my thoughts

The BBC has a section on how to take good photos which covers: people with buildings, buildings, light, landscape, colour and composition.
www.bbc.co.uk/britain/goodphotos/index.shtml

tweeduizend.be
A beautiful and minimalist website with a simple purpose: photographs, Antwerp, the internet.

Quarlo.com
I have long been a fan of Quarlo, a site featuring the work of Todd Gross. His work is all shot on film (Nikon F80) and his style captures human behaviour and emotion brtilliantly - bright, saturated, contrasty or monochrome and moody - always superb.

nyclondon
A black and white photography blog - I occasionally visit here for inspiration.

cameratoss (the blog)
Throwing your camera whilst it is recording an image can produce some wild results - see them here.

Minimising distraction
I often find it hard to concentrate. I am continually aware of all that is going on around me: the tapping of keys, the falling rain, background conversations, the hum of computers. These are not just there as a backdrop but something intrusive. It is also something that affects every aspect of my life - I will watch a film and be distracted by the subtle details in the soundtrack, or the clever angle and use of focus in the camera work.

So how does this affect the way I work? I guess like many knowledge workers I have to juggle many demands: prioritising and acting on information from projects, clients, colleagues and alerts from the computers. There is an expectation amongst people in my industry that we are always on, always ready to drop everything and answer your query right there and then. Compare this to people who work in other environments where their role prevents them from responding to messages as they arrive. I have been thinking about this for a while, as in my new role is more customer-facing, and I was given a blackberry.

I do generally perform best when able to concentrate on tasks without interruption, and in which I can give time to respond to demands in a controlled fashion. How best to optimise the need to be available with the need to get things done? The following two articles have some interesting points to consider.
→ 10 quick and (almost) painless ways to kill distractions
→ How to check e-mail twice a day.. or even every 10 days

This need to be focussed reminds me of an old article on Joel on Software on the subject of flow.
→ Fire and Motion (Sometimes I just can't get anything done)



Using e-mail effectively
I have lately wondered whether it is worthwhile having a kind of personal e-mail policy, which defines how often you will check messages, and how long a message will be. I generally do not appreciate one-line e-mails, but the other extreme is also poor: huge e-mail essays which overwhelm the recipient.

I think a good e-mail message is one which applies the basic web usability guidelines described in Krug's "Don't make me think". The recently publicised "five sentences" website makes the point, but forgets that like most usability points, they cannot be distilled into hard rules. The important point is that we should do the thinking when we write the message, so that we minimise the burden on our recipient! Use a clear visual hierarchy (headings, lists and paragraphs), design for for wayfinding, and summarise your point(s) at the top if its a long one!
→ Five Sentences (A personal e-mail policy)
→ Don't make me think

Provide a good subject line. An empty subject is awful because we receive so many messages. If you can summarise the point of your message in a short space you help the recipient decide on when to act on your message, and to be able to find it again.

More soon..

I joined Design Haus as Technical Lead & User-Experience consultant since March 2007. I am responsible for the delivery of web projects and for providing a fully user-centred design approach.

Find out more about us here:
» www.dhaus.com/meet-us/default.asp

I found out about the Symphony for Dot Matrix Printers ages ago, but the subject recently came up in conversation. I recommend you give this a listen!
» www.theuser.org/dotmatrix/en/intro.html

The Silophone gives industrial scale interactivity from a microphone and speaker placed inside a disused silo. You upload a sound sample, which is then played, recorded and sent back to you. The reverb on this thing is wild!
» www.silophone.net/

I recommend that you check out these amazing works from this talented new artist!
» www.apictureofbritain.com/Antonia-Winsor_ogallery.html

A friend of mine, Tim Harper, is presently cycling from John O'Groats all the way through the United Kingdom to Lands' End, in Cornwall (over 1000 miles/1600 km)!

He is doing this to raise money for the Intermediate Development Group who develop and implement practical answers to poverty. This is indeed a worthy cause, so get on and sponsor Tim!
www.watchingthewheels.co.uk/

You may know that I quite enjoy a Belgian beer now and then, I wouldn't say no to a nice glass of Tripel Karmeliet or a bottle of Trappist Westvleteren! But how to pronounce these (and countless others)? Further to my previous post on this topic I have found a simple introduction to the basics (and some of the difference between Dutch and Flemish) in the following sites - and what good is a dry text without some sound files to help things along - many of these sites have words and sounds to hear:

» Fun with Dutch, all you ever wanted to know about Dutch (and Flemish)
» Dutch spelling and pronunciation
» Exercises in Dutch spelling and pronunciation (The long and short of Dutch vowels)
» Dutch pronounced (examples, requests)
» An englishman's difficulties with dutch
» The double-dutch glossary (fun!), les 'Faux Amis' - be sure of the right word!

On a related topic, english has a significant number of Dutch loan-words: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_words_of_Dutch_origin

Updated 27 May 2006: Reformatted and updated links after spending a few days working on Anglo-Dutch relations at Usability week 2006 ;-)

3M, makers of Scotch branded tape products and other goodness have a step by step guide on how to construct a duct tape wallet - that would be gaffer tape to us in the UK. I can't decide if it's cool or a waste of time though.
www.3m.com/intl/CA/english/centres/home_leisure/duct_tape/dt_wallet.html

Thinkgeek sell one ready made by Ducti if you can't be bothered with making one:
www.thinkgeek.com/cubegoodies/toys/5f21/ - it belongs here.
www.ducti.co.uk/ - The original.

Most people like to think of themselves as a good driver: Well trained, considerate, able to make good progress with due care for example. So why is it that so many people are not? Take a look at takeawaytheirlicence.co.uk and see what I mean.
www.takeawaytheirlicence.co.uk/