service chiller

Yelping with Cormac: The Apple Store

yelpingwithcormac:

Union Square - San Francisco, CA

Cormac M. | Author | Lost in the chaparral, NM

Two stars.

Given the way my uncle died havin a drink directly after his funeral just didnt seem right so I went for a walk instead. One of them downtowns where all there is is stores. Came across a store was a big…

SoundCloud: Tumblr + SoundCloud = ♥

soundcloud:

Tumblr and SoundCloud both are fantastic communities of people expressing themselves through the things they create; we think bringing them together is like a match made in heaven. So from today, we are thrilled to announce along with the fine folks from Tumblr that you can now easily share the…

marsbot:

Icon-olution
As mentioned in a previous post about the evolution of our iphone app, one of the great things about working at a start up is the ability to iterate and the speed at which you can do this. As we strive to improve our product, we wanted to make sure we had an icon that reflected the current state of our brand. 
To achieve this, we made a few subtle changes to the icon as opposed to a big change. This didn’t feel like the appropriate time to do a complete revolution; an evolution felt more apt. 
You’ll notice we’ve rounded and softened the edges to better align with other illustrative elements you find in our app such as badges and icons. We’ve replaced the purple ball with a green ball, as purple no longer lives in our color palette elsewhere in the app or site. Green is one of our primary colors and we wanted that represented here. We’ve also gone back to a less perfectly parallel trail of the ball (which also makes our iconic check mark) to inject a more playful feel into the icon while still maintaining our clean edges and lines. 
(note: I was not the original designer of this icon and this current evolution is the result of several talented designers on our team)

marsbot:

Icon-olution

As mentioned in a previous post about the evolution of our iphone app, one of the great things about working at a start up is the ability to iterate and the speed at which you can do this. As we strive to improve our product, we wanted to make sure we had an icon that reflected the current state of our brand. 

To achieve this, we made a few subtle changes to the icon as opposed to a big change. This didn’t feel like the appropriate time to do a complete revolution; an evolution felt more apt. 

You’ll notice we’ve rounded and softened the edges to better align with other illustrative elements you find in our app such as badges and icons. We’ve replaced the purple ball with a green ball, as purple no longer lives in our color palette elsewhere in the app or site. Green is one of our primary colors and we wanted that represented here. We’ve also gone back to a less perfectly parallel trail of the ball (which also makes our iconic check mark) to inject a more playful feel into the icon while still maintaining our clean edges and lines. 

(note: I was not the original designer of this icon and this current evolution is the result of several talented designers on our team)

(Source: marsbot)

seldo:

This is genuinely Microsoft’s idea of a “streamlined”, “optimized” UI for Windows Explorer. They were so proud of it they wrote a blog post about it.
The post is a sort of masterpiece of crazy rationalization, but I think my favourite part may be this screenshot:

Here, they proudly overlay the UI with data from their research into how often various commands are used. They use this to show that “the commands that make up 84% of what users do in Explorer are now in one tab”. But the more important thing is that the remaining 50% of the bar is taken up by buttons that nobody will ever use, ever, even according to Microsoft’s own research. And yet somehow they remain smack bang in the middle of the interface. The insanity is further enriched by this graph:

Again, this is Microsoft’s own research, cited in the same post: nobody — almost literally 0% of users — uses the menu bar, and only 10% of users use the command bar. Nearly everybody is using the context menu or hotkeys. So the solution, obviously, is to make both the menu bar and the command bar bigger and more prominent. Right?
Microsoft UI has officially entered the realm of self-parody.

seldo:

This is genuinely Microsoft’s idea of a “streamlined”, “optimized” UI for Windows Explorer. They were so proud of it they wrote a blog post about it.

The post is a sort of masterpiece of crazy rationalization, but I think my favourite part may be this screenshot:

Here, they proudly overlay the UI with data from their research into how often various commands are used. They use this to show that “the commands that make up 84% of what users do in Explorer are now in one tab”. But the more important thing is that the remaining 50% of the bar is taken up by buttons that nobody will ever use, ever, even according to Microsoft’s own research. And yet somehow they remain smack bang in the middle of the interface. The insanity is further enriched by this graph:

Again, this is Microsoft’s own research, cited in the same post: nobody — almost literally 0% of users — uses the menu bar, and only 10% of users use the command bar. Nearly everybody is using the context menu or hotkeys. So the solution, obviously, is to make both the menu bar and the command bar bigger and more prominent. Right?

Microsoft UI has officially entered the realm of self-parody.

early-onset-of-night:

Say hello to mechanically separated chicken. It’s what all fast-food chicken is made from—things like chicken nuggets and patties. Also, the processed frozen chicken in the stores is made from it.Basically, the entire chicken is smashed and pressed through a sieve—bones, eyes, guts, and all. it comes out looking like this.There’s more: because it’s crawling with bacteria, it will be washed with ammonia, soaked in it, actually. Then, because it tastes gross, it will be reflavored artificially. Then, because it is weirdly pink, it will be dyed with artificial color.But, hey, at least it tastes good, right?High five, America!
Update: Below follow some of my responses to all the controversy this post has created. Christ, some of you people act as if I told you there wasn’t a Santa Claus.
Response
Response
Response
Response
Response
See?
Share this on Facebook

early-onset-of-night:

Say hello to mechanically separated chicken. It’s what all fast-food chicken is made from—things like chicken nuggets and patties. Also, the processed frozen chicken in the stores is made from it.

Basically, the entire chicken is smashed and pressed through a sieve—bones, eyes, guts, and all. it comes out looking like this.

There’s more: because it’s crawling with bacteria, it will be washed with ammonia, soaked in it, actually. Then, because it tastes gross, it will be reflavored artificially. Then, because it is weirdly pink, it will be dyed with artificial color.

But, hey, at least it tastes good, right?

High five, America!


Update: Below follow some of my responses to all the controversy this post has created. Christ, some of you people act as if I told you there wasn’t a Santa Claus.

Response

Response

Response

Response

Response

See?

Share this on Facebook

lacarpa:

Ghostbusters com Pac-Man
RYCA (aka Ryan Callanan)

lacarpa:

Ghostbusters com Pac-Man

RYCA (aka Ryan Callanan)