I would say that I’ve been influenced greatly by companies like 37signals, Apple, and Google, especially in the past five years or so. I like a lot of what Apple has done with computing, and use many of their products in the work that I do. I use Google’s services every day and am using the design updates they just rolled out as inspiration for some of what I am currently working.
However, stumbling upon 37signals through Ruby on Rails thanks to being handed the first edition of Agile Web Development with Rails by one of my coworkers has probably affected me the most in what I have chosen to pursue in my life and how I think about the web, business, and design.
If you want to read a short book to give you a taste of what I am talking about, please check out Getting Real. A major theme of the book (maybe THE theme of the book) I like to sum up as “do less”. Not just building less, but also promising less, hiring less, having less mass (as a company), etc. It permeates a lot of what they talk about in the book and about how they talk about their own company. They released the book in 2006, and even though they’ve grown a lot since then, you can still see them sticking to the major points they make in their book.
However, one thing sometimes lost when people start espousing “doing less” is that doing less isn’t the end of it, you need to do less, better.
This is stuck in my head as I start to flesh out an idea for an application. Do less, better. Cut the scope of the project, do less “checkmarks”. However, what I do, I need to do better. I need to choose a limited number of things and then put all of my effort into making those things work better than anything else out there (where “better” can be a subjective term in certain contexts).
That’s the second part that some people miss. You can’t simply choose to do less, that is the road to failure. You need to take that effort you would have put into checking off boxes and make the stuff that you are doing that much better.
They want you searching…. URLs are irrelevant. And I really think this is Google’s philosophy is that they want to make URLs just completely irrelevant.
The above quote came from the lips of one Dan Benjamin on Build and Analyze #33. Speaking with Marco Arment about the terrible URLs that Google is currently using for Google+, they came to this idea about why Google didn’t think more about how their URLs look, specifically about having usernames so that you could go to plus.google.com/username to get to a person.
The quote scares me, and coupled with Google trying to also minimize the URL bar (Gizmodo article link), really starts to worry me as to some powers-that-be trying to change the very foundation of what makes the web, the web.
I’m probably blowing this way out of proportion because I’m a little groggy this morning, but maybe there is just a little something there.
I should preface this entire post with the following disclaimer:
This has to do strictly with Linux on the desktop and is nothing more than my personal opinions on the matter. I have no knowledge (of anything, really).
Good. With that out of the way, let’s jump right into it!
GNU/Linux has a very passionate following as a desktop operating system. There are a myriad of reasons why a person might feel this way, and that’s quite cool. Whether it be the developer wanting to have control of as much of the system as possible, the open source advocate choosing FOSS out of a sense of duty, or maybe a computer tweaker who just wants to be able to mess around with their OS.
Oh, it also might be your grandparents who were handed a machine with Linux installed so that their grandson might not have to continuously remove malware from their Windows box. You know, just maybe.
Needless to say, there are reasons.
However, desktop Linux has also not really caught on in the “mainstream” market. I don’t think anyone is really saying otherwise, but what would it take to push Linux to the next level and encourage mainstream uptake?
You need to start with the one thing you can control: software.
Right now things seem to be shaping up in a three-way battle for the desktop environment: Gnome 3 vs. KDE 4 vs. Unity. Now, that’s not entirely true because Unity is really (I think) a shell on top of Gnome, but I would say these are the BIG THREE at the moment mainly because Ubuntu has tossed their towel in with their Unity environment.
What needs to be done?
We need a time, now, after the huge changes that Gnome 3, KDE 4, and Unity have brought to just fix bugs, work out UI inconsistencies and do a ton of user testing to figure out what pitfalls there are for all three. I believe there is room for all three desktop environments, but they all need some cleanup and focus on the “polish” … which, by the way, is a terrible term for something like this, but I’ll go with it anyway.
I’ve thrown my hat in with Unity because I like a lot of what they have done and it works pretty well where I use it (mainly on widescreen monitors and laptops), but there are things that need to just be worked out. How windows react with the Unity toolbar can sometimes be … interesting. Unifying the scrollbars will be greatly appreciated and there has to be a better way for the menu bar, even if you need to rip off Apple’s ideas. Those are all design decisions, and things will continue to change in the future.
The default state of each environment needs to be attractive, but not gaudy. I think Mac OS X has proven that incremental changes to an OS can keep things fresh without needing to toss everything aside (I’m looking at you Windows Vista/7).
This is where we started.After 10 years, this is what we now have.
Very familiar and yet different at the same time. So much as been polished, changed, changed again, moved, added to, removed … you get the picture. With the changes brought about in Gnome 3, KDE 4, and Unity I think the base has been set for a long, incremental polishing of the user-facing interface to become something really really great.
I’ll go on record saying that I like what I see with Unity, but that I think all three are on the right path.
However, the software is just one part of it (or, maybe more as we will see). What is maybe even more frustrating is the seeming lack of OEM support for Linux.
It has been getting better on the hardware front, but there needs to be a huge push to get open source drivers (or at the least, comprehensive documentation) out there so that hardware support can get better.
I, for one, love the ThinkPad line of notebooks. I would like to see Lenovo make it a policy to only use hardware that is supported by Linux because I think that ThinkPads make excellent development machines. I understand that is probably not possible, but if a major player like Lenovo would make that push, maybe we would see component manufacturers get off of their duff and start really supporting open source operating systems.
I hope for the day when I can go to Lenovo’s site, choose any laptop I want based on my needs and be confident that I can download the latest Ubuntu/Fedora/etc., install it, and get to work.
Offering an install of an open source operating system would be great as well, even if Lenovo makes their own distribution to put on their machines. HP bought Palm and now there are rumors of webOS because put onto their traditionally Microsoft-only hardware platforms. If that starts to become a differentiator for OEMs, then maybe this will become a reality.
So, those are just some generic thoughts about what might need to happen for Linux to get pushed to the next level. As for me, I’ll continue to push it where it is viable. I already have my brother happy with his desktop because he can do anything he needs without the need to worry about malware at the moment (not 100% true, but more so than before for him).
I also think the education market is primed for a little disruption, but that is for another time.
DA:O is definitely on my short list of games. Mass Effect series, Zelda, Starcraft, KOTOR … that’s pretty strict company.
So that got me thinking about what actually compiles my “short list” of video games. Granted, I do not do a lot of gaming anymore, but here is The “Short List” 2011.
Introduction
Just some ground rules to start.
series can be a single entry if the games are linked in some way (e.g. Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 NOT Final Fantasy 3/6 and Final Fantasy 9
must include games I’ve played through completely at least once
the list is not in order of preference because I’m terrible at ordering things like this
the list is strictly my opinion and I will be changing that opinion over time
With that, let’s begin!
Mass Effect series
Bioware will come up again and again on this list, mainly because they know how to tell a really solid story and Mass Effect is no different. To say it is a “space opera” would be an understatement and the mix of shooter + role-playing elements make this an instant favorite for me.
I look forward to Mass Effect 3.
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic series
Two games that finally fleshed out the Old Republic in a way that had never been done before. It was a refreshing take on the Star Trek universe that offered a great storyline and the ability to be a Jedi. How cool is that?
KOTOR 1 was the stronger of the two, with KOTOR 2 feeling a little unfinished but I put them both here because I enjoyed both of them.
Starcraft series
Even though over a decade separates the games, Starcraft is what I look for in a strategy game that I can pick up and play for fun. Fast-paced, good online support, and something you can still play today (in reference to Starcraft 1) even over a decade later.
Starcraft 2 is a worthy update and I can’t wait for the other stories to come out. Who doesn’t like playing as Jimmy Raynor?
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time/Majora’s Mask
I spent a sick week playing through OOT in grade school and it was amazing. The Zelda series is great, but these two games on the N64 were maybe two of the best because of how different they felt from each other.
MM was the darker of the two, but the more epic-feeling was OOT. I will always remember walking into Hyrule Field for the first time … it was glorious.
Final Fantasy 3/6
Kefka. Just the name makes me cringe. Along with maybe the craziest antagonist in video game history, the sheer number of awesome characters you get to play with makes the game all the more fun.
Couple the above with some of the best 16-bit gaming music and graphics and you have a truly iconic game. Final Fantasy 3, I salute you.
Final Fantasy 9
Lots of people will choose other Final Fantasy games, but 9 has stuck with me for a very long time. It harkened back to how I would imagine older FF games and just ran with it to create a feel-good story with great music, awesome atmosphere, and it pushed the Playstation to its limits.
I think the most underrated FF game in the entire series. I loved it.
Dragon Age: Origins
I didn’t know what to expect when I started, but I picked it up on a friend’s request (thanks Chris!). I’m not usually a Western-style fantasy RPG fan, but when I got started I was hooked. The world is expansive, the story is great (Bioware anyone?), the characters are fleshed-out, the music is top-notch and … well, you get the picture.
I have this as a standalone game at the moment because I have not been able to play Dragon Age II yet. I’m hoping to pick it up once the price drop, drastically.
Closing
So that’s the first installment of The “Short List” and I hope you enjoyed it. I will probably reevaluate the list semi-regularly in the future and post up any changes to it.
Today I ran my first 5K in St. Peter, Minnesota. It was an early morning so that we could make the 35 minute journey from our home to my parent’s farm and then to St. Peter for the start of the race (which started at 7:30am). Sadly, I thought that going to bed early the night before was a good idea but it just ended up meaning I woke up at 4:00am and couldn’t get back to sleep.
Needless to say, I was awake.
I have been running the 5K distance for over two weeks now and was fairly confident I would be able to do alright. I was not prepared for how difficult it would be to add hills to the mix.
I should have listened to my wife. She warned me (or tried to).
5K and four hills later, I was nearing the finish line and saw my son, with his grandpa, waiting at my last turn. That’s when I got a sudden burst of speed and powered on through to the finish. I put on the last little bit when I saw my wife waiting at the finish line, all of 3 weeks and 3 days before her due date. Thanks for sticking it out, it means a lot that you did.
My goal at the start of the day was to finish the race in under 30 minutes. I came in at 29:13. Mission accomplished.
Without the hills I probably would have gotten done around 28:30, but that is for a later date. I was mildly pleased to come in within the first third of the pack for the 5K and now I have a baseline to work from for the future.
So there it is, my first 5K after completing Couch to 5K twice in just over a year. Hopefully this is the start of a life-long willingness to keep running and keep healthy. In less than two weeks I have another 5K, this one is a little closer … a 3 minute walk from my front door.
Let’s see if I can get closer to 29 minute this time.
