I have to say that Amazon has a great thing in their ‘Autorip’ program. For those that are unaware, a good portion of the physical music they sell includes a free MP3 version of the album so you can start listening as soon as you order. As well, it’s part of their ecosystem then so you can tell Alexa to play it and it just knows you own it now and queues it up. Considering some of the physical cds on sale are super cheap and you get the original disc and the new fangled digital, it’s a great bargain. I just wish they did this for book/ebooks too. I’d be buying so much more from them if that was the case.
MixCD 3 – Trancelvania
Escape
Over the weekend we did an escape room, my first foray into this new trend in entertainment. The particular place we went was one that was located in a historic site and they actually themed the escape room around that which was a nice touch. Continue reading Escape
Inclusive Legos
I had to buy the following set when it was on sale recently… Fun in the Park It’s basically just a bunch of mini-figures and accessories, but man it has some really good and strange ones. I got out an old base plate and set them up and here is how they look.
Pretty snazy and inclusive of them which is really nice.
I hate bad ads…
Case in point, the latest car ad from equinox I think it was. They confuse diners waiting for their car at the valet by bringing them a different car, the equinox. One of the features is 360 vision, meaning it has cameras in front and back. One of the ladies then asked, “how do they even do that?” As if in this day and age, someone who can afford a car like that and pays to have it parked and retrieved is so clueless that they have never heard of cameras. Oh my god, they can see things we can’t! Bad, bad, writing. Of course, they say it’s real people, but I call BS.
Hidden gems.
So while exploring iOS 11 I have encountered bugs and some really nice things too, but every once and awhile you come across something amazingly simple but useful. Case in point is the updates to the drawing options available in notes and other apps.
Continue reading Hidden gems.
A Troubling Trend
There seems to be a design trend that is taking root and seems counter-intuitive to a good user experience. I don’t know if there is an official title for it, but it basic is about taking content and making it more ‘intimate’ or ‘curated’ or ‘decompressed’. I’m honestly not sure what the best way to describe it is, but I’ve railed on it previously in regards to the horrific new Hulu redesign that I talked about in previous posts. Continue reading A Troubling Trend
Molding Young Minds
So this summer I’ve been helping at a youth camp for STEM / Game Design again and giving guest lectures on a variety of topics. It’s great to see kids interested in games as a career and give them advice. My most popular talk tends to be ‘Why you shouldn’t make an MMO’.
MIXCD2 – Whip Me, Beat Me, Mix Me
No idea what I was thinking with the title of the CD, but it had beats and mix and it was music so I must have thought it clever. *shrug*
Beta tester.
I’m a sucker for beta testing; it’s the early adopter in me I guess. Like right now I’m going this on the beta of iOS 11. Like most of Apple’s releases, it’s fairly stable and loaded with nifty new features. That said it’s also full of questionable design decisions and relearning where things got moved or how changed features now work. Case in point, they made multi tasking better but also less intuitive. Oh well, it’s just the first of many releases before fall so I’m sure things will get better, unlike the horrible Hulu beta.