Challis Hodge’s UXblog

Loop Call for Projects: Interactive Media Design
Loop, AIGA Journal of Interaction Design Education (loop.aiga.org), invites educators and graduate students to submit their best interactive media classwork for Loop Number 7: 2003 Annual of Student Projects (see 2001 Annual of Student Projects Archive). Loop looks at the evolving educational practice in interaction and experience design by highlighting work resulting from coursework in programs of design. Download PDF submission form from the Loop website.

The Indie Life: Talking With Louis Rosenfeld
Lou Rosenfeld articulates his views on the field of information architecture in a recent interview with Paul Nattress on Boxes and Arrows. “I hope that people in our field have begun to realize that there really are very many specializations within IA, ranging from thesaurus design to search engine configuration to contextual inquiry. Unfortunately, many of us seem to see IA as nothing more than blueprints and wireframes. That absolutely must change if we’re going to progress as a field.” Together with co-author Peter Morville, Lou literally wrote the book on information architecture!

Ray Kurzweil On S1mOne (Simulation One)
The movie S1m0ne presents an “unrealistic notion of how technology is introduced to the world,” says Ray Kurzweil in this review. He examines this portrayal from the perspective of his own transformation at the TED conference into Ramona, the state of the art for real-time virtual personality transformation two years ago.

The official S1m0ne movie site.

Weblogs are a Disruptive Technology
Weblogs are flying under the radar of the content management giants. They solve a lot of problems for entry level folks and are climbing into the mid-tier business needs at low cost or no cost. CMS vendors take note!

New Meaning to Counting Sheep
Given the choice of flowers, candies or fine liquors, operators of EthioGift, Ethiopia’s leading e-commerce website, say patrons more often prefer to send sheep as a token of their esteem. In an effort to tailor its gift selection to local tastes over the past two years, the website has offered the animals in three sizes — medium, big or very big — to overseas customers wanting to send gifts to friends and family in Ethiopia.

New York: Virtual Clone
New York City is creating of an immensely detailed, three-dimensional, interactive, constantly updated map of the city. “NYCMap” will be stored on remote servers in case something more terrible than 9-11 hits. The concept is that future generations will have the opportunity to walk the streets of New York no matter what.

R&R
I’m back from a much needed vacation. Amazing what a little rest and relaxation will do for the body and the mind!

12 Steps on a Designer’s Road to Hell
Personal ethics for a graphic designer. Bending the truth can be a slippery slope.