Perpenduum » GUI

ONull

David Goligorsky — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 22:40:56 +0000

ONull is written in Java and uses Processing as a graphical engine. Awesome vector generator that rasterizes an image to give you a vector output file. You can choose the squares, crosses, circles, etc. or you can import your own vector to use as the “pixels.” Excellent tool.

Google announces web browser

David Goligorsky — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 15:32:06 +0000

Google has entered the browser arena with open-source Google Chrome. Here’s a post from the official Google blog regarding the application. There’s even a cartoon introduction of the new software. Screenshots available here.

~~The beta software should become available today at 11am PDT for Windows users. Mac OSX and Linux users will have to wait for their release.~~

UPDATE: The browser is now available to Windows users as a beta over at the official Google Chrome site. You can sign up for email updates to stay abreast of developments for Mac OSX and Linux.

OLPC XO-1

David Goligorsky — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 19:07:37 +0000

A friend of mine has a OLPC XO-1, so I finally had a chance to give the much-talked-about piece of equipment a test run. Challenging user interface and miserable keyboard layout… on the bright side, it is rugged, the mechanical aspects of the case and swiveling screen are great, and the $100 price point it fantastic. For its intended purpose of spreading the availability of information and education to children of developing countries, it’s a great start!

Interesting new method for text entry

David Goligorsky — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 01:04:58 +0000

Dasher changes the paradigm of text entry from pushing buttons to navigating through words.

Here’s a YouTube demonstration of the technology and here’s the Dasher website, which offers a test drive of the program. (via GUUUI)

I recently watched The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. It’s a film based on the true story of Jean-Dominique Bauby, who was the editor-in-chief of Elle. He had suffered a massive stroke in 1995 that left his mind in tact, but his body was completely paralyzed except for one eye and eyelid. Needless to say, he could not speak. Speech therapists devised a method of cycling through the alphabet, whose order was based on frequency of use and he would blink at the letter he wanted to use.

Dasher paired with eye tracking systems is a beautiful way for disabled people to communicate.

Maharam Virtual Library

David Goligorsky — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 04:11:08 +0000

Maharam is a textile distributor with tons of great patterns. They have a very well-designed website to boot. Try out the Maharam Virtual Library on the sidebar… my favorite book there is “Textiles of the 20th Century,” notably the Eames’ “Circles 458310” pattern on page 3 and “Dot Pattern 458300” on page 4.

Ruminate over Dieter Rams

David Goligorsky — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 15:08:25 +0000

While the previous Braun Design/Dieter Rams post is still warm:

The 2007 iPhone calculator GUI “borrows” heavily from the 1977 design of the Braun ET44 and ET66 calculators (ET = elektronischer taschenrechner = electronic calculator.) (originally via oyayubizoku, nicest comparison image via domanske)

Further examples of Apple mirroring the lines of Dieter Rams’ designs include: Braun T3 Taschenradio (1958-1960) :: Apple iPod
Braun LE1 Lautsprecher (1960) :: Apple iMac
to a lesser extent, Braun T1000 (1960) :: Apple G5
(compiled at Flankenlauf)

Color Thesaurus

David Goligorsky — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 15:06:54 +0000

There are several tools on the internet for finding just the right shade of color or finding the ideal color combinations.

HP has an “On-Line Color Thesaurus” which isn’t much to look at, but offers decent results. (via Core77)

Adobe offers a more comprehensive Flash tool called Kuler (pronounced… “color”) that finds complementary and contrasting colors. This is something of a social network as well, because you can formulate a swatch and make it available to other Kuler users. It’s a really fun tool to play around with… kinda like NameVoyager, which is an amazing tool that determines the popularity of baby names with respect to time. Go ahead and search “Paris” to see how many people want to name their kid after Ms. Hilton.

GPhone images?

David Goligorsky — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 17:10:56 +0000

The cat might be out of the bag for Google’s GPhone. A ZDNet report shows computer-rendered images of a Google-based mobile device. Who knows if it’s the real McCoy or just some internet hype flotsam. There are several other renderings out and about, including an image in this article which also discusses the likelihood of Google choosing Verizon as the service provider.

I guess we’ll find out pretty soon.

Vignelli Map Meme

David Goligorsky — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 13:51:31 +0000

Sometimes a great design doesn’t achieve the success that is anticipated, however, it may have the makings of a timeless classic. Imitation is the greatest form of flattery. Vignelli Design designed the NYC Subway Map back in 1970 and was not well received when it was launched in 1972. The current NYC subway map takes plentiful cues from the Vignelli map. There are many examples of graphic design and data presentation that draw directly from the Vignelli version of the subway map, like this guide to automotive company ownership.