Happy Canada Day. Click for high-res photo

Happy Canada Day.

Duncan Wilcox: ‘Touch Content Creation’

To a novice user, aiming at something on screen with a mouse is like trying to ring a doorbell using a broomstick.

(via Instapaper)

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I watched my first soccer game on Saturday. It was the U.S. vs. England. One guy got the ball and passed it to another guy, who passed it to another guy, who passed it to another guy, who passed it to another guy, and then the other team intercepted it (with their feet) and then he passed the ball to one of his guys, who passed it to another guy, who passed it to another guy, who passed it to another guy, and then just as he was about to pass it, a guy on the other team kicked the ball away from him and, in the process, tripped him. That’s when the ref pulled out a yellow flag. I think it was for pass-interference. Anyway, after what felt like eternity, the game was finally over. The score was 1-1. Now I see why there are always riots.
Ask Vic: SEC is in control (via Instapaper)

Don’t fight Safari Reader—make it obsolete

The reason for the anger is because Reader strips the ads, the branding, and everything apart from the content. As Mathis notes, though: “If your users are using a third-party product to make your product usable, you are doing something wrong.” That is a sentence that every single content provider on the web should read several times, digest, and, if necessary, write in permanent marker on both hands.

(via Instapaper)

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Maybe I haven’t been kicked in the shins enough, but it baffles me when I run into folks who are coasting through life. Doing the bare minimum to get by and… enjoying it? What exactly are you enjoying?
Rands In Repose: What To Do When You’re Screwed (via Instapaper)

‘10 Reasons Not to Buy Apple’s New iPhone 4G’

Wow. Just…….wow. Points 4 (‘if’?!) and 6 are my favourites.

(via Instapaper)

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If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea. – Antoine de Saint Exupéry
The Vast and Endless Sea (via Instapaper)

Autoresizing in Code

Set autoresizesSubviews on the parent, and autoresizingMask on the child views.

'Lost': If you come with me, I'll show you what I mean | Show Tracker | Los Angeles Times

One of the reasons I think “Lost” worked was that it was always more interested in the box and the person holding the box than what was in the box. A closed box is almost always a mystery, really, until you open it and see what’s inside (which is how so many parents misdirect their kids on Christmas morning). All of the imitators of the show that have come along have focused far, far more on the contents of that box. They wanna shake it and hear if it rattles. They wanna pull back the wrapping paper and take a peek. “Lost” has always been satisfied to dump a package in your lap and think that’s enough. Is it? Again, for me, absolutely. But if not for you, does the fact that you opened the box and didn’t find what you wanted ruin the whole experience of the show, all of the fun you had along the way? It’s not wrong to feel that way, not at all. But it probably does speak to the different kinds of people we are, and the different ways we react to art.

(via Instapaper)

Adobe hearts Apple, hits them in userbase with open letter on openness, new ad campaign | TiPb

Flash is Adobe’s. Tell us how popular it is. Make a phenomenal mobile version that does things so well it makes HTML5 cry in its standards-based containers. Win the case that Flash is better and too important to ignore. But continuing to pretend Adobe and Flash are open and end-user interests are what Adobe is fighting for is insulting.

(via Instapaper)