Jul 02

Infographics on the iPad: The Times Summarizing the Health of England – information aesthetics

By admin UI, information aesthetics, infosthetics, insights No Comments »

Designed by Applied Works, this interactive infographic for the iPad platform was commissioned to accompany a news story on the North/South health divide in England. The different Health Wheels distil 32 different health indicators across 9 geographical regions. The wheels act as visual barometers for the health of each region, in order to provide users with an intuitive way of scanning through all the indicators.

A map of England communicates the national perspective in response to the wheel, with a traffic light colour code identifying which regions score better than, worse than or average compared to the national mean. For the regional view, segments on the wheel are color-coded according to the performance of each indicator.For those infosthetics.com readers lucky enough to have access to both an iPad and The Times app, this infographic lives along a story titled “Major Shift Planned for NHS Treatment”, which is currently featured in the News section. Those readers are also kindly invited to leave a short personal review in the comments section below.

Does this new form of infographics truly exploit iPads unique capabilities?

For all other mortals, including myself, the Times kindly provided a short video demonstration and a Flickr set to demonstrate this fresh incarnation of information graphics on an alternative display medium.

via Infographics on the iPad: The Times Summarizing the Health of England – information aesthetics.

Jul 01

MeeGo for handsets makes its first appearance

By admin UI, design concepts, hardware No Comments »

As promised, Nokia and Intel have revealed the pre-alpha version of MeeGo for handsets today, supporting the Intel-powered Aava reference phone and the Nokia N900.

Whats most interesting at this early stage is the UI, which appears to have taken a big Nokia-influenced step away from the Intel-designed MeeGo netbook and tablet UI — and were definitely detecting some hints of Android and webOS here and there. Seriously, just check out that task switching interface. Of course, MeeGo is open-source, so were sure Nokia has some deeper UI customizations in store — like homescreen widgets, which are notably missing here.On a deeper level, this build of MeeGo includes the base MeeGo APIs, including Qt and the MeeGo touch frameworks, the Firefox-based browser, a photo viewer, and some basic UI elements like the status bar, app launcher, and virtual keyboard.

There are pre-built images for the Atom-based Aava handsets available now, but N900 owners will have to do a little building until someone makes an image available. Be warned, though: theres a long enough list of known bugs, and while thats totally fine for pre-alpha code, it might not be too fine for your device. Thats not going to stop us from installing this thing, but you be careful, alright? And let us know how it goes. Video of the UI after the break.P.S. Given that the N8 is destined to be the last Symbian N Series device, we cant help but feel its being overshadowed by MeeGo before its even out. Can we pre-pour one out? Is that a thing? It is now.

via MeeGo for handsets makes its first appearance — Engadget.

Jun 03

John Underkoffler points to the future of UI

By admin UI, communication-standards, design concepts, insights, uncategorized No Comments »

In February 2010, the man who built the technology of Minority Report twice — once for the movie, and once in real life — spoke at TED about the future of user interface design.

Yesterday, TED posted John Underkoffler’s entire fifteen-minute video presentation — a copy of which you’ll find right after the break.

Get a curated glimpse into his company’s tech in the following demo, and hear from the man himself when the gloves might come off. And if that doesn’t satisfy your appetite, read an in-depth interview with Underkoffler at our more coverage link.

Jun 01

Social Visualization Software Review: Tableau Public – information aesthetics

By jeromewagner design concepts, document-management, information aesthetics, infosthetics No Comments »

You have no doubt seen a Tableau chart before. They tend to be sleek, interactive, and intuitive. And they have already appeared in the Wall Street Journal, CNN Money, and CBS Sports among other places.

The software is loved by many and quickly becoming the industry standard for those who DON’T necessarily consider themselves to be analysts.And it just became much easier for the non-analyst set to create excellent interactive charts with the recent release of Tableau Public, a new tool that puts the power of Tableau into the hands of everyone. This free version of Tableau was released earlier this year to much fanfare. We have sliced and diced all its details below, so please have a read.As you might already know, this is our final review of the big three of free, online social visualization software approaches: Swivel, IBM Many Eyes, and now Tableau Public.

We will wrap up with final thoughts next week with a benchmark that would make Tufte proud. Be sure to check back for an interesting look at all three tools, pitted side by side, embedded in this blog, so you can interact with each and make your own judgments.

CRITERIA

Cost :Free

Free Version available:  Yes

Ease of Use: Easy

Embeddable into a web page: Yes

Shareable: Yes

Comments / Discussion: No

Private workgroup: No

Plugin Required: JavaScript/AJAX

Software Required: Tableau

Public Software: free or Tableau Desktop

Export Formats: CSV, PNG, PDF

Data Storage: 50 Mb

Maturity age of software: < 1 year although Tableau software is 5 years old

Customer Service: None provided, but Tableau employees are very active on Twitter, LinkedIn, FB, and their forums.

Data Import Formats: Oracle NoSQL Server NoSybase NoDB2 NoPostgreSQL NomySQL NoExcel YesText Yes

other If you purchase their Desktop or Desktop Pro software, you will be able to use many more data sources such as mySQL, SQL Server, PostgreSQL, DB2, Teradata, Oracle, etc.

Reviewers Kim ReesDate reviewed 4/28/2010Other

Features: Ability to make rich dashboards for sharing. Interactive features are very robust. Community can filter the data you present, highlight it, and sort the data in various ways. Community can also download data and export any view they create.

Pros- Extremely robust software that is rock solid. It’s now on version 5.1.- Very easy to use. Simple drag and drop interface.- Ability to add subtotals, totals, and other calculations.-

Can have multiple worksheets in a file.- Dashboards with a flexible worksheet layout.- Easy to customize.

Cons- All data becomes public.- There is no option for private groups.- Can only save to the web cannot save a working copy locally.- Must use stand alone software that is only PC compatible for creation, not for viewing.- No text analysis.- Mapping is limited compared to other tools.

via Social Visualization Software Review: Tableau Public – information aesthetics.

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May 20

Google To Launch Amazon S3 Competitor ‘Google Storage’ At I/O

By jeromewagner SOA, cloud computing, disaster-recovery, document-management, green-it, insights, network-security, offsite-backup, operating systems & collaborative tools No Comments »

Amazon’s cloud storage services are going to be getting another major competitor this week: Google.

We hear that this week during its I/O conference, Google will be announcing a new service that is a direct competitor with Amazon’s S3 cloud storage. Google’s service will be called Google Storage for Developers, or ‘GS’. We believe it will be available in a private beta initially.

We also hear that the service will be positioned to make it very easy for existing S3 customers to make the switch to Google Storage.Features will include a REST API, the ability to use Google accounts to offer authenticated downloads, and data redundancy. Developers will be able to use a command line tool to manage their data, and there will be a web interface as well.We’d previously reported that Google was looking to expand its cloud service offerings, but that it would primarily be focused on ‘value-added’ services that took advantage of technology Google has been using internally, like its translation tools and video processing.

We’re hearing that such value-added services will not be part of this launch, but it is highly likely that they will be coming in the future. And that’s the key here — competitors will have a hard time matching the array of technologies and infrastructure Google has spent years developing.

via Google To Launch Amazon S3 Competitor ‘Google Storage’ At I/O.

May 19

Google Wave opens doors to public, asks old friends for new chance

By jeromewagner communication-standards, online tools, operating systems & collaborative tools No Comments »

Google Wave opens doors to public, asks old friends for new chance.

By Ross Miller posted May 19th 2010

To think, it was about this time last year that Google first unveiled its collaboration tool Wave, and today the company’s taking out the invitational step and opening it to the public at large — which begs the question, did anyone not have an invite that wanted one at this point? It’ll also be now available in the enterprise-centric Apps suite for no extra charge.

On the developer side of things, expect some more open source code be unleashed, including most importantly the rich text editor. Can’t say we’ve really dug around in the service ourselves since its beta launched, but co-creator Lars Rasmussen tells us we should be giving it another go. He further acknowledged that they’ve got some work to do on educating users on the best ways to use the service, which at this point seems to be mid- and small-scale collaboration. To that end, expect some new tutorial videos, and with any luck, some amusing animation.

via Google Wave opens doors to public, asks old friends for new chance — Engadget.

May 18

The Laser Celebrates Its 50th Frickin Birthday

By admin insights, it-projects, uncategorized No Comments »

The Laser Celebrates Its 50th Frickin Birthday

BY WARREN RIDDLE — MAY 14TH 2010 AT 5:40PM

Albert Einstein first postulated the possibility of amplifying protons to create “masers” in 1917, but the theory wouldnt produce effective technology until the post-World War II period. The science of masers continued to evolve over the following decade, and, in 1958, Charles Townes and Arthur Schawlow of Bell Labs published a seminal report that would spark a scientific revolution. The paper proposed that, by incorporating maser properties with the light spectrum, researchers could emit an intense optical beam.

Theodore Maiman of Hughes Labs would finally bring that research to fruition when he constructed the first functional laser and fired the first blast on May 16th of 1960. For those keeping score, that means the laser is officially turning 50 this very day. According to CNETs Daniel Terdiman, Hughes Labs which would later become Raytheon initially developed lasers that were primarily used by the military for guidance and targeting operations, a system which would prove significant and highly effective during the Vietnam War. The beams have since diverged into a multitude of directions, as the technology has been applied to a seemingly infinite array of endeavors — even if its just a cheap method for kids to annoy their pets, teachers and classmates.

While 50 is still relatively young, this year is currently hosting an incredible laser renaissance as scientists seem to be realizing the full potential of the technology. What better way to celebrate a monumental milestone than with the completion of the worlds largest laser, spaceships engaging in distant orbital exchanges, and — finally — a mosquito-zapping Photon Fence? Huzzah! [From: CNET]

via The Laser Celebrates Its 50th Frickin Birthday.

May 10

Canonical unveils new ‘Unity’ desktop environment at Ubuntu Developer Summit | Ubuntu

By admin MobileOS, OS, Ubuntu, cloud computing, operating systems & collaborative tools No Comments »

Previews ‘Ubuntu Light:’ an implementation of Unity Targeted at OEMs for ‘instant-on’ computing

Ubuntu Developer Summit, La Hulpe, Belgium, May 10, 2010: Canonical today unveiled a new desktop environment called ‘Unity’ at the Ubuntu Developer Summit (UDS) in Belgium. Unity will be the desktop environment for Ubuntu 10.10 Netbook Edition, released in October 2010, and is available today to developers building applications for the netbook environment.

Unity is designed for netbooks and related touch-based devices. It includes a new panel and application launcher that makes it fast and easy to access preferred applications, such as the browser, while removing screen elements that are rarely used in mobile and netbook computing.

In parallel, Canonical announced Ubuntu Light, an implementation of Ubuntu that is based on Unity and intended for the dual-boot ‘instant-web’ market. This pared-down version of Ubuntu features chat, IM, browser and media player applications and is aimed at PC manufacturers seeking an ‘instant-web’ experience that complements Windows on consumer PCs.

Ubuntu Light distinguishes itself by connecting the user to the web, with a running browser, in under 10 seconds. The product includes a media player and tools to integrate with Windows to access music files, photos, etc. This is a new market for Ubuntu and research into the requirements for this market drove many of the design principles for Unity.

PCs equipped with Ubuntu Light offer users immediate access to the web and personal content – photos, music and documents. For mobile users, or simply for cases where the simplified interface of Ubuntu is more appropriate, Ubuntu Light saves time associated with a full Windows boot and login. Ubuntu Light can be used on a standalone PC or notebook without Windows, but it is particularly designed for dual-boot environments, where it is installed alongside Windows and presented as an option at boot.

More here

May 06

Goodbye petabytes, hello zettabytes!!

By jeromewagner cloud computing, hardware, insights, storage No Comments »

Goodbye petabytes, hello zettabytes

• Massive figure equal to a million million gigabytes

The growth in digital content last year alone was enough to fill 75bn Apple iPads. Photograph: Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP

Every man, woman and child on the planet using micro-blogging site Twitter for a century. For many people that may sound like a vision of hell, but for watchers of the tremendous growth of digital communications it is a neat way of presenting the sheer scale of the so-called digital universe. The explosion of social networking, online video services and digital photography, plus the continued popularity of mobile phones, email and web browsing, coupled with the growing desire of corporations and governments to know and store ever more data about everyone has created an unprecedented amount of digital information and introduced a new word to the nerd lexicon: a zettabyte.

Research published today estimates that the so-called digital universe grew by 62% last year to 800,000 petabytes – a petabyte is a million gigabytes – or 0.8 zettabytes. That is the equivalent of all the information that could be stored on 75bn Apple iPads, which would equal the digital output from a century&apos;s worth of constant tweeting by all of Earth&apos;s inhabitants.

By way of stark contrast between the output of present day humanity and its pre-digital predecessor, experts estimate that all human language used since the dawn of time would take up about 5,000 petabytes if stored in digital form, which is less than 1% of the digital content created since someone first switched on a computer.This year, the planet&apos;s digital content will blast through the zettabyte barrier to reach 1.2 ZB, according to the fourth annual survey of the world&apos;s bits and bytes conducted by technology consultancy IDC and sponsored by IT firm EMC. A zettabyte, incidentally, is roughly half a million times the entire collections of all the academic libraries in the United States.

via Goodbye petabytes, hello zettabytes | Technology | The Guardian.

Apr 30

Ubuntu 10.04 LTS Features | Ubuntu

By admin MobileOS, OS, it-management, media-tools, training No Comments »

Browse the web

Ubuntu includes Mozilla Firefox – for fast, safe web browsing. You can also choose alternative open-source browsers from the Ubuntu Software Centre.

Create professional documents and presentations

OpenOffice.org is fully compatible with Microsoft Office and has everything you need to create professional documents, spreadsheets and presentations. OpenOffice.org is easy to use, packed with the features you need and completely free.

Get free software

The Ubuntu Software Centre gives you instant access to thousands of free open-source applications. Browse software in categories including: education, games, sound and video, graphics, programming and office. Software is easy to find, easy to install and easy to remove.

Email and chat

Get chatting with Empathy. Quickly integrate your chat accounts from Yahoo, Gmail, MSN, Jabber, AOL, QQ and many more. Evolution Mail provides easy, intuitive email.

Social from the start

New in 10.04. Read and update your social networks instantly. Ubuntus new Me Menu lets you access your Facebook and Twitter accounts and more straight away. Connect to your chat channels and make updates through a single window. Being sociable has never been so easy.

Buy music while you listen

New in 10.04. Ubuntus new music player includes an integrated store, so you can buy and download new tracks with just a few clicks. And thanks to Ubuntu Ones file-sharing magic you can store your music online and listen to it from other computers and music players. Ubuntu works with most music and media players.

View, store and edit photos

Ubuntu is ready for all your gadgets. Connect your phones and cameras to download your pictures. You can organise your photos with F-Spot and use popular tools like Picasa, Facebook and Flickr. For advanced photo editing, find a free application from the Ubuntu Software Centre.

Mobilise your digital life!

All Ubuntu users get a free Ubuntu One account. Ubuntu One allows you to store all kinds of files online so you can access them anywhere. Store bookmarks, contacts, music and pictures. Take everything everywhere with Ubuntu One.

Make, play and edit video

Watch all your favourite content from YouTube, iPlayer, and MSN Player. Play your own videos with Movie Player or use Pitivi to edit your videos.

Start fast with Ubuntu

Ubuntu loads quickly on any computer, but its super-fast on newer machines. After loading, opening a browser takes seconds, unlike other operating systems that leave you staring at the screen, waiting to get online.

Choose from hundreds of free games

The Ubuntu Software Centre offers hundreds of games, including puzzles, adventures, tactical challenges and more. All free to choose and free to use.

Accessibility

At the core of the Ubuntu philosophy is the belief that computing is for everyone and access should be free and complete whatever your economic or physical circumstances. Ubuntu is one of the most accessible desktop operating systems around.

via Ubuntu 10.04 LTS Features | Ubuntu.

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