Flitter

Well, well, well. Things have been a bit quiet around here lately.

One thing that I – as an avid weblog subscriber – have come to appreciate is sites that don’t post all the time. There are only a small handful of websites that I allow this massive influx of information from. The rest that do it, I just surf for the good stuff.

So in no way do I feel the need to apologize for not posting anything for the past two and a half weeks. In fact, perhaps you may want to thank me?

I feel a bit like Tom Hanks in You’ve Got Mail after he finds out Shopgirl is Meg Ryan at the coffee shop, and the next day he has to explain himself in an email to her about what happened. He paces back and forth staring at his AOL dial-up screen, finally logs on, and writes this lame lie. Then hits the delete button 199 times in a row (just use the mouse!) because he can’t think of anything good to say.

And so here I am with nothing of consequence to share but a few random tid-bits of my life as of lately and a resolve not to hit the delete button.

Something iPhone

The iPhone continues to amaze me. I discovered last week that when using my phone as an alarm clock to wake up from an afternoon nap, if I put it in Airplane Mode it won’t ring or buzz or beep. It will stay turned on and chime the alarm without any other interruptions to my nap. Fantastic.

Something .Macish

3 years ago when I ordered my G4 PowerBook I signed up for a .Mac trial account as shawnblanc at mac dot com. After 30 days with no apparent reason why I would use .Mac without another computer I did not subscribe.

Apple kept that username and email in their system.

About four months ago when I purchased my 2nd Apple Computer, I signed up for another .Mac trial account and used it for 60 days to milk the free syncing. When the trial was over I subscribed to .Mac but used my old username and email from three years ago.

All is fine and dandy except when Mail.app deletes my current active .Mac email and sets up my old, trial email instead. After trying all I knew to do I finally emailed Apple Support. (Did you know you can’t call Apple Tech Support with a .Mac issue? They tell you to go to the website then hang up.) I had to unsubscribe both computers. Clear the .Mac online cache, re-subscribe the first computer, use it’s info to delete the online info. The re-subscribe the 2nd computer and sync it using the online info to delete the computer’s info.

So far so good. Except for one little thing: I can’t sync my email accounts on my iPhone. The old (wrong) email address is listed instead of the actual active .Mac email. So for now, I just set up the email account manually, don’t sync email accounts and it’s no big deal.

Something Leopardish

Ordered a 2nd HDD for my Mac Pro and a copy of Leopard from Amazon.com (where it’s cheaper).

I’ll be in Canada when Leopard comes out so I won’t be able to install it until the 5th, but I’m looking forward to a clean install with a fresh OS optimized for the Mac Pro.

Something CRish

I was born and raised in Colorado. I remember when the Broncos won back-to-back Super Bowls. I remember when the Avs won the Stanley Cup.

And I remember when the Rockies first started. I snuck an FM radio into my 5th grade lunch hour to listen to the inogurral game when Eric Young hit the first home run. I had a Rockies hat, wind-breaker and even had purple and black braces for a few weeks.

And now they’re going to the World Series. I should have kept those baseball cards from 15 years ago.

Flitter

Although I haven’t been updating shawnblanc.net I am still actively on Twitter and Flickr posting witty comments and information about what I’m eating and where I’m in transit to.

Flitter

After One Week With an iPhone

The iPhone. Loverly.

On June 29th I followed Twitters, read blog posts and saw flickr images as thousands of people stood in line and bought their iPhone.

Although I would have loved to been a part of the fun, there were three reasons I wasn’t in line that day: (a) I have never been an early adopter, and have always waited for at least the second generation product. (b) $600 was too much for me to spend guilt-free on a cellular telephone. And (c) I still had 80-some-odd days left in my current non-AT&T contract.

Now that the iPhone was on the shelves Paris Hilton started to get pushed down as iPhone screamed across all the headlines, Diggs, and permalinks. Everyone who had or hadn’t doubted the hype, they were all discovering that it was more amazing than they anticipated. It really was that cool.

Then – two months later – Steve dropped the price by two Benjamins. That very day I went to the Apple store and bought a first generation iPhone. Unfortunately I had to wait for 16 days for my current contract to end so I could port my number fee-free upon activation.

I used to take my PowerBook everywhere and have used it virtually every day since I bought it nearly three years ago. Last week it got the least amount of attention ever.

Now, after a little over a week of iPhone usage I would like to say that my life really has changed. I have always said I just want a phone that makes calls and does TXT, but after having access to my Calendar, my email, my music, the Web and beyond. I am shocked at how much fun it is to be productive and not always stuck in my office.

The iPhone is more than I had thought it would be. The way it works, thinks and feels is incredible. In no particular order, here are the things I like, dislike, am confused by or have noticed about my iPhone in some capacity.

  • Visual Voicemail: For years I have been horrible at checking my voicemail. I always just call the person back without listening to their message. (This is partly due to the fact that most voice messages go something along the lines of, “Hey Shawn, this is Hank. I was thinking we should really meet up sometime to go get steak. On me of course. I’m free next Thursday at Noon. Friday at 5. Saturday at 2. Or Sunday at 3:30. Also, do you know a good place to get my transmission fixed. It’s been acting funny. So call me back, OK? Talk to you later. Oh, and my number is 555-5555.” Then you have to listen to the whole thing again to catch the phone number, only to call them back and have the same conversation again just as it was on the voicemail. They should just say “This is Hank. 555-5555. Let’s get steak. Call me back.”)Back to the voicemail problam. Eventually I will accumulate 8 – 10 new voicemails only to have the last one be an important one with a feeling I ought to listen to it. I then suffer through 7 non-applicable messages to get to the one I thought would be important only to discover it wasn’t.

    Visual Voicemail eliminates every one of these problems. I can listen to my voice messages out of order. I can tap and drag for fast-forward or rewind to any part of the message. I can delete without listening, etc. This is one of my favorite features. In fact I love Visual Voicemail so much I keep a few old messages on my phone simply for the sake of demoing Visual Voicemail to others.

  • The Keyboard: I wish landscape keyboard was supported in more than just Safari. Primarily in Mail. It is much easier to type on, although it does take up most of the screen making it hard to see the text field your typing in.I am still getting used to a tactileless keyboard, but the iPhone is doing an outstanding job at learning words I commonly use (like “shawnblanc”) and common mistakes I make. Having a QWERTY keyboard has made texting a blast.
  • Hahlo: My online Twitter client of choice. Its smart and fast – even over EDGE.
  • SMS: The iPhone is my first camera phone. Something I have always looked forward to in a camera phone was sending picture text messages. I’m still waiting.The iPhone doesn’t send or receive images over SMS. What a bizarre omission.
  • EDGE: As long as you’re not on driving on the highway, EDGE is not that bad.According to the iPhone Network Test I average around 175kb/sec in Kansas City. A mere pittance compared to the 700 – 800 I get at home, but often times EDGE is faster than my network at work.

    Having the ability to check email, twitter, and waste time on the internet from nearly anywhere I want surely must be a milestone in the history of our planet.

  • The Screen: 160 ppi is incredible. Pictures are sharp and crisp. Text is clear. White is bright.I’m curious if anyone else with an iPhone noticed that the cleaning cloth doesn’t really clean. It sort-of pushes around the finger-prints and oil? The best way I have found to clean my iPhone screen is with my jeans. Seriously.
  • The Inter-Application Workflow: Is amazing. The way the phone works with itself.I am still telling stories about the first email I got with a phone number in it asking me to call someone and how I just had to click on the number to make the phone call. Clicking on a YouTube opens up the YouTube app. Etc.

    It is all just incredible. The iPhone really is a joy to use. I don’t mind that I can’t whip-flip through everything without looking. I want to hold the phone and tap on it.

  • The iTunes WiFi Music Store: Very cool. Very easy to spend money.
  • The Nod: When I see someone else with an iPhone I want to say ‘hi’ to them and show them my phone. But I haven’t figured out a way to do this without imagining that I’m coming across as lame. So instead I just say, “Hey. Nice iPhone.” But I try to say it in such a way as to sound different from all the people that say that to them who don’t own iPhones, and to sound like someone who does own an iPhone. But it never works. Oh well. Life goes on.

There are surely more than a dozen other little details I have noticed which prove the inteligent design of the iPhone. But most importantly, the iPhone has taken my work life and my home life and seamlessly merged them into an enjoyable environment that actually has made me live with less stress throughout my day.

After One Week With an iPhone

My Unique iPhone Update Experience

A bit of back-story is required for my update experience was unique. And I’ll tell you now that it’s not all that exciting. However – you will definitely appreciate it if you, like me, have your iPhone away from the home office computer that you’ve got it synced with.

I have been rocking my PowerBook G4 for almost 3 years now, but fianally upgraded to a Quad Core Mac Pro about two months ago. Since then, the Mac Pro has (obviously) been my main machine.

Having two macs necessitated a subscription to .Mac, which in turn made my .Mac username the Chief Potentate of all my accounts with Apple – including iTunes. And I haven’t bought a song of iTunes using my PowerBook since I got the Mac Pro and changed everything over to my .Mac account.

On Thursday, Apple released the next big software, firmware and feature update for iPhone. However, I am currently out of town toting around my PowerBook which is not the computer I used to setup, activate and sync my iPhone with.

Also, many of the songs and videos on my iPhone are not on my PowerBook and it would be a shame to sync, and lose them for the weekend. However, I decided to go for it anyway and see what would happen.

I connected my iPhone to my PowerBook and opened iTunes. I have automatic sync turned off so nothing would start without my permission. Without manually syncing the iPhone I simply clicked on “Software Update”.

The new update – 1.1.1 – downloaded and installed itself seamlessly without ever syncing my songs, videos, photos, etc…

Now that I had access to the iTunew Wi-Fi Music Store I tried to buy a song, however my iPhone was set-up with my old iTunes username with no way to change it from iPhone’s settings.

Realizing that I probably still had that username logged in on my PowerBook I logged out and re-logged-in with my new username. Then, I only had to plug in my iPhone, let iTunes see it, eject it and wala. The username was updated on my iPhone.

I never had to sync, or authenticate, or anything. Just plug it it and let iTunes do the rest. And that, my friends, is good news for anyone who doesn’t like to wait for things.

My Unique iPhone Update Experience

Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations

Usually when Christmas is over, there is always that one gift that was the highlight. Last year, for me that gift was The 17th edition of Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations.

For those unfamiliar with John Bartlett, he was a bookseller from Cambrige and in 1855 he self-published A Book of Familiar Quotations.

I use this thick, coffee-table-worthy book all the time. Most often for perusing through it and spouting our random quotes to entertain when company is visiting. But it is also quite handy for writing speeches, lectures and blog posts.

Some of my favorites to quote include Ernest Hemingway, Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Licoln and Robert Louis Stevenson.

I could not tell you what my favorite quotes are because they always seems to change based upon my mood. However, I will share with you two quotes from Benjamin Franklin. I am using these in my notes for the seminar I am teaching later on today about life vision, focus and work-ethic.

Human felicity is produced not so much by great pieces of good fortune that seldom happen, as by little advantages that occur every day.

and

When men are employed, they are best contented; for on the days they worked they were good-natured and cheerful, and, with the consciousness of having done a good day’s work, they spent the evening jollily; but on our idle days the were mutinous and quarrelsome.

Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations

Mint: Year Two in Review

Mint: Year Two in Review

Shaun Inman’s smash hit product, Mint, is two years old and has nearly 8,000 users.

I thought Rob Goodlatte summed it up perfectly in the comments –

It’s one thing to have a lot of customers, but it’s an amazing accomplishment to have so many customers who are rabid fans of the product — like everyone I know who uses Mint.

I don’t know about you, but I love seeing “http://someoneswebsite.com/mint” in my referrers list. It’s like a secret handshake.

Mint: Year Two in Review

iPhone, 4GB – They’re still available

I thought for sure they would be sold out by now. But no. You can still buy a 4GB iPhone for $299.

UPDATE: Sold out.

Curious if the price drop actually slowed sales of the 4GB model. People that were budgeting $499 for a new 4GB iPhone (or $399 for a refurbbed) can now get a new 8GB model for $399, and it looks like they are. (Or else Apple had boatloads of the 4GB model and it’s taking a while to unload them.)

iPhone, 4GB – They’re still available

The Sort of Impact I Want to Make Through Design

If you are like me – and I suppose that you are or else you must find this website quite humdrum – then you probably have the desire for great impact.

And when I say great, I mean lots of people. So, in other words: You and I want to impact lots and lots of people. Right? Right.

This afternoon I was hanging out with our marketing team’s creative director. He and I were in his basement creating a physical mock-up of a press pack for my ministry. Somewhere during our two hours of small talk he mentioned an instance yesterday where a “strange bloke” (he’s from England) … (the creative director, not the bloke) came up to him (the creative director) and said, “You created the logo?! Wow! It’s amazing. It’s incredible. You’re awesome.”

(The bloke may have been from the south.)

As we both laughed about how odd that guy was there was this mutual understanding that he didn’t care who knew he had designed the ministry’s logo. And it was somewhere between the Exacto knife and the double sided tape that I realized I had crossed a line as a designer.

A line where numbers fade and depth matters. My ambitions as a designer have now changed, and I want a different kind of impact.

To me, designing something which thousands or millions may see is not nearly as great of a challenge and honor as designing something that one person will be deeply impacted by.

Oddly enough there is one piece of material that comes immediately to mind when I think of impact through design.

What’s odd isn’t that only one item comes to mind, it’s that the item is a piece of junk mail. I usually shred about 4 credit card offers a day so this piece came in the mail like a reuben sandwich after 8 years of tuna melts.

The thought, and energy (and money) that went into this particular piece of junk mail is astounding. It’s one of only two pieces of junk mail I have ever kept. (How many pieces of junk mail have you kept? Probably zero.)

It is an ad from Domtar advertising their Cougar paper.

Cougar Paper

Cougar Paper

Cougar Paper

With this folder, Domtar is stressing the importance of brand/identity. If you print on their paper your stuff will be sweet. They’ve included 6 examples of companies that printed their identity on the Cougar line of paper.

Cougar Paper

What sticks out to me even more than the layout of this 6 panel folder is the company featured in the 3rd panel from the right: OrangeSeed Design.

The OrangeSeed Panel

What is so impactful about OrangeSeed’s printed identity is the creativity and thought they put into each item. Their stationary is fun, professional and makes the client trust their ability to pull off great work. But that’s not all.

I have to admit that one of the most powerful elements to OrangeSeed’s identity is the paper it’s printed on.

A design brief pocket folder, letterhead, 3 postcards and a business card.

The pocket folder has a spot for letters, samples, proposals, and more; as well as plenty of white space for notes. It’s well thought out and is printed on 130 lb. paper. The letterhead is printed on 80 lb.

Upclose of the Postcards

They have also designed printed custom postcards to mail to clients. These also are printed on 130 lb. paper.

Very few words are needed to convey importance and even reverence to the recipient.

Postcards and business card

Their business card is also printed on 130 lb. card stock.

It is amazing to me a company’s printed identity can make such an impact.

I find that I would much rather design a great piece of work that really touches even just a small handful of people – something that inspires them to greatness and beauty – much more so than being able to point out to all my friends that – “Hey! I made that Budweiser Bill Board.”

The Sort of Impact I Want to Make Through Design

The Dan Pitts Interview

Dan Pitts – like many of us – works a 9 to 5 and does freelance on the side. He’s a great guy and does some equally great work. His freelance gig flys under the name of e210 Design.

One thing I love about Dan is his passion towards design. On his bio he says, “Design is more than making something that looks great or sells, it’s a way to encourage and serve the client.”

There are many designers out there whom are creating with no purpose or passion behind their work. Dan on the other hand is really seeking to enhance his own art, and bring something quality and worthwhile to the design community.

I had the chance to ask him some questions about the work he does and (of course) the Mac he does it on. Enjoy.

  • SHAWN BLANC: Hey Dan. Tell me about what you do that your bio page doesn’t say.
  • DANN PITTS: Currently I’m working a full time job that I have had for 9 years now. At my 9-5 we focus on catalogs and gift books with some book covers. After my first son was born I found that my creativity (and my wallet) needed a boost so I went out to find some different kinds of work. So for the past four years I’ve built up a network of clients and other designers and have gotten to the point where I have steady work coming in. I am limited to how much and what kind of work I can do since I usually have to work at night. I have chosen to focus on book cover and web design. I’ve found that variety really brings a joy to designing and a boost to creativity.
  • SHAWN: When you first stepped into freelance design work on the side what was the biggest challenge you faced?
  • DAN: The quick answer is finding work. The details of that answer is that I had to set up a website portfolio that I could point people to. Problem was I didn’t have much work (and no book covers) to post. At the time I didn’t put anything from my 9-5 on there and all I had were a couple logo’s I had done for friends and a website I had worked on for our church. So I had to create my website (which has been the hardest client I’ve worked for) and then create these covers that were going to show what I could do. I kept running into a wall where I felt they just weren’t good enough or could be improved but eventually I just had to get the site posted and some covers up to start the process. Looking back they were pretty weak but you have to start somewhere. Thankfully for me the first batch of emails I sent out looking for work produced a client I really enjoy working for and they have sent me many projects so now I can post actual work.
  • SHAWN: Why Book Covers?
  • DAN: First, I was already doing it at my 9-5 job so I had some experience in it. Second, from a business standpoint it’s really a great niche, if you can get in with a publisher and they like your stuff they will probably give you repeat work. Most important for me is that it’s a single piece of art and it’s goal is to catch your attention and lead you into the book. So each book is a new challenge with new solutions and is inspired by the work someone else has done so it kind of has that team aspect to it. I also like the finality of being able to see a project that is printed (as opposed to the web work I do).
  • SHAWN: Why Web Design?
  • DAN: Well web design is obviously the future, if the future isn’t here already. The ability to communicate information on the web is so amazing, I wonder if we don’t take it for granted already (and I’m still amazed when I run across companies that don’t have a site or they have a bad one and it’s not a priority for them). It’s relatively inexpensive and can be so current you can do things you could never do with print; podcasts, video podcasts, pdf documents you can download, it’s all so amazing.Then to think that the only thing that changes between the fortune 500 company and a church website or a small business of 4 employees is the content, that makes the design that much more important. I’m comparing it to print where a major company might print something out on a huge press run with high weight, glossy paper, special inks, embossed and a church is making black and white copies in there office. Not with the web, each site is viewed on the same computer with the same browser.
  • SHAWN: If web design is the future, what do you think that will mean for print?
  • DAN: Well there are people with a lot more experience and knowledge that I would look to for that answer but here’s my take.I’ve seen it effect some areas of print already. My 9-5 job, one of their main clients is a catalog company and the web has effected their business dramatically. I don’t know if print will ever go away but I think it will serve more and more as a way to lead people to websites. Print can never keep up with the web when it comes to current content, but there is something to be said for the ability to hand someone a business card rather than sending an email.

    For books, I have a hard time imagining the day when a 200-400 page book is sold in an electronic format and tens of thousands of people buy it. I know some of the reference books I have worked on come with a cd that has the information in pdf format also but that is an extra aid, not the main product. Even writing this though I have that feeling that if I see this in 15 years I will look back and laugh.

    Who knows, I guess that’s why I try and have my feet in both.

  • SHAWN: That’s a great answer. I think the concept of using print to point to web is excellent. This allows for more focus on design with printed material, allowing the content to be primarily web-based.Changing topics a little bit. Let’s talk about your workflow. For starters what does your Mac setup consist of?
  • DAN: Right now I’m nearing the end of a good run with my G4 20 inch imac, 160gb hard drive with 1gig memory. I’m in need of upgrading the programs and computer but here’s a screenshot of what I’m using now.
  • A Screenshot of Dan Pitts' Workstation.
  • SHAWN: What other Apple gear have you used?
  • DAN: I remember my dad getting one of the first macintosh computers for christmas when I was younger. In high school that’s all I used and in college being a fine arts major I didn’t have to use the computer a whole lot so I always found the mac lab, just happened to pick the right profession I guess.I started freelancing on the first generation imac, went to a G3 powerbook with a seperate monitor (the 21 inch apple crt’s which weighed about 200 pounds). Then got a hand me down G4 titanium powerbook from my dad before the imac. The imac has been with me the longest.
  • SHAWN: I have always loved the titanium PowerBooks. I remember when they first came out. That was actually my first time in an Apple store. They will always be a classic to me.So when you do a freelance project for print, like a book cover, what does your workflow look like?
  • DAN: Right now it’s usually make client calls on my way home from work. Then after being a father and husband for a while I start working around 9 or 10.I’ll start by sketching out stuff on paper and trying to ask, what problem am I trying to solve. Then I’ll look at websites or books, try to gather information, scans or images I might want to use, nice fonts, anything. Then if possible I like to let that kind of soak in and have a direction before I start working on the computer. Usually that direction will then move into other ideas but I found that if I don’t have a place to start and focus I can go anywhere and waste a lot of time on ideas that don’t work.

    An important part of my workflow seems to be the time that elapses between sending the first round out and then getting the corrections back. I like having that time to detach from the project and come back with fresh eyes, and usually the art director will narrow it down to what comp they want to work on. I have to refine and keep polishing it. I hope time and experience will change that a bit and I can provide great stuff first round, but I have a ways to go still.

  • SHAWN: So if you work a 9-5, and do freelance work starting around 9 or 10, how much sleep do you normally get?
  • DAN: Sleep? Usually if work is moderately busy I’ll get 5 hours a night. If it’s really busy maybe around 4. I’m not one of those guys that can pull an all nighter (not even when I was in college).At a certain point my eyes just stop working and I have found that I’m not really productive anyways. No matter how much Mountain Dew I drink. I could handle it better when we just had our son but now I have twin girls (a year and a half old) and it’s been much harder. Every now and then I need to go to bed at 10:30.
  • SHAWN: I bet that’s something we can all relate to.
The Dan Pitts Interview

Why I have an un-activated iPhone sitting on my desk

My un-activated iPHone just hanging out.

On June 29th, I – like thousands of others – went to the Apple store. I didn’t wait in line though because I knew I wouldn’t be buying the highly anticipated gadget of the year. Since the Apple store was open until Midnight that day, a friend and I went down later after the crowd was gone.

After a couple minutes hands on with the display phone I was blown away. Even though I walked out of the store holding two 8GB models I didn’t buy one for myself. Those two phones flopped on eBay, and I took them back a week later.

Why I didn’t buy an iPhone on June 29th

  1. I have never bought a first generation product before. Doesn’t matter if it’s a car, phone, computer, etc. The first gens are always twice as buggy as the second. I would rather be a late adopter and a headache-free, long-term enjoyer. (Is enjoyer even a word?)

  2. On June 29th I still had 84 days left with my current (non-AT&T) service provider. The $599 iPhone price tag coupled with a $175 cancelation fee was too much.

However … by September 4th I had overcome both obstacles mentioned above.

After a conversation with Sean I realized that all the quirks and issues are software related – not hardware. Thus my main concerns about the first generation iPhone were relieved.

Secondly, I was able to pick up a few side jobs that would pay me enough to get a 4GB refurbished phone. (A note to married guys: Never buy an expensive gadget without your wife’s concent. If you do she’ll be mad instead of jealous. Thanks to the side jobs, my wife happily let me budget money for an iPhone.)

So there I was on September 4th – sitting in front of my monitor looking at the Apple Store’s refurbished iPhone page trying to make decision.

If I bought a refurbished 4GB iPhone then, I was sure to get one. What I wasn’t sure about was how things would look in 24 hours.

The next day Apple was going to make an announcement. I was afraid Steve would bust out the 2nd generation iPhone and then hide all the 1st gens and keep the same price tag, thus forcing me to continue using my Samsung hunk of junk until the 2nd Generation iPhone showed up on the refurbished page.

After mulling it over a bit I decided to wait and see what would happen at the press conference the next morning.

September 5th was my June 29th

Conveniently I was at home during the keynote furiously refreshing Engaget just like the rest of you.

As soon Steve made the price drop announcement I was out the door and on my way down town. I walked in and bought a brand new 8GB model.

Why I have an un-activated iPhone sitting on my desk

I still have one more week before I can freely port my current number to AT&T. And yes, I could run the Jailbreak hack to mock-activate my iPhone, (and believe me, I thought about it) but that’s not the way it was intended to be set up.

My iPhone is un-tampered-with for the same reason I don’t read articles in NetNewsWire. And the same reason I drink pop out of the can and am always the best dressed at weddings:

I want the full experience. Nothing less.

Why I have an un-activated iPhone sitting on my desk