Category: Blog
Level Up. Unlock More (Job) Opportunities
It is amazing how many skills I’ve learned from playing video games. So many hours playing StarCraft and Command & Conquer: Red Alert taught me to monitor everything in project management and multi-task. The SIMs taught me that if I drink too much water I might piss myself in the living room floor in the middle of a party.
Just kidding. Seriously. I don’t pee my pants at parties.
I have recently been playing Star Wars: The Old Republic where I play as a Sith Bounty Hunter. I am a freelance contractor, it only made sense to be a bounty hunter, right? The game is your standard Role Playing Game (RPG) where you start with a basic character. From there, you go on quests and do missions to earn experience points. Once you acquire a certain amount of experience points, you level up … Read More »
An Alternative to Tech Unplugging? Reduce and Simplify.
I’ve been thinking a lot about my friend Monica Guzman’s post about unplugging from technology. If you know Moni, you know how connected she is—both personally and for work. She knows a lot of people and is always in communication with people. She completely unplugs from technology on Sundays. This post is not to disagree with Monica, but present an alternative. It is up to you the person to decide what is right for you.
What I do? Reduce and Simplify.
For a long time I used to feel overwhelmed by technology. The question I ask myself now, “am I overwhelming myself with the amount of technology around me?” You’re talking to a guy who literally sleeps with three devices on his bed. Ah, the life of a designer. My daily technological devices consists of: MacBook Air, iPhone, iPad, Kindle … Read More »
Get High Quality Instagram Prints With Printstagram
I used Printstagram for the first time and was very impressed with the quality of prints I got. Postagram is good, but the paper quality is not as nice and the larger image seems to pixelate the Instagram photos. I got 48 photos printed for $12 and they make great cards to send to people or hand quick notes. They also make a good keepsake. I really recommend them.
Vietnam War Era Star Wars Photos
When you’re bored, you find things to do to sharpen up your skills. I like to randomly Photoshop photos. Inspired by the WWII era Star Wars composite photos, I decided to do some Vietname War era ones:
Five years of iPhone
“Today Apple is going to re-invent the phone” said the late CEO Steve Jobs in 2007.
Wow, was he right. I must admit, I was skeptical at the time. When it came out, I wondered to myself, “why would I give up my perfectly good Motorola RAZR and iPod (now classic) for one device?” Then, I didn’t see the potential. I don’t know if many of us did. That’s what made Steve great. He knew what we wanted before we even knew we wanted it. A few reasons I’m thankful for the iPhone:
Most of our work at Xhatch is designing and developing iOS applications. I never thought I would be doing this now, but I am…forever thankful.
The revolution of mobile browsing. Design has shifted for mobile first, usually starting with the iPhone.
Applications to be constantly connected to friends, family, work and … Read More »
Why Dudes Should Use Pinterest
If the words “dudes” and “chicks” offend you, simply replace dudes with “men” and chicks with “women.”
I like to think I’m “the first dude on Pinterest” but that’s probably not true, but it certainly felt like it when I first started using it. Like Google+ being a sausage fest of dudes posting animated gifs, it seemed like Pinterest was just a virtual pinboard for chicks to post links of stuff they wanted to buy or which angle of Ryan Gosling they liked. However, I did see some value to it as a guy.
I first tried using Pinterest like a chick and attempted to find links of things I wanted to buy, but it did not interest me. I decided to try to take the approach of how I used to use real pin boards. Back in my high school art … Read More »
The New Path Update: Did a UI Redesign Cultivate New Users?
Originally posted on Awesome Giant
I’ve been on the Path app since the startup launched the iPhone app about 10 months ago. All of the sudden, I received email notifications from my people requesting to be my friend. I was curious what happened.
The mobile app released a new update with a competely redesigned User Interface. Could this be the reason Path was able to cultivate thousands of new users? The conensus seems to be “yes” that it did play a factor. Here is what Matt, an avid social networker and iPhone owner said about it.
“I initially signed up last year when they initially released the app. It was a poor user experience and had no incentive to use it on a regular basis, so I forgot about it quickly. After the update was released, I downloaded it and remembered … Read More »
Dieter Rams Ten Design Principles
Good design is innovative.
Good design makes a product useful.
Good design is aesthetic.
Good design makes a product understandable.
Good design is unobtrusive.
Good design is honest.
Good design is long-lasting.
Good design is thorough down to the last detail.
Good design is environmentally friendly.
Good design is as little design as possible.
My Ten 2011 Moments Told by Instagram
I was looking through my Instagram photos of 2011 and was blown away by so many great moments I’ve had. One thing I like about Instagram is your ability to try to manipulate the essence of the moment, not just taking a photograph of what was exactly seen. Here are ten moments that I really remember. This is by no means a top ten list, but just some to share.
Empire State of Mind. Emerald City at Heart.
A view from the Top of the Rock. This city is amazing…so many people here doing great things. I hope I can contribute something.
A New Hope
It was this photo that I was able to connect with someone I really care about. Whatever one believes in, there is something surreal about the way things align for people to meet each other. The photo itself … Read More »
My First Week in New York
This photo of my cat Wilson, looking out the window in the undiscovered Brooklyn street is probably fitting of my experience so far. Everything is new. There is so much to see. So much to explore.
It is a bit unreal to think I have lived in New York City for a week already—seems as if I was just lifted up by a tornado and dropped over here. There has been no time to rest, but there’s no rest for the wicked. The last week in Seattle was hectic. My parents, aunt and uncle came to help me move the rest of my stuff. Knowing me, I did not finish packing until the night before I flew out.
The Flight
The flight to New York City itself was probably the most stressful part for me. One reason…the cat. This was the first time … Read More »
