Mick's World

This is a great article posted by Mike Davidson:

MySpace: Unstoppable Force or Unnecessary Click Factory?

Need not say any more.

The blog has been running for around a month now and i’m looking to make a few small changes. Some of these will take place over the next couple of weeks to enhance the user experience. Changes that i’m looking to make are in relation to a few design aspects, as well as some new topics to be posted.

I’m looking to further grow this new born site, so i’m asking you, the reader to post comments on what you’d like to see. I won’t be doing a complete redesign. However i will be making minor cosmetic changes, if there is something in particular you feel should be here, or shouldn’t, please let me know. I will take into consideration these suggestions while i’m in the process of redecorating.

Another point i would like reader input on is the content, if you would like more information on topics i’ve posted or other topics that fit within the categories please mention it in the comments.

I’m looking to grow the site constantly, as a website such as a weblog with dynamic content is basically a living thing and should grow and change how living creatures in the ‘real world’ do.

There’s been quite a bit of interest lately with a remake of an old song, "I was only 19". Originally by a group called Redgum, the song is about Australian war veterans and what they went through as well as the affects of being involved in war.

After listening to the remake i had to hear the original version. It’s a great song, story wise and in the way it’s sung, very Australian. Being a fan of Hip Hop, and Aussie Hip Hop, the remake of an old Australian style song about Australian war veterans being turned into a great Aussie Hip Hop song had me listening to it again and again.

When the song was orignally made, Redgum spoke to war veterans to seek approval before releasing the song. The remake of the song, by The Herd, with the help of Redgum, was also taken to the veterans before it’s release. Not only is the song great, but the proper respects have been paid before being available for public listening.

I wasn’t able to find anywhere to download the original or remake of the song to post, so you’ll have to find your own means of aquiring it. However a Triple J podcast interviewing The Herd and John Schumann, from Redgum, is available for listening.

The Herd also worked with Broken Yellow to produce an excellent music video for the Aussie Hip Hop remake of the song.

If you would like more information on The Herd, visit their site eLefant Traks.

Following on from my previous post Anti-Design is wrong, which basically started from a post i read on Airbag Industries about MySpace.

Mike Davidson has recently posted about the ugly design of MySpace, in particular the user profile pages. The article explains how users can go about making a good looking MySpace user page, with the example of Mike’s user page, which looks very nice indeed. He also includes the CSS file and images he used for the MySpace makeover to make it easy to learn from.

Several weeks ago, I finally signed up for an account, and within seconds I was instantly put-off by what had been created for me: a hastily-designed “profile page” with uninspired colors, misaligned tables, and a mish-mash of extraneous cruft and design elements which made this feel more like a halfway house than a “home”. Now, granted, I am a designer by trade so my tolerance for this stuff is orders of magnitude lower than most of the population, but clearly, this was not a place I even felt comfortable having my name on.

What he’s done looks great and is also cross browser compatible. I’d also have to agree with this quote:

But imagine what a service like this could be with a professional makeover. Get a company like Adaptive Path or a few Bryan Velosos in there and you could open up a whole new world of user enjoyment and customization.

 As Mike also says in the article, MySpace is doing something very right to have the usership they have, however a professional makeover would quite possibly make it that much more appealing. To the ‘Non-Anti-Designers’ anyway.

I really enjoy coffee. Strong coffee. Black coffee with no sugar. It’s so tastey. I like to make a  strong plunger coffee just about every day. Plus being wired on coffee helps get a lot done in one day. Everyone’s got their technique to making coffee. Myself i put about four to five heaped scoops of ground coffee into the plunger, with some just under boiling water, stir and let it brew for about ten to fifteen minutes. It turns out thick and almost creamy, with a nice crema. It’s all about that crema, without it, it ain’t no good. Here’s one i made this morning:

I’ve also been trying something that my dad told me about. He did it many years ago with instant coffee though. The results would have to be better with ground coffee. You know how you get that last bit of the sludgy grounds in the bottom of the mug? Well that stuff is the goods! Don’t throw it away, leave it till the next morning and it goes hard, like so:

Now when you make your extra strong coffee in the morning just pour straight on top of this dried coffee grounds sludge (sometimes cracked like a desert that’s been in drought for many years).

Each day the coffee will get better in flavour and strength. I’ve had mine going for almost 2 weeks now. Mmmmmm good.