Refined by Fire

Another little surprise popped up in NetNewsWire today while trying to fix a problem. Something borked my layout and setting it back was not very intuitive. As I’ve mentioned before in a previous post, NetNewsWire could be more user-friendly with its features. Feature-rich it is, but some engineering foresight could make it sing a little prettier.

This time it’s for those fortunate enough to have a widescreen. Always looking for ways to declutterize my life, I try to find solutions to make best use of the space around me. This includes my frequented physical space such as desk and office area, but as a UI designer, maximizing my computer’s screen real estate is part and parcel to the job. Unfortunately for me, I’m much better at the latter, but for you, someone looking to squeak a little more user-friendliness out of your feed-reading experience, I can impart this tip to help you make better use of that additional lateral screen space.

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So, after getting an email from Sitepoint this past week, I decided to drink some of the Webkit CSS kool-aide. If you’re in a Webkit browser, go ahead, rollover the links and navigation.

To give a very quick background, Webkit is the foundation for the Safari Web browser. Additionally, many OS X apps use Webkit to display Web content. NetNewsWire, Mail.app, the Dashboard, are just a few. Site-Specific Browsers (SSBs) like those built on Fluid are also using Webkit.

Basically, if an OS X app’s Web integration has a tight feel to it, you can bet that it’s using Webkit.

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Session One “Installing SDK and ‘Hello World’” (or Bonjour Monde :-) with Shawn Van Every and Eric Redlinger

Photo by cstoller

Well, I wanted to get my hands dirty in the IDE. So, I went to the SDK installation, and xCode introduction. I’ve been through the tutorials, but thought that some real face-time instruction would be good.

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So, made it to another NYC tech event. On a Saturday no less. Anyway, this was the first BarCamp I’ve ever attended. I’ve been wanting to attend one for quite some time and was bummed to miss the big one a couple months ago. This however, made up for it because we covered one of my favorite topics: experience design. Oh wait, yeah, on the iPhone. So, even better.
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Apparently, I’m not the only one considering what we do as interaction designers as a “craft.” Social Design guy Joshua Porter has posted his slides from a presentation he gave on the topic. From his site:

For my talk, I picked something I’ve never talked about before: web craftsmanship. I chose this topic because I’ve been thinking a lot more about it since going out on my own last August. I also consider both Dan and Ethan craftsmen, obsessed with doing quality work vs. gaining notoriety or getting rich. So I thought it would be a good fit for the audience as well.

Passion shouldn’t be about making money (social or physical). Coincidentally, there’s a name for that kind of passion: Greed.

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