Flo Ledermann

Empty Inbox!

2008-07-29T22:50:00.003+02:00

Usually I sort incoming mails into folders immediately, besides the ones that require some kind of action or a reply, which I leave in my inbox (I sometimes even pull automatically sorted emails back into the inbox if I want to remind myself to act upon them). This means there are always some messages in my inbox, usually between 10 and 30, depending on my workload and other factors. Some of these emails can get very old in there, years in some cases where I just don't find the right mindset for a reply.

I am leaving for holiday tomorrow and wanted to answer some of these long waiting emails before that. The basis was laid already a few months ago when I decided to declare as abandoned some private email threads that have been waiting for multiple years, but now the impossible has happened:

Empty Inbox! I can't remember if this has ever happened before since I started using email in ... 1995 I guess.

How do you handle your inbox?

syn:wall at ITNOA exhibition

2008-04-22T11:19:00.002+02:00

I just finished my first Flex project, an interactive projection wall for the exhibition ITNOA - In The Name Of Architecture. The exhibition brings together projects of students of the three universities in Vienna teaching architecture (TU Wien, Akademie der Bildenden Künste, Die Angewandte) in a self-curated setting. While the projects coming from different universities are presented in different areas of the printed-out part of the exhibition, syn:wall brings all projects together on one surface and creates neighborhood relationships between similar projects using quantitative attributes and tags.

The result of such an exploration can be printed out on a color laser printer and taken home by the visitor as an individual page of a distributed, virtual exhibition catalog.

One thing I learned (again) in this project is how inferior projectors are as an output medium. In a single grid cell of the exhibition, measuring 120 x 45 cm, a whole architecture project can be communicated in printed form, including texts, diagrams, plans and renderings. In the same area of the projected image there are 240 * 100 pixels, which can hold a lousy, pixelated thumbnail of the same project. Therefore I really like the idea of on-demand printing, and I would like to investigate this further in future projects, including producing larger prints with a plotter (something we originally planned to do but could not realize within the given budget and time).

ITNOA will be on until the end of the week, with a closing down party on Friday, the 25th of April (unfortunately I cannot be there on Friday because of two other appointments). It is located in the "Albertinapassage", the underpass under the Ring on the Albertina side of the Opera. ITNOA is also probably the last chance to have a drink at the infamous "Gaudí Bar" there, since the underpass will be closed down shortly after the exhibition. This place somehow always inspires me to get totally wasted every time I am there...

Thanks to Rüdiger Suppin for working on the concept with me and to all ITNOA people who helped entering the project information and crop all the images.

A weekend with the iPod touch

2008-03-13T21:28:00.003+01:00

Last week I got myself an iPod touch, because I had to spend money from a grant on hardware quickly and there is currently nothing else that I need. I got it primarily for testing web apps on its mobile Safari browser and to optimize them for its screen dimensions and touch interface. The iPod touch shares the same interface, operating system and applications with the iPhone (which becomes available in Austria tomorrow), but lacks three of its features: cellphone capabilities, camera and Bluetooth - I actually own a cellphone which does all this, so I am quite happy feature-wise, but naturally cannot comment on these aspects of the iPhone.

After a week of use I now want to share some of my experiences and observations with you. The first thing that stunned me is that they ship this thing a-maz-ing-ly fast! I ordered it on Monday afternoon, and on Tuesday early afternoon it was delivered to my door! Next: over at Apple, they know how to package their stuff - the packaging is so nicely done it is really a fetish on its own.

The touch interface is really good for a "wow" from everyone, especially with the nicely done details I admire Apple for: Lists don't just stop scrolling at the end, but you can scroll a bit further and they will elastically go back after you release your finger. Applications zoom into view when you start them, and the thing emits this perfectly designed click sound on every action. Multi-touch is overrated IMHO, since I very rarely use it and would find it more convenient to have a single-finger gesture for zooming (multi-touch always also means multi-hand, which is annoying - you cannot hold the thing and perform a multi-touch gesture with the same hand). The complete absence of haptic feedback also quickly turned out to be a caveat: simply no way of reliably controlling the audio player (volume, next song) while it is inside your pocket - you have to take it out, unlock, look at it, every time you want to change the volume. Also I found especially the volume slider would recognize gestures with my thumb unreliably, which is most annoying when the music is too loud and you have to fiddle around for seconds to be able to turn the volume down. Generally, a few (freely assignable?) physical buttons on the side of the thing would probably spoil the super-minimalistic design but would improve usability a lot for me.

Speaking of design: Maybe my hands are just too sweaty, but after a short time of usage the thing looks really ugly, on both sides. Finger taps and grease all over the screen and the shiny back makes you want to clean it all the time, which really is a Sisyphus thing. So its not exactly the kind of device you want to give out of your hand for business presentations, as everyone will go 'yuck, I'd better wash my hands...'

Interestingly I already had several occasions where the much-appraised tilt sensor turned out to be annoying. Obviously, if gravity doesn't point in the direction of your own 'down' vector, you are in trouble, which happened to me in bed several times. I wanted to browse some pictures before going to sleep, and they all would turn to their sides. The other day, Patrizia wanted to turn a photo to look at some detail, but the photo would just turn together with the device and there was no way of stopping it from doing so. So there are situations where it would be nice to be able to deactivate or override that tilt sensor thingy.

What surprised me is how little you can actually do with that thing, in terms of producing or editing content. You cannot edit song information. You cannot reorder the pictures in a folder. You basically cannot delete anything that's on there while on the go. Speaking of limitations, this brings me to the iTunes software you are forced to use. But I do not want to go into the details here, in short: iTunes on Windows is utter crap! I just hate it, and I will never understand how iTunes got the reputation it has... bleh! I hate it, hate it, hate it, and it will probably be the reason why my iPod will soon sit somewhere collecting dust, because actually they force you to use iTunes with the iPod touch - it is not possible to activate "disk mode" on this device which would allow you to use alternative programs. I guess this also means no chance for Linux users to ever sync their stuff with an iPod touch.

The full meanness of the Apple corporation is revealed when you look at the syncing options for calendars and address books on Windows: Outlook and Windows Address Book are the only supported options. Importing bookmarks only from Internet Explorer! No Mozilla, no iCal, no standards support. They have their deals with Microsoft, and they don't give a dime about standards or open products. But it all comes in a nice package, and hey the user interface is nicely animated, so the geeks are flying for Apple. Pfui!

What really surprises me is that they seem to get away with it, and the competition is screwing up so badly that Apple still, after all these years after the first iPod was released, looks like the only company that understands designing products. It's just unbelievable. Even though I hate this closed, proprietary, unhackable thing for its political implications, I wouldn't want to use any of the alternatives out there I have seen so far.

My Teeth

2007-12-19T20:48:00.001+01:00

I guess I really am one lucky guy... After seven years of avoiding it, I went to the dentist last week for a checkup, and guess what — nothing! Not one little hole in my denture to spoil the glory:

I borrowed the X-Ray image for those of you who complain that I don't smile often enough. Thanks to padme for making a contact print and scanning it!

Note that above image is copyright by me and I explicitly disallow any form of copying, reproduction or use other than viewing it on this blog - Although I strongly believe in open source and creative commons, I am not willing to provide data about my body to anyone currently.

Beautiful Code - grausame Sprache?

2007-11-18T14:43:00.000+01:00

Auf der Web2.0 Expo Berlin verteilte der O'Reilly Verlag Heftchen mit Auszügen aus der deutschsprachigen Übersetzung von "Beautiful Code". Darin habe ich gerade folgenden Satz gelesen:

Wir sahen (oder glaubten zu sehen) ähnliche Probleme beim Nachhalten committeter Targets während der Übertragung von Änderungen vom Client zum Server, bei der Fortschrittsanzeige für den Benutzer während Update- oder Commit-Operationen und in verschiedenen anderen Fällen.

Aah, ja. Ich fände es doch angemessen, die Schönheit von Code in einem Druckwerk eines namhaften Verlags auch mittels halbwegs vernünftiger Sprache zum Ausdruck zu bringen. Oder bin ich nur von der Grippe zu sehr geschwächt, um den Satz auf Anhieb zu kapieren?

Generell bemerke ich in letzter Zeit ein besorgniserregendes Absinken der Qualität von Lektorat und Übersetzungen, auch bei Verlagen die es sich leisten können (sollten). Was kann man dagegen tun? Wenn ich mich, gelangweilt und frustriert von der teils katastrophalen Qualität der Sprache in online Medien — ob "user generated" oder professionell — einem Druckwerk zuwende, möchte ich dort eigentlich nicht wieder mit der selben Schludrigkeit konfrontiert sein.

My talk at Web2Open this wednesday

2007-11-05T10:52:00.000+01:00

I will be giving a talk at Web2Open in Berlin (a free event attached to the O'Reilly Web2.0 Expo) this Wednesday. The announced title and abstract of the talk are:

Advanced GPolyline usage - performance issues and interactivity

Due to different implementations on different browsers, complex and high resolution Google polylines can lead to surprising results up to non-responsive applications in some cases. I will present the - sometimes surprising - results of our performance measurements, performance improvement strategies and a comparison with an experimental alternative implementation that can be also used for improved interactivity like real-time editing or continuous panning along a line.

But maybe you can best decide whether you are interested by looking at a screencast of the implementation I did for maptales. In the talk, I will provide some details and hints how to implement the shown features for your own applications.

Looking forward to see you at Web2Open!

Procrastination

2007-11-03T22:56:00.000+01:00

I have heard the term Procrastination for the first time only a few months ago (I think it was in the very recommendable PhD Comics). Since then, the word keeps popping up more and more often on my radar, and so it was no big surprise (although worth a smile) to hear a session on the topic being announced at bar camp Berlin this morning. Of course you have experienced procrastination, everyone has I guess — and it can be frustrating at times. But is it really a call for self-discipline or productivity management techniques, as commonly suggested, or should you not rather listen carefully and even give in from time to time to the alarm signs of your brain that just doesn't seem to want to work on the tasks you (or someone else) are trying to force it to?

One of the main reasons for p. that were mentioned in the session was distractions by a never ending bombardment of emails, bog posts, tweets, calls and alerts. But distractions like these are not the reasons for procrastination but mere artifacts, things that your brain is looking for in its under- or overwhelmedness with the "important" tasks assigned. I am writing this blog post without constantly checking my email or twitter now, because I am really involved with it and I want to get it right.

My claim is that if you procrastinate regularly, there is something wrong. Deeply wrong. Try listening to yourself — if your brain needs idleness, go home or go for a walk. Be brave and do it, even if you are supposed to work! Neither you nor your boss will profit from continued procrastination and the unhappyness and frustration that comes with it. If you constantly think about other things to do, you are most probably bored. Then you should think really hard if what you do — or what you are supposed to be doing — is really worth it. Do I really need this job? Do I really want to do a PhD? Do I really have to get christmas presents for my family? What is worth spending your time on in your life? Think deeply. Now. No matter how you decide, if you decide honestly, everyone will profit — also the people you think you are doing a favor by keeping those tasks on the list.

I am not saying that complete drifting and laziness should be the goal of our existence or that procrastination cannot take pathological forms, but it always astonishes me how obsessed people are with "success" in the very narrow definition of accomplishing tasks, often other people's tasks, and they take that definition of their success from sources that are either manipulated (media) or far more powerful and in a better position to exploit them (their bosses), without thinking about what would make their lives really successful.

Overcoming procrastination is certainly not a matter of deciding between boring to-do's or twitter or cleaning — it's a decision between what really matters in life and what doesn't. We are a substitute society, and procrastination is our name for our addiction to substitutes. Feeds for adventures. Cleaning up for feeling at home. Tweets for love and friendship. Next time, step back for a minute, think about what you are missing and choose to make a real change, instead of trying to trick yourself back into the treadmill.

P.S. I want to share with you the hilarious video shown in the session:

Tagged: procrastination, barcampberlin2