I used to play shows with Dan at coffee shops and bars around the city, and it brings me so much joy to see him having success in his hometown (hometown success can be very hard to accomplish). I know that Dan has worked really hard for this, and it’s good to see that hard work and a “bit” of talent can pay off.

I am primarily looking for freelance Interaction Architecture projects, but will consider web design/development work as well.

If you have an opportunity that you need some help on, please feel free to drop me a line: derekkehler@gmail.com

With the release of the iPad this week, I started thinking about the way mobile devices have evolved over the last decade, and realized that somewhere over the last few years we stopped worrying so much about size, and more about what the device is actually for. The reason I bring this up, is because I remember Apple releasing a new/better/smaller iPod every year, or even twice a year. Now, although size does matter, we have other things to think about, like syncing, storage, and accessibility.

I think we’re approaching an interesting point in time where a separate device is needed for everything we do. Let me rephrase that, I don’t think we need a separate device for everything we do, but that seems to be the way that the need for mobility is playing out. There is a new device for everywhere we are and everything we do: we have a semi-stationary desktop or laptop that is our storage device and main syncing console, a cellphone for when we’re on the go… and now, with the iPad, a browsing/reading device for when we’re lounging around the house.

In my opinion, we’re seriously overlooking the need to store data and synchronize it with each device harmoniously and effortlessly. Now, the obvious answer is to store and sync everything online… essentially doing away with the need for personal physical storage devices, and I do believe that this is slowly coming into view. I guess, I’m just wondering when, and why it hasn’t happened yet.

Here’s my dream: I want all of my devices to sync themselves online at all times (in other words, I don’t want to have to think about it). That includes my music, photos, files and everything else that I could ever want to keep in digital form. I want to be able to purchase and access music from any device, and then listen to it in my car, my phone, and my house without having to worry about which computer it was on, or lugging around an external hard drive.

Is this too much to ask?

What do you think is the next step for computing? Do you agree with me? Disagree?

When I first picked this book up I had no idea that it was so much more than a simple story. I was on holidays, and it was one of the books in a stack that stood out to me. The title was oddly intriguing, and so I picked it up.

At first the story of a father and his teenage son riding together on a motorcycle across the country caught my attention. However, as I read on, the narrator (the father) began to describe a previous life in which he lost his mind. As the story goes on, and they retrace the steps of his previous life, he becomes more engorged in the thought processes that got him there.

As I dig deeper into this book, I am finding that the author is describing the idea of two types of personalities/philosophies: Romantics and Classics. Romantics, being people that see beauty in the perception (or the overall creation) of things. And classics, being people that find beauty in the physics behind them.

At first, I thought that he was describing these two philosophies as being in contrast to each other. Instead, he goes on to state that there is actually beauty in the contrast between the two. The title “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” refers to the perception of qualitative evidence, and that our perception of “reality” is actually what defines reality… or maybe more accurately, our perception IS reality.

This is a read that only comes around once in a while, and is a great book for the unphilosophical and philosophical alike.

I wanted to purchase a new 3GS iPhone, but it was supposed to cost me 800 bones, so I decided that I would look into other options. It came down to the HTC Magic for $114, or the LG Eve for $85.

I decided to go with the Magic, and have actually been very pleased.

I’ve noticed that it’s quite a bit faster than the iPhone when accessing things over the network, and even just the operating system is substantially faster. Because it’s an Android device, Google Docs and Gmail integration are some of the best features.

There’s a few things that are less sexy, and less “apple”, including the absence of the elastic ending to lists, and touch zoom option… but they’re things that are just “nice-to-haves”, not game-breakers in any way. It’s quite a bit lighter, smaller, and substantially cheaper than the iPhone, and makes for a much sexier pocket bulge.

HTC Magic receives a grade of A-

I Killed a Man

Love is All You Need

Last May, Greg Bell and I started a company called Orange Peel Media. It was an exciting time, because I have always been an entrepreneur at heart.

At that point in my life I made the decision, to let my music take a backseat to my career. At the time, Adrian Glynn and I had been doing a monthly gig at Backstage Lounge, where I enjoyed some of my favourite shows as a performer. I will always look back on those times as exciting. However, because of my career, I started to find that they were becoming a chore. I didn’t have the time to put into them like I used to. So, after two years of good times at Backstage, Adrian and I decided to give it a rest.

For a few months I put my guitar in a corner (the first time in about 8 years) and didn’t even think about it. I even really enjoyed the time away from it.

Anyway, in the last few months, I have picked it up again and have made a few passes at writing some new songs.

Nothing seems to be working though: I have one rhythm, and that’s all I seem to know how to play; I can’t come up with a half-assed lyric for the life of me; and I’m far too stuck to know what’s wrong.

In a way I feel like I’ve just sobered up and realized that I was never a very good songwriter… well, not really, but that’s what I tell myself to get depressed so that I can write.

When it comes down to it, like most songwriters, most of my best songs have come out of depression and melancholy moods. It has always worked for me because I’ve always been depressed in one way or another, but now things seem to have changed. It’s not because I’m blissfully happy… because I’m not. And it’s not because my life too good to be depressed about it… because it’s definitely not. But I am just too busy to be depressed, and I just can’t afford to be melancholy!

Now that I’m quite sure that I know what the problem is, I’m not sure I want to go there. It makes me wonder if a songwriter can really put out good music without the manic lows, and fleeting highs…

So the question is: where does music fit in my life now?

You Suck at Photoshop #1: Distort, Warp, & Layer Effects

You Suck at Photoshop #3: Clone Stamp and Manual Cloning

For me, this tattoo symbolizes the last four years of my life: the risk and adventure of moving to a new city, starting a new career (despite all the advice to the contrary), and then starting my own business.

It’s been a crazy ride so far, and won’t be slowing down any time soon. It’s exciting and scary at the same time. I guess this is the curse of aiming high? ;)

We launched ScrnShots this morning at 10:00 am PST. So, far the traffic has been encouraging, people seem to be really into it, so that’s good.

ScrnShots is a community where you can upload, tag and share your screenshots. Greg Bell and I just started full time on this project last week, and it’s very exciting for us to have a product that is actually out there and available to the public.

If you wanna signup for an account you can do it here.

We also just got blogged about on Web Worker Daily, which is also very exciting!

Spread the news!