very clever physical interface

watch the video of the smackbook pro user interface - scroll down abit to find the video past all the jargon and technical details. very clever way to use a sensor in the new mac laptops to create a new kind of physical interaction with the device. i imagine you could do something similarly clever with portable devices - like shaking your phone or palm pilot to clear a page or start over - sort of like an etch-a-sketch. (thanks rrrus!)

one week so far

so the first week of work was interesting, had it’s ups and downs, and was fun with a lot to learn and get up to speed about. it was also a process of getting to know people that i’ll interact with, and of watching how that process works and unfolds. with one engineer, i would find myself bantering about different approaches to problems - fencing almost - until we had some kind of mutual respect. with another engineer, i work with him and asked for help from him to setup some of my tools and get integrated into their environment. after that process, we had some experience with each other and rapport. and with others in the office just asking for their help in figuring out how things work, getting things setup, and learning the history of the organization and processes were a form of bonding. all very normal, pedestrian ways to integrate into a new team i gather. i haven’t changed jobs all that much, at least not compared to many of my peers in silicon valley. so this is extra interesting to watch as a process.

i’m also happy about things because at the end of the week i had learned enough to start having some good ideas about the product and the user interface. once the ideas started to flow, i felt more in stride.