commandN #139 (June 29th, 2008)

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headLINES
Nintendo least friendly tech firm
Goog-411 finds way to Canada
Twellow for business categories
MySpace redesigned
Google launches MapMaker
30 apps for jailbroken iPhones

techTIPS
MGImedia.ca Usability Consulting
1. User-Focused
2. Coherent Site Architecture
3. Consistent Labeling
4. Web Writing
5. User Testing

spotLIGHT
PlanetEye

webPICKS
ReadatWork
MakeMeBabies

Comments

[Philip Roy]

First comment this episode! So from the other side of the planet (New Zealand), all the best Brian and best wishes for the future!!

Cheers, Phil

[Bjoern]

Hello, great show as always.

I recently found this video while checking out if Command-N is on youtube:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Eyfjh7kD-fo

Even back then Amber called Brian the glue of the show!

There is so much funny stuff in there. My favorite part is about 5 minutes in:
- "I say 'exactly' ALL the time. There is not a better word than 'exactly'... so precise!"

@Jeff: I really liked your segment this week. Maybe it's because I wanted to find information on a website recently that did the opposite of everything you said.

@Amber: Filming yourself dancing in different places... I think, somebody else did that already :)

@Will: Nice web pick. Here is the baby: http://makemebabies.com/viewbaby.php?bid=245826 (I think we should call it ABBA)

@Brian: I wish you all the best.

- Björn

[Scott Jacobs]

In my opinion, Amber and Will are the best co-hosts on the Web (and considering the wonderful content of shows like those on Revision3 and the TWiT Network it' a very high bar to reach). I have this huge silly smile on my face the whole time I'm watching and look forward to every episode with great anticipation (more so than most anything TV has to offer, The Office and Battlestar Galactica notwithstanding). By the way, my two other favorite tech video podcasts are PopSiren and Tekzilla.

[Jeff MacArthur]

BJOERN: Yeah, not hard to find good examples of bad usability:

STEP 1: Open cellphone
STEP 2: Do anything beyond dialing a number

:-)

Jeff

[Amber Mac]

Thank you so much for the excellent comments! BTW - we are taking Canada Day week off, so expect another show two weeks from today ;).

[Dave Knight]

As always, love the show and the content. You are really hitting your marks every week. The only thing now, is the rounded corners (I am sure there is a technical term) that is done occasionally in the last two episodes. I really don't like this, sorry. It is distracting where I think it may be meant to help me focus... but it does the opposite. Otherwise all the camera shots are fantastic.

Keep up the great work... we the viewers will never have enough.

[david]

Thanks for another great episode of commandN. I will check out makemebabies. My wife will be interested in this, since we don't have children of our own.

[stephen]

Hi there

I was wondering if you have ever seen or used
http://www.tinkernut.com/

It is a great site. Something you might want to share with others.

[stephen]

Hi there

I was wondering if you have ever seen or used
http://www.tinkernut.com/

It is a great site. Something you might want to share with others.

[Amber Mac]

@Stephen - looks like a great site, lots of amazing info! :)

[SteveintheUK]

@Amber, Will, Great show as always but why has Amber and babies become such a hot topic at the moment? First they was the "is she pregnant" thing in the comments for ep136, and now Will is getting people to use MakeMeBabies.com to find out what the babies would look like if they where to father Amber's children. I know spring is finally in the air, but I hope that all this talk of Amber having babies is just down to her filling broody after finally meeting Jeff's twins?

Either way, here's a great site for you Amber that may come in handy for when that happy day finally arrives,

http://www.bellybelly.com.au

Oh, and just in case, I'll be emailing you a picture of 'our' baby via MakeMeBabies.com when the site has finished being updated.

@Jeff, Some great tips on web site usability. I was just wondering if you/or Amber thought that blog software like Wordpress/TypePad/Blogging/etc has made it easier for people to create sites that have good usability or has the fact that as the themes on those sites are so easy to change, ie direct re-coding or added widgets, that more sites are getting harder to actually use fully?

@Brian, Really sorry to see your leaving the commandN helm, is this due to another baby on the way, more work at CityTV, or do you just want more time with the wife and child? What ever the reason I hope all works out well for you and hope to see you back in front of the camera on commandN soon, maybe you could bring that stranger Mikey with you?

@Chris, Just a quick HI, hope Brain has told you the secret to keep Amber and Will under control? Just threaten to put out-takes at the end of the show.

Due to the minimal number of out-takes that we get to see it must of worked for Brian so will hopefully work for you too. Although don't forget to save all the out-takes up for the ultimate threat of releasing an outtake special

[Jeremy]

What is happening with Brian now? What better opportunity is there over working on Command N?!

MySpace's interface redesign is a joke, nothing much new to talk about there. I think it was more of a PR move then a user based move. I don't see anyone getting more engaged with their site, or using it more based on their minor changes.

I'm a fan of Twellow for Twitter as well, saves me time adding new people I want to follow and have conversations with.

[Sgt Ret]

The use of the camera's shadow across you feet while paying tribute was a nice artistic touch.
The injection of the interview with the chain link fence and traffic noise had the feeling of a "man on the street" interview.
Good lighting, sans squint, and excellent sound.

[rob frost]

Hey guys,
I just stumbled accross an article exposing Fox News photoshopping their critics' faces to make them look uglier.

http://mediamatters.org/items/200807020002

Why does this not surprise me? ;)

[Thomas Sully]

Hey Guys,

Just curious as to why you shot in a widescreen format but then display it in a 4x3 format?

[Amber Mac]

Hi all,

Thx again for all the feedback. As for Brian, he's still at Citytv and we hope he will do some segments for us. We're taking this week off to switch our shooting/editing over to Chris.

See you soon ;).
-Amber

[Tom J. Robertson]

Hey Commandn,

I've been following Amber since the "Call For Help" cable tv show. I enjoy her banter and website tips shared with Leo on Net@night.

I really like Jeff's contributions to the show...though I am not an Apple user.

I know Amber likes and follows certain music groups. I just became aware of NoiseTrade.com a website devised for music artists to share their music with their fans. I previously purchased a CD from Sandra McCracken and she (or someone from her camp) emailed me a link to the NoiseTrade site. I haven't decided yet, but I found other artists from whom I might purchase music. See if this is worth recommending.

Wish I knew Amber was speaking here in Chicago I might have tried to attend. Who has time to track anybody on the social networks? Anyway check out NoiseTrade, as Jeff says: Enjoy!

Tom J Robertson

[Gary]

I'm a little behind, just finished CN#133. Will, regarding your love of Chocolate Chip Cookies, this was in Wednesday's edition of the NYT. Quest for the perfect Chocolite Chip Cookie.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/09/dining/09chip.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin

recipe linked on the site.

-Gary

[Bjoern]

@Gary and Will: Here is the key to irresistible chocolate chip cookies:
http://wiseguys.de/liedtexte/cccenglish.htm

It has to be good, because it rhymes :)

"Jetzt neu mit verbessertem Rezept" means "Now new with a better recipe"

Here is the song with German lyrics (i did not find it in English, but the English version sounds almost exactly the same):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8Nn_p_y1zs

- Björn

[Lyrrad]

Looks like the iPod feed doesn't show the latest episode (139) in iTunes. It appears the issue is that the entry for episode 139 doesn't contain the downloadable media file, so a user would have to download it manually.

[Randy]

Anyone else having trouble downloading command-N episodes since the last itunes update? For all three of the most recent ones, itunes tells me (h.264 feed) that the format isn't correct for itunes. Never had trouble before.

[anon]

amber, i heard you talk about travis, i don't like them much, but they'll very well known in britain, like oasis and coldplay (i think people outside the uk know them, but i'm not sure, but they're as big as them here)

i think they got 'big' when they sang their song called 'Why Does It Always Rain On Me' at Glastonbury and it started to rain :| i looked it up that was 1999, here's the same song in 2000 -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxOp2LAdO7Q

wow, looking at their stuff on youtube, i know more about them then i thought lol, you must have heard one of these before -

Travis - Sing, Travis : Driftwood, Travis - Why Does It Always Rain On Me, Travis - Turn, Travis - Side, Travis - Flowers In The Window????