Blog of the designer/developer Zach Inglis.
I have finally managed to book SXSW. I am going to be staying 4 miles from the Convention Centre, a bit longer than the 2 blocks that I had when staying in the Hampton last year but will be great fun all the same.
I’m really looking forward to it, SXSW is by far the best geek event known to man.
This year, although not booked yet, I should be taking my girlfriend with me too.
See you there!
Don’t be afraid to experiment on your blog design. Your users tell you what they like and dislike.
When you’re looking for inspiration and trying new creative ideas, which we all can agree on that fresh ideas that make the good designer. Experimenting on client’s work can be risky. Being a safe designer is not always a good career choice however there are some things that if you’re wary about, you can test.
Well, that’s where your blog comes in. As a designer your blog is a bigger asset than you think. You can do what you like with the design because, it’s your’s. Want to try something? Skewed or rotated text but unsure how it’ll work. Try it on your blog.
The users of your blog are probably just as opinionated as you are. Actually, it is safe to say your readers are more opinionated than you are. You know if you do something that they don’t like, you will hear about it. Try something, weigh up every good and bad comments you get (take the latter less seriously) and you can get a good idea of how something will work in the field.
It was my granddad’s birthday today.
I only met him when I was a child but he has been a huge influence to me in my life. Someone who has helped drive me to work harder and achieve my goals. For this I eternally appreciate and will always remember him for.
He was a very smart man and helped shape life as it is today for everyone in the world.
For more information about him, there’s a page at The Royal Society archives here.
I’m sorry I didn’t get to know you, I’ll always wish that I had.
Everything I am seeing from the almighty corporation of Nintendo is making me believe they have given up.
Nintendo have never been one for style, granted. I ca not name a pretty console made by them since the DS Lite. All have looked cheap and juvenile.
The problem I am currently having other than disliking the looks of it more and more each second is their lack of innovation on the new Channels. Nintendo have just released the Everybody Votes channel. You can get the basic idea by heading to Riffs and having a quick glance.
The only problem is: Wait times. You would hope voting would be instant, like that of an AJAX Yes or No button. You press the Channel on the Main Menu, then you have to set up your location information; The same one you set up during Wii Setup in the Control Panel. Once that is done, wait a few seconds for the program to initiate, for it to Gather Information and then set up which Mii’s to vote (upto 6). Once you do that, you click the Question you want to answer; there is 5, Worldwide(2) updated twice a month, and Regional(3) set up once every two days. You drag your Mii to either side of the question (there are two answers per question which you may choose one from, such as Yes or No). Once done, it sends your answer to the server (another wait time) then asks you whether you wish to predict the answer. You choose the answer that you think will be most chosen if you want to and then wait another wait time.
This is rather needless. All the data could be collected and sent on program exit or even in the background. We see it every day on the web and it’s a perfect example of where it is helpful.
I’ve been playing around with the Wii for a few weeks now and have formed a lot of opinions on the console. I decided that I’d share my likes and dislikes.
The first thing that …err.. sticks out is the console itself. What Nintendo decided to do was paint a DVD-rom white and stick a few buttons on it. They obviously thought the fact the console’s gameplay was so unlike its competitors would be enough. I do not understand how Nintendo could not bother enough with the console. They’ve profited a lot from the Wii already and it was obvious that they would when they started promoting it. When you have something this popular, nothing goes by not noticed.
The Nintendo DS is a perfect example of where they have done this before. Will we find a Wii Lite available sometime next year?
The DVD drive is a slot. In my experience, slot drives fail quicker and cause the user to scratch the disks more. To the counter argument, it is nice that the mini Gamecube disks slide in so easily.
There is also another problem with the LED that highlights the slot drive. I’ve heard a few reported cases of this and don’t know if it occurs to all, certainly occurs to the ones I have seen, it randomly flickers in standby and you have to hit the Reset button for it to stop.
Yet another bad feature of the drive is that, it doesn’t play DVDs. Don’t ask me why but in a world where it is standard for your video games console to do this, Nintendo (the big corporation who has survived the longest) decided to put away with the unnecessaries.
The backwards-compatibility to the Gamecube is a great idea to follow (all competitors offer this) however what is different with the Wii is that you need a Gamecube controller and memory card (no, the Internal Memory nor SD cards work). What is even less known is that you need an OFFICIAL controller (Wavebird included) to use the games. Bad Nintendo *shakes finger*.
The Mii’s (avatars) are never ending fun which you can introduce to your friends over and over again. The most exciting moment I have seen so far is when you find out you can store them them on your Wii remote controllers like a memory card.
All in all, it IS a great machine. The best game is the bundled Wii Sports and Zelda however it is best to go with a service such as Gamefly. The novelty of each game wears of easily and finding a good one is hard. Saying that, Will Wright has been playing around with the Wii developer’s kit for Spore.
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