Chaosophist

Euphamism for No Flash Allowed

Ashley — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 20:51:08 +0000

‘Nuff said.

Smart Companies know when to say goodbye

Ashley — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 22:31:02 +0000

Google made the right move here. Wave was revolutionary. And it had potential. But a failed product launch is failed product launch. Knowing when to pull a product and not to invest in the marketing and continuing development of it is the mark of a brilliantly mature company.

I am sure we will all end up using elements of wave as time moves on, but as an independent product there are 2 dozens reasons why it didn’t work.

Complexity and Simplicity, Difficulty, Ease

Ashley — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 18:36:34 +0000

Our problem at Everbread is difficult. I mean the problem our product Haystack solves. It’s also complex. To imagine how complex just look at this presentation from ITA one of our competitors. I was describing our Rotate into the Product Training program where new developers start in Client Integration for 2 months, move to Infrastucture (Operations) and then to Maintenance and Debug before getting to touch the core code. MY good friend who is a smart guy says to me: “If your product takes 6 months to get good at programming it, then I’d hazard a guess your software is too complex”

Now if he was talking about an IPhone Application, I’d agree with him. But in this case, we’re are talking about a virtual rocket ship, or a Ferrari Steering Wheel, and make complex stuff like this is both complicated and difficult. Our Code is designed to work, it’s not designed for developers to develop. I try to force the team to keep the architecture as simple as possible but even still, it’s not easy, and it’s not simple. A blog post from Douglas Gorney http://convo.us/conversations/4658-how-not-to-design-for-user-experience-the-ferrari-example refers to the idea that some think a 9 minute video on how to use a steering wheel suggests that the wheel is too complex. He quite correctly observes that this steering wheel is for RACECAR Drivers and a 9 minute video on how it’s used and how it was designed is not too much to ask for guys who drive at 200 MPH (360 KPH). I guess I’d say the same about software that crawls thru 100s of Millions of possible combinations of fares and flights. In order to do it correctly, in order to do it well, I guess it’s worth waiting 6 months before I let you hack around on it. Here is the original video on YouTube.

…

Trust Dusty

Ashley — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 10:11:09 +0000

Trust and now dusty after use

I rarely make product recommendations, but I realized this morning that I was using something all the time. It was so reliable and useful that I forgot I was using.

After losing my USB Iphone charger and the Laptop USB Iphone Cable I found myself in Gatwick needing a charger for my iphone. I bought the first thing I found in the Airport shop and it turned out to be a winner. I guess it proves the point that a great product is one that you use so much and so easily that you don’t even know you are using it.

The Trusty Dusty Retractable Iphone Sync Cable

It take a little getting use to, you have to be careful how you retract, use both hands and pull evenly on both side, but if you learn to do it correctly it NEVER tangles.

So it’s cheap, it’s sturdy, it’s compact (when retracted) and I carry it in my pocket or my satchel everywhere. Importantly the cable connections are flat ribbon style so unlike the usb sync cable that comes with the Iphone, it will never get pinched or break at the connection point. 5 out of 5 Stars!

Yummy business card design

Ashley — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 10:58:58 +0000

A business Card you can eat

The 2nd Date – Valentine’s day memory

Ashley — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 19:04:31 +0000

In 1996 I met Renee, while shooting pool with my buddy Joe. I thought she was too cool for me, but ended up asking her out on a date anyway.

She said yes. Our second date consisted of a fantastic meal at this nouveau Sonoran joint in the East Tucson desert. In the parking lot, I showed her a cool trick I could do, where I could jump like 3 feet straight up from a squat, and land on a parking lot pylon. She thought it was really cool, and I really liked that she thought it was cool. Later that night we went to her apartment and folded laundry. We did this while watching bad Sci-Fi movies in black and white. The best one was about a Killer Tumblweed that trapped two stranded motorists in a shack. We laughed, and beer came out my nose. We never even made it passed 2nd base, we were having too much fun.

I knew then, that I’d probably never find a girl I liked as much as her. Happy valentine day, Renee.

Current Audio Fav

Ashley — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 00:58:51 +0000

Grooveshark Plugin Widget

Iphone Region settings tip

Ashley — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 05:47:57 +0000

If you are an expat or just borrowing an iPhone which did not cone from the USA you might be struggling with something that troubled me for almost 2 years. How to change the default search engine for Safari. I don’t mean selecting a different provider. There are only two and they are listed under Safari settings. No. I mean what can you do if google search in Safari always comes up as google.dk or google.es? It’s simple just change your international region under the General Settings Page. Voilà!

Things my wife says

Ashley — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 19:30:16 +0000

So yesterday while putting together yet another pair of endtables with my wife Renee, I asked her if she had seen my legs (she had the box with all the parts in it). She turned to me and says in a deep throaty pirate voice

Aye, shapely enough to make any man quiver!

Renee Raiteri

Augustus

Ashley — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 18:36:15 +0000

festina lente