Paul Mayne blogs here since 2003.

I’ve run into a road block in developing an application idea I’ve been toying around with for at least a year. Over the past month I’ve scoped it out and wire framed the functionality. I’ve shown it to a few friends for feedback and they all feel it’s got legs for success.

After much deliberation, I feel that the best platform for this application is a native Mac app. First of all, because I use a Mac and I would be the #1 user of this app and I feel the audience it caters to also tend to be Mac users. Second, it would need to take advantage of integrated functionality you can only get from a native app.

Adobe Air is another option, and would seem to be a nice fit, being that I’m not too shabby of a ActionScript developer myself, but there are far too many fine details that bother me about Air (which I’ll save for another blog post). Most importantly, Air feels like a web application in a native window and there’s a big reason this application is not a web app.

So begins my search for a Mac Application developer. The few I do know personally are booked out for the next few months working on iPhone apps. I received a couple referrals for others who are also busy. It seems that the iPhone Gold Rush has swept up all the Mac devs.

Ideally I’d like to team up with a talented developer and build this thing as a 50 / 50 partnership. I’m certain the workload would be equal if not weighed slightly heavier on me for all the scoping, UI design, visual design, testing, ect. I’m willing to hire someone hourly, but longer term and personal commitment to this project would be much more beneficial to the success.

If anyone knows anyone who knows anyone who is an insanely talented programmer and has some knowledge of Cocoa / Objective C (or a passion to learn it), please send them my way. Ideally a local, Utah guy, but I’m willing to work with someone remotely.

I’m very confident this is a great opportunity. And on the surface it’s a pretty simple concept.

I’ve hesitated posting an ad on Authentic Jobs or a freelance board as I feel that it will be difficult to achieve the quality and long term possibilities with the project. But if I continue to have no luck, that’s my next option.

Either that or hunker down and learn Objective C and Cocoa myself.

— March 15th, 2009

I find inspiration for my work and ideas from many places. Sometimes it has nothing to do with art and design like nature and people and other times it’s found in art history and museums. But the thing that really gets me going is seeing the work of current day geniuses creating new and beautiful things by experimenting with the tools and data of available today.

I’ve been following the work of these guys for well over five years and, with the exception of JD, I’ve seen them all present live at least once at Flash conferences. I’ve noticed hey all share three traits: 1) they have a strong sense of good design and 2) they experiment extensively in Flash or similar technology 3) they are genuinely great guys.

• JD Hooge Currently the founder of an amazing studio called Gridplane creating the beautiful and useful data visualizations and navigation systems for a variety of platforms including the XBOX. I’ve been a huge fan of his work since before he was cranking out the goods at Second Story Interactive.
• Marcos Weskamp Marcos is always thinking of new and better ways to visualize and consume data. His experimental Flash projects include Flickr Graph and Newsmap among many others. Currently working for Adobe in the XD group.
• Erik Natzke Back in the day Erik had a site where he would post his Flash experiment called “toys” and soon figured out ways to use his creations to build navigation systems and amazing websites. He’s always had a drive for creating art with code. In his latest work he’s created tools and virtual paintbrushes in Flash that allow him to experiment and discover new and interesting art. I find his work to be jaw dropping beautiful (viewable on his Flickr page) and it’s even more impressive printed out (and framed). (sample)
• Yugop Probably the smartest person in the whole world. The experiments he was creating in Flash 5 years ago are still amazing. He has a beautiful style that includes rich Flash interfaces and great sound design. Always taking things to a new level.
• Jared Tarbell Jared has used his knowledge of code to assist him in creating beautiful textures and art generated in Flash and Processing. He has created so many ground breaking experiments in Flash and he’s so generous by making many of them available as open source for others to learn and expand upon.
• Nando Costa Nando has created some of the most beautiful animations I’ve ever seen. He now runs his studio called Nervo doing motion and print design you must check out. (sample)
• Robert Hodgin A Flash experimenter and designer who switched over to Processing to allow him the freedom to create larger and faster animations with code. You know that amazing default 3D iTunes Visualizer, yeah he built that. And it’s nothing compared to some of his installation work and audio analysist engine. (sample)
  While talking about Perlin noise at FITC last year he said:

  “random is boring / semi-random is sublime”

• Joshua Davis Since Flash Forward in 2002 when taught us all about easing by running around on stage (and tried to sell us a copy of his hard drive), Joshua has continually followed his passion for creating art with code. A solid eye for design and the drive to make things happen by programming his own tools in Flash to make it happen. He has a style that’s all his own and it’s so beautiful. Which by the way can now be found on a pillow case. (sample)

I could go on forever with details and projects and talks all these guys have done that give me great motivation to learn and explore my own interests. They all share a similar philosophy of giving back and helping others. They are what makes the Flash community what it is today.

— March 13th, 2009

Last week Jana and I took the boys on a fun family vacation in Southern California. We drove our van and hit up Sea World for a day and Disneyland / Disneyland California Adventure for 3 days. We planned on doing a day in Lego Land, but our first day in San Diego was rainy and so we bagged that. After that, the weather turned beautiful, upper 60s and perfect for all the walking we were doing. Highlights were the dolphin and whale shows at Sea World, Jackson being trained by a real Jedi and fighting Darth Maul and all the rides at Disneyland that had virtually no lines. It was a perfect time of year to go.

On our way to California and back we spent a night in Las Vegas to break up the driving. I decided that Vegas isn’t that fun if you’re married with kids, not gambling or partying and not seeing any shows or concerts. The rooms at The Excalibur were way nice, but the pool / hot tub were not open past 5:00 pm! What’s the deal? Plus the casinos the smoke and the traffic…

Jana blogged a bit more detailed about our trip of you’re interested: Family Vacation!, The Beach and SeaWorld!, Disneyland, Disneyland, Disneyland. In fact, since I’m such a slacker at blogging about stuff, I’ll probably leave most of the family stuff up to her blog and I might try to focus this blog on more design, web development and Flash focused stuff.

Photos on my Flicker Set: Disneyland / Seaworld Trip…

— February 17th, 2009

We recently finished our basement and since we have more space, I set up one of my older computers for my two boys to play on. Up until now they would use Jana’s Macbook. They absolutely love it. Jackson has always been enamored by computers and the Internet but now Eli is really getting the hang of things. I’m amazed by how quickly they pick up things and instinctively learn how to use different navigation systems without even being able to read.

Currently they play on three websites: Playhouse Disney, PBS Kids, and Starfall.com.

We’ve purchased a few CD-rom based educational games which had decent reviews on Amazon, but I found them to be worthless compared to the current free stuff you can find online, like Starfall. It seems like there could be a nice market for more kid based educational and entertainment web sites, specifically for kids 2-5 years old.

I see that Playhouse Disney has a subscription based site for even more educational games called “Preschool Time Online“. It’s $49.95 annually, but has a free 7-day trial, I need to check out.

Does anyone have any other sites they recommend for kids, specifically under the age of 6?

— January 25th, 2009

The Good:

• Finished the basement. FTW!
• Made new friends and became reaquanted with old friends (thanks Facebook).
• Attended some Killer shows (Wilco, Fleet Foxes, Bishop Allen, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Vampire Weekend, Ray Lamontagne, Great Lake Swimmers, Andrew Bird… to name a few)
• Continued to be amazed and entertained by my two, sweet little boys.
• Voted for and watched Barack Obama become President.
• Managed to love my wifey even more.

The Bad:

• Lost my Grandpa, whom I adored.
• Missing my Dad, obviously.

Overall a very great year for me and my family. I’m excited for 2009 and very thankful for the many blessings and friendships I enjoy.

Paul

— December 31st, 2008