Apple will never stop impressing us with computers and devices that change the way we look at technology. There was the mouse, the iPod, now say hello to the iPad.
The iPad redefines what portable technology and processing power should be. It’s living in the market niche between iPods, netbooks and an ebook reader. Its basically an upscale version of the iPod touch, with more screen real estate and more processing power. It’s thin, sized exactly right and features that slick look look that latest Apple products have been sharing. Did we say it’s screen is touch sensitive? The iPad will have access to 2 brand new Apple Stores : an ebook store and a market place tailored exclusively for iPad apps. This new marvel will also have access to the previous App Store shared by the iPod Touch and iPhone. With a price tag of only $499, the iPad will be a serious menace for netbooks and ebook readers.
Once again, Apple takes over the market and will leave traditional technology and products far behind. Can’t wait to see what is coming next!
Your client orders collateral for a product lunch that will occur in 2 days. It is critical that every component and every color match with the corporate branding requirements. How are you going to proceed? Simple, you need to calibrate your system’s input, processing and output components so they speak the same language, that is, the same numbers.
In the world of calibration, it is important to work in the appropriate color space. Working in the right color space with your software is half of the equation (device independent color space). The other half is getting your peripherals (screen and printer) calibrated as well (device dependent color space). To tackle that work, the use of a tool such as X-Rite’s i1 series will make your color adjustments an easy part of your day. As far as software is concerned, we suggest you work with Profoto color space it is bigger and includes more information than RGB, sRGB or Adobe RGB 1998. If, for example, you need to export to a web format, you will be able to do it easily while keeping your original intact with a whole lot of information available. Don’t forget to calibrate your monitor on a weekly or, at least, a monthly basis. You may not be aware, but your monitor’s colors a slowly shifting over time; especially if you are using and LCD monitor.
As time goes by, chances of rescuing lost family members, neighbors or friends diminish. The upcoming hours will be decisive; many will loved ones will go missing forever; lucky ones will escape death and debris.
If you want to help by making a donation, do it with an organization you can trust and that will use your money in an effective way. We suggest you do it with Unicef.
May our prayers be with Haiti and its citizens.
You want to know who is behind bleuCyan? Satisfy your curiosity with this beta version of a micro site devoted entirely to Mathieu Leclerc, his background, his company and his toys. Enjoy!
bleuCyan would like to wish you a very happy new year! Stay tuned in 2010 for a trick we’ve been keeping up our sleeve; a clue? Naaah… you’ll have to wait!
bleuCyan would like to wish you a happy holiday season!
Today, Dec. 15th 2009, Boeing began a whole series of tests for their newly born 787. The manufacturer innovated in many ways when designing this new plane. They paid special attention to the traveler’s comfort; more natural and less stressful indoor lighting, more comfortable seats, bigger windows and overall design are all areas Boeing added value to attract and please customers. The new plane is also more technology advanced. Lighter weight, composite materials, better fuel efficiency, dropped nose and the use of electricity istead of pneumatic and hydraulics.
The date of the release to market of this plane has not yet been confirmed. Once tests will be completed and the Dreamliner meets or exceeds industry standards, anyone will be able to travel around the globe in this newest and greatest plane!
We are happy to let you know that guys at addthis.com fixed the latest issue that made some of the most visited websites have rendering problems since last week. Stuation is back to normal!
Sunday night, thousands of websites around the world suffered form bad rendering performance or worse, total blackout. This problem is related to AddThis, a website component that enables website visitors to share web pages on social networking sites. Depending on where the snippet is inserted in you website’s code, you could experiment anything, from partial loading to blank page syndrome. To closest to the top of the page, the most information will not load, as it creates a cut off point. The AddThis tool created for blogs doesn’t seem to be affected by this issue.
We suspect that this is somehow linked with the latest enhancement of AddThis to share Flash content. As we are writing this, the situation is not yet resolved. BleuCyan recommends to take off, or deactivate the AddThis from your site, until the problem is identified and fixed. No information about this issue has been posted on AddThis website yet.
We will keep you posted on this; stay tuned.
Color blindness is a condition where vision is impaired by a lack or deficiency of one or two types of cone out of three (a cone is a component of the eye responsible for capturing light and transmitting it to the brain. The whole process is slightly more complicated than this, but let’s keep it simple for our explanation).
When designing any interface, precious care must be taken not to lead the user to make bad decision that could lead to error or worse, injury. To keep things simple, use a very clear and easy to understand iconography or visual language. Remember that a type of color blindness, unfortunately the most common, makes reds and greens of the same density look similar. Therefore, be very carefull not to rely solely on colors to identify controls that are critical (like emergency stop or activation buttons). Shapes, icons and labels must be used to reinforce the message you are trying to deliver. While you are at it, remember that text labels alone are not enough, there are more illiterate people than color blinds. A confirmation message, warning lights or symbols might be other viable options. Always remember who will be using the interface, in what context and how critical the operations that need to be completed are.
If you need any assistance designing your interface bleyCyan.com has experts trained and sensitive to colorblindness and its impact on interface design; don’t be affraid to contact us for help.
