Run Viber on Mac OS 10.10 Yosemite Beta - Fix

Changing a plist file will fix Viber and make it work on Yosemite, as this version of Mac OS X is still a beta and there’s currently no working version of Viber available for it. Don’t forget to backup the plist file before editing.


Right click on the Viber application and Show Package Contents, then in the contents folder, edit info.plist with a code editor app like Sublime Text,  and finally, in the following lines change 4 to 5:

<key>CFBundleShortVersionString</key>
<string>5</string>
<key>CFBundleVersion</key>
<string>5.2.0</string>

Boot failure on Mac OS 10.10 after enabling trim? Here’s the solution

These Terminal commands saved my day (and the MacBook Pro):

If you’re unable to boot your Mac after enabling Trim on (or even updating to) the latest beta release of Mac OS 10.10, or used Chameleon SSD optimizer and now all you get is a kernel panic, here’s a simple way to restore your OS using only Terminal. No need to worry. Follow these steps:

1) Boot your Mac in recovery mode: Hold the Option key (alt) as the system starts up. Choose the recovery drive and press enter, wait until the system boots under the recovery mode.

2) Run the Terminal application in the top menu bar and type the following commands under Terminal. Replace MacintoshHD with the name of your Macintosh hard disk drive name.

- Remove the patched kernel extension: 
rm -rf /Volumes/MacintoshHD/System/Library/Extensions/IOAHCIFamily.kext

- Restore the untouched file:
cp -r /System/Library/Extensions/IOAHCIFamily.kext /Volumes/MacintoshHD/System/Library/Extensions/IOAHCIFamily.kext

- Update system extensions:
touch /Volumes/MacintoshHD/System/Library/Extensions

- Rebuild the Kernel Extensions cache:
kextcache -u /Volumes/MacintoshHD

Exit Terminal and restart your Macintosh. Yosemite is now saved from Kernel Panics. To enable Trim support on Yosemite again, try this method. Just be aware of the fact that Chameleon SSD optimizer does not currently work under OS 10.10 Beta.

The reason of this boot failure is, that Yosemite no longer recognizes the modified kernel extension file.

The Future of Interaction Design

What is the future of Interaction Design and User Experience? Mike King writes about the interesting video clip, “Connecting”:

Some argue that the increased use of technology is not necessarily a positive thing for mankind as a whole, and that while the documentary focused on changes in technology, interaction design isn’t really about technology but about the people using the technology. Others argued that documentary was spot on, and that interaction designs role in the technology industry as a whole will continue to grow and transform the way people think about digital products. I personally don’t feel the need to choose sides, as both sides have made valid points which I can agree and disagree with.

Connecting, made by Bassett & Partners, brand and design strategy specialists. Highly recommended.

Fundamentals of UX Design

Great online course for beginners, by Sarah Kahn, UX Engineer for Adzerk:

https://tutsplus.com/course/ux-design/

I specially liked the simple quote in the intro video: User experience is the way a person feels about using a product, system or service.. - and - UX Design is the art and science of making that experience effective and satisfying. By the other hand, UX designers are modern painters who give stuff a more friendly and usable Look & Feel. 

As a side note - if Sarah ever reads this - I hope they consider a smoother design/theme for their current website, Adzerk (A responsive architecture would be good too). 

Source: tutsplus.com

9 Reasons Why Apple Isn’t Apple Anymore

With no doubts each company’s image is designed to be appealing, so that they can spark interest, generate brand equity, and therefore facilitate sales. And now, Apple isn’t doing fine anymore. Reasons:

1. The green one-day Apple shopping banner on Apple’s homepage. Seriously, what is that green banner on the first page? Who’s the mastermind behind that brilliant idea and its linked webpage; a wide green image covering the entire page?

2. The never arriving iTunes 11. If you’re searching on google for it, stop doing it now. Instead, try watching Pitbull clips and remember the good ol’ days when icons were colorful as Apple’s GUI guidelines. iTunes was supposed to arrive at the end of October. 

3. The iTunes monster. Not talking about bugs, but why iOS apps, books and PDFs are still kept under the Music folder. It is 2012 and the question still remains. How do you keep that so called Music folder organized?

4. No, not iOS 6 maps, but the bothering swipe lags on iOS; which are hard to ignore. Programming bug perhaps; existing since the Ice Age of iOS, proudly bothering loyal fans and souls. Let’s just title this part Ignoring the User Experience bugs, by Apple.

Keep reading

Apple’s design problems aren’t skeuomorphic

A must read from CounterNotions:

The current meme of Ive coming on a white horse to rescue geeks in distress from Scott Forstallian skeuomorphism is wishfully hilarious. Like industrial design of physical devices, software is part form and part function: aesthetics and experience. Apple’s software problems aren’t dark linen, Corinthian leather or torn paper. In fact, Apple’s software problems aren’t much about aesthetics at all…they are mostly about experience.

Source: counternotions.com

What’s Wrong with Google’s New Search Page Design? “Harrison Weber, thenextweb.com: In simplifying an already simple design, Google has made its navigation more redundant than ever before. While there are many situations where navigational elements...
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What’s Wrong with Google’s New Search Page Design?


Harrison Weber, thenextweb.com:

In simplifying an already simple design, Google has made its navigation more redundant than ever before. While there are many situations where navigational elements and features should repeat themselves, such as in workhorse apps like Photoshop, there’s really no excuse for what users (logged in and logged out) are seeing…

Source: thenextweb.com

What Will Happen To iOS As A Result Of Jony Ive Taking Over Interface Design At Apple? By Oliver Emberton, founder of Silktide, forbes.com “They’re putting Ive on iOS because they believe the big battle is about to come, and software is key. I think...
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What Will Happen To iOS As A Result Of Jony Ive Taking Over Interface Design At Apple?

By Oliver Emberton, founder of Silktide, forbes.com

They’re putting Ive on iOS because they believe the big battle is about to come, and software is key. I think Ive will relish the chance to rethink everything and unify it into something designed to dazzle us again. Of course, he’s done this countless times before with hardware, but software is new territory for him, and he could screw it up. But I’m guessing not. Disclaimer: I’m an unrepentant Apple fanboy and investor. Please leave your slanderous epithets after the beep.

Source: forbes.com

Design: Dieter Rams on Apple

Dieter Rams argues that Apple are one of the very few brands who are not devaluing the word “designer”. That’s exactly true. Companies underestimate the power of simplifying products and services, in order to make them more popular.

Designer Dieter Rams is the man behind Braun when it made a host of classic gadgets from radios, home appliances to juicers:

“Apple has managed to achieve what I never achieved: using the power of their products to persuade people to queue to buy them. For me, I had to queue to receive food at the end of World War II. That’s quite a change.”

Why Brands Should Build Their Own Social Communities Adam Popescu, readwriteweb.com “ When it comes to social media, lead gen­er­a­tion is one of the trick­i­est yet most impor­tant met­rics Truth be told, it’s not that easy for com­pa­nies to turn...
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Why Brands Should Build Their Own Social Communities

Adam Popescu, readwriteweb.com

When it comes to social media, lead gen­er­a­tion is one of the trick­i­est yet most impor­tant met­rics Truth be told, it’s not that easy for com­pa­nies to turn fans and fol­low­ers into dol­lars. And lim­it­ed data sup­plied by the big social…[More]

Source: flpbd.it

Fake Leather Interface. Good or Bad?

Great article about the so called Skeuomorphism (Designing virtual Leather!):

A former iPhone UI designer defends Apple’s fake-leather design philosophy.
Some find the skeuomorphic designs in Apple’s software distasteful, such as the faux leather-stitching and wood veneers. What’s your take?

Again, it really depends on the environment you’re trying to create. A leather texture, for example, definitely creates a certain environment and state of mind when you’re using it. I don’t think there is right and wrong, or good and bad here.

Source: fastcodesign.com

What went wrong at Hipstamatic? “What went wrong at Hipstamatic? By Jeff Blagdon, theverge.com Long before Face­book’s billion-dollar acqui­si­tion of photo shar­ing ser­vice Insta­gram, Hip­sta­mat­ic was the orig­i­nal killer app for cre­ative...
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What went wrong at Hipstamatic?

What went wrong at Hipstamatic?
By Jeff Blagdon, theverge.com

Long before Face­book’s billion-dollar acqui­si­tion of photo shar­ing ser­vice Insta­gram, Hip­sta­mat­ic was the orig­i­nal killer app for cre­ative smart­phone pho­tog­ra­phy. Fast Com­pa­ny takes an in-depth look at how its trend­set­ti…

Hipstamatic was indeed great. Just the lack of a proper UI and the slow process of generating the image, made it problematic. Just set the image size on Medium and see how long it takes to develop the photo, needless to mention Large photos and the heating issues.