Better Elevation

The press release, and Dan Moren’s writeup on Macworld.

I’ve been busy.

Speaking of design advice, Bjango has a great writeup of how smart objects work in Photoshop and Illustrator.

Addison Duvall suggests looking to apple pie for design inspiration. Money quote:

There are plenty of things you can put on top of a pie: ice cream, sugar, whipped cream, syrup, cookies, cherries – the list goes on and on. Some people might think this makes the pie taste better, but in my opinion, if you have to add that many extra things to your pie to improve the taste, you’re starting from the wrong end of the plate.

My new favorite thing. I wish I could get this one out of my head:

http://www.apple.com/stevejobs/

My mom has never shared my affinity for technology, but she loves her MacBook Air, her iPad, and her iPhone. And she understands the impact that Steve Jobs has had on her son’s life and career. When I told her the news, she cried.

A few minutes ago, she called to tell me that she saw a news report that people on Twitter were posting the Apple logo. She asked me why so many people would be tweeting the logo if they didn’t work there. I offered the best answer I could come up with.

“Even if we’re not a part of Apple, Apple is a part of us.”

She thinks for a moment and says, “my guess is that at this moment he’s showing God all the new features of the iPhone 4S.”

My friend Kyle Richter has just released version 3 of Trivium, his iOS trivia game. It’s currently free on the App Store, with additional question packs available for in-app purchase.

Words to live by. Click the first photo to get it started.

Excellent poem (and typographical video) from Taylor Mali about the heartbreakingly persistent trend of tonally apologizing for everything we say.

(Via Kerry)

[Update]: Sadly, most of the videos seem to have been taken down. Shame.

Summer’s Eve, makers of presumably fine feminine products, have launched a questionable-yet-hilarious ad campaign involving hand puppet vaginas. Lest you think I’m making this up, check out the YouTube clips, which range from bizarre to vaguely racist to entirely racist (and suspiciously familiar).

They’ve also put up a website at IDtheV.com to help ladies learn more about their bodies, including a quiz where visitors are asked to identify parts of the vagina (I’m 5 for 5, ladies).

This campaign is brilliant—built around education and information but sassy and edgy enough to get people talking. As fans of healthy lady parts, Justin Williams and I have decided to help their cause by making a Vagina Land ringtone for you to enjoy.

Hail to the V.

New texture resource for designers, via Caleb Kimbrough at Lost and Taken:

Texturestar is basically going to be like Woot, except instead of robot vacuums we’ll be selling one exclusive texture pack everyday, for super cheap. Each texture pack will only be available for 24 hours then it will be retired forever and replaced by a brand new one.

I’m on Dribbble, which is sort of a show-and-tell site for designers. Thanks to NDAs, it’s hard for me to show off much of what I do at my day job, but I’ll post what I can. Meanwhile, at Louie‘s suggestion, I’m making some fan art-type stuff to keep myself sane.

I filed the following feature request with Apple. If you agree with me, dupe it.

Summary:

Users currently have to click on a support link within a product’s iTunes page, which may or may not go anywhere useful. In the best of cases, these support systems require the user to navigate a foreign UI to have their problem resolved.

Many users skip this option entirely and instead use ratings and reviews to voice their issues, polluting an app’s user reviews and possibly unfairly diminishing its rating (especially in the case of enhancement requests). Worst of all, developers have no way to contact these users.

Instead, I request that bug reporting and feature requesting be made part of the iTunes App Store and Mac App Store experiences, allowing users to communicate directly with developers about their troubles and wish lists without requiring a new set of credentials or learning new UI on third-party sites. All bugs should be sent to individual developers, with the option to have the user’s ID be hidden (and emails sent on their behalf by Apple) for the sake of privacy.

Thank you.

rdar://9596018

Violet Blue writes about the lack of innovation and the monoculture at WWDC. Most of the article reads as contrarian, counterculture bullshit, but there’s a block of text dedicated to an interaction with a developer at a party that I just can’t let slide.

The short version is that a guy walks up to the author and her assistant at a party and says hello. Because he acknowledges their gender, they decide to spend the conversation mocking and trolling him.

He asks me, “What do you girls do?”

Juliette replies, “We’re models.” I add, “That’s actually how we met!”

My PA answers his questions about what kind of modeling we do – we are apparently not with an agency. Mind you, my PA actually is a model, one that flies out of town for shoots more than I’d like to have her away from me.

She is also an Objective-C programmer that can code circles around most of them – with her outrageous fingernails somehow always intact.

Right. She’s a supermodel and a genius developer. She just does the personal assistant thing because the money is so good.

His shirt read Bottlerocket; he explained that it was his company and he made major Apple applications for a list of companies, which he rattled off in succession, beginning with Spin and ending with Disney.

Here’s where I get pissed off. It’s one thing to be mean to the guy at the party, but did he really do something so unspeakably offensive that you have to out him in the article? The only possible outcome is damage to his reputation. The reader gains nothing. There’s no journalism here, just a jerk with a chip on her shoulder.

“So,” I pointed to his buddy’s Daring Fireball shirt and said, “is that your company?”

No, he said. Unprompted, he mansplained who John Gruber is to Juliette and I, a full-on name drop on meeting Wil Shipley at this very party, (this apparently required more mansplains), and then I was told that Bottlerocket boy was from Dallas where it is much hotter than San Francisco.

“Mansplains”? This guy assumes you’re a much nicer person than you are. He takes the time to answer your questions politely. He actually seems like kind of a stand-up dude. So what do you do? You make up new words to mock him, of course.

At which point Juliette cut in saying, “Wait. Don’t computers… Need to be kept cool or something?”

He agreed in seriousness, while I spilled my drink – out of my mouth with an uncontrolled laugh.

No, they never got it. And no, we were not dressed they way you probably think we were.

Act stupid and people will assume you’re stupid. Kudos to this guy for his kindness.

Immediately following that story, she shares this anecdote:

I attended the SmileOnMyMac/Smile Software party, and that was another fun one. Really great people, gracious host. A much more typical WWDC tech party: three or four women, around 40-50 men. It was just fine, I didn’t feel too out of place. Until I went to call up an Uber Cab.

Phone in my hand, a gentleman named Jim Dalrymple turned to me and says loudly, “Hey, what phone is that?”

I respond, It’s an Android, Samsung-

Before I finish he shouts at me, “Sucks for you!” Laughing, he turns, and then walks away as I’m saying to the men looking embarrassed in his stead, “Yes, but I have reception.”

Girl, humiliated.

Someone made you feel stupid in public? How awful.

When people ask me about getting into this community, I usually tell them that the first rule is “don’t be a dick”. Whatever you may think of developers, the iOS and Mac community is pretty stellar, full of genuinely nice people who want to make great things and spend time with great people. Male or female, don’t be surprised if your shitty attitude gets an angry response.

Deservedly, this article is catching a lot of heat on Twitter and from outspoken developers.

The fact is that it is unusual to see women at a developer conference. And yes, sometimes developers are a little socially awkward. That’s just how this works. If you can’t respect that, or work to improve matters, just stay home. By adopting this attitude at something called “Worldwide Developer Conference”, the joke is on you. The Bottlerocket guy will probably get a few messages of solidarity, while nobody worth talking to will want to go anywhere near you.

It would be great to have more women in the industry. But you know what would be even better? To have more nice people, regardless of gender.

So don’t be a dick.

…Ladies.

Jay Graves wrote up a helpful explanation of what KeyGrinder is and how it works. I may have moved to a different company, but I still use KeyGrinder every day.

People sometimes ask how I got into software design. Easy, because of NetNewsWire.

Years ago, I delivered pizza to make money. Not much, of course, and most of what I did make went into my gas tank. I was broke, eating pizza for every meal and sleeping on the floor in my mom’s living room.

For years I’d read about all of the latest rumors and goings-on via sites like TUAW and Macrumors. I read the coverage of every keynote. App launches and updates were like candy. I read blog posts from Mike Lee, checked out wallpapers from Louie Mantia, and clicked through to everything John Gruber linked. I watched as an outsider, fascinated by the depth of the community and its rich, interesting characters. Some people have their celebrity gossip magazines, I have NetNewsWire full of nerdy feeds.

I was nervous when I got to meet Brent Simmons for the first time. Alex King, a mutual friend, noticed that we were both in San Jose at the same time and emailed us to suggest we grab a drink. I had wondered what I could possibly say of interest to Brent Fucking Simmons, but I decided to go anyway. Brent was gracious, kind, and if he ever wished I’d shut up and go away, he didn’t let it show.

Instead, what happened next was like having a hand reaching out to me from my laptop’s screen; Brent pulled me into my own RSS feeds and introduced me to all of the people I’d been reading about for years and whose software I used every day. Two years later, I’ve managed to land a gig where I get to work with some of the most talented and passionate people I’ve ever known. Hell, my boss is a goddamned rocket scientist. What I do for a living isn’t work, it’s recess. I feel like the kid in the movie who gets to go pitch for the major league team.

Now that Black Pixel is taking over ownership of NetNewsWire, the comparison is ever more apt.

I love to create. In my eyes, the true measure of an experience is in its ability to inspire me. In the same way that a great song makes me want to pick up a guitar, I make software because I’m inspired by great software.

And NetNewsWire is great software. I’m humbled by the gravity of it.