Communiqué

Scrabulous, one of the most popular Facebook add-on applications, is no longer available to many users. Scrabulous was an online copy of Hasbro's board game that allowed users to play Scrabble with each other.

There are a number of articles explaining what happened, but I don't understand why—from a business perspective—Hasbro wanted to remove the popular copy.

Facebook users could choose to play Scrabulous, the rip-off game, or an official version created by Hasbro.

The difference in the two versions is summed up accurately in today's Dallas Morning News: "[Scrabulous] was simple, easy to use and very quick loading. On the other hand, Hasbro and Electronic Arts recently released an official Scrabble application for Facebook, which is heavily graphical, slow and clunky."

As noted in the Washington Post, Scrabulous had 3 million registered users and over half a million people were actively playing on Facebook, while only 14,000 users had added the official Hasbro version.

After a couple months of threats and lawsuits, Scrabulous' developers gave in to Hasbro's demands and blocked their application from US and Canadian Facebook users.

I might understand Hasbro's decision if Scrabulous somehow diluted the Scrabble brand, but the rip-off was actually more on brand—capturing the simplicity of the board game—than Hasbro's clunky online version.

I'd also understand the lawsuits if Scrabulous cut into Hasbro's sales, but that doesn't seem to be the case. In fact, my wife and I recently bought the board game. It was the free Scrabulous that reminded us how fun Hasbro's game was.

From the business side, why wouldn't Hasbro put all their effort into buying Scrabulous. Instead, Hasbro sued the two brothers who created Scrabulous and hired Electronic Arts (EA), a gigantic and probably very expensive video game company, to create their own slower, less fun, official game.

Was the cost of hiring EA, plus the cost of lawsuits really less than the cost of buying out Scrabulous? I guess not...once Hasbro factored in the cost of admitting that two brothers can more accurately recreate the Scrabble experience than the official company can.

What do Cole Porter and Social Distortion have in common? At this very moment? I am listening to them both simultaneously from dueling stages just outside my office window. Read More

That's the sound I imagine my framed "Partners" print made as it fell off the wall, bounced off the top of my fish tank, and hit the floor. We have zealous and energetic cleaning folk that come through here on weekends, making our offices clean and tidy, and one of their points of pride apparently is to dust the top of every framed thing on the walls, and leave them just a teeny bit cockeyed. It's just another assurance for us that they are doing a great job, getting it all looked after. Apparently they accidentally knocked this one all the way off a few weeks ago.

The print is nothing special, except to me. A friend gave it to me in our second year, as we were a little short on decor, and I liked it. I had it framed with a simple black molding, and sprung for the fancy non-glare glass. It's a 16 x 30 inch mounted print, of a bunch of pears in a basket. It says "Partners, Two or more that have joined together and share a common interest with each other", below the photograph. It's hung in my office since 1999, in sight of my desk. It's reminded me more than once that I owe so much to my two partners, Dave and Nick.

Amazingly enough, the expensive glass survived the trip to the floor intact, but somehow the stiff extruded aluminum frame did not. It got dinged and a little twisted, and there was no good way to bend it back flat without trashing the finish.

So off I went to our neighbor Colleen and she had her husband Garry cut me a new set of molding. I just put it back together and dug out a new picture hanger and just as soon as I finish this blog post I'm going to hang it back up above the fish tank.

These things take maintenance and a little extra effort at times, but it's totally worth it.

Thanks as always you guys.

About a year ago, I posted a collection of quotes taken from our Wiki.

iMarc's Wiki home page starts with a quotation. Any employee can change the quote. When a new quote is posted, the old one gets archived.

Here are some of the quotes we've seen over the last year:

There is time enough for everything, in the course of the day, if you do but one thing at once; but there is not time enough in the year, if you will do two things at a time. [...]

This steady and undissipated attention to one object is a sure mark of a superior genius; as hurry, bustle, and agitation are the never-failing symptoms of a weak and frivolous mind.

— Philip Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield, 1747

This too shall pass.

— From Jewish folklore, supposedly King Solomon charged his wise men to invent the "perfect sentence". It had to be true and appropriate in all times and in all situations.

Content precedes design. Design in the absence of content is not design, it’s decoration.

— Jeffrey Zeldman

If I had more time I would write a shorter letter

— Mark Twain

There is no such thing as information overload, only bad design.

— Edward Tufte

I will solve your problem for you, and you will pay me. You don't have to use my solution, but if you want 'options', go talk to other people.

— Paul Rand, via Steve Jobs

The more simple any thing is, the less liable it is to be disordered, and the easier repaired when disordered.

— Thomas Paine, Common Sense

Wherever you work, most of the smart people are somewhere else.

— Bill Joy, arguing against centralization

Deriving frameworks from production code really is a pleasant way of arriving at something useful.

— David Heinemeier Hansson, on how Rails was developed

If I had asked my customers what they wanted, they would have said a faster horse.

— Henry Ford

The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.

— George Bernard Shaw

Any fool can write code that a computer can understand. Good programmers write code that humans can understand.

— Martin Fowler

Looking for a job? We typically hire designers and programmers. Other way cooler companies hire rockstars, ninjas and gunslingers.



Seriously, why? If you're in the job market, is it really more attractive to apply for a Front End Guru position?

Junior Interactive/Web Designer
iMarc is seeking a Junior Interactive Designer with a strong emphasis on graphic interfaces and visual problem solving skills. Candidate should also have a solid understanding of information architecture and user interface design as well as experience in identity and branding building.

Requirements:

• Strong sense of design fundamentals and type
• Understanding of HTML and CSS
• Advance knowledge of Flash (ActionScript a big plus), Photoshop, Illustrator
• Team player that can work closely with clients
• Ability to handle multiple projects in a timely manner.
• Survey and explore creative concepts and brainstorm with co-workers

What iMarc Offers:

• Competitive Salary
• Excellent benefits including health and dental coverage
• Company-sponsored retirement plan
• A fun, creative work environment, in excellent surroundings
• Challenging, varied projects

How To Apply
Email a resume to careers@imarc.net
* Inquiries without links to web-based work will probably be ignored.

About iMarc
iMarc is a full-service web development firm located in Newburyport, MA. We provide high quality custom Web sites, online applications, e-commerce, and intranets to discerning businesses.

I was feeling particularly crafty the other night and decided to make my own dock icon for my contacts. OSX Icon Masters be warned, I in no way followed your strict lighting and gloss standards put forth by Apple or the clowns in their Gloss 'n Shine Department. By clowns I mean geniuses, of course.

Here's a quick rundown on what I did:

Step 1: Make a Sexy Shape

The rules in this tutorial can apply to any shape really, but here is the one I made. Basically, its a square with an oval on the top and bottom.

Step 2: Dupe That Sexy Shape

Make it a little darker. Stick it in the back (behave) - and bump it up a bit (behave twice, please).

Step 3: Tweak It, Sucka!

Select only the top portion of the back shape, and distort the tops in. This will create a small amount of perspective. Nothing crazy, friends. OH - I also brushed in a small amount of shading at the bottom of the front piece.

Step 4: Add A Hint of Light

Next, add a small spotlight of ominous glow at the bottom portion of the back piece. Then we'll add a small strip of light across the top. 1px will do.

Step 5: Metal Screen Framing, Part One!

This part's easy. Dupe the front layer, make it a nice gray, select and move the bottom part up, then transform the whole thing in about 15%.

Step 6: Metal Screen Framing, Part DEUX! (Final Part)

We'll get that metal look by creating a new angle gradient with the settings seen below. Also, for effect you'll notice I added a little inner shadow and a small stroke. Not necessary, though. VOILA!!!

Step 7: Keyboard Frame

Along the same lines, dupe and transform another copy of the front piece. Make it black, align it with the bottom of your front piece, and erase the top for a nice fade into the screen area.

Step 8: The Screen. Not the Screen Frame, The Screen.

In case confusion has set in, in this step we'll create the screen. Dupe the screen frame, transform it in a little - remove the efects layers, and darken it up. Add a small black inner shadow around the edges.

Step 9: Let's Reflect. Things on the Screen.

Step 10: The Ominous Glow Down Below.

Remember step 4? Do that again, for the bottom. OMINOUS GLOW!!!

Step 11: Rince and Repeat. For Le Top Piece.

yes.

Step 12: Keyboard, Part 1 of 4.

Lets make a simple Key. It can be anything you want, but just make one!

Step 13: Keyboard, Part 2 of 4: ROWS

Dupe that key a few times until you have something not in any way standard on cellphones - like the one below. Dupe the row 3, 4 or 5 times (again, lets keep this unrealistic people). On the bottom layer make sure you stretch out some room for a space bar.

Step 14: Keyboard, Part 3 of 4: L-L-L-LIQUIIFYYY!!

Now lets include a little warp-action by utilizing the most well-named Photoshop Filter ever. Ok - now keep it simple. start at the top row and push down a tiny bit. Use the pic below for reference. If you didnt use this shape, match it up to your specific curvature.

Step 15: Keyboard, Part 4 of 4: Place it!

Shrink it down and it'll clean up nicely in place with your keyboard frame you created previously. Add a little D-Shadow. Haha - Oh man, that's Step 15 for ya!

Step 16: Stank

Add some! Add some nice keyboard lighting, a NON-RECEDING headphone jack, and some buttons that do things.

Step 17: Finish Him!

All done!

In our next tutorial I'll show you how to add service to your Cell-Phone Icon.

Until Next Time!

(6:23:15 PM) Me: that better not have been you singing

(6:23:22 PM) Ruk: hahaha

(6:23:28 PM) Ruk: i thought i was the only one left here

 

Not a valid excuse.

Anyone who is familiar with how operating systems manage multitasking knows that context switches are expensive. But that's nothing to how expensive context switching is in humans[1].

This morning I wanted to consult with a coworker about an important but low-urgency issue, so I went to my IM contact list ... and discovered he wasn't logged into IM. I didn't want to interrupt him (low urgency) but did want his input (important issue). So I dialed his desk on the intercom: "Ruks, are you interruptable?"

Turns out this sort of tiered communication is pretty common. Shortly after consulting with Craig, I spotted an article[2] reporting on research done by Ohio State University and the University of California that found exactly this.

It seems that workers use instant messaging to reduce interruption.. in place of phone calls and showing up at each others' desks. This reduces context switching, and consequently increases productivity.

One of the study's authors thinks that IM won't be as widely adopted as email. I'm not convinced; there are 2.4 billion SMS text users in the world[3], or 74% of all mobile handset users, while the there are just 1.2 billion email users worldwide[4]. While there are "only" 67 million "enterprise" IM users, I think the massive adoption of SMS — a form of instant messaging IM that happens not to be PC-based — gives the lie to the idea that IM doesn't have the same traction as email.

Given the inordinate amount of time we waste on email every day — consuming up to 25% of our workday[5] — I see the adoption of IM in business as a hugely good thing.

IM seems to not only reduce that email load but make us more productive... that's some nice icing on that cake.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go interrupt a coworker...