibe. Once we tasted them though, things got a little weird. Don’t get us wrong, it’s a pretty good brownie. They just sort of lacked that chocolate punch we want in a brownie. They were a bit too…bready. Still, you’ve got to give them points for that homemade feeling. They just don’t have that close-your-eyes-once-you-bite-in-and-make-that-stupid-face quality.
New York Brownies (Original)
We’ll try to put our New York bias aside as we assess our next contestant: New York Brownies. The package lacked the seductive qualities of Mari’s nor the homemade qualities of Geoff & Drew’s. It was all business. A big box with two packs of dry ice to ensure quality. As soon as you get to the brownies, the first thing you’ll notice is how big they are. This is a large brownie. Once we unwrapped it and took a bite, we knew this guy was special. Nice, dense texture. Strong cocoa flavor. And above all else, it tasted fresh. This was a serious brownie.
Pret A Manger Brownie
For posterity’s sake, we wanted to include a more, umm, pedestrian brownie. Pret A Manger is cropping up all over New York City these days. Pret prides itself on its quality lunch menu. As you step up to a Pret counter to pay, you’re always confronted with all sorts of tasty treats, including their brownies. The Pret brownie is an average brownie. It’s tasty, fairly dense and has an agreeable chocolate flavor. If you’re grabbing a sandwich and drink for lunch, you’re going to do just fine with one of Pret’s brownies. It isn’t as bad as a Lil’ Debbie’s brownie, but still falls short of gourmet.
And that’s it folks! In the next couple of days, we will announce the winner of the 2008 Cold Mud Brownie Olympics!
Posted by Richard Ziade on October 2, 2008, 02:42PMDabbleboard – A Nice Virtual Whiteboard
In the spirit of sketchcasting (sort of), Dabbleboard makes it really easy to create illustrations and share them with others. This is less about recording a narrative with voice-over but rather just sharing drawings. What I really like about Dabbleboard is it’s ability to create clean line art out of scribble (circles, squares, straight lines, etc.). I could see it really serving a nice purpose for interface designers, information architects and anyone interested in sharing birds-eye or conceptual diagrams. You can also embed your created content in other web pages a la Youtube.
Time to break out the tablet PC!