UX Monk

I finally had time to mobile optimize my top rated HTML5 “Simon Says” game. I’ve been dying to see what it would be like on my iPhone or iPad with some of the more serious issues ironed out. I think it’s a keeper.

Give it a shot and let me know what you think!

Here’s a simple and useful Javascript string prototype extension for you.

Add support in Javascript for the equivalent of PHP’s ucwords() function:

String.prototype.ucwords = function() {
	var words = this.split(' '),
		i = 0,
		l = words.length;
	for( ; i < l; i++) {
		words[i] = words[i].charAt(0).toUpperCase() + 
			   words[i].slice(1);
	}
	return(words.join(' '));
}

Now typing something like

'every word begins with an uppercase letter'.ucwords()

returns

'Every Word Begins With An Uppercase Letter'

Just came across this quote in an article by the Silicon Florist. It’s a fantastic summary of what I want to accomplish at the end of the day, putting it in words far more salient than I could ever hope:

Software’s real goal should not be to simply process transactions in a system where users are nothing more than data operators who click required buttons to make things happen. Rather, software should work to augment human capabilities, helping us to overcome weaknesses and emphasize our strengths.

This was a fun layout problem I worked on for ColRD. The goal was to reverse engineer the Pinterest-style grid layout, with the added bonus of allowing items to span multiple columns. The result isn’t true rectangle packing in a strict computer-science sense (it still leaves gaping holes in the layout from time to time), but the results so far are more than usable.

You can check out my demo here, with added CSS3 transition juiciness. Try resizing your browser to watch how the layout folds in itself:

Another one of my music & color experiments. The simple premise of “simon says” is always a winner to me. This app will play a simple melody, and you try to play it back. I get up to around 10 or 11 notes before losing track. How far can you make it?

I used Mudcube’s fantastic Javascript Midi API, and some simple javascript magic to make this happen. I would love to develop this into a more robust gaming experience someday.

Anyways, try my simon-says simulator, and let me know what you think!

I’m beginning to think of fun projects to build for my new daughter. She’s still a long way of from being able to control an iPad, or especially a mouse, but I just couldn’t wait to get started.

Without further ado, I present to you v1 of my digital Lite-Brite (cleverly renamed to “Brite Lite” for trademark purposes. Please don’t sue me).

In addition to “pinning” basic colors to the board, I took the opportunity incorporate Mudcu.be’s briliant Midi.js midi bridge, for basic music-making capabilities.

Overall this was a really fun little diversion. I hope to post more music and color experiments in the future! Click the image to try it out (will take a moment to load). Only tested in firefox and chrome.

Back in December I had the pleasure of visiting Vietnam & Cambodia with a small group of artists from my church. There was endless beauty to be enjoyed, but what struck me most powerfully were the rich textures saturating every square inch of the cities. I felt immersed in an ancient history spanning many generations before my country was even discovered.

At ColRD I shared a collection of textures from the trip, free to use in your designs. Check them out and let me know what you think!