Diego's Lifestream

2 easy alternate guitar tuning

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 19:49:53 -0400

2 guitar tuning that I find a lot of fun are:

from the 6th string down to the first

normal E A D G B E

# 1 E A E A B E (3rd & 4th string up 1 whole tone from standard tuning)

# 2 E B E A B E (3rd, 4th & 5th string up 1 whole tone from standard tuning)

They allow you to put any 2/3 fingers on 2nd & 4th fret and sound good for as long as you play with a strong rhythm.

I suggest beginning using just 1 finger at first and see how it sounds.

ex:

1 st finger 2nd fret 5th string

then

3 st finger 4th fret 5th string

then

1 st finger 2nd fret 4th string

etc…

Then 2 fingers at the time

ex:

1 st finger 2nd fret 5th string and 3 st finger 4th fret 4th string

then

3 st finger 4th fret 5th string and 1 st finger 2nd fret 4th string

then

1 st finger 2nd fret 4th string and 3 st finger 4th fret 3rd string

then

3 st finger 4th fret 3rd string and 1 st finger 2nd fret 4th string

etc…

There is a lot of doubling of notes so the possibility for suspended sounds is great.

Also sounds good when tapping harmonics on 5th, 7th, 9th, 12 frets …

Hope you’ll enjoy.

This is bullshit! This is the last time I book southwest.

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 10:00:22 -0400

This is bullshit! This is the last time I book southwest.

So you’re sticking to your story, uh? It wasn’t you,...

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 01:01:51 -0400

So you’re sticking to your story, uh? It wasn’t you, it was the dog, yeah right?

(dog) For once it was me who farted & they don’t...

Sun, 08 Apr 2012 21:41:04 -0400

(dog) For once it was me who farted & they don’t believe it. LOL

Why ark.com homepage is trying to be too clever

Sat, 14 Jan 2012 15:23:00 -0500

Recently I received an email from ark.com wishing me a happy new year & offering me a $5 coupon.

Mind you, I have no idea what ark.com is and what they do.
But like a schmuck I am curious and click on the link.

When I get to their website I get this:

I am looking at this page and I still don’t get it.

I decide to click on “New to Ark? Join” and I get this:

I don’t know yet why I would join the site so I decided to click to “home” and then from there I click on the about link on the footer.

Which takes me to their facebook page:

At this point I leave frustrated and tweet that the site pretty much sucks.

I still don’t know what ark is and I am about to mark them as spam in my email client.

After a friend tells me something about their tag line I search for it on the homepage.

I finally realize that I can click on the bottom tag line, that one below the footer that seems part of the footer.

Which finally takes me to an explanation by hiding the homepage, moving the footer to the header and revealing a previously hidden explanation of what ark does.

This is in my opinion horrible design and UX and here is why:

My experience, first and foremost. I am on websites 12+ hours a day and I gave upon the navigation while trying to figure out why I should join in. How many others have done the same. I’d put some event tracking on that homepage and figure out how many people have done the same. The bounce rate on that page must be monstrous.
Go look at the homepage again, look at it for 10 seconds, which is way more the casual user will spend on it & tell me what they do. What? got nothing? You should look at the homepage have a least a vague idea of what the site is about in less than 2 seconds.
I don’t think the arrow down graphic below a footer is enough indication that you can click on something.
Clicking on a below footer graphic to reveal anything is pretty much a bad idea. I can’t think of any website that does something like this, thus is not a common convention.
Why in hell would you hide the reason to join? If I had a scrollbar on the right I would have known that something was missing from the page. That could have been the clue that I needed to click on the arrow or to scroll down myself and find out what the site is about. They might as well have hidden the signup button.

Designers need to realize that people spend 99% of their time on other websites which in turn sets up conventions and expectations for your possible customers. Don’t be too clever or you’ll alienate your visitors. When you drive down the street you don’t expect the street signs to be posted inside of the stores, why would you do the equivalent on a website.

Your business depends on ambient findability & ease of use.

Respect your customers & their mental models.

(Time to get back to play with my boy)

Mission statements must die

Mon, 12 Sep 2011 12:53:44 -0400

Just got this email and people insists of using mission statement language in their marketing (and in general).

On this, I must say, I am with Guy Kawasaki, it must be a mantra, not a mission statement. Preferably you should be able to type it twice in a tweet.

You be the judge.

It's not up to you to decide

Mon, 12 Sep 2011 11:03:56 -0400

I can’t help but laugh inside when a designer shows some new design and makes the claim that new design is better, more intuitive or easier to use without having it shown/tested with anybody else.

It’s not up to you to decide whether your design is any of those things. You might express your opinion and your belief, but don’t state it as a fact. You sound stupid.

It’s like claiming you have been very patient, or that you are a great lover without anybody else telling you that you are any of those things.

There are many known things that will trick you into believing that you’re a great lover or patient or a great designer. We are inherently programmed to value everything we do, have, think higher than its true worth. Your kids are the most beautiful kids, the smartest, the greatest kids in the world. To you, this is truth, if you’re deluded.

Until a few people pay you those compliment, sorry to burst your bubble, but none of it is even remotely true.

LaunchRock.com

Wed, 17 Aug 2011 22:05:25 -0400

LaunchRock.com

Beat it.

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 08:40:47 -0400

Beat it.

We will rock you. Thank you @zmoazeni

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 08:39:18 -0400

We will rock you. Thank you @zmoazeni

Who came up with these rules

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 08:21:55 -0400

Who came up with these rules

Holy shit! Luca Barcelona completely owns with his freestyle...

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 23:00:15 -0400

Holy shit! Luca Barcelona completely owns with his freestyle calligraphy skillz gotta see

"Tomorrow I am going to start writing a column on procrastination"

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 20:18:50 -0400

“Tomorrow I am going to start writing a column on procrastination”

Also watched “Kick Ass” on Sunday. Mmmhe! Some good...

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 20:14:46 -0400

Also watched “Kick Ass” on Sunday. Mmmhe! Some good fighting scenes with hit girl, and a couple of moments here and there. I have an overwhelming feeling, which I cannot shake, that it could have been much better. 3 out of 5.

Design Inspiration Toolbox: 100 Sources of Design Inspiration

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 14:38:02 -0400

Design Inspiration Toolbox: 100 Sources of Design Inspiration

Watched “Date Night” on Saturday and highly...

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 14:26:20 -0400

Watched “Date Night” on Saturday and highly recommend it especially if you’ve been married as long as I have. I found the first act funnier than the rest of the movie, mainly due to obvious similarity to my life and marriage.

Critique: I could have done without the embarrassing dancing scene, which has become a common clique for this type of movie.

In the end I truly loved it, it exceeded my expectations.

2 years later I still love this

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 10:39:14 -0400

2 years later I still love this

That’s what I should have watched last night

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 09:06:51 -0400

That’s what I should have watched last night

The men who stares at goats

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 09:01:45 -0400

I watched the men who stares at goats last night. While the acting and the story telling are good, I felt the story was kinda weak and the ending was a let down. I can’t quite recommend it. 2 out 5?

I want this, for me and my kids an interactive mirror

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 12:30:00 -0400

I want this, for me and my kids an interactive mirror