Quotable Diatribe

"because they don’t know what the hell it is"

Mon, 20 May 2013 09:13:17 -0400

The Real Reason Yahoo Is Buying Tumblr | John Herrman | Buzzfeed

To Tumblr’s users, Yahoo doesn’t just represent an outside force or a threat of advertising. It represents adults, and everything that word connotes: order, boredom, not “getting it.” Tumblr’s most coveted users aren’t afraid of Yahoo because of its turbulent management over the last ten years, or because of its current leader, or because of what happened to Flickr or Konfabulator or del.icio.us or any number of other beloved services that Yahoo has acquired and let wither on the vine. They’re afraid of Yahoo because they don’t know what the hell it is, or why it has a billion dollars to burn. They’ve never seen Yahoo’s dot com ads, or heard the Yahoo yodel. To them, and even to many people who used the search engine in the past, Yahoo has been reduced to a disembodied purple logo.

Exclamation: Tumblr. + Yahoo! = !!

Mon, 20 May 2013 09:08:43 -0400

Exclamation: Tumblr. + Yahoo! = !!:

Best press release ever.

yahoo:

I’m delighted to announce that we’ve reached an agreement to acquire Tumblr!

We promise not to screw it up. Tumblr is incredibly special and has a great thing going. We will operate Tumblr independently. David Karp will remain CEO. The product roadmap, their team, their wit and…

Yahoo Tumblrs for Cool: Board Approves $1.1 Billion Deal as...

Sun, 19 May 2013 15:19:06 -0400

Yahoo Tumblrs for Cool: Board Approves $1.1 Billion Deal as Expected
Kara Swisher, allthingsd.com

The Yahoo board has approved a massive $1.1 billion all-cash deal to buy Tumblr.
Sources close to the board said the deal was a foregone conclusion and was an unanimous vote by the Silicon Valley Internet giant.
The deal will be…

Yahoo! goes for cool.

Why Did Obama Run for a Second Term?

Sun, 19 May 2013 12:16:19 -0400

Pyromaniacs on the Potomac | Robert Reich | Guernica

Barack Obama is allowing the fires to dominate because he has not defined his core agenda. During the 2012 campaign it appeared to be restoring jobs, rebuilding the middle class, and reversing the scourge of widening inequality. Since then, though, the core has evaporated—leaving him and his administration vulnerable to every pyromaniac on the Potomac.

Obama’s appeal has always been that he is a external, definable, representation of his supporter’s hopes. This naturally is component of any figure of popular authority, but Obama’s embodiment was wholly transformative. The problem with this shows itself in execution. He is seldom is the influencer of events, instead actions occur because of his existential presence (Tea Party, Obamacare backlash) or simply because of his established transcendent characteristics.

Throughout the 2012 campaign a core question kept appearing without addiquate resolution. Does he want to have a second term? It struck me that he seemed to be running a campaign because that is what people expected of him.

The natural followup leads us to Reich’s point: what would you do with a second term? Again, events around him seemed to dictate his goals rather than any core agenda he ran on. The initiatives he has chosen to define his last term are Gun Control, Immigration Reform, Full implementation of Health Care Reform. Gun Control came about because of the tragic, yet coincidental, shootings at Sandy Hook. Immigration Reform came out of the immediate reaction to Election Night 2012 and subsequent talking point that demographics had drastically shifted to favor national Democratic tickets. Health Care Reform was saved by the Supreme Court’s ruling and assured upon Obama’s reelection. Victories on these fronts would be important and worthy of history. But they are far from inspiring and seem to cover the dearth of direction the Obama Administration had going into 2013.

The arc of Obama is that he is a mirror to which we all see are greatest hopes or fears. It’s impact proportionally dependent on the value we give it. What Obama faces is a truly insipid second term. His supporters seeing him less and less as their talisman for change. His opponents finding a new demon demanding to be faced.

Moonshot I had this documentary on VHS as a kid. Came on two...

Sat, 18 May 2013 11:11:43 -0400

Moonshot

I had this documentary on VHS as a kid. Came on two cassettes (which I’d always forget to rewind. Used to watch this seemingly weekly on Saturdays as I built Legos. I’ve forever lived in that decade, living vicariously through the triumph of NASA. That NASA. Not the NASA of the 90s, which now looks truly inspiring compared to today’s ghost.

Yahoo Board to Meet Sunday to Consider $1.1 Billion, All-Cash...

Fri, 17 May 2013 21:01:42 -0400

Yahoo Board to Meet Sunday to Consider $1.1 Billion, All-Cash Deal to Acquire Tumblr
Kara Swisher and Peter Kafka, allthingsd.com

According to sources close to the situation, the Yahoo board plans to meet Sunday night to decide whether to approve a $1.1 billion all-cash offer for New York-based blogging site Tumblr.
As AllThingsD.com first reported…

Big deal, bigger now that it comes with competent management at the helm of Yahoo! Melissa will make this special.

The TARDIS Console Room through the Years The Doctor. In the...

Thu, 16 May 2013 22:49:30 -0400

The TARDIS Console Room through the Years

The Doctor. In the TARDIS. Next stop—everywhere.

The Goal of Aesthetics

Wed, 15 May 2013 22:13:10 -0400

‘Bad Design’ is Sometimes the Best Design | Bobby Goodlatte| Medium

Beautiful and ‘well designed’ are not synonymous. Too many app designers are tasked only with making beautiful veneers. They’re really decorators, not designers. Building a great product requires consistency—between goals, product mechanics, interface, and aesthetics.

Aesthetics should serve an overall goal. In Snapchat’s case their lack of aesthetics may be reducing the friction to share.

iOS 7: All Part of the Plan

Wed, 15 May 2013 20:31:00 -0400

The future of iOS design? | Tim Green | Medium

To me, there is a distinct movement towards a particular style and I would be very surprised if Apple were ignorant of it. It’s not “flat design” per se and it’s certainly nowhere near the “Metro” levels that people are suggesting they may follow, but it’s a mellowing out of the visual indicators that people need to trigger the idea of a tappable element. Why? Because this is not 2007 anymore, and we are all now fully aware of the medium and the process; we don’t need to be led garishly by the hand. There is still a sense of depth and tactility but done in a refined and suggestive way, sensitive to the changed perceptions that people have of interacting with touchscreens.

To paraphrase Spinal Tap: ‘there is a fine line between timelessness and stodginess’. Apple is lauded rightly for resisting change simply for change sake (Lest that change could bring in substantial profit from upgrades a cynical would say). But clearly evident is that the UI of Apple’s flagship product being evocative of that summer of ‘07 when the DOW last peaked over 14,000. Yes, we’ve been through a crash, recession, and a sort-of recovery and the only thing which has changed is the ditching of Helvetica with Helvetica Neu

I’m reminded of John Gruber’s 2011 talk at Web Stock regarding the duality of uniformity and conformity in Apple’s design history. Apple has stort of strattled that line by allowing third-party apps to conform or embrase new concepts while remaining concistant at the core.

The questions looms as to whether all this talk is just normal Apple-rumor-mongering or a make or break moment in the company’s history. Probably a bit of both. At minimal Jony Ive’s first release under his belt should at least point the way towards the next generation of interaction with flat panel screens made by Apple. “This is the plan.” The core for any project’s success is the plan and how easy it is for others to take and make that their own.

Change for change’s sake isn’t the answer. Copying Metro isn’t the answer. Coming up with the new revolution isn’t the answer. Just show us where you are going, and then begin to execute towards it.

Infographic: Compare Today With Every Day That Came Before By...

Tue, 14 May 2013 22:41:20 -0400

Infographic: Compare Today With Every Day That Came Before
By Mark Wilson, fastcodesign.com

Day not going well? Don’t worry. Because in the grand scheme, today is woefully insignificant.
Here is today. And it’s only today because there was a yesterday—a whole lot of yesterdays, in fact—the yesterdays of 13,789 million years in t…

Cheers me up.

Klassische München

Sun, 12 May 2013 15:24:00 -0400

Klassische München

foxsoccer: Thank you Sir Alex It of the cap to Fergie.

Sun, 12 May 2013 14:43:25 -0400

foxsoccer:

Thank you Sir Alex

It of the cap to Fergie.

vulgartrader: Tasteless Marketing for a Tasteless Beer.

Sun, 12 May 2013 14:10:28 -0400

vulgartrader:

Tasteless Marketing for a Tasteless Beer.

fyeahclintdempsey: Clint Dempsey’s goal v Stoke City Deuce...

Sun, 12 May 2013 10:44:00 -0400

fyeahclintdempsey:

Clint Dempsey’s goal v Stoke City

Deuce from 40.

In Retreat

Sat, 11 May 2013 22:31:38 -0400

Night in Vermont. When gazing into the distance of darkened vistas one never feels lost or alone. The air is alive, accompanying you on journeys of introspection. It is a calming ether for your soul, welcoming you home.

Facebook and Waze: blending your worlds together one data point...

Fri, 10 May 2013 07:32:28 -0400

Facebook and Waze: blending your worlds together one data point at a time
Brittany Hillen, slashgear.com

Word has it Facebook is looking to acquire crowdsource navigation app Waze for a hefty $1 billion. Such a move would provide the social network with an array of location-based data far more substantial than any it has had thus far, adding the…

Unfortunately it makes sense.

Know when to stop

Wed, 08 May 2013 18:45:39 -0400

Design is nowhere | Robyn Morris | Medium

Embellishments and fluff often creep in when we overthink and overwork. Don’t hide behind these. Be clear on the thing(s) you’re trying to do. Audit the design against these objectives. If it ticks all the boxes, stop adding and start taking things away.

How many people are really using your product?

Wed, 08 May 2013 15:30:35 -0400

The only metric that matters | Josh Elman | Medium

While big numbers are a nice signal of, well, big numbers, I don’t think they are an indicator at all for whether a product is really working. Whenever I hear some of these stats, I always ask the same question: How many people are really using your product? You need a metric that specifically answers this. It can be “x people did 3 searches in the past week”. Or “y people visited my site 9 times in the past month”. Or “z people made at least one purchase in the last 90 days.” But whatever it is, it should be a signal that they are using their product in the way you expected and that they use it enough so that you believe they will come back to use it more and more.

Even more important is how they are using your product in ways you don’t expect. That can be critical to correcting a problem or realizing you are squandering an even greater opportunity.

"I use a trick with co-workers when we’re trying to decide where to eat for lunch and no one has any..."

Wed, 08 May 2013 12:15:36 -0400

“I use a trick with co-workers when we’re trying to decide where to eat for lunch and no one has any ideas. I recommend McDonald’s. An interesting thing happens. Everyone unanimously agrees that we can’t possibly go to McDonald’s, and better lunch suggestions emerge. Magic!”

- Jon Bell

Forever Young

Mon, 06 May 2013 22:57:13 -0400

The Money Shot | Kara Swisher | Vanity Fair

At a party just a month later, at a retro cocktail bar called Bloodhound in San Francisco, to celebrate millions more users, Krieger toasted Cohler and the group.

“To the good old days,” said Krieger.

“Mike,” replied Cohler, who was the grand old man of the group at 33 years old, “these are the good old days.”

Instagram, forever the days when we were young. Walking the sand, casting a gaze on the horizon ahead.