Banner Blindness: Old and New Findings (Jakob Nielsen)
A new research by Jakob Nielsen proves: users rarely look at display advertisements on websites. Of the four design elements that do attract a few ad fixations, one is unethical and reduces the value of advertising networks.
from IDEAS IN FOOD by Aki Kamozawa & H. Alexander Talbot
Aki had taken inspiration from Oriol Balaguer's presentation at the Star Chefs event, ICC, where he passed around chocolates seasoned on the inside with pop rocks. The effervescent chocolates seemed to bring a quiet to the audience as chefs chewed and then seemingly melted into smiles and childhood memories.
Aki's seasoning blend brings a whole new approach to salt and spice blends added to dishes at the last moment. The addition of the pop rocks adds motion to the dish. The spices and the interplay of textures and motion creates a much more complex blend of well, anything we choose. While today we have sparkling spiced salt tomorrow could be carbonated coffee crumbs and the next day popping pistachios.
Designer Yeon-shin Seung says he plans to use Sony's full-color flexible organic electroluminescent display on this device because of the screen's thin and lightweight form factor. Here's hoping that he doesn't use the ancient DVD format is a playback medium, eschewing that old fossil for a dual-format Blu-ray and HD DVD player.
Hey, this looks like it would be a perfect companion on a transpacific flight, that is, if the batteries can hold out for at least three movies' worth. But wait a second. By the time this actually comes to market, if ever, you'll be able to stream Internet video from your airplane seat and everywhere else, so physical media will be irrelevant. Oh well, timing is everything. [Yanko Design]
We're not really sure if Seoul Semiconductor is completely accurate in the assertion that its new 420-lumen (peak) LED is the world's brightest at 8-watts, but considering that we were pretty impressed by the company's 240-lumen model late last year -- and the fact that even the most blinding LED-based tactical flashlights rarely exceed 200 lumens -- this still seems like a fairly notable development. We should start seeing commercial products sporting these mini-suns sometime before the end of the year, so now might be a good time to check up on your insurance plan's optical coverage.
Our assessment of the compliance of these DRM applications with PIPEDA led to a number of general findings:PDF Link (via Michael Geist)• Fundamental privacy-based criticisms of DRM are well-founded: we observed tracking of usage habits, surfing habits, and technical data.
• Privacy invasive behaviour emerged in surprising places. For example, we observed e-book software profiling individuals. We unexpectedly encountered DoubleClick - an online marketing firm - in a library digital audio book.
• Many organizations take the position that IP addresses do not constitute "personal information" under PIPEDA and therefore can be collected, used and disclosed at will. This interpretation is contrary to Privacy Commissioner findings. IP addresses are collected by a variety of DRM tools, including tracking technologies such as cookies and pixel tags (also known as web bugs, clear gifs, and web beacons).
• Companies using DRM to deliver content often do not adequately document in their privacy policies the DRM-related collection, use and disclosure of personal information. This is particularly so where the DRM originates with a third party supplier.
• Companies using DRM often fail to comply with basic requirements of PIPEDA.
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