Chris Bobbett

Is Google experimenting with a new color scheme for their apps?

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 17:07:28 -0700

This is a screenshot from my Google Calendar window in Firefox.

The Answer Factory: Demand Media and the Fast, Disposable, and Profitable as Hell Media Model | Magazine

Tue, 18 Jan 2011 11:47:00 -0800

It isn’t Scorsese, but it’s fast, cheap, and good enough.

I often have a hard time with "good enough." Good enough equals "just OK." I don't want to do just OK. At a minimum, I would like to achieve good! If you are going to make something, do it well.

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Diminished Reality: Impressive Video Manipulation In Real-Time (Video)

Fri, 14 Jan 2011 08:41:00 -0800

via crunchgear.com

This kind of technology has a lot of potential for facilitating the manipulation of people. Determining the truth is already becoming more difficult these days and it may soon get even harder.

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You know what really bonds people, in-person shared experiences.

Sat, 04 Dec 2010 18:10:13 -0800

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Corner Forest

Sun, 24 Oct 2010 20:24:00 -0700

via yukenteruyastudio.com

I have NEVER desired a toilet paper roll until now!

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Xmarks Blog » End of the Road for Xmarks

Wed, 29 Sep 2010 20:53:00 -0700

This is a sad day. I have been using Foxmarks/Xmarks for some time to keep my browser bookmarks in sync and have been very thankful for the service. Most recently, I have been able to take advantage of the bookmark syncing offered not just in Firefox, but in other browsers such as Chrome and IE. This has been especially helpful for me as I test application UIs and websites in several browsers. Just 2 days ago I was extolling the awesomeness of the service to a coworker and encouraged her to get started with it!

Xmarks has been kind enough to recommend some alternatives to replace their service once it is decommissioned, but none are as good and won't get the job done for me due to the lack of cross browser support. The Xmarks team made a GREAT product and I would love for it to continue. I would even be willing to pay a yearly fee to keep the service. Would you?

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There is too much information on the Internet...and people matter more

Fri, 10 Sep 2010 20:24:27 -0700

I was visiting my Google Reader account this evening in an attempt to catch up on the growing number of unread feeds and after about 10 minutes, I was overcome with a huge sense of information overload! I'm sorry, but there is just TOO much information to be aware of these days. I do not live in the Matrix. I can't just download unlimited amounts of information and recall it in an instant when needed. Everywhere you turn, there is a new language being developed, a new technology to build applications, a new service to "keep me informed and up-to-date." It's just too much and is sadly only going to accelerate.

So while we spend ever increasing amounts of time and energy trying to "utilize" the Internet, what happens to the people around you? You know, the ones you ignore when you are on the computer? They are still valuable and worth your time and attention. Or have you forgotten that? Do you think this preoccupation with statuses, viral videos, web-apps, etc. is part of the reason families and communities are more disconnected than ever? I do. And by the way, I think statuses, viral videos and web-apps are OK, but we need to learn to say NO to them more so we can say YES to the people in our lives. I suspect that if we spent less time connected to technology and more time connected to people (and nature), we'd be generally happier and more fulfilled with life. The Internet doesn't refresh my soul, soccer does.

Am I off base? Do you agree? Would you be willing to disconnect more often? I'd be interested to hear your thoughts, your OWN thoughts. Please don't regurgitate an opinion from an RSS feed you read last week!

Now that I have robbed my wife of several minutes creating this post, I must go meet her face to face and make up for lost time. Lucky me she has such a beautiful face. :)

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Craigslist gets centered

Sun, 22 Aug 2010 15:01:04 -0700

When I visited my local Craigslist website, I took a double take on the new centered layout. Then I refreshed the page a couple of times to make sure everything had loaded properly. Yep, it's now centered. Looks like the section titles ("community", "jobs", etc) have been changed as well but perhaps my memory is misleading me!

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@COLOURlovers: You don't have to insult me! :)

Fri, 21 May 2010 09:05:50 -0700

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@Adobe BrowserLab Onion Skin view is cool!

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 14:06:56 -0800

Imagine an easy way to compare rendering differences among the various browsers on both Apple and PC platforms. That's the "Onion Skin" view in Adobe's BrowserLab. The subtle differences become quite apparent.

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Woot : One Day, One Deal (SM)

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 08:29:00 -0800

Yeah, I moved your stupid lawn chair. I don’t care who dug the parking space out. It’s a public street.

What, a little snow piles up and I lose my rights as a taxpayer? No, my car’s staying right here until I’m damn good and ready to move it. You had to dig your car out to go somewhere anyway. And you better not so much as smudge my windshield in retaliation. Because the second anybody lays a hand on my property, I take my little friend here out of my pocket, and things get serious.

via woot.com

@Woot offers great deals AND fun copy writing! If you've never been, you should check it out.

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Fried "Pickels" - It's French!

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 21:05:57 -0800

From a local food joint in the Plano area.

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Attention All JavaScript Lightbox Users

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 17:01:48 -0800

JavaScript lightboxes are a great way to allow users to experience a detail view of an image, or in the case of my passion, an application interface. I like lightboxes and appreciate them very much. But lately, I have come across several web sites which present multiple screenshots of an application interface and require me to open each screenshot in a separate lightbox "window." I hate this. The lightbox example I am thinking of in particular is FancyZoom. FancyZoom isn't bad. I just happen to hate this one part of it. It is a safe bet that if a user wants to see even one screenshot, they are likely to want to see more or all of them. So, I beg you, if you are going to offer multiple screenshots/images via a lightbox, then please allow the user to view the entire group of images, one at a time, within a single lightbox. Please.

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