Michael Sylvie

The sign - literally & figuratively - you're losing it at work.

Sat, 13 Apr 2013 14:52:57 -0400

One of my favorite blogs, Love in the Time of Chasmosaurs did a...

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 21:30:06 -0400

One of my favorite blogs, Love in the Time of Chasmosaurs did a (non-snarky!) write up of The How and Why Wonder Book of Dinosaurs, which I was obsessed with in my earliest years. Click on over and take a look at a couple of those great illustrations of dinosaur combat, and you can see why the six-year-old me couldn’t get enough of this book.

It probably won’t surprise you that I love this Samurai...

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 09:05:00 -0400

It probably won’t surprise you that I love this Samurai Chair.

more soon...

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 18:06:00 -0500

Haven’t posted in a while because I’m about to start a new job (hello, UX Architect role!) at a new company (hello, Prudential!) in a new town (hello, Hartford, CT!), and the packing/house-selling/house-buying has been all-consuming. (And, apparently, hyphen-generating.) Hope to post more once I get settled in. Thanks for all the kind wishes and support, dear friends.

The Boat Dreams From The Hill

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 11:01:46 -0500

Saw this evocative photo on the Looks Like Good Design blog, and I couldn’t help but think of one of my favorite songs, Jawbreaker’s The Boat Dreams From The Hill. The simple, almost snarling punk-ness of the music belies touching, regret-laden lyrics that still affect me after all these years. Here they are in their entirety - perhaps you’ll see why:

Boat on a hill, never going to sea.

Anchored to a fixer upper’s dream.

This boat is beat, never gonna be a boat now.

Thirsty, sees the sea from high on ice plant.

He keeps patching it and painting.

Thinking about his pension plan.

But the boat is out to pasture.

Seems it never had a chance.

I wanna be a boat.

I wanna learn to swim.

Then I’ll learn to float.

Then begin again.

Begin again.

Boat remembers the carpenter’s sure hand.

Missing fishy flutter on it’s rudder.

Sold at an auction, on a dolly ever since.

Sometimes rainy days drop boyish wonder.

</non-snark-laden post>

Check out these awesome images: (from Kickstarting: Moonbot’s Latest, A Video Game Based On A...

Thu, 07 Feb 2013 12:53:14 -0500

Check out these awesome images:

(from Kickstarting: Moonbot’s Latest, A Video Game Based On A Medieval Folktale)

Note I used the word “awesome.” That’s because I’m old. I showed these game concepts to my team’s talented UX Designer Casey, and she called them “baller.” That’s because she’s not old. I’m not even sure what the definition of “baller” is, but I’m afraid to wiki this, in case it’s something that will set off alarm bells in our CEO’s office.

OK, so this compilation of screen grabs made me...

Thu, 07 Feb 2013 12:45:07 -0500

OK, so this compilation of screen grabs made me laugh.

newsweek:

You never know when that dumb thing you just did might land you on the evening news.

I may never get used to living in a small town in central Pennsylvania

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 14:07:00 -0500

(on display at a wedding show in town this weekend)

Way to go out on a limb there, buddy

Wed, 09 Jan 2013 09:33:40 -0500

USA Today: January effect smiles on stocks so far in 2013

So let’s see what USA Today’s go-to market prognosticator, Stock Trader’s Almanac editor Jeffrey Hirsch, predicts for 2013:

In fact, depending on how the debate in Washington over the deficit plays out in coming months and how the global economy holds up, he says stocks could have a good year, with gains of 5% to 10%, a so-so year with flat returns or a very bad year, with stocks suffering bear market declines of 20% or more.

So… stocks could finish up anywhere from up 10% to down 20%, eh? I better cash out my 401k and/or add more to it.

So this is what film geeks do when they're home sick?

Mon, 07 Jan 2013 10:24:00 -0500

Being sick for a couple of days, and trying to entertain myself in between coughing fits, I decided I’m going ronin on sanity. (Or it could be the fever.) Here’s the plan I came up with yesterday morning while sniffling on the couch:

Watch Akira Kurosawa’s masterful 1961 samurai adventure Yojimbo
Re-read the 1929 Dashiell Hammett novel Red Harvest, which inspired the film
Re-read the first book in Stan Sakai’s brilliant comic book series Usagi Yojimbo, where our rabbit hero is based on the samurai protagonist in Yojimbo

(If you’re not familiar with the story, the book and the film - the cartoon rabbit, not so much - center around a mysterious stranger who shows up in a town being torn apart by rival gangs, and plays the two gangs against each other until he’s the last man standing. Just awesome.)

I’m most of the way through my plan, having only two-thirds of Red Harvest to go before I’m done.

I’m sure I’ll regret this post once the fever abates. Until then, の岩*!

———

*Rock on! (…at least according to Google Translate)

Now this is what I call tough love

Thu, 03 Jan 2013 09:14:00 -0500

Father Hires In-Game “Hitmen” To Deter Son From Playing

(via Digg)

Ah, Christmas...

Tue, 25 Dec 2012 02:14:16 -0500

Family member who shall remain anonymous: “I just found out Mark quit smoking. Who wants a carton of Newports from Santa?”

How do I know it’s Christmas time? …because my wife...

Sun, 23 Dec 2012 00:05:00 -0500

How do I know it’s Christmas time?

…because my wife is blasting Michael Buble singing Jingle Bells (no, I’m not linking to it), and I’m wandering around the house with headphones on, counter-programming with Every Time I Die (now we’re talkin’). It’s just our little symbolic embodiment of Peace on Earth and Good Will to Men.

Happy holidays, all.

It’s not too late to get me this for the...

Sat, 22 Dec 2012 14:15:00 -0500

It’s not too late to get me this for the holidays.

thedsgnblog:

Philipp Pilz | http://fry2k.de

Graphic designer based in Bielefeld, Germany. Focused on graphic design, print design and illustration.

Brad Pitt is going to kick my...

Fri, 21 Dec 2012 14:36:00 -0500

So I was doing a UX review of the Any.DO iPhone to-do list app (expert opinion: not bad! …and it’s free, BTW), and couldn’t help but notice the suggested auto-complete results when one starts typing “fight”:

I’m pretty sure that adding “Fight Club” under the day’s to-dos actually violates the First Rule of Fight Club. (Just saying.) And really, are there that many people with “Fight Club” entries on their to-do lists that this is the number-one autocomplete option? I need to get a more interesting life.

(BTW, in case you were wondering, I wasn’t going to type “Fight Club” as a to-do. I was going to type “fight zombies.” Everyone knows Fight Club isn’t real.)

So long, e-ink devices. I have to say, despite deriving much joy...

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 17:32:00 -0500

So long, e-ink devices.

I have to say, despite deriving much joy from my iPad, it’s my humble old-school Kindle on which I end up doing most of my reading, since unlike the iPad, you don’t need Popeye-style forearms to hold the thing up in front of you for an hour.

Good stuff. The request for “steampunk meets NASA”...

Sat, 08 Dec 2012 17:19:19 -0500

Good stuff. The request for “steampunk meets NASA” must have generated a few grey hairs for the Creative Director.

thedsgnblog:

Royal Studio | http://theroyalstudio.com

“Branding is about identity, creating a visual culture and giving birth to a new idea.
The McCooper Studios approached the Royal Studio with a particular vision. Being a photography studio with a special touch in Sci-fi with a great background in cinema, the special request to design the brand had a great influence in the golden era of steampunk with a Nasa twist. A very big challenge.

In the end, the result is a clear minimal 21st century excellence that grabs the Daily Planet and throws it around Metropolis in the pocket of the Nasa explorer’s shirt.”

Based in Porto, Portugal. Focused on graphic design, typography and print design.

the design blog: facebook | twitter | pinterest | donations

This 25-second time-lapse/composite video of every airplane that...

Sun, 02 Dec 2012 17:26:00 -0500

This 25-second time-lapse/composite video of every airplane that landed at San Diego International Airport on Black Friday is just wild.

(PetaPixel)

Those are some mighty funny-looking potatoes

Wed, 21 Nov 2012 10:13:02 -0500

So one of our iOS developers, who is from India, stops by my desk.

Developer: Now that America has made marijuana legal*, should I try hash browns?

Me: Hash brownies?

Developer: Is there a difference?

Me: Yes.

———

*Obviously his facts were not quite straight, unless Colorado has some plan we don’t yet know about to annex the rest of the country. And speaking of marijuana, this is the second blog post I’ve written (here’s the other) where the subject has come up. Which is ironic, since I feel guilty even drinking non-diet soda.

The 11 Worst Sounds in the World

Tue, 13 Nov 2012 09:02:00 -0500

The 11 Worst Sounds in the World:

My first thought was that you’re likely hear ten of these on a typical NYC subway ride.