By Jason Valalik
Digg It Here

I have been primarily a PC user in my professional career, however in college and as a youth I was an Apple only guy so I am familiar with both platforms. Given that the new Mac Books allow you to use Windows and Mac it was a no brainer for me to move to a Mac. The release of Office 2007 for Windows is a marked improvement over past versions, not just some simple UI changes. I am very impressed with the abilities of the new version of Powerpoint and Excel and the ease-of-use behind the applications.
Both Keynote and Powerpoint have their plusses and ideally you could just smash them together and have the best of both worlds like Van Haggar once said. Read the rest of this entry »

Ok, so I know there have been some posts on how to give a good hand shake, but I don’t think I have read any that talk about the fundamentals. I have broke it down in 4 steps below that pretty much should mitigate any of the major issues when trying to give a good handshake and making a lasting first impression.

1. Open your hand as if you were going in for any normal hand shake
2. Don’t close your hand until both of you have hit each others “web” between the thumb and forefinger, that’s the secret sauce (that’s what the photo is trying to focus on)
3. Once you hit that area close your hand and give a firm squeeze for about a 1.5 seconds
4. Release

That’s it. Now go out and practice.

I recently received a letter from my home owner insurance company around the renewal of my home insurance. I felt this would be a good time to explore other carriers before I just forked over the ~$500 for my yearly rate. To start the exploration I went with my current auto carrier Esurance. I prefer to start online and ideally complete it online if I can. So I started the quote process, but couldn’t get past the second screen. As you will see in the first video below I ended up in this endless loop. The screen showed a quick error and stated that it was marked in red. That message appeared and disappeared much quicker than in the video but because of the screen capture it was a little slower. Anyways after that error appears for a brief instance it disappears upon complete refresh and I have no idea what I need to fix on the page to continue my quote. At that point I called the number at the upper left of the screen. When I selected option “4″ to get a quote all it did was loop me back to the start menu. At that point I gave up on trying to purchase my insurance through Esurance. I wonder how many other people abandoned one or both of these processes because of these customer experience issues and how much money Esurance has lost because of these usability issues.

The first video is of the website interaction and the second is the phone loop I ran into after the website didn’t work.

Paying with your cell phone has been around in Europe and Japan for awhile, but we still are waiting for that technology to make it to the states. Here is a little hack that allows you to enjoy that functionality now. This will require a Visa Pay Wave card or some other RF enabled card. Weather you have a Visa now or not call your company and tell them you need an extra card with the Pay Wave or whatever “catchy” phrase is given to the technology. I think Chase calls it “Blink”. Visa actually has a mini card which makes this a little easier. Once you get the mini card trim it down so just the functional part of the card exists. I actually am unsure where this chip is exactly and the pictures are just examples.. Take that piece of the card and tape it to the inside of your battery door on your cell/smart phone. Now whenever you go to an establishment that allows Pay Wave / Blink just hold your phone over the Pay Wave / Blink portion of the debit card reader and off you go. Results may vary depending on the thickness of your battery door cover.

Instructions After the Jump
Read the rest of this entry »

By - Jason Valalik
I don’t get invited to very many fancy dinners, but when I do there must be at least 3 glasses on the table 6 dishes, 12 pieces of silverware and a partridge in a pear tree. This makes it extremely difficult and sometimes embarrassing when trying to figure out which drink or bread plate is yours. A little trick I learned to help with this it to make two “ok” signs one with your right and one with your left hand under the table. As you will see the one on the left looks like a b and the one on the right a d. This translates nicely to b-bread on the left d-drink on the right. Works great until someone asks you what you are doing with your hands. Give it a try.

By - Jason Valalik
Being a data junkie I am always trying to manipulate numbers to visually tell a story. Weather its web analytics, usability testing or process improvement it has always been pretty difficult to get Excel to do pretty basic conditional formatting. With the recent release of Office 2007 that has become a lot easier and from what I have experimented with so far seems to be a good step forward. Above is a lo-quality 10 minute video pulled from the Microsoft site which demonstrates the new features around conditional formatting. Video copyright Microsoft 2007

By - Jason Valalik
Ok, so up here in the Pacific Northwest was Sasquatch Festival at the Gorge. Although I didn’t go my guess is that there was plenty of beer consumed and most likely some poor planning resulting in trouble opening bottles of beer/pop. Being a victim of poor planning there have been many a tailgates I have attended which we didn’t have a bottle opener. There were plenty of cars around and if there is a car around there is a bottle opener around. Enjoy

Black Jax Sports Ultimate Disc is perfectly balanced, containing 4 high intensity LED’s, and 6 volts of lithium battery power. This combination creates the undisputed, brightest disc ever made. It is an exact replica of a true ultimate disc, with micro components adding only 10 grams for a total weight of 185 Grams. It gives the light show experience that will make this a best seller in your gift department.
Product Page

This is an amazing little interactive invention with LED lights and water.
One of the most fascinating things to do with the Time Fountain is to stick things in the path of the drops. The drops split and vibrate beautifully and you can move the object up and down to change the effect in the drop stream.
Product and Constuction Page

It is now possible to enjoy the same purity from ice as you experience from your bottled water!

This patented innovation combines the purity of bottled water with the convenience of sealed trays that can be stored at room temperature and only need to be frozen prior to use.
http://www.aqua-ice.com/

Designed for Spectrum Dynamics by Tel Aviv-based design firm Padwa, the D-Spect rapid functional cardiac imaging camera utilizes the newest developments in imaging technology to provide fast, high-resolution images within a compact, streamilined body. Most importantly, D-Spect is very approachable, an uncommon characteristic in major medical equipment. The unit is simple to use for the patient as well as the operator, with a pre-examination time of less than a minute and convenient single-hand controls. The unit gently tilts forward to keep patients at ease, while similar machinery usually feels invasive and threatening. D-Spect can be used as a standalone unit or configured with CT scanner accessory.

Luna is a simple and understated door with a mysterious character that provides a surprisingly functional feature. The series of holes in the door can be opened and closed by sliding the knob; which adjusts the amount of light, air and noise between two rooms.

An open door invites people to move between spaces. A closed door says privacy. Luna offers a state of being between open and closed. Reminiscent of architectural light screens and gangster era speakeasy doors, Luna expands the space between rooms.

Seven02 Design

It is a product for anyone who enjoys clean water, and thanks to its micro-filtration membrane, that water can come from almost anywhere. Micro-filtration is achieved by way of a perpendicular filtering housing/element. Gravity and the pressurized environment created by placing the watertight lid on both aid in the filtration process. This is because the filter moves through the water, not the other way around. So no space is lost and there is little risk of contaminating the filter.

Thanks Yanko Design

The user simply removes one of the lids by pressing the release buttons then adds water on top of the filter. The lid is replaced and the unit is flipped, beginning the filtration process. The filter sinks to the bottom, purifying as it goes. The user now pushes the inner circle on the top of the lid where there is visual feedback in the form of orange dots. This pivots the disc up on a central axis to reveal a backwash-resistant spout.

We Feel Fine is a data collection engine that automatically scours the Internet every ten minutes, harvesting human feelings from a large number of blogs. Blog data comes from a variety of online sources, including LiveJournal, MSN Spaces, MySpace, Blogger, Flickr, Technorati, Feedster, Ice Rocket, and Google.

The result is a database of several million human feelings, increasing by 15,000 - 20,000 new feelings per day. Using a series of playful interfaces, the feelings can be searched and sorted across a number of demographic slices, offering responses to specific questions like: do Europeans feel sad more often than Americans? Do women feel fat more often than men? Does rainy weather affect how we feel? What are the most representative feelings of female New Yorkers in their 20s? What do people feel right now in Baghdad? What were people feeling on Valentine’s Day? Which are the happiest cities in the world? The saddest?

http://www.wefeelfine.org/

These milk containers are unique and eco-friendly. They come from an organic dairy farm in the UK, I think.

https://www.daylesfordorganic.com/

Atrio Stainless Steel Fire basket by Blomus of Germany. Designed by Fried Ulber. dia 21.3″

http://www.greenergrassdesign.com/

This compass takes a radical change since it is integrated in a coat. North is indicated through glowing plant-like shapes like a tree which is covered with moss in the main wind direction……
The coat is part of a research project which demonstrates the importance of user involvement in the very early stages of the design process.

Compass Coat

Quikrete’s Walk Makers molds are a selection of reusable plastic forms designed to create poured-in walkways, garden paths, patios and pads. The molds are available in four patterns; Country Stone, Running Bond Brick, European Block and Basket Weave Brick. Just place the mold, fill it with Quikrete, pack and level it to the top of the form and then remove the form. It’s a quick and easy way to create useful patio spaces or smooth pathways in your yard.

www.quikrete.com

These modernist birdhouses are inspired by some of the leading architects of the 20th century. Hand-made from teak, the wood is finished with oil that protects against water, mildew and sunlight. The stainless-steel hardware helps prevent rust and corrosion and the floor is removable for easy cleaning. The 1-3/8″ opening accommodates cavity-nesting birds such as chickadees, bluebirds, wrens and swallows.

www.modernbirdhouses.com

The EcoSmart? Fire is an environmentally friendly open fireplace from Australia. The flue-less design does not require any installation or utility connection for fuel supply, which makes it ideal for apartment and city living. Fuelled by denatured alcohol, a renewable energy source, it burns clean and is virtually maintenance-free.

www.ecosmartfire.com