Buscar en Mind w/o Soul

jueves, diciembre 31, 2009

An OR simulation project

Proyecto del compañero de trabajo Nelson para diseñar un entorno reutilizable para proyectos de simulación estadística.

SEDETEP - Transformation of the Spanish Operation Research Simulation Working Environment


Describe el propósito de varios módulos de definición de ontologías y requisitos, generación y análisis de experimentos basados en modelos.


A military Spanish project to develop an Operations Research simulation environment, model-based and with reuse between different simulation projects.

Look Ma! I have a tag cloud

I've found Blogger has an option to show labels as a tag cloud. This is how it looks at the momento of this post:

lunes, diciembre 28, 2009

Magic interfaces

Diseño de interfaces "naturales" usando técnicas de los magos profesionales:

http://nui.joshland.org/2009/11/pleasing-brain-with-magical-interfaces.html

Every great magic trick consists of three parts or acts. The first part is called "The Pledge." The magician shows you something ordinary: a deck of cards, a bird or a man. He shows you this object. Perhaps he asks you to inspect it to see if it is indeed real, unaltered, normal. But of course it probably isn't. The second act is called "The Turn." The magician takes the ordinary something and makes it do something extraordinary. Now you're looking for the secret, but you won't find it, because of course you're not really looking. You don't really want to know. You want to be fooled. But you wouldn't clap yet. Because making something disappear isn't enough; you have to bring it back. That's why every magic trick has a third act, the hardest part, the part we call "The Prestige."

Riqueza militar y paz de civilizaciones

La fracción militarizable de la riqueza

Insight sobre la relación entre la potencia militar naval y las rutas comerciales - el equilibrio mundial actual se debería a que la principal tecnología militar actual está conectada con la prosperidad comercial y el avance científico.

Mientras la guerra terrestre es intensiva en mano de obra, y depende de la capacidad del Estado para efectuar grandes conscripciones, la guerra en el mar es intensiva en capital.[...]La naturaleza benigna de las talasocracias en la Historia es inevitable: el poder sobre el mar depende no del número de hombres o de los dominios de un Estado, sino de la calidad y abundancia de sus barcos, y los barcos son la herramienta del comercio, es decir, de la prosperidad y la fraternidad internacional.
...
Si nuevas técnicas vuelven a desacoplar la eficacia militar del aumento del nivel de vida y complejidad social, la barbarie podría volver a triunfar.


..y .el equilibrio podría estar cambiando.

sábado, diciembre 19, 2009

Web Dogma

Danish webshop FatDux has created 10 simple Web Dogma for designing web sites, inspired by George Orwell's 5 writting rules (which are 6).

They seem tailored to convince stakeholders not falling into some very common 'business falltraps' and technicians into not overdoing it.

jueves, diciembre 17, 2009

Netbook reviews

Comparativas:
http://www.gizmos.es/23081/ordenadores/navidades-2009-los-5-mejores-netbooks/

http://www.i4u.com/article25008.html

http://computers.toptenreviews.com/netbooks/


Tiendas:
http://www.appinformatica.com/portatiles.htm

Wink y Denim: software para prototipos

Captura de pantallas para prototipos, pantallazos, record y edición de grabación de interacción de screencast:
Wink

http://www.debugmode.com/wink/

Herramienta experimental para prototipos en Java mediante manipulación directa (sketch) : DENIM
http://dub.washington.edu/projects/denim

The Art of Unix Programming

The Art of Unix Programming is the book that teaches the principles of Unix design, and it's online.
By ERS (Eric Steven Raymond).

Lo que siempre deseaste saber

Cómo se dice "Fulanito de tal" en todos los idiomas del mundo

NationMaster, world statistics

NationMaster is a website for aggregated statistic data about nations from different sources.

So I decided to put together a website that allowed users to generate graphs based on numerical data extracted from the Factbook. The next (rather obvious) realisation was that there's no reason I couldn't take in data from other sources. Why shouldn't the net have a central location that allows you to compare countries on any statistic you like?

miércoles, diciembre 16, 2009

KDE TaskJuggler

Parece que al fin y al cabo tenemos competencia open source:

http://www.taskjuggler.org/manual-git/features_and_highlights.html

Sketches, prototypes, documentation, and Microsoft Blend

Kevin Silver uses Blend as an excuse to mull over the role of prototyping tools in the early design process and its communication to development teams.

It links to Parti & The Design Sandwich for a way to derive design criteria for a particular project.

Some article higlights:

Sketches and prototypes serve different purposes, even if they are built with the same tools. Take care not to create a prototype while sketching is still needed.
Buxton makes a succinct distinction between sketching and prototyping. Sketches are noncommittal and tentative. They let you suggest, explore, and question. Conversely, prototypes are specific depictions that allow you to describe, refine, and test your design solutions. So, prototypes are refined demonstrations of your design intent.


Design documentation must tell the complete story. Sketches and prototypes don't do that, but are good starting points.

To create an effective demonstration of your design intent, you must consider your audience. I have no problem showing a hand-drawn, static sketch to a design-savvy crowd, who can easily see and understand the invisible behavior with little explanation. However, I am more inclined to show a digital, dynamic sketch or prototype to a mixed room.


Documentation is needed even if it's an afterthought:
Dave points out that various departments within your organization—like quality assurance, legal, or compliance—might need to be able to review the deliverables you create to understand parts of a product. Dan Brown reminds us that we also have to consider other documentation needs like guidelines, standards, and pattern libraries when creating our final deliverables.

lunes, diciembre 14, 2009

The Charmr. A design success for medical devices.

A design problem.

A solution.

Dimensions and principles of design

Dimensions of design/Against ahistoricity « Adam Greenfield’s Speedbird
How does design affect choice?
The design of a place affects the choices people can make, at many levels:
- it affects where people can go and where they cannot: the quality we shall call permeability.
- it affects the range of uses available to people: the quality we shall call variety.
- it affects how easily people can understand what opportunities it offers: the quality we shall call legibility.
- it affects the degree to which people can use a given place for different purposes: the quality we shall call robustness.
- it affects whether the detailed appearance of the place makes people aware of the choices available: the quality we shall call visual appropriateness.
- it affects people’s choice of sensory experiences: the quality we shall call richness.
- it affects the extent to which people can put their own stamp on a place: we shall call this personalization.

Ten principles for good design


miércoles, diciembre 09, 2009

Firefox extensions - the easy way

Mozilla Labs Jetpack | Exploring new ways to extend and personalize the Web
Jetpack is a Mozilla Labs project that enables anyone who knows HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to create powerful Firefox add-ons. Our goal is to allow anyone who can build a Web site to participate in making the Web a better place to work, communicate and play.


The Usability Methods Toolbox

The Usability Methods Toolbox

Glossary and resources of usability methods