The friends and activities pane now give you direct access to ask friends questions in the context of the search/task and to see who may have more information. I don’t typically visit Facebook to stroll down feed-lane, but it is a convenient way to hear opinions from friends. The extra step of going to Facebook, explicitly, to solicit that feedback is a significant usage barrier for me. Direct integration into search makes it less jarring; there’s no need to move out of context anymore to ask those same questions. It’ll probably mean I use Facebook more, albeit indirectly.

For now, I only have the cleaned-up design, but the remainder of the functionality is expected to roll out over the coming weeks.

Old and busted (left), new and improved (right).

It’s difficult to get users to switch from something that’s pretty darned good (Google) to something that’s only marginally better. The behavioural barrier is simply too high, and not worthwhile, without a big shift in either quality or purpose. It has never been enough for Bing to compete head-to-head on relevancy (although that’s crucial, too), it needed to change the search game. Let’s see if the new Bing accomplishes that.

When the primary goal is to increase the number of eyeballs on your publication, be it for ad revenues or something else, the only reason for any level of investigative integrity is to ensure readers don’t become completely disenchanted with nonsensical content (and sometimes that’s an attraction, in of  itself) and go elsewhere. Today, too much content is generated without the least bit of investigation, insight or integrity. A superficial scrape of the most obvious facts is then spun into a headline and content that is most likely to grab a reader’s attention, reality be damned. I’m tired of reading it all.

So, I spent some time migrating from a service that laid out extreme amounts of content well (Netvibes) to something that’s a bit more focused on reading (Google Reader) and cut back the number of subscribed feeds. Beyond that, I’ve also put an increased focus on some insightful, personal sites, where the content is less tainted by crazed pursuit of views. Here’s what’s in my reader now:

• The Verge
• AnandTech
• Ars Technica
• Rands in Repose
• Scott Hanselman
• ongoing by Tim Bray
• Yanko Design
• A List Apart
• Reuters Global Markets
• BBC

One category I’m trying to fill out is photography. Any ideas? I’d love a photo technique or C&C blog to follow.

In the meantime, I’m still trying to wrap my head around how to apply the Metro style Principles and Personality to the site.

That said, I want to remain productive, just in a different direction, so I’ve installed the Windows Phone SDK, fired up MSDN and am ready to get my hands dirty on some basic apps to start.

Some of the most crucial aspects of developing for a new platform are the learning curve and the available tools. I’m not a developer by trade, but my Computer Engineering background provides me familiarity and comfort and sets me up for a quick ramp. I’ll keep a development diary of sorts, noting what makes sense, what doesn’t, and areas that can use some improvement.

And here I go.

Obama’s portion

Jimmy’s portion

The D7000 with 24-70 mounted is a monstrosity. Yes, a beautiful combination, in my opinion, but a monstrosity nonetheless. While it doesn’t tire me out during a day of walking around the city, it’s a bit unwieldy, showy, and doesn’t work well inside cramped shops and restaurants. That’s where the GF1 + 20mm came into the picture.

It’s compact enough to fit into an interior pocket of my light jacket. It creates a bulge with its lens protruding, but leaves my hands and neck free. It’s effortless to get out for a photo. It’s also far less conspicuous. It’s not so in-your-face like the 24-70mm. Furthermore, it’s backed up by great image quality and is a pretty useful walk about focal length.

I haven’t followed micro 4/3 news in a while, so when I found out the spiritual successor to my GF1 has arrived in the form of the GX1, I was stoked. I also discovered the wonderful Olympus 12mm f/2.0 and 45mm f/1.8 lenses, which have received glowing reviews. The combination of those two, plus the 20mm, should make for a high quality, small, carry around set. There were some situations where the 20mm alone was a bit constricting. The 12mm and 45mm should solve any inflexibility.

Then, big news came out of Nikon recently. The D800, long waited successor to the D700, was released with a whopping 36MP sensor. I purchased the 16-35mm and 24-70mm with the intention to eventually move to full-frame, but what I was hoping for in a D700 successor was something that focused a bit more on improving high-ISO performance, while moving the resolution bar ahead, slightly. Instead, we have a sensor that is 2.25X the resolution of the D7000 and, get this, 2.25X the size (area). While I’d be surprised if the D800 doesn’t have better noise performance over the D7000, I’m not betting it’ll be even a single stop better. Does this mean that I now need a D4 to get what I was looking for? A bit too rich and serious for my blood, I think.

At the same time, I can’t deny the attraction of the D800e for landscape. I wonder if the 16-35 or 24-70 will be outmatched by the resolving power of a LPF-less 36MP sensor. I’m eagerly awaiting reviews on that one.

Now a 42.5Whr battery in itself is nothing to get excited over, but in this form factor, it’s a huge advancement over the typical ~25WHr. It’s not a marginal increase. It’s a 70% increase. Almost double. Apple has clearly invested heavily into the battery to have fit it into the 9.4mm thick casing. It also shows that there is no magic in physics. The higher resolution display, higher horsepower graphics, and LTE connectivity draw a heck of a lot more power, close to 70% more than iPad 2 + 3G, if the advertised battery life is accurate.

I also wonder if the new iPad will compress margins somewhat. The 2048×1536 display is a difficult manufacturing challenge, with yields almost certainly nowhere close to the 1024×768 used previously. Additionally, the battery should cost quite a bit more.

That battery size still gets me. The 11.6″ MBA has a 35Whr battery, while the 13.3″ version has a 50Whr battery. Just imagine what the next generation laptops could be outfitted with.

It’s been a while since I’ve carried a camera around town. I’ve made numerous excuses to myself, had to go do something specific, weather was poor, I forgot, etc, but this past weekend, enough was enough. I grabbed the GF1 along with the diminutive 20mm f/1.7 and headed out for the day. I’m glad I did.

I didn’t have any particular photo spots in mind, which is usually a prerequisite when I think about bringing any camera that doesn’t fit into my jeans pocket. First stop was Paseo, in Fremont. I had heard it was delicious, but when I got there, there was a long line out the door. Halfway through the line, I saw an interesting ad hoc decorations on the outermost post of a fence. The smell as I got closer and closer to the doorway was mouthwatering. The Caribbean Roast sandwich I ordered was delectable.

Although the early afternoon was cold and gloomy (thick clouds overhead), things quickly cleared up by the late afternoon. You could see low clouds being quickly whisked away by the gusty winds. I ventured down to the waterfront to catch some sun by the water, and then took a walk to Pike Place Market. Shops seem to start closing up around 5pm, so the crowds were thinning, but with each day growing longer towards spring, at least the place wasn’t plummeted into darkness. In another sign of warmer weather to come, the first non-dried flowers appeared, with the largest crowd gathered around one stand, which had tulips for sale.

On the walk back to the car, I passed by a herbs and spices shop near Pike Place. There were so many strange edible plants that I had never seen nor heard of before. It was interesting to read about some of the origins, as well as how they’re used in cooking and baking.

The day around Seattle made me want to carry a camera (and my cellphone camera doesn’t count) around more often. Granted, the jacket I had on had big pockets that allowed the GF1 to easily slip in, which helped. It’s been a while since I’ve looked into micro 4/3rd lenses. I had a brief look tonight, and the Panasonic Leica 25mm f/1.4, Olympus 12mm f/2 and Olympus 45mm f/1.8 all look pretty interesting.