The Blog

• November 23, 2010
• text

  Net Neutrality - A free internet depends on you.

  I haven’t written here in a long time. I know this. This, however, is super important and I need you to read it carefully because I’m going to spell it out in plain english.

  What is going on here?

  Cable companies and other Internet Providers (ISPs) are trying to limit your access to certain websites. They’re trying to hold your net access for ransom. What they’re trying to do is, in summary, create different levels of access for websites so that they can charge a premium to sites such as Facebook or Google. Don’t have the “Premium Package”? Too bad, you can’t access Facebook.

  What is net neutrality?

  Net Neutrality is the concept that all websites online should be treated with equal stature. Since these cable companies want to put smaller websites like my own on the maximum packages, it means you won’t be able to access a good portion of the internet without paying a hefty chunk of change.

  Is this legal?

  Yes. Unless the concept of Net Neutrality is protected either by FCC decree or an actual legislative bill (which got shot down by cable company lobbyists, by the way), cable companies can begin charging you money for different packages or internet access levels.

  Don’t we have different speeds for different costs now?

  Yes, but what we’re talking about here is any access at all to certain websites, not just the speeds you connect to them at. Even worse, they also want to charge sites like Google for the ability to reach their customers.

  Why have I not heard of this?

  There are big companies paying politicians a lot of big money to make sure this issue gets shelved, put on the back burner, or voted down. Most notably, the GOP (Republican party) believes its the rights of the cable companies to charge however they want for whatever they provide. This is simply wrong. People should have equal access to data and free speech to use it regardless of income.

  I am of the belief that access to information is as much a human right as freedom of speech. I hope you’ll agree.

  What can we do?

  Glad you asked. The FCC is holding a meeting in December to decide the fate of their enforcement of Net Neutrality. So far, they’ve held out but the big cable companies are making a lot of lobbying progress. If the FCC folds, which they will if we dont speak up, then the internet as we know it will cease to exist. Instead, it will become impossible for small sites to gain any traction whatsoever. The websites you know now are the only websites you’ll ever hear about again. I simply cannot afford to pay a cable company for access to their customers, and I am 100% sure there are hundreds of thousands of websites that are in the same boat.

  Michael Copps, the current FCC Commissioner, said the following about protecting Net Neutrality:

  “…only if people understand — really understand — what’s at stake here, and only if you demand action. You. Action. Now. So I ask you to act like democracy depends on what you do. Because it does.”

  So we need to let him know that we understand and WE DO CARE. Some paid off members of congress are trying to pitch Net Neutrality as a bad thing… that the government will be “taking over the internet omg!”. In reality, the FCC wants to maintain equality among websites. That is precisely why companies like Google, Apple and Microsoft all support Net Neutrality and people like “Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.), ranking member of the telecom subcommittee” are against it.

  Act Now

  Do not wait. Please take a brief moment to say something, ANYTHING, in favor of Net Neutrality to Commissioner Michael Copps by emailing him right now.

  If we fail to play this game, then we’ll all lose.

  — Jimmy

  
  

  5 notes

• January 28, 2010
• text

  My thoughts on the iPad.

  A lot of people seem to have an issue with Apple’s recently announced iPad, despite having never touched one. I personally think the iPad is going to be a game changer, and here are my reasons why.

  The OS

  Tablets are nothing new. They’ve been around for at least 15 years in some form or another, but they’ve never managed to do well. Why? I blame the operating system. A fully enabled windows or OSX expects to be run on a full PC or laptop. The way you interact with those operating systems is entirely different from how you interact with a touch-based OS.

  Applications for desktop operating systems are designed with mice or click/point devices in mind. If you try to interact with your fingers on an application like that, the experience is pure garbage. The iPhone/iPod Touch got it right. The buttons are big, clear and concise. Couple that with amazing touchscreen hardware and you end up with a great product. Apple knows this and has leveraged their iPhone OS for the iPad.

  The Apps

  The apps that were built for the iPhone are generally lightweight-productivity apps. This makes them ideal for deployment on a mobile device with lower processing power. In addition to the processing power, you have to understand that tablet buyers aren’t looking for full functionality applications. They have desktops or laptops that are much more profficient at these tasks. Imagine a full copy of Photoshop running on the iPad. What would be the point? It’s simply too much. That makes the iPhone OS the perfect candidate for a tablet. I didn’t realize this before today, as I was expecting OSX to run on the iPad.

  The Screen

  The biggest gripes I’ve seen so far have compared the iPad to a “giant iPhone”. I would say that’s about right. What they don’t realize is that the screen makes all the difference. The screen size means two things: Firstly, you’ll definitely hold the device differently. In doing so, you change the way you interact with it. Unlike the iPhone, you’ll generally hold the iPad with both hands in either vertical or horizontal orientation. This makes all the difference from a UI perspective.

  Secondly, the simple fact that theres more real estate on the screen means we designers can do more with the allowed space. With the iPhone, we’re constantly thinking about states. Because the screen is so small, we have to decide which functionality will be on the current page and which functionality will be removed for a different page. With the iPad, we won’t need to do that. This will result in more engaging applications.

  The App Store

  A lot of people blame the choice of operating system on the app store — They think Apple makes more money off of it, hence this is the only reason to use the iPhone OS… to gain profit from the app store. While I’ll agree they make a handy profit from the app store, this is far from the only reason to use the iPhone OS (and the app store).

  The app store offers many things to both developers and consumers. Of course, application visibility is a given. A delivery platform is a nice thing to have as well — one place to manage your application purchases comes in handy. But, moreso than that, I enjoy the app store for the prices. Applications that sometimes you would pay $30 to $80 for are now only $1 to $10, tops. The competition because of the increased visibility helps keep prices low. It’s simple economics, really.

  The Announcement

  I teased that I was making an announcement here, so here it is. It’s not that significant, but I want to make it known. JimmyLA LLC will be producing applications for the iPad. We hope to have our first application available shortly after the iPad is available, if not immediately after. I won’t say what application, but rest assured that I see the power in this platform. I know it will be a big hit, and I’m positive a lot of people will be forced to eat their words. The ways this platform can be applied around-the-house or in-the-office are substantial. I don’t think business travelers will have a big need for an iPad, but I could see opting for the iPad instead of a laptop when on a personal vacation. I guess we’ll see, right?

  — Jimmy

  
  

  0 notes

• December 30, 2009
• text

  Introducing SongScraps.com!

  

  Tonight I’m proud to announce the completion of the second website in the JimmyLA arsenal, SongScraps.com.

  To sum up the site, it allows song writers to capture inspiration when it hits them. The idea was borne about a year ago when I got tired of writing my song notes in my iPhone’s notepad. I envisioned a site that could store my text snippets and sync them to my devices, among other things.

  The site was designed, developed and created entirely by myself. I had some help on the logo from Chris Welch. It took me approximately 3 months of work in my spare-spare time.

  Presently the site is in invite only mode, while I finish up the iPhone application. After that point, the standard will be a trial period followed by required pay accounts. Of course, all of this may change based on feedback… this is only the start of the project. If you have any feedback or suggestions, I welcome it. :)

  — Jimmy

  
  

  0 notes

• December 6, 2009
• text

  My Business Cards Work

  

  That sounds like a pretty arrogant statement, right? I mean… how does a business card work, anyways?

  I received* phone calls all the time because of my card. It has certainly made its rounds on the internet. The card alone has acted not only as a means of communicating my contact information, but also as a miniature flier, serving as an example of my passion for this industry.

  Why does it work, though? Let’s get specific.

  • The card is transparent plastic, which makes it stand out.
  • It’s foil stamped, which is something I had never seen on a plastic card before.
  • It fits in a standard wallet.
  • It stands out from regular cards, and even full color gloss cards.

  Let’s focus on that third bullet point. I see a lot of business cards in the “cool cards” blog posts that are nice and gimmicky, but they don’t fit in a standard wallet slot. This is a big deal.

  What’s the point in having a cool business card if no one can easily take it with them. Someone I hand my card to may not be looking for my services, but if the card is cool then they’ll hold onto it. Later down the road it may come up in conversation that someone needs the services that I offer, and guess whose card will be introduced?

  That’s not to say a pop-up tree business card can’t be effective, but the odds of someone being able to fit a clothespin in their wallet are pretty slim. (No pun intended.)

  In closing, the biggest advice I can give someone looking to have gimmicky business cards printed is to make sure the design stands out and make sure that card can fit in a wallet. You want people to take your contact information with them… it helps your card work harder for you.

  * - It’s worth noting that the number on my business card is no longer accurate, nor is the password. I also don’t provide web design for clients anymore. Cards printed by PlastekCards.

  
  

  0 notes

• text

  The new blog.

  I realize I don’t blog much. I probably don’t have much to say that’s of interest to you. However, I’ve decided to open this blog anyways.

  I plan to post my thoughts, opinions, and reviews of various bits of design, usability, sites, and concepts. All of it will be web/graphic/technology related.

  What you will not find here are political posts, rants unrelated to technology, or any uncommented miscellaneous stuff I’ve found around the web.

  That’s all I have to say for now. It’s late at night and I wanted to get this post out there. I already have my first post planned for tomorrow afternoon. Stay tuned, and feel free to subscribe! :)

  
  

  0 notes

  ©2009 JimmyLA LLC