I’m delighted that this photo was accepted into Meadowlark Photo Expo! (www.meadowlarkphotoexpo.com)
Octopus hotdogs! These are just too cute. I also like the gadget the records and recognizes a spoken grocery list, then organizes it by grocery store section and prints it out. View these and other wacky kitchen gadgets
Well, I certainly used to fold paper while doing math - usually balling it up in fits of disappointment and anger at why the answer still eluded me. I did well enough in math, but I usually found proofs to be much more fun than calculus. One look at diff-eq and I knew to avoid that one like the plague. But I think this is one of the more interesting examples of how math can affect our lives. Using what I imagine is somewhat high-level math, he calculates incredibly detailed folding diagrams which he uses to create wonderfully complex origami.
http://www.apple.com/science/profiles/origami/?sr=hotnews
Tufte appears to be a (relatively) big fan of the iPhone. What is more interesting is his video review of it, showing his opinion on the successes and failures of the design. While I disagree with him on some points, I think he has some good comments as well. My biggest issue is I don’t think he gives credit for wanting to very quickly and easily see basic information. Most of his commentary on the weather and stock pages doesn’t acknowledge the desire to want this quick digestion of basic info on a mobile device. Yes, his images provide a lot more information and nicely, but I think trying to decipher that quickly while walking to a meeting or down the street would be difficult. I do think his observation that the bottom bar of safari should be transparent is spot on.
And it’s also interesting to see how he’s hacked his iPhone. 
Post: http://www.edwardtufte.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00036T&topic_id=1
Video (link also inside post): http://www.edwardtufte.com/bboard/iphone-video.adp
Check it out, the Human Interface guidelines that Apple uses have been updated on the web for Leopard.
I’m interested to see how well this conference goes and how many more we see. Most interestingly, I heard about it through “BusinessWeek” of all places. I guess everything “Green” is cool, and therefore good for biz, these days. Check it out:
Greener Gadgets Conference
I’m looking for an easier way to post to this blog, so hopefully I’ll post more often. After some research (aka searching the Internet), I found MarsEdit. So this is my first post using the trial version. Setting it up was a breeze. Enter a name, the URL for the blog itself (not the admin section or anything like that, just the plain ol’ URL). Then it goes out, finds the blog - it must do some checking to find out what blog software, etc - and prompts me to enter my username and password. I enter my username and the incorrect password, then prompted again, I enter the correct password. Easy as pie. Within seconds, I have a list of all the posts on my blog. Wow! Simple. Creating a new post was as easy as clicking on an icon in the toolbar and typing (with my misspellings in red dotted underline).
But now for the pièce de résistance - will it work. If you see this post, you know the answer…
So the question - anyone else use software for making blog posts easier?
[Edit - it worked!]
My husband and I got Leopard opening night. No, we didn’t get there early and wait in line but figured we’d get there about an hour after the re-open and that was perfect - only about a 3 minute wait at the Tysons Corner Apple store. Unfortunately I missed the applause, but I did get greeted at the door and I must admit, checkout was fastest I’ve ever experienced. I’ve used Leopard now for about, oh 5 minutes, and here are my first thoughts.
Installing
This takes a while, but it as easy as can be. Put the disc in, click the button to restart, and then wait about 45 minutes. Well, I just ran errands (I’ll discuss the Prius errand in the next post.) So a few hours later when I returned I was all ready to go. Entered my .Mac account info, said no I don’t want to give you a credit card, and was on my way.
First 5 Minutes
So first I noticed there’s an “Optional Installs” folder on the install disc. So I played around and installed a few fonts and printer drivers. Nothing big. Then I installed Xcode developer tools. Well, I shouldn’t use past tense, I’m still trying and it’s not happy. But that could be because I got impatient at the 12 minute install time (really, that long?) and played with Preferences. I turned on Spaces, which, btw, if it’s listed as a feature, turn the darn thing on automatically! I really like how I can assign an application to a “space.” I used virtual desktops back in my Unix days, but the problem was my organization scheme would get all convoluted and chaotic by the end of the day - apps all over the place that won’t stay in their correct spot. So I have high hopes this application assignment will work. *crossing fingers* I then changed my background to another pretty black and white picture. I love the plethora of gorgeous backgrounds to choose from. Then I opened up Mail.
Mail
Upon opening, it took about a minute to update my mailboxes, not too shabby. I must admit I really like the new stationary. I thought at first it was kinda cheesy, but a neighbor had nicely brought by some freshly-baked muffins this morning. So, I sent her a thank you e-mail. Nice, tasteful and QUICK. I really love this. I want to play with the picture ones. Perfect for gift thank yous - take a picture of the gift and voila, instant thank you. Then I decided to save a picture from a message. Oh, so nice. Finally, a default “Downloads” folder that I don’t have to set up nor track and which all my downloads go to. Oh, so wonderful. Little thing, but now I don’t have to remember where I put that download, just click on the download folder on the dock and bam.
Overall Pluses
I really like the new Finder. Besides the obvious quick look and coverflow, I really like the sidebar. We have 3 macs in the house, all networked together. I love how I can see all of them, without have to do a thing. Oh, and the icon changes based on the type of computer. iMacs have a little iMac icon, my Mac Pro has a more monitor like icon and the laptop has a laptop icon. So cute!
Looking at the Finder sidebar, there must be an Apple designer with a strong IA (information architecture) background and leaning that keeps winning the discussion. The groupings and labeling to me just scream IA. And since I enjoy IA, I really like the new sidebar. It’s clean, easy to understand and scan. It’s just a thing of intellectual beauty.
Minuses
I miss the color! While I like the increased contrast of the safari bookmark bar and some of the icons, it’s much more monochrome. And I really don’t like the new Folder icon. BORING and UGLY! I just hope the apple designers stop there before they get rid of so much color it looks like a, gasp, PC!
My first multi-species veggie harvest. A zucchini, yellow heirloom cucumber and a celebrity tomato. Yum! I feel so proud. The zucchini was 13″!