February 2012
4 posts
Why timesheets need to die! (or change)
I work in advertising. I don’t know of a single person who works in marketing or advertising who doesn’t do timesheets. I also don’t know of a single person who enjoys doing them. I think it’s time for companies to abolish them. Here’s why:
They will never be accurate. Unless you are someone who writes down every start and stop of work and every job you work on, your...
Further proof that Apple is moving away from the... →
Beyond the Apple TV (or why an Apple TV makes...
Apple gets it. It’s been a long time coming, but they are now about to change everything…again…massively. You got a sense of this when iCloud launched and when they shifted the MacOS to look more like iOS, but until today, I didn’t really see the bigger picture.
Mountain Lion makes it blindingly obvious that apple is no longer selling devices. They are selling an...
“I just wonder how many people fall by the wayside because they can’t push their...”
– Ridley Scott on pursuing his vision for the movie Alien, 2003 Director’s Commentary (via jted)
January 2012
3 posts
What's Missing From Social
While I am an avid user of many of the social platforms out there today, I have never really bought into the idea that these platforms were somehow an improvement on how people already communicate. They certainly have their strengths and place in the world. For example: I think Facebook is a great way to stay in touch with those who are less close to you–people who simply wish to skim your life;...
A breathtaking video of urban BASE jumping in... →
Whatever happened to the integrated agency?
Time and time again, I see big creative ideas (as well as bad ideas) generated by the old school advertising guys. I know that for the most part that is still where the big budgets are and it’s not that great ideas don’t come from the digital guys, but the vast majority of the time it’s digital folks executing banner ads or web site designs based on some larger campaign that came...
December 2011
1 post
September 2011
1 post
How to save BlackBerry
Okay, so this is just a bit of rambling off the top of my head, but it occurred to me that there is a solution out there for RIM that might save the BlackBerry as well as open a door for another company. The solution is that Amazon needs to buy RIM. I hate to say it because it would be yet another example of a Canadian company going south of the border, but I think the partnership between the two...
August 2011
1 post
RIM and the new Torch
A lot of people ask me if I think the new Torch will be a good phone and if they should buy one. Personally, I have owned two BlackBerrys (not BlackBerries) and though I thought one was decent for its time (Pearl 8100) and the other is still excellent today (1st generation Bold), And though I feel that the new torch is going to be an excellent phone, I don’t think it’s going to be the...
May 2011
2 posts
Awesome web analytics and ad stats →
It's been a while
It’s been a while since I last posted. I’ve been trying to figure some things out. I also started a new job which is slightly all-time consuming. But I’ve also been really trying to find a reason to write and for a long while, nothing seemed to be inspiring me. Recently, work has felt a lot like it did in 2001 when all the money fell out of the web and innovation went through the...
September 2010
1 post
We Are The Digital Kids: Ten Things I Have Learned →
wearethedigitalkids:
Ten Things I Have Learned Part of AIGA Talk in London November 22, 2001
“1 YOU CAN ONLY WORK FOR PEOPLE THAT YOU LIKE. This is a curious rule and it took me a long time to learn because in fact at the beginning of my practice I felt the opposite. Professionalism required that you…
August 2010
1 post
Highlights of getting into shape this summer
For 7 weeks now, I have been lifting weights, improving flexibility, speed and balance, playing beach volleyball, biking 7k each way to work (and all over the city) and eating better. It’s amazing what you can do in 7 weeks.
Daily bike rides to work leave me with a wicked tan
People whispering “He’s hardcode!” after I biked to work during one of our torrential downpours...
June 2010
9 posts
More
I’m been slowly becoming acutely aware of something lately. The fact is there are so many exciting things happening with media lately: social, mobile, HTML5, semantic markup, open-data movements, users as content creators, etc. and many people out there are starting to get that all of these new fun tools that people get to work with are not what is important, but rather the message that...
India - Post trip reflection
India was such an overwhelming, intense place. Every sense of mine was illuminated. The heat (40°C+) and sun and the ground on your bare feet as you walk around in temples. The smell of curry and incense in everyone’s homes and the smell of pollution and smoke in the outside air. The sounds of car horns honking and loud 30 year old diesel engines of every kind everywhere. The taste of every...
May 2010
2 posts
India With a Two-Year Old
Things I have learned from traveling to India with my two-year old son, James.
1. Don’t be afraid.
“So, you’re going to India?” “Yep.” “For how long?” “Two weeks.” “You’re not bringing James are you?!?” “Sure. Why not?” “OMFG!! You’re crazy! I wouldn’t do that… What if...
Inattentional Blindness
When I’m designing interfaces, a question that is always in the back of my mind is is this as clear and simple as possible? It often reminds me of the Einstein quote, “Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler.” For the most part, that is what I do for a living - look at everything in the equation and reduce it to its simplest parts. The idea being that the easier...