Mounting point on the Space Shuttle’s 747 transporter.

I just noticed a nice new feature of the upcoming Youtube redesign. If you’ve enabled it, you’ll have a cleaner page layout and some much-needed UX improvements.

Here’s the one I just came across: if you’re watching a video and do a search, your current video will continue playing (though reduced in size) while your search results appear next to it. Nice touch, Youtubers.

I’ve developed this irrational habit lately where I open up a tab with an article that I’m really excited about and then I don’t read it. In fact, the more excited I am about it, the longer it takes me to get to it. I’m guessing it has to do with wanting to totally clear my head of all other distractions so that I can enjoy every nuance of the article.

Almost all of the Cocoia posts fall into this category and the latest iPad UI Roundup is no exception. If you love in-depth UI analysis, you’ll want to subscribe to their blog.

If you’re a runner, you’ve probably at least heard about Chi Running, Evolution Running, or any of the various barefoot/natural-based philosophies. Since reading “Born to Run” last year, I’ve rambled on and on to anyone even marginally interested in running about the Tarahumara Indians who run ultramarathon distances through the mountainous terrain in Mexico. In sandals. Just for fun. And never get injured.

The common thread here is the notion that runners no longer run how we’re biomechanically designed to. If you run barefoot, you aren’t going to heel-strike (that is, land with your heel first) because it’s painful. Instead you’ll land on the forefoot and release the impact force gradually across the entire foot. The problem with using overly-cushioned running shoes is that it encourages you to heel-strike because you can’t feel it. Over time, though, the impact will hurt your ankles, knees, hips, or back.

Anyhow, this video shows some of Harvard professor Daniel Lieberman’s research into this idea.

Oh, and you don’t need to actually run barefoot to learn to cure your heel-strike. The Nike Free mimics barefoot running to some degree and lots of people are using Vibram FiveFingers (though, I haven’t had a chance yet).

danyellisrad:

maclove:

thebusstop:

Generations

[via.]

tenementsquare:

Star Wars Home Theater

It’s like a Ruby Goldberg Machine as drawn by Escher on LSD. In conclusion, this botched abortion is a user interface only a developer could love!

Not Invented Here - 1/28/10

How badass would you feel getting your Crysis on in this puppy? Hopefully it’s comfy - at $40k, you might not have anything else to sit on.

whitneyhess:

More than a year ago I very proudly announced that Boxee, the much-loved social media center software company, had hired me as the user experience designer for their beta. In the five…

Awesome stuff. Thanks for the writeup, Whitney!