The portfolio, resume, and blog of Nathan Chase
28 Jul 2008
Now that music has become mostly a commodity in the minds of consumers, music industry companies are having to think of new solutions in order to stay relevant and profitable. While they struggle to figure out how to reach those consumers, companies like Last.fm, Pandora, and Slacker are exploring today’s real innovation in music - customized and personalized listening experiences.
While all three services offer their own unique implementations of online radio, there are a number of ways that each solution trumps the rest in features and user experience. Let’s dive in to a comparison and find out what makes these services so slick:
27 May 2008
I recently started a Twitter discussion with Chris Coyier of CSS-Tricks on the relevance and usefulness of the <small> tag. I’ve had this same debate with co-workers on why one would still use <small> over just using a <p> or <span> with an appropriate <class> or <id> to define the “smallness” of the tag. The one thing we both noticed is that no one uses the <big> tag anymore, so why should anyone use the <small> tag? This seems to be only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to determining which element to use for an intended result. Let’s look at a few more instances of controversy in the realm of standards and semantics on the web.
9 May 2008
Ever wished you had one place to test your web designs in all browsers easily? Well thanks to IETester, it’s now possible to check your work in IE 6, IE 7, IE 8 Beta (and even IE 5.5 for anyone still living in the year 2000). It’s still in alpha, so it has occasional crashes, hiccups, and limited browsing functions. In spite of this, the app in its current release is already incredibly useful. The developer has a forum set up for feedback and bug reporting as well which should hopefully keep the project moving forward.
With IETester combined with VMWare Fusion, I can now test my work on my Intel Mac in Internet Explorer, Safari, and Firefox without having to resort to remoting to other machines, using slower web-based visual checks, or using Virtual PC to test multiple IE versions anymore. It’s a fantastic setup.
Now if only there were conditional comments, and a version of Firebug for IE and Safari… Hey, a web designer can dream, right?
27 Apr 2008
credit: CATR
Twitter is now all the rage. Your friends are doing it. Your mom is doing it. Even educated fleas are doing it. Microblogging is here to stay, and it’s caught on in a big way. According to Wikipedia, there are over 111 different ways to let everyone know what you had for breakfast online! Now the question is - how do we update them all at the same time?
23 Jul 2007
After watching the CNN / YouTube debates, I have a much better idea of where the various Democratic candidates stand. It seems clear to me that the choice is between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. It’s not just because they have the most money contributed to their campaigns, or that they have fame compared to the other candidates… They had the most focused and calm positions on the various issues and they don’t let the difficult issues trigger hasty or temperamental responses. Instead, they had poignant and rational replies to the various unorthodox ways in which the YouTube viewers asked the important questions. It follows suit with my moderate-to-liberal views on the issues to have a president who is willing to institute change, but do so with consideration.
Mike Gravel was the only one to mention the FairTax, so I give him credit for being able to put the idea out there - but unfortunately, I think it did more to harm the cause than help it because of the rest of his unrestrained responses to the other questions. It now makes the FairTax look like an extreme idea rather than the noble and intelligent measure that it is.
I’m really looking forward to the Republican debates. It will be interesting to see if they are able to respond to the same difficult types of questions as the Democrats.
18 May 2007
Well I have decided (in less than 1 day) to return the Helio Ocean.
It has some really nice things going for it. The next Sidekick could benefit from incorporating the following features:
Now for all of the things that convinced me immediately that the Sidekick 3 is a superior phone:
There are plenty of other smaller features that I liked and disliked - but the above sums up the things that really made my decision for me the most. The Sidekick 3’s trackball still is the best interface on a phone, hands-down. And it will remain to be seen if the multitouch iPhone really surpasses real physical buttons as the ultimate interface. You can rest assured that when the iPhone does hit stores, I will be visiting my local Apple store to kick the tires on it.
25 Sep 2006

yum.
2 Aug 2006
Thought-provoking quotes on religion from Isaac Asimov, Albert Einstein, Stephen Hawking and other well-known figures. Example:
“I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours.” - Stephen Roberts
I found the list to be an interesting read. I still contend that the main reason I don’t consider myself a believer in the existence of God is because I can’t believe that all other gods other than the Christian god are the wrong god. The Bible cannot be the only “holy scripture” when the Koran, the Torah, etc. all have their own spiritual views. Maybe there’s something out there, maybe there’s not.
My name is Nathan, and I’m an agnostic.