Find and Undo

After playing with my recent app purchase – iThoughtsHD – for an hour or so, I once more stop to reflect on the backwards nature of software development and user experience and useful – as opposed to checklist feature-creep – functionality.

Where does the useful stuff go?

Why do folks think it’s ok to stop doing the few basic things that UI and faster CPUs sweat blood on during the 80s, 90s and lost in the 2000s?

I’m talking:

  • copy and paste – hello iPhone, and ummm hello windows phone 7?
  • in-app find – hello web 2.0, browser search is not find, is not incremental search, is not find and replace
  • in-app find – hello APPLE! Didn’t you learn from the previous bullet? I want to find things in mail and safari and now you have an absolute gazillion apps hanging out on your AppStore all copying your piss poor example!
  • undo – I mean, really. Emacs had it. We made fun of web 2.0 apps. And now the whole barmy mobile world thinks it’s a good idea to treat delete like an atom bomb unless they hide it in some stupid ass gesture like shake. I’m sorry, I reserve shake for when I’m shouting at my technical gadgets while threatening to throw them out the window for not having bl**dy undo.

I didn’t just lose a whole branch of my first iThoughts mindmap by using delete and discovering there was no undo.

Ok, I did. B*gger. It’s still wrong.

Mt. Dickerman Hike


2005-08-12.DSCN5697.jpg

2005-08-12.DSCN5697.jpg, originally uploaded by machaggis.

And here is that hike from 2005 I just mentioned..

It’s a view I tell you, a view.


It's a view I tell you, a view.

It’s a view I tell you, a view., originally uploaded by machaggis.

Brad is here. Weather is beatiful. So we hiked*. Last time we did this was 2005. This is the Kendall Katwalk.

For someone who has been doing no exercise since starting to drive to work in Bellevue almost a year ago… I was happy at the top, but somewhat disappointed we were only half-way there!

(*) Despite the damn traffic on the I-90. Painting the roads indeed!

Willowlawn shadow


Willowlawn shadow

Willowlawn shadow, originally uploaded by machaggis.

I’ve been totting (sp?) a Nexus One for few months now. Few photos. But few with any success. However I was forced to desperation the last weekend and here is one of the prettier shots.

Hearts and Rocketships

I drew hopscotch for the kids. Using lots of colours, and getting them to call out the numbers.

And for 10, we did hearts and baby stars just like L wanted.

And then we started to play and I noticed that the boys weren’t quite into it as much.

So at the bottom, under the 1, I drew a rocket ship. Red flames, blue body, orange wings and antenna. Heading to the moon.

Now we had the hopscotch on.

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