Articles in Concepts

I have been working hard on a version 4.0 of my Related Posts plugin. I could use some help on the testing of the new version before properly releasing it. If you are interested in assisting me, please drop me a line.

New features include:

• Manual sorting (hooray!)
• Fixed dependancy of inclusion of wp-config.php, so those of you that store it outside the web root will now be able to use the plugin as well.
• Fixed widget so titles fit standards (doh!)

Xi-online is a movie which was launched way back in 1994. Wow, 1994, That makes it the oldest movie site in the Netherlands, and probably one of the oldest movie websites anywhere.

The best part is that this site is entirely run by film students of the University of Amsterdam, and creates a great opportunity for many of them to publish their first film reviews (in Dutch: recensie), articles and interviews. It allows students to view press releases and gives them access to great film festivals, which they usually can’t afford. Great innitiative, and a great party to hook up with.

The next couple of months I’ll be working together with Xi to create a massive Dutch film community. With its academic background, it will be an open platform offering high level movie critique and theoretical discussion, next to the usual screaming excitement about new trailers and movie news of course. Due to some technical problems they’ve experienced the current website is a mere placeholder to keep things going online, but the new website will be launched by the end of the year.

Already one of my favorite online identities, Johnny Lee’s presentation at TED of a couple ingenious Wii hacks. — Read on

Sweet!

It may be a little early, but hey it’s close enough to the new year. So here’s my 2008 gadget wishlist.

1. The ultimate portable computer. A combination of this, this and this. It seems so obvious, take a good smartphone, equip it with a tiny projector on the back and a virtual laser keyboard on the front, and you have yourself a beyond laptop mobile computer. No more screwing around with mini keys and tiny monitors. Music, communication and your complete workstation, all in one.
2. The Wii ’3D’. Basically a combo of Nintendo’s Wii and this. So not only will you be watching a 3D projection instead of your 2D TV, but the controller will also be carrying a small projector to visualize whatever tool your using in the game. Think lightsaber people, woohoo!
3. The Nokia 888. I mean, it’s been 2 years now people, come one! Give us the phone that will make the iPhone look silly!
4. Portable locks based on iris recognition. This might not be of much interest to most Americans, but there’s big market for this where I’m from. In general, I would like to see iris recognition implemented in a lot more technology; why carry keys if you have one in your default setup? There’s no reason why this shouldn’ be implemented in cars, homes, etc. the coming year.
5. A laser indicator for lost items. A what? Well, imagine losing your keys in the house, and having a device that would draw a path on the floor using lasers to point you in the direction of its location? Should be feasible, the location could be determined using GPS. Sorta like a mini in-house navigation system. Nifty stuff!
6. A combination of a drum machine and a guitar. Oh no wait, somebody already came up with that…

In MySpace: Design Anarchy That Works, an article from about a year ago, Jesse James Garrett talks about the design anarchy on MySpace. Jesse states:

Regardless of its aesthetic consequences, this customizability is one of the site’s most attractive features, and the do-it-yourself sensibility of the site resonates with the audience’s desire for self-expression.

I guess all of us in professional development or design have looked at the chaos that is MySpace, and wondered why whoever runs it won’t pull it from the 1990′s. Or, like one of Jesse’s commenters points out:

The reason MySpace works is because even those with no Web knowledge can design easily. The funny thing is those of us with much knowledge have the trouble.

The most intriguing thing about MySpace if you ask me though, is the fact that so many people use it to it’s limits. Here we are, getting ready for Web 2.0, bragging about usability and Rich Internet Applications, while everyone over at MySpace is hacking away on inline CSS and copy pasting HTML tags from the movies they just uploaded to YouTube. It seems that while we are doing our best to make everything “usable”, users will go through anything by the threat of looking uncool on their MySpace site.