Every piece of software has its limits. There’s only so much an application or a game or a website can do. You may wish you could double-jump in Halo. You can’t. You may wish you could use a lasso tool to select icons on your desktop. You can’t.
When a user wants an application to do something it can’t, it’s the job of the user interface to tell the user “No.” But there are right and wrong ways for software to say “No.” And when they say it the wrong way, users stop using.
User interface design is a subtle, subtle art. The smallest detail can mean the difference between an application or site that is fun to use or one that grates on the nerves.
I discovered this insight the hard way, by making Flash games and iPhone apps. Often the difference between a successful app and a failed one is a single button out of place, a screen that doesn’t respond quickly enough, a frame rate that skips and hitches.
Time, Inc., in association with The Wonderfactory, has just announced a new eBook reader that is getting people excited. Could this be the end of print media such as books and magazines? You can check out the video below.
Exciting. Apparently. But, you know, in over fifteen years of working with cutting-edge technology I’ve seen a lot of would-be revolutions come and go. And I’ve noticed something. Marketing videos often change the world more than the products that they anticipate.
And so, I believe, it will be with this video. I don’t see anything here that makes me think the media universe is about to explode.
Last time I listed the main biblical passages dealing with divorce and remarriage. I also previewed some of the conclusions I had come to when studying these passages.
But now let’s clear our minds, forget everything we (think we) know about divorce and rediscover what the Bible says with fresh eyes. Today we’ll look at Old Testament passages that deal with these topics.
I just finished teaching a series of lessons on divorce and remarriage for the young married couples’ class at our church. The passages we studied reopened my eyes to the Bible’s surprising—and oft-ignored—teaching on these crucial and difficult topics. I thought I’d share with you the passages we considered and the insights that emerged from looking closely at them.
I hate Christmas shopping.
It feels like I’m fighting a losing battle. I go down my list, staring at each name, trying to imagine what each person would like. But I keep picturing the things I’d like.
So I end up giving my son a LEGO set, then spend Christmas Day building it while he plays with the Magnetix his grandparents got him. I give my wife a surround sound system, then test it out while she reads a novel a friend sent her.
So whether I’m walking through the mall or drifting between websites, a sense of looming catastrophe creeps over me. What dreadful waste will I commit this year? How will I fail to delight those I love?
The most striking thing about the modern world is that our ability to live as we want has far outstripped our ability to live well or wisely. Ours is the most advanced society in history—where technology is concerned. But in our art, architecture, philosophy, public discourse—or even ordinary concerns like romance or happiness—we are infants amongst the giants of the past.
This summer I made a new game for the iPhone and iPod Touch. You should play it, ’cause it rules.
Crush the Castle gives you a trebuchet (a sort of giant catapult) and challenges you to knock down enemy castles in as few shots as possible.
If you like building things and knocking them down again, or knocking down things that someone else built, you’ll like this game. It’s got very realistic physics, and pretty realistic (and wickedly hilarious) screaming. It’s got eight different weapons (plus a secret bonus weapon you simply won’t believe). Fifty levels. Five continents. A built-in editor so you can make your own castles.
Enough already! Why are we still talking?! Cool kids buy the full version, but there’s a free version if you’re still coy.
A few months ago I posted a Flash movie demonstrating real-time interactive shadows in Flash. Quite a few people responded. Some offered suggestions for how to make it better. This summer I found some time to integrate some of their suggestions, along with finding other ways to improve the system. Today I’d like to show you the new, improved system. You can play with it below.
I’m teaching a Sunday school series this semester on the Sermon on the Mount. I wanted it to be easy for those who attend the series to read the Sermon wherever they are—in the car, cooking dinner, or anywhere. So I recorded a reading, and here it is, free to use however you want to.
The Sermon on the Mount — Matt 5–7 — New International Version
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