David A. Molanphy

Not sure how weather it’s résumé or resume? Let the kind folk at Pain in the English give you a hand.

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So much energy! From the portfolio of Atelier Martino & Jaña

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From the portfolio of Maxime Quoilin - great piece.

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Cool slinky typeface from Paul Hollingworth’s portfolio.

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I'm fully aware that Halloween has come and gone, but for some reason these little guys didn't come out of my head until this weekend. I blame it on my new Moleskine since I bought one with a grid this time around. I have concluded that the grid is inhibiting my usual process because I have only been able to fill about 10 pages of it with useless doodles. (Normally by now, I would have about 1/3rd of it full). Anyhow, these "popped" out of my head when I picked up one of my old sketchbooks (with blank pages) and thought I'd share. What's curious about them is that as they were materializing on paper, I could pinpoint a certain personality with each. My favoritse would have to be the ware-wolf (paranoid insomniac) and the mummy (smart-alec pessimist).

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I have recently been engaged in a fun experiment for a touchscreen using Actionscript and the Twitter API. It has been a fantastic learning experience in many ways, including AS3, object oriented programming, and above all, usability. There are some things worth mentioning: 1. Making a virtual keyboard for a touchscreen is much more tedious than I ever dreamed. I have gained the utmost respect for whoever designed/developed the iPhone's keyboard. Much has been said about its functionality and its surprisingly usable interface. I have tried to re-create a similar experience using it as my main point of reference and continue to be amazed at how well designed and though out this aspect of the iPhone is. It has been the seemingly little details that have made me stumble the most (i.e. showing the user where the carat is as a visual cue of where the next letter will land, or even something as simple as a shift key). 2. Twitter's API is a blast to play with - particularly for those interested in data visualization. But none of what I have done so far would've been possible without Sandro Ducceschi's (@_sandro) excellent Tweetr library for AS3. Even though it is still in heavy development, I have been able to implement any API call I can think of, including the new lists feature. Major kudos to Sandro for his dedication to this library and for keeping it open source! Yes, there is also the Twitterscript library, but I have found Sandro's work to be infinitely more usable. 3. Touchscreen technology introduces a whole new set of rules to be mindful of. With the lack of hover states for interactive elements, the feedback loop becomes a trickier thing to implement and consider. The lack of the mouse as in input method is both liberating and frustrating at the same time - as something as simple as scrolling becomes a challenge to design and code for. 4. The power of object oriented programming is becoming more and more clear to me as this experiment progresses. Encapsulation and inheritance are both concept I'm still trying to wrap my head around, but I see the clear benefits they bring to any coding project. One of my earlier complaints about oop and AS3 was that I felt that writing a simple action for a button took me twice as long as it did in AS2. Such a small detail compared to how much power oop can bring to your code. 5. And finally, I am now more confident than ever that understanding how to build and program an interactive experience opens up a whole new realm of design possibilities. So much, in fact, that I have been unable to settle on a final interface design for my experiment because I keep realizing I can push it further. Thank goodness for deadlines!

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Woot! Got notice today that my interview with FlashDen posted on their blog today. Pretty neat. Read it here.

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It's been some time since my last post. My apologies - I have been sucked into the Twitter vortex which I find fascinating to be honest. I mean, whodda thunk that 140 characters could reveal so many brand insights! But that's a different post altogether. Today I'm sharing some tips that I learned from Todd Dominey's Twitter feed (@tdominey). For those of you who don't know Todd Dominey, you'll certainly know his work: SlideShowPro - the completely ubiquitous (and awesome) Flash slideshow gallery. Both tips are AS3 specific, and oh so helpful. Tip 1: A simpler trace function I can't tell you how many times I have had to type long, convoluted trace statements to see if whatever I'm working on is doing what I think it should be doing. Usually those trace statements look something like this: trace ("array item " + i + ": " + my_arr[i]); which would turn out something like this: array item 0: blue array item 1: red array item 2: green You'll notice a lot of plus signs and quotes and stuff. Well, instead, try replacing the + signs with commas: trace ("array item ", i, ": ", my_arr[i]); Though it's nothing truly magnificent, I find typing commas vs. + signs is much faster and easier to understand. Tip 2: A simple for loop for arrays This one is also quite simple in its function, but saves a lot of typing. Instead of looping through an array with a for statement, like so: for (var i:int = 0; i you can use this: my_arr.forEach(myFunction); so long as myFunction accepts the right params: function myFunction(element:*, index:int, arr:Array) { trace (element, ": " , index); } Pretty nifty eh? Yeah, I thought so too. Thanks @tdominey!

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I'm always surfing Apple's AppStore looking for new (and useful) apps for my trusty iPhone. I have to say that I haven't been terribly impressed with the current offerings at the AppStore, and I'm sure a lot of that has to do with the steep learning curve of developing a decent app. Not to mention Apple's insistence on disabling key features that cripple the iPhone's usability (but that one's been beaten to death already, so I won't go there). Regardless, my iPhone has become an indispensable part of my daily productivity, and I am constantly on the lookout for apps to help me in some way. Out of the thousands of apps, however, there are only a handful that I have truly find to be useful (or enjoyable) to me. I have downloaded dozens upon dozens of apps - only to be frustrated by their limitations, or lack of features and poor usability. Most have been immediately deleted, some have survived. Among them are the following:

	Tweetie This is my favorite Twitter app. For the longest time, I was using the free TwitterFon, which I liked a lot. But after trying Tweetie, I really liked the extended feature set (search mainly). The interface is nice and polished and functions very well.
	Things There are more to-do apps for the iPhone than there are iPhones it seems, and it took me a long time to land on one that I truly liked. Cultured Code's Things fit the bill, but not without some behavior modification on my part. Things is based on David Allen's GTD (Getting Things Done) system - a flexible to-do system to which I'm still having trouble adhering to. Regardless, it is already one of my most indispensable apps. Though I do wish it would sync with the "cloud" - a feature they promise is coming soon.
	Ambiance This little gem has come in handy more times than I ever dreamed it would. It's a nicely designed app that does one thing and it does it well. It plays ambient sounds. It has lulled me to sleep while traveling without fail - and even at home I have turned to its soothing sounds for better sleep. The newest version is a big departure from the "classic" app, but it adds some great functionality like an alarm, and downloadable sounds. Love it.
	Shazam One of the two music-related apps I have (besides the built-in iPod app) is Shazam. An incredible piece of software that takes a short sampling of whatever tune is playing on the radio/tv/etc. and in a short while, tells you exactly what song it is, who sings it, and where to get it. The magic behind this app is a big mystery to me, but however it does it, it has worked every time I've put it to the test!
	Pandora If you're anything like me, you have gigs and gigs of music on your iPhone, and yet, you find yourself craving something different. Well, if you haven't already, grab Pandora! Tell it what song you want to hear, and it automagically creates a playlist of similar tunes for you. I have discovered a bunch of new music using this app, which is both a blessing and a curse - since it means I have to buy it.
	Showtimes Surely you have been roaming about when all of a sudden you get the brilliant idea to catch a flick. Bust open Showtimes and let it locate the nearest theaters to you, then check out what's playing. Not sure what the movie is? Watch the trailer right on the app. Now just cross your fingers that the movie doesn't suck.
	USA Today I'm not exactly a news junky, but I do like knowing what goes on in the world. Though I do it many times a day, I find it cumbersome to open up my browser and type out www.cnn.com. USA Today's news app was well thought out, well executed, and nice to look at. I do wish it were easier to access even more stories, but it does its job exceptionally well.
	Groups One of my most hated apps on the iPhone is Mail. It was a poorly thought out application with so many limitations it just makes me cringe every time I try to use it. In fact, I'm positive that if Apple were to fix its email and calendar programs to make them more business-friendly, they would make an even worthier contender to the Blackberry. Regardless, one of the lacking features in Mail is the ability to email your address book's groups. (Currently, you have to enter each group member's address separately). Enter Groups, a nice little app that allows you to manage your contacts and groups right on the iPhone. Timesaver galore!
	1Password In this digital age, I have so many username/password combos you'd think I actually have important stuff I'm trying to protect! Unfortunately, in order to navigate the many web services out there, you need some security, and therefore, you need to remember all these u/p combos. Save yourself the headache and grab a copy of 1Password for your mac, then sync it with your 1Password for the iPhone, and never worry about what fake email you signed up to that service for.
	Feeds I have long felt the same way Khoi Vinh feels about RSS readers. I have gone through reader after reader and have finally landed on Google Reader, it being the least offensive to me - but still pretty bad in my opinion. In order to keep up with the many subscriptions I go through daily, I needed an app that would sync with my Reader account. Feeds was the best one I could find, and though there are many things I'd like to see changed in it, it sure beats having to go to the Google App (which I don't care for in case you didn't notice).
	Deep Green I'm not a gamer, and I'm especially not an iPhone gamer. But I do have some games on my iPhone, mainly because I find their use of interfaces intriguing - and I like to test them out. (When I say some, I mean about 5). Among them is my favorite Chess game - Deep Green. Beautifully designed, and no crazy bells and whistles. Just plain ol' chess - and a chess engine that kicks my trash EVERY stinkin' time! Wish it had some time of online multi-player mode - but then again, I think getting beat by my phone is enough humiliation each day.
	Scriptures This one is a life-saver for me (no pun intended). It is a full library of LDS works including General Conferences, Manuals, and Scriptures with cross-linking and highlighting capabilities. A bit pricey, but worth every penny! Now if they could just come up with a better looking startup screen and icon. Ugh.

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In these economically straining times, you may have found yourself on the receiving end of the dreaded pink-slip. If so, I'm really sorry. Layoffs seem to have become perfectly acceptable these days - and for many businesses, it's the first bailout option that management uses. It's not right — and when it's your turn to make these decisions, remember that people will stick by you in the hard times if you help them out in the good times. But we're not here to talk about poor management. We're here to talk about resumes.

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