The idea of programming via a Graphical User Interface rather than typed code has been around for a long time, but it’s never caught on because usually the solutions are still too hard and abstract for non-programmers to grasp and too cumbersome and clunky for power users comfortable with whipping out cryptic text-based jargon while […]

I’d like to compare the current state of software development, particularly “private” Web applications for businesses, to the American landscape of the 1800’s. On the one hand you had the Wild West. Cowboys, indians, land and riches for the taking, almost anything goes, he who’s quickest on the draw wins, etc. OK, I’m kind of […]

In the past (before this incarnation of The Idea Basket), I’ve blogged about what the “next-generation” desktop user interface might look like. My hypothesis was that neither Microsoft nor Apple could afford to throw existing UI concepts out of the window because it wouldn’t make immediate financial or business sense. I also said it was […]

Just when I thought Apple bashing was finally fading away from general computer industry discourse, some dude publishes an editorial on OSNews.com that is fancinating in its extreme bias, misleading premise, and un-factual conclusions.
Read my rebuttal here and let me know what your thoughts are. I fully admit I’m an Apple fan (I first switched […]

I recently watched an extremely enjoyable and inspiring presentation at Google by a researcher with University of Washington’s Keeping Found Things Found project. In the presentation, William Jones covers a wide range of organization topics, going beyond the usual folders vs. tags debate to a more comprehensive look at the how’s and the why’s of […]

The race is on to take a bite out of the Web development platform pie and become the dominant PHP 5 framework. Who are the players? What are the stakes? Who will win? This essay will spell it all out for you in black and white.

What is this “framework” of which you speak?
In order to […]

I feel like I’m posting on the Signal vs. Noise blog with this one, but what the hey. I was just reading a TIME article on the Nintendo Wii, which to my non-gamer brain sounds like a great product, and I was struck by the brilliance of the philosophy behind the design of the Wii. […]

Hey, I was recently interviewed by Hatem Ben Yacoub at the online AJAX Magazine, so you might want to check that out if you’d like to hear me talk more about xajax and Willowgarden. Thanks Hatem!

Only one more day to go until Willowgarden is launched. It’s a project that’s been under development for over eight months and contains concepts I’ve been working on for far longer than that. I had originally planned to release it sometime at the end of April, and last week when I discovered that April 28 […]

We’re halfway through the business week here, and Arbor Day is coming up fast! What’s so special about Arbor Day, you ask? Well, it’s a great opportunity to celebrate the beauty and wonder and incredible usefulness of trees — in particular by planting some. It’s also a day when the Willowgarden project will be officially […]