Oxford at Night

Candy Bling

I was checking the mail the other day and got the most awesome package ever! I wish the photo came out better, but all it says is that it's from Jenika, to Wojciech, and it's a package containing "Candy Bling". Every time I think of the face of the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) agent who would see this (assuming one did), make me smile.


Thanks Jenika!

Windows 7 on my MacBook

Every few days for the last 1.5 months, I've been looking around for information on a legitimate Windows 7 beta. A few days ago I got an answer, and have just installed the beta using VMWare Fusion. Now I'm running Windows 7 on my Mac, and it's looking very nice!


I must also say that this was, by far, the easiest Windows installation I've ever done. And don't worry people, I still love Linux most! Yes, even more than OS X.

Reporters Without Borders Campaign

I was browsing the art and design publications at Borders today and ended up getting Archive, because of amazing page. The page was in the "social justice" section of the magazine, and had two photos from a Reporters Without Borders advertising campaign.

Since this was a Spanish campaign, I could only find this link to the photos, and they're a bit small... The RSF campaign tries to promote the dangers associated with journalism by showing the last photographs retrieved from the cameras of photojournalists working in dangerous places. This was really, really powerful stuff.

... Since those are difficult to see, and the small digital size does them little justice, here's a clip of Kevin Sites discussing his work in war zones. Note that this video is graphic, so viewer discretion is advised.

The iPod Touch

A few days ago, I admitted to myself that I won't have an Internet-enabled smart phone in the next few months, and got myself an iPod Touch. I was worried about the purchase -- I like the Blackberry keyboards, and the Touch certainly isn't the iPhone... Luckily, those worries have been laid to rest.

Wired recently wrote that Apple's App Store was one of the best technological innovations of 2008. While I don't know if it would appear in my top ten list, I will admit that the store is a great resource for all Touch and iPhone owners... And it makes spending money way too easy.

Overall, the apps I've been using have been pretty great. DataCase for storing and reading PDFs, Evernote for writing notes, and yes, even Touch Physics for fun. The last of these is probably my favourite, especially when it comes to user interface -- it really takes advantage of the fact that you use your fingers to interface with the hardware, and this makes the game extremely fun. That being said, holding a set of books on the Touch makes it really easy to read on the run or store reference materials, papers, and so on. Kindle move over... The Touch is the best E-book reader I know of.

So what next? Aside from spending more time with Touch Physics and downloading other apps, I'm planning on developing my own. There's so many ideas and opportunities here -- for exploring novel user interfaces and making educational applications -- that I just can't pass this by.

Note: click photo for credits.