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Why user interfaces should be visible, seamful, and explicit

Timo Arnall from the design studio BERG has makes several great and provocative points in his essay “No to NoUI” — a well-argued piece that opposes the idea of “interfaces that disappear” and “seamless computer interfaces,” arguing that by hiding the working of computers from their users, designers make it harder for those users to figure out what the computers are really doing and to solve the problems that inevitably arise.

Interfaces are the dominant cultural form of our time. So much of contemporary culture takes place through interfaces and inside UI. Interfaces are part of cultural expression and participation, skeuomorphism is evidence that interfaces are more than chrome around content, and more than tools to solve problems. To declare interfaces ‘invisible’ is to deny them a cultural form or medium. Could we say ‘the best TV is no TV’, the ‘best typography is no typography’ or ‘the best buildings are no architecture’?

…We might be better off instead taking our language from typography, and for instance talk about legibility and readability without denying that typography can call attention to itself in beautiful and spectacular ways. Our goal should be to ‘place as much control as possible in the hands of the end-user by making interfaces evident’.

Of course the interfaces we design may become normalised in use, effectively invisible over time, but that will only happen if we design them to be legible, readable, understandable and to foreground culture over technology. To build trust and confidence in an interface in the first place, enough that it can comfortably recede into the background.

No to NoUI (via Dan Hon)

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The science of breast milk: Latest research on nursing and milk vs. formula.

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Breast milk is weirder than you think

If you think about lactation too hard, it starts to seem a little strange — like the biological equivalent of saying the word “that” over and over until it’s just a weird sound you’re making. But, writes Nicholas Day at Slate, the sort of existential weirdness of breast milk is nothing compared to what’s going on in the stuff at a chemical level. For instance, breast milk contains sugars that aren’t actually digestible by human infants. That’s because they aren’t meant for the infant, itself. Rather, your breast milk is helpfully feeding your baby’s intestinal bacteria. Freakier still: In monkeys, the chemical composition of breast milk can change, depending on factors like your baby’s sex and whether your baby is showing signs of illness.

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The gel that stops bleeding instantly

This video is a bit gruesome, but it is demonstrating a remarkable substance that can stop bleeding almost instantaneously. Jack Millner of Humans Invent interviewed NYU student Joe Landolina, the creator of Veti-Gel.

“In all of our tests we found we were able to immediately stop bleeding,” says Landolina. “Your skin has this thing called the extracellular matrix,” he explains. “It’s kind of a mesh of molecules and sugars and protein that holds your cells in place.” Landolina synthesises his own extracellular matrix (ECM) using plant polymers, which can form a liquid when broken up into pieces. He says, “So it goes into the wound and the pieces of the synthetic ECM in the gel will recognise the pieces of the real ECM in the wound and they’ll link together. It will re-assemble into something that looks like, feels like and acts like skin.”

The gel that stops bleeding instantly

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Electroluminescent paint: like EL wire you apply with a brush

A company called Lumilor has announced a permanent electroluminescent paint that can be selectively illuminated by applying a charge to it. Burning Man attendees are already familiar with the ubiquitous, cheap EL wire, but this takes things to a new level:

The LumiLor TM electroluminescent coating system is a patent-pending, practical, durable and affordable technology that can be illuminated with a simple electrical current.

Used in conjunction with simple driver electronics, LumiLor will illuminate any surface brightly, and is capable of being custom-animated to flash in sequenced, strobed, and sound activated modes.

The potential for customization is practically limitless!

ABOUT LUMILOR (via JWZ)

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James Fallows doesn’t trust Google not to kill each new product it spawns

“I have already downloaded the Android version of Google’s new app for collecting notes, photos, and info, called Google Keep,” writes James Fallows in the Atlantic. “This early version has nothing like Evernote’s power or polish, but you can see where Google is headed. Here’s the problem: Google now has a clear enough track record of trying out, and then canceling, ‘interesting’ new software that I have no idea how long Keep will be around.”

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Snowflake electron microscope photos

Twisted Sifter has a great gallery of snowflake and ice crystal electron microscope photos. At this level of magnification, the ice looks like metal that has been machined by space aliens.

25 Microscopic Images of Snow Crystals

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Bike headlight displays speed

My friend Matt Richardson made a system for his bike that projects a spotlight with data onto the street. It’s currently set up to display speed, but it can also be used to project other kinds of information (like turn-by-turn directions). He’s going to write about it for MAKE so you can build one, too.

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