Some luggage trolleys have no brakes. Others require you to press or pull the handle to stop. And some have brakes that are on by default and require you to take some action before they’ll move.
Can you deduce anything about a country’s psyche from the option they choose?
The designer Mike Purdy has created a rather nice WordPress theme, called ‘Quentin’. It looks like this.
His page has some sentences which I find strangely charming:
“Quentin is… designed to be pretty, paper-like and easy to set up.”
“Quentin is designed to be primarily used for blogging.”
“If you find Quentin useful, a donation is appreciated.”
Last week I gave a talk at ScreenMediaExpo, a UK trade show for the Digital Signage industry, entitled ‘Are you un-future-proofed’?
In the unlikely event that you want to listen to it, it can be found here.
I miss being in UI research.
About 10 years ago I put together a plan for a cubic computer, where every side of the cube would be a touchscreen, and it would also contain accelerometers so you could scroll around maps and things by rotating the cube. The only imperfection would be a small power socket in one corner so you could recharge it. That, at least, was the idea. I had to abandon the project when I couldn’t find a manufacturer that would make square touchscreens at any sensible price, even for research purposes.
Microsoft, however, have gone one better, with a spherical multi-touch interface. I hadn’t seen this until now, but I think it’s beautiful.
More info on the Sphere project home page.
Wagipedia is now officially online! Find the best places to take your dog for a walk! Tell others about your favourite spots!
I created this because I realised, after getting a puppy, that the places I had gone for walks in the past weren’t necessarily the best places to take dogs, and that there were a whole range of really good dog-walks that I had never discovered.
The database is still small, but if you can contribute even a small entry – or ask your dog-owning friends to do so – I hope it could become a useful resource. After all, you may think that the park at the end of your road is nothing particularly special and that everybody knows about it anyway, but what about the person visiting your area for the first time? Or on holiday? Or dog-sitting for a friend?
You can also comment on existing entries.
Eventually, the site may expand to include all sorts of other canine-related resources, advice, discussion forums, etc, but I had to start somewhere. And, of course, most of these are also good spots for a stroll even if you don’t have a canine companion…
Feedback most welcome…
One of the great things about video rental services like Netflix and Lovefilm is the easy access to TV favourites from the past. Even better, you don’t have to buy a whole series if you find the first disk a disappointment.
Rose and I have always liked Ultraviolet, a modern vampire miniseries from the late 90s, and the Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes adaptations from the 80s.
Now we’re going further back: we’re currently half-way through Danger UXB – wonderful stuff – and are looking forward to Wings, of which I have only the vaguest childhood memories beyond the good theme music. Actually, the end of the eighties was about when I stopped watching TV, so I have a lot of catching up to do. Any other recommendations?
Sometimes I wonder about the wisdom of revisiting these. Will Blake’s 7, a favourite of its time, and roughly contemporary with Star Wars, stand up to several evenings’ watching when the cheapness of the BBC’s special effects is viewed through modern eyes?
Ah well… if things prove disappointing in outer space, there’s always All Creatures Great and Small…
I met Brian Robinson at a local function a little while ago and enjoyed talking to him. Originally an actor, he’s now a coach of speaking and communications skills.
Brian’s written a book, called The Face & Tripod. No, it’s not the name of a pub. You’ll need to read it to know why it’s called that. This book, ‘A simple guide to making The Business Speech’, is full of useful thoughts and comes recommended.
Only sixty-something pages long, it may seem rather pricey for such a slim volume. But it’s wonderfully compact… you could pay the same for something which said less, was less enjoyable to read, and had a lot more padding. And he’ll give you a nice discount if you mention my name…
Info about Brian and the book can be found here. Definitely recommended.
Disclaimer: I have no interest in this other than as an impressed and happy reader. I admit, though, that I didn’t pay for my copy… but I plan to buy the sequel should it ever appear.
A couple of days ago I had the pleasure of meeting Walter Taucher. Among other things in his Seattle office, he has a card-punch machine from the thirties.
Yes, kids, the connection between your keyboard and your computer used to be, not a USB cable, but a stack of cards that you’d carry across the campus to the computer building. This was the thing that punched the cards. Part of the intrigue for me was that this came from a company we know well, but which now has a rather different logo.
The machine still works, apparently…
Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged is one of those books I’ve been meaning to read for years. Its Wikipedia page says that, “according to a 1991 survey by the Library of Congress and the Book of the Month Club, Atlas Shrugged was second to the Bible as the book that made the most difference in American readers’ lives”.
I’m now reading it, or, more precisely, listening to it. Since I seem to have less and less time for reading, I’ve become something of a fan of audiobooks, and this version is magnificently read by Scott Brick. Unfortunately, it’s only available in the US Audible.com store, and not on Audible.co.uk. I have an account on both, which is foolish, but I can never quite decide which one to give up.
Having never actually seen the book in its physical form, though, I hadn’t gathered just what a massive tome it is. As I saw that I was approaching the end of the 8-hour audio file, it took me a moment to realise that this was just the first section. The first of eight. Yes, folks, this unabridged narration is 63 hours long! And you can get it for one Audible credit, which would be exceedingly good value even if it wasn’t so nicely produced.
I’ve only listened to the first 13% or so, but so far it comes highly recommended.
If stories of dystopian industrialism are not your thing, or you think you can’t quite stomach 63 hours of anything, let me recommend another really excellent book: Robert Kurson’s Shadow Divers, which is available in both the UK and the US. Another great way to make better and more enjoyable use of that time you spend shaving, driving, or washing up…
On Monday I met the guys behind Codility – quite an interesting system designed to help with the recruitment of software developers.
Basically, it lets you set simple programming tasks for developers, which they can perform online and in the language of their or your choice, and then sends you a report of how their code performed against a variety of edge cases, for large datasets, etc. If you’re a programmer, try out the demo – I found it quite fun!
I think there is real value in this in a couple of areas, beyond its obvious use to those hiring developers. Firstly, as a way for teachers of programming to set coursework. And secondly as something that would give recruitment agencies a bit more credibility when they’re bombarding me with spam. I would be much more likely to look at their candidates if I knew they had gone through a preliminary level of filtering, especially if they had completed tasks in more than one programming language.
Anyway, very nicely done – worth checking out.
Michael reveals The Great Dried Fruit Conspiracy.
Long-time readers may remember a post from a couple of years ago about Keith Loutit’s photos of Singapore, cunningly taken to make the city look like a model:
Well, as tends to happen in the digital world, what was a still image yesterday is a video today. Sam O’Hare has done a day in the life of New York City using a similar technique. Worth playing in full-screen HD if your connection will allow it.
The Sandpit from Sam O'Hare.
More information about how he made it here.
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