Gowalla got acqu-hired by Facebook late last year and now they’re shutting down the service.

I had been following the progress of both Foursquare and Gowalla since they launched at SXSW in 2009. Even though I didn’t feel the need to join either until recently. I was more attracted to Gowalla because of it’s beautiful & colorful design (obviously), and because it was less popular (you see, I like rooting for the underdog) so I joined. Then they released that version 4.0 which nobody understood how to use even though it was still beautiful, then a few weeks/months later they announced the sale to Facebook. Needless to say, I was unhappy with the news. First because they gave-up, second because they sold out to big blue. I deleted my account but didn’t jump onto Foursquare yet. I wanted to watch the space to see how Gowalla’s exit will affect it.

If you had asked anybody to mention Location Based Services they knew, they’d mention Foursquare first then [most likely] Gowalla. Despite the fact that Foursquare had more users, and more activity, Gowalla still had the recognition of being their rival.

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Commissions

February is over! Big thanks to those who patronized. Progress, completion & payment details are being communicated to you via email. And thanks also to those who shared. I have to go for NYSC and would probably not have access to my computer, [desktop] internet etc. for a while. Hence I wouldn’t be taking up any requests for design work for now. When I’m available again, I’ll announce here and on twitter.

UPDATE: I don’t leave until the 22nd of March. I’ll be using the remaining time to tie up loose ends on current projects.

I’ll also take 3 requests (via email) for simple, non-elaborate, colored & shaded illustrations for N7,500 a pop. See regular procedure here.

Very practical guide to getting the best out of social media rather than wasting time on it. And it’s the kind of thing where you can see examples of people who are using these principles and it’s working for them both at home and abroad.

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Oh Hollywood and sequels! Part 1 was way better! This movie was enjoyable but it didn’t feel like a Sherlock Holmes movie should. Too much brawn over brain, a little too much humor and that mental(or was it psychic?) pre-emptive strike thing was over exaggerated in the last fight with Moriarty. It was more of an action movie than a mystery solver, and that I didn’t like.

I give it

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Totally good read. It could as well have been an autobiography, but then again after reading it, Steve Jobs writing his own autobiography is probably a bad idea. Makes you really get to know the man behind Apple’s great products and the company’s culture as a whole. Oh! And Pixar too! (can’t forget Pixar) And now I finally understand why the iPad has no stylus…

View all my reviews

Nonsense! Or will it? Really?
One of the biggest complaints users and developers (especially developers) have concerning Android is fragmentation; specs, button placement, screen sizes, etc.
Screen sizes: Samsung has phones from 2.8” all the way up to a 10.1” tablet, in 0.2” increments; it’s ridiculous.
Android app developers have to cater to all these screen sizes (and more) & resolutions, they have to draw visual elements in vector, or include multiple sizes or just leave the app to stretch, contract or crop to whatever screen size the app finds itself on. This leads to the apps being resource heavy or ugly or both, varying experiences across a myriad of phones etc.

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