19 June

Bits for the Weekend is a bi-weekly roundup of links we’re sharing and discussing in the office. Keep up with the daily buzz and follow us on Twitter.

This week we’re digging into all things efficient — how to read more, cook better, and travel faster. And we found a guy who built a 57-storey building in less than three weeks! We bring in a bit of tech talk with Website Deconstructions and an article questioning whether or not designers need to know code.

Google’s Soli Project

Using radar technology, Google is developing a new, super accurate, interaction sensor.

Jonas: That is a game changer!
Vojta: Interesting. Hopefully it won’t be a flop, like most gesture control ideas have been… Very nice video presentation anyway. :) “It’s a new category of interaction sensor, running at 60GHz; one that can capture motions of your fingers at resolutions and speeds that haven’t been possible before — up to 10,000 frames per second.” Well, that’s fast. :)

Pizza Hut Blockbuster Box

Q: What goes together better than pizza and a movie? A: Nothing.
And now Pizza Hut is delivering both. Just scan the provided QR code with your smartphone, prop it up on the pizza-table-turned-stand, and go. Too bad it’s only available in Hong Kong. So far…

Alicia: Must. Have. Now.

June Intelligent Oven

A watched kettle never boils. And a roasting chicken… Well, it just does better when June takes over. The oven’s Food ID recognizes food, weighs it, and recommends a cooking program for you. And then videotapes it, so you can watch it cook from your couch.

Mirka: Not sure I’d like to get advice from my oven, but this one is actually pretty cool.
Karl: I see your oven and raise by a Michelin star class cooking robot!

Alicia: The oven’s not only smart, but omniscient as well: “About to cook a steak? June knows.”

Chairman Zhang’s Flatpack Skyscraper

Dude built a 57-storey tower in 19 days. — Andrej

Vojta: A bit tl;dr, but interesting. “And it will be 10m taller.” :D

Google Adds Dragon to Transit Option

Tired of making the 3.5 hour drive from Snowdon to Brecon Beacon National Park? Well fear no more! Hop on a nearby dragon and make the trip in just 32 minutes.

Mirka: Some interesting transport options they have in Wales.

Dogecoin

An open source, peer to peer digital currency. — Karl

Designers Who Code

Designer Jesse Weaver (who can code), argues that we need teams who designers who know about code. It’s all about empathy and keeping things running as smoothly as possible.

Karl: What is your take on that?
Vojta: Weeeeeeell… Yes, but basically, it all comes down to roles. The basic premise — understanding is the most important thing — is definitely true. But the specific examples and situations are sometimes off. Is it possible that knowing the latest cross-browser CSS could help a designer achieve better design/not waste time? Hell yes! Might a “swiss-knife” designer/dev/… ever be useful? Well, sounds like a great candidate for team-lead/PM, maybe? It’s just generalizing too much towards a premise it clearly wanted to state, but in my opinion failed to support/explain properly.
I think the point was about how multidisciplinary understanding is often phrased badly (as multidisciplinary skills), which might lead to unrealistic expectations/roles — but only with people that have little understanding of what they want designers/coders to do — so the fault is actually here, IMHO.
Jonas: I totally agree, Vojta. I also think, that you will still “understand” and empathize the best with your other roles in the project team if you actually have already done it yourself. I mean for anything above: don’t forget how this thing should work without hovers on a touch screen. ;)

Windows of New York

Graphic Designer Jose Guizar landed in New York by chance, and quickly developed an obsession for windows. He’s been creating weekly illustrations ever since.

Vojta: one of my favorite things on the internet, although nothing new… But regularly updated.
Mirka: Then you will like this one: http://luciasoto.com/doors/. :)
Vojta: Also cool! But I prefer the super minimalist style of the windows. ;)
Mirka: Yeah, I really like how each of them has a space of their own. And that the addresses are included. :)
Vojta: Also, cats and stuff:

Website Deconstructions

Deconstruction of the principles behind several animation based websites. Useful if you want to implement them but don’t want to dig through the whole code. :) — Jakub

Vojta: “Over the last year and a half and I’ve seen a lot of scrolling websites.” I know that feeling, bro. WTH is a “scrolling” website? :)
Interesting resource. I’d like more content and some comparisons, but still provides a nice, real intro to the frameworks.
Also, a nice reasoning for going Greensock: “If someone like Google uses a plugin on their project, it can only mean one thing… the plugin is great.”

Puffin Pixels

Penguin/Puffin going all out pixel-art at literary classics (it’s just the cover, sadly). — Vojta

Spritz

Improve your reading speed, by reading one word at a time. Spritz presents text just that way, positioning each word so that you never have to move your eye.

Vojta: This is very interesting. And seems to work pretty well for me. Here’s a a great use-case concept.
Tested a bit on a book. Still seems to work well. Got reading speed up to 400 wpm without trouble = 2.5 hrs for Jungle Book. Where was this when I was studying literature? :D
Alicia: Wow, that is pretty amazing. I gave 700 wpm a shot on their site — who actually reads that fast?! But actually, it works quite well for me, too. I don’t think Icould stomach it for a whole book though.

Have you tried Spritz? What are your thoughts on designers who code? Let us know and shoot us a tweet @sleighdogs.

Any articles, resources, or sites you particularly liked in this week’s Bits for the Weekend? Help spread the word by recommending this article. ;)