Windows Update
I’d like to go ahead and nominate this Windows Update nag dialog as quite possibly one of the most poorly designed user interface ‘features’ in the history of computing. This thing has come up probably 20 times already today.
I know that Vista has an option to delay the restart for up to a few hours, but really, just leave me the hell alone and let me decide when I want to restart my computer. Otherwise, give me the option to disable this nag without having to resort to complicated registry hacks. Thanks.
History of the Button
I’ve got UI on the brain this week, and came across this great little presentation called the History of the Button on (get this) HistoryOfTheButton.com.
As an aside, I love these Slideshare and have come across some really great and insightful presentations on there, but it can be one hell of a time sink once you start diving through it.
Terminal Zero One Touches Down at Pearson
I visited the Terminal Zero One digital arts exhibition during its launch on Canada Day yesterday, and had a chance to speak to some of the artists about the works they had put together. There’s a wide variety of takes on air travel from international security and human rights to the many icons and symbols we see throughout the airport.
Shimmy on over to blogTO for the full scoop.
The (in)feasibility of Cover Flow
It’s been a while since I’ve talked tech on here, and there’s a number of reasons for that, which I won’t get into here, but I wanted to touch a bit on Cover Flow, a relatively new user interface that Apple is heavily promoting for both the iPhone and its next OS, Leopard (branded as Quick Look).
With Cover Flow, as Apple describes it, “you can flip through your digital music and video collection the same way you flip through CDs or DVDs” and it “displays all the album art in your music collection in one easy-to-navigate interface that mimics a CD collection or jukebox selection.”
Designing a user interface as a metaphor to the real world is always risky business, and in this case I don’t know that it’s at all relevant. I’m not sure about you, but I don’t own a single music CD (well, that is beyond my “I’m cool and listen to music” stage of 12 years-old when I picked up Dance Mix 95 and many other rather embarrassing albums). So right away, the metaphor is lost on me. I have never, and I don’t anticipate ever flipping through CDs or DVDs. I’m also smack dab in the middle of the target demographic for both the iPhone and Mac, so what gives?
Rethinking the ordinary
I’ve already expressed my interest in retooling a stale and staid concept that many people are too comfortable or familiar with, using clocks as an example. I love this though; The Polar Clock has circular bars that move to complete the day of week, date, hour, minute and second in what first appears to be a confusing arrangement, but is surprisingly logical.
There’s also a Windows/Mac screensaver available over at the pixelbreaker blog.
[via digg]
Microsoft announces ‘Surface’
Looks like Microsoft’s jumped headfirst into the multi-touch surface computing game, and have launched Surface, a public-space oriented computing platform that will allow people to get hands-on at hotels, restaurants, and retailers. Lots of video of the ‘coffee table computing’ technology available at Popular Mechanics, at 10 and at the Surface site. I discussed desktop multi-touch and Jeff Han’s concept demo of hte technology before.
Encyclopedia of Life
Another brainchild of TED is E.O. Wilson’s Encyclopedia of Life, an “ecosystem of websites that makes all key information about life on Earth accessible to anyone, anywhere in the world.” Think Wikipedia for all lifeforms, but much more intuitive and expansive.
The project won a TED prize this year, and looks to be quite ambitious. If this sees the light of day, it should be a great resource for the scientific and education communities alike. The demonstration pages give a good idea of the level of quality and granularity they’re hoping to achieve with each topic, and they look fantastic.
There’s also a video explaining the concept after the jump.
Desktop Multitouch coming?
Rumblings have started around desktop multitouch screen technology, the same kind of tech I wrote about that was demonstrated at TED and that Apple will introduce with the iPhone. There’s many potential applications here, some that come to mind include kitchen/communal/family PCs that are used to mark-up recipes, jot notes, and browse the Web.
Flickr Related Tag Browser
Continuing on my recent obsession with data visualization, here’s a great Flickr Related Tag Browser. Lots of visual goodness here.
derBauer design
derBauer is a German design company that does amazing Flash and UI work. The sound alone (5.1 surround sound, if I’m not mistaken) on this site will blow you away.
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Adam is a User Experience Specialist at IBM in Toronto and also produces content of all kinds around the Web.
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