Author: Steven Garrity

The Beauty of the Default

by Steven Garrity

When those of us who live on our computers setup a new one – there is usually process of redecoration and customization. This process usually takes a few days, with a few little issues hanging around for a week or two. We install of our applications, we customize window and color settings, we set our desktop background color or image.

While I do all of these things, to varying degrees, I have a love for the default settings and strive to use them, and improve them, whenever possible. There is something to be said for keeping things are they are by default, regardless of the customization options.

First of all, it is easier – if you use the default settings, things are already setup for you! It also makes working between various computers easier.

Default settings are more important than any customization options that may live behind them. For example, the Mozilla web browser had tab-browsing functionality for years and I never touched it – when I did, I always changed the settings to open tabs in the background, and to open tabs with Ctrl+click. However, I could never remember if I had set these options since I had last installed or upgraded (something that happened quite frequently, since I was following the development of Mozilla).

Then, when the Firebird web browser came along, tab-browsing had both of these options enabled by default. All of the sudden I can’t live without tab-browsing. There were no new settings – only a seemingly subtle change in which settings were chosen by default.

I’ve been encouraged to see that open-source software developers seem to be gaining an appreciation for the importance of good defaults. While open-source developement has often been criticized for bogging applications down with too many options (and this has certainly been a problem), I’ve seen a great respect to simplicity in configuration options, and the importance of good default settings by the managers of the Gnome project, Nautilus, Gaim, and Mozilla Firebird.

Long live good defaults!

 

I Hate Graphic Designers

by Steven Garrity

I hate graphic designers. I do not hate graphic artists, just graphic designers. This may strike some as odd, as I very much enjoy my job as creative director at a web development firm and a significant part of my job involves graphic design. I can assure you there is no conflict. If anything, this distain renders me better able to do my job.

What I hate about graphic designers is the attitude that artistic freedom should exempt them from criticism from laypeople. Bah! Artistic freedom can only take you so far when you are designing menus for the local pub. If you need to express yourself, write a song or paint on your own time, don’t try to squeeze it into a 2×3″ yellow-pages ad for a client.

Graphic design is a fine and noble craft. Please remove your head from your ass — you are embarassing the rest of us.

 

Christmas music that doesn’t suck

by Steven Garrity

I hate Christmas (music). I had intented to put together an Acts of Volition Radio session of Christmas music that doesn’t suck, but I could only turn up a few songs and didn’t quite have time.

So, for those with the means to find the music on their own, here is a quick list of Christmas music that doesn’t suck:

  • The First Noel by The Crash Test Dummies
    This comes from an entire disc of Christmas songs. Though I have only heard this one track, there is a possiblity that the other tracks also do not suck.

  • Christmastime by the Smashing Pumkins
    This song, from the A Very Special Christmas compilation from 1997, is one of the only modern Christmas songs I’ve heard that captures that elusive “Christmas carol” sound, yet manages to not suck.

I’m told there is also a good Barenaked Ladies / Sarah McLachlan Christmas single from a year or two ago – but I am unable to confirm it’s suck/doesn’t-suck status. Also, Jon Hicks points to The Darkest Night of the Year by Over the Rhine. It too doesn’t suck.

Hope your Christmas doesn’t suck. Look for a new session of Acts of Volition Radio in the days after Christmas.

 

Calling all Hipsters: Help me find a Strawberry song

by Steven Garrity

I’m looking for a copy of the song I Miss My Mom from the album Brokenheart Audio by the band Strawberry.

Update: I’ve got it.

The local record stores don’t have any copies. I can order it from No Records – but I’d like to get a copy of that song right away so I can release the next session of Acts of Volition radio.

If anyone has a copy (I know it must be all over the basements of Charlottetown), please contact me. If someone can get me a rip of that song, I promise I will buy order the disc (to preserve my indie karma).

 

YALoTRR: Yet Another Lord of the Rings Review

by Steven Garrity

The last thing the world needs now is another post about the Lord of the Rings movies (what is it that the world needs now, exactly?). However, if you’ll kindly bear with me, I do have a quick comment to get out of the way.

About half-way through the The Return of the King, the third and final movie in the series, I strange feeling came over me. While watching Frodo and Sam trek through Mordor, and Merry and Pippin fight hopeless battles, I could myself thinking: “It seems so long ago that Frodo and Sam where back at the Shire…”

I had a strangly real sense of time and history – which is what made the Tolkien books so great. I think the one-movie-a-year for three years delivery helped contribute to the epic sense that a great time had past, but still – I felt I was looking back on the long lives of fictional characters.

That is as good a compliment as I could ever pay to a director. Well done.

 

xPad: Take Note

by Steven Garrity

xPad iconI wrote a while back here on Acts of Volition about software for taking notes, and how I wished I didn’t have to save my files all of the time (why aren’t they always saved?). As a result of the current state of software I end up having to save a bunch of notepad files when I have to reboot.

Our fine readership pointed out a slew of good suggestions (my favourite of which was to just have a permanent scratch.txt file that I can add to and save). Still, I felt the real problem hadn’t been solved. Until now. Oh, and only if you have a Mac.

Fine weblogger, Garrett Murray, of ManiacalRage.net, has created a new note-taking application for Mac OS X called xPad. It is small, fast, simple, and elegant. There is no “Save” function, because your text is aways saved. There is good multiple document handling, and the application makes nice use of native OS X controls and functionality.

I don’t use a mac as my primary computer, but I’m fortunate to have a CRT-iMac on the side of my desk for testing. Thanks to xPad, the iMac has become the machine I turn to when I need to take quick notes (especially phone messages).

xPad is only $10, there is a free demo to download, and I recommended it.

Oh, and for extra cool – my name is in the About screen!