Cameron Moll's Blog, page 20

Agile vs. Agility

Agile vs. Agility:

Hugo Rodger-Brown:

Agile (big 'A') has become a bit of an albatross — it doesn't really work, it doesn't deliver the benefits it promised, and it inevitably involves a lot of arguing amongst the team about who should be doing what, and when.

All of which distracts from the fact that agility (small 'a' this time) is a wonderful thing, that can be achieved, that does provide enormous benefits, and that should be encouraged in everything we (as an industry) do. Agile (small 'a') refers to team dynamics, delivery processes, the software itself (how easy is it to change), and operations. Everyone should aim to be agile.

/via Hacker News

MotionCAPTCHA

MotionCAPTCHA:

Here's an interesting take on CAPTCHA:

MotionCAPTCHA is a jQuery CAPTCHA plugin, based on the HTML5 Canvas Harmony procedural drawing tool by Mr Doob and the $1 Unistroke Gesture Regonizer algorithm, requiring users to sketch the shape they see in the canvas in order to submit a form.

At the moment, it's just a proof-of-concept — it only uses client-side gesture recognition, and doesn't really have IE support — but the next releases will feature progressive enhancement and the ability to use this in production environments as a serious CAPTCHA alternative.

I'm not a fan of CAPTCHA in general, but this is an idea at least worth entertaining.

Activate

Activate:

What a terrific idea (and site). Get geeks out of the office and into the outdoors. A full-day event for web designers and developers in Kent, England. I vote for holding the next one in Escalante, Utah. Anyone game?

EasySign

EasySign:

I set a goal at the start of 2011 to sign documents only digitally — no more scanning, emailing, etc. So far, so good. I'm a fan of EchoSign, but I'm convinced to give this app a try for my next document.

Download the free app, watch the in-app tour, and you'll probably be convinced to try it, too.

/via @swissmiss

Briefed, a WooThemes WordPress Template

These days it's rare that I take on any client work — I have plenty of my own stuff to keep me unhealthily occupied. But WooThemes co-founder Mark Forrester and I have kicked around the idea of having me do a template for about two years, and I finally made time for it.

It's called Briefed, and I'm pleased as punch with how the WooThemes team turned my design into markup and templates. Naturally, as with almost any project, concessions had to be made, such as dropping from the demo the lovely Steelfish condensed typeface in favor an open source one. However, after purchasing the template, you can swap in your own typefaces (e.g. Steelfish) and customize any of the design elements to your liking.

Head on over to the WooThemes blog and read "Briefed: A theme for any designer." They've done a great job summarizing the goals I had for the project.

Kickoff for Mac

Kickoff for Mac:

This app's mini-site has been making the rounds on Twitter today, and deservedly so. Try clicking some of the screens in the main slider, enjoy the well-crafted video, and have a peek at the HTML5 markup, too.

And of course, download the app.

Realigned and Responsive

Left to right, top to bottom: Yours Truly, Khoi Vinh, Tina Roth Eisenberg, Greg Storey, Myles Grant, Veerle Pieters, Roger Johansson, Jesse Bennett-Chamberlain, Jeff Croft, Marc Roberts, Ben Bodien, Sarah Parmenter, Elliot Jay Stocks, Jon Hicks.

I have the incredible fortune of working with the all-star team pictured above. Some serve as advisors, others actively create and maintain things. Together we've collaborated on a new version of Authentic Jobs that's realigned, responsive, and better suited to connecting companies and creative professionals.

Read the official announcement over at the Authentic Jobs blog regarding the new site, Authentic Jobs UK, and the iPad contest. You'll also find additional remarks by Veerle Pieters, Sarah Parmenter, and Elliot Jay Stocks.

If there's anything to add to what's already been said, it is this: Authentic Jobs is where companies and creative professionals meet to make a better web. That's it. No convoluted mission-statement jargon about lofty goals and bleeding-edge technology. Just a simple objective that's remained in place since day one.

For the past five years, we've executed this objective through a job board model. Yet that won't always be the case. These latest updates improve the model already in place, but more importantly, they set the stage for what's to come with Authentic Crew — the next phase in executing that simple objective.

So enjoy the new site on your laptop, iOS/Android device, or any other web-enabled object. And then stick around for what's next.

How to Take and Export Screenshots on a BlackBerry PlayBook

I've had a BlackBerry PlayBook for about 24 hours now, and I'm fairly impressed. If history is any precedent, I'll probably not make time for a full review, so my review in a tweet will have to suffice.

The PlayBook was purchased to round out the devices I use for testing, specifically adaptive/responsive web design in this round of testing. Capturing screenshots is critical for sharing the results of my testing with the developers who assist me. Thankfully, taking screenshots on a PlayBook is a snap. Exporting them, on the other hand, is not.

To capture a screenshot, simply press the '-' and '+' buttons on the top of the device simultaneously. You'll hear a snapshot sound, just like on iPad. Screenshots are stored in the Pictures app on your device.

Unlike iPad, however, there's no way to export or send images within the pictures app. That's mainly because the PlayBook doesn't have a built-in email app, and the included Gmail "app" — which is simply a link to gmail.com — links to a tablet version of Gmail that doesn't support attachments.

All is not lost. First, download the free BlueBox app found in the App World on your device. Next, sign in with your Dropbox credentials, or sign up for a free account on Dropbox if you don't already have one. It's easy peasy after that. Navigate to an existing folder on your Dropbox account or create a new one, and then click "Upload File" in the lower left:

Within seconds, you'll have screenshots synced to your desktop or laptop computer.

By the way, the PlayBook's browser held up very nicely in this round of testing. In fact, it's the only device I've tested that properly displays the mobile-adapted layout in portrait mode and tablet layout in landscape mode. All other devices, including iPad, show only one of the two for both modes. RIM for the win, in this case.

Double by the way, I'm in love with the design for the clock app and calculator app.

phiRatio

phiRatio:

Also rad. A $0.99 iOS app that calculates different types of proportions — golden ratio, 4:3, 16:9 and 3:2. And it looks terrific, too.

Textify

Textify:

This is pretty rad. Convert any image into HTML text. Maybe this is how I should do my next letterpress poster.