Also check out Western Spaghetti by the same artist.

In conjunction with the soon-to-be-released Firefox 3.5, the Firefox logo received an update.  From Alex Faaborg, Principle Designer on Firefox:

The updated Firefox icon is based on sketches and conceptual artwork by Jon Hicks and Stephen Horlander.  It is also of course an evolution of the previous rendering of the Firefox icon which was created by Jon Hicks, based on a sketch by Stephen DesRoches and the creative direction of Daniel Burka and Steven Garrity.

This new logo was created by Anthony Piraino from the Iconfactory and is a marked improvement to the iconic logo.  The old rendering was good, suitable, and memorable.  The new logo retains the old logo’s feel and makes definite design improvements, rendering the fox smoother and with enhanced shading.  Although not drastically different than the old logo, the new logo doesn’t have to be.  The old logo worked; the new one works better.

New Firefox logo:

Old Firefox logo:

What I find more interesting about the updated Firefox logo is the transparent design process: Faaborg documented the process on his Mozilla blog giving readers updates and a peak into the behind-the-scenes back-and-forth of the process.  On his blog, Faaborg shared the Firefox team’s Creative Brief in preparation of the logo update:

In addition, Faaborg shared several iterations of the design while Piraino worked with the Firefox team to update the logo:

As well as the final iteration in context:

Many thanks to Faaborg and the design team for posting these images for all the world to see. Allowing us to see this usually internal process is both enlightening and fascinating.

JibJab does their first Obama video. Cue the hilarity:

iPhone OS 3.0 is finally here today. Sometime today, that is. I feel like a little kid on Christmas morning whose parents told him he has to wait until after church to open his presents–the presents are there, I know they’re there, but I can’t have them yet. We know the upgrade happens today, but we have to wait until Apple deems us worthy. Ahh! The suspense!

Zagat has published their 2009 Fast Food survey, and the best fast food burger belongs to In-N-Out Burger.  This comes as no surprise to me.  I rarely eat fast food—in fact, I eat it so infrequently, I might as well say I never eat it.

But there’s just something magical about In-N-Out.  When I was visiting my sister in Arizona this past February, we made sure to grab a burger one night.  Perhaps a good thing for me, In-N-Out Burger only has locations in four states: California, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona.

What makes In-N-Out special is they’re a no-nonsense fast food joint—they do three things: burgers, fries, and shakes.  That’s it.  No pretend-healthy food, no chicken or fish.  Just the basics.

My In-N-Out meal:

Mmm.  I think I may have to open a franchise on the east coast!

(Nod: Lifehacker)

I’ve been listening to Michael Giacchino’s score for Land of the Lost, and something I noticed on my very first listen was a curious quotation of a motif from another Giacchino score. Subtly included 19 seconds into the second track “The Lighter Side of Archaeology” is one statement of the island motif from the TV show Lost, also scored by Giacchino. Curious. And subtle. But the motif is definitely there. I wonder why.

How’s the rest of the score? More later, but the short answer is if I were making a movie, Giacchino would be scoring it.

MG Siegler at TechCrunch argued this weekend for a Genius feature for the iTunes App Store, similar to how the Genius feature for music and movies already works.

The problem is that while early on, it was pretty easy for small-time developers to make an app and get it noticed in the store, now with 50,000 apps, we’re getting to the point where you need to do something else to promote your apps. That’s good news for big time development studios like EA, which can throw marketing money at the problem. But for some smaller developers—some of which are just one person—that’s simply not an option. But there is one potential solution, and it’s one Apple already has built-in to iTunes: Genius recommendations.

So, like the music and movies Genius feature, the App Store Genius would give recommendations for other apps you might be interested in based on what you have as compared to other similar users.

What a terrific idea, and I find it hard to believe a) Apple hasn’t already thought of this or b) this isn’t in the works already if the Genius feature, originally only for the music store, was recently extended to the movie store.  iPhone and iPod touch users knowing what other apps they might also like could open an additional stream of revenue, no?  Hard to argue against instating a feature to bring more cash in.

I know I would find this helpful.  I used to subscribe to a couple RSS feeds that listed new apps, but I quickly found I couldn’t keep up with the volume of new apps that came in.  That volume is great for Apple, but bad for users who can’t keep track of the apps and bad for small-time developers who can’t get their apps noticed.

With a Genius feature, more apps will be exposed to more users, resulting in a win for users, a win for developers, and a win for Apple.  Perhaps there’ll soon be an app for that, too.

(Nod: Just Another iPhone Blog)

Every morning, I receive dictionary.com’s word of the day in my inbox.  Usually the word is something that I know I’ll never use, and I’m likely to forget the word ten minutes later.  Sometimes, though, the word sticks, either because the definition is either useful or humorous, or because the word is just fun.  Today’s word falls into the latter category because it’s just fun to say: prestidigitation.  The word means the “skill in or performance of tricks; sleight of hand.”  I’ve been repeating this word all day.

An example of part B of the former category (a word with a humorous definition) would be the word of the day from 19 June 2008: defenestrate, which means “to throw out of a window.”  There’s actually a word in the English language for throwing something out of a window.  How terrific.  I now use this word at work when I want to throw my work computer out the window—err, defenestrate my computer—because it isn’t working properly.  Look out below.

Google Maps recently made a huge usability improvement to their Street View technology.  To “drive” along the street, you had to continuously click an arrow that moved them incrementally along the street.  Now, you can double click an area on the street and fly to that location (or even double click on something along the street to zoom in).  A huge usability improvement.

(Nod: Fumin)

If you didn’t get a chance last week to watch NBC’s Brian Williams’s two-part special going inside the Obama White House, you can catch the video online via MSNBC here.  Also while you’re there, be sure to check out the awesome interactive tour of the White House.

(Photo: Antoine Sanfuentes / NBC News)

In their latest film Up, the Pixar team continues their tradition of including a healthy dose of easter eggs throughout the film.  Slashfilm has compiled a list of easter eggs in Up, including the ever-present Pizza Planet truck originally from Toy Story.  The truck in past films, clockwise starting top-left: Toy Story, A Bug’s Life, Monsters Inc., Toy Story 2, Ratatouille, Cars, and Finding Nemo (click for larger version):

And here’s the truck in Up:

As expected, today Apple announced a new iPhone, one that boasts faster operation and data speeds, a built-in compass, voice activation, a 3-megapixel camera with auto focus, and video recording and editing capabilities.

Since the rumor mill was churning out its speculations, I speculated on whether or not I would pony up the cash for a new model even though I purchased myPhone 3G in February.  Based on what I saw on the features list, I’m definitely interested in an upgrade.  For as much as I use the iPhone camera, a better camera with focusing and white balance abilities is a huge plus.  And who doesn’t like a faster device?

But then I heard about the fine print: there is a set of prices for new AT&T customers and a set of prices for existing AT&T iPhone 3G customers.  Those of us already in contracts with the carrier would have to pay $200 more for the particular model of iPhone we would purchase.  The same 16 GB iPhone 3GS that would cost a new customer $199 would cost me $399.

Any chance of Apple or AT&T getting me to fork over more cash for a new iPhone are nil now.  What percentage of existing iPhone 3G customers does Apple and AT&T expect to pay twice the retail price of the phone to upgrade?  I assume this decision is that of AT&T.  I’m not a business major, but this decision seems like it is slamming the door on a potentially huge stream of additional revenue for both Apple and AT&T if many existing iPhone 3G customers like me are unwilling to pay the doubled price for the new phone.  Instead of forcing us to pay the additional price, which will likely be unlikely for many or most iPhone 3G owners, why not extend our contracts two years from whatever point we are in our contract and allow us to pay the normal price for the phone?  We’re still locked into a contract, but now the contract is even longer, so that’s additional monthly revenue for AT&T, no?

I imagine there will be a significant amount of pushback from iPhone 3G owners.  As a result, perhaps this policy will fall.

Furthermore, what’s with AT&T not offering MMS (multimedia messaging) until late summer and no date for tethering ability?

Those small digs at AT&T from Apple today during the keynote were well deserved.  What a spectacular fail for AT&T today.

Michael Giacchino is back with his second feature film score of the year, this time composing the score for Disney/Pixar’s latest film Up. Giacchino again soars with his musical accompaniment to the endearing and delightful story of love, loss, companionship, and adventure.

Giacchino’s score for Up marks his third score for a Pixar film, following The Incredibles and Ratatouille. For The Incredibles, Giacchino wrote a super-hero-esque-slash-John-Barry-scoring-James-Bond-sounding score, and for Ratatouille, Giacchino wrote a charming-and-heartfelt-yet-energetic score. Up falls more closely with the mood set in Ratatouille, so if you enjoyed the latter, you’ll likely enjoy the former.

Throughout the score are two prominent themes: Carl’s theme for the Ed-Asner-voiced crotchety old man and Muntz’s theme for the Christopher-Plummer-voiced, old-time explorer/hero character. Carl’s theme is a delightful waltz usually orchestrated very lightly save for a few heroic outbursts. The theme gets generous use in the track “Married Life”:
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The theme also gets an energetic rendition in “Memories Can Weigh You Down”:
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And an all-out orchestral rendition in “Up with End Credits”:
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Muntz’s theme, performed with lyrics in “The Spirit of Adventure,” is, appropriately, more adventurous than Carl’s theme.  The theme:
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And the song, which, appropriately, sounds like it was recorded in the 1930s:
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In “Walkin’ the House,” we’re given a motif for the adventurers’ walk through the jungle.
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The track “Canine Conundrum” is the first to feature the music for Muntz’s dogs. This music is part savage- and Conan-the-Barbarian-sounding, and for some reason is strangely familiar to me. I can’t, though, pinpoint why the music is familiar-sounding; perhaps this is an homage to something else I know?
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More comes later in “Seizing the Spirit of Adventure”:
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Giacchino supplies listeners with a healthy dose of action material for Up, including “Escape from Muntz Mountain” (with a short muted-trumpet burst of Carl’s theme:
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And “The Small Mailman Returns”:
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And as is his usual custom, Giacchino treats us to a wonderful end credits suite of the film’s themes and motifs followed by the aforementioned “The Spirit of Adventure.”  Curiously, the track title of the end credits suite follows the naming convention of his two previous Pixar-film scores: melding the title of the film with “credits.”  The end credits track title in The Incredibles was “The Incredits”; in Ratatouille, “End Creditouilles”; and in Up, “Up with End Credits.”  Another naming convention tradition he maintains here is naming a track “<#> <object> Dash.”  In The Incredibles was “100 Mile Dash”; in Ratatouille, “100 Rat Dash”; and in Up, “Three Dog Dash.”  Very nice, Michael, very nice!

Michael Giacchino’s score for Up soars with energy, charm, and fun like his previous Pixar scores. The fun-factor in the music is definitely a reflection of the fun Giacchino must have had composing this decidedly feel-good music. Another terrific score from Michael Giacchino.

On Brand New last week, I read Kraft is continuing their apparently on-going product redesign campaign (following, so far, Wheat Thins, Toasted Chips, and their shredded cheese line), this time with Miracle Whip.  So while I was at the grocery store, I stopped for a few snaps.  Below, the old logo and packaging on the left, the new on the right:

And the squeeze bottles:

Wow, what a transformation.  All the excessive text and over-designed elements have been jettisoned in favor of simpler, clearer designs and messaging.  Compared to the old design, the new Miracle Whip design has an almost retro feel to it, from the lack of crazy swirls and over-scripted word mark to the sparse background and simplified design elements.  But compared to other recent redesigns, this new packaging follows the trend of less-is-more.

Curious, too, is the treatment of the “NEW!” messaging on the new design versus the old design.  The old packaging has a bold and distracting “new” message, whereas the new design has a “new” message that better coheres with the design as a whole.

Several of these redesigns I’ve wrote about here make a great study in American packaging design.  We’ve become accustomed to the over-designed, compete-for-your-attention mess that is much of American packaging design.  Look at the old Baked! packaging as an example, the old Miracle Whip packaging as another, or many other brands at the grocery store.  This type of design is what we’ve come to expect from package design—more is more.  Product packaging attempts to fit every possible bit of information and marketing ploy on them.  Marketers, executives, and designers somewhere, though, realized what a mess the American shopping experience has become and decided to change it.  In a packaging world where each package design tried to out-design the competitor, these new, simpler, and clearer designs come along and say, “Yeah, you have seventeen more typefaces and eighty-three more colors and text bursts than I do, but you all look the same.  Here I am ready to quietly stand out.”  And stand out they do compared to the over-designed chaos at the grocery store.

This new Miracle Whip packaging is another successful redesign from the Kraft Foods family.  What Kraft brand is next?

The 2010 Connecticut Senate race is shaping up to be quite a battle.  Five-term Senator Chris Dodd, according to a recent Quinnipiac poll, is trailing his probable Republican general election challenger:

Connecticut Sen. Christopher Dodd is gaining on former U.S. Rep. Rob Simmons, a possible Republican challenger, and now trails 45 - 39 percent in the 2010 Senate race, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.

This compares to a 50 - 34 percent Simmons lead in an April 2 poll by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University.

Connecticut voters disapprove 53 - 38 percent of the job the Democratic incumbent is doing, compared to 58 - 33 percent April 2, his lowest approval rating ever. [...]

Dodd leads Connecticut businessman Merrick Alpert 44 - 24 percent in a Democratic primary while Simmons tops Caligiuri 48 - 10 percent among Republicans.

While the primary isn’t until 09 August 2010 and Dodd has plenty of time to turn his numbers around, these numbers probably are alarming to the Dodd team.  Scratch that.  Not probably are alarming.  Definitely are alarming.  Alarming enough, that is, to start television ads.  I saw this ad tonight:

Great, so no primary or general election is taking place for well over a year, and we already have ads in Connecticut.  Can’t wait until we get closer to an election. Ugh.

(Nod: FiveThirtyEight.com)

A manager in my department at work mentioned I was “balls to the wall” this week.  I knew the phrase meant going all-out, full-throttle, etc., but I was curious about the origin of the phrase.  Did the phrase really have something to do with male anatomy as I thought?  Or was my mind thinking on a high-school level?

Turns out the answer is no—to the first question.  According to Slate Explainer,

The expression comes from the world of military aviation. In many planes, control sticks are topped with a ball-shaped grip. One such control is the throttle—to get maximum power you push it all the way forward, to the front of the cockpit, or firewall (so-called because it prevents an engine fire from reaching the rest of the plane). Another control is the joystick—pushing it forward sends a plane into a dive. So, literally pushing the balls to the (fire)wall would put a plane into a maximum-speed dive, and figuratively going balls to the wall is doing something all-out, with maximum effort. The phrase is essentially the aeronautical equivalent of the automotive “pedal to the metal.”

Interesting bit of trivia.  But about the second question, pilots go balls to the wall in the cockpit.  Turns out the answer is yes.

Ron Howard and Tom Hanks are back in this The Da Vinci Code sequel (even though the novel Angels & Demons was released first), and they again bring along Hans Zimmer and his usual band of goons to provide the score.  Zimmer’s score for The Da Vinci Code was terrific; the score included tension, elegy, brooding gothic chants, and a magical theme for the revelation scene at the end of the film.  For his Angels & Demons score, Zimmer brings all that and more to create a score more enjoyable and better composed than his The Da Vinci Code score.

One’s enjoyment of this score, however, is likely predicated on one’s opinion of the composer.  Zimmer, much like composer James Horner, instantly sparks controversy amongst film score collectors.  Zimmer often is heavy on synth sounds and frequently employs the use of ghostwriters while taking full credit for his scores.  Most of his Angels & Demons score is purely orchestral, but a few tracks employ synth textures that, fortunately, do not detract from the score.  And of course, Zimmer’s happy band of goons (this time it’s Lorne Balfe, Geoff Zanelli, and Atli Örvarsson) assist him here as usual.

The score opens with an exciting and frenetic action-packed choir piece humorously titled “160 BPM,” as in 160 beats per minute, or the tempo of the piece.  A definite highlight of the score, this track serves as a fantastic opening and sets the mood for a great listen.  The track has an almost-dueling quality to it with the different layers of chorus as bells punctuate the action and organ undertones propel the energy.  This music accompanies Robert Langdon’s pursuits around Rome and is thus split-up throughout the film.  Only during the end credits do we hear this extended piece.
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Following said explosive opening, the score slows down a bit with “God Particle,” in which we’re treated to a lovely rendition of the “Chevaliers de Sangreal” theme from The Da Vinci Code.  This is the first track to feature violin solos by Joshua Bell, and he doesn’t disappoint (this is the actual musical opening of the film).
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In the film, there is a soft, religious-toned choir interlude between the Bell solo and the rest of the track, but sadly this piece is left off the album.  The track continues with a markedly different mood, one of more technical-ish sounding tones and textures but concludes with a haunting piano solo of the “Chevaliers de Sangreal” theme.

Next is another highlight of the score, the nine-minute track “Air” that accompanies the second Illuminati killing to great effect (nerd alert: there’s a close-up shot of a car headlight in the film, and when the headlight turns on, a sudden and forceful burst of choir fills the theater with masterful visual and aural effect).  Part brooding, part propulsive, part haunting, this track returns to the excitement that began with the opening track and features some familiar-sounding material from The Da Vinci Code.
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“Air” is followed up with “Fire,” another solid track.  Two great additions here are the choir and the tolling church bells that chillingly break the silence throughout the brooding and action.
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“Black Smoke” gives us some more action with some synth layers.
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We then get to another highlight, “Science and Religion.”  This over-twelve-minute piece features gorgeous religious-esque choir and is nothing like the mood of the preceding tracks.  The music features Joshua Bell again to terrific effect as he accompanies the camerlengo’s flight and aftermath.
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In “Immolation,” the mood becomes frighteningly dark with this brooding piece…
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…but in the penultimate track, “Election by Adoration,” the mood lightens up, and we hear another motif from The Da Vinci Code score, again performed by Bell.
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Finally, in the ultimate track, “503,” we get the “Chevaliers de Sangreal” theme unleashed to beauteous heights not achieved elsewhere on the album.  This track is extremely gratifying yet blisteringly disappointing.  Joshua Bell returns with a dazzling violin solo, and the magic captured in “Chevaliers de Sangreal” is back, but the track is frustratingly short.  Part of the magic of “Chevaliers de Sangreal” was the extended build-up to the climax of the piece, but with the brevity of “503″ and the quicker tempo, some of that magic is lost.  Still, though, if you appreciate a) the theme and b) Bell’s gorgeous performance, you’ll have this track on repeat.
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“503″ isn’t the only thing that is frustratingly short.  If you enjoy this score as much as I did and do, you’ll want more.  While we aren’t likely to get any kind of officially-sanctioned expanded score, we have as a consolation prize a downloadable-track titled “H20.”  This track fits nicely after “Fire” and has a very trying, strained performance of the “Chevaliers de Sangreal” theme.  Even though the track only adds just under two minutes to the score, the track is a nice addition if you’re looking for more music.
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More music aside, with Angels & Demons, Hans Zimmer proves once again how good he really can be when he tries.  All the magic and heights he achieved with his The Da Vinci Code score are matched and surpassed with his Angels & Demons score.  For Zimmer-detractors, this score isn’t worth much, but for Zimmer-enthusiasts, those who enjoyed The Da Vinci Code score, or those who appreciate orchestral music of the dark-and-brooding-yet-action-packed-and-divine variety, you’ll enjoy Hans Zimmer’s part-angelic and part-demonic Angels & Demons score.

(P.S.: back on 15 May I mentioned I had listened to “503″ 42 times.  Well, that number is now at 97!)

The good thing about a private movie screening is no previews, but the bad thing is no previews, so I missed out on seeing this teaser trailer attached to Up:

In Toy Story 3, all the original cast returns, sans Slinky Dog’s Jim Varney who died.

Also due out next year is the latest installment of Shrek: Shrek Forever After.  Again, all the original cast returns, which is great for continuity as well as hearing those characters again that we have grown fond of.  An interesting addition in Shrek Forever After, though, is the voice of Rumpelstiltskin: Paul McCartney.  As with the previous Shrek films, I’m looking forward to some heartly laughs.

I saw Disney/Pixar’s latest film Up tonight at a private screening for ESPN employees.  A few notes:

Pixar once again proved what a powerhouse they are in film making.  Not only does Up prove their superior animation and technical abilities, Up proves again their superior (and more important) story-telling abilities.  Watching these characters, you can’t help but feel their emotional struggles throughout the film.  The story is one of humor, sadness, joyousness, and overall feelgood-ness.  I never thought I would root for a crotchety old man.  Like past Pixar films, Up appeals to both little kids and big kids.  No matter your age, you will be touched by this film.

The latest cover for The New Yorker magazine wasn’t designed in Photoshop, and it wasn’t created with paper and drawing materials; it was created with an iPhone.  Jorge Colombo used the app Brushes to create the cover:

Said Colombo:

I got a phone in the beginning of February, and I immediately got the program so I could entertain myself.

Thanks for entertaining the rest of us, too.  The best part, though, is that the app records your brushstrokes.  Watch Colombo create the cover:

(Nod: TUAW)

Local Cleveland newscast WEWS makes it on SportsCenter.  Classic:

I was on-hand yesterday to observe Doug Gottlieb making his NBA Draft predictions on SportsCenter using the Perceptive Pixel box.  This graphic is a modified version of the graphic I developed for the NFL Draft.

Here’s the video of his top seven picks (don’t mind the small technical difficulty—I fixed it in time for the next segment):

Speaking of the NFL Draft, I snapped some photos during the NFL Draft with Michael Smith using the Perceptive Pixel box, but I never posted them.  Well, here they are:

And here’s one of me with my project:

Alan Taylor at Boston.com posted some great photos of the Space Shuttle Atlantis launch and the crew’s Hubble Space Telescope repair mission.

(Nod: Ed)

On the Bristol ESPN campus, there’s a flagpole outside the cafe that normally flies a red ESPN flag.  On certain occasions, the pole flies a special flag; for instance, when Disney President Bob Iger recently visited, a Disney flag flew.  Well, for an unknown reason today, four alphabet signal flags were flying.  I assumed they spelled out ESPN, but I had to verify.  Enter myPhone and the app Wikipanion, a mobile-formatted version of The Wiki.  From the international maritime signal flags page, I confirmed the flags spelled ESPN.  Not sure why, though.  I don’t think Captain Jack Sparrow was sailing with the Black Pearl through Bristol today.

For my birthday, I took a road trip to my two favorite places in Connecticut: Mystic and Stonington.  I wanted to get dinner in Mystic and catch the sunset on my beach in Stonington.

The restaurant in downtown Mystic I ate at:

I had penne pasta with grilled chicken, Italian sausage, and brocolini in a garlic butter sauce.  Delicious!

View up the river from the drawbridge:

Sunset in Stonington:

For several days, I was looking forward to a sunset on the coast:

The last little bit of sun:

All gone:

Back in Mystic:

…as darkness falls across the land:

Until next time!