Blog – Page 36 – Johan Ronsse

Hiragana/katakana learning application: developer wanted

January 11, 2015 - Posted in interface

I have a side project related to learning Japanese. You can find a demo here. I’m looking for a Javascript developer to improve it so we can launch a version on the app store. We can do a revenue split depending on how well it does.

For me this is a side project to experiment with Apache/Cordova and application design while learning Japanese. I am also scratching a personal itch: I couldn’t any decent looking app to learn hiragana and katakana. I have a deep understanding of CSS and can provide the design/features direction.

I would like most parts to be webviews but if it’s logical to use a native component, let’s do that. For now I am mostly looking to release this as an iOS app. Currently the code is based on Angular using Ionic framework but this is up for discussion. If you are interested, let’s talk: hirakata@johanronsse.be.

Weapons of Choice

December 3, 2014 - Posted in other - 2 comments

The end of the year traditionally comes with tons of end of year lists. Like many people I have a love/hate relationship with these kinds of lists.

I love them because I like to discover new things. I hate them because they always promote the latest and greatest when it’s not always the latest and greatest that’s the best.

If the hdmyboy project excites me more than the offerings of the latest consoles, maybe I am just getting a bit older. I fully realize how stupid this statement sounds to those reading this well in their forties and older but hey, that’s just how I feel.

I used to make yearly reports with the best films or music I discovered that year. After a while I couldn’t be bothered with keeping these lists. Every year has great new music albums and great movies. I will leave these kinds of recommendations to the relevant publications.

Talking about yearly reports, I admire how Nicholas Felton has been doing his Feltron report since 2005. I wonder how he doesn’t go crazy tracking all these facts about his life. I track the business side of things but tracking my personal life? No thanks.

I like Marco’s qualification that you need to have used a product for at least a year to recommend it.

So these are the things I’ve used for more than a year and I can heartily recommend, starting with hardware:

Bluetooth speaker: Big Jambox by Jawbone
Laptop: Macbook Pro retina
Phone: iPhone (5S)

Then, on the software side:

Cloud syncing service: Dropbox
Photo editing software: Adobe Lightroom 5
E-reader: Amazon Kindle
Project management software: Basecamp
Browser: Google Chrome
Todo sofware: Omnifocus
Bookmarking service: Pinboard
Read it later service: Instapaper
Feed reader: Reeder
Text expansion software: TextExpander
Quick sharing software: CloudApp
FTP client: Transmit 3
Text editor: Textmate II
E-mail client: Gmail

These are some newcomers that still have to prove their worth – but it looks like these are here to stay:

Document scanner: Fujitsu Scansnap S1300i
USB Hub: Anker USB 3.0 9-Port Hub
E-mail replacement: Slack
Compact camera: Sony DSC-RX100 III
Noise cancelling headphones: Bose QC-15
Graphics software: Sketch 3

If you know similar lists like this — preferably from single bloggers and not from big sites like Ars — please let me know.

Bloomberg Terminal

November 29, 2014 - Posted in computers

According to an episode of The Newsroom, the Bloomberg terminal is a $24,000 machine used wanted by traders to be able to watch the markets as closely as possible. According to their website it’s a software solution these days.

Whatever may be the case, I thought the UI looked interesting. It seems pretty standard for a financial application but the array of windows and charts makes the whole of it looks impressive.

The fastest way to convert images

November 26, 2014 - Posted in computers

For me, this is the quickest way to convert and optimize a bunch of images. This example converts a bunch of PNGs in JPGs and resizes them to a width of 1100 pixels. It then opens ImageOptim to further optimize the output.

Install ImageOptim
Install ImageMagick – if you have Brew the quickest way is: brew install imagemagick
Run this command: mogrify -format jpg *.png && mogrify -resize 1100 *.jpg && open -a ImageOptim .

Be aware that mogrify replaces the original file – use convert if you want to keep the original files.

UI in Jurassic World trailer

November 26, 2014 - Posted in interface

When I watch science fiction films – or any film really, I am always fascinated by how computers are displayed. Here are some UI screen grabs from the just-released Jurassic World trailer:

And one from the original film:

A map with color coding seems more useful to me than an all-blue/black one.

Old Masters

November 19, 2014 - Posted in other

Now I am 79. I’ve written many hundreds of essays, 10 times that number of misbegotten drafts both early and late, and I begin to understand that failure is its own reward. It is in the effort to close the distance between the work imagined and the work achieved wherein it is to be found that the ceaseless labor is the freedom of play, that what’s at stake isn’t a reflection in the mirror of fame but the escape from the prison of the self.

Very inspiring article about older people still doing their thing. NYTimes — Old Masters at the Top of their Game →

Sony RX100 M3

May 17, 2014 - Posted in photography

RX100_IIIEVF

The Verge about the 3rd iteration of the Sony RX100:

But there’s another equally impressive feature that’s hidden inside the camera when you first pick it up: a retractable electronic viewfinder. Sony seems to have pulled off a masterful feat of engineering here. All it takes is the flick of a button when you want to call upon the high-res, 1.4-million-dot EVF. Then once you’re done, it simply disappears back into the body. A retractable EVF on a camera that fits in your pocket. Color us impressed.