Category Archives: quotes
Pure phase
The common theme for my weekend seems to have been phase transitions. Firstly I got hooked on this dynamic traffic simulation. I wasted an inordinate amount of time trying to discover tipping points for traffic jams. I blame Mat Webb’s … Continue reading
Big Brown Bag
Really enjoyed Kevin Mitchell’s article on Ricky Hatton in this month’s Sport Monthly. Fantastic sports journalism. “To watch Hatton hone his skills is to understand not just the unglamorous agony of boxing but the finely tuned mechanics of the art. … Continue reading
Zawinski’s Law
“Every program attempts to expand until it can read mail. Those programs which cannot so expand are replaced by ones which can.” Jamie Zawinski
Culture of Creativity
There’s a fascinating conversation over on the Adaptive Path website between Henning Fischer and Chris Conley from Gravity Tank. The dialogue focuses on the challenges around fostering creative culture within an organisation. In the same way that Sir Ken Robinson’s … Continue reading
Gamebeat
“Every time I sit down with a finely crafted title such as Tetris or Super Mario Brothers, I catch hints of a concise and clearly defined structure behind the gameplay. It is my belief that a highly mechanical and predictable … Continue reading
Sensible shoes
“Players seeking to advance in a game will always try to optimize what they are doing. If they are clever and see an optimal path—an Alexandrine solution to a Gordian problem—they’ll do that instead of the ‘intended gameplay.’ They will … Continue reading
Humility & the Interaction Designer
When asked what personal qualities make a good interaction designer, Larry Tesler highlighted humility: “Enough confidence to believe you can solve any design problem and enough humility to understand that most of your ideas are probably bad. Enough humility to … Continue reading
Starbucks
“Starbucks is selling a public gathering place. Coffee is the enabling mechanism.” Jim Kunstler
Listening to Interaction
“…watching a tool in use is the same as observing a conversation. everything, in a sense, has its inputs and outputs. From that point of view, the boundary between “interactive” and “noninteractive” tools start to dissolve. Interaction design is largely … Continue reading
Gulp
Paul drew my attention to the terms of use on Facebook: “When you post User Content to the Site, you authorize and direct us to make such copies thereof as we deem necessary in order to facilitate the posting and … Continue reading