Something I have always dreamt of inventing. Just imagine a table like this, used in the same manner as the writing tables of the monks who copied the Bible. Especially intriguing is the ability to use several fingers and both hands at the same time, which makes for a much natural interaction but also requires new interface paradigms.
The Gospel, the message of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, is “foolishness” to the natural mind, even an offense. This is exactly why I am against the numerous attempts to make this message attractive by human means instead of trusting in the power of God’s Word. Still, Christian public relations do not need to be extra ugly. I have been able to gain some experience in this field myself. A website dedicated to this topic is churchmarketingsucks.com. Its provocative name hints at the controversial nature of the subject. On the top left are several articles which should be read first; they include the following juxtaposition that says a lot: people-pleasers vs. gospel-preachers, persuasion vs. proclamation.
Although I am a walking typeface encyclopedia, to which many of my former colleagues can testify, I too sometimes have to look something up. These are two very helpful websites:
At myfonts.com/whatthefont you can upload a scanned or photographed image file that contains a sample of the font you are looking for. You can then have it analyzed by assigning letters to the recognized shapes. A few years ago, you had to resort to expensive programs and regularly update them.
identifont.com chose a different approach: You are asked a couple of questions concerning typical letterforms and are then presented with a list of possible matches. There might be too many results, but the right pick is often among them.
In times of 30-inch displays, 2-megapixel camera cell phones and smoothed text, this 18 by 18 pixels small website reminds us of the early days of computer graphics: guimp.com. The Flash version even offers classic computer games that can actually be played. Just thinking that my old C64 had only 320 by 200 pixels resolution in black and white … In color mode, two adjacent pixels were combined to one color pixel having one of 16 (!) colors. Well, I am really somewhat glad that technology has advanced since then.
No panic, I am doing just fine. I simply happened to stumble upon two quite contrary stories during my daily internet news reading. First, the “bad news”:
It should not be news that you better not switch off your brains when bidding on eBay auctions. Not all offers are truly credible or cheaper than elsewhere. There are even people who form seller organizations in order to push their prices higher, which borders on illegal activities. Most shocking are statements such as “It’s no fraud because there is no law against it in Germany.” Still, such companies have their headquarters in countries like the Dominican Republic. One German example can be found at xxlsell.com. I will definitely continue to look for good deals on eBay, but I will also be more cautious.
Now for the “good news”:
This little ball contains a camera which can shoot unusual pictures in mid-flight. The concept is called satuGO – See Aim Throw captUre & GO. It was dreamt up by two young Danish designers who are still looking for a company which will actually produce this. satuGO is nothing you really need, but here are two young people who try to build a company with creativity, skill, and humor. And one which is not based on questionable methods such as mentioned above. The quality of the product photos alone speaks volumes. One can only wish them success!
I didn’t think I would actually write three blog entries in a row … most of my attempts at journaling failed so far. I will try not to write just for writing’s sake, promised.
Had breakfast with my friend Christian, who just returned from an 18 months’ stay in San Jose, California (and whose apartment I’ve been renting since he had left). I’ve been through the same culture shock twice. It was good to get together and talk over freshly baked, warm German Brötchen (rolls) with delicious, home-made apple-blackberry-banana jelly. Only an hour ago, he rang at my door when I was almost ready to go to bed, asking if I would like to share a soup. Two nice meals with a friend in one day – very special.
In between, I went to the opening of the exhibition of the Saxon State Award for Design here in Dresden, where I was invited to do some presentations of Kaleidotype (which had won second prize). I was delighted to see Professor Rayan Abdullah again, professor for typography at the School for Graphic Design and Book Arts in Leipzig and member of the jury. (Incidentally, I once applied to the school for graphic design when I had just finished highschool, but didn’t get accepted.) Here you can see him play with the Kaleidotype software.
