Trying Workflow Again
As I've transitioned to the iPad for more of my work, specifically client website updates, my process has been a bit in flux. It's an ongoing experiment. I won't dig into those details here but just wanted to mention it because as a process in flux I find that I'm actively looking for ways to streamline the process.
One particular area is adding new images to a site. For example, every month or so I get images for flyers for Marquand, Mo. More often than not it's a mix of jpgs and pdfs. If I were working from my Mac I'd open the file up from Apple Mail into Affinity Photo (or Photoshop though that is increasingly rare these days). From there I would save it for the web into the appropriate folder for the site on my central store of files on DropBox. Then I open Coda, the site and the file. Update the html and upload the new version along with the image.
How I do it on the iPad: from AirMail (or Apple Mail) if the file is a pdf I open the attachment in Graphic and crop (if necessary). Then I share to a very simple Workflow which prompts me to resize it with desired dimensions. The Workflow then opens up a save to Dropbox dialog in which I navigate to the appropriate folder. Once saved the Workflow then prompts me to save it to my local shared Transmit/Coda file store (on the iPad). Again, I navigate to the appropriate website folder and save. Then I open Coda and the site. I update the html and upload the new version along with the image to the server. The process is nearly identical as the process when using the Mac. If the file is already a jpg I can skip the step of opening the file in Graphic and just open it straight to Workflow where the image is resized and saved. In that case it's actually a couple steps shorter than the Mac process.
When I first set this Workflow up I just had the image files being saved in Dropbox. Then I would open them in the Dropbox app and send them to the local Transmit/Coda file store. This was at least a couple of extra steps. After a few weeks of this longer process it occurred to me to check Workflow to see if I could automate that step and sure enough, it worked. I simply had not thought it through the first time around. I know that I've still not really explored the many possibilities of using Workflow but this has really drawn my attention to the potential of the automation process!
The thing about Workflow is that it really requires imagination as well as an awareness of one's work processes. It's a very powerful toolset but a toolset that really requires the user to make an investment of time and mental focus. To realize the potential it requires one to first analyze the steps taken during our workday as well as a willingness to imagine how those steps might be accomplished by the app which means spending time to understand the features of the app. Then it requires a willingness to experiment in the Workflow building process. It's not that hard but I've noticed in reading others' comments online that there is a blockage for many people. The power of the app is obvious, but the steps and ways that the app can actually be put to use is not.
Much of what I've seen written online about the app offers examples of the Workflows in the gallery. The problem with those, though many might be helpful, is that they often seem trivial on the surface. They seem too simple, too much like tasks that can just be accomplished by going directly to an app or making a request of Siri. Opposite of this are the the far more detailed examples of complicated, custom Workflows don't seem useful as they are designed for very specific tasks. I guess what I'm getting at is that this is the kind of tool that many will download but never use because they are not prepared for that initial time and mental investment. They won't get it because it will seem too simple or too complicated or both.
Kakistocracy
Ryan Lizza, writing for the New Yorker
Seven days may not be enough time to fully assess any new leader, especially in the case of Trump, whose first week was marked by seeming chaos in his efforts to put together an Administration. But what we’ve learned so far about the least-experienced President-elect in history is as troubling and ominous as his critics have feared. The Greeks have a word for the emerging Trump Administration: kakistocracy. The American Heritage Dictionary defines it as a “government by the least qualified or most unprincipled citizens.” Webster’s is simpler: “government by the worst people.”
It’s up to us
So, Trump won the 2016 election. Yikes. Many are rightly concerned with what he and the Republican controlled congress will do. So many issues, far too many to cover here. No, this is a post about climate change because that’s one that affects us all and it’s the one that in the near and long term is causing significant damage to the ecosystems of our planet to the degree that our very survival is in question. For far, far too long people have looked to government for solutions. To technology and products for easy or even fun fixes. This must stop.
I think the real question is when will we all become the solution for the planet? I understand that laws can help, that federal funding can help. But each and every day every person on the planet makes choices, mostly going with the flow and the flow is harmful. This is especially true in the U.S. and other affluent nations where consumption of energy and goods have been far higher. It’s easier to go with the flow and so we do. We drive. We turn the thermostat to whatever makes us most comfortable. We buy food shipped in from across the country or world. We freeze our food, we refrigerate it. We buy new phones, tablets, and computers, big screen televisions, and huge houses to fill. New cars, new clothes, and the list goes on.
What. Are. We. Waiting. For? Must we really be told by the government how to behave? Forced? I get that corporations need such enforcement. The vast majority of them behave very badly in regards to the environment. But each of us? We can choose to do better. Every day we can choose to harm less but by and large we choose to harm more because its our way of life. Our way of life is based on consumption, comfort and convenience all of which are based on the burning of fossil fuels. That’s it. There’s no magic involved in fixing this.
DO LESS. CONSUME LESS. BE LESS COMFORTABLE. ACCEPT INCONVENIENCE.
A list of the things we can do everyday regardless of who is president:
Do the bare minimum in climate control of your home. If it’s cold outside be as cold inside as you can be. It was 30° today at sunrise. My tiny home was 50° because my heat was off. I was cozy because I was wearing warm clothes and was covered with blankets, a dog and a cat. I got up put on a jacket and made some coffee and oatmeal. In the summer I do the same. I do the best I can to deal with the heat. Eventually I turn on the AC just as this winter I will use heat. But I make a choice to cover up and to wear layers. I don’t assume it’s my right to crank my heat up to 70 or 75 or any other temperature.
Don’t drive unless you must. I work from home so it’s easy. I go to town once a week or less. I only go if I must and when I do I combine all my errands. If I forget something it waits until the next trip. When I lived in Memphis I walked and used a bike as much as possible. I did use a car when I needed to… and sometimes when it was convenient. But that’s when I made the wrong choice. Everyday our highways are full of cars most of which have only one person in them. That’s the wrong choice.
Take a train, not a plane. This is a big one. We fly the globe with little consideration of the climate change impact. If you’ve flown in the past year can you also say how much carbon your flight produced? Was it even on your radar? For some it may be but I’d guess that for most it never enters the equation. Why not? If we must travel we should travel by train as it is FAR more efficient.
Buy less. Buy used. Share. Make do. This is pretty straight forward. You don’t buy stuff unless you must. When you do buy you buy used if you can. Borrow first. Fix first. If you replace something and it is still useable (computers and gadgets especially) make sure it goes somewhere where it will be reused. Whether you sell it or donate it, be responsible for it because it’s not waste. It’s a resource with lots of energy bound up in it.
Reuse and recycle as much as possible. I stopped buying trash bags a long time ago. I use canvas bags for shopping but occasionally get the plastic bags that I use for trash. I throw away one of those plastic shopping bags filled with trash once every 2–3 weeks. Almost everything is recycled. When I do visit the dumpster it is always full of mostly recyclable materials that others are too lazy to recycle. Most “trash” isn’t trash at all.
Eat less meat, eat local food if possible. Food takes energy to produce and transport. Some takes more energy, beef and other raised livestock especially. This one can get complicated and probably requires it’s own post.
Do less in a general way. People are always on the go. Stop. Take a nap. Read a book. Take a walk. Just stay out of your car.
Last but not least, choose not to have children. This is another biggy that probably could do with it’s own post. Each human requires a lifetime of resources. There are 7+billion of us on the planet. We probably need to reduce that by lowering the birth rate.
This is just a partial list that covers some of the most obvious choices that also happen to have the most impact. I’ve had a thought in the past day that it would be great if we had a social media that combined aspects of FB, Instagram, Twitter etc but which was focused on making such changes. A website that offered an opportunity to commit to the most important, impactful choices that individuals can make. Such a site would include ways to share and document solutions and efforts. We should celebrate the effort and the change. Our social media hashtags should be about how we’re saving the planet. Our selfies should show our gardens and our produce. Our latest home improvement share should demonstrate practical repairs, re-uses and re-purposes. I think our use of social media has, to now, largely been about ego and status. That should change. It should be about supporting one another’s efforts to make the changes we must make if we are to survive.
Many of us were surprised by the election of 2016. Many upset. There’s much fear about the policies that will be enacted. The fears are valid. But much of the work we have to do would have existed regardless of the election. Especially in regards to the environment, much of what can happen, much of what needs to happen, much of what must happen, is in our own hands. We cannot wait for government to force us. We cannot wait for convenient technological fixes. We cannot wait. Me and you. We each make our choices. We must make better choices for ourselves and encourage others in our lives to do the same.
Old wood nooks, crannies and shelves
It’s been nearly a year since I moved back into my cabin and it’s been a good year of settling back into my place again. Much of what I’d done had been undone during my two years away but I’ve been busy making it my home. I had no intention of trying to return it to how I left it but thought something new out of available materials would be better. I had a good bit of reclaimed wood to use and that took care of about 60%. I did end up buying some trim boards as well as a few boards for shelving.
The above image is a corner of the cabin which started with some shelving on brackets but it looked naked so I used much of my reclaimed wood to warm it up a bit. It’s a mix of oddball sizes which resulted in a very cozy, dynamic surface with different depths. Even better, as I puzzle pieced it together I built in little shelves just deep enough for my iPad, candles, small potted plants, bluetooth speaker and any other oddly little thing that needs a temporary home. When I’ve had a chance to reclaim more old wood I’ll likely take it down another 14" so that it disappears below my futon.
Barack Obama: America will take the giant leap to Mars
One of my earliest memories is sitting on my grandfather's shoulders, waving a flag as our astronauts returned to Hawaii. This was years before we'd set foot on the moon. Decades before we'd land a rover on Mars. A generation before photos from the International Space Station would show up in our social media feeds
I’m not a huge fan of Barack Obama (Democrats, Republicans or the two party system in general). Nor am I a fan of CNN. But I came across Obama’s essay on Mars, space exploration and STEM and well, I just can’t help myself.
Someday, I hope to hoist my own grandchildren onto my shoulders. We'll still look to the stars in wonder, as humans have since the beginning of time. But instead of eagerly awaiting the return of our intrepid explorers, we'll know that because of the choices we make now, they've gone to space not just to visit, but to stay — and in doing so, to make our lives better here on Earth.
Well said.
Recent Work: Midwest Tiny Houses and Sheds
I don't just love tiny houses, I live and work in one. It suits me very well because I don't own much stuff and what I do keep around serves a function. Not much clutter in my world. My small space has served me very well and I don't see that changing for any reason. A couple months ago a local fellow started a new tiny buildings business and asked me to do a website and other marketing materials. Of course I was excited to see a new Fredericktown business and one that was going to be building tiny houses made it all the more interesting to me.
In the short time they've been around they've already built several buildings including a couple of cabins and garden sheds. Midwest Tiny Houses and Sheds will be building for local clients but are planning to build and deliver their buildings to clients in the St. Louis area and Cape Girardeau too. Basically they'll be focusing (initially) on St. Louis and Southeast Missouri.
I've had a first hand look at the construction and it's solid and well crafted. These are beautiful buildings that will last many years. Looking forward to seeing them thrive.
Favorite iOS 10 feature thus far?
iOS 10 was released about a month ago and my current favorite feature in just a little thing: when using a bluetooth keyboard with my iPad I can use the command-tab combo to bring up the application switcher while I'm in an app. There is no visual jump to having the switcher over the home screen first. Just a second of time and less jarring visually. Still, nice!
Finishing the Herschel I program
In the fall of 2012 I bought my first telescope since having one as a kid. I wasn’t sure how much use I’d get out of it but I wanted to give it a go. I suspected I’d not regret the purchase. Within the first couple of weeks I’d become obsessed. I went out each clear night and sometimes stayed up till I started dozing at the scope which was often in the wee hours of the morning. Within a couple weeks I’d started keeping track of the objects I was viewing. I started just with the date, object name/ID, date and time. Soon after I started noting the eyepiece I was using as well as a description. It occurred to me that it would be fun to do the full Messier list and get the certificate from the Astronomical League. Not that I cared all that much about the recognition but having a list helps give a bit of order to the process. Had I not taken it on I might have gotten stuck looking at the same objects. Another side effect of having a list and doing the “official” program is the requirement that the observer find the objects on their own. No go-to telescopes allowed. Which was not as much of an issue as I didn’t have a go-to telescope. But reading about the program drew my attention to the idea of systematic searching and recording.
A month into the Messier list I realized there were some nights that when I would have no objects to search for as I would have already found all the available objects on the list that were up in the sky. So it occurred to me to look for another list that I could start at which point I became aware of all the various programs that the Astronomical League administers. I settled on the Herschel I and got started. It’s a list of 400 objects from the NGC catalog of 7,840 objects, largely based on the observations of William Herschel, his son John and his sister Caroline. It’s a mix of galaxies, star clusters and various kinds of nebulae. It’s a great list to do after the Messier list because it is slightly more difficult with fainter objects.
I finished up, or thought I did, about a year later. Upon checking my list though I discovered that I’d bungled a few by not recording proper descriptions and I was also missing a few. So, I started filling in my gaps until, about a year later, I thought I was finished. And, again, I discovered a few I had missed! So, back to it. With each successive check my list of missed objects was getting smaller. Essentially my transition from the initial list to spreadsheet to database introduced a few errors. Over the past couple of months I’ve been taking care of the few remaining objects and in the wee hours of a late September morning I finally got the last object in my eyepiece. NGC 2372, a planetary nebula in Gemini. I entered it in to my report and spent the rest of the morning double checking my final list. All in all the list took about four years and during that time I recorded well over 500 observations for that particular list (many duplicates due to the first 100 or so having been recorded without the detailed descriptions).
What did I learn during the experience? I learned much more about seeing the objects. Early on I was moving too quickly from one object to the next. It was not uncommon for me to log 15 objects in a 4 or 5 hour session. That’s three to four an hour. When you consider the time it takes to find an object in the scope and record the observation it turns out I was only looking at some objects for 5 minutes or so. That’s a minimal amount of time. These days I tend to look at about half that number of objects and I spend more time on each one.
The process of really seeing a faint object requires dark adapted eyes (no bright lights after you start viewing. Only low levels of red light!) and it requires at least 10-15 minutes, often times more, for each object. I also find it helpful and more educational if I take some time reading about the object. I don’t necessarily see the object better but reading about it helps me appreciate what I’m seeing. It’s easy to do using Sky Safari which is my preferred astronomy app. Each object has a description associated with it, many of them are quite detailed. There are also images in the app which can be very helpful in finding some of the details that might otherwise be missed.
I also was also reminded that there is an important connection between observation, vocabulary and description. As with any skilled observation it is important to develop an understanding of the components of what is being viewed. For example, if I’m viewing birds I pay attention to not just the colors but also the shape of the beak and tail, the physical habits, the body shape, the song, etc. There are many details that will help me identify the species of bird I’m looking at as well as understand something about the bird for example it’s diet or food gathering habits. The same might be said of plants, trees, butterflies or any other observation of the natural world including astronomical objects. There is a certain literacy that goes with observation and increased literacy means a more detailed interpretation of the sensory data.
When I first began looking at galaxies I mostly just saw smudges of light. But right off it was evident that the shapes varied. For example, the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) and it’s two neighbor galaxies (M32, M110) vary quite a bit in size, shape, brightness and features. They’re a good starting point and learning tool. M31, a spiral galaxy, fills even the largest wide-field eyepiece with its large disc and offers a concentrated, bright nucleus as well as dust lanes. By comparison, M32, an elliptical galaxy, appears as a compact and bright nucleus with no disc. M110 is also an elliptical galaxy but is much larger than M32 and better described as an oblong nebulosity with a slightly bright central area but no bright core or nucleus. But while these three nearby galaxies are a good starting point and each offer different characteristics to be described they are just the beginning of many galaxies. Then there are the many kinds of nebulae and star clusters to learn about. No doubt astronomy offers many years of possible observation, a lifetime of possibilities in fact.
So, where to next? I’ve already started three other programs: double stars, nebulae, and the Herschel II list. I think I’m going to start the lunar program as well. As our closest neighbor the moon can cause a great deal of light pollution for much of each month making other observations difficult. But it’s a fascinating subject itself, why not enjoy it?!
Looking at other galaxies
One of the best things about living under really dark skies and having a decent telescope is viewing other galaxies. While I equally enjoy the many beautiful objects in our own galaxy such as nebulae and globular clusters, the hunt for distant galaxies has a meditative quality for me. Sometimes the finding is a bit of a let down. For example, last night I went looking for NGC 7042, a spiral galaxy. It took some doing but I found it. It’s 250 million light years away. Yeah. It was the faintest little smudge of light barely detectable on a very clear night with a decently sized telescope (12.5 inches). When I find these really faint ones I always laugh at my disappointment. Yes, it is a galaxy filled with billions of stars and yes, I just sighed in disappointment. But, but, it’s 250 million light years away I remind myself. Not only that it is moving away from us at 5,083 kilometers per second or, 1.7% the speed of light. There will come a time in the distant future when that galaxy and others are no longer visible from Earth. The stretched out light will no longer reach us. The Universe is expanding and that expansion is accelerating. Eventually galaxies that are currently visible to us will blink out. Of course, by that time we’ll likely not be here to notice.
The thing about viewing other galaxies is that it helps frame the scale of the Universe. When I look at the star Vega I’m seeing a star that is only 25 light years away. Yes, still a vast distance from our perspective. But it’s in our local neighborhood so to speak. In fact, it’s like a neighbor on our own street. Funny thing, the stars we see when we look up without a telescope are all in our local neighborhood. We’re only seeing about 6,000 of the very closest stars in our galaxy of 200 billion stars. When I look at the Orion Nebula I’m looking at something that is only 1,400 light years away. Sure, that’s a good bit further than Vega but again, remember that our Milky Way galaxy is an average of 100,000 light years in diameter. So, Orion is still very much in our local neighborhood.
[caption id=“attachment_928” align=“alignnone” width=“2560”]
The Andromeda Galaxy is the largest galaxy of the Local Group which consists of about 45 other galaxies including our Milky Way.[/caption]
But back to the viewing of galaxies, the easiest to view from the Northern hemisphere of Earth is Andromeda which is “only” 2.5 million light years away. It fills the eyepiece of my telescope and can actually be seen with the naked eye if you’re under dark skies. I have no problem picking it out from the stars of the Milky Way. It’s oval of faint light is actually quite large and fills an area larger than the full moon in our night sky. It’s quite close and in fact, billions of years in the future we will in fact merge with Andromeda. I viewed Andromeda just two nights ago. I also viewed the Bode’s galaxy, M81 and the Cigar Galaxy, M82 which are a pair of galaxies 12 million light years away and are fairly bright and easy to find with a telescope. In 2014 a star went supernova in M82 and we were able to view it from Earth. Quite a show! So the pair is, in the larger scale of things, quite close. A bit further than Andromeda but not nearly as far as the 250 million light years that makes NGC 7042 so faint.
Faint and distant or bright and close, viewing other galaxies is a thrill because it means looking at the starlight of hundreds of billions stars. As those photons stream into my eyes I’ve got a direct connection with the ancient starlight created by billions of suns. It is light that has been stretching through the Cosmos for millions of years and ends its journey in my eye. The experience is one which enhances my perspective and gives life on Earth an added dimension. In seeing such distant worlds I begin to contemplate and understand the scale of the Universe in a way I had not before. It has changed who I am as a human as well as my understanding of what it means to be human.
Painting the Orion Nebula
In the fall of 2012 I had my first ever look at the Orion Nebula through a telescope. Like many people I'd seen Hubble images which are obviously stunning. Also, like many that know their constellations, I had seen it with my naked eyes as one of the stars in the sword of Orion. But with a telescope of any size or even with good binoculars, the middle star of the sword emerges as the center of this fantastic nebula. It's the sort of object many amateur astronomers will revisit many times. I know I have. It's a winter object, often referred to as the gem of the winter sky and with good reason. Of all the nebula visible from the northern hemisphere, winter or summer, The Orion Nebula is the most distinctive in terms of size and contrast. It provides amateur astronomers an opportunity to train their eyes in the discernment of greater details. Provided the same seeing conditions, a first viewing for 10 minutes is likely to be improved with a second viewing for 10 minutes the same night or another. Look again a third time for 15 minutes and you are very likely to see more detail. With each subsequent viewing more details emerge. It's also an object that benefits from larger, better instruments. So, while I can view it with binoculars or a 6" reflector if I get a chance to view it with a 10 or 12" reflector I will see a great deal more especially if I've had numerous previous sessions with it.
I've not yet tried to sketch or paint the nebula while at the scope though I hope to do just that this winter. In the mean time I decided to give it a go as my second painting using Procreate on the iPad. My intent is to do a series of these in part to improve my painting technique and knowledge of Procreate but also to better learn the details of the object. Just as more time looking through the telescope results in noticing more detail, more time looking at and painting an image, does the same. With each painting I'm also spending more time reading about the object. Usually using a combination of the Sky Safari description in combination with the Wikipedia entry. Here's the entry for the Orion Nebula.
In total I've spent about 27 hours broken up into 5 or so sessions. Here's a look after about 16 hours:
At this point it was easily recognizable but still missing many details. I should mention that I have no experience painting on any medium. It may well be that this sort of project should have taken half the time. Or double the time. It may also be that I'm going about it all wrong. The gist of it is that I'm layering. I've got a layer of stars on the very top, another for the base nebula which is largely created with the airbrush and sits at the bottom. Then I end up with at least two layers of wispy nebulosity and yet one more which consists of the darkest nebulosity and sits on top. These are often the thickest, clumpiest bits of dust and gas which more completely block the light coming from behind. The thickest of these are often referred to as bok globules.
The next image represents about 22 hours. Lots of refinements and new details.
Much closer but still not there. It's hard to know when it's "done". I could have stopped at this point but many details were missing and some bits that I did have were not right. That said, it's a painting and not meant to be exact. I suspect that going forward I'll play with this idea of what's finished because there is no way to know. Especially with something such as this, my intent is to get something that very closely resembles the photographic image but which is still obviously a painted version. It's not necessarily a creative project as much as it is a documentary.
The last image was finished this morning. I thought I was finished last night. But upon opening it up noticed more details. And that's the thing of it. I made some changes this morning but could have kept going. I could have spent all day on it and tomorrow as well. There's always another wisp of gas to be painted. Another knot of darker gas. A missing star. An area of gas in which my color is off. So is it finished? Yeah, for now. It's time to take a break and then move on. Here it is after about 27 hours.
Of course it should be said that the photographic images vary. Not only can the color very but also the emphasis on stars or nebulosity can change (among other things). It depends, in part, on the spectrum in which the photo was taken. The electromagnetic spectrum is a wonderful thing consisting of a variety of wavelengths each of which is photons traveling at different energy levels. The lower energy wavelengths such as radio or microwave are longer and pass through gas and dust more readily thus images taken in those wavelengths will tend to allow more background stars through. Images taken at higher wavelengths such as the visible will tend to show fewer stars as the foreground gas and dust will block some of them. Here's the image I used for this painting, taken from the Wikipedia:
Innovation is often in the details
I recently decided to switch from AT&T to Sprint because I can get a good bit more data. It was this decision which led me into a nearby Sprint store which led to the store employee asking me about my use of the iPhone. He uses Android. My take on it is, eh, whatever. I don't care what platform other people use. Use what floats your boat. iOS, Android, hand-made paper, stone tablet, whatever. In any case, as we chatted he suggested that Apple's not been very innovative in recent years. It's something I've heard recently… or rather, read recently. Plenty of times. Mostly I just shrug and giggle. There are more important things to worry about (climate change being the top of my list). That said, I am also a geek, so I do have a few thoughts not just on Apple devices and innovation but also on the ease with which we form opinions often without little knowledge or understanding of a situation or technology.
I've not used a new iPhone 7 but from what I've seen and read, it is a solid technological upgrade with a nearly identical shell. So, to deal with the shell first, I'm an adult and I just don't see the need for a change every year or other year or even every three years. Change for change's sake does not interest me much. Frankly I think that speaks to a kind of immaturity, a kind of insecurity. It demonstrates a surface level desire for the new rather than a deeper, thoughtful appreciation and respect for the work that goes into something artfully designed. It's an expression of a society that is never happy with what it has, never satisfied, always greedy for the next new thing whether it is an improvement or not.
But beyond the I agree with the sentiment that I'm seeing around which is that the iPhone design has become iconic. Ben Bajarin's latest, The Benchmark iPhone 7 Plus is just one example of such sentiment.
Excellent, beautiful design, should stand the test of time. A well designed device should last awhile not need replacing every year or other year. That speaks to a throw away culture, plastic forks and paper plates. I've got a 2012 Mac Mini that I will use until it no longer functions. It is has, to my eyes, a simple and beautiful design. It sits quietly on a shelf of my standing desk and does what I need it to do. My iPad Air 2 is the same story except that it resides near me, be it on the futon or at the library or wherever. Same for the iPhone.
In my eyes the outer shell of the current iPhone is close to perfect. They changed up the design enough to make it water proof and that's a fantastic new feature even if it still looks the same (new color options notwithstanding). Internally they've built an entirely new camera system, processors, taptic engine and more. There's nothing about this iPhone that is the same. These are the changes that matter the most in terms of what the iPhone can be in terms of a functional, useful tool. The only way to look at this current device or the evolution of this device and come away with the idea that it demonstrates a lack of innovation is to look at it with your eyes closed. Such a statement demonstrates a shallowness of perception and a lack of effort of in observation. From the cameras to the processors to a host of other components, the iPhone is an excellent example of thoughtful iteration of design and it's in the details of the evolution that one will find the innovation.
I'd say that's it's not just the iPhone or iPad which demonstrate such innovation but equally important is the evolution of iOS as well. Again, it is a iterative process. Some years the "innovation" is more user facing, other years it is foundational. But it is there. Innovation is not just shiny new device categories. In the case of the iPad Pro and Pencil it can certainly be said that the Pencil, as an accessory, is innovative in the details of the implementation. By all accounts there's never been a stylus like it before and that's because of the details of the software and hardware engineering of both Pencil and iPad.
In the case of iOS and the Apple ecosystem I'd suggest that one innovation that adds to the delight and usefulness of the hardware is the communication between devices. Whether it is the hand off between device clipboards that is a new feature in 2016 or the handoff off app tasks that came on board in iOS 8 or the upcoming handoff that will allow the new AirPods to seamlessly move from device to device as the user moves from device to device. I can easily imagine starting a podcast on my Mac Mini. Half way through the dog goes to the door to let me know he needs a walk so I pickup my iPhone and see the handoff icon for the podcast app in the corner. I push the icon up and after unlocking the phone with my thumb the audio seamlessly switches to the iPhone and continues playing through the AirPods as I move from one device to the next. That is the kind of software/hardware innovation that Apple excels at and it makes for a delightful user experience.
Everyone has an opinion as they are easy to have, but few of us are ever aware of the details. Whether it is the details of the engineering of Apple's latest release or the detail of a probe sent into the solar system by NASA, engineering is all about the details. It's probably safe to say that while most of us are generally unaware of those details we are very good at enjoying the experience that they provide. We are good at taking for granted the innovation and the science involved in the technology that surrounds us. All of this to say that it's easy to sound silly when we express opinions often based on little to no understanding of the details of the technology and process.
Off the Charts Heat
August might be a new record for hottest month ever recorded:
On Monday, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration announced that August 2016 has probably set a new record for the warmest absolute month ever measured, though it’s so close to July 2016 as to be in a statistically indistinguishable tie. That’s saying something, because Earth’s globally averaged temperature normally peaks in July — this year, that didn’t happen. Whichever month is a hair warmer, the conclusion is the same: When it comes to global warming, 2016 is something very special.
Effects of Climate Change Creeping In
The New York Times reports on already occurring climate change flooding of coast:
NORFOLK, Va. — Huge vertical rulers are sprouting beside low spots in the streets here, so people can judge if the tidal floods that increasingly inundate their roads are too deep to drive through.
Five hundred miles down the Atlantic Coast, the only road to Tybee Island, Ga., is disappearing beneath the sea several times a year, cutting the town off from the mainland.
And another 500 miles on, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., increased tidal flooding is forcing the city to spend millions fixing battered roads and drains — and, at times, to send out giant vacuum trucks to suck saltwater off the streets.
Yet another example that this is not a problem of the future.
Painting the Eagle Nebula
A couple months back I started to see quite a few mentions of an iPad app called Procreate. It had been out for a couple of years but with Apple’s release of the iPad Pro and Pencil, Procreate was getting some new attention because it is an app specifically designed for painting on the iPad. I’m not a painter which is why I’d not given it more than a passing glance before. That said I have spent the past few years focusing more on increasing my graphic design skills, specifically vector-based work. I began with Illustrator because that is the industry standard. But have branched out to others because I don’t like Adobe’s subscription model. In any case, my time spent working in vector apps led to several for-fun illustration projects which has opened the door a bit to a larger creative flow. Enter Procreate and the idea of sketching or painting with an iPad.
I’ve not upgraded to an iPad Pro yet as my Air 2 is still quite fast and fully capable of doing what I do with it. I’ve never noticed the slightest bit of lag. So, when I started playing with Procreate it was not with Apple’s fancy new Pencil but with a generic $3 tablet stylus. It’s got a rubbery ball end that works much better than a finger for seeing where I’m touching the glass and allows for a much smaller point of contact. Nothing so accurate or fine as the Pencil but it still works pretty well.
[caption id=“attachment_908” align=“alignnone” width=“2480”]
The Pillars of Creation[/caption]
My first really go at something was unintentional. It started as a doodle of a book cover which had a close up image of the “Pillars of Creation” which is just one small part of the Eagle Nebula. Ten minutes turned into twenty which turned into an hour and then two hours. I couldn’t put it down. I spent the better part of a day and evening. And a couple days later I picked it up again to fix a few bits that were out of proportion which led to another evening. By the time I was “finished” I’d probably spent 15 hours on it. I’ve no doubt that someone with more skill could have done much better in less time but for me it was not only a learning process but I found it incredibly relaxing.
[caption id=“attachment_909” align=“alignnone” width=“2480”]
The Eagle Nebula[/caption]
A few days ago I’d gotten the notion that perhaps I should enlarge the project to more of the nebula. Yesterday I picked up the iPad, duplicated the file, and gave it a go. As before, the hours just flew by as I concentrated on the contact between stylus and glass. I think this second, larger painting was about 8 hours. I could likely spend another few hours on this and may yet do that. Something I’m finding with this kind of work is that it’s never really finished. There’s always something that can be changed. There are many, many details within an image like this that I could give my attention to. Also, this only represents a small portion of the much larger nebula. Perhaps that will be the next project.
The larger nebula:
[caption id=“attachment_907” align=“alignnone” width=“2500”]
Image of Eagle Nebula[/caption]
And, of course, the Wikipedia page for the Eagle Neblua!
Star Trek: A Future Without Money?
Yes please. Where do I sign up? I’ve long thought that humanity would be better off without money. Whether this personal belief arose from my adoption of anarchism or whether I adopted anarchism because of the belief I no longer remember. Regardless, the future I wanted was a future in which humans were less concerned with the accumulation of wealth as well as the accumulation of stuff. Such a focus was holding us back from not only our individual potential but our collective potential as well.
During the same time that I was evolving into an anarchist and an activist I was also becoming a fan of Star Trek. In particular it was the then active series, The Next Generation that had my attention. Something I picked up on at some point along the way was that money and material possessions seemed irrelevant to the characters. I don’t recall now if it was explicitly discussed in the course of the show but it seemed to be the case that money simply didn’t exist. At least not on the Enterprise. The material needs of the crew were never an issue. But even more than that, the culture of the Enterprise, while organized as a hierarchy, was also egalitarian in many ways. There seemed to be an emphasis on cooperation even as personal, self development was encouraged and explored. From the arts to sciences, the crew were always engaged in self development. What was depicted was a version of humanity that evolved far beyond where we find ourselves today. It presented a better vision, an ideal, of what humanity could be. This was the future I wanted, this was the kind of humanity I hoped for.
At some point in the mid 90s I remember watching this particular Star Trek movie, Star Trek: First Contact and there it was a scene in which Captain Jean-Luc Picard explained that “The acquisition of wealth is no longer the driving force of our lives. We work to better ourselves and the rest of humanity.” There it was. Not just implied but explicitly stated. Yes! Exactly. And this, again, Picard from the episode “The Neutral Zone”:
“That’s what all this is about. A lot has changed in past 300 years. People are no longer obsessed with the accumulation of things. We have eliminated hunger, want, the need for possessions. We’ve grown out of our infancy.”
This particular aspect of the Star Trek Universe is explored in a new book, Trekonomics, by Manu Saadia:
Yet, Star Trek does not owe its enduring popularity and its place in our collective imagination to its aliens or to its technological speculations. What makes it so unique, and so exciting, is its radical optimism about humanity’s future as a society: in other words, utopia.In Star Trek, humanity has reached abundance. Thanks to scientific progress and good governance, the Federation has overcome the social ills commonly associated with the uneven distribution of material wealth. The citizens of the Federation no longer work to sustain and provide for themselves — they find meaning in more elevated pursuits."
I’ve not read it yet but I’ve just started it. From the Introduction:
To this day, the greatest sense of wonder I experience from Star Trek comes not from the starships and the stars, new life and new civilizations, but from its depiction of an uncompromisingly humanist, galaxy-spanning utopian society.
We are a far, far cry from that version of humanity. But that’s okay. Because, again, the point is, we can all be better humans. The world is what we make it everyday. We can choose to go with the flow which today is largely one of destruction and discordance or we can, like the characters of the Star Trek universe, strive to improve ourselves and the lives of those around us. We don’t need to be paid to be better humans, we can just do it. In fact, that’s a part of the point. Striving to be better for the sake of being better, without financial reward, is, in and of itself an immediate improvement. Even more, if our striving is cooperative and includes those around us. This is the world I want to create.
Via New Book ‘Trekonomics’ Investigates Challenges of a No-Money Universe
Juno Mission Infographic
When I'm not creating something for a client chances are pretty good that I'm reading about astronomy, physics, space exploration or some related area of science. I've often used those interests as the ingredients in a variety of a for-fun graphic design projects. If you follow NASA at all you probably know that this past July we put the Juno spacecraft into orbit around Jupiter. On August 27 NASA announced that Juno completed it's first extended orbit around the planet and has begun the next orbit. There will be 35 more in total. In celebration of the mission I put together a Juno infographic:
NASA's Juno Completes Jupiter Flyby
This is very exciting. I love that we are exploring our solar system (and the larger Universe) with new rovers and orbital instruments sent up on a regular basis. Humans are at their best when they are seeking to understand the Universe.
NASA's Juno mission successfully executed its first of 36 orbital flybys of Jupiter today. The time of closest approach with the gas-giant world was 6:44 a.m. PDT (9:44 a.m. EDT, 13:44 UTC) when Juno passed about 2,600 miles (4,200 kilometers) above Jupiter's swirling clouds. At the time, Juno was traveling at 130,000 mph (208,000 kilometers per hour) with respect to the planet. This flyby was the closest Juno will get to Jupiter during its prime mission.“Early post-flyby telemetry indicates that everything worked as planned and Juno is firing on all cylinders,” said Rick Nybakken, Juno project manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
Intentionally Obtuse?
Jeesh. Mike Murphy, writing for Quartz:
In the six years that it’s been on the market, Apple’s iPad has always been a bit of a confusing product.
Confusing for who? I purchased one in 2010 the first day it was available. Many in my family did as well. There are well over 10 iPads being used in my extended family at the moment by users from 12 to 83. No confusion there. Maybe Mike Murphy needs to talk to my 12 year old niece or my 83 year old grandmother about how to use an iPad?
The iPad was sold as an easy to use computer in a tablet form. As I recall the marketing focused on it being a fun, flexible device that could be used in a variety of ways and places and for a variety of tasks. From email to games, web browsing to book reading to document creation. Standing at a counter, riding a bus or train, laying on a bed or reclining in a lounger, the tablet form factor and larger screen was a kind of mobile computing that iPhones and laptops could not offer.
For those that wanted to do more work with the new device the iWork apps were there from day one. Various blogging tools and even html editing apps with built in ftp soon showed up in the App Store. Apple even offered a keyboard dock from day one. iOS was far more limited in the early days but plenty of people thought using the device was pretty straight forward. Even better, many elderly people who'd previously never ventured onto the Internet finally felt safe to do so.
When it debuted, some mocked it as essentially being the equivalent of four iPhones stuck together. Steve Jobs referred to it as the device that was ushering in the “post-PC era.” But in Apple’s most recent advertising campaign, it’s referred to multiple times as a computer, as an antidote to a Windows PC.
Yes. Mocked by tech journalists and a few tech enthusiasts. But normal people? Lots of them flocked to the iPad and were very happy with the device. Which is why the iPad sold so well. Sales have not maintained the initial pace but that's not likely something that can be based on dissatisfaction so much as the fact that iPads have a long lifespan. They don't need to be replaced every other year or even every couple of years.
As for the change in positioning and marketing by Apple, well, yes. It's 2016. The iPad is increasingly more powerful as is iOS. Apple refers to the iPad as a computer because it is one. The more precise debate is whether the iPad allows people to replace laptop or desktop computers. The answer is obvious. For some, yes, it does. For others, no. Depends on what one needs. This is not rocket science.
The iPad Pro is an excellent device if all you want to do is check the occasional email, watch a movie or two, and maybe check in on Facebook. Editing Excel spreadsheets without a mouse, typing up long emails (or trying to build a post like this), or editing photos is still far, far easier to do on a real laptop.
Ha. Hahahahahahahahahaha. That's funny. There's a certain someone with the initials M.M. that has been hiding in a cave for a few years. Again, I've got several people in my family who would be willing to tutor Mike if he wants to learn how to use an iPad. Apparently he's never figured it out. Certainly Mike understands that any old Bluetooth keyboard can be used with an iPad for the strenuous task of typing up a long email or blog post? Wherever would we be if Mike were unable to "build" his informational blog posts?
Via the Macalope.
Apple asks: What’s a Computer?
In a recent iPad Pro ad Apple simply asks “What’s a computer?” In response Microsoft has issued an ad mocking the iPad and Apple’s assertion. The suggestion being that if a device doesn’t run desktop class apps it’s not a computer. If it lacks a mouse, trackpad, and ports it’s not a computer. All irrelevant points. It’s been a question that’s been debated long before the iPad or Apple’s ad. But it seems a tired debate and a silly question. Isn’t the answer clear?
I suppose lines could get fuzzy with all of the embedding that is going on these days. But in terms of stand alone devices that people might use to compute, certainly it’s obvious that smart phones, whether they run Android or iOS are computers. As are tablets and laptops and desktops. All of them are computers that take on different form factors. My iPhone has more computing power than my Mac Color Classic or my G4 MacMini. In fact, it’s got more built in storage, ram and processor than any computer I owned prior to 2006. I can (and have) create and edit documents, spreadsheets, and movies with both the iPhone and iPad.
Really, why is this being debated at this point? Why does the form factor variation confuse so many people? Enough already!