February 2012
25 posts
How the bathroom can teach us a lesson about right...
This pattern is common. We often try to fight problems by yelling at them instead of accepting the reality of what people do, from controversial national legislation to passive-aggressive office signs. Such efforts usually fail, often with a lot of collateral damage, much like Prohibition and the ongoing “war” on “drugs”.
via @jasonfried via Marco Armet
WebPutty: Provides live CSS previews while editing
This kind of reminds me of the live editing application that Bret Victor demoed in his Inventing on Principal video I posted previously.
via Fog Creek Software
Unedited Steve Jobs Interview From '95
via Mathias Mikkelsen
Clear: 350k downloads in nine days
“Obviously, there are hundreds of them already on the App Store, so we had to take a really different approach. We set ourselves on the path to a really simple design, then started iterating and iterating, taking more stuff away as we go.”
The aim: to make an app that was as simple to use as a pen and a piece of paper, removing the interface clutter of rival apps. Clear is so...
The myth of the eight-hour sleep
Much like the experience of Wehr’s subjects, these references describe a first sleep which began about two hours after dusk, followed by waking period of one or two hours and then a second sleep.
“It’s not just the number of references - it is the way they refer to it, as if it was common knowledge,” Ekirch says.
During this waking period people were quite active. They...
The Oatmeal: Trying to watch Game of Thrones
Nailed it.
via The Oatmeal
Samsungs new err .. Ph-ablet?
Sometimes bigger is just … bigger …
via The Tech Block
The anatomy of an Apple product shot
The most challenging aspect of shooting store panels for Apple is the balance between the size of the file and the depth of field. Often the products small enough that our depth of field is very narrow. In order for the product to appear entirely in focus, we have to shoot a number of focus zones, which are stitched together in post. This video is a stop motion video made from all of the focus...
Inventing on Principal
Bret Victor, who has designed experimental UI concepts at Apple, talks about inventing on principal beliefs, with his being that a creator needs to have direct and instantaneous feedback on the objects they’re creating.
He talks about how traditional coding doesn’t allow this to happen, and how he uses his principal of instantaneous feedback to invent solutions to make this a...
iOS '86
via @flyosity via repponen
How to remove Finder from the Application Switcher...
This has always been a pet peeve of mine, though I never thought about looking for a way to disable it.
via @destroytoday via Josh Dzielak
Amit Gupta - Interview with CBS Boston
superamit:
CBS Boston came by my hospital room yesterday to do an interview about my story so far + the urgent need for more donors to register. Here’s the video!
(It’s about 2 and a half minutes.)
Even though I don’t know Amit personally, I’ve been following his search for a donor ever since I heard he got cancer. I’m glad his hard work paid off to save his...
Robot readable world
via jwz via Timo
The Teehan+Lax's offices
via Teehan+Lax blog
A Brief History of the To-Do List and the...
Tierney and Baumeister recount a revealing experiment: When a psychologist was invited to give a talk at the Pentagon on managing time and resources, he decided to warm up the elite group of generals with a short writing exercise. He asked them all to write a summary of their strategic approach limited to 25 words.
The exercise stumped most of them. None of the distinguished men in uniform...
Retro iPhone cases
via What the Cool via Schreer Design
Sorties paradox
From wikipedia
The sorites paradox (from Ancient Greek: σωρείτης sōreitēs, meaning “heaped up”) is a paradox that arises from vague predicates. The paradox of the heap is an example of this paradox which arises when one considers a heap of sand, from which grains are individually removed. Is it still a heap when only one grain remains? If not, when did it change from a heap to a...
Phantom keys on the iPad keyboard
via Little Big Details via Finer Things in iOS
Social media explained (with doughnuts)
via @rands via douglaswray
Skala Preview
via Bjango
The Tesla Valve: One Way Flow With No Moving Parts
via Make
Speed and direction
via @secretGeek
Product development and Maslow's hierarchy
But wait, you say, look at eBay, Amazon, and Craiglist – they look like crap. Implement an MVP with product/market fit, and it doesn’t matter what it looks like. That’s true sometimes, but it also depends on where you are on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. The lower on the pyramid your product is, the crappier it can look. If your product is core to helping people make money, pirate movies, or sell...
Facebook Files For $5 Billion IPO
Picture via Mark Zuckerberg’s wall
Details via TechCrunch
Zuckerberg’s letter to shareholders