Thoughts on Ubiquity

Ubiquity is a natural-language command line interface for the web, allowing the user to create context sensitive mash-up functionalities to existing web apps. The video above is an excellent demo for this very exciting new project from mozilla labs.

For quite some time I’ve been enthusastic about the resurgence of command-driven interfaces for computing apps. While point-and-click visual interfaces are fabulous–indeed, invaluable–for graphics-intensive applications like Photoshop or a 3D CAD environment, they are much less useful for simple day to day productivity applications like file management, email, and word processing. In fact, I espouse that the overuse of the mouse in the productivity applications in the last five to ten years is the main reason for the increases in repetitive stress injuries in the workplace, not to mention the productivity losses incurred by slower (albeit easier to remember) point and click operations in lieu of keystrokes. more »

Inside Alessi

Alberto Alessi on Italian design

I have found that in my quest for what I see as “fat free design,” I often lose sight of the life and vigor I so enjoy in creative problem solving; I become instead a very function-minded designer with too little respect for the roll that whimsy and feeling can play in my work. more »

Oliver Twist… for iTouch

Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

After a long string of work-related reads, I decided to do some more casual reading. One such book was Oliver Twist, which I discovered available for $.99 on the iTunes “App Store” for iPhone and iPod Touch.

I wondered if it would be reasonable to read a book on such a tiny screen, or a screen at all for that matter. After reading the entire book on my iPod Touch, I can say that the experience–while lacking in many respects–was well worth the conveniences gained. I used Oliver Twist as a gap-fill in my schedule; I read when waiting for the carpool or the bus. I found it to be an excellent way to use time that would otherwise go to waste, without having to carry around a big book with me all the time. more »