What you're looking at is a visualization of the dialog from the movie "The Apartment" which was generated by Cinematic Particles. I'll let the site explain what's going on in detail, but the image above is a form of analysis of the dialog stored in the subtitle files for the movie - different dialog patterns leave different visual patterns.One of the reasons I find this … [Read more...]
Hand Dryer 2.0
We went out this past weekend to celebrate the birthday of yours truly. We went to a place that had recently opened in our neighborhood in a location that used to be a speakeasy. They still had the original "escape hatch" from when it used to be a speakeasy. The food was pretty good, too.The reason I'm writing about it here is not because of the food or atmosphere, but … [Read more...]
How to give a pageant speech
It's been a while since I posted, and this was just the kick in the ass I needed to get started again. I'm sure you've all seen the awe-inspiring speech given by Ms. Teen South Carolina. Well someone actually created a map of her speech:It's beauty is in its simplicity. Start in the upper left and follow a line until it ends, then take another line back. Eventually, take … [Read more...]
Ubuntu Studio 7.04
I recently read that an a/v-centric distro of Ubuntu had been released. It was the latest version (Feisty Fawn) of Ubuntu packaged with a whole battery of audio, video, and graphics software. I've been a long time user of Apple and Macrodobe software to perform these tasks, but I wanted to see what an environment containing the best open source versions of that functionality … [Read more...]
A Usable Enterprise
I work for a professional services firm. I am currently involved in an effort to re-engineer our practice-facing technology and processes in order to make our consultants more efficient at execution, more effective at collaboration, and generally more satisfied on and off the job. In short, it is a huge effort to make the firm more usable for its employees.It's actually … [Read more...]
The forgotten piece of usability
I generally think of usability in terms of 3 dimensions: Utility, Usability, and Experience. In order to be truly usable, a system needs to be useful, easy to use, and compelling. If any of these three dimensions doesn't get the attention it deserves, it's Utility. Visual designers are focused (often, to a fault) on ensuring that an experience is compelling. Traditional … [Read more...]
Best site I've seen in a while.
http://noonebelongsheremorethanyou.com/ … [Read more...]
Speaking of asynchronous
How do you provide a useful, usable, and compelling web experience to users who live beyond the web's reach?It's hard to imagine in today's "always-on" internet existence, that there are still parts of the world that have an internet that's always off. Developing nations either lack the funds, infrastructure, or geography to implement widespread web access.Enter two former MIT … [Read more...]
As Asynchronous as I Wanna Be
Back in the day, real-time communications were rare. Only when you were face to face with someone could you conduct a synchronous conversation. Other than that, communications were pretty send-and-wait in nature: send the messenger and wait for his return (and hope he doesn't get killed), send the letter and wait for the response. News traveled slowly either by "pass it … [Read more...]
Are top-tier firms worth the price?
As I mentioned in the previous post, the client was planning on engaging a top-tier firm to perform the heuristic evaluation. The quote they got gave them a bit of sticker-shock. Even to me (a salty vet), 30K seems steep for a heuristic review - especially when you consider they weren't providing any design on the tail end of the review.My take on this was that heuristic … [Read more...]