1996. I remember it clearly. Recently graduated, I was working as an engineer at the European Space Agency in Darmstadt, Germany. A rebellious type, I&#39;d decided that either they let me keep my Mac, or I&#39;d go work somewhere else. They let me keep it.


My new social media diet

For the past few years, one of the most frequently used applications on my Mac has been [Notational Velocity](http://notational.net/). It's a note-taking application, with a unique and efficient unified mechanism for both searching notes and creating new ones. Although I usually end up editing those notes in other applications (like iA Writer), they are always created and managed in Notational Velocity.

An interview with Notational Velocity developer Zachary Schneirov

This article reflects on my experience as a first-time teacher of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.


Teaching Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

My friend Andy Rutledge asked yesterday whether there is place for compromise in the design profession. There are probably multiple interpretations of what&#39;s meant by &quot;compromise&quot;, but in terms of design itself, I would argue that no design solution can exist without compromise.


Compromise in Design

IT’S NOT EVERY DAY that an opportunity presents itself to develop a product for an audience of 1.5 million people. That’s exactly what happened recently at [Makalu](http://makaluinc.com), as we were engaged to develop the iPhone component of Catalog Choice’s new suite of premium services.

The Making of the Catalog Choice iPhone App

In the mainstream, we commonly admire the design works of luminaries such as Apple, IDEO, Frog Design and, well, why not — Makalu Interactive. But there are others out there, designers flying way below the radar, who equally deserve our admiration and respect — including the gifted ones (elegantly named, &quot;Grupo Setex&quot;) who designed the Spanish Parking Meter.


A paragon of design and user experience — the Spanish parking meter

I love the Nespresso coffee system. In fact, Nespresso almost does for coffee what Apple does for electronics and digital. Elegant, well-designed coffee makers, combined with a convenient and clean capsule system, and supported by a fast, online ordering system results in a great user experience, and a near-perfect coffee every time.


User experience and the Nespresso coffee machine

Some goodies arrive in the mail today from the good&#39;ol US of A, and I&#39;m excited to show them to you.


WaterField iPhone Wallet & Timbuk2 Mission Cycling Wallet

I&#39;ve tried just about every video encoding product for MacOS X, and always keep returning to the venerable HandBrake.


How to batch process videos using HandBrake and Hazel

Alex and I were discussing over coffee at the office this morning the amazing job Apple did in their retail experience, and were imagining the areas in which clothing retailers could improve their shopping experience. One glaring example in which some attention is badly needed is the changing room.