David Hughes

I love this video featuring Bill Shannon who you may have seen in the recent Visa advert.

From the always excellent XKCD

This is wonderful.

Well that didn’t last long. Just two days into my self imposed Twitter exile I instinctively tweeted upon news of the updated MacBook Pros; only to realise a few moments later that Twitter was off limits. In interweb parlance I am full of “FAIL”.

What I found in my few Twitter free days was that I didn’t miss it as much as expected. I didn’t have cravings or withdrawal symptoms despite going cold turkey. I found that I can take it or leave it and I’ve decided to take it.

Twitter has become a part of my day, a part of my way of doing things. It’s a source of news and review; a focussed, personalised mini RSS feed. If I have a question Twitter will often closely follow Google when I’m looking for an answer, and those answers have the added weight of peer review or authority.

So no more of this Twitter tooing and froing.

Now I just need to find a way of removing Gowalla and Foursquare tweets without un-following people.

I had mixed emotions when I left Barclaycard as whilst it had, at times, been a challenging place to work I was also leaving behind the best piece of work I’ve ever been part of: mybarclaycard.

mybarclaycard is Barclaycard’s new online card account management site which launched late last year. I led the User Experience and User Interface design and development*, and believe we created a unique and revolutionary site years ahead of our competitors.

And so it is nice to see mybarclaycard being recognised, and winning awards in both the financial services and wider design communities.

mybarclaycard won Best Online Initiative at the Card Awards. My favourite comment from the judges was “What everyone else ought to be doing”. Download their full summary.

And mybarclaycard has been commended by Design Week; with Barclaycard the only financial services company nominated.

It is only now I’ve had some space from the project and from the business, and seen the challenges prevalent in other large corporate bodies that I can appreciate just how bold and brave a project mybarclaycard was; especially for a bank.

I’m proud to have been part of the creation of mybarclaycard, and hope that Barclaycard continue to enhance and develop it. I can’t help but think about how awesome a mybarclaycard iPad app could be.

* Flash was not my choice – I was overruled.

I look up from my iPhone and notice that sitting diagonally opposite me, on the other side of the train, is the friendly guy from my local Apple Store. He sold me the earphones I’m listening to now.

He’s immersed in his iPhone as I was in mine. I wonder where he’s going.

Should I be bothered that I recognise him? Wonder if he recognises me.

I wrote a while ago about a friend taking a Twitter vacation, another leaving altogether and my resultant thoughts and feelings about Twitter. Now I have decided to do the same; as of today I’m starting a one week ‘leave of absence’ from Twitter.

Whilst this week is an experiment to see how I, a one time Twitter addict, get on; I don’t have any specific reasons for deciding to take a break and possibly turning my back on Twitter. It’s a combination of things that has led to a rising sense of “meh?”

I’ll report back in week about how it’s gone or is going.

These ceramic speakers are just beautiful.

Designed by Joey Roth and created using simple materials including cork, aluminium, cast iron and of course ceramic they are wonderfully minimal and stylish. Whilst their form is beautiful their function is of equal importance:

Typical speakers are designed to play even the most compressed or poorly recorded track. They gloss over the details that give high-resolution music its depth. The Ceramic Speakers’ custom-made drivers, porcelain and cork enclosures, and Tripath amplifier reveal every nuance. They will show the difference between lossless and mp3 files, and will unlock vinyl’s richness.

I wish I had the space for a set of these on my desk.

Via Minimalissimo

The woman opposite me on the train is listening to her iPod.

Half way through the trip I happen to look up and see a single tear roll down her cheek.

She notices and wipes away the tear.

No more tears follow.