Timelapse

Written on 13 March 2013, 11:27pm

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My first timelapse try. I wanted to catch the March snow melting throughout the day, but apparently the temperatures were not high enough 🙂

Actors:

The command:

ffmpeg.exe -f image2 -r 1 -i IMG_%02d.JPG movie.avi

I know, I have to clean my windows for the next photo session 🙂

One product I wish existed

Written on 5 March 2013, 03:08pm

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The people at Medium have a very interesting collection called ‘Products I wish existed
There you can find some interesting ideas for your next endeavor 🙂
My product I wish existed? A device that would allow me to use my mobile phone on the fixed phone line.

Here’s why.
They did not evolve too much since the rotary phone. For over a decade we have cordless (DECT) phones, but even the ones produced this years have modest quality (to say the least) and are not that cheap.
Their rechargeable battery has a very short life because of the frequent on the charger/off the charger cycle. Their display is miserable. And if you wish features like voice message, missed call notification or ‘do not disturb’ schedule, you will have to pay the price of a smartphone.
The fixed phones are slowly dying.

I would replace them with the following solution:
-a base where the landline would connect
PLUS
-wi-fi/bluetooth
PLUS
-your favorite smartphone via an application.

Think about it!

When you’re not at home, the base would record your messages. When you arrive home and enter your home network, the base pushes the messages on your smartphone.
Then, in order to make a phone call on the landline, you open a dedicated app, and simply use your smartphone as a DECT phone.
The same app on your smartphone would be able to take an incoming call when you’re in the home network.

The base producer would have to take half of the DECT technology (the base), eliminate the crappy DECT phone, put some wi-fi/bluetooth chip inside it and make an app that would be freely distributed.

I wish this product existed 🙂

Later edit: There is other products like I800 iCreations ($249) or Panasonic’s link to Cell line. But they do the opposite: taking the smartphone calls to the DECT phone: “Link your cell phone to your home phone”. I want to get rid of my home phone and use my smartphone instead 🙂
This guy is apparently on the good track, but it only looks like a hobby, not a commercial product.

Web meets brain

Written on 4 March 2013, 03:29pm

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In the recent period I read some materials regarding the human brain: how it works, what is it good at, its limitations and its bugs. I am listing here the links to the articles/books, along with a short description.

1. Brain Bugs

Brain Bugs: How the Brain’s Flaws Shape Our Lives, By Dean Buonomano (I also recommend the iTunes audiobook).

The human brain is more beautiful and complex than anything we could ever build but it’s far from perfect. Our memory is unreliable; we can’t multiply large sums in our heads; advertising manipulates our judgment; we tend to distrust people who are different from us; supernatural beliefs are hard to shake and we prefer instant gratification to long-term gain. Dean Buonomano illuminates the causes and consequences of these “bugs” in terms of the brain’s innermost workings and their evolutionary purposes.

2. Hacking the brain

Hacking the brain, Richard Shepherd, .Net magazine

“If you make chairs, you’ll want to understand how people sit. If you make user interfaces, then you should understand how people perceive and think.”
With a little borrowing from disciplines such as cognitive psychology and behavioural economics we become able to ‘hack the brain’.
The field of UX is both broad and deep; here are five techniques to get you started.

3. How does the brain keep track of time

How does the brain keep track of time – by Joshua Bixby in Web Performance Today

Luke Jones of the University of Manchester talks about the fact that we’re uncannily good at telling the difference between durations of sound, down to one-tenths of a second, yet we’re terrible at predicting how long it’s going to take us to do something, especially if it’s something you’ve done before. (Apparently, we always underestimate.)

4. Designing for emotion

Designing for emotion by Aaron Walter, A book apart
I read this book more than a year ago, here are my notes about it. The conclusion was:

When you start your next design project, keep this principle in mind: people will forgive shortcomings, follow your lead, and sing your praises if you reward them with positive emotion.

designing for emotion NET234.f_hacking brain bugs