damonky.co.uk

Heres the presentation. I will link to the video when WSE release it. Great day.

Software mentioned

• Aptana Studio
• Jira
• Bugzilla
• Trac
• Mylyn task integration
• Subclipse

There is no doubt in my mind that the iPad will open up the internet to a whole new segment of the market. It will allow people to use the internet without the complexities of a modern desktop system. It will also, as Stowe Boyd states in his article Why Closed works, it changes the metaphors used when interacting with a device. No longer will we think in terms of our data, but instead our processes – our tasks will dictate the data, rather than data dictating our tasks / apps. Users will be free from the scattered file-system, free from the files that they cant open because they cant find the app to open it.

But, and its a big but, How does this affect our freedom to create information, to distribute it?

The Flash battle

Flash will never be on the iPad. Period. I agree completely with Zeldmans post Flash, iPad, Standards. Flash is bad for a lot of things, but does have its uses: 3D perhaps? Could flash not be implemented in a restricted capacity? HTML5 is fantastic, there’s no getting around that, but what about all the people on all users who don’t have whizzbang iPads, iPhones, and a 17″ macbook pro? Some people still use computers from 5 or 10 years ago. Do they lose out or do we include them. This will create a issue similar to the Internet Explorer 6 headache that we may finally be free from. Do we really want to go back to that?

The web is a wonderful place. It is inclusive, inspiring and free. I fear whilst the iPad indeed creates a new market and opportunities for fresh thinking it also restricts our basic freedoms as Internet users. Whilst many will never want to go past the functionality it offers, shouldn’t I be able to?

A more troubling precedent

There are arguments that access to the internet is a human right such as the recent Google vs. China debacle. The internet was create to facilitate the sharing of information and to connect people. In a 2002 interview Cerf were quote as saying:

“It scares me if a government uses the Internet to get control over its population, It’s just like trying to control the newspapers or TV. Democracy is founded on the free flow of information. Fortunately it’s hard to effectively filter the Internet today.” source

By allowing one company, such as Apple or even Microsoft, dictate how we interact with the Internet are we not succumbing to the same censorship? It is already the case you cannot upload files on websites using an iPhone. To achieve this you must use an app, built on Apples code, subject to apples vetting.

Now I understand that this does provide a certain quality control. Apple rightly so guard the quality of the experience on their systems. I argue that whilst this is understandable it is far from acceptable. I SHOULD be able to opt out, to take more control. I do not think the mentaility of the iPad is too far away from the attitude google previous took in relation to China. If this method of interaction became dominent, could it become acceptable for governments to restrict what we can do? Would the likes of Apple cooperate? and more importantly would we?

If we were given an iPad as kids instead of clunky 486’s, Pencils and a sketchpad would we still be doing what we do today? Or would we be checking emails and talking about our next trip to Starbucks?

My argument is that whilst my view may seem extreme, they are not unrealistic in this world where people are increasingly subjected to a “nanny-like” culture. Dont be distracted by the things you are offered. Consider the implications. I think Bill Hicks summarised my feelings best with a line from his stand-up:

“Go back to sleep, America. Everything is under control. Here’s ‘American Gladiators’. Watch this. Shut up.” — Bill Hicks

Id be interested to hear your thoughts, I think it is going to be a very interesting year. Anyone wanna buy me an iPad?

One of my favourite apps of the moment is vellum. Vellum is a simple drawing app with just three tools: ink,graphite, and scratch. With these it is ridiculously easy to create effective sketches on the go, or monotone artworks.

You can read more about the app at http://vellumapp.com/iphone/

I’ve been slowly but surely working through all the aspects of my electronic life and removing clutter. The first victim has been my rss feeds. I found that I couldnt keep up with the articles – and as such good articles were being drowned out by the average. With a gritted teeth and a first instinct decision making tactic i’ve reduced from over 200 to just 75 organized feeds. It’s been about a week and I haven’t really missed them, then again that may well be due to a lot more of my reading come straight for twitter these days.

Below is my new list.

damonkys-google-reader-subscriptions

Working on sites very close to live is always tricky. Clients want to use the site unhindered, you want to check it through before it goes live. The one thing you don’t want happen is for the public to discover and access the site before it goes live.

The code below allows only grant access without authentication to a set of IP’s / domains. Any request from a  domain not in this list will be asked to authenticate. Satisfy any allows the .htaccess to grant permission to anyone who meets the two key criteria. In the example you will note that google’s domains have been allowed through so as not to affect SEO too much. Replace 123.123.123.123 with your IP, or that of whoever you wish to access the site. I am yet however to find one that works for dynamic IP’s – wouldn’t that be neat

You will of course need to create a .htpasswd file. a good generator can be found at http://www.htaccesstools.com/htpasswd-generator/ along with a load of other goodies.

#require authentication of requests
AuthName "Restricted Area"
AuthUserFile /var/www/.htpasswd
AuthType basic
Require valid-user
#deny access to all, allow for selected ip's / domains
Order Deny,Allow
Deny from all
Allow from 123.123.123.123 googlebot.com google.com google-analytics.com
#if any of these rules are satisfied they may proceed
Satisfy Any


I’ve been rattling away on  paper and in photo shop for a few weeks now trying to come up with a new blog design. My aim was to create a site rather tahn a blog, and as such I’ve decided to create a hmoepage and move the blog to a subsection. Below are a few snaps of my progress so far. Theres still a few more pages to think about. I’m strongly considering some form of papervision for the gallery, but that may be a phase 2 project.

I hope this is close to the final mocks and so I would welcome any feedback, constuctive critism too. Anyway please take a look.

The Homepage

Homepage banner rotation linking to gallery items

A Sample Internal / Blog Page

At about 2000 feet overlooking bourg de ousin, this is one of my favourite moments of the holiday.

Posted via email from damonky’s posterous

Whilst waiting for some files were uploading I was browsing through my old illustration portfolio. I forgot how much I used to love just sitting and drawing. Anyway, below are a few of the pieces that I did. They were originally intended for t-shirt designs. I think, after looking at them I shall tidy them up and reopen my spreadshirt store… Would you buy a design like this?

Watch This space…

Drawn for an ex girlfrined who loved the sun and VW campers.

Girls can be such sheep sometimes, I always wanted to meet the ones who broke that stereotype.

Drawn whilst on a bmx roadtrip around france, this is my memory of Marsaille skate park, you know, the one from Tony Hawk

A Portrait of an former girlfriend

A little experiment with light and shadows when drawing hair

Not that I think anyone would steal them but all drawing are intellectual property of Dave Ashenden. If you wish to use them, just ask.