Don't push your content down the page

I went to Mashable to read this article about YouTube's new paid subscription model. The page loaded and I saw this:

The big headline is nice, but I don't care about the shares and likes when I haven't even read the article. Everything else is ads, ads, ads. So I scrolled down to this:

A huge photo of the YouTube logo...and the image doesn't tell me any other information. Under that in relatively tiny font, is the article. (Also, notice that the text on the National Geographic ad is easier to read than the article text. Priorities.)

I'm all for visually interesting pages, but don't make me scroll down an entire screen length before I can read the article. The first word in the headline is "YouTube," so I know that's the subject of the article. The huge logo wastes space, and it's unnecessary.

The page layout gets in the way of what should be most important—content.

Who knew we’d be publishing pixels?

Yesterday I went to the library to check out a few books on marketing (apparently I read those for fun now), and I saw a book called Cover Letters That Knock 'Em Dead by Martin Yate. The whole book is sample cover letters.

I get bored looking at samples online so I thought Hard copy is better. Might as well check this out too. I looked on Amazon today and there are more recent versions of this book, but this one was published in 1992. Not to alarm anyone, but that was 21 years ago, which means this book is more amusing than useful.

For example, Chapter 5 has a few paragraphs that discuss if you should use a typewriter or a computer to compose your cover letter. The author insists that typewriters just don't cut it anymore.

But my favorite is from a sample networking letter:

It was fascinating to learn about the new technology which is beginning to play a major role in the publishing field today. I have already been to the book store to purchase the book _______ which you highly recommended. I look forward to reading about his "space age" ideas.

We retired the Space Shuttle but at least we have Kindles.

At least I got a blog post out of it

Sometimes I think of an idea that's easier to draw than to describe in words, so I was looking for an app that would let me do that. Simple drawings (preferably on a canvas larger than the screen) that I could save and email.

I have a notepad app on my iPod Touch that's simple and quick. Surely, there's something similar but for sketches and diagrams.

Simple and quick, that's how I thought it would be to find this little app. But no, I spent the evening searching and might have found a satisfactory app.

When I'm looking for a specific kind of app, my usual method goes like this:

1. Go to the app store, directly from my iPod Touch.
2. Search keywords.
3. Check reviews for any app with more than 3 stars. (My level of optimism determines how far down I scroll before trying new keywords.) See if the pros outweigh the cons. (If I don't find a suitable app by searching, I browse categories.)
4. Download a free app (or free "lite" version) with high ratings and good reviews.

5a. If it does what I want, keep it. Possibly upgrade to the paid version at some point.
5b. If it doesn't do what I want, delete it. Go to step 4.

I looked at several apps and saw lots of complaints. For example:

Doodle Buddy crashes.
Inkflow only has a black pen and no eraser (but there is an Undo button).
Sketchpad has too many ads.
DrawCast isn't updating.
Whiteboard lags.

Then my own grumbles...

I had to muddle through all the drawing and doodling games. I don't want anything with neon/glowing effects. No kiddy sound effects. I don't need anything social.

What I want is a large blank canvas, a few different colors, an eraser, the ability to save and send images, and positive reviews.

It was too much to ask.

And then I had an idea. Sharpie might have an app. How perfect would that be? Digital Sharpies and a sketchbook. It seems too good to be true.

It is.

In which Cabin Pressure predicts real life

(I wrote this four weeks ago, but I had limited internet access while I was on vacation in Greece.)

On the plane to Greece, I listened to an episode of Cabin Pressure. I thought it’d be neat—Cabinception— and since it’s a sitcom, there wouldn’t be anything to freak me out mid-flight.

Well, I was almost right.

I listened to “Boston” (series 1, episode 2) and the bit comes up with Martin asking over the intercom for any doctors on the flight.

Half an hour later on my real-life flight, the captain made a similar announcement: “Ladies and gentlemen, one of our passengers requires medical assistance. If you have had any medical training, please notify a flight attendant.”

Fortunately, we had a couple doctors and a nurse on board, the man who was ill got better, and the captains didn’t have to yo-yo between diversion destinations.

(I didn't listen to any Cabin Pressure on the way home. Just in case.)

Constellation Prize

When I was in elementary school, we had carnivals twice a year, one in the fall and one in the spring. Family nights, basically, where we went to the school for a few hours and played games, ate hot dogs and cotton candy, and entered raffles. Everything was in the gym and on the playground.

One year, the prizes were themed after the solar system. There were posters, freeze dried ice cream (remember that?), key chains…things like that. If you won, you got one of those "good" prizes. If you played a game and lost, though, you still got a few glow-in-the-dark stars (the kind you can stick on your ceiling).

Those stars were at every game, so I played and lost a few times, and still had all these plastic stars and planets.

I heard one of the teachers explain the prizes to a parent. I thought I heard her say the stars were the "constellation prize," and it made sense to me. Of course, I could take these stars home and stick them to my ceiling in formation. I could make the Big Dipper and Orion. That was pretty cool.

It was a few years until I realized the prize you get even when you don't win is the consolation prize. Misunderstandings like this have happened to me before then and since (more on that some other time), and "constellation prize" is one of the better outcomes.

Sidebar: A reverse reveal on Merlin

What if the writers are planning a reverse reveal? Merlin won't reveal his magic to Arthur. Instead, Arthur tells Merlin he's known for a while. Maybe this is why the reveal hasn't happened yet. We've seen Merlin have several close calls but really, Arthur has seen more examples of Merlin's power. Neither one has found the right moment to confront the other.

Sidebar: The Spider-Man movie no one will make

I want to see a Spider-Man movie that focuses on Peter Parker. He's in college trying to juggle his course work with freelance photography. He makes friends, upsets girlfriends, eats dinner with Aunt May every Sunday, and manages to pick up a research grant his junior year.

Peter Parker as Spider-Man is in the backdrop of all this. Spider-Man is the focus of Peter's work for The Bugle. Spider-Man is the way Peter travels across the city. Spider-Man stops the mugging Peter would have witnessed.

I love that superheroes movies are still trendy ten years after the first Spider-Man movie came out, but I'd like to see a story that focuses on the human side of the superhero.

Sidebar: A higher caliber of children's TV

If networks took children's programming as seriously as some adult programming, I can't even imagine the quality of work that would come out of that line of thinking. Imagine a Jason Katims, Joss Whedon, J.J. Abrams, or Steven Moffat for kids' TV. Imagine if we had storytellers of that caliber who wanted to make shows children would enjoy.

We'd get something like what J.K. Rowling did for children's literature, but this time for children's television. That's what we need.

Sidebar: McGonagall and the Slytherins

In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Professor McGonagall sent all the Slytherins to the dungeons after the Death Eaters attacked Hogwarts. The scene is the same in the book and in part two of the film. Some fans made a fuss about it, saying McGonagall assumed all the Slytherin students were untrustworthy. I don't see it that way.

Many of the Slytherin students' parents were Death Eaters and supporters of Lord Voldemort. Chances are, many students' parents were part of Voldemort's followers who attacked Hogwarts. By ordering all the Slytherin students to the dungeons, McGonagall took them out of the fight. Those students didn't have to choose between fighting against their parents or against their peers. They didn't have to make a difficult decision in dangerous circumstances. McGonagall's decision kept students safe and minimized unpredictability among them. That's good for the students and good for the school. Sending the Slytherins to the dungeons was the best decision McGonagall could have made.