For a project about the future of the interwebs that I recently completed, I read The Future of the Internet -- And How to Stop It by Jonathan Zittrain. Beyond the internet topic itself, I was struck by his thoughts regarding "generative technologies", i.e. systems that are flexible enough to creat...
Paper clip roles
"A paper clip can be used in all sorts of unintended ways: as a makeshift keyring, as a make-up ustensil, for cleaning fingernails or, bent into the right shape, as a small universal tool. Children link up several clips to make bracelet or necklaces. Older children transform the clips into ammunit...
Some surfaces are more attractive than others
Stickers and graffitis are now common on lots of urban surfaces. On this example found in Venice, Los Angeles, some surfaces are, interestingly, more attractive than others. Although the height of each sign is almost similar, the "stop" sign clearly receives more inscription than the street name p...
Build your own burger
Personalized food composition seems to be pervasive lately, as exemplified by the "build your own burger" encountered in Palo Alto two weeks ago. Still looking forward a more participative steps in which the customer could be even more engaged. ...
From HCI to UX
Some excerpts from Human Computer Interaction (HCI) by John M. Carroll that I considered relevant for my research: "To a considerable extent, HCI now aggregates a collection of semi-distinct fields of research and practice in human-centered informatics. (...) HCI has produced a dramatic example of ...
IKEA hardware hacking
IKEA furniture hacking has always been an intriguing topic to me. Thinking that people would use IKEA artifacts and repurpose them to create original and personalized objects is strikingly interesting and important. I was therefore curious to read more about how people would treat this hardware as ...
Pneumatic mail and flows of information made explicit
My hotel last week in San Francisco had this fascinating mail transit system that allowed people to drop letters in this pneumatic-like system parallel to the elevators. You can leave your letter at the floor you're located (picture above) and it drops down the collecting box downstairs. Why do I...
Computerized dispatched
When "computerized dispatched" becomes a selling point for cab customers. See last week in San Francisco. Do you really wanna know the underlying process that made this cab approaching you (phone calls, location-based services, etc.)? Or will you be more confident that this cab company is efficien...
Space-time trails and locative technologies
(Pictures of space-time trails in CatchBob!, nothing really related to the paper below, just found it illustrative of this digital trail notion) Perusing "Where Were We: Communities for Sharing Space-Time Trails" by Scott Counts and Marc Smith, I was interested by this notion of "space-time trails"...
*you are here*
The different way to express the famous "you are here" sign on maps (San Francisco, Zürich, Geneva, Saint Etienne and Zürich again). Regardless of the map type (w/o transportation system, with different granularities of environmental description and scale differences), the way your position is ind...