t^2

Clear: 350k downloads in nine days

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 11:07:30 +1100

“Obviously, there are hundreds of them already on the App Store, so we had to take a really different approach. We set ourselves on the path to a really simple design, then started iterating and iterating, taking more stuff away as we go.”

The aim: to make an app that was as simple to use as a pen and a piece of paper, removing the interface clutter of rival apps. Clear is so stripped down, it doesn’t even have dates or timers, swapping them for a heatmap that ranks tasks in order of priority.

“We questioned the need for every single piece,” says Fletcher. “Everything in the app had to justify its position.”

Video via Vimeo

Article via Guardian

Official Clear for iPhone page

The myth of the eight-hour sleep

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 10:47:00 +1100

Much like the experience of Wehr’s subjects, these references describe a first sleep which began about two hours after dusk, followed by waking period of one or two hours and then a second sleep.

“It’s not just the number of references - it is the way they refer to it, as if it was common knowledge,” Ekirch says.

During this waking period people were quite active. They often got up, went to the toilet or smoked tobacco and some even visited neighbours. Most people stayed in bed, read, wrote and often prayed. Countless prayer manuals from the late 15th Century offered special prayers for the hours in between sleeps.

I always thought this was a South-East Asian practise, as coming from Malaysia (which is quite hot during the day) it would be normal to sometimes go straight to bed right after school and tuition, get up maybe 2 or 3 hours later and go out to the markets and have supper in the twilight.

It was quite a sight to see families and children wandering around at the night, and was something I missed terribly when I moved to New Zealand.

via BBC News

The Oatmeal: Trying to watch Game of Thrones

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 12:20:16 +1100

Nailed it.

via The Oatmeal

Samsungs new err .. Ph-ablet?

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 13:47:00 +1100

Sometimes bigger is just … bigger …

via The Tech Block

The anatomy of an Apple product shot

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 10:45:00 +1100

The most challenging aspect of shooting store panels for Apple is the balance between the size of the file and the depth of field. Often the products small enough that our depth of field is very narrow. In order for the product to appear entirely in focus, we have to shoot a number of focus zones, which are stitched together in post. This video is a stop motion video made from all of the focus zones that were shot for this iPod Touch. The number in the corner is the number of the focus zone. In the video you can see the progression of the focus march from front to back. For this left iPod Touch, it took 54 frames just to get the product to appear completely in focus.

Video after the jump

via @marcedwards via Dwight Eschliman

Inventing on Principal

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 13:53:00 +1100

Bret Victor, who has designed experimental UI concepts at Apple, talks about inventing on principal beliefs, with his being that a creator needs to have direct and instantaneous feedback on the objects they’re creating.

He talks about how traditional coding doesn’t allow this to happen, and how he uses his principal of instantaneous feedback to invent solutions to make this a reality.

Bret Victor via CUSEC.

iOS '86

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 11:06:54 +1100

via @flyosity via repponen

How to remove Finder from the Application Switcher in Mac OSX

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 21:52:00 +1100

This has always been a pet peeve of mine, though I never thought about looking for a way to disable it.

via @destroytoday via Josh Dzielak

Amit Gupta - Interview with CBS Boston

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 13:59:00 +1100

superamit:

CBS Boston came by my hospital room yesterday to do an interview about my story so far + the urgent need for more donors to register. Here’s the video!

(It’s about 2 and a half minutes.)

Even though I don’t know Amit personally, I’ve been following his search for a donor ever since I heard he got cancer. I’m glad his hard work paid off to save his own life, but also potentially many other lives, by driving the increase in donors in the bone marrow donor registry.

Robot readable world

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 10:09:00 +1100

via jwz via Timo

The Teehan+Lax's offices

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 11:45:32 +1100

via Teehan+Lax blog

A Brief History of the To-Do List and the Psychology of Its Success

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 09:09:39 +1100

Tierney and Baumeister recount a revealing experiment: When a psychologist was invited to give a talk at the Pentagon on managing time and resources, he decided to warm up the elite group of generals with a short writing exercise. He asked them all to write a summary of their strategic approach limited to 25 words.

The exercise stumped most of them. None of the distinguished men in uniform could come up with anything.

The only general who managed a response was the lone woman in the room. She had already had a distinguished career, having worked her way up through the ranks and been wounded in combat in Iraq. Her summary of her approach was as follows: ‘First I make a list of priorities: one, two, three, and so on. Then I cross out everything from three down.’”

via Brain Pickings

Retro iPhone cases

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 23:29:19 +1100

via What the Cool via Schreer Design

Sorties paradox

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:12:00 +1100

From wikipedia

The sorites paradox (from Ancient Greek: σωρείτης sōreitēs, meaning “heaped up”) is a paradox that arises from vague predicates. The paradox of the heap is an example of this paradox which arises when one considers a heap of sand, from which grains are individually removed. Is it still a heap when only one grain remains? If not, when did it change from a heap to a non-heap?

Similar to digital data, how many “bits” must be accurately represented to still constitute a copyrighted movie / song?

Phantom keys on the iPad keyboard

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 15:51:00 +1100

via Little Big Details via Finer Things in iOS

Social media explained (with doughnuts)

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:54:41 +1100

via @rands via douglaswray

Skala Preview

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 11:36:08 +1100

via Bjango

The Tesla Valve: One Way Flow With No Moving Parts

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 11:21:04 +1100

via Make

Speed and direction

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 12:58:00 +1100

via @secretGeek

Product development and Maslow's hierarchy

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 23:07:55 +1100

But wait, you say, look at eBay, Amazon, and Craiglist – they look like crap. Implement an MVP with product/market fit, and it doesn’t matter what it looks like. That’s true sometimes, but it also depends on where you are on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. The lower on the pyramid your product is, the crappier it can look. If your product is core to helping people make money, pirate movies, or sell your useless couch, you don’t need a designer. But if you’re high on the pyramid, ugly/clunky UI makes it impossible to for people to see your vision.

via Miso Engineering