Gadiel.com

Endeavour's Final Journey

2012-10-06T16:43:00.001-07:00

As I was watching the Space Shuttle Endeavour fly overhead in the Bay Area on its final voyage to LA a couple of weeks ago, I was quickly reminded of one of the more interesting stories in technical evolution.

The size of the Solid Rocket Boosters (not pictured) were determined based on the size of the railroad tracks used to transport them from the factory to the launch site, which has to go through tunnels. The tunnel size, of course, was based on the size of the rail. The rail's size was determined over generations of use, dating back to roman roads and the chariots, which were defined by the two horses which pulled it. Essentially the design of the most advanced technology we have today was determined by the size of two horses' ass.

I was first introduced to this story in Kevin Kelly's book "What Technology Wants" and again in a more abridged explanation at Astrodigital.

The lessons of inter-dependencies between design decisions over time here are enormous. While it's impossible to know every possible future use case for your product, taking a moment to consider what path you're paving which others will have to travel (including yourself) may be worthwhile.

Phish @ Bader Field

2012-06-17T06:55:00.001-07:00

App Standards of Care

2012-04-09T20:02:00.001-07:00

I wrote this post back in October of 2010 but never published it for some reason. Maybe I was waiting for the right moment or wanted to add to it and it just fell off the blogwire. Given today's news of Instagram selling to Facebook for a billion dollars, it felt appropriate to publish.

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I've become a bit enamored by the Intagram iPhone App lately. It's a simple photo sharing app that allows you to apply cool filters and share them with the world.

What's so fascinating about it is how it represents the modern day App in so many ways and has all of the features one would expect based on today's standards.

The "Standards of Care" as I see them are:
- Followers and/or Following (import friends from Facebook / Twitter)
- Comment / Like any Photo
- Share to Facebook & Twitter (Tumblr, Flickr too)
- Local: Foursquare Check-ins

For Instagram, photos & filters are their specific thing, but these features comprise what I believe any modern day social app should contain to be fully up to date.

What's next?

Hello 2012

2012-01-01T13:01:00.000-08:00

Cousins

2011-11-24T13:51:00.001-08:00

Rest in Peace, Steve

2011-10-05T20:33:00.000-07:00

99999

2011-09-13T21:22:00.001-07:00

Searching...

2011-09-01T12:27:00.001-07:00

Oh dearest iPhone, what are you searching for?

The meaning of life? Salvation? An updated Sim card?

Please oh please start working again soon...

Hippy Fiasco Rides Again?

2011-07-24T21:10:00.000-07:00

Waves

2011-07-22T09:43:00.000-07:00

Derek Sivers: I Miss The Mob

2011-07-15T10:32:00.000-07:00

From "Anything You Want"

High Flying Sierra

2011-07-05T14:58:00.001-07:00

Introducing...Sami Ravyn Gadiel

2010-12-17T22:19:00.000-08:00

Sami Ravyn Gadiel
Born 12/17/10 @ 10:19pm
7lbs 4oz

2010-11-27T07:51:00.001-08:00

Yo Gabba Gabba!

2010-11-26T14:10:00.001-08:00

Jon Stewart is my Rabbi

2010-11-01T13:48:00.000-07:00

Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear

Jon Stewart - Moment of Sincerity

www.comedycentral.com

Rally to Restore Sainty and/or Fear

The Daily Show

The Colbert Report

Bridge + Ocean from Bus

2010-09-02T09:28:00.000-07:00

Alshee

2010-08-09T13:28:00.000-07:00

Phish

2010-08-09T13:27:00.000-07:00

2010-07-13T18:41:00.001-07:00

Arg!!

2010-07-09T02:00:00.000-07:00

The Ivory Tower

2010-06-11T09:41:00.000-07:00

Hanging out at the Zoo

2010-06-05T12:02:00.000-07:00

Mmm, Apples...

2010-06-04T09:51:00.000-07:00

Blue Sky

2010-05-30T15:53:00.000-07:00