Andrew Wirtanen is a usability specialist in Cary, NC More »

Usability Emergency: Japan Needs Better Phones

Usability specialists take note: Japan is in dire need of an easy-to-use phone with features they are accustomed to (mobile TV, credit card payment, GPS). It’s an interesting problem, since cellphones are radically different between the US and Japan. Japan is on the cutting edge, and mobile phones in the US are relatively outdated before they’re even released.

Apple faces an incredible challenge of getting the world to adopt one phone. With iPhone 2.0 and third-party application support being released on Monday, June 9th, they may be able to win some points. Great applications can be written by local developers instead of through the eyes of Cupertino. This is going to cost Apple a lot less money, and may make the phone more popular in mature cellphone markets. It may also be the only solution to pushing a single phone worldwide.

(Picture from subkernel).

Manny’s 500 Home Runs Charted

Manny Ramirez is one of the most consistent hitters of all time. I would love to have him on my fantasy team (but I’m doing quite well with my Pirates: Nate McLouth and Xavier Nady). Manny is fun to watch, because you never know what he is going to say, and he seemingly wakes from the dead every time a ball is hit to left.

What else does Manny do that amazes us? He hits home runs to every corner of the park. Check out this awesome visualization of his 500 HRs from The Boston Globe:

(thanks Katelyn!)

Firefox 3 Download Day 2008

Firefox is going for the world record for most downloads in one day! Go to SpreadFirefox.com to pledge your download. There’s no set date for the download yet, but if you pledge they will send you an email reminder.

I’ve recommended grabbing a copy of the beta in my Firefox 3 UI Review, but it’s perfectly ok if you want to wait for Download Day.

UPDATE: Download Day is June 17, 2008.

This American Life Season 2

Every week, you can catch me listening to PRI’s This American Life with Ira Glass on my iPod. Last year, Showtime picked up a television version of the radio show last year. Currently in its 2nd season, This American Life the TV show is a wonderful adaptation of the radio show. Below is an animated short by Chris Ware from this season (and here’s one he did last year):

Open for Business

My apartment in Apex, NC is coming right along. I am pretty much done furnishing the living room and the kitchen. I just have some more things to buy for my bedroom and porch. Due to popular demand, I’ve uploaded a set of photos on Flickr.