Siri

    One of the new features of the iPhone 4S with iOS 5 is Siri. Siri is a personal assistant like feature that provides some rather good information. You can search for "Who is Tim Cook" and it will bring up Wolfram Alpha's results. You can schedule reminders and even send text messages right from Siri. Sometimes when you ask Siri something interesting it responds in a rather cheeky manner. Below are some of the things that Siri has managed to tell me already in the hours since I have really been able to play with it.

    Siri Mistake #1Siri Mistake #2Siri Mistake #3Siri Mistake #4Siri Mistake #5Siri Mistake #6Siri Mistake #7

    I know there are going to be a bunch of 'Siri Says So' websites, but I'll just keep posting the ones I encounter here.

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    My View of Twitter

    The picture below is three timelines that I follow, take a look at each of the Avatars. Each time there is a new tweet with an orange avatar I have to look at it closely to determine who it is from... It can be rather confusing.

    Orange.Avatars.On.Twitter
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    RIP Sierra 1999-2011

    My parents put down the Dog today. She was a good dog but she was having trouble standing and had gotten really thin over the past few months. It's sad to see her go. She'll be missed.

    Photo of Sierra from 2007Picture of Sierra from 2007
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    First of May

    With Today being the First of May I thought I'd share one of my favorite Songs regarding the First of May. It's called 'First of May' By Jonathan Coulton.

    I woke up this morning I had a scone and a large house blend Then a little conversation with my squirrel and chipmunk friends I said I'm sick and tired of winter And I wish that it was spring Then a little fellow named Robin Redbreast Began to sing And he sang Ooh ooh child, what d'you think the cold winter's gonna last forever? Ooh ooh child, now's the time for all the people to get together Outside Cause it's the first of May, first of May Outdoor fucking starts today So bring your favorite lady Or at least your favorite lay Water's not cold baby dip in your big toe Maybe I'll see you in flagrante delicto Grass below you, sky above Celebrate spring with a crazy little thing called fucking outside I thanked him for the information I cried a little when he flew away I watched an episode of The People's Court And I tried to plan my day I called up my old lady She wasn't home so I called my girl I asked her if she'd like to join me as I Entertain the world And I said Ooh ooh child, I'll bring a blanket and I promise I will brush the ants off Ooh ooh child, you're gonna like it when we're taking each other's pants off Outside Cause it's the first of May, first of May Outdoor fucking starts today So bring your favorite lady Or at least your favorite lay Water's not cold baby dip in your big toe Maybe I'll see you in flagrante delicto Grass below you, sky above Celebrate spring with a crazy little thing called fucking outside So we went to the park together We were walking in the midday sun Met all kinds of people and we We fucked everyone Fucked a lady who sells ice cream We fucked a man with a tan Shar Pei Everyone who needed fucking well they They got fucked today So come on Ooh ooh child, open your mind and your heart, feel the spirit moving through you Ooh ooh child, you'll feel the warmth of the love when I stick it to you Outside Cause it's the first of May, first of May Outdoor fucking starts today So bring your favorite lady Or at least your favorite lay Water's not cold baby dip in your big toe Maybe I'll see you in flagrante delicto Grass below you, sky above Celebrate spring with a crazy little thing called fucking outside Fucking outside Fucking outside

    If you would like to buy the song, you can do so from Jonathan Coulton's website.

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    Website Design Rant #1: Textboxes and Colors

    One of the things that I spend my time doing is designing websites. I try and get inspiration from other sites and follow some of the techniques of the most popular sites, whether that inspiration be with menu design, layout, or even color choices. Despite getting inspiration there is also a significant number of poor choices when it comes to web design. These example are even easier to learn from, because it's things to avoid. Below is a prime example of something to avoid.

    I have blocked out the name of the company, just to be nice. What is wrong with this picture? First and foremost it's grey text boxes with white text. How the hell is anybody supposed to be able to read that? I don't care if it is part of your overall color scheme, a light text should never be on a light background. The text should be black so somebody can actually read the screen.

    If you are designing a website, you should make sure that people can actually read what they are typing, nobody is perfect on a keyboard and most users are not going to type out their comments in another editor then copy and paste. So it appears that this company is trying not to solicit feedback from it's customers because it is not making it easy enough for users to be able to see what they are typing.

    In addition to not being able to easily see what is being typed, the entire site does not work on a mobile device. You cannot move up and down the drop-down lists as demonstrated below.

    On iOS devices the drop-down should automatically change to a picker that allows you to scroll through the list of options. This is not the case with this company. If you are designing a website, mobile should be included as part of the strategy. If you are going to go through a re-design, mobile should be taken into considering from the beginning, not be an afterthought. That's another rant for another day.

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