Thinking Out Loud...

• 

  2012 will be the year of the bicycle for fredo indeed. Let’s Ride!

  (Source: heritage-paris, via bicyclestore)

  3 weeks ago

• 2011 Year in Cities

  

  2011 definitely brought a change of atmosphere. It took me to many unexpected places that I will forever remember… especially that road trip through Tuscany. Beautiful!

  Apella, Italy

  Atlanta, Georgia (USA)

  Bagnone, Italy

  Billund, Denmark

  Copenhagen, Denmark

  Cortona, Italy

  Fort Worth, Texas (USA)

  Herzogenaurach, Germany

  La Spezia, Italy

  London, England

  Milan, Italy

  Monticiano, Italy

  Nuremberg, Germany

  Pisa, Italy

  Pontremoli, Italy

  Riomaggoire, Italy

  Schienfeld, Germany

  Skellefteå, Sweden

  Stockholm, Sweden

  St. Petersburg, Russia

  • #travel
  • #year
  • #city
  • #list
  4 weeks ago

• Texting with Mom

  Mom: Thanks for making it home for christmas. Don’t forget to take aspirin. Carlos says its extremely important. I will meet you at the airport. You can use C’s car. It just sits there daily and will be another 5 weeks before he can drive. You are sleeping in the guest room. C cannot go up steps. Pongo died last week too. Had cardiac arrest. Passed quickly in my arms at the vet. He had become our bouncy fun inside companion. Now he is cremated, in a cedar box, presently next to my bed, and now doesn’t snore. The vet was even in tears. We have a dinner planned for christmas eve. Should be lots of fun. Love. See you soon.

  Me: You do understand that text messages are limited to 140 characters. The rest of us use email when messages are longer.

  Mom: I know now! Thanks!! Have a nice night!

  • #text
  • #etiquette
  • #christmas
  • #update
  1 month ago
• 

  Celebrating the Swedish holiday in style here at North Kingdom. Fire lit, Glögg Served, and a tasty lussebullar (saffron bun) to help absorb the warm spirits.

  1 month ago

• This is definitely going to be filed under the category, Did You Know. Ice Cube studied Architecture before he began rapping!! Get out of here. Really? That is Amazing! Love it.

  1 month ago
• 

  When they said St. Petersburg was full of art and culture. I did not expect the facades of the buildings to be covered with framed oil paintings of Russian landscape scenes. In some ways it was just absurd to see them in there surroundings, but amazing too. Now I bet if this street was in London, everyone would have imagined it was Banksy’s work. Nope, I can safely say it is a Russian original ;)

  1 month ago
• 

  I hope they don’t ask me how to spell my name in Russian. A - a J merged with a 7 - lowercase b - phi symbol - P - E - an upside down head of a bull - O

  2 months ago

• Russia: Have you ever ven to Russia?

  Me: No.

  Russia: What is your purpose of visit?

  Me: Business.

  Russia: Do you have any specialized skills, training or experience related to biological, chemical, or nuclear matters? 

  Me: Uh, No!

  Russia: Has your passport ever ven lost or stolen?

  Me: Yes.

  Russia: What are all the countries you have visited in the last then years?

  Me: TEN!?

  Russia: Yes. Then. [Emotionless]

  Me: Spain, Switzerland, England, Germany, Italy… Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark, South Africa… Sweden, Puerto Rico… and… Canada.

  Russia: Have you cooperated with a professional, civil, and charity organization.

  Me: Cooperated? No. [WTF!]

  Russia: Sign Vere.

  Me: How long will this take?

  Russia: Vee will call you.

  Me: Is that like a “We will call you” dating kind of rule? 2 to 3 days? or a “We will call you” when we feel like it kind of way?

  Russia: [No Comment]

  Me: Okay then, I will be here waiting. Thanks?

  • #Russia
  • #Visa
  • #Travel
  • #Paperwork
  • #Process
  2 months ago

• UX Talk // Enhancing Experiences with Animation

  UX: Enhancing Experiences with Animation

  View more presentations from Alfredo Aponte

  
  

  Last week I was invited by Henrik Wrangel from Doberman to give a lecture about interactive interfaces and how animation can be used to create a better experience for his Interaction Design class at Hyper Island. In return, I was happy to accept the invite and was eager to explore the idea further because I wanted to challenge the reasons why animation is even needed.

  So, I spent a few days breaking down the topic and quickly landed on some fundamental elements about design, cognitive behavior, and natural human characteristics. Before I knew it, I found myself flipping through old notes from Donald Norman’s book, Emotional Design. In the end, everything began coming together as I knew I wanted to address the topic from the product’s personality perspective and how we as humans naturally behave.

  As you may see… I had a lot of fun with the topic. I just wish their was an easier way to capture all my thoughts and discussion points outside the deck for you to follow because I use the visual slides as supporting content to what I was discussing, acting out, or improvising with the audience. So, I tried to add a “closed caption” aspect on some pages to help explain a few points. Furthermore, some pages have small titles at the top that point to hyperlinks if you wish to see the full video reference.

  You can view the presentation on SlideShare.

  • #design
  • #interaction
  • #UX
  • #talk
  2 months ago