Sketchnotes Continue: Idiot Box in Greensboro

This is the initial part of a sketchnote that I did this past Sunday in Greensboro, NC at the Idiot Box comedy club. Was an interesting night, though it took a bit long for the crowd to warm up. Still, it was an opportunity to get out and sketch some. Doing this during short comedy sketches is a bit of a challenge, but I think that by the end of the night that I got the hang of grabbing both the comic and their box of laughs.

Stay tuned for more sketchontes. You can view my gallery of past sketchnotes here.

Poem: A Sun’s Reality Press

Even when the picture of a rising sun is rested
I’m only a few minutes away from the press
French processes bean me with pressure sometimes unbearable
And I’m left under the water hoping the tide turns back

A Mobile, A Stylus, A Canvas Reinvented

Was just (Saturday afternoon) sitting here (a coffeeshop) doing another set of drawings on my iPad and my mind went again to the thought of getting rid of my iPad, and reinvesting in the idea of my mobile as the computing center of things. My mobile, a stylus to "write on the air," and then a canvas being anything…

Evolving with an iPad (Apps and Usage)

In the past days, I’ve gotten the same question twice: what are some of the best iPad apps? Now, many years back when I used to do scores of software reviews for PDAs and mobile phones, this would be something that I could “somewhat” easily answer (given the aims the person wanted to use a device for, the capabilities of a device, and any budget constraints). I’m less inclined to try scores and scores of apps on my iPad, and therefore my usage of it doesn’t really lend itself to answering the question of what’s the best app for it. I can say though, if you were to take the perspective that the iPad is a blank canvas, then you can evolve into a kind of use that does make sense, and keeps you in the right perspectives of computing and life.

A Whimper in the Noise

Been a while since writing (here). Not that there’s not been anything to write about, but I’m not exactly sure how to write about what goes on in this head without rehasing the same stuff over and over. And really, who wants to read that?

Computing That Invokes Emotions of It’s Own, Relates to Ours

So. Following the utopicomp (sorry, there it is) ideal of calm computing we’re gonna have to be subtle with this if we’re going anywhere with it, right? Less is more work. We should consider the potential issue of uncanny valley as applied to behaviour and may choose to sidestep it entirely. We could draw inspiration from things like Apple’s design of the sleep light on the Macbook Pro which is so obviously designed to pulsate at the same rate as its breathing would be (if it had lungs) whilst it’s asleep. It’s just enough that it gives the machine a feeling of sentience but what would happen if that speed was ever so slightly increased or decreased based on certain conditions? Would it give the impression that something is wrong? I reckon it might not immediately, but once you get to know the device and its personality you’d be used to its normal behaviour and then really notice when it starts behaving differently. Being a bit offish with you maybe. I’m pretty sure people already do this with computers when their operating system starts to get a bit sluggish or glitchy – I know I do – but maybe we could play with that a bit.

Carnival of the Mobilists No 257

Another week, and another edition of the Carnival of the Mobilists. This week, it’s being hosted over at Stephen and Allison Hoober’s blog. Another nice suite of articles this week, and actually a bit more variety than in previous weeks. Have only cracked the surface personally since I’m in the midst of work for MMM, but it’s certainly nice to know that I have some reading for later this week for when things slow down. You don’t have to wait though. Get on over and enjoy this week’s best in mobile blogging.