Noise Between Stations

  • AAC: music to my ears

    If you’re using iTunes/iPod/QuickTime 6 you can start burning music in AAC format, the audio spec for MPEG-4. The encoding is better than MPEG-3 resulting in smaller file sizes (at the same bit rate) and higher quality sound. Mp3s couldn’t match CDs for sound quality because they relied on earlier, imperfect perceptual coding algorithms; AAC comes much closer.

    You can make this change in iTunes preferences. Upping the bit rate also helps, I’ve got mine set on 192 bps. 128 is more common and uses less space, but 192 sounds better. You can always down sample it later if you run out of space, but you can’t up sample without re-burning the track.

    You can tell Apple is behind this migration because they’re selling songs in their store in AAC format, and iTunes even has ‘convert to AAC’ menu choice, making the process easy. I’ve been holding off on the mass burning of my CDs due to mp3’s limitations, but now I’m ready.

  • Book Crossing

    Years ago I ran a book exchange, circulating books out into the world and even getting a couple different ones back in return. This idea has been joined with social software at Book Crossing. Register a book and its location on the site and release it into the world. Others find it, read it, release it back into the world, and update the location on the site. Free to members, it seems to have potential as a business venture for the founder.

  • Find Yourself, in Italy

    IA, the Italian version. Dove mi trovo?

  • Tests Well With Others

    In this brave new world where user-centered designers meet old-school info technologists, we can all live, love, and test together. Here’s how my usability testing jives with their testing, as I understand it:

    What types of testing do we do?


    • QA: technical check to make sure it works
    • UAT (user acceptance testing): ensure the system meets the business requirements
    • Usability: testing with end users

    Who does it?


    • QA: technical staff, but not the people who programmed it
    • UAT: business staff. Originated in days when business people threw requirements over the wall to tech and needed to test what came back over the wall. In agency models it’s often rolled into design.
    • Usability: dedicated usability peeps or the design staff, but preferably not the people who designed it

  • The Sheer Mass

    Kathryn says, ‘I carry the weight of old boyfriends, self-possessed jerks and sweet immature nerds. The weight of making the relationship work, I can feel it in my chest and my throat. And if I open my mouth I inhale the sheer mass hanging in the air between us. My fear and ignorance are cinder blocks around my waist, one day anchoring me to the bed of the East River.

  • NaNoWriMo

    ‘There are certain things that we know we can do. Showing up for work relatively close to the contractually obligated start time is one. Watching TV is another. We also know, in a general sort of way, that we could probably tie a decent enough knot to secure a docile cow to a pole for several hours.

    Writing a novel, unlike cow-tying, is not something you really ever know for sure you can do. It’s one of those frighteningly unpredictable activities like lawn darts and breakdancing that people with all their faculties tend to shy away from.’

    I decided to join 22,000 others finding out if we are able to write a novel this month. If I succeed, and if the quality is above that of doggie poo, I’ll share it with you, perhaps next year.

  • Older Than Jesus

    Happy birthday to me. This means I get to eat chocolate marble cake with chocalate sauce dripped over the top dipped into a bowl of espresso. My love bought me Transatlanticism (mp3s), which rocks a little more than Death Cab’s previous albums. Also, a lovely wool scarf. The sun is shining through the leaves that the wind is blowing off the trees and after this blessed Indian summer I am ready for winter.

  • Hard Drive Space Reality Check

    I’d like an iPod, but can’t seem to justify the cost. A friend at work has two, a 15GB for spoken word and a 40GB for music, both of which are full. ‘It has changed my life,’ he says. Thems strong words.

    Funny that we so easily find ways to fill up 55GB of hard drive space.

  • Otterness

    There’s so much good art in galleries and museums in New York, the public art pretty much sucks, having put our resources into nifty architecture and parks instead.

    The rare exception is Tom Otterness, who has installations all over town. Many, like the figures sprinkled throughout the 14th St IND station, carry a clear political theme, like cute little capitalists being dragged into manholes by alligators.

    I used to walk through Battery Park on the way to work, where there’s another group of Otterness oddities. The funny thing about them is that little stories can unfold depending on which viewpoint you have. I used to walk by and wonder about this little guy and his worm friend being eyed by the bird…

    …and later noticed the lemur-like creature eyeing the bird…

    …and much later, only be taking a different path home around the wall, did I notice the dog eyeing the lemur…

    …but the dog is tied up to the water fountain. Why? Is he doomed to watch this scene as it unfolds, unable to participate, to save the bird or bite the lemur?

  • This Might Be a Wiki

    Ohmigod, totally fucking brilliant: This Might Be a Wiki, a wiki for all things They Might Be Giants. How better to connect a community of music fans who are also nerdy then to let them make a website together? I was able to find the lyrics to the rare Tiny Doctors, so I’m happy.

  • Design the Designless

    OXO Good Grips are often cited as examples of insightful design. Having worked with someone who helped design them, it seems to me a case of someone actually designing, rather than just cobbling together the same old thing. OXO’s a great example to use when explaining the design process and its benefits because the improvement is so obvious. But the lack of any design thought in the previous product design is also obvious. I don’t mean to detract from the Good Grips design – it’s wonderful – but the traditional bent-metal thingies were practically designed to hurt the hand.


    I’d like to think the impetus behind the design was much more sophisticated, that OXO also nailed the market and the timing, introducing better, more expensive kitchen tools just when the market was ready to spend on them, but apparently the origin was simply ergonomic; someone’s wife had arthritis.

  • Educating and Marketing

    What’s the essential difference between informational content and marketing content? I decided it was an objective tone vs. a subjective tone, respectively. I had to get that clear for myself as it can become very subtle when adjusting language and people can be rather passionate about wanting one or the other without actually knowing what they’re asking for.

  • User Research Conference Links

    Lately Peterme is posting lots of interesting thoughts related to HITS, About With For, and the Power of Design conferences.

  • nform

    Speaking of groovy IA peeps, Jess McMullin has just launched nform, a user experience consulting practice, in Edmonton. Jess is one of the best people ever, hire him.

  • Very Important Peeps

    We just assembled a great lineup of design folk for this year’s AIfIA Board of Advisors. I’m expecting great things.