February 2010
15 posts
Web Design is 95% Typography →
“Optimizing typography is optimizing readability, accessibility, usability, overall graphic balance. Organizing blocks of text and combining them with pictures, isn’t that what graphic designers, usability specialists, information architects do? So why is it such a neglected topic?”
January 2010
27 posts
Future Shock →
On the iPad: “The Real Work is not … installing the printer driver, uploading the document or reinstalling the OS. The Real Work is teaching the child, healing the patient, selling the house…”
Book Titles if They Were Written Today →
Then: The Gospel of Matthew
Now: 40 Days and a Mule: How One Man Quit His Job and Became the Boss
Bizarre theory suggests time may be running out →
“He believes there is no such thing as dark energy. Instead, he says we have been fooled into thinking the expansion of the universe is accelerating because time itself is slowing down.”
“The more specific you are (with an image), the more general it will be. -Diane...”
Massive Earthquake Reveals Entire Island... →
“Researchers also came to the ‘startling’ conclusion that Haiti’s inhabitants must have at some point in their history been exposed to the English language, as many seemed capable of uttering such phrases as ‘Help us,’ and ‘Please don’t abandon us again.’”
Slime Mold Grows Network Just Like Tokyo Rail... →
“Initially, the slime mold dispersed evenly around the oat flakes, exploring its new territory. But within hours, the slime mold began to refine its pattern, strengthening the tunnels between oat flakes while the other links gradually disappeared. Its design looked almost identical to that of the rail system surrounding Tokyo.”
As Freezing Persons Recollect the Snow--First... →
“But for all scientists and statisticians now know of freezing and its physiology, no one can yet predict exactly how quickly and in whom hypothermia will strike—and whether it will kill when it does. The cold remains a mystery, more prone to fell men than women, more lethal to the thin and well muscled than to those with avoirdupois, and least forgiving to the arrogant and the...
Why text messages are limited to 160 characters →
“Each blurb ran on for a line or two and nearly always clocked in under 160 characters. That became Hillebrand’s magic number — and set the standard for one of today’s most popular forms of digital communication: text messaging.”
Climate Change Deniers vs The Consensus →
Beautifully constructed Pro vs Con on all the main issues, with graphs and images.
The Man Who Predicts The Medals →
“His forecast model predicts a country’s Olympic performance using per-capita income, the nation’s population, its political structure, its climate and the home-field advantage for hosting the Games or living nearby. ‘It’s just pure economics,’ Johnson says. ‘I know nothing about the athletes. And even if I did, I didn’t include it.’”
Pen v keyboard v Newton v Graffiti v Treo v iPhone →
“For some time I’ve been meaning to test my small collection of PDA/smartphone gadgets to see which of their methods of input was quickest. The iPhone’s software keyboard? The Newton’s handwriting recognition? Palm’s Graffiti?”
The Men Who Live Forever →
“How is it that we, in one of the most technologically advanced nations on Earth, can devote armies of scientists and terabytes of data to improving our lives, yet keep getting fatter, sicker, and sadder, while the Tarahumara, who haven’t changed a thing in 2,000 years, don’t just survive, but thrive?”
Gore’s choice →
“Hi Nikola, Al Gore wants you to change the numeral one in Brioni [typeface].”
“Huh?!”
Five dream discoveries →
“However, that night the idea returned to him as he slept. It was the design of an experiment to prove his theory, and it turned out to be the foundation for the work that years later won him the Nobel Prize.”
“However selective, photographs are still bound to record nature in the raw. Like...”
Write When Inspired →
“Pushing through to the finish line when you have nothing left inside you is great for marathon runners, but not so hot for creative professionals.”
Wall Street Smarts →
“‘The financial system nearly collapsed,’ he said, ‘because smart guys had started working on Wall Street.’ He took a sip of his martini, and stared straight at the row of bottles behind the bar, as if the conversation was now over.”
Humans Glow in Visible Light →
“In fact, virtually all living creatures emit very weak light, which is thought to be a byproduct of biochemical reactions involving free radicals.”
Green Island →
Concept art of major cities that have the pavement and roads replaced with grass. Interesting look using real photos.
Lost in translation across the Channel →
“A few probing questions revealed that he had not asked for la gare (railways station) at all - he had asked for la guerre (the war) - and the locals were simply hysterical at the idea of this white-haired, would-be combatant showing up for duty 65 years too late.”
An Icon, Despite Itself →
“Yet there is one example of something that is generally considered to be ‘good design,’ which does break the golden rule. It is part of our daily lives, and has been designed to similar specifications for more than a century — the glass Heinz Tomato Ketchup bottle.”
Teach a Kid to Argue →
“To disagree reasonably, a child must learn the three basic tools of argument. I got them straight from Aristotle, hence the Greek labels: logos, ethos, and pathos. Logos is argument by logic. If arguments were children, logos would be the brainy one, the big sister who gets top grades in high school. Forcing my kids to be logical forced them to connect what they wanted with the reasons they...
Living a Good Story, an Alternative to New Years... →
“For instance, rather than saying I want to finish getting into shape this year, I’ve written down that I want to climb Mt. Hood with a couple friends. Now my goal has a narrative context. If my goal were to lose twenty pounds, I doubt I’d stick with it. But when you have friends flying up from Texas to summit the mountain with you, you’d better believe you are going to be hitting the...
Light Test →
“A home for all our light tests.”
130-Megapixel Camera Made From a Run-Of-The-Mill... →
“Spyuge, the amateur photographer responsible for this DIY gem, says that he took a 1200 dpi Epson GT-S620 scanner, and an old Canon FD 50mm lens, fusing the two together to produce this.”
Wealth Does Not Pass Three Generations →
The Chinese have an expression: 富不过三代 (fu bu guo san dai) Literally: Wealth does not pass three generations
Mindf%$k Movies →
“But the phrase I find myself employing, when casting around for a succinct term for the entire genre, is “Mindfuck Movies” … These films are sophisticated. They make love to your mind.”