What is Joe Average Going to Do With It?
IMO, it’s just hype. For what need will average consumers have of this kind of bandwidth? Any hardware (e.g. consumer pcs, even gaming consoles, etc.) that will actually be able to take any advantage won’t be available for years. Thing is, many consumer services that would take best advantage of those higher speeds (e.g. HD video) don’t take that long to download. Not long enough to warrant rushing in and adopting. So, I don’t know if it’ll really be missed.

This reminds me of Internet2 – which is apparently still in development – promising the same thing. Similarly, even, “The Grid” will primarily be available to research institutions and not the mass-consumer market.

The announcement did get me thinking, though: we haven’t seen a serious speed boost in years. In the ’90′s we saw regular modems ramp up into broadband in just a few short years. In the past decade we haven’t seen any real changes. Connectivity’s been all about making wireless faster and ubiquitous. Personally, I’m more interested in that: being untethered, inexpensively, no matter where I go with my lap-top.

Interesting Tidbits About Prospective Usage
There were a couple of take-aways from the Fox article, though. Project lead, Ian Bird says,

“It will lead to what’s known as cloud computing, where people keep all their information online and access it from anywhere,” 

Also quoted was Professor Tony Doyle, who headed up the project said,

…social networking could become the main way we communicate. 

These topics are always floating about in the industry, but not so much in mainstream media. I just find it interesting that we’re hearing about social networking and “in the cloud” on Fox News. I sometimes get the feeling that much like how creating a Web site is becoming standard curriculum, so too will be building Web apps and mashups. Not in the way an AJAX programmer thinks of a mashup, but some day understanding how to combine Web services from multiple API (of course, they won’t be called that) may become common knowledge.

What Do you Think?
I see it for team collaboration in research and design environments, but will there even be a demand for this kind of speed in the current consumer market? What in the world would the average joe even use it for? Love to hear your opinions.

Links:
Large Hadron Collider (LHC)
Internet 2
The Grid: The Next-Gen Internet?
Open Grid Forum

(via FOXNews.com: ‘The Grid’ Could Soon Make the Internet Obsolete)

We are not designed to sit still, but so often that is exactly what we do; never realizing our potential to be all that we were made to be.

This all occurred to me in service this morning as my pastor taught on spiritual gifts. Speaking from the quintessential passage 1 Corinthians 12: 12 -13, he invoked a critical visual for us.

For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

Everyone has natural gifts, but there are some who are given supernatural gifts. That are only given to us from the Holy Spirit, Galatians 5: 22-26

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Sure, many non-believers exhibit these traits as well, but the difference is, for whom does it serve, their selves? They cannot control how long anything remains, how then do their acts have anything more than an insignificant and ephemeral impact? And if their intention is to have no lasting impression, then, what was the point?

So, as a Christian, I want to be a vessel filled those fruit and influenced, but not for my own gain- rather to give glory to Jesus Christ. For He alone, as God, has the ability to make mine a legacy lasting for eternity. He has desired that I be close to Him and I stand in this truth and seek His eternity.

With the Internet primarily being a social medium now, some are predicting that we are in the post-Information Age. I wonder sometimes, what is out here on the interwebs that will have a lasting impact– for eternity? I remember in my college sociology class, almost a decade ago, there was a prediction that shortly after “the information era” we would see heightened spiritual awareness. What does that mean for this highly-connected generation?

Do not be idle. Do not let idleness take you. Don’t let theories and opinions rule you. Seek truth and realize for what you were truly made and make an impact.

Michael Owens and a team of researchers from the Center for Alcohol and Drug Abuse at the University of Arkansas, think they may have something that helps. Essentially, they’ve discovered a way to produce antibodies that will attach to the nefarious chemicals and removes them from the bloodstream.

From New Scientist:

…they say that a single injection can reduce the level of drug within the bloodstream for several days. By binding to drug molecules, the antibodies prevent them from reaching tissues like the heart and brain, and mark the compounds for clean up by the body.

The antibodies do not last for more than few days, so is there no “plugging” as with Neuromancer’s Case, but this could certainly help people who really want to get off the junk.

Link to New Scientist, Link to patent application

(Via Boing Boing.)

Yeah, it’s this Web site that allows you to post messages “ but not more than 140 characters in length “ to people who you don’t know and people who don’t know you. (mostly).

Frankly, that sounds ludicrous, right? But that’s what it is! And even though I’ve been on and off twitter for almost a year now, I couldn’t figure out what it is that makes is so appealing.

Then, some popular newsworthy geekish gatherings came along. First it was MacWorld, then it was SxSW and TED. I watched the twittersphere do something that was so uncharacteristic: it got focused

Shortly after all the SxSW buzz settled down, it occurred to me: Twitter totally appeals to this post-boob-tube, ADD-afflicted, interconnected society because everything is so quick and ephemeral. Twitterati are random people saying random things at random times. Sure there’s the occasional string of @ replies, but then conversation ends with a couple remarks or goes offline to another medium like IM or something. Most times, though it’s a rapid stream of randomness that can zap your attention if you let it.

Twitter is not just a productivity-suck, though. There is a value to the distractions it provides: It’s these quick little bites of other’s lives that makes a quasi-public forum and I believe is imperative to our republic. I say this because even though the Web is “public” our taylor-made, day-to-day online experiences are becoming so personalized and secluded that I fear we’re isolating (or insulating) ourselves. It’s too easy to block out other personal views that won’t challenge us to think. And worse, if we make too much a habit of socializing with only like-minded people and shared experiences, that lost touch with diversity can lead to an atrophy of our convictions.

I know my folks wouldn’t “get Twitter,” but for a generation that feeds almost entirely on media morsels, this is the only way we’ll contextualize our messages we want to share.

Update:
Just found this repost of “Twitter in Plain English“

Well, I didn’t realize that it would impact other services… it’s that whole Law of Unintended Consequences thing.

So, I’ve updated the name, well, kinda. The name of my site has always been, Forever in the Refining Fire, but now I’m going through and making it more consistent and updating all the services that relied on the title. Namely, FeedBurner. So, hate to bother, but you’ll need to update your feed readers. I know, I’m a pain. New Feed

Moral to this episode: Don’t get lazy. Always be creative. Don’t put off to tomorrow what you can do today. Have foresight, not 20/20 hindsight. Be perfect; don’t ever make a mistake.

Okay, don’t worry about that last one.

Thank you,
The management.

As a user experience designer to some interesting and large projects, I’ve had to advocate the persons on “the other side of the screen” numerous times. Much of the time to the humbling response of something along the lines of “well, because of the business goals…” [insert objection here].

It seems we ‚Äì as the craftspeople in this industry ‚Äì are in the position to take this type of stand for the humans who must use our clients’ [insert service here.]

In fact, this weekend, I’ve started a process in myself to stoke some emotionality for the “user” and move away from two heavily used terms that I think are actually hindering us from totally empathizing with our audience and creating the best experiences imaginable.

First, the word, “user.” This is discussed around on various platforms and not really new, but I want to make a push to re-ignite this notion. From the cold, steely, technical aspect, they are “users,” but at the end of the day, they’re people, other humans, just like you and just like me.

The second word we should move away from – and this will probably bother some because it is so the vogue thing – is “design.” This includes all derivatives such as “designing” or “designers.” Primarily for the same reason as the above. If you do a search at Thesaurus.com for the word “design” you’ll find cold terminology like, “model” “map” “configuration,” “engineering,” etc. Likewise, do a search for the term, “craft.” In contrast, you’ll find warmer words like, “skillful” “art” “ingenuity” “workmanship.”

And sure enough, someone had a problem with it.

Perhaps I wasn’t being clear. This notion stems from a process through which I’m undergoing personally. I’m just beginning to articulate what has come to me and it is undoubtedly fuzzy at this point, but it only becomes more clear with each step of exploration.

Over a decade ago, I sought to understand what my place was going to be in this world and I identified myself as “designer.” I studied design. I labeled myself as designer and revered myself as such.

Over the years, I’ve realized the term is misused, overused, and abused. A hobbyist can pick up a book, learn a little something and go forth, create, build, and declare their design. And no one can argue that it isn’t design.

Ah, but craft. “Craft” as it relates to “design” is the beauty side of the same coin. As indicated, design has intention and this may very well be true, but it is the word “craft” that can denote so much more. And so, I would suggest that where design has intention, craft has intuition; designers are industrious, craftsmen (and women) flow.

In my college design courses, the literature taught us that there was function and there was aesthetic. I have found that most people polarize and tend to focus on one or the other in their post-academia careers.

Throughout my career, my position has at countless times been to mitigate in the chasm between the technically proficient and the artistically profound. Perhaps it is design that is the middle where the two meet. Moderately simple mathematics will show us that starting with zero then going in two opposing directions, there is infinity in both directions. Artistry and Industry, running infinitely deep in their respective directions.

So, for me, I need some distinction for this discipline of “creating an experience.” Usability, in its purist sense, is virtually devoid of all aesthetics. Just as pure artistic expression of emotion is is of no mainstream use.

I am by no means suggesting that “design” should go away. Perhaps I’m suggesting that as human factors, usability, ergonomics, etc. have become such cornerstones to our practice of design, we need see the other side of the coin. And that is where we find craft.

If you’re interested, I’ve started a new group at ma.gnolia.com as a starting point to gather some of these thoughts together. I’d love to hear from folks on their opinions on this matter:

Wow. How’s that for a slight hiatus. 9 mos or something?? Not that very many were following along with the whereabouts and whathappenings of me, but I’m looking to get this domain back inline. After doing some research recently and some soul searching (plus busting my tail off doing the NYC commute everyday now!), it’s apparent to me this blog was suffering from a lack direction; a lack of focus. So, I’m going to see just what I can do about that.

For sometime now, I’ve been shifting my career focus from authoring HTML/CSS and designing Web sites to focus more on the experience strategy of Web site design. Focusing more on defining the usability. Some call it [tag]Information Architecture[/tag]. Others will call it [tag]User Experience Design[/tag] or [tag]Interaction Design[/tag]. If reading any of the recent job postings is any indicator, it seems there a lot of folks there confused as to what exactly are the differences. Admittedly there is some overlap, but there are some distinct differences. That said, I’m going to continue labeling all my collections of resources IA/UxD/IxD. It’s cryptic, no doubt, but it makes sense for now.

It’s actually an exciting time to be in this field. Lots of fun stuff and the community is really abuzz. In fact, I’m heading my way up to Bryant Park right now for an IA Meetup.

In case you’re looking for some follow up reading, here are some good resources:

Boxes and Arrows

UX Magazine

Interaction Design Association

Well, bit by bit…step by step. Perhaps I’ll shoot for the Fall CSSReboot.

Work on BlueFlame CreativeGroup has been plugging away. We’ve nailed down a logo. Leave any feedback. Our first client, Artisans Design Co., among many other interior crafting services, creates beautiful masterpieces of Italian plastery for high-end interior design. We’re still working on their site, but it’s coming along. There are few other projects under wraps right now, and I’ll be posting about those when the time is right.

I’ve been working with SteelPixel recently as well. It’s been an exciting experience. Working with Josh Owens and Chris Saylor has been nothing but a top-notch time. I blog for their Podcast, Web 2.0 Show and most recently, they’ve put me in charge of developing business for Podvine. (see last post)

I want to give a shout out to a couple people (besides my lovely wife, Brooke) who gave me some great encouragement when I first approached SteelPixel. Yannick Lynn Fatt, a brother in the lord, down in Jamaica. Also, Ryan Heneise at Art of Mission and several others from the Godbit crowd. Thanks everyone!

Okay, could I put anymore links in there? Well, needless to say, there is just a lot going on, and I’m still at NYSC working at a Personal Trainer…. at 5am everyday. No, I don’t take amphetamines or cocaine, in case your wondering.

Brooke, my wife, and I had our wedding reception last week. That was a total blast. Pictures coming soon. Our six-month anniversary is coming up. We did the party a little late, but with that milestone coming up, that means something exciting: we’re coming back to serve in ministry in our church, Calvary Chapel Old Bridge. Not sure where God will have us, but please keep us in prayer!

Ummm, that’s it for now. I’ll try to post a little more often. Which should be a bit easier as this ecto system totally cuts my writing time into a fraction. What a blessing, God is Good!!

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