Design

Should your driverless car kill you to save a child?

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Quartz:

Consider this thought experiment: you are traveling along a single-lane mountain road in an autonomous car that is fast approaching a narrow tunnel. Just before entering the tunnel a child attempts to run across the road but trips in the centre of the lane, effectively blocking the entrance to the tunnel. The car has but two options: hit and kill the child, or swerve into the wall on either side of the tunnel, thus killing you.

This might seem a pointless exercise, but as the field of robotics matures and artificial intelligence design takes on the burdens of critical decision making, this ethical dilemma will force itself on software designers.

Game about squares

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This is a fun little game, a puzzle challenge that requires you to move squares around on your screen using a simple set of rules, getting them to rest on a preset position.

Using wood glue to clean your vinyl records

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[VIDEO] I’m an engineer at heart. I love creative solutions to problems, even if they turn out not to be practical. I’ll leave it to the vinyl experts to decide if this process works better than a commercial record cleaner, but I give this video an A+ for clever.

Responsive logos

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Great conceptual approach to logo mechanics. Go to this site, then shrink the width of the browser page, watch what the logo does in response.

Apple patents method of building seamless all-glass iOS devices, monitors and TVs

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Apple Insider:

Apple on Monday was granted a U.S. patent covering a method of fusing glass structures together to encapsulate the internal circuitry of an iOS device, and that of larger electronics like monitors and televisions.

Not clear if this will ever make it into a real product, but certainly interesting.

High resolution scan of Disneyland prospectus

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Boing Boing:

Thanks to an anonymous benefactor, Boing Boing is pleased to present the first-ever look at the original Disneyland prospectus. These extremely high-resolution scans were made from one of the three sets of pitch-documents Roy and Walt Disney used to raise the money to build Disneyland.

Incredibly beautiful craftsmanship

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From Google translate:

I make a brute parquet craftsman, and Honma Noboru.

Blog to introduce handicrafts of Japan world-class “HAND”. It was visited this time, Hakone. This town is surrounded by scenic nature, it is the workshop of Honma Noboru that inherits traditional craft that follows from the late Edo period to “Hakone parquet”. Process which is said to be at least 10 years and, takes to master the technology a series of many complex. Workshop drifting incense tree, the tradition has been spun today.

These are not the wearables we’ve been waiting for

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Dan Frommer:

Never mind the watches themselves, which seem awkwardly large, must be charged daily, don’t handle sunlight very well, and simply aren’t cool.

This last bit, “simply aren’t cool” says a lot.

Susan Kare video, tells stories about her early Mac icon design work

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[VIDEO] Susan Kare revolutionized iconography. She created many of the icons (and fonts) that defined the Mac.

If the thought of the early days of the Mac fill you with nostalgia, I suspect you will love this video as much as I did. You might also enjoy this post, from a few months ago, sharing Kare’s notebook.

Using large expressive type on websites

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When I first started reading this article, I though it was about using large type in the body of a website. As I read more, I realized it was about grabbing attention by using expressive type in different ways to direct users where you want them to go. A bit less interesting, but still a fascinating topic. As I looked at the examples, I realized that I don’t like the use of expressive type like this. Somehow I feel like it’s overkill and that the content should speak for itself. Obviously, it works and not all websites can be the same, but there’s something about the examples that rub me the wrong way.

The evolution of the World Cup soccer ball

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If you’ve ever kicked a soccer ball around, hit one with your forehead, you’ll appreciate this animated take on the evolution of soccer ball construction.

Stack Overflow’s interactive survey of 20,000 developers

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The survey itself is interesting enough. But what really caught my eye is the interactive nature of the interface.

Try this: Click Country on the left side of the window, then click Describe in the upper left. This gives you a breakdown of survey participants by country. I really liked the ability to play with the survey data. Wish all surveys were built this way.

“But what do I know?”

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John Gruber:

Let me get this straight. Apple completely scrapped a superior interface to Health because Mark Gurman published screenshots back in March. That is to say, Apple cared more about the surprise of revealing a never-before-seen Health interface during the keynote than they cared about the actual design quality of an interface that will be used by hundreds of millions of iOS users for years to come.

Design and functionality trumps all at Apple.

Scribble pen lets you draw in every single color

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Press the pen’s sensor against an object, the pen’s ink becomes that color. Scan an orange, you are drawing in orange. Scan a blade of grass, you’re drawing in a rich shade of green. Cool idea, but be aware this is a kickstarter. All the usual caveats apply.

Apple posts OS X Yosemite “New Look” video

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[VIDEO] This video was originally shown during the WWDC keynote. I love the incredible attention to detail. For the designer in me, this is like candy to watch.

Some might see this as a move of OS X towards iOS. I see it more as both OS X and iOS moving toward a more beautifully detailed common future.

How eyetracking can improve your web page design

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You spent hours making your design perfect. The images have been meticulously Photoshopped. The calls-to-action have been revised and refined countless times. You know exactly where you want the user’s eye to land and precisely how you want it to move. And with the emergence of eye-tracking technology, it’s finally possible to know whether or not it actually works.

This is a great idea. Use eye tracking to figure out what images work best, and where to place them to bring the user’s attention where you want it.

Next-Generation Responsive Web Design Tools

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At least half of the designers knew HTML and CSS well but wanted a more visual way to get at it. Well, a new generation of visual responsive design tools has arrived. These responsive design tools are for anyone who understands HTML and CSS (or is willing to learn) and wants to visually design a responsive website — and have code to show for it.

It’s always good to at least know what’s on the horizon.

An iPad case kickstarter I can really get behind

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The Ergo Book has a big strap that is hidden away until you need it, and your iPad can rotate in the case so you can view or stand it in portrait or landscape mode. Shipping in September.

Latest aerial photos of new Apple campus

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Some notable progress. When you see the final result, remember these pictures. The land is almost completely cleared. I suspect the trees will return.

Solar powered iBeacon sunglasses

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I think this sounds useful and, I suspect, a feature that expensive sunglasses will standardize on in the future. Or you can just get the $15 sunglasses off the rack at the drug store.