Moses to the Ting

Today marks the launch of my brand new homepage at mosesting.com.  I finally have a centralized place to point visitors and to keep a track of other websites.  The design philosophy behind the hompage is based on two rules:

1. Conversational - I want the language style on my homepage written to make visitors feel like they’re having a converation with me.
2. Simple - Just the bare essentials; nothing more and nothing less

Hope you like it.

WWAD?

What Would Apple Do?

Due to the universal recognition of the Apple iPod and the company’s incredibly design-savvy product line, a lot of people are asking the same question. Just this morning a friend of mine, Pete from datawrangling.com, emails me the following:

Had an idea for a blog post, you’re a design guy so maybe you could do a better job with it…

I was trying to put my spare tire back into my trunk last night, and it was a real pain getting it screwed in properly. So I thought to myself, how would Apple have made this differently? Heck, what if they design an entire car?

I’m flattered that Pete would refer me to a design guy because since I’m just a hobbyist. But I think Pete’s got a few interesting points there. iPod and the soon-to-be-out iPhone are both revolutionary devices. Apple takes an existing product type, the mp3 player or the typical cell phone, and revamp the whole thing through the integration of great UI, simplistic design, and smart marketing and branding.

So just What Would Apple Do differently with an ordinary thing like a car? An iCar. In the vehicle world, things have been dormant for the longest time. Sure, there’s focus on fuel efficiency, but what about the whole UI side of things? For example:

• Why can’t we have the ability to change a spare tire without any tools except for our bare hands?
• Can we reduce the number of buttons on the dash for controlling the hvac, radio, navigation system, etc…?
• There are separate pedals for acceleration (gas) and braking, can we change that?

If you have any other improvements, leave a comment because I’d love to hear about them.

Faster Still

Aren’t people tired of the constant headlines of faster microprocessors? I mean, most personal computers nowadays have enough processing power to fry toast, and yet I can bet that 90% of the people out there don’t even need all that power. How about instead of focusing on speed, focus on things that actually matter like power reduction and lower heat generation?

Imagine a simple reduction of 1 wattperhour per computer at about 200 millions personal computers in the world, we’d save about 200 million watts per hour.

Going First

For two individuals to get closer, each much show some form of vulnerability.  I believe that the deepest connections made between individuals is through the threads of vulnerability.

So someone must go first and be open, why not you?

The Audacity of Hope

When it comes to politics, my eyes usually glaze over when there are mentions of congressional hearings, foreign policies, etc… I do my best to keep up with the latest around-the-world news, but find it extremely difficult to relate to wordy and often overblown political speeches. So I started reading (ahem… listening) to this book with much doubt.Boy was I wrong to have doubts. Not only does Barack was able to illustrate the differences between republicans and democrats in a manner of which I can related to, he also painted a clear picture on his vision to address many problems with today’s America. Issues such as breakdown of family values, changes in society’s sexual attitude, and the widening gap of the riches versus the poor during the current Bush administration were all touched upon by Barack, the democratic presidential hopeful. Political Comment: Given his background, I couldn’t help but think that he’s actually lived a life that resembles those of the average American. Unlike numerous presidential candidates, he did not grow up rich. Given that only a small percentage (5?) of America is rich, I honestly don’t see any president coming from a rich background has any ability to related to the working class. They’ve never had to scrub dishes or clean toilets.  The working class is the majority that works hard to keep this society going, not the rich folks all the way at the top.  Let’s just say Barack’s got my vote for 2008.

The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts of Reclaiming the American Dream (Audiobook) by Barack Obama 5/5

Homepage

I’ve been trying to build a simple homepage for myself at mosesting.com, which is currently only a Django success page.

Sorry.

Things have been quite busy and I actually haven’t come up with anything creative. Then I came across the homepage of Amit Gupta today and I felt inspired. His homepage is simple and to the point, no extra fries on the side. It made me realize that in my initial thoughts about my own homepage, I was trying to “cramp” in too much info.  Seeing Amit’s work, I was once again reminded of a personal design philosophy:

Simple is key.