An interview with Jason Rohrer on The Setup -
Jason is an independed game developer. He has released 13 games in four years. His most known game is probably Passage.
I’m sure you are thinking that he is developping on a quad core Mac Pro with a 30 inches Cinema display. You cannot be more wrong!. You need to read the article to see how you can be low-fi and still be in the game.
And the best part is when he answers the question: “What would be your dream setup?”
Jason, you are awesome!
“You cannot become something new without leaving something behind…” — Jen C - via Amber Rae The Ah Ha moment
Ok for this edition of Show ‘N Tell, I’ve decided to talk about something unusual. Jason, the initiator of this project, told me last time there are no rules and I can talk about what I want. Remember Jason, you told me so ;-)
I’m currently reading the book of Timothy Ferris, The 4-Hour Workweek. Probably one of most important book that has been written since the Internet exists if you ask me.
In one of the chapter, Tim introduces the Comfort Challenge. Most important actions are never comfortable, but according to Ferris you can condition yourself to the discomfort and overcome it by doing a series of uncomfortable exercises.
I’ve decided to play along and accept each of his challenges as I read the book.
The first one was Eye Gazing. For the next two days you had to gaze into the eyes of others - whether people you pass on the street or conventional partners - until they break contact. Some of his hint goes from blinking from time to time for not looking as a psychopath, to maintain eye contact while speaking and to practice it with people more confident or who impress you.
What did I discover? With all the technologies around us, we are more and more distracted and we are lacking attention and focus. The first victims of this technological omnipresence are the persons around us. By keeping an eye contact with them, we learn to really focus our attention and be more present. So it is not only giving you more confidence, it’s giving you the edge of reading the other person mind and body language by keeping all your attention at them and to what they say. They will also be more interested to you and tell you more about themselves.
Since I’ve done that exercise for two days, I’ve decided to always keep a regular eye contact with most around me. Some will ask you why you are looking at them, but then you simply need to smiles to distract them.
That was my little Show ‘N Tell contribution of the week.
Missing - A minimalist logo
A loyal reader, Isy, has sent me this link with 30 Minimal Logo Designs that Say More with Less. Of all the logos on the page, I just fall in love with this one. I think it is just brilliant of simplicity and aesthetic.
Thanks Isy - please keep sending stuff like this.
The joy of being a freelancer
[video]
This week, it’s the Instapaper blog that I have suggested in the Tumblr Directory.
Lately Marco has spend some time explaining the how and why he has chosen to implement some new features in his new Instapaper 2.2 iPhone app and why he has chosen not to listen entirely to his customers.
I particularly like the posts explaining the reasoning behind the pagination zones and the scroolback features.
As I wrote in my personal The Setup profile, Instapaper is the iPhone Killer for me:
If I had to choose a single app on my iPhone, it would be Instapaper to read the Web while I’m commuting. I would even buy an iPhone for that application alone (yes even before the possibility of making calls - I know, I should buy a iPod Touch then). Because of it, I read more (or should I simply say: I take the time to read). It is the most valuable application I ever used. Period. And I mean it.
Continue the good, great, awesome job Marco.
Thanks!
Your are most welcome Marco! It comes from the heart.
“And Then There Was Salsa” on Vimeo -
This viral video ad by Frito Lays for their new Restaurant Style Salsas on Vimeo is simply outstanding. This is refreshing.
How to save an unconscious man from fire and make sure he stays unconscious
(via jacobd)
Inspired by the interviews at The Setup, what do people use to get the job done? I decided to replicate it for myself for the Show N’ Tell Friday. Not sure it fits in what you had in mind Jason. Sorry!
Who are you, and what do you do?
I’m Jean-Philippe Cyr. I’m a freelance user experience strategist in Montreal. I work with marketing agencies and private companies at transposing their business and communications needs into interactive solutions. I edit a blog since 2004 called 6ix Passions.
What hardware are you using?
I use a MacBook Pro 2.16 Mhz with 3 Gigs of RAM and a small hard drive of 100 GB. I use a PC Goldtouch ergonomic keyboard that makes everyone say: “Wow, your keyboard is broken!”. I listen to my music with a pair of Sennheiser HD 280 Pro. My sensitive data, including my music and photos are daily backup on remote server using iDrive. I use a small My Passport portable external drive of 500 GB to backup my all computers and any other medias every month. I carry my laptop with me between my home and office. I always cary my iPhone 3G in my left pant pocket.
And what software?
I’ve been on Windows for many years before switching for OS X three years ago. I had the fear not to find the appropriate software for my needs, to loose productivity and to go from a power user to a user. I could not be more wrong and today I cannot think for a minute to go back.
I use Google App intensively for my mail, calendar, text documents and spreed-sheets. I synchronize everything with my iPhone using Google Caldav for my agenda and Google Mobile Synch for my mail and contacts.
I surf with Firefox. I tried Safari and Chrome, but both of them, even being quicker at rendering HMTL and parsing JavaScript cannot compensate for the increase in productivity I get from my customized Firefox. I use a single address and search bar with plenty of quicksearch shortcuts and “I cannot live without” the extensions: Tab Mix Plus, FireGestures and Easy DragToGo.
On a daily basis I use TextEdit and Notepad (on the iPhone) to take notes. I didn’t find anything more simple and easy to use.
I keep my workspace clean and to the bare minimum. My menu bar is clean and only the applications I use on a frequent basis are in my dock: Finder, Firefox, Adium, Transmission, Offline access to Google Gmail, Calendar, Docs, iTunes and Parallels Desktop.
I’m a shortcuts addict and always look to increase my productivity with little tools and apps. I use Spark to customize all the keyboard shortcuts to control system functions, iTunes and launch apps from my PC keyboard. I use TextExpander to speed repetitive writing and signatures and Google Desktop as a replacement for Spotlight to access files and apps easily.
I use Parallele Desktop to use Microsoft Visio in Windows XP. The only software I use with a custom build plug-in: WorkFlow, that I co-inspired to develop, to do information architecture and wireframes when I really need them into a digital format.
I use Dropbox to share files, but also as a hosting platform for the media on my blog. I have a custom script, that I called ImageReeSizr that resize any screenshot to 400 pixels wide, put it into the appropriate Dropbox folder and copy the public Dropbox link, so I can simply paste the link when I’m ready into my post.
On the personal side, I’m a big fan of Lightroom and iMovie. I think that iMovie is a revolution in way to edit movie inspired from the old days, when film strips where stick together manually. I enjoy doing personal storytelling in videos from the raw data I acquire.
If I had to choose a single app on my iPhone, it would be Instapaper to read the Web while I’m commuting. I would even buy an iPhone for that application alone (yes even before the possibility of making calls - yes I know, I should buy a iPod Touch then). Because of it, I read more (or should I simply say: I take the time to read). It is the most valuable application I ever used. Period. And I mean it.
What would be your dream setup?
I’m pretty close to my dream setup in term of software, I would just like to have Visio native for OS X or to find something better to do digital wireframes. I have tried them all and nothing is quite productive enough to my taste.
Regarding the hardware, I cannot live with a resolution lower than 1440 x 900, but I would dream to have a MacBook Air 15 inches with the CPU clock, graphic horse power, and battery longevity of the new unibody MacBook Pro 15 inches with SDD.