Intuition

The stuff I usually link to is quite... instant. Maybe it's the nature of the Internet to like quick snacks of interest, or maybe it says more about my own attention span.

But today I was shown an article on "intuitive design". A longer article than I usually link, but well worth reading.

Wikis have changed a lot since I started using them. When I first hit the edit button, I got an obvious box of text with very little code. It was easy to see what change I needed to make, and how to make it.

Wikis now are much prettier, but also contain much more complicated markup. I seriously wonder if I would be where I am now if that initial "knowledge gap" had been wider.

Credit: Brian

The digital toy shop

Zefrank.com is a site I've been meaning to explore more for a while. There is a wealth of interesting things to play with, from pretty toys to classic games to... well... the strange stuff.

Somehow it all reminds me of a wonderful old-fashioned toy shop in Cambridge I used to visit as a child. With each tray and shelf holding another shiny thing to explore.

The flower above was created using his flower maker, and I was rather pleased with it. I wanna look at the train sets next!

Kitten compensation

I'm very keen to keep up with this experiment of an (almost) daily blog... but life, and Wikia, can make that hard...

So, in compensation today, I give you.... a overly cute kitten!

Photo by Avatar. Licensed under the
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0

Two legged dogs

A picture in the last issue of Fortean Times of a dog with no front legs intrigued me. The dog was said to have been born with just two legs, and to walk ably on its hind legs.

I wondered at first if the image had been manipulated, but it seems it's not the only able two legged dog out there. There's also Faith, who also lacks both front legs.

But Dominic the two legged greyhound seems even more impressive, because he has only one front and one back leg. And yet it doesn't seem to slow him down at all:

Bless...

Personal crowd

I talked last year about personal space and how the social rules for keeping your distance carry over into virtual worlds.

But this image of a Japanese wave pool, and the related YouTube video, graphically show the variations in social rules in different cultures. The idea of choosing to be in a pool with that many people is highly disturbing to my English notions of necessary personal space.

With the Internet being such a cosmopolitan place, I wonder how much these cultural variations in social rules affect us. It's not something I've noticed clearly, although I have certainly noticed that online the rule tends to be "tolerate difference, or go make a niche"

Image: © kilian-nakamura.com, used with permission.

Issues of trust

I read Fortean Times magazine cover to cover every month. But I hardly ever look for similar content online.

And I think this picture of a ghost in a hospital illustrates why. It's a stunning image - if it's genuine. But who can assume that with the quality of image manipulation out there.

Slooow down Bob

For an unusual product that I won't be trying, how about "Drank" - the "anti-energy drink"

This is the exact opposite of all those stimulating caffeine drinks out there. Instead it's designed to calm you with melatonin, valerian root and rose hips.

I know a lot of all-night IRCers who could probably do with this, but I think the last thing I need is a soporific

Credit: Splarka