31
Mar 11

Will the real Doug Bowman please stand up?

Although it was signed by @stop, this post to the Twitter blog wasn’t written by the same Doug Bowman that’s been writing over at stopdesign.com since 2006. (That’s one of the nice things about blogs; over time, you can really get to know someone .)

Here’s what the real Doug was probably thinking, while the subordinate Doug was forced to post this cheesy stuff:

Last month, we released an update to Twitter for iPhone and iPad containing a number of features that made finding friends and sharing information on Twitter even easier. The iPhone app also contained a new feature we wanted to test named the QuickBar.

“We wanted to test? I knew from the moment management told me about it, the QuickBar was gonna flop. (In fact, the whole #dickbar thing was started secretly by me.)”

The QuickBar was originally conceived to help users discover what’s happening in the broader world beyond people they already follow.

“The QuickBar was originally conceived to get advertiser content in front of our users.”

The bar was also seen as a potential means of in-app notifications for new @mentions, DMs, and other important activity.

“And Google also saw those ad blocks as a potential means of showing pictures of Missing Children.”

We want Twitter to instantly connect people everywhere to what’s most meaningful to them.

“Obligatory lofty goals remark.”

In support of this, we will frequently experiment by trying new things, adding new features, and being bold in the product decisions we make.

“Being bold sounds better than being stupid.”

After testing a feature and evaluating its merits, if we learn it doesn’t improve the user experience or serve our mission, we’ll remove that feature.

“If our advertisers start shouting, ‘Get us out of that blasted #dickbar! We don’t want to be associated with it!’, we’ll remove that feature.”

Rather than continue to make changes to the QuickBar as it exists, we removed the bar from the update appearing in the App Store today. We believe there are still significant benefits to increasing awareness of what’s happening outside the home timeline. Evidence of the incredibly high usage metrics for the QuickBar support this.

“You hated it, so we’ll remove it. But our metrics show you loved it! And our metrics can also demonstrate that’s not a contradiction. Unless it is.”

For now, we’re going back to the drawing board to explore the best possible experience for in-app notification and discovery.

“I told you so.”

In short, the Doug Bowman we’ve come to know and love would have never voluntarily put the QuickBar in the Twitter client. Just as Doug left Google on the matter of principles, I predict we’ll see him leaving Twitter as well, if this kind of stuff continues.

31
Mar 11

Swans Career Day

My wife and I were invited to participate in the Swans school “Career Day”. We were assigned one of about 10 tables in a large ballroom, where 100 or so year-10 students walked around asking career-related questions. Here’s a summary of the advice we gave:

  1. Technology is a great field to pursue. It’s never boring. It has the potential to impact people in positive ways, and to change the world.

  2. Don’t worry about making the wrong choice when deciding what to study at university. Neither Pino nor I relied on what we learned at university in our careers. If you’re going into technology, you probably would be better off with engineering, than, say, painting, but other than that, don’t worry about it.

  3. Work on your writing skills. The best companies these days, in most any field, are looking for people who can communicate clearly, and concisely in writing.

  4. Travel. Spend your summers living in other countries, so that you can get a perspective of the world outside Marbella.

  5. Don’t hesitate to change careers, in search of work that you enjoy. You want to do good work, and you’ll only do good work if you’re doing something you enjoy.

17
Mar 11

The Story of RaceSplitter

For almost a decade, my company, Makalu Interactive, has been providing web design and development services to clients. We’ve had a lot of both good fortune, and success. But all along, we’ve also dreamed of creating and selling our own products, and have been working towards the day in which we could share time between both serving clients, and creating for ourselves.

Late 2010, the opportunity to take the first step presented itself, and several months later, RaceSplitter — Makalu’s first product — went on sale in Apple’s App Store. The story of RaceSplitter — how it came about, how it was designed, and how it was later marketed — was recently published on the blog at 37signals.

Be sure to check it out! Click here to read the article.

07
Mar 11

The Big Short — A brief summary of the 2008 financial collapse.

The Big Short, by Michael Lewis, is an amazing book about the banking crisis of 2008. Having watched the events unfold over the course of about a year, and not really understanding everything involved, the tragedy of situation wasn’t quite as impressive to me at the time, as it is having read Lewis’ concise, clear and compressed explanation of it.

While I’d encourage everyone interested to read the book, I’m going to try to summarize the story here.

Continue reading →

24
Feb 11

Sam Harris on The Fact of Life

An excerpt from “Letter to a Christian Nation,” by Sam Harris:

THE FACT OF LIFE

All complex life on earth has developed from simpler life-forms over billions of years. This is a fact that no longer admits of intelligent dispute. If you doubt that human beings evolved from prior species, you may as well doubt that the sun is a star.

Imagine your potential for embarrassment if your religious faith rested on the presumption that the sun was not a star at all. Imagine millions of Christians in the United States spending hundreds of millions of dollars each year to battle the godless astronomers and astrophysicists on this point. Imagine them working passionately to get their unfounded notions about the sun taught in our nation’s school.

This is exactly the situation you are in now with respect to evolution.

Christians who doubt the truth of evolution are apt to say things like “Evolution is just a theory, not a fact.” Such statements betray a serious misunderstanding of the way the term “theory” is used in scientific discourse. In science, facts must be explained with reference to other facts. These larger explanatory models are “theories.” Theories make predictions and can, in principle, be tested. The phrase “the theory of evolution” does not in the least suggest that evolution is not a fact. One can speak about “the germ theory of disease” or “the theory of gravitation” without casting doubt upon disease or gravity as facts of nature.

In 2005, a survey was conducted in 34 countries measuring the percentage of adults who accept evolution. The United States ranked 33rd [Ed- nearly dead last], just above Turkey.

Meanwhile, high school students in the United States test below those of every European and Asian nation in their understanding of science and math.

These data are unequivocal: We are building a nation of ignorance.

18
Feb 11

Apple’s subscription policy is not unfair

Apple Inc. took a risk, and invested in the design and development of an integrated platform — including innovative devices, an operating system, a distribution system, and a payment system. They offer this platform in the free market, under a set of terms and conditions to which those who choose to participate must agree. Those terms explicitly allow Apple to change the game anytime they wish.

Continue reading →

14
Feb 11

Why we get fat

From, “Why we get fat“, the fantastic follow-up to “Good calories, Bad calories” by Gary Taubes:

In other words, the science itself makes clear that hormones, enzymes and growth factors regulate our fat tissue, just as they do everything else in the human body, and that we do not get fat because we overeat; we get fat because the carbohydrates in our diet make us fat.The science tells us that obesity is ultimately the result of a hormonal imbalance, not a caloric one—specifically, the stimulation of insulin secretion caused by eating easily digestible, carbohydrate-rich foods: refined carbohydrates, including flour and cereal grains, starchy vegetables such as potatoes, and sugars, like sucrose (table sugar) and high-fructose corn syrup.These carbohydrates literally make us fat, and by driving us to accumulate fat, they make us hungrier and they make us sedentary.

…and later…

If your goal in reading this book is simply to be told the answer to the question, “What do I do to remain lean, or lose the excess fat I have?” then this is it: stay away from carbohydrate-rich foods, and the sweeter the food or easier it is to consume and digest—liquid carbohydrates like beer, fruit juices and sodas are probably the worst—the more likely it is to make you fat, and the more you should avoid it.
13
Feb 11

Religion, historical context and common sense

When I get pulled into a discussion on the topic of religion, I usually end up leaving with many frustrating thoughts. In the most recent conversation, the following particularly stood out.

Continue reading →

12
Feb 11

The unfortunate consequences of protective social laws in Spain

According to Milton Friedman, the problem with socialism isn’t its intentions; the notions of government helping those in need, and protecting the disadvantaged are honorable. The problem is that when implemented, public funds inevitably end up in the wrong hands, and far more people exploit protection than benefit from it.

Continue reading →

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →