With the Mi Box 4K, Xiaomi is venturing into a segment dominated by Amazon with its Fire TV Stick.

Barker Library - TA439.S96 2013

Barker Library - TA439.I584 2018

Online Resource

Online Resource

Online Resource

In his Slow Design for an Anxious World presentation at An Event Apart in Denver, Jeffrey Zeldman espoused the benefits of design that aims to increase comprehension and intentional use. Here's my notes from his talk:

• We live in fast times and care a lot about making things faster for people. In this world, "slow" is often associated with friction. But some things are better slow.
• Fast is best for transactional customer-service designs. We optimize our checkout flows for efficiency and our code for performance. Likewise, service-oriented content must be designed for speed of relevancy. Getting to content like driving directions, return policies, and more should be quick and easy for customers.
• Slow is best for comprehension. Reading slowly helps us understand more of what we read and even transactional sites have some content that we want people to understand more deeply.
• There's lots of resources for site optimization but few for slowing people down so they appreciate and understand our content.
• Legibility means you can read what's on the page. Readability is where the art comes in. You don't need to be a graphic designer to improve readability. When focusing on readability you're focusing on absorption not conversion.
• Improving readability means putting the focus on content and removing distractions. The service Readability optimized Web pages for this by removing ads, third party widgets, and more.
• Considering different reading modes like in bed, at breakfast, on your lap, etc. can trigger ideas for layout and type for sites. For example, big fonts can help you lean back and take in content vs. leaning in and squinting.
• Big type used to be a controversial design choice on the Web but now has been adopted by a number of sites like Medium, Pro Publica, and the New Yorker.
• To be readable: use big type (16px should be your smallest size); use effective hierarchy for type; remove all extraneous elements in your layout; art direction helps you call attention to important content; make effective use of whitespace.
• Art direction can bring unique emotion and resonance to articles online. In a world of templates and scalability, distinct art direction can help people take notice of intentional high value content.
• Macro-whitespace is the bigger columns and padding around content we often associate with high-end luxury brands. Micro-whitespace is the space in between letter forms and between the lines of type. Consider both in your designs
• Ensure your content is branded so it stands out. When all content looks like the same it all appears to have equal value. Have a brand that sticks out to be more trusted.
• With all these techniques we're trying to get people to lean back and have a good "readable" experience on the Web.

A group of Indian Ocean islanders, forcibly removed from their homes 50+ years ago and deported to England, are still fighting for recognition and basic rights. By Alexi Demetriadi.

The guerrillas are handing weapons over to the UN, but they are in fear. Thomas Mortensen reports from Urabá.

Analysts at MOFSL believe the Mumbai-based bank's credit cost may stay elevated led by higher slippages. Besides, asset quality could witness some pressure along with modest loan growth.

The private lender's net interest income (NII) came in at Rs 6,808 crore for the period under review

the bank reported a 17 per cent increase in its operating profit at Rs 5,851 crore in the March quarter

The Toxic Cloud-Emitting Portable Dry Ice Maker in action.

Damon Lavrinc and Tesla Model S owner Konstantin Othmer are using the Sidecar App to pick up passengers around San Francisco and get their first impressions of the car.

Members of the band Calexico play an acoustic version of Crystal Frontier in Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin West.

We got the PlayStation 4! Sony’s new console comes out on November 15 in the US, but we went to Sony’s Tokyo HQ and asked engineering director Yasuhiro Ootori to give WIRED an exclusive look inside the new system—literally. Like, he takes it apart piece by piece and explains what all the parts do, and how they fit together.

Most people think of carbon dioxide as a poison, but in nature it’s a building block. Find out how we can imitate coral reef by using CO2 as a raw material for the creation of concrete.

Ransomware is a rising type of malware that locks your keyboard or computer until you pay a ransom, typically in Bitcoin. Find out how the sophisticated hacks happen and learn what you can do to avoid falling victim to them.

The Fennec fox is the smallest, and arguably the cutest, fox on earth. Its enormous ears make it look like a cartoon character and help it hear prey and keep cool.

Ferrari boss Sergio Marchionne is on record as saying an electric Ferrari is an obscene concept, but that didn't stop a group of guys in California from turning the 308 GT into an EV.

A new exhibit shows off the undersea creatures who populate one of the most mysterious, poorly understood parts of the ocean.