Thomas Michelbach

"Happiness comes from achieving success doing what you love, while ignoring the trappings that..."

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 00:30:23 +0200

“Happiness comes from achieving success doing what you love, while ignoring the trappings that symbolize success in that field.”

- Joey Roth (via jackcheng)

"If it’s in iCal, it’s real."

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 10:07:52 +0200

“If it’s in iCal, it’s real.”

- via Garrick Van Buren

Getting things done

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 15:48:28 +0200

Found on a yellow note on my desk and declared as work in progress:

- get jquery.geolocation plugin ready
- buy those YSL high tops
- get the microframework done
- do 10x200lbs on the benchpress
~~- do blog at least something sometimes~~

A logbook

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 13:54:00 +0200

In order to keep track of my advancements in life, I’ve decided to invest in a new Moleskine - totally analog book-keeping - not only for my expenses but also for my progress in bench-pressing and a more balanced nourishment.

Even if you can’t reblog or like my entries there - i do (like ‘em)

Back from a four day trip to Hamburg.

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 22:43:13 +0200

Back from a four day trip to Hamburg.

Ideas worth spreading

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 23:27:55 +0200

Below you see my all time favorite TED talks.

Arthur Benjamin does Mathemagic
Toys from the future
Elizabeth Gilbert on genius
Woody Norris invents amazing things
David Merrill demos Siftables
Dan Ariely asks are we in control of our own decisions
Joseph Pine on what consumers want

Spread the idea(s)!

What's app'ening? - Research

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 00:32:15 +0200

As ‘research’ is a very broad field we distinguish between basically two different types of research: scientific and literary research on the one hand and finding practical relevance for our application on the other hand.

Torsten and Sebastian are focusing on the pratical part of the research generally by finding different scenarios and problems where our application could be suitable. I’ve recently spend a lot of time in the library delving into the main problems of commands, (human/machine) learning and dialog based information exchange. As we know where we wanna go this is a quite usefull way to figure out how to get there.

We’re solving our reseach problem by a “divide and conquer” approach: dealing with smaller challenges and reassembling them to finally finish research/conceptual work.

"Begin at the beginning, and go on till you come to the end: then stop."

Sun, 21 Jun 2009 01:51:25 +0200

“Begin at the beginning, and go on till you come to the end: then stop.”

- The Logic of Commands.

“Models of Thinking” (1970) & “The Logic...

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 17:30:00 +0200

“Models of Thinking” (1970) & “The Logic of Commands” (1996)

What's app'ening? - Introduction

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 12:36:12 +0200

In order to keep myself motivated I decided to do a series of posts named “What’s app’ening?” regarding the progress we’re currenty making with our first ‘real’ application. I’m declaring it a ‘real’ application, because development deals not only with programming but also with research in a scientific and technical way: not that we didn’t do that before - but this is the first time it’s for ourselves and not for a client’s project.

Right now I’m not able to focus 100% on the application’s concept because there’s too much client work around that keeps me on the move but I’m optimistic that this will change during the next weeks. Even though we see each of our clients as family, client work is not as satisfying to me as working for my own (respectively our) interests is.

So, what’s app’ening? We’ll see.

"For example, few people wrote books, more people write blogs, even more people write status updates,..."

Sat, 06 Jun 2009 10:39:57 +0200

“For example, few people wrote books, more people write blogs, even more people write status updates, and who knows what the next thing will be.”

- Marc Zuckerberg on communication (via Inside Facebook)

Learning from mobile development

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 13:11:56 +0200

As I’m currently doing some research on usability I’ve figured out how amazing the Facebook iPhone App is compared to the webinterface on Facebook.com. Much more focused on communication than on bloating my mind with quizzes and useless notifications.

Instead of developing from web to mobile try considering:

How would an application look & feel on a mobile device?
What does that mean for the webinterface? ~~Will it blend?~~

Target limited capabilities. Take nothing for granted.

"A good job requires a field of action where you can put your best capacities to work and see an..."

Sun, 31 May 2009 11:31:55 +0200

“A good job requires a field of action where you can put your best capacities to work and see an effect in the world. Academic credentials do not guarantee this.”

- The Case for Working With Your Hands. Adapted from Matthew Crawford’s new book, Shop Class as Soulcraft (via jackcheng)

"Starting with a blank canvas is the only way to get a masterpiece."

Sat, 25 Apr 2009 10:32:07 +0200

“Starting with a blank canvas is the only way to get a masterpiece.”