Pownce goes public

No longer in private Beta, Pownce opened its virtual doors to the whole wide world last night. The desktop app is revised and improved, even though it sports a bug or two to be squashed. Congrats to Pownce developer Leah Culver and all three cofounders (Leah, Daniel, and Kevin) on the successful launch of a great service. Now, with my fingers crossed that it scales gracefully…

Pownce Pro & SXSW2008

Well, there are two bits of news, actually.  The first one is that I signed up for Pownce Pro tonight.  20 bucks, bombs away.  The value?  I think I’ve already gotten that much value from Leah and company’s creation, and my 20 bucks is a thank-you.

Second news, SXSW2008 registration to be completed by noon tomorrow.  I’ll post my anticipated location, arrival, and departure times, and look forward to seeing any of you there who can make it.  Please, come on.  Make it.

Oh yeah…  Make it.

Graphic representations of rap lyrics

We IAs and designers love good information graphics. Well, I can’t say these are good, but they’re worth a laugh.  (special thanks to Brian McNitt for putting these in my inbox.)

Fig 1.

Fig 2.

Fig 3.

View them all here: http://www.jamphat.com/rap/

Additionally, Google “Village Voice This Is Why I’m Hot” (or click that link, buddy) to see one of the most hilarious IA-esque breakdowns of a rap song in history. Peace…

iPoddy Training

It’s official: the “touch” revolution is expanding beyond iPhone. No longer the stuff of UI geek wet dreams, having moved beyond the Microsoft propaganda for “surface” (and all its satirical variants), beyond the Treo’s broken “keypad,” the “touch” interface made popular by iPhone in June has spawned a sibling. Or a cousin.

The question is not whether the touch interface is extremely cool, or whether or not the iPod Touch is a good product. The question is how fast user adoption of a touch-based interface paradigm is likely to spread based on the product expansion rate Apple’s apparently set to pursue. Your music is still just music. Your iLife is still just marketing. This is all about flash and glitz, but Apple’s moves in this area have consistently been indicators of broader market trends to come. Causal ones.

I do not want an iPhone or iPod Touch, yet I salivate over them. I do so not because I think they will do anything at all for me or my happiness, but because I recognize them as industry-shaping, paradigm-shifting, advances worthy of anthropological consideration.

That said, I sure do love them Nanos. If you want to send me one, I’ll use it every day – I promise. Silver or black preferred.