While I strongly recommend any and all developers to take some time to do this, I can understand that some restrictions or complications may hinder the goal of redesigning a ton of graphics, especially for games.

In lieu of this problem, I did a little thinking and experimenting.

But first, how does the Retina Display seem to make lower resolution applications more obvious than looking at an older iPhone display?

Answer: the “screen door” effect. When you look through a screen door, you see through the holes, and your brain fills in the missing information.

On the older iPhone display, not only were fewer pixels shown, there was also a visible gap between pixels. By drawing semi-translucent black lines every other pixel (both vertically and horizontally), I was able to simulate the lower resolution of the old displays.

See the resulting effect here with Ramp Champ (iPhone 4 only). You can tap the image to switch between pixel-doubled and Retro Display. (Thanks to Neven Mrgan for throwing this webapp demo together.)

I should note there is one side-effect to this, which may or may not come as a surprise to some of you: the screen looks slightly dimmer. Seeing as you can only really notice this when you see two images side by side, this is not much of an issue and frankly, I think its an acceptable compromise.

However, the result is sort of fascinating and intriguing. Again, while not a solution, it’s a workaround for developers on a tight budget or those who are spending their time on brand-new applications.

If you wish to download the Retro Display overlay image for use in your own application, you can download it here.

Imagine you’re at a bar or party of some sort. You don’t know anyone there, but you went to make new friends. You hear lots of conversations going on, ranging in topics. People are talking about a sporting event, a famous musician, a hot new electronics gadget, and whatever hot TV show was on last night. Naturally, you’ll gravitate toward the conversation that interests you, whatever it may be.

For some people, that might be the sporting event going on. And there might be a lot of people that find that particular topic interesting. But maybe not you. Maybe the musician topic doesn’t suit you either, even though they’re popular, it’s not your kind of music. And the hot TV show is something you used to watch, but it got super lame and you don’t wanna talk about it anymore. Maybe you’re like me, and you want to hear what people have to say about a revolutionary, magical device that was just released to the hands of the public. In that case, that’s where you wanna go. That’s the people you want to talk to.

It might be one of the smaller groups of people talking, but that’s okay, because you’re likely to find some friends here who like the same things as you. This isn’t to say you wouldn’t make friends over in the other conversations, but you’re probably more likely to find friends here, because you can contribute to the conversation and feel engaged about the topic.

Twitter currently handles Trending Topics as the most popular topics worldwide (and also in certain cities). While knowing what everyone in the world (or certain large cities) are talking about is somewhat valuable, it’s not always what you’re interested in. The topics might be interesting for a lot of people, but certainly not everyone. And even if you like one of the hot topics, you’re not necessarily interested in all of them.

Wouldn’t it be great™ if you could walk into a party of unfamiliar faces and everyone was talking about stuff you liked instead of a party where no one is talking about anything you like? You’d have a pretty good chance of finding new people who share the same interests. You’d engage in more conversation and make friends.

With the Internets (well, Twitter), we could experience this. Trending Topics, in my opinion, could be insanely more valuable to the individual person instead of assuming that everyone is interested in the most popular topics.

Considering the people you follow, Twitter could aggregate the topics from those tweets and generate a list of topics that interest you. If a lot of people in the world are talking about the World Cup and that doesn’t interest me, that’s okay, because the people I’m following are tweeting about the new iPhone or Pixar’s latest movie. Because the information regarding topics could be taken from people I follow, I could find new people who are talking about the things I like to hear about.

Bruce Wayne and Tony Stark are rich playboys that can afford awesome gadgetry and Superman is indestructible (save for his Krypronite weakness). Spiderman has awesome web-spinning abilities, and the Hulk, well he’s mean, green, and a fighting machine. I mean, how does the Flash prevent crashing into things while he’s running? The Flash needs some work. Super hero movies have standards.

I’m pleased to announce that I’ve accepted a visual designer position at Apple. In the coming days, I’ll be prepping and moving back to the San Francisco Bay Area.

Thanks everyone, for being incredibly supportive over the years. I’ve learned a lot so far, and can hardly wait to continue my design career at the big fruit.

I’ve found that 5-man dungeons can be really fun and an easier way to get experience and money than questing, but some people are so incredibly difficult to work with. Here’s the lowdown on how I think people should be doing things for 5-mans.

Tank:
1. Keep aggro on all enemies. This means the Healer won’t have to heal all party members, just you, which in return means they don’t waste unnecessary amounts of mana.
2. When any party members announce they are low on mana (especially your healer), or just simply tell you to hold up, STOP. Don’t try to show how badass you are and go aggro more enemies. Without a Healer, you’re gonna die. (As a side note, the Healer pays attention to everyone’s health, it might not be a bad idea for you to pay attention to everyone’s mana.)
3. Protect squishies. Your Healer is going to do you no good if they’re dead.

Damage:
1. Do damage, simple as that. Attack the enemies the Tank is targeting. If you attack the same main target they are, that target will die faster, which means less damage on the Tank, less healing for the Healer.
2. Follow the leader. Don’t be a hero and start attacking new enemies, that’s the Tank’s job. When you aggro new enemies, you’ll need healing as well as the Tank. Healing one target is way easier than healing multiple targets.
3. Besides not going ahead, don’t lag behind. If you’re far away from the area of attack doing god knows what, you’re simply not doing your job. (Especially Rogues. I know you want to do your thing, but pay attention to attacking, ’cause in a dungeon, that’s your job.)

Healer:
1. Keep the Tank alive. This is your primary objective. Then worry about the others.
2. Keep yourself alive. If you notice you’re going to die, heal yourself quick. Don’t let yourself become useless to the group.
3. Lastly, don’t let your mana fall too low. It almost goes without saying that you’ll need your mana to… heal. Make sure the Tank gives you some time before the next pull so you can get your drink on.

And if you have any play habits, let the group know. If you like taking a food/water break every couple pulls, make it known. If you’re a Warlock that converts your health into mana a lot, let the healer know ahead of time. That’s basically it. I know there are a few exceptions and of course a Healer should heal other party members, but for the most part, a healer should not be actively healing everyone in 5-mans.

The World of Warcraft icon is included in the Warcraft icon set from the Iconfactory.

Download the icon set (10 icons) from the Iconfactory:
Warcraft