Nonsensor: Mike's Blog

What I did on my blog's vacation, part 9 of 3

Mike Propst — 2010-01-20T23:29:00+00:00

I've been out of it for quite some time, so I thought I'd update on some of the wonderful things that I did during those dark, dark days. People who know what I work on probably have a pretty good idea of where most of that time went (plantin' seeds, yaknow), but it wasn't all Gavin-directed slave driving.

For one, I bought a snappy little netbook. They're quite the thing; all the kids seem to have one. And these days, they're sturdily built, powerful machines for their size. They can run Windows XP and MS Office, and have great multimedia capability.

Unfortunately, mine is not a product of these days.

The eeePC 900 is Asus's first netbook, and one of the first ever. It comes with a 4GB solid state drive but is otherwise spec'd out pretty much like a tiny, cheap plastic hybrid of a Speak & Spell and a Commodore 64. If only the keyboard were as big as the Speak & Spell's.

Actually, with a little gumption you can turn an older model eeePC into a nice little portable. The screen is great, the battery life is decent, and the multi-touch trackpad is pretty nice. First step is to kill the stock OS, which is a customized version of Xandros. That piece of crap choked on even the tiniest videos and web pages. I wonder how these things sold at all. It certainly doesn't do Linux advocacy any favors. So I searched around for a while until I found that some guys had made a eee-specific version of Ubuntu called (not so cleverly) eeebuntu that really whips this thing into shape.

Using the eeebuntu base install and throwing a few extra programs on, I was able to make this thing into a usable machine for browsing with Chrome, writing documents using AbiWord, reading ebooks by rotating the screen, and even watching fairly high-res video on MPlayer. With the 10.1 beta of Flash, little toy netbook processors can now hang in there with YouTube and (on a good day) Hulu. After the OS is in place, you can start upgrading the RAM and SSD and you have a decent machine.

I got the little doodad on Woot for a buck fifty, otherwise I probably wouldn't have it at all (somehow once I hit $200 I expect "real computer" specs), but it seems like they must have sold out stock because they've moved on to the slightly pricier XP-powered Acer Aspires. But if you do find one cheap and you're looking to play around a little, the eeePC 900 is a fun little slice of computer.

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Well, looky what we have here.

Mike Propst — 2010-01-09T17:32:00+00:00

It's a blog! I almost forgot I had one. I redesigned (if you're in an RSS reader, go check it out - it's ugly), threw in some new Blogsmith features (and by "new" I mean newer than a year old), and voila. World's fastest relaunch. I might even write in it this time.

New feature: Flickr in the sidebar. I take a lot of pictures from my iPhone and post to Flickr, so it probably qualifies as a blog as much as this one. Give it a look every now and again.

More later...

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Free advice - New startup idea

Mike Propst — 2009-04-30T19:48:00+00:00

Filed under: Fail, LOLTOMINO, ET Phone Home

So I had a bizarre dream last night. I was carrying around a notebook that, while apparently magical or something, was totally useless. I would write tiny little journal entries on its lined paper, and then move 10 pages or so before writing the next entry. Seemed really inefficient, except that when I'd turn back to older entries, there'd be more written in the space between. Not from me, either. They were @replies. Did I really just dream Twitter for paper?

It'll never top AdSense for print.

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The best thing I missed at SXSWi

Mike Propst — 2009-03-19T15:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Win, LOLTOMINO, Fry me to the moon

I arrived in plenty of time to park and get a good seat, but managed to forget my badge at home. Thankfully, the slides for Leah Buley's (of Adaptive Path) presentation "How to be a UX Team of One" are on Slideshare. It really is a lot more than what the name implies, so have a look.

UX Team Of One @ IA Summit 2008

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Let's get big

Mike Propst — 2009-02-16T10:02:00+00:00

It's been obvious since the dawn of time that small fonts are harder to read. It's also been the tendency of designers to work small. Thankfully the days of those aliased 6-point fonts in Flash-based sites of the 90s are gone, but as this this site proves, indulgence is still there.

Lately, the IM window has started to look too small so I'm reducing my own personal stress by talking to Celly in a massive 24px font. I've started using 14px (80%) myself in some design cases, but here's a great justification for using up to 16px/100%. A picture says a thousand words, right, and the photo of the magazine held next to the screen at comparative reading distances says a lot in this case.

Along with that rule, there are plenty of other great ones, most of which we should remember from design school but tend to forget when working on the web with all those limitations to rebel against.

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Empathy is the best yardstick

Mike Propst — 2009-02-09T17:04:00+00:00

There are plenty of rules and principles to basic usability of applications or websites. But experience is important, and watching your test subjects is important, because nothing is set in stone. On a case by case basis, you never know what principle you'll be going against, what rule you'll have to break because it doesn't make sense to stick with them.

In those cases, what are you left with? The only thing that matters, which is your judgment. Not your judgment as an experienced designer - sure, that factors into it - but your judgment as a user. Nothing's better for the designer than having to use his own software. And not just using the software, but using the software under the same circumstances as everyone else who has to use it. In a practical sense, that can mean anything from performance goals to screen resolution.

That's empathy. Walk a little while in your users' shoes. A little bit of empathy for the user up front saves the need for sympathy later.

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There goes another one

Mike Propst — 2009-02-03T17:55:00+00:00

Every few months or so, someone comes along and tries to play at being very innovative by taking a contradictory position. Usually that's just contradictory to logic. This self-described "CSS rant" is one such case. Try on for size the argument that it's impossible to separate content from presentation, so we should just give up. The followup really doesn't do much better, it just goes after the equally idiotic CSS proponents who can't seem to articulate their arguments in better ways than "you're an idiot."

The reason this was so easy is that tables have the correct semantics for doing layout. CSS doesn't. When you do layout you want to be have things adjust their sizes and positions based on not only their containers but also on their siblings. When the leftnav content grows you want the center div to grow to compensate, and vice versa. Table cells do this naturally. CSS DIVs do it only under extreme duress, and only by making assumptions about (and thus becoming tightly bound to) their underlying content, which undermines the whole point of CSS.

I can't even begin to point out what's wrong with this. Tables don't have any "semantics for doing layout" - or maybe they do, I can't really figure out what that statement means. I do know that tables were not meant to describe layout. Floats were not meant for layout either, at least not exactly, but valuing one difficult hack over another by trotting out an over-simplified example that shows that Mr. Garrett has very little understanding of the technology (especially the box model)... not really helping his argument.

Earlier in the page, he states that CSS is dependent on content order. Not so, as I proved today on a project where Celly insisted on having something first in the source even though it appears on the right. While Garrett demonstrates tables' "superiority" in other aspects, what does he do with the wrong source order? Nothing, because tables can't help that.

My opinion is pretty firm on the subject for various reasons, but this should explain pretty well.

I used to do things the table way.
I now do things with CSS.
My blood pressure is significantly lower these days.

Even simpler, I refute the people who say that "it's all hacks." To a tiny, tiny degree that is true. However. The basis for my opinion is this: I find it hard to believe that the language that contains such properties as "position" was not meant for layout.

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Homework

Mike Propst — 2009-01-28T16:51:00+00:00

I have friends that claim to hate me because I work from home. And on a nice day, yeah I might take to the porch to do some drawing. But it's true, it's not all it's cracked up to be all the time. Especially when Time Warner Cable doesn't like to provide reliable internet, but that's neither here nor there. Gavin sent this link out the other day, and I suppose it got me thinking a little.

The first thing to go is probably motivation. For this you can blame a massive cut in feedback. In an office you get feedback constantly.

The point on lack of feedback and interaction is a valid one, but if you've been working with a team as long as we've been doing this, you start to realize how some of those things work. And the fact is, you just have to be active in pursuing feedback, just as you are with pursuing the answers to your questions, and anything else that you need from other people who you can't just stare down until they comply.

I did start coworking at Conjunctured a couple months back while I didn't have an office, but I ended up spending a lot of that time busy with buying a house, going to Orlando to work with Gavin and Celly, and all that good shit so I really haven't used the space as much as I could. It always ends up being easier, when you've taken up any part of your day not working, to just hop right in instead of commute. That said, the variety was great, and yes - the mere presence of other humans can be a boost. The dog just doesn't do it for me conversationally. I'll probably move to the occasional daily rate now that I have an office in the house again.

But it really depends on the situation, overall. Getting in the "zone" is a lot easier when there are no distractions (although onscreen distractions can be even worse than people, so various IM status messages, some of which disable Growl, can be useful), so a lot of designers find it beneficial to work alone.

Yes, interaction can be a little tougher, but you need to realize that you have it unrealistically freaking sweet to be able to work from home, and enjoy the value in that. I suspect the Geeks in Boston article's second part will probably address that sentiment. Anyway... point is, that's a good read, check it out, but don't take it 100% to heart. It takes effort to make the home office work - you're not forced to do anything so you better force yourself.

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Next stop... adulthood

Mike Propst — 2009-01-06T13:40:00+00:00

Yesterday I reached a milestone in life, I bought my first house. Not too bad for someone who's still suffering credit problems from a 2001 layoff (a lot of issues can take 7-8 years to get rid of).

Erika bought our first house, since at the time I made about three dollars that year trying to succeed freelance in the crap market known as Detroit. But this time I managed, and since this is the year I turn thirty, I wonder if being an "adult" is the next step...

As long as I can tell people I don't have time for this nonsense, I'm a grown-ass man, I'll be happy.

Also, happy new year everyone.

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New Wacom time

Mike Propst — 2008-11-07T14:28:00+00:00

Matt was gracious enough to sell me his Wacom Intuous 9x12 for a decent deal. I've been using my old Graphire 3x4 from the late 90s again for a while now, so I think the time was right. I PayPal'd him rapidly so that I wouldn't have to deal with second thoughts :D

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Number 44

Mike Propst — 2008-11-05T14:39:00+00:00

Wow. That was quite a night.

As Nas said: "America surprised us, and let a black man guide us."

Stay on point, Obama. People are counting on you to not fall back into the same old shit we're tired of seeing. We know he's got ideas, and we know he can talk (better than just about anyone), so it's time for him to prove what he can do.

On a side note, both the victory speech and McCain's concession were some of the best pieces of oration I'd ever seen.

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Happy election day.

Mike Propst — 2008-11-04T11:38:00+00:00

Image somewhat related.

I hope everyone goes and votes today if you haven't already.

I also hope that whoever wins reduces the power of the executive branch of government to what it should be, but I find that unlikely. Also, I just want this crap to be over.

Sit tight, keep quiet, 'till the next time. The next time being one thousand eight hundred and twenty-five days away.

-A toast to democracy. The prison guard of this society.

The usual anti-inspiration provided by Chumbawamba. But it's funny, I don't feel as hopelessly cynical about the whole thing as I used to. Don't worry, the feeling will pass.

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The syrupy menace

Mike Propst — 2008-10-16T17:00:00+00:00

Say what you will about high fructose corn syrup, that potentially evil sludge that's even now flowing in a dark river through a pipeline in Matt Heerema's backyard. But my fear and distaste have kept me away from [insert preferred word for sweetened carbonated beverages here] for quite some time, and I'm no doubt better off for it.

But to a degree, sugar is sugar, and it's bad for you. It rots your teeth, it makes you fat, and if you think "real" sugar, cane juice, or some other more natural form of sweetening is going to make everything better, you're destined for a big ol' ring around the belt.

So Austin, with its abundance of sugary choices - from old-school recipes like Mexican Coke and Dublin Dr. Pepper to the proliferation of natural fruit sodas and micro-brewed root beers - has really wrecked my beverage abstinence plan.

Add to that the local craft beers on tap pretty much everywhere, including the deli, the tacqueria, the coffee shop, and probably the gas station and vacuum repair shop, and I'd better be glad I'm living in an apartment complex with a gym.

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New MacBooks and Pros

Mike Propst — 2008-10-16T13:21:00+00:00

Well, Engadget kicked ass again, thanks in part (let's get humble, here!) to the hot liveblogging tool that Christoph and I whipped up, and in part to all the under-the-hood stuff that he and Celly have been working on over the past couple months. We can still say that we run faster, on less hardware, than anyone else.

MacBook news was not quite as impressive, but not bad either. To me the biggest plus is that there is now a middle ground between the plastic, $1000 MacBooks and their beastly cousin, the Pro. That's probably a reflection of the ground that Apple's been consistently gaining in the market. They can now compete pretty well in that $1000-$2000 range.

I like the unibody construction idea, but let's hope Apple's minimized the sweltering waves of fury radiating from their metal laptops - I'm sorry, notebooks, putting them on your lap will only reduce your chances of procreating.

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So... how's Austin?

Mike Propst — 2008-09-09T11:29:00+00:00

People have been asking me that question a lot lately, of course. And the easy answer is, it's awesome: I'm happy to be in warm weather, happy to be somewhere I can walk around, happy to have a city instead of a collection of suburbs, and most of all, happy to be in Texas. For all its (numerous) faults, it's where I come from.

Texas may be home to some people I wouldn't care to associate with, but most of them were born elsewhere (the Bushes, Lee Harvey Oswald, Karl Rove... it's all good), and as my Illinois-born brother will dourly tell you, you have to be born here to be one. Besides, Willie Nelson offsets all those.

The long answer is that Austin is a complicated situation that feels like it's teetering on the edge of something, and what happens when we pass through that threshold is currently being decided. Austin can either retain the qualities that make it great, or turn into another reasonably cool but personality-devoid city.

Austinites are an odd bunch. They're friendly as only Texans can be, but they're also openly bitter about the influx of outsiders, whether Yankees or Houstonians, and always grumbling about how this place used to be cool or too bad that place closed down.

In fact, there's a joke: How many Austinites does it take to change a light bulb? Doesn't matter, they're all going to sit around bitching about how the old light bulb was so much better.

I'm not saying they don't have a legitimate issue. Far from it. We need to listen to these folks, because the Austin they love is the Austin that the rest of us came here to love, and it's our job to protect it too. But on the other hand, the conflict between old and new is also another facet of what makes Austin decent in the first place: it's corporate and hippie, it's liberal and conservative. Not to mention, the whole thing is a microcosm of America, and representative of a lot of cities. Austin is doing far better than many other places that gentrified too fast, and no matter how bad it looks, remember, this is capitalism. The little guy will not win. Tough. Enjoy it while you can, then come back to your corner bar of choice to bitch about it with the old folks. And remember that our Craigslist is an awesome Craigslist.

(Hope this kind of topic doesn't bore my friends, because you're gonna probably be hearing quite a bit more of it.)

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Bye bye Kwame

Mike Propst — 2008-09-04T12:38:00+00:00

After months of scandal and crime, and years of less-than-savory activity that's finally come to the fore, Kwame Kilpatrick is no longer the mayor of Detroit. He's also being fined a lot of money, and going to jail for four months.

Detroit's situation is the product of a decades-long legacy of corruption and two-way racial intolerance. This Salon article actually puts things pretty concisely if you want to briefly read about the scenario.

Bearing all that in mind, it'd be silly to think that getting rid of Kwame is going to fix Detroit - in fact, the wounds of the city and the racial tension of Michigan will probably get worse again before they get better. But look at the situation there. Status quo isn't doing anything positive, so any instigation of change should be helpful.

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New site: UCF Insider

Mike Propst — 2008-08-28T13:21:00+00:00

Just launched UCFinsider.com for Alex. It's a blog that, through mostly automated content, tracks whatever happens in the University of Central Florida football season. Just a WordPress template, designed and put together in a total of 3-4 hours. Nothing fancy.

It is yet again a case for Sandbox, hands down WordPress's best theme if you're a designer. So many themes get in your way, and building 100% from scratch is a ridiculous pain in the ass. I've been spoiled by Blogsmith; even with the bugs that were still in our design engine, this site's redesign launched incredibly quickly. Sandbox actually enables an experience with WordPress that I don't want to say is similar, but is abnormally painless.

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Usability isn't just for software

Mike Propst — 2008-08-25T18:04:00+00:00

It's for anything you... you know... use. The AIGA has released a hypothetical ballot design based on the US Election Assistance Commission's guidelines put forth for this year's ballots, and it's pretty neat. Ballots have the disadvantage of being official government documents (require lots of crappy verbiage that no one understands), designed by committee (no focus or plan), and who knows what else going against them, so who knows if we'll actually see something like this. Probably not. But seeing as how there's no little oval next to "Bush" this year, we should be ok...

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Please let these star wars stay

Mike Propst — 2008-08-22T16:34:00+00:00

Thanks in part to the always-vigilant EFF, Universal's out-of-hand takedown notice patrol has been curbed slightly. A judge has ruled that fair use is not in fact just something that you say to justify something you think might be illegal - it's real, and Universal and co. might hate it but they have to consider it before issuing takedown notices to YouTube video and such. Otherwise, the DMCA actually allows for the victim of the takedown to seek damages.

Thank jeebus, I get nervous any time corporations are allowed to do whatever they want, and since art is very close to me (and some other people I know...) I'm glad to hear they won't be given carte blanche to terrorize YouTube.

You know what peeves me the most though? They take down every last clip of SNL from the web, but don't replace them on Hulu. Or maybe they do, and you just can't find them. Hulu's search is 100% awful. So if you're looking for, say, this... you may never find it.

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The death of online music (again)

Mike Propst — 2008-08-19T20:07:00+00:00

Today that's what you'll see if you try to access your Muxtape. Bummer. Not only that, there's a lot of scary talk about Pandora packing it in. Damn shame. Of course, Pandora has weathered this many many times before, and is one of the few legit services that made it through the Internet radio rate hike of last year. Then again, every single branch of Pandora other than the US one has closed up shop. So can they make it? It would really be a shame, seeing as how they're doing better than ever thanks to the sweet iPhone application. According to TechCrunch:

Pandora says they're alread paying 70% of their $25 million in yearly revenues in royalty fees, and it is driving them out of business.

I don't really feel like linking that, because (a) he's calling for Pandora to hit the chopping block as a martyr and (b) reading Arrington write about music will make you stupid. Anyone that is willfully ignorant enough to paint Billy Bragg - Billy effing Bragg - as a music industry tool doesn't deserve your time. Besides, everything Billy Bragg said about Bebo was previously said by Ask A Ninja about MySpace, and you don't see M.A. jumping to bash them. Regardless of the rant, let's hope that Pandora can make it. As for Muxtape, I guess it was fun while it lasted.

RIP fuckingrad.muxtape.com

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