hi. i’m fred: a user experience evangelist who enjoys better communication through design. living in providence, i teach a few classes at the rhode island school of design (risd / cont ed) and run a small, one-man show called awkwardnovice. as the antithesis to my own ideals, i use this space for throwing random bits of information against a wall. who knows, some of it might even be useful to others.Tumblr (3.0; @shawlcrochet)http://blog.shawlcrochet.com/<img src="http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kxfjk0xif41qzan9no1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/>http://blog.shawlcrochet.com/post/374352990http://blog.shawlcrochet.com/post/374352990Sat, 06 Feb 2010 12:06:38 -0500<img src="http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kwx5zcYbMb1qzwya5o1_500.png"/><br/><br/><p><a href="http://clientsfromhell.tumblr.com/post/358257913/from-veers-2007-activity-book-catalog">clientsfromhell</a>:</p> <blockquote> <p>From Veer’s 2007 “Activity book” catalog</p> </blockquote>http://blog.shawlcrochet.com/post/359954553http://blog.shawlcrochet.com/post/359954553Fri, 29 Jan 2010 13:37:49 -0500<p>You could always look at it like this:<br/><br/>There are development gaming consoles and there are gaming consoles.<br/><br/>It’s as if everyone has been forced to use a development console just to play games when most people really just want a gaming console to do just that.<br/><br/>Why do people need a system that can do everything? I understand the flexibility, but this device is a blank slate that can do specific things very well, assuming you have the right app.<br/><br/>Yeah, it’s strange that it’s missing a video camera. But things like that don’t invalidate the whole device.<br/><br/>I’m a developer. I need a development computer.<br/><br/>But, when I’m not developing, I enjoy and prefer the zen-like nature of simplicity. This and the portability of the iPhone is exactly how I want to use a computer (by not thinking about a computer) and just do the stuff I want that doesn’t necessarily involve designing applications and complex UI’s, which is pretty much what my work requires.<br/><br/>I really don’t want a smaller, touch-like version of my workstation… ie Windows 7 on a Slate PC.<br/><br/>There’s a reason PC gaming is such a niche. It’s fun and nerdy and techy and bleeding edge, but most people just want to start something up and play, not having to worry about all of the additional bullshit that comes along with the aforementioned.</p> <p>People want to simplify and make their lives more convenient.</p> <p>And for Flash crazies… You might not see it now, but what Apple is doing will benefit the industry. Flash is the only Web “Standard” that is proprietary and that is not a good thing.<br/><br/>You can argue that Flash can do this, but so could anything else given the proper attention… HTML5/CSS3/JS/SQLite/XML/BlahBlahBlah.</p>http://blog.shawlcrochet.com/post/356655724http://blog.shawlcrochet.com/post/356655724Wed, 27 Jan 2010 16:33:00 -0500<img src="http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kwf4f3YXow1qzan9no1_500.png"/><br/><br/><p>Now in private beta.</p>http://blog.shawlcrochet.com/post/339980892http://blog.shawlcrochet.com/post/339980892Sun, 17 Jan 2010 20:06:39 -0500<img src="http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kweotlwiSZ1qzan9no1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/>http://blog.shawlcrochet.com/post/339518022http://blog.shawlcrochet.com/post/339518022Sun, 17 Jan 2010 14:29:20 -0500<img src="http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kw7c0toRVs1qzan9no1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/>http://blog.shawlcrochet.com/post/332793915http://blog.shawlcrochet.com/post/332793915Wed, 13 Jan 2010 15:10:05 -0500<object width="400" height="336"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/wH1tTlq5-Qk&rel=0&egm=0&showinfo=0&fs=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/wH1tTlq5-Qk&rel=0&egm=0&showinfo=0&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400" height="336" allowFullScreen="true" wmode="transparent"></embed></object><br/><br/><p><b> </b></p> <p><b> </b></p> <p><b> <p>Guy Has Glasses Tattooed On His Face</p> </b></p>http://blog.shawlcrochet.com/post/332769267http://blog.shawlcrochet.com/post/332769267Wed, 13 Jan 2010 14:48:00 -0500<a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/click_online/8450385.stm">Reporter breaks an 'unbreakable' mobile phone at CES</a>http://blog.shawlcrochet.com/post/329082866http://blog.shawlcrochet.com/post/329082866Mon, 11 Jan 2010 13:59:26 -0500<a href="http://www.tuaw.com/2010/01/11/droid-doesnt-have-touchscreen-accuracy-that-is/">Droid doesn't. Have touchscreen accuracy, that is...</a>http://blog.shawlcrochet.com/post/329050367http://blog.shawlcrochet.com/post/329050367Mon, 11 Jan 2010 13:30:26 -0500<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/Movies/01/11/avatar.movie.blues/index.html">Audiences experience 'Avatar' blues</a>http://blog.shawlcrochet.com/post/329039769http://blog.shawlcrochet.com/post/329039769Mon, 11 Jan 2010 13:20:30 -0500<object width="400" height="336"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/7AGjijiBA0I&rel=0&egm=0&showinfo=0&fs=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/7AGjijiBA0I&rel=0&egm=0&showinfo=0&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400" height="336" allowFullScreen="true" wmode="transparent"></embed></object><br/><br/>http://blog.shawlcrochet.com/post/327864974http://blog.shawlcrochet.com/post/327864974Sun, 10 Jan 2010 20:41:47 -0500<img src="http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kw1mmxRdqR1qzan9no1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>Nic Cage as Johnny Cash</p> <p><a href="http://niccageaseveryone.blogspot.com/2010/01/nic-cage-as-johnny-cash.html">http://niccageaseveryone.blogspot.com/2010/01/nic-cage-as-johnny-cash.html</a></p>http://blog.shawlcrochet.com/post/327221881http://blog.shawlcrochet.com/post/327221881Sun, 10 Jan 2010 13:13:00 -0500<object width="400" height="336"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/tuVyExV8SYo&rel=0&egm=0&showinfo=0&fs=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/tuVyExV8SYo&rel=0&egm=0&showinfo=0&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400" height="336" allowFullScreen="true" wmode="transparent"></embed></object><br/><br/>http://blog.shawlcrochet.com/post/323273231http://blog.shawlcrochet.com/post/323273231Fri, 08 Jan 2010 07:48:25 -0500<img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kvw0uxkfkd1qzan9no1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>New RISDce design intensive: iPhone App development.</p>http://blog.shawlcrochet.com/post/321816154http://blog.shawlcrochet.com/post/321816154Thu, 07 Jan 2010 12:35:06 -0500<a href="http://mashable.com/2010/01/06/facebook-iphone-3-1/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Mashable+%28Mashable%29">Facebook for iPhone 3.1 Adds Push Notifications, Address Book Syncing</a>http://blog.shawlcrochet.com/post/320684979http://blog.shawlcrochet.com/post/320684979Wed, 06 Jan 2010 20:47:51 -0500<a href="http://www.neowin.net/news/live/10/01/06/ces2010-sharp-introduces-quad-pixel-series">CES2010: Sharp introduces quad-pixel series HDTVs</a>: <blockquote> <p>Today Sharp announced their new lineup of Sharp AQUOS HDTV’s, with innovating technology in display colour. Sharp has taken the leap forward from the traditional RBG primary colours, adding in yellow as the fourth primary colour (RBGY), in what they call, Quad-Pixel technology.<br/><br/>The new series of Sharp AQUOS will be able to produce 1 trillion colours, from the standard 1 billion colours in conventional HDTV’s. The new lineup of Sharp AQUOS LE will come equipped with LED backlight technology, and be full 1080P LED TV’s.</p> </blockquote>http://blog.shawlcrochet.com/post/320374367http://blog.shawlcrochet.com/post/320374367Wed, 06 Jan 2010 17:15:26 -0500<p><a href="http://blog.clickwhirlimage.com/post/318791557/cinema-surpassed-dvd-sales-in-2009">wurl</a>:</p> <blockquote> <blockquote> <p>Last year was the first since 2002 that U.S. consumers spent more money buying movie tickets than buying movies to watch at home, underscoring the changing economics of Hollywood.</p> <p>According to new data from Adams Media Research, Americans spent $9.87 billion at the box office in 2009, 10% more than in 2008, according to a report Adams plans to release Tuesday. At the same time, sales in the U.S. of feature films on DVD, long a cornerstone of movie studios’ business models, plunged 13% to $8.73 billion, including Blu-ray high-definition discs. (Other companies that track box-office receipts include Canada in their North American figures, adding about 7% to the total and pushing the year’s gross above $10 billion.)</p> </blockquote> <p><a href="http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052748704789404574636531903626624-lMyQjAxMTAwMDAwNTEwNDUyWj.html">Read More ></a></p> <p>Source: <a href="http://online.wsj.com/">WSJ Online</a></p> </blockquote>http://blog.shawlcrochet.com/post/320211791http://blog.shawlcrochet.com/post/320211791Wed, 06 Jan 2010 15:12:14 -0500<img src="http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kvsiieXQc21qzan9no1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>Nic Cage is Lost</p> <p><a href="http://niccageaseveryone.blogspot.com/">http://niccageaseveryone.blogspot.com/</a></p> <p><a href="http://niccageaseveryone.blogspot.com/2010/01/nic-cage-as-ilana-richard-alpert-miles.html">http://niccageaseveryone.blogspot.com/2010/01/nic-cage-as-ilana-richard-alpert-miles.html</a></p>http://blog.shawlcrochet.com/post/318498870http://blog.shawlcrochet.com/post/318498870Tue, 05 Jan 2010 15:06:00 -0500<img src="http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kvneohQke91qzan9no11_r1_500.jpg"/><br/> <br/><img src="http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kvneohQke91qzan9no1_500.jpg"/><br/> <br/><img src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kvneohQke91qzan9no3_500.jpg"/><br/> <br/><img src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kvneohQke91qzan9no2_500.jpg"/><br/> <br/><img src="http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kvneohQke91qzan9no4_500.jpg"/><br/> <br/><img src="http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kvneohQke91qzan9no5_500.jpg"/><br/> <br/><img src="http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kvneohQke91qzan9no6_500.jpg"/><br/> <br/><img src="http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kvneohQke91qzan9no7_500.jpg"/><br/> <br/><img src="http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kvneohQke91qzan9no8_500.jpg"/><br/> <br/><p>New Years Day</p> <p>Duck Soup and Other Side Cafe. Awesome.</p>http://blog.shawlcrochet.com/post/313775600http://blog.shawlcrochet.com/post/313775600Sat, 02 Jan 2010 20:55:00 -0500<img src="http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kvned4XkeJ1qzan9no1_500.jpg"/><br/> <br/><img src="http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kvned4XkeJ1qzan9no2_500.jpg"/><br/> <br/><img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kvned4XkeJ1qzan9no3_500.jpg"/><br/> <br/><img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kvned4XkeJ1qzan9no4_500.jpg"/><br/> <br/><img src="http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kvned4XkeJ1qzan9no5_500.jpg"/><br/> <br/><img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kvned4XkeJ1qzan9no6_500.jpg"/><br/> <br/><img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kvned4XkeJ1qzan9no7_500.jpg"/><br/> <br/><img src="http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kvned4XkeJ1qzan9no8_500.jpg"/><br/> <br/><img src="http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kvned4XkeJ1qzan9no11_r1_500.jpg"/><br/> <br/><p>New Years Eve</p>http://blog.shawlcrochet.com/post/313766762http://blog.shawlcrochet.com/post/313766762Sat, 02 Jan 2010 20:48:00 -0500