Joseph Rosario
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Month: July, 2011
July 25, 2011
Black Mountain Trail
Went on a 9-mile hike this morning at Rancho San Antonio Open Space Preserve — Black Mountain Trail. Started at 10:00am, finished at 2:00pm. Its description on BA Hiker is spot on:
This 9.4 mile out-and-back hike to the top of Black Mountain has two very different segments. Although the first mile, on Rhus Ridge Trail, is a bit steep, the initial stretch of Black Mountain Trail is a nicely graded footpath winding through woods and chaparral. Then suddenly, 3.3 miles up the mountain, the footpath widens to fire road width, and shoots nearly straight uphill, with little shade. The ascent is worth it, for the amazing views at the top and the feeling of accomplishment — an over 2300 foot climb all the way up the mountain!
My buddy and I unknowingly didn’t finish the bit of the hike, so perhaps we may have to give it another go at some point in the future. But until then, we’ll just have to suffice with the views that we did capture.
Here’s the route we took:
http://js.mapmyfitness.com/embed/blogview.html?r=355131156507433141&u=e&t=run
July 22, 2011
Evisu x Common Projects Leather Trainers
I decided to break away from my one-shoe tradition and get myself a pair of casual trainers. Seeing as how Converse has become quite the norm in the SV tech scene, I opted for a similar design with a collaboration shoe from last year between Evisu and Common Projects. Both brands evoke a true sense of heritage and authenticity which I greatly admire.
They run in 3 colorways (gray, navy, black) and also are available in a high top version. Currently on sale for £62.50 (down from £150.00), so if you’re interested in a pair for yourself, you’d definitely be getting a good price on a pair of Common Projects. Just remember to tie your shoelaces properly:
July 15, 2011
Harry Potter Screening
Got some tickets to a screening of the new Harry Potter flick courtesy of Wells Fargo, whom I must say provide much better service and perks than Bank of America.
Upon entering the theater, you pick up your tickets at the front entrance:
Each ticket came with a pair of (child’s size) Harry Potter spectacles, a temporary tattoo of a lightning bolt, a Gryffindor ring, a raffle ticket, and a voucher for a small popcorn and drink:
The entrance of the theater was lined with velvet ropes and red carpet, stocked with faux photographers snapping pictures (actually just flashes) at you as you walk in. Must’ve been quite fun for the little ones:
Apparently Wells Fargo rented out the theater for an exclusive viewing:
To be honest, the movie was “meh”. Prior to tonight, the only Harry Potter film I’ve seen is the Chamber of Secrets, so I was really out of tune with the plotline and characters. But that aside, the plot twists were expected and action sequences very dull. Walking out of the theater, I was just glad that I didn’t have to wait like all the crazy fans:
July 12, 2011
Launchpad & Mission Control. Making Lion’s UI/UX Less Consistent or Not?
Lion’s introduction of Launchpad and Mission Control has continued Apple’s expansion of the OS X feature set. In 2003, it was Exposé in OS X 10.3 Panther. In 2004, Dashboard in OS X 10.4 Tiger. In 2005, Spaces in OS X 10.5 Leopard (which has now been supplanted by Mission Control in OS X 10.7 Lion).
Since switching over to Lion GM, I’ve surprisingly begun to confuse how to access each one of these features. Is there a Fn key for it? How many fingers do I need to swipe and in which direction? So I decided to layout a simple chart of UX/UI consistencies and inconsistencies (based on factory default settings):
As of right now, I think OS X (Lion) is feeling a little cluttered. Dashboard.app has been stripped of the “active” indicator (which it had until OS X Snow Leopard 10.6.8) to stay consistent with Launchpad.app and Mission Control.app, but it just doesn’t seem to mesh well with the rest of the Dock:
Before, I used to be able to determine Apple’s justification for their design choices. They were well thought out and usually countered every issue you could throw at it. But now with Lion, I find myself left with a bunch of unanswerable questions:
- Why is there no organizational tool for Launchpad (like iTunes has for iOS page management)?
- Why can’t you re-order spaces in Mission Control like you can re-order pages in Safari.app for iOS?
- Why did Launchpad replace Dashboard (by default) as the ‘layer’ that appears over the desktop, rather than a seperate Space? Yes, swiping Launchpad pages within a Space would be quite the mindfuck, but logisticly you’re to do the same when “back/forward” browsing Safari as a Space (in Full Screen).
- Regarding consistency with the last point, why wasn’t the Dashboard key (F4) reassigned as a Launchpad key?
To be honest, I have faith that these questions will be resolved in good time as Apple continues to flesh out their “Back to the Mac” initiative. But for now what do you think–is OS X losing its design focus? Or are these inconsistencies just a necessary part of the process?
July 11, 2011
Getting ready to lay the foundation.
The foundation should be poured sometime this week, with framing tentatively scheduled for the 25th.
The move-in date has been pushed up from January to December. These next 5 months can’t go by any quicker.
Joseph Rosario 