Why? is a curious question that young children ask all the time. It’s also one few adults ever ask. We learn to methodically drown out our curiosity, accepting the things that are as absolutes and standards and the way things must be. We’re fenced in by the things we’ve already seen and experienced, and think there’s no other way to look at the world.
Frank Chimero’s new book, The Shape of Design, shows why we need to bring back the Why questioning. It is not enough to simply try to be creative, because by default, we’ll bring our existing ideas into the picture. We’ll ask for a faster horse. Instead, we must step back and look at the larger picture, and as Why this is needed and what is supposed to be accomplished in the first place. We’ll find what end we’re working for, and quit focusing on one way to deliver it but instead look for new ways to accomplish that goal.
Why is usually neglected, because How is more easily framed. It is easier to recognize failures of technique than those of strategy or purpose, and simpler to ask “How do I paint this tree?” than to answer “Why does this painting need a tree in it?” The How question is about a task, while the Why question regards the objective of the work. If an artist or designer understands the objective, he can move in the right direction, even if there are missteps along the way. But if those objectives are left unaddressed, he may find himself chasing his own tail, even if the craft of the final work is extraordinary.
except from Chapter 1
You might not think of yourself as a designer. Yet, in our own ways, we each can apply the principles taught here to our work, crafting our own work in a way to make them the best possible answer to the Why behind them. Whether you’re writing or cooking, building or demolishing, we can do our best work when we’re conscious of our decisions and make the best choices possible for our work. We’ll choose the best tools, and create the best work, when we know Why we’re doing what we’re doing.
I’m convinced that the world would be a better place if everyone thought through the things they do and say before they do them. Perhaps, it’s time to take a design approach to life. That is what separates the artist from the rest of us, what makes the best designs and products stand out, and what makes the best speeches and stories become famous. It's what makes the "crazy ones" stand out, question the status quo, and then change things. It’s discovering the shape of design.
Frank Chimero’s blog, which includes an amazing intro to his book and philosophy in a scrolling animation on the front page - http://www.frankchimero.com
So a few minutes ago, I took a quick break, and came back to my desk to find a yellow note with a fake support ticket from my teenage sister. Sadly, her request simply didn't seem so far fetched after doing support work for the last year. It's incredible how high of expectations users can have. No, folks, our software can't magically cure all ills of man and beast. It also won't kill you, either.
Sometimes, you just need to step back and laugh, and this time, it's over a fake support ticket. But it made my day.
By the way: if you write a company for support, be sure to be reasonable. Most of us are more than happy to help, but there's only so much we can do. And no, Flow won't help your grass to grow.
I got started with Photoshop using Photoshop Elements, and honestly, for most people, it's got most of the features you'll need. The one tool I use daily, Photoshop's crop and scale tool, is almost good enough to be worth the purchase price of Photoshop Elements. It's even, amazingly, has Content Aware Fill, one of the most hyped features of Photoshop CS5.
Photoshop Elements is already a great deal, but Adobe has a today-only 50% sale on Elements that makes it an even better deal at just $50. Or, you can get Photoshop and Premiere Elements together for just $75, which is great if you need a more advanced movie editor, especially if you're using a PC.
Update: Deal's over now. Even at normal price, though, Photoshop Elements is always a great deal, especially compared to full-blown Photoshop!
I started my writing life in Word '97 in Windows '95, and couldn't have been happier with it. That feeling was slowly over time, as I grew increasingly frustrated with Word's oddities. I then started out blogging using Windows Live Writer, which quickly taught me how much junk WYSIWYG editors throw into your writing. Today, almost everything I write is written in a plain text editor, preferably iA Writer, but really, anything that saves in plain text will work. I can always add formatting for printing when I need it, in Pages, InDesign, or even Word. But most everything I write is published online or send via email, and Word is about the worst thing you could possibly use for that.
It's refreshing to see others come to the same conclusions. People have use Word and word processors for everything written on computers for way too long, and it's definitely time to get back to just writing plain text. It works way better for way more things than most people would think. You really don't need a word processor for everything, and if you're writing online, you definitely should never be using a word processor to write your initial drafts.
Seriously: use plain text. It works everywhere, in any platform, and you'll always be able to open your files. You can easily switch text editors, publish your writing anywhere, and always add more formatting later if you need. It's just better. There's no reason to treat everything you write as a document in Word. You simply don't need to.
If you try to dig deep into your Mac at all, you’ll end up needing to access files that are normally hidden by default in OS X. Sure, you could make the hidden files visible via a quick Terminal command, but then you’ll either have to hide them again or deal with a more cluttered Finder. And that’s never a very good solution.
For the most part, though, you really don’t need to make your hidden files visible. All you really need is to get to a specific folder, such as your user Library or Preferences folders. You know the folder you need, it’s just not visible in Finder by default.
All you need to do is right-click or control-click the Finder icon in your dock, and select “Go to Folder…” as in the picture above. Alternately, just open a Finder window or click your Mac background picture, and tap CMD+shift+G on your keyboard. Now, enter the folder path, and volià, you’ve got the folder you needed open. And your Finder isn’t any more cluttered with visible supposed-to-be-hidden files than before!
Bartending: Memoirs of an Apple Genius, a new book from Steven Hackett of 512pixels fame, tells about his time as an Apple Genius. After working in tech support for the past year, I can definitely relate to his experiences. I've never done support for real devices in person, but even doing software support remotely, you'll encounter many of the same things. It's almost refreshing hearing other people's frustrations with it, and the things they enjoyed about it, as it's very much the same way I feel.
The book is tremendously short, almost more like a half-full Instapaper queue than a real book, but that doesn't make it a bad read at all. It has a number of great takeaways and simple lessons, including one of my favorite quotes:
When time is limited, communication becomes very important.
So very true. And if you really consider what's important, time is always limited. Communications are also very important.
The biggest lesson I've learned from tech support is that you need to be able to show sympathy, and be human. Don't be scripted, be yourself. Go out of your way to make customers feel important and appreciated. And love solving puzzles. Even figuring out tiny browser rendering differences can be challenging, but it's fulfilling to find the problem and be able to direct your team to help make a customer's day better.
Also, doing support work will make you a better customer. I'm now much more sympathetic and understanding with support reps from companies when I have a problem. Perhaps reading a book like this will give you that same perspective without having to do support for a job!
I've used 1Password ever since it came out for Windows, and it was one of those apps that always tempted me to switch to a Mac back in my PC days. Consequently, it was also one of the first Mac Apps I purchased when I did switch, and was able to snag it in a bundle along with other must-have Mac apps. Later last year, I also upgraded to 1Password 3.9 from the Mac App Store as soon as it was available. It's been great.
Well, all except for one thing. Ever since I've upgraded to 1Password 3.9 from the Mac App Store, I've had problems off-and-on with 1Password's Chrome and Safari extensions saying they had trouble communicating with the database. For the most part, it hadn't impacted my workflow, and I never had any data lost. The most annoying part was the red dot on the extension icon, reminding me something was wrong.
Today it turned into a problem that had to be resolved, though, when 1Password on Chrome wouldn't let me login and see any of my passwords. Without passwords, I can't work. So I started digging deeper. It seems the problem was that 1Password 3.8, the pre-App Store version, didn't get fully removed when I'd installed the App Store version. Thus, I had two copies of the 1Password helper trying to run, or something in that direction.
Here's how I fixed it today. I uninstalled all of the 1Password extensions, then uninstalled 1Password from Launchpad. Then, I went through and manually removed all 1Password files other than my password database, using this guide from 1Password. I restarted my Mac, checked to make sure no 1Password processes were running, then opened the App Store, reinstalled 1Password, and installed my browser extensions. Voilá. It's all working perfectly now.
Hopefully that's helpful to someone else besides me. I know I'm sure glad to have the connection error solved, and bet I'm not the only one seeing it.
By the way, if you're not using 1Password, go get it for your Mac or PC now. It's the only way I stay sane managing over 200 passwords for work and personal use. Plus, it's the only way I remember all my debit card PIN numbers. Seriously.
Update: The 1Password team today reached out on Twitter, letting me know a terminal command that would fix the problem if it was due to an old 1Password helper running:
@techinch Sorry to hear. This Terminal command would've sufficed:launchctl unload -w ~/Library/LaunchAgents/ws.agile.1PasswordAgent.plist
Oh. So, instead of switching to a beta 1Password, I just switched back to Chrome stable. And guess what: it's working. Hopefully that'll be the end of this saga.
Oh, but isn't that so unfortunately true? In our hyperconnected society today, you can have a standard 8hr/day job and still end up working from the time you wake up until you fall asleep. Technology should free us, but instead often it's enslaved us worse than before.
We've got to learn how to say enough's enough. Patrick Rhone's new book, Enough, is all about finding that needed balance. It's the next book I plan to read. I've first got to get my work to quit filling up my reading time, and every other time slot I have.
Speaking of enough, this post was typed and published from my 3rd gen iPod Touch using WooTheme's Express app while I was sitting on the couch. Because after awhile, you get enough of sitting at the desk at a full keyboard.
Web.AppStorm, where I work as an editor, is giving away a Kindle this week, sponsored by the Quote Roller team. There’s also 5 Quote Roller subscriptions up for grabs, as well. Now, I've never owned an actual Kindle device, but I've seen them in action, and for plain text, their E Ink screens are beautiful. I do use the Kindle apps on my iOS devices all the time, though, and purchase most eBooks from Kindle simply because their ecosystem and apps are great and work everywhere.
So hey, here's you're chance to possibly get your own Kindle for free!
WordPress is rather powerful on its own, but what if you want to drastically change how it works? Perhaps you want to display SQL data directly in a blog post, or add custom code to your dashboard without having to hack your WordPress core files. My Dad recently wrote a new WordPress plugin, Script Manager, that lets you add any code you want to any part of WordPress you want, and is publishing tutorials on unique ways you could put it to use: adding tabs to WooCommerce, putting a map inside your WordPress dashboard, and more. It's not for everyone, but if you like to tinker with your site and take WordPress beyond its default features, it might be the plugin you need. For $15, it's easily worth giving a shot!
