monologue | Oliver Dore

iPhone 5 Ride

Sat, 06 Oct 2012 17:37:00 -0500

Every weekend, I take my bike out and ride around Manhattan. It’s one of my favorite times of the week. So what else would I do with a brand new iPhone 5, but strap it to the front of my bike and see how it would perform?

It’s no GoPro, and riding at speed with a phone bound precariously by a velcro armband is not recommended, but the results aren’t bad. I suspect iOS's real-time video stabilization couldn’t keep up with vibration on the bike frame, as you can see by the distortion at times, but it was a fun test nevertheless.

* No phones were harmed in the making of this video.

John Cleese on Creativity

Sun, 13 May 2012 20:40:00 -0500

The always excellent John Cleese giving a talk years ago on creativity; What it is, and perhaps more importantly, what it is not. Certainly worth half an hour of your time today.

‘‘We can play… and that’s what allows our natural creativity to surface.’’

Path Nav in HTML

Sun, 06 May 2012 11:25:00 -0500

I started using the Path iOS app a few months ago, and as mentioned in a previous post, it’s quickly become one of my favorite examples of UI design. The attention to detail is inspiring, and with some spare time last night, I recreated the one button navigation in HTML.

It was pretty straightforward, and the only aspect I couldn’t recreate fully was the elastic easing when animating the menu - it’s one of my favorite touches, but unfortunately the spec for defining a cubic-bezier in CSS requires a value between 0 and 1. That means creating transitions like bounce and elastic are out for now. I suspect that will change in time.

The other issue I ran into, was pseudo-elements. The plus/cross for the main toggle button is comprised of two psuedo-elements on an A tag, with some rotation, but Chrome can’t transition a pseudo-element, so I ended up refactoring. Given that transitions on pseudo-elements have worked in Firefox since v4, and the issue was first raised 18 months ago, it’s a bit of a poor show by Google.

Considering the number of transforms and transitions running in parallel, I’m impressed with the performance overall. It runs well in Webkit and Opera, and is (hilariously) smoother on iOS than Firefox. I’ve dropped it on Github if you want to have a play.

Enterprise

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 16:32:00 -0500

Living close to the Hudson river, we had a wonderful opportunity to witness the Enterprise space shuttle atop a NASA 747 on-route to JFK International. It was a breathtaking sight for New Yorkers to start their day.

Enterprise was constructed without engines or a functional heat-shield, and was the first full-scale prototype that preceded Columbia’s first orbital flight (STS-1) on April 12, 1981. Like a lot of people of my generation, the space shuttle represented progress and innovation to us, in the same way the Apollo programme did for our parents. It’s sad that this chapter is coming to an end.

However, perhaps with a new programme, we can break new ground. The space shuttle was designed for low Earth orbital flight. NASA’s plans for a future rocket may finally put Mars within reach.

Hillman Curtis

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 19:40:00 -0500

Today I was saddened to hear the news that director, graphic designer and musician Hillman Curtis passed away after a long battle with colon cancer. He was 51.

Hillman has been a massive inspiration to me since I saw him speak at Flashforward Austin in 2006, and I had the good fortune to catch up with him several more times in the years since. He was a personable and modest guy, and through his design and film-work, demonstrated not only how talented he was, but his ability to highlight some of the life's simplest and most beautiful moments.

We’ll miss you Hillman. Thanks for the inspiration. Thanks for your incredible contribution to film, design and music. Thanks for everything.

Planetary

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 09:54:00 -0500

A simply beautiful and immersive music visualization app for the iPad, that turns your iTunes music collection into an interactive solar system.

Artists are represented as suns, albums as planets and songs as moons. The revolution of each planet and moon around its parent body is determined by the length of the album and track respectively. You can rotate around the entire solar system and create constellations made up of artists that start with the same letter, zoom in/out of each planetary body - the colors of which are made up of the album cover - with wonderful freedom. It even supports the built-in gyroscope.

I’m totally blown away with how smooth the whole experience is, given the freedom to explore so openly and how well lighting is employed. The video above (apologies for the quality) shows it being mirrored from the iPad to a HDTV. Frankly, it doesn’t do it justice. One of the best iPad apps I’ve ever seen - and free! That’s ridiculous.

Great work from the folks at bloom. Check out Planetary on the App Store.

Caine's Arcade

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 10:52:00 -0500

Caine Monroy, a 9 year old who DIY’d his own Arcade in his Dad’s auto parts store from used boxes, sticky tape, string and calculators. This kid is a genius.

A wonderful short film directed by Nirvan Mullick, I can already tell I’ll be watching this video once a month for the rest of my life. He follows his imagination, encouraged by his Dad all the way and he ignores the criticism of his peers. Truly inspirational. If you want to donate a little something to Caine’s scholarship fund after watching this video (how could you not?), you should head over to the official site. They were looking to raise $25,000 but are already up to $74,000 at the time of writing.

‘‘ That was the best day of my whole life! ’’

Recruit This

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 10:18:00 -0500

As a freelance developer, I get emails every day from recruiters looking to fill positions. I accept this is an inevitable part of freelancing, and in some cases, there’s an obvious upside for me - there can be good opportunities that spark long-lasting client relationships.

In an ideal world, you would engage with the client directly - you can ask questions about the project to see whether you’re even interested in taking it on, the technology stack, current state of the project, the capabilities of team you’re working with, feasibility and flexibility of the timeline and negotiate your hourly/daily rate. With a recruiter, they are purposefully or inadvertently acting as a buffer for this level of dialogue. Often it can mean heading into a project with zero knowledge on your first day. You’d never do this for a full-time position, so why accept it as a freelancer?

Square Pegs in Round Holes

An email from LinkedIn this morning for an Associate Web Developer opportunity, requiring Intermediate/Advanced JavaScript skills. Putting aside that I feel slightly irked at being offered an associate position (I mean, come on, I’ve been in the industry for seven years!), how many junior developers do you know with advanced JavaScript skills? What constitutes advanced? Effective use of Classical or Prototypal inheritance, closures, design patterns, AMD, event delegation, optimization?

Nine times out of ten, when I speak directly to a company or agency - and this isn’t a criticism - it’s “Can you use jQuery? Can you minify in a production build?”. If those are the requirements of the project, then that’s what I work to, and continue to write the best code I can. The client may not appreciate the direct value of well written code (they just want great work), but it’s a responsibility of a developer to leave the project with a solid contribution, not only for public-facing experience, but also for developers working on the project after you leave.

Last week, I got an email from a recruiter in England (I used to live there before moving to NYC), looking to fill a .NET position. I’ve never stated an interest in .NET, and I’m unlikely ever to do so. They also ask for a copy of my resume in Word format. The recruiter is a complete stranger, looking to fill a position I have no interest in, asking for my resume in a format no one in the Tech industry really uses anymore. That’s why LinkedIn exists. Or better still, Github.

Recruiters - know your industry! Understand positions, experience and skill-sets so you can ask the right questions and filter applicants before you cluster-bomb email every freelancer you can find, and before you put them in front of your client. Get to grips with the tools the Tech industry is using, for your own benefit and theirs. I guarantee you, any developer worth their salt no longer has a resume/CV in Word. Don’t ask them to complete a coding test if they have scores of beautiful samples on Github to review. The way developers are using these tools will tell you much more about them, than hoops you want them to jump through.

Someone to Recommend

The best recruiter/freelancer experience is one in which the freelancer feels as though the recruiter is working for their best interests. This is rare, but does happen. They will filter openings not only to suit your skill-set, but also your interests - both technically and the subject of work. The dialogue is friendly but direct, since there’s no point wasting each other’s time. The worst mistake - and one I see on every other email from a recruiter - is asking to recommend someone “if you’re not interested”. Let’s translate that into non-business speak;

“I’m looking to fill a position - and it doesn’t matter if it’s you or someone else.”

I’m always ready to recommend other developers - to augment a team, or if I’m not available to take on a project - for companies I like, or people I’ve worked with in the past. Putting good people and good companies together is rewarding, and often pays dividends in the long run (that’s not why I do it) - but for recruiters, asking to recommend someone makes the recipient feel like a commodity. Maybe we are, but we sure as hell don’t want to feel that way.

Recruiters - if you’re emailing someone about a position, and you have no prior relationship with that person, don’t ask them to do your job for you! There may be an instance or two where it benefits you, but in every other instance you are unintentionally annoying people. Or to put it in monetary terms, you’re saying goodbye to potential commission on a daily basis.

Blanketing swathes of freelancers with emails that aren’t relevant to them, their positions, skill-sets or location isn’t good business; It’s called spam. The only folder that email gets categorized in, is ‘Junk Mail’. Yes, this is business, and it’s important to be direct and get answers quickly. With a bit of groundwork, recruiters really could do their job more effectively, have higher conversion rates and repeat placements - even conversions to full-time positions.

That requires investment in relationships. The pay-off will be ten-fold compared to your current model.

Simplicity Takes a Lot of Time

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 21:13:00 -0500

A great interview with Dave Morin and Dustin Mierau, founders of Path, the smart journal to share memories with your close friends and family.

It’s almost an hour long, but I actually ended up watching this twice, because - although it’s officially a promo for the release of a new version of the Path app for iPhone and Android - it was also a great insight into the way they work, the love for the product and how making something simple takes a lot of time. That last point is one we too easily forget (especially in an agency) - that quality often takes time, it requires that mistakes are made, iteration is necessary and the first attempt is rarely the best.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Sat, 24 Mar 2012 21:24:00 -0500

The other night, I watched the David Fincher remake of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which I enjoyed immensely.

I haven’t seen the 2009 version with Noomi Rapace - so I can’t compare the two - but I think Fincher did a great job; From casting Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara, to the soundtrack by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. It was great to watch a film that was dark, gritty and non-apologetic. The opening sequence is also one of the best I’ve seen, by California-based Blur Studio.

Hello, Goodbye

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 21:35:00 -0600

Wow, that’s what a busy few months feels like. After an excellent Christmas back home with family, Mira and I have been in the process of packing up our place in Austin, finding a new apartment in NYC and everything in between. The good news is, the move is over, we can breathe (again) a sigh of relief and begin to enjoy our new surroundings.

Honestly, after two interstate moves in twelve months, I’d love to not see another packing box or moving truck for several years. That said, we seem to be getting good at this moving malarkey. We’ve developed our own system for numbering and itemizing boxes and furniture, we know how to play moving companies off each other to lower the costs and we even got our TV and internet (FIOS, ftw!) installed on moving day in NYC. I’ll be the first to admit, I’m pretty proud of our ability to hustle.

Our new place is working out wonderfully well. Had it not, I’d probably be wondering why on Earth we had found ourselves back in the City - but this new apartment is ideal, the building is perfectly situated and in an entirely new area of Manhattan for us to discover. We’ve lived in NYC for 3 years before this, but a different neighborhood is giving us a whole new set of stories. We’re a little older, a touch wiser, and there’s something about this chapter that makes calling New York ‘Home’ easier now than it would have been two years ago.

Thanks for a great year Austin! I’ll miss the Veloway and Barton Creek. I worked with some great folks at frog. Met some more inspiring folks at BigBig Bomb. Ate some ridiculous BBQ, courtesy of Rudy’s. Attended my first ACL. Discovered mountain biking and gave myself some permanent scars riding this bad boy. I learned to drive, had my wisdom teeth out and survived a record-breaking 85 days over 100F.

And I did my part to “Keep Austin Weird”. Not too shabby at all.

Girl Walk // All Day

Sat, 03 Dec 2011 14:15:00 -0600

Girl Walk // All Day is a Kickstarter-funded, feature-length dance music video and tale of urban exploration that follows three dancers across New York City. Probably one of the only cities in the world where you can dance in public and be ignored by practically everyone.

Directed by Jacob Krupnick and set to music by music-mashup genius Girl Talk (Gregg Gillis), the film will be released in chapters by The Gothamist every Tuesday and Friday, and the first two chapters are now available. A fascinating idea and wonderful execution, it’s great to see these projects realized through Kickstarter. I can’t wait to see more. For those without the patience and are in NYC, the entire film is being shown at Brooklyn’s Masonic Temple on 12/08. Free, first-come-first-serve and no seats… dancefloor only!

To Each Their Own

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 23:13:39 -0600

I imagine there’s a time in everyone’s career when they take stock of where they’ve come from, where they are and most likely where they see themselves heading. At least, that’s been the case for me over the past few months, and it’s given me the opportunity to remember and appreciate why I chose design/development/programming/engineering, whatever label you want to stick on it (I like Interactive Design) - as a career.

Truth be told, I never set out looking for a career. I’d grown up with some pretty cool technology in my house. My brother and I started out with a 48K ZX Spectrum in our room when I was only a few years old, and my brother used to code games and simple programs from a manual of Basic examples that came with the Spectrum. That impressed me!

In 1997, we got hooked up to the Web at home for the first time, which was like this epiphanic moment!

‘‘ What, you mean people make stuff around the world and put it online so you can see it? ’’

Thus proceeded several months of digging up obscure Star Wars trivia and midi-files of 80s TV show theme songs. Those heady days.

Then, it dawned on me… “I COULD make something of my own!”. And I did. And I’m sure it was god-awful, but I thought it was the coolest piece of shit on the Web; A tribute page to tennis legend Pete Sampras, hosted on Angelfire. I made something that anyone, anywhere with an Internet connection, could look at. Nowadays, it’s completely taken for granted, but for a 14-year old way before the days of Myspace, Friendster, Facebook and Twitter, that form of self-expression was exciting.

It was that excitement that led me to pursue a course at University in Web Design. My first year was a BSc in Website and Multimedia Development - a decent course in a pretty miserable town. And in my second and third years, I switched Universities, and courses, to a BA in Web Design. The first was - what I would regard as - highly technical, focusing on ‘Java Development’, 'Computer Systems Architecture’ and 'Network Systems’.

The course for the second and final years were much more creatively focused. I had classes in 'Design Theory’ and 'Designing for the User’. The focus was less on programming languages and coding principles, and more on what it meant to make something for other people, what good design meant and why it was important.

The code we wrote was simply a tool for the vision we wanted to realize. That was six years ago now, but it’s a lesson that’s stuck with me. In those six years since, I’ve worked on some exciting projects, moved around England, left England to move to New York, and left New York to explore more of the US. I’ve also learned a bunch of new languages, tools and approaches. My intention is always going to be about using technology to realize the creative vision, and that puts me in a different position than many other developers with the same title. And that’s great.

When I left University, I had absolutely no idea what Object-Oriented programming was. I’d finally transitioned to table-less design, but it was by no means a shining example. I knew enough PHP/MySQL to throw records into a database and pull them back out. And I was starting to get my head around JavaScript for a little interactivity. That’s not to say I didn’t learn all that subsequently (I did, and more) but I wouldn’t say I have a programming mindset in the traditional sense.

We Don’t Want You to be Yourself

In my second year in a position, I heard one manager say to another, 'If they don’t know how to use BASH, they shouldn’t even apply for the job.’ Of course, the irony was when I started at that same company, I didn’t know BASH. I learned though, because learning doesn’t stop once you get a job. You’re learning every day. Those type of short-sighted statements make me laugh, but they’re also a little sad.

I’m led to believe that we can be extremely quick to judge. There are a lot of people who have a very narrow opinion of the path others should take. And yet, some of the brightest and most talented people I’ve worked with have taken the most unconventional routes. Some never attended University, or dropped out midway. Some are completely self-taught, and had never previously worked in an agency environment. I have friends who went to University; One studied Computer Science and the other completed a degree in Fine Art. Yet each, in their own way, bring a different and subtly-unique set of skills to the table.

We Want You to Free Yourself

The companies that do best are the ones who can recognize the strengths of these individuals and their respective passions, rather than sticking a label on them and adding them to a proverbial production line. I know developers with an incredible sense of design, and others who have no have sense of design whatsoever. I know designers who have never written a line of code in their lives, but they’ve worked hard and learned enough to design extremely effectively for a digital medium. I also know designers who can leverage code to propel their creativity to new levels.

If I’ve learned anything, it’s that it’s not important how people want you to be, how and where they want you to work. I’ve found the people who force that opinion on you that are irrelevant. They will always be on a different path to you, and that path probably sucks. For you, I mean. Who knows, maybe for them as well.

It’s about remembering why you enjoy what you do in the first place, what enthuses you and makes you strive to learn more about your craft. It’s one of the reasons you get up in the morning. It’s one of the reasons you’re late to bed at night. No one can tell you why that is - and if they try, don’t let them. If they try and box you in, don’t let them. If they play down your skills they don’t perceive as useful, ignore them. They don’t have your best interests at heart; You do.

This is your path, and to each their own.

Like a Rolling Stone, 1966

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 23:57:00 -0600

Bob Dylan playing “Like a Rolling Stone” live in 1966. When I think about the period he was writing this music, and the mood of the nation in those years, it just blows my mind. With youthful cynicism, it became a social commentary that arguably lifted Dylan to his iconic status; His song resonating for decades throughout the world.

What is the music written now saying about the times we’re living in? Will it endure in the same way? It’s easy to say ‘No’ in the moment. I’m sure they said the same about Dylan back in '66.

magneticNorth / Beep Industries

Mon, 21 Nov 2011 17:46:00 -0600

A Computer Arts episode of Studio Life featuring old friends back home, magneticNorth and Beep Industries.

I worked at mN for nearly three years, and that never-surrender attitude for quality - and the importance of enjoying what you do - has stuck with me ever since.

‘‘ Don’t go there - come here, we’re going to change the world! ’’

Organizing my music for iTunes Match the other day, I came...

Mon, 21 Nov 2011 00:01:11 -0600

Organizing my music for iTunes Match the other day, I came across this gem of a mashup of Jay-Z’s “Dirt Off Your Shoulder” and The Verve’s “Bittersweet Symphony”. Great stuff.

A Time Lapse from Space

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 15:42:00 -0600

A wonderful time-lapse of Earth from the International Space Station - 18 passes that capture every continent through day and night, including several showcases of Aurora Borealis - a high altitude, naturally occurring light display.

It’s great to see NASA sharing this kind of content to spark the public’s imagination in space exploration once more.

Above The Dust

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 20:09:00 -0600

A great off-road biking video from Leo Zuckerman, filmed at the Whistler Bike Park. Music from The Glitch Mob.

Looks like some amazing terrain to ride. I’ve added it to my list.

Bill Cunningham New York

Wed, 09 Nov 2011 14:20:00 -0600

An inspiring documentary on the 50 year career of Bill Cunningham, a fashion photographer for the New York Times, his bicycle and his camera. Bill’s dedication to his craft is simply mind-blowing.

‘‘More than anyone else in the city, Bill has the whole visual history of the last 40 or 50 years of New York. It’s the total scope of fashion in the life of New York.’’

Murmuration

Fri, 04 Nov 2011 18:17:00 -0500

A collection of starlings, known as a murmuration, migrating from Russia and Scandinavia to avoid a deadly winter.

Nature at its most breathtaking.