I’ve been making bracelets out of paracord for a little while now and wanted to take it to the next level.
I found a tutorial online, bought 200 ($20.00) feet of black and digital camouflage colored 550 type III paracord, found a $3.00 belt buckle at Deseret Industries and went to work.
I spent ~7 hours total creating this beast. It was definitely worth it though. It’s very comfortable and could literally tow a car.
I’ve added a working portfolio (notice the addition to the top menu) including my resume.
Now, the search for the perfect profile picture begins.
Fraser Ntukula created an excellent wallpaper for Google’s I/O yesterday.
Originally it was intended as a wallpaper for smartphones. I present it here in 1920×1080.
Android honeycomb wall.
Click image for 1920 x 1080 resolution.
Spring is coming! A tribute to beautiful skies and warm weather. I had a great time making this one.
37 signals sites “All the Wrong” things they did with their new book “Rework” and the list is very interesting.
Here’s a quote from their site:
It’s been almost a year since we published REWORK, a book that violated a lot of the publishing industry’s conventional wisdom…
Conventional wisdom: Books targeted at entrepreneurs generally don’t sell very well or usually end up on the bottom shelf.
REWORK: Written specifically for starters and small business people.CW: For the price point of our book, it must be at least 40,000 words. Readers want something bulky that’s got lots of content.
REWORK: We chopped the final edition down to 27,000 words (from 50,000+). You can get through it in just a few hours.CW: Business books don’t have illustrations.
REWORK: Each essay accompanied by Mike Rohde’s artwork. (Mike explained the process in these posts: part 1, part 2.)CW: The copyright page goes at the beginning.
REWORK: The copyright page is at the end. And there’s no foreword either. That lets readers get right to the meat of the book.CW: The back cover should be filled with a lengthy explanation and blurbs.
REWORK: The back cover is as pretty as the front cover. A few key points and that’s it.CW: The format should be long chapters.
REWORK: Filled with short essays, most just a page or two.CW: A business book should use business-y language.
REWORK: Plain language throughout (and even some cursing).CW: Books don’t have commercials.
REWORK: Coudal helped us created great trailers and even a Karl Rove “attack” video that helped get the word out about the book.
I love learning about how successful digital technology can be, especially when it defies conventional wisdom and antiquated thinking. Another testament to the ever more popular idea that user centered design is superior. Go 37 signals.
Photoshopped Version (you know I couldn’t resist some Photoshopping time)
Original Version (taken with camera phone)
Yeah, Yeah…I know…this has nothing to do with UX …well I suppose it wouldn’t be too difficult to find a way to relate this post to UX but hey, I’m allowed some fun too. After all, it is my blog.
Getting back the point of the post, my very own Android figurine arrived in the mail a while ago and I felt compelled to adorn him with my newly found favorite toy (Bucky Balls).
Yes, he looks masochistic…that was kind of the idea. No, I do not subscribe to that area of ‘fun’…I just couldn’t resist combining some of my favorite things (masochism is not one of those two things). And c’mon…no matter how you fixate metal balls to a 3.5″ green robot it’s going to look a little masochistic.
I recently was placed on a new project and at first it was off to a very, very slow start. We were given no direction regarding the project’s goals and therefore were very bored.
During this stint of boredom one member of our team was showing off a very cool geometric shape he had created using what appeared to be very tiny BBs. They were actually tiny (5 mm) spherical (rare-earth) magnetic balls. 216 of ‘em to be exact.
I asked if I might have a go at them and was immediately addicted to arranging them in new shapes and structures. I was also surprised at how satisfying it was to create geometric shapes. It’s mysteriously gratifying to work with magnets. I’ve since purchased my own set of these magnetic balls (mine, pictured above, are called Bucky Balls) and shared them with several people who also enter a trance-like state while manipulating them.
I’ve had them for a couple weeks now and still find their behavior mesmerizing.
I highly recommend them as a stress reliever toy or simply an outlet to provide a quick way to disengage your mind from something. They’re also just very cool.
