We’ve all seen it by now: the ubiquitous three-lined icon known as “the hamburger” (or, to a jocular few, “Mr. Liney“). Increasingly, we are all coming to know what it means, too: click for menu. Usability studies continue to show that the hamburger image has still not crossed the familiarity tipping point, however. So gurus […]
File under Nerd Alert. But I basically turned back into a 10-year old when I read this: Netflix is said to be working on a new series that uses Nintendo’s beloved ‘Legend of Zelda’ games as their source material. The Wall Street Journal reports that it’s in the early stages of development, and that it […]
On Monday we rolled out a host of changes to the Bates website. The overriding goal was to make the site work well on all screen sizes and devices, and the changes touched the global navigation, search, and homepage design — all big and consequential things for users. We have been working on this project […]
Wired profiles former U.S. CTO Todd Park in an excellent piece that absolutely nails the issues with stagnation in federal tech: procurement and inertia. Park knows the problem is systemic—a mindset that locks federal IT into obsolete practices—“a lot of people in government are, like, suspended in amber,” he said to the crowd at Mozilla. […]
Today was an exciting day for internet access in Maine: Today, U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) joined representatives from the Town of Rockport, Maine Media Workshops + College, Network Maine, and internet service provider GWI to announce the official launch of Maine’s first municipally-owned, ultra-fast fiber optic internet network in Rockport. The “High Tech Harbor” […]
My daughter is two and a half years old. Whenever she passes gas, she absolutely busts up laughing. Despite occasional sidelong glances from family and strangers alike, she just thinks farts are the funniest things that have ever happened. And you know what? She’s right. Flatulence is objectively hilarious. It is also an important indicator […]
Maine was recently ranked 49th among US states for “quality and availability of broadband internet access.” At least we’re ahead of Montana. I thought this 20-page overview of the problem and 10 recommendations for addressing it (PDF) did a good job of cutting to the quick. It’s penned by the CEO of Biddeford-based GWI. Take […]
Really thought-provoking NYT Op-Ed on happiness and its relationship to unhappiness — which, it suggests, is less polar than you may think. The author is president of the American Enterprise Institute, a right-leaning think tank that I typically find pretty unpersuasive. But the piece is worth reading. One of his targets is social media — […]
A List Apart has this fantastic article on how to handle the inevitable feedback from a client that they “don’t like” an aspect of your design. One gem: Aesthetics are a matter of taste. Design is not just aesthetics. I’m always saying it, but it’s worth repeating: there are aesthetic decisions in design, but they are […]
This week the US Patent Office ruled that the Washington Redskins’ team name is derogatory, and consequently canceled the team’s trademark registration. Apparently this is a largely symbolic victory for those of us who would like to see the team’s name change to something slightly less…racist. The team can still go after people who use […]