08 19th, 2008Here are some of the best. (A few are classics, like Kevin Mitnick’s; others are new to me.)
Also, you might have a look at this great card — ready to assemble into a working Blue Box! If you don’t know what a Blue Box is, yet, then your adventure has just begun.
When I see a truly great business card, I always feel the urge to redesign my own. Hah. The shoemaker’s children go barefoot; the graphic designer never gets their own card printed. I’m always planning great cards… Good thing I got out of design, or I’d never have gotten some of my own.
…for example, if you’re working with text originally written by a non-native speaker of the language.
I wanted to change the setting on a very simple (kosher) Samsung flip phone, so that instead of answering calls automatically when I open the phone, it will only answer when I press the “call” button to accept the call (this gives me a chance to see Caller ID first).
I knew the setting was available somewhere. Well, I looked and I looked. I hunted through every possible menu (there aren’t many on this phone).
In desperation, I got help from an Israeli colleague, who found the setting in just a couple of minutes. It wasn’t obvious. The function can be found in the “Extra Settings” in the “Settings” menu — fair enough. But the function itself is called “Active Folder”.
As a native English-speaker, I understood “Active Folder” to mean “a group of files or functionalities that are activated”, and therefore didn’t select that function even when I saw it during my original hunt.
My English-as-a-second-language colleague understood “Active Folder” correctly: “the function triggered by folding the phone is active”.
Watching store/restaurant employees use infrared touch-screen point-of-sale (POS) terminals. The old technology isn’t always very responsive, often has low-resolution input, and runs slowly. Thus the following observed accommodation behaviors:
- Using a credit card instead of a finger
- Cutting fingernails to different lengths
- Pressing harder (irrelevant to an IR technology!)
- Pressing longer
- Pressing more often
- On the software end, designing extra-large icons, to reduce false positive inputs
Sorry, no picture of this one.
My spies report from the men’s room in the Hong Kong airport (HKK) that the sign over the urinal reads: “Electronic urinal. No touch needed.”
I’ve talked about each of these stores before. A recent visit to London gave me the opportunity to visit both within a couple of hours, which led me to think about how the experiences in them compare.
Nokia Flagship Store: Dark. Threatening. Exciting. Intense. Deep.
Apple Flagship Store: Light. Friendly. Discovery. Validating. Transparent.
Entering the Nokia store is like entering a video game: It’s not clear where you’re going, you need to explore and discover the levels of play. There’s a tension and an anticipation, an expectation that something thrilling is about to be revealed. Handsets are displayed in closed Lucite boxes or on pedestals, adding to the sense of mystique, but also to the distance. The dark palette and oddly high proportions of the ceiling (think Gothic awe) create a feeling of dominance and control that promises treasures if you explore. Reinforcing that, the ultra-high-end Vertu products are hidden at the far back of the space. On the negative side, there is too much empty space. Now what? Is there enough product here? Am I looking at the “right” things?
Entering the Apple store is like entering a great candy store: No surprises, here are the products, here are the prices. Bright, light, clear. Despite the open appearance, the store is rather fully packed. The glass stairs lead to the second level with the promise of more great things to find. Even if you never climb the stairs, you are left with the invitation, and with the sense that there is even more to delight you. There’s a validation and confirmation of your decisions; you are never left wondering if you are in the right place. You can see everything on display clearly from any point in the store.
I’m not saying that one store is “better designed” than the other. They have very different atmospheres, which is interesting.
OK, so I wasn’t going to post anything today. I certainly don’t have time to write (I must get some sleep), but couldn’t resist sharing this YouTube link. Enjoy!
Of course, that those of us who use candy-bar form phones already have random dial functionality…
[via Fortune’s Apple 2.0 blog]
“It’s easier to accidentally completely delete a new MMS than to send it.” [From the Small Surfaces blog]
Enough said.
Ooooh, I just love maps. Check it out: a blog of strange maps! The one shown here is a map of cannibal zones. But don’t miss the story of the State of Absaroka, U.S.A. — what? You don’t know that one?
My favorite books relating to maps:
The Mapmakers: Revised Edition
1066: The Year of the Conquest
1421: The Year China Discovered America (P.S.)
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
And now go away and don’t bother me. I’m looking at maps busy.
What if there were no stop signs… and a major corporation was charged with inventing one?
If you’ve ever worked on the design side of the desk… don’t miss this great YouTube video!
If I were one of the people involved in inventing, developing, funding or launching GPS service, I’d be feeling very gratified right now (in addition to being rich). It’s sick that we need this kind of protection available, but it’s also exactly what technology is for. Good on them.
If only we could tag people just before they act.
GPS devices have been used for years to monitor sex offenders. But technological advances have now made it possible for the systems to issue warnings by cell phone if the offender gets too close to a specific victim.
Massachusetts adopted a law last year that lets judges require electronic monitoring of people who violate personal protection orders. Michigan, Oklahoma and Hawaii followed suit this year with GPS laws, bringing to 11 the number of states with related measures, said Diane Rosenfeld, a lecturer at Harvard Law School who proposed the Massachusetts law.
[via CNN.com]
