Wow is all I can say, this is just an incredible piece of software. You can check it out at http://www.photoshop.com/express/ I would love to see an api for this so you can access your images. Anyway AWESOME JOB ADOBE!!
So I’ve had this Wordpress theme for like a year now. I’ve just been sitting on it cause I was on the fence on whether or not I really liked it. So I showed a friend at work and he was like go for it. And I thought… well, its better than the one I have now so I posted it. It still needs alot of work. The portfolio section has a really cool ajaxy interface but its still buggy so I decided not to post it yet. And I need alot more content for alot of the sections but all in all its a good start to start developing what I need out of my blog. Hope you like!
I think we need to work on usability design before we jump the gun. What’s so crazy, is that the project I’m working on right now focuses on this very concept. Sort of like executing a great experience, but also interacting with the user and giving them a new identity through the interactive medium while enveloping the user in the brand. Kind of like getting into a new car for a test drive. Its funny you see all of this happening on the internet, but no one has really taken it to the next level. The user is always driving how he/she is perceived on myspace or digg, but you never really see sites that encourage and guide it playfully. Here’s a great blog post on it…
Ryan Stewart has an article on RIA predictions for 2008. Most are pretty good, I mean, this is coming from an Adobe insider and all. I’m not to sure about the whole Apple RIA deal. Apple needs a major overhaul of their software platform in general. The .NET platform really blows Apple clean out of the water and its starting to show in Microsoft’s overall growth. If Apple doesn’t pull up soon, the XBOX 360/Zune space is going to shut the door on the AppleTV/iPod, and you bet that Microsoft is on their butts big time. And one thing is exceptionally true, Adobe is underestimating Microsoft. I personally know Microsoft is revamping their Expression suite big time, they were pretty upset about the first version and are taking the gung ho, take no prisoners approach to the next release. Not saying that the first version isn’t impressive, but its unusable compared to Adobe’s tools. One thing is absolutely for sure, we’re gonna hear and see some major movement in the RIA space from Adobe and Microsoft, because after all its the future of the web.
I finally got a Chumby!! For all of you that don’t know, Chumbys are a little nerf football type of gadget with a touchscreen, wi-fi, internet appliance that plays flash lite 3 apps exclusively. I can’t wait to start developing stuff for this thing. Its completely open source and welcomes software and hardware developers to help build on it. I never thought I’d be so excited about a glorified alarm clock. Pick up one or check it out @ chumby.com
Special thanks to my girl for getting it for me!!
One of the craziest trends I witnessed in the web development world was that the end user doesn’t matter. It’s usually, whatever the client wants, whatever budget allows, whatever new feature the programmer can add, etc. No one ever said, well how would the end user feel. Mainly because no one represented the end user in the slew of meetings and planning sessions. Microsoft specifically was notorious for this. Microsoft had a company full of programmers and not a designer in sight. And as it grew, the programmers were in command of the ship and had steered it so far off course its now a serious internal problem to get it back. Apple on the other hand, has designers at the helm and its success is showing.
So Microsoft decided that when it was time to revamp their OS they hired a team of UX professionals. But even the UX professionals that they hired couldn’t control the onslaught of features coming from all of the teams of the teams that make up the entirety of the Microsoft platform. The designers even seem to be focused on the redesign and the look rather than the improvement of the experience. The overall push to make an OS that was better than anything out there created a slew of features that bombarded the user and forced him/her to relearn and upgrade their computers compounding the general annoyance of just being ‘new’.
Instead of focusing on improving core tasks and productivity gains, Vista designers choose to insert eye candy in the form of Aero. And Aero itself actually compounds the annoyance factor by degrading performance. Operating systems in general should be lightweight and easy to manage. Vista should have included better window and desktop management, not a redesigned window.
The Office redesign compounded the problems even further. The Ribbon interface was a big leap taken at the same time Vista was being released. It forces you to relearn how Office works entirely which is a big deal for any business trying to roll out the product. The first rule in UX design is that software applications should never need to be taught. A caveman should know how to use it.
The overall performance in Vista is poor, boot times are still too long, basic file copying takes forever, Outlook freezes up and doesn’t respond. These problems should have been addressed before hitting the market. A big sloppy OS will not make it in a world a light unix based operating systems.
And the biggest complaint in the UX field is used more in Vista than in XP, dialogs. Dialogs and message balloons are everywhere telling the user in cryptic technical terms that they’re idiots. The biggest complaint comes from the User Account Control. Everytime the OS accesses information that isn’t a part of your access rights, a dialog asks you for permission. The OS should know my permission. Why is it asking me for permission?
So in general, if you make any form of software for computers, if you’re in the software development field in any aspect, always consider the user. Always consult your UX pro for guidance. Their is an incredible amount of research and best practices when it comes to UX design and the general understanding and psychology of the end users. In the end, your users will appreciate the time and effort you took to help them accomplish their tasks quickly and easily.
Includes client side caching, MPEG4 video support, hardware scaling and mulitcore processor support. More details here.
Note that their are some security and policy file changes that may affect your work, check them out here.
The new server features double performance, better pricing and a couple other features.
DRM
Streams are protected by a 120 bit encryption that is requested on an encrypted channel. It relies on a new RTMPE protocol which is much faster than the later RTMP protocol. So encryped streams in FMS3 are faster than the FMS2 unencrypted streams. It also doesn’t require an SSL certificate.
Performance
More than doubled performance, Adobe is also providing improved live video and live content switching so that if a flash lite app requests a stream the appropriate content is sent to it.
Processing is an open-source programming language that can be used by students, artists, designers, architects, researchers, and anyone who wants to program images, animation, and interactivity.
Now MIT Press has published a book by the original developers Casey and Ben on Processing and the recommendations it goes with are worth quoting:
“Processing is a milestone not only in the history of computer software, of information design, and of the visual arts, but also in social history. Many have commented on the pragmatic impact of the open source movement, but it is time to also consider Processing’s sociological and psychological consequences. Processing invites people to tinker, and tinkering is the first step for any scientific and artistic creation. After the tinkering, it leads designers to their idea of perfection. It enables complexity, yet it is approachable; it is rigorous, yet malleable. Its home page exudes the enthusiasm of so many designers and artists from all over the world, overflowing with ideas and proud to be able to share. Processing is a great gift to the world.”
–Paola Antonelli, Curator, Architecture and Design, MOMA“This long-awaited book is more than just a software guide; it is a tool for unlocking a powerful new way of thinking, making, and acting. Not since the Bauhaus have visual artists revisited technology in such a world-changing way. Ben Fry and Casey Reas have helped a growing community of visual producers open up fresh veins of expression. Their work proves that code is open to designers, architects, musicians, and animators, not just to engineers. Providing a powerful alternative to proprietary software, Processing is part of a new social phenomenon in the arts that speaks to self-education and networked engagement.”
–Ellen Lupton, Director of the graphic design MFA program at Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, and Author of D.I.Y: Design It Yourself“A whole generation of designers, artists, students, and professors have been influenced by Processing. Now, a handbook is published that goes far beyond explaining how to handle the technology and boldly reveals the potential future for the electronic sketchbook.”
–Joachim Sauter, University of the Arts, Berlin, Founder, Art+Com
Tags: Bookprocessing