Compl33t

120 Turned Out Okay

Here's a small selection from the roll of film that has been living in my Mamiya C220 for the last year or three. About a quarter of the film caught light somewhere - I suspect I overexposed, or accidentally opened up the back during a move.

At least I know that my light meter works a treat and that the roll of colour film in there now should come out just fine. I may even attempt to develop it myself, seeing as I've recently bought a Paterson Dev Tank on impulse...

Flask

My favourite way at the moment to quickly get light, relatively simple web applications off the Ground:

Flask is a microframework for Python based on Werkzeug, Jinja 2 and good intentions.

I used it to build the GivenGain for Causes Facebook application (hosted on Heroku) in less than a week, initial learning period included. At the moment I'm using it to build a small-scale RSVP/Gift Registry/Communications app for the wedding.

The thing that makes it a joy for me to use is that you can set up a dev environment by downloading and installing Python & Flask, and testing it with the built-in development server, all within a matter of minutes, on almost any platform. The excellent documentation doesn't hurt either.

I'll still use Django (or try something like Pyramid) for bigger projects, but Flask definitely has its own special little place in my toolbox. 

Rediscovered: Tiny Cape Town

This week I finally got around to doing something I've wanted to do for ages. I migrated my photos from Flickr to Picasa using Migratr, and I deleted my last excuse for still having a Yahoo account (I migrated from Delicious to Google Bookmarks quite some time ago). So, I nuked my Yahoo account with a smile on my face. With the migration, I came across these pictures...

I had just gotten a new lens, I was on top of Table Mountain for a day, and fake-tilt-shift was the in thing at the time. Thought I'd share them again. :)

UX Outside the Box

So, when someone suggested that adding a motion sensor to a flashlight may be a nifty idea, it could easily have been just another redundant gimmick.

Maglite has gone ahead and done just that, and they've pulled it off, in my opinion:

That right there is a magnificent display of a human-machine-interface, because it's simple, and it works in a way that doesn't require much thought at all. The flashlight itself becomes a rotary switch. Genius.

It also serves as a reminder that user experience (and usability in general) - and inspiration to make things easy - isn't limited to what we see on screen.

 

My Initial Impressions of the iPad

So, thanks to a combination of pure blind luck and a massive helping
of generosity, I am now an iPad user. Now, I'm an Android fanboy (I
run and write for ZADroid), so the reality distortion field that
makes your average Apple consumer tear up at the sight of anything
with a half-eaten fruit on it doesn't really apply to me.

Will I be able to give you an objective opinion on the iPad? Probably
not, but it may be more objective than what someone with a cupboard
full of empty boxes from Apple can give you. "What about the Galaxy
Tab?!" I hear you scream? Well, it's way too expensive, and in my
opinion, Android isn't quite ready yet to power a tablet. We'll see
once I get to review one. For now, though, I have an iPad, so I may
just as well use it.

I've been using the iPad for about a week now, and I must admit, it's
quite handy. Apple's hardware has always been a notch up from anything
else on the market, and the iPad is pretty solid, and pretty nice to
look at. I don't like the shiny glass screen and the fact that it is
one of the worst fingerprint magnets I've ever seen. I think that it's
too heavy. The screen is gorgeous, bright and vivid, and very
responsive. This is perfect for consuming things with bright colours,
like movies and photos, but I find that trying to read a novel tires
my eyes faster than I expected. So, I'll probably acquire a Kindle
soon for that purpose. I also think that a front-facing camera
couldn't hurt, but hey, that's planned obsolescence for you. Oh, and
the battery life is astonishing.

Software-wise, I'm at both ends of the spectrum. As someone that is
passionate about UX and user interface design, I've always appreciated
the (mostly) consistent nature of iOS. It's also the first platform
where you'll see new, sometimes brave, but intuitive, user interaction
design. So, there's that side of the coin. The keyboard is much better
than I expected it to be, too. On the other side, I find iOS clunky to
use. Way too many taps to get somewhere simple in a lot of cases, and
no hard back button, makes for a frustrating experience. Example? The
arse-backwards way of attaching photos to an email. The notification
system sucks. It has been said before, but needs repeating, because it
sucks so hard. No multitasking. Not much more I can say about that.
Sure, the update in November will add multitasking the table, but we
all know this isn't real multitasking. We'll see. iTunes for SA. I'm
sorry, but I don't feel like jumping through all those hoops that'll
get me a (T&C violating) US account. So, yes, I'm satisfied with the
content South Africans can access. No games, movies or music, but I'm
not much of a gamer, and there are ways around the other issue.

So, all in all? I like it. It has its shortcomings, but show me a
modern piece of technology that doesn't. I don't see it as essential,
and I wouldn't spend my own money on it (maybe when the third
generation arrives I may feel differently about that). That being
said, I have found a place for it. I do find myself using the iPad
instead of my netbook for quite a few things. To me, it's all about
consumption, which is something the iPad caters for exceptionally
well. When I need to do something that requires a bit more complexity
than the iPad can handle, I pick up my Android phone, or head on over
to my desktop. Does the iPad replace an existing piece of technology?
No, but it does seem to fill a niche I didn't realize existed.

Stasis

STASIS from Christian Swegal on Vimeo.

In the future, an Ex-Soldier is placed in virtual exercises to cure his Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. In the simulations, he sees glimpses of a mysterious girl, presumably someone from his past. When a Stranger appears in his facility offering answers, the Soldier finds himself once again asked to kill, this time for her...

Starring Reshad Strik, Beau Bridges, Ernie Hudson, and Rachel Specter

Hard work (hopefully) pays off...

So, what have I been doing with myself? Still very happy with my day job as a developer for GivenGain. Climbing mountains. Enjoying every kilometer driven so far in the new car. Admin. You know, the usual.

I can never sit still, though. There's always something else to keep me busy. If you've been following my blog, you'll know that I'm a bit of Android fan. So I, together with Philip and Sean, have started a little blog focused on Android in South Africa. It's been hard work, and I'm sure it'll keep on being hard work, but I'm enjoying it. It feels good to be writing again. Seeing as there's only three of us, and we all work during the day, for now we're focusing on quality over quantity (striving toward both of these). We write our posts in the evening and set them to post during the day (except if there's breaking news). I'm looking forward to seeing what the site will grow up to be, and this is one project I'll be persevering with. I've "met" (if you can call sending friendly e-mails back and forth meeting) a few awesome people in the industry, and I'm also looking forward to growing these relationships. 

Head on over to ZADroid and give us some love. ;)

This is why I love Android

Rediscovery.

I happened upon one of my dad's old photographic gizmos (an Autoknips V, if you were wondering, which I brought back with me, because it's shiny and mechanical) - which lead me to Google for it, which made me look over at the Mamiya C220 he gave to me. And then I remembered these photos. The camera has a roll of 220 in it right now, and another waiting. I should probably start using it again. The photos it produces are quite unique (especially, as you'll note with most of the attached pictures, you don't have a light meter on hand - and you have to guess the correct exposure settings).

Clever, but I think I'll pass.