You are… where?

Every designer who has worked with wayfinding (be it on a handheld device or in a hospital) knows: one of the most fundamental (and, arguably, the most important) element of a directory is the “You are here” indicator and yesterday, I noticed that (at Oxmoor Mall) all of the directories are missing this very element!

Please excuse the image quality but try and guess where I was on this map like I had to do yesterday. Showing the relative location of the other stores means very little if I don’t know where I am.

Something personal that I probably shouldn't share on social-networking.

Just relax.

Calm down and let the emotion from the Casey Anthony Trial wear off for a moment.

Breathe-in, breathe-out. Inhale, exhale.

Now let's talk logic instead of emotion.

In the Black community, when we see these headlines plastered all over our televisions, newspapers, et cetera -- it makes an incredible impact.

Personally, while my six-year-old niece was missing because she'd been kidnapped, seeing hundreds and hundreds of headlines about Natalee Holloway and Elizabeth Smart, while tragic, rubbed me the wrong way (to put it mildly). It was very insulting, even. That's not my niece pictured above by the way -- it was just a ploy to get you to read this. And it worked. Keep reading...

My family had an incredibly frustrating time with our unsuccessful attempts at garnering attention even from the local media regarding our missing child. Meanwhile, not only did the national news pay strict attention to the aforementioned missing little girls, but also, we stood by while the local media paid similar attention to similar cases yet ignoring ours.

Why would the media be so selective? (humor me)

And they say, "but, Matthew! That's apples to oranges! these are two separate and unrelated cases!" And, I agree: this is very true in lots of people's minds.

The question I pose in this entry is: why is it that Caylee Anthony gets more attention than Nixzmary Brown? What does this say about our society? Who is considered precious and who is expendable?

Let's just say, for instance, that your children were murdered but across the street children were being murdered and the media surrounded those stories -- how would you feel? Slighted? Maybe, even just a little bit?

This is why it's difficult for me to understand the outrage involved with this Casey Anthony case. Not that it's not tragic, but what about us? Why is it not tragic until Caylee Anthony dies?

Your responses to this post (even if anonymous) would be greatly appreciated.


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(video) 'i3D' Demo App Shows Off Head-Tracking 3D on iOS Devices

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reDesign And Reason

In case you haven't already seen it in the last couple of days, the new portfolio web site (done in HTML5) is now online; check it out: DesignAndReason.com



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Guest Entry: FlyPaper Blog

I was fortunate enough to be a Guest Blogger for FlyPaper reviewing Fly Union's new album titled "The Greater Than Club." Here's an excerpt:


Only a couple of years ago, I’d never heard of Fly Union and, even today, most of their music is new to me. Changes to the group’s roster made many people wonder if their music would be as appealing and, unsurprisingly, they’ve proved they haven’t lost anything when it comes to the music.

The Greater Than Club (TGTC) is Fly Union’s first commercial release and it's full of everything any music listener expects from a great hip-hop album. The first track, titled “Salutation,” touts beautifully melodic violins and starts with a gripping line regarding Jerreau’s relationship with his mother and how it relates to his romantic relationships. From there, the insightful lyrics and alluring production hold the listener’s attention for the duration of the album.


read the full entry here.

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(image) The Anatomy of a Perfect Landing Page.

I don't know if I would call this a "perfect" landing page but lots of good points are made here.

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(image) The History of Web Browsers

I still don't understand why Google Chrome isn't more popular.

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(video) Gmail Motion is very possible.

Evan A. Suma, a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Southern California's (USC) Institute for Creative Technologies, immediately set to work in demonstrating that the technology to run such a system already exists.

(via gizmag)


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Lose the mouse and keyboard. Now you can control Gmail with your body with new Gmail Motion!

I imagine Google is a really fun place to work.

If you haven't already, search Google for 'kittens' on your Android or iPhone. or, on the web, search for 'Helvetica' (although I think they went way, way too far with that one). but this one from Google Voice is funny: Introducing Voice-alyzer.

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Multitouch Microscope (iPad on Steroids)

yes, I have decided to start using Blogger again.

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