Craigslist is one of these things that makes the SF Bay Area so special to live in. Craigslist is an old but very fine (with its daily geniuses and assholes) community web site. The best of Craigslist is online. We are talking about creativity here: “Toilet Bowl Brush – $4″ to “SALE: A singing refrigerator” and “Ever witnessed a UFO or Alien Abduction?”.
Via the Internet Scout Project: Pet owners traditionally develop an emotional bond with their pets. However, in this unusual study from the University of Washington, researchers attempted to ascertain whether similar feelings can be evoked from Sony’s robotic dog AIBO. The results indicated that people tend to associate social characteristics to AIBO but not moral characteristics. Four papers related to the study can be downloaded from this website.
Toward a Global “Internet of Things is a good intruduction to RFID (Radio Frequency Identification), what is it, a technical description, its uses, its future and connection with Java.
Via JJ’s Blog (always intriguing and cool content!), the Computer Science department of the University of Geneva has developed a server/client application that generates so-called true random numbers usign a quantum random number generator) to be used for simulations.
Course notes for my Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) course at the EPFL:
Cognitive science: study of how the mind works. Human behaviors.
Information process model (Card): This model consits of three interacting systems. The perceptual (seeing, touching, and hearing), motor (movement of body parts) and cognitive system (The main reasoning relying on facts and knowledge. Acts as processor).
Mental Models:
People have mental models of how things work. It allows them to make predictions on how things work.
A mental model missmatch appears when psychological variables differ from physical ones.
The designer model is the designer’s mental model on how the system should function
The user’s model is the user’s mental model of how their tasks should be accomplished.
The system image is what has been built (how the designer communicates with the user).
The gulf of execution is the distance between user’s goals and the means of achieving them through the system (unintended system image)
A design has to find a good balance between default values and personalization.
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The second online edition of the Java Look and Feel Design Guidelines which provides an insight on the Look and Feel Design using JFC/Swing.
Developments of location awarness softwares for iPAQs are well on their way at CRAFT. I wrote (learning by doing) a simple C# client application that allows to map my own location as well as the one of my mates in real time.
On this snapshot of my iPAQ screen, I (in red) am at the INF cafeteria taking a coffee, Guillermo (in yellow) doing his diploma work in the INN building and Patrick (orange) and Nicolas (blue) are both working at the CRAFT (CE building).
Ein Artikel der Tages Anzeiger über was Zürich so attraktiv macht. Die 3T (Technology, Talent and Tolerance) sind genennt.
Die Öffnung der Stadt, die sich im breiten kulturellen Angebot, der liberalisierten Gastronomie und der multikulturellen Zusammensetzung der Bevölkerung zeige, spiele da eine wesentliche Rolle.
Zürich liegt geografisch ideal, bietet eine sehr gute Lebensqualität, ist investitionsfreundlich, hat ein hohes Lohnniveau und unkomplizierte Strukturen zur Beantragung von Visa – und schliesslich ist für eine Technologiefirma wie Google auch die Präsenz einer Hochschule wie die ETH wichtig.
Die entscheidenden Pluspunkte Zürichs sind laut Studie das vorteilhafte Steuerklima, die Anbindung an einen internationalen Flughafen, die hoch qualifizierten Arbeitskräfte, die hohe Lebensqualität und das beste wirtschaftliche Umfeld innerhalb der Schweiz.
Als grössten Minuspunkt bezeichnet die Studie die hohen Lohn- und Lebenshaltungskosten – kurz: die Hochpreisinsel Schweiz. Wie das Beispiel Google zeigt, kann dies aber auch ein Plus sein – gute Leute schätzen hohe Löhne. Zweite Einschränkung sind die hohen Immobilienpreise. «Aber immerhin ist heute Büroraum im Grossraum Zürich wieder erhältlich
2 meters high and 45 centimeters wide. That’s the size of EPFL world’s premier miniaturized smoking area. According to Moore’s Law, size of smoking spaces will be divided by 2 every 18 monthes for the upcoming decade.
