Thoughts & Deeds

The launch of Google Maps’ “Bike There” feature has been a pretty big deal in Portland. After poking around on it a bit, Joseph Rose from the Oregonian asked his Twitter followers if it seemed a little “beta” to them. I replied that it was “very beta” and was even published, though my follow-up tweet wasn’t published and my real point was lost. It wasn’t until I was on a long ride over the weekend that I realized exactly why the Bike There feature felt beta to me. … more

Between Muxtape, Twitter, and KEXP I’ve discovered a lot of new-to-me music in the last few months. Normally, I’d share my latest favorites through my monthly Muxtape, but now that the RIAA has shut that down I’ll have to settle for an iMix of my favorite songs from each album. … more

When I think of coal used for energy, I think of China, filthy air, dire situations, under-developed nations, the iron-grip of Communism. Coal is the fuel of Tolstoy and World War I and the Eastern Block, a phantom from the early 20th century, a black spot on our environmental history. Coal is up there with nuclear energy and reliance on oil; something shameful that we’re trying to give up. … more

When was the last time you said that to someone? Remember making mix tapes in high school, maybe even in college? Break up tapes, I have a crush on you tapes, a tape of Alphaville’s “Forever Young” repeated over and over… Then you used the photocopier to make fancy covers for you tapes, gave them to friends, maybe had a mix tape trading club (we had the Myxx Tayp Kollektiv). And where are your old tapes now? Do you even have a cassette player? … more

I don’t watch very much TV. I just forget to do it, even if there’s a show I know I might like. Now, don’t think I’m some self-righteous anti-TV do-gooder, because I’m not. I love me some TV! Give me my stories! Make me laugh! Show me a gross autopsy! I want my Cylons! … more

After going to the annual Web Visions conference here in Portland, I started thinking about the future of interactive design as a discipline. Who are we and what are we doing?

Things have changed so much since I created my first web page in 1996 back when I hand-coded everything using emacs. Now there’s real design on the web. Sure, there’s a lot of “bad” design out there, but it doesn’t hold a candle to the smorgasbord of animated GIFs, blinking text, and ugly background textures that made up the entirety of your web experience a decade ago. … more