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callil

169 karma · joined October 21, 2011

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callil··on Blockchain, the Solution for Almost Nothing
There is a single private key log in to ALL of them and they interoperate without requiring partnerships by way of sharing protocols and token specifications. It's quite unlike traditional banking verticals where each is siloed and never let the user share data or make it portable. (think 2-3 day processing times, shitty PDF exports and incompatible data exports).
callil··on 'Anti-authority' tech rebels take on ISPs, connect NYC with cheap Wi-Fi
I manage 3 nodes in brooklyn and the speeds are ~150mbps. It's so reliable that no spot has a backup connection so it is acting just as that - an ISP. I don't see how the ambition is a discredit to techies (lol).
callil··on How to access Ethereum-based applications?
The UX for interacting with Ethereum apps is slowly improving. The most interesting work going on in this space has to to with getting web3 available on mobile devices which is starting to make dApps useful on the go. This might lead to many more micropayment apps being developed. Best practices right now are centered around using your phone to scan QR codes to quickly add payment addresses.

Additionally, all these web3 providers who are developing browser based solutions are trying to provide a psuedo app store to make their platforms more useful.

Some examples I've been playing with lately are:

https://status.im/

https://www.cipherbrowser.com/

https://www.omise.co/go

A competitor in this space is blockstack who is pushing the dApp model hard: https://blockstack.org

callil··on Alan Kay has agreed to do an AMA today
link: http://vpri.org/html/writings.php - you can filter by author in the dropdown.
callil··on Apple stops support for WebObjects
This is what the Dodge site that appears in that video looks like now: http://www.dodge.com/en/
callil··on Economic Inequality
Yes exactly, instead of being wrapped up in the John Deer corp. the money is being used to lower prices for society and do a better job of making food accessible to the people.
callil··on Sports Bars and Biker Gangs – The Death of Reddit
Tons of problems yes, but in 6 months this will be all but forgotten. It will become a part of internet lore. Reddit is not dead, reddit will live on and evolve slowly as its community changes and adapts.
callil··on The Anti-Mac Interface (1996)
I'm a designer on windows 10 and I wanted to comment on your last thought. Take it with a grain of salt but these types of ideas are what we are working on every day consistently attempting to improve or refine. The following are my own thoughts:

I agree that the desktop interface is stagnating - but the WIMP methodology is still bar none for discoverability and learnability, and if you're a company making money from the enterprise market, you will always be torn between desiring and pushing innovation and maintaining consistency.

However one thing I think we are doing now that is very interesting is attempting to reconcile the world of WIMP (desktop) with the FIM paradigm (finger icon menu - I made this up - ie mobile). Despite their similarities there is a HUGE challenge to meet the user's expectations when you are not fixed in one model.

There are a few different points of view I see in the industry - one is that people will get better at the touch language and our interfaces will evolve to support complex touch interactions. And some who think that we have achieved the optimal method for efficient interaction and and the optimal method for mobile quick interaction and that the two worlds should be separate. And still others who believe the best interaction method is still out there (gestures, voice, pen, natural language, ai etc.)

The view of windows 10 is that these two interaction paradigms or mental models support two semi formed methods of computing that are continually converging. The attempt is to create a UI that is adaptive to the users goal and should support: WIMP, FIM or a crossover between the two. The closest analogy is definitely responsive web design.

There are huge drawbacks to this such as complexity, and current user expectations. But also huge benefits such as computing that is less tied to a device or input method, and lets you choose the best tool for your task at hand.

I think it will be very interesting to see how the market reacts to this convergence, and if microsoft is able to communicate real user benefits from this type of experience. So far, it seems like simplicity is key.

As a tech geek and designer, I'm excited for the next 5-10 years of interaction design. I think a lot will change with new tech (AR/VR + natural language + ai) and the continual evolution of our existing UIs. I don't expect many major shift within already established interaction paradigms, but shifts that will influence them from outside technology.

edit: there are so many facets to this that I couldn't capture them all - but I wanted to comment on the card metaphor. To me it's a symptom of designers and devs looking for a metaphor that is able to cross between devices, screens and surfaces and escape the boundaries of the WIMP methodology. The fact that these types of metaphors are arising naturally in the world of software is a signal that the zerox/parc metaphor approach is still the best for mass market adoption. And seem to be the most well adopted to the environment we have created.

callil··on Stephen Wolfram is livestreaming a Wolfram Language demo
That was a lot of fun. He mentioned he would be streaming again soon and even solicited problems to work on. So if you have something really hard to solve now's your chance!
callil··on Apple’s Tim Cook Delivers Blistering Speech on Encryption, Privacy
They are setting the stage for announcing the launch of their google now compete which they will sell as more secure and private (no selling your info for ads!) [0]

This is all part of their marketing campaign.

[0] http://9to5mac.com/2015/05/27/apples-proactive-to-take-on-go...

callil··on Navigation for the Visually Impaired Using a Google Tango RGB-D Tablet
This is a great project - to address your last point, I dont think it would just be noise if the user habituated to it. Check out this project [0][1] that maps audible data to vibrations and seems to have successfully re-mapped sense data taking advantage of the elasticity of the human brain.

Another similar project lets people "see" with their tongues [2]

I definitely think using binaural (3d) audio could give users a much more complete and useful idea of what they are seeing so I wish you luck. Great Idea.

[0] http://www.ted.com/talks/david_eagleman_can_we_create_new_se...

[1] http://www.eagleman.com/research/sensory-substitution

[2] http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/device-lets-blind-...

callil··on Facebook Visual Identity
It's akin to refactoring code for designers. You do it so that there is more clarity and consistency in a visual system that is complex.

In addition to helping implement the brand in the short term across teams and products, a redesign like this also gives the brand a clear foundation on which to grow and evolve, instead of being fragmented.

A huge part of being a designer in a large company comes down to figuring out how to design systems. The impact of adjusting 4px probably did occur in 10 min in a design program. But the conversations and thought that went into the overall system took far far longer and required a huge amount of knowledge of how systems like this are used and implemented.

callil··on Please stop at-ing your friends
I like your idea of filtering the and converting to a notification. It feels like a kind of "command line" comment section. I wonder what else you could enable using this idea. @saved @favorties @hackernews?
callil··on Please stop at-ing your friends
I think you're right and it just demonstrates a lack of good intuitive UX around content sharing. Instagram is especially bad in this regard, popular posts are just polluted with @ mentions.
callil··on Microsoft Looks to Cut Up to 18,000 Jobs
I was just thinking of doing this yesterday, you should email it to him! Could be fun to try to do this for all overly wordy corporate email/announcements.
callil··on Is it bad practice to use your real name online?
I choose to use my real name on many services, it really doesn't bother me because I feel that I should be able to stand behind my words wherever I say them. It's also a unique name and usually not taken.

I will admit there have been times I have been hesitant to say or post things, but more often than not it's fine. If there is something I don't want associated with me, I use an alternate account.

callil··on Few successful entrepreneurs blog
I wish more did, but I suspect there is a good reason they don't. There is liability in what they say. And when dealing with lots of money it's easier to say nothing publicly.

[offtopic] Wow I hate reading twitter threads, I wish there was an easier and better way to see related tweets and connect who is talking to who inline.

callil··on The U.S. Needs a Constitution – Here's How to Write It
There is a paradox in this article. If the politicians who are re-writing the constitution come from inside a dysfunctional system, how will they be able to ever come to a consensus?
callil··on Jony Ive is Not a Graphic Designer
I'm still confused, she's saying doing that stuff is not going far enough, isn't that what you're point is?
callil··on Created my own RSS Reader Nuesbyte
Ah ok, I see now. I think that interaction could be a bit more clear. I would be nice to be able to drag and drop the feeds in and out of the site groups, as well as expand/collapse the groups on the "News" page.

Also, when I added a feed, it wasn't immediately clear that I was making a folder because it grabs the name of the feed, I thought I had just added a standalone feed to my general list.

callil··on Created my own RSS Reader Nuesbyte
Wow, I'm really enjoying using this, slick looking too. I really like all the little touches you've added, the UX is great. I think you've come the closest yet to the simplicity that google reader offered. I would try as hard as possible to maintain the feeling of simplicity in your design even when adding more features.

A few feature requests, feed importing, profile editing and a larger feed view (maybe collapse the sidebars?) also folders to be able to sort feeds you've added and the respective views.

edit: updated some things

callil··on Sketchfab: 3D Portfolio website
"The problem is probably that most good 3d modelers do not need your service."

How so? Don't 3D modelers need a platform to show their work just like graphic artists?

There is totally a place for this on the web, just because you use 3D models on the desktop doesn't mean they dont belong on the web in interactive form.

Have you ever been on a 3D modelling community site? There are amazing models, but you have to ask to download another artists work to really see it, and they likely wont give it to you. Imagine if all those artists (yes there are thousands of them) were given a platform to share their work in 3D??

callil··on Your next smartphone might use sapphire glass instead of Gorilla Glass
Artificially, sure why not, its just compressed carbon.
callil··on Google Reader shutting down
Still he best way to read content on the web, really sad to see it go.

Adding on to this:

What he hell do I do with my starred items now, it's literally the best collection of content I have curated in my life and I reference it all the time.

edit: petition to keep it open http://www.change.org/petitions/google-please-don-t-kill-goo...

callil··on Facebook's New Feed
They are actually coming into line with the internet in 2013. Universal experience across all platforms? Awesome. New, clearer less cluttered interface? Awesome.

I also think the killer feature is the ability to clearly filter your news feed by pictures, updates, people you follow etc. Fot instance, I DO want to be able to follow some celebrities and tv shows on facebook without them cluttering up my newsfeed too much. Now all I have to do is select my following list and I'm there. Ditto for friends + photos etc.

callil··on Discourse ditches CoffeeScript
I think that's the point, verbose is usually "containing more words than necessary"
callil··on A Bad UI Pattern
Tumblr is a good example of a website that has solved this problem. In the Dashboard, they have a footer a lot like the footer #2 in the Facebook example. It also makes use of the jump to top jquery plugin that makes using infinite scroll a breeze.
callil··on Googling for "conway's game of life" gives a simulation in the results page
I want this as a live-tile background for my phone. Beautiful
callil··on Slate: Tiling window management for OS X
another one like this is: http://hyperdock.bahoom.com/

bit more pricey though.

callil··on The iPhone 5 has reportedly been jailbroken
Another great tweak I have going is 5 column springboard and five icon dock. This gives me a grid of 25 apps per screen, pair this with Shrink to change the icon sizes to 90% of original size, you can hardly tell the difference and your phone is that much more useful.

The best thing is that it allows you to have the ESSENTIAL apps: phone, mail, browser, music and messages all in the bottom tray.

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