February 2010
“I always hate that minty toothpaste wakes me up when I am about to climb into...”
– What is the blandest toothpaste?, via Ask MetaFilter
I had never thought of this, probably because I love minty toothpaste. But it’s an interesting thing to think about.
January 2010
benw:
Unrefined thought on the iPad closed system/open system/old world-new world/learning to programme meme: We learned to programme and it made us smarter, better, improved our brains. We fear a world in which people cannot improve their brains in the same way. We fear that simpler, more refined interfaces will close off a route to getting smart, that people will be stupider as a result, or...
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F-ing phonies. →
sixagon, cessandthecity:
Bunch Of Phonies Mourn J.D. Salinger
“In this big dramatic production that didn’t do anyone any good (and was pretty embarrassing, really, if you think about it), thousands upon thousands of phonies across the country mourned the death of author J.D. Salinger, who was 91 years old for crying out loud. ‘He had a real impact on the literary world and on millions of...
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“So too it’ll be with computers. Eventually, most will be like the iPad in terms...”
– Daring Fireball: Various and Assorted Thoughts and Observations Regarding the Just-Announced iPad
Windows has certainly been heading down the “automatic” direction for years—on Vista, I can’t even tell where downloaded files live (much less my non-techy coworkers). ...
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More on delight, the fleeting feeling
Related to this post on the magic of the iPad, here’s more on delight from Raph Koster’s A Theory of Fun in Game Design. Emphasis mine:
Aesthetic appreciation is the most interesting form of enjoyment. Science fiction writers call it “sensawunda.” It’s awe, it’s mystery, it’s harmony. I call it delight. Aesthetic appreciation, like fun, is about patterns. The difference is that...
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This is why it's worth learning about advertising
superamit, stammy, rinich:
From Apple.com:
Our most advanced technology in a magical and revolutionary device at an unbelievable price.
Bam! That’s their selling point! Somebody gets paid lots of money to write that sentence, and they earn it all, because that sentence will sell several billion of these things.
I don’t know that I agree with the “magic” component rinich...
“The iPad seems to be under the same sort of draconian control as the iPhone is....”
– chris@localhost » The saddest part of the iPad story: No root
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“Then dive down there with the lights to lead
That seem to shine from everything...”
– Joanna Newson, Colleen
I was pointed to a page of Newson’s lyrics by Neven Mrgan’s post. I don’t listen to her music much—it’s not really my style—and so had no idea how amazing her lyrics are.
“While Japanese are known for their particular aesthetic sense, I would say we...”
– iA » Kenya Hara On Japanese Aesthetics
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Experiment: Twitter Usabilty - A new users first... →
from Idea du Jour, a nice write-up of a very inexperienced internet user’s first time trying out Twitter (in this case, the author’s mother). (via lauraglu)
My mistake: scanned first, read the description of the user later.
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“So, whilst I’m sure whatever it is will be outstanding in the aesthetic, my...”
– — benw
Exactly. Nobody’s excited about the idea of a new tablet device: everybody’s excited (or skeptical) about how Apple would manage to make us want one.
“Baidu, whose literal meaning is hundreds of times, represents persistent search...”
– Baidu | Business Overview
This is a remarkable company about page—or, at the least, remarkable compared to American corporation’s about pages.
“But there are also cultural differences. Foreign companies have taken a long...”
– The internet: A missing link, from FT.com
So Chinese users don’t like to type, but they do love to comment? I’m not sure how the two are reconciled, and the article doesn’t discuss it (sadly).
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“The best designers approach research without preconceptions. They are ready to...”
– The Work of a Design Researcher , from design mind on GOOD - GOOD
Doing design research is always one of my favorite parts of the job.
tylercoates:
All of the girls in my department were just pulled into an impromptu meeting with one of the managers and were told that there’s a new informal addendum to the dress code: “If you wouldn’t wear it without leggings, don’t wear it with leggings.”
I, on the other hand, will continue to wear it without leggings until I’m instructed otherwise.
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“I don’t understand a few things these days - like why media companies don’t...”
– — shelbot
Agreed. I’ve heard it’s because theaters want to make sure they have exclusive rights for a while to make sure folks still come. But I like going to movies anyway; if the movie is worth watching in the theater, I’ll go, even if I can download it.
joshuakaufman asked: What was your most embarrassing childhood moment? :D
sixagon asked: Hi Timoni!
I think we do kinda related things. How do you manage your time (keeping up on web trends, reading blogs & doing work) so you're not completely overloaded ( or stunned into inactivity).
Love your blog btw.
I think we do kinda related things. How do you manage your time (keeping up on web trends, reading blogs & doing work) so you're not completely overloaded ( or stunned into inactivity).
Love your blog btw.
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Ask me something, if you're so inclined. →
I’m kind of curious about this.
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product design philosophies: user-focused versus...
…Posterous is an engineered product, while Tumblr is a designed product.
…everything about Tumblr is better designed. I used the landing page as one example, but there are tons of features where Tumblr shines by its gorgeous design.
Meanwhile Posterous is typical of the Silicon Valley engineering mindset where everything is measured, ranked, weighted. It’s like Google. And having...
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cats are the best people
via scarymansion, via fecklesss, via livininlysergia:
dogs are the best people cats are aloof and selfish and only come around when they want something, like humans. — thousandflowerettes
I’d counter with: dogs are too needy and have no sense of personal space. Doesn’t matter if you’re tired, or want some alone time: dogs just need, need, need, which is much more selfish...
