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•February 25, 2009 • Enter your password to view comments.From John Hodgman’s Twitter:
•February 24, 2009 • 11 Commentshodgman: Did I ever tell you people how much I hate the word “meh”? Nothing announces “I have missed the point” more than that word.
hodgman: It is the essence of blinkered Internet malcontentism. And a rejection of joy. Also: 12 hive mehs in the replies SO FAR
hodgman: By definition, it may mean disinterest (although simple silence would be a more damning and sincere response, in that case)
hodgman: But in use, it almost universally seems to signal: I am just interested enough to make one last joyless, nitpicky swipe and then disappear
I agree. Nothing is more irritating than someone only engaging you enough to try to suck out your joy.
EDIT: Unless it’s John the Pirate. Then it’s hilarious.
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•February 24, 2009 • Enter your password to view comments.CSL
•February 23, 2009 • 3 CommentsSo, the Crazy Secretary Lady has been relatively quiet of late. That could be because she’s had a talking to … but is probably because she spends half her day in a different department.
Since I started working with two monitors, I’ve had less “visual interference” by the CSL – our walls are still too low, but she has to peek around my monitor to make comments.
Alas, it was not to last – they’re rebuilding her cube due to her having to stand up (back problems, I guess)… which means she’ll be taking up more of my view then ever before.
*sigh*
On a brighter note, NASA is sponsoring an MMO that uses much of their actual digital resources, putting you in space around the year 2035, drilling for helium-3 for fuel and setting up hydroponics gardens, facing global warming threats and working with Sci-Fi tech that’s only a few years from being Science-Fact.
Sweet.
CNet, get out of my HEAD!
•February 19, 2009 • Comments Off on CNet, get out of my HEAD!CNet reviews the latest in-game web browsers
See, for those of you who don’t game, this sort of interaction is what I really want to see in future interfaces.
We’re still not in a position to have those applications interact smartly with one another, alas, but frankly, I don’t know if that sort of thing will ever really happen. I mean, WoW for instance needs to be diligent about anti-cheating software, which is why they don’t allow certain kinds of external connections … which is probably why there isn’t a truly in-game IM program like pidgin… which is why these overlays exist.
I would love to run a smart system. Maybe an operating system that really understands its applications and lets me work between them in new ways. I feel like we’ve just barely scratched the surface, like we’re still working with Cut and Paste, and we’re finally taking baby steps (to mix metaphors) with something like Ubiquity.
I am so geeked about this discovery.
•February 19, 2009 • 5 CommentsPlayXpert, where have you been all my life?
I haven’t tried it out yet, mind you, but there is nothing more annoying than having to alt-tab to a web browser or IM window while getting my geek on. My computer doesn’t like it, things bog down, sometimes there are crashes…
I’ve been hunting for something that’d let me IM without switching away, and this looks to be the ticket. Here’s hoping it works as advertised.
In other news, I’m tearing out the leather from a series of old shoes to see if I can’t make something awesome.
Phear!
•February 18, 2009 • 3 Comments
Is this the new BS:G?
Nope. It’s the next MMO, Jumpgate Evolution
“In this Massively Multiplayer Online game, players take command of their very own fully-customizable spacecraft in a war against a mysterious alien enemy. The developers describe the game as an MMO version of Wing Commander with the intensity of Battlestar Galactica’s fast-paced fighter battles. “
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•February 18, 2009 • Enter your password to view comments.•February 18, 2009 • 5 Comments
Does anyone know anything about Retro Game Challenge for DS?
Color me curious.
It’s a crazy time.
•February 17, 2009 • 18 CommentsCellphones today can:
- Tell exactly where you are.
- Determine their orientation, as well as how you shake or move them
- Project onto the wall with tiny, powerful projectors
- Take still photos or video, with sound
- Communicate wirelessly with other devices
- Pay for things (in Japan)
- Access the internet for IM, high speed web browsing, and location-aware software
- Near-infinite storage with SD cards
- Open, programmable software such as Android, along with Flash capability so anyone can design an app
- New user interfaces, including multi-touch that can be useful in a keyboard-less world
- High-Definition graphics
Add it all up. We don’t have a phone yet that incorporates every one of these things, but the day isn’t far off, as there are a few that have most.
Add in a few parallel technologies like flexible circuitry, new battery options, solar power advances, and video glasses that with circuitry small enough that you don’t look like a total LaForge. You have some hotness, right there.
The upshot:
It won’t be terribly long before I’ll be able to sit down at a coffee shop, tap my glasses and use a pair of gloves, set of rings, or wristwatch (that detects finger movement through the muscles) to access my cell PC. I don’t need to worry about a mic – it’s woven into my jacket or shirt, fully washable.
A few more technology generations, and you could see:
- Serious location-based gaming, a real-life WoW-type MMO
- Actual point-of-interest detection (based on GPS location, direction, and camera view
- Direction-mapping, with arrows laid out on the street or in the air, like the glowing lines in football on TV
- A three-dimensional menu system with access to movies, music and your favorite productivity apps
Frankly, almost all of these things are easily possible now. No one has created a unified, easy-to-understand system that does anything you need quickly and intuitively. Some mad genius (with an eye for design) needs to create something that is obviously more productive and workable – small when you need it small and deep when you need it deep (kind of like the LG NV2 closed-shell menu vs open-shell menu).
This is a ridiculously exciting time for mobile awesomeness.