masimuddy

I’m amused the monopoly board parody of this Techcrunch article.

Aaaah! The sun is out. The week is over. I finally decided to open the chilled bottle of orange muscat I picked up at Ledson wineries. Excellent. Hit the spot. Very refreshing. Not too sweet.

From wired article : How Apple Got Everything Right By Doing Everything Wrong

“Apple’s successes in the years since Jobs’ return — iMac, iPod, iPhone — suggest an alternate vision to the worker-is-always-right school of management. In Cupertino, innovation doesn’t come from coddling employees and collecting whatever froth rises to the surface; it is the product of an intense, hard-fought process, where people’s feelings are irrelevant. Some management theorists are coming around to Apple’s way of thinking. “A certain type of forcefulness and perseverance is sometimes helpful when tackling large, intractable problems,” says Roderick Kramer, a social psychologist at Stanford who wrote an appreciation of “great intimidators” — including Jobs — for the February 2006Harvard Business Review.”

Innovation through intense, focused processes? Yup, that’s what school was like.

An article over at Wired about “The Brash Boys at 37signals” (makers of Backpack and Ruby on Rails) has prompted a bit of a debate in the blogosphere.

Donald Norman wrote an article asking “Why is 37signals so arrogant?” and 37Signals wrote a follow-up describing “Why we disagree with Don Norman“. Have a read, it’s an interesting debate on software design philosophy.

All articles bring up interesting discussion - is there a single and correct product design process? Probably not. I think the important take-away here is that there are multiple processes and philosophies of product development to consider. But I believe there are some processes better suited for certain situations. The choice of process is only one of the many choices any company has to make on their road to success or failure.

After a recommendation I got from a friend, I sought out a specific cheese. Humboldt Fog, named after a county in California, is a soft chevre with a little bit of vegetable ash. Well worth a try! I found some at Whole Foods.

“Our signature offering, Humboldt Fog is an elegant, soft, surface ripened cheese. The texture is creamy and luscious with a subtle tangy flavor. Each handcrafted wheel features a ribbon of edible vegetable ash along its center and a coating of ash under its exterior to give it a distinctive, cake-like appearance. An American Original!”

My friend Jenn was up this weekend and was able provide some input into a taste test. We tried chocolate chip cookies from Tartine Bakery and from Bi-Rite Creamery and Bakeshop and both agreed that the ones from Tartine were better.

On second thought, I’m not sure … I’ll go do the taste test again I think!

I can’t believe that in the year that I’ve been in the area, this past weeked was my first taste of Bi-Rite Creamery ice cream. We came to the city for an exhibit opening and dinner. Dinner was planned at the lovely Delfina’s, but we had to wait to be seated since it’s quite popular on a Friday night. So as we walked around, we pasted the Bi-Rite ice cream shop and I just had to try some. Even my friends who were cold (it IS still winter here) took one taste and had to go buy their own. I tried the Orange Cardamon and Chocolate flavours. Just divine.

Their ice cream is hand-made on premises with organic and seasonal ingredients.

It is well worth a side trip, but you will have difficulty deciding between ice cream at Bi-Rite, or a tart at Tartine Bakery, which is just at the other end of the block. Or just have both ; )

This past weekend, the Interaction Design Association (IxDA) hosted it’s first annual conference entitled Interaction 08. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to go, but I plan to chat to my friends that did go about the highlights.

I did come across the presentation Matt Jones gave entitled ‘Designing for Spacetime‘. It’s up on Slideshare, along with other presentations from the conference, so if, like me, you missed the talk head over and take a peak. He talks about designing for Dopplr, and littered throughout the presentation are some really nice visualizations.

EDIT: Putting People First has posted an entry with links to about half of the presentations.

I’m constantly searching for good coffee. Perhaps, living in Italy spoiled me by having a good cup of espresso or cappuccino available in almost any bar you walk into. Sadly, that isn’t the case in the west and we must search. My search lead me to the Bluebottle Coffee Co. The espresso I had was amazing; as rich and flavourful as an esresso should be. The cappuccino my friend had was one of the best I’ve had on this continent, with the milk the perfect texture. It’s clear the people here love their coffee and take a lot of pride in creating a great cup for their customers to enjoy. Thank you I say! For a coffee lover, it’s a must visit. Bluebottle also sells beans to take home. Head over to their website for tips on how to brew the coffee at home.

Recently, they just opened a new cafe on Mint St., and I believe they still have an unassuming little kiosk in Hayes valley, as well as the Ferry Building on Saturdays. It’s worth the wait in line : )

Bluebottle Coffee Co. website
kiosk is at: 315 Linden Street, San Francisco, CA
cafe is at 66 Mint St. in SOMA, San Franciso, CA

Most people who know me, know I carry around “The Book” which I consult when I get a little hungry. “The Book” is the San Francisco Michelin guide and has always led me to an enjoyable meal. It doesn’t mean, I won’t eat somewhere not listed in the book ; ) but it has never led me astray.
When you are travlling, or are new to the area, the book can recommend somewhere for a special evening. I found that they have the Michelin rated restaurant listed in the online Green Guide (the Red Guide is the restaurant and hotel guide I carry with me). You can have a peak before you travel, or maybe hep you find a new destination point

The online search engines also led me to Andy Hayler’s 3-Star Guide, where he has an interesting break down of countries, number of 3-star restaurants and a history. It seems Eastern Europe is in urgent need of some stars.