Another wallpaper I designed for a rockband, This one goes for the fire and steel sort of look. If you like it you can download the source Photoshop file.

DOWNLOAD PSD

Quince is a rich UX patterns, sometimes called UI patterns, explorer. You can sort by User Tasks, Tag or Wireframes. Please note, you’ll require to install Silverlight for your browser.

This is a wallpaper I designed for a rockband, I’d used various brushes and methods. the theme is atmospheric and little abstract. If you like it you can download the source Photoshop file.

DOWNLOAD PSD

An computer-animated clip features Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel racing on track, as they bring to life the biggest rule changes in the history of Formula One.

Photo: ekosystem

My little family monthly grocery shopping is becoming more of an obsession for me rather than a ritual. I look forward to it every month and we normally do it the first weekend of the month. Considering Bangalore traffic & parking pain, we normally go in the morning off-peak period. And while my wife drags the shopping cart, I’m off to the top floor electronics department.

While DSLR is one in my radar, another piece of technology are the mini-laptop or the newly christened “Netbooks”. Tracking the evolution, first I heard about XO1 OLPC and I’m not sure if it actually benefited the poor & unprivileged children as intended. I’ve never touched one and it never looked serious enough. But I guess the form factor caught the fancy of many.

The first incarnation of Asus Eee PC powered with Celeron M with few Gig of SSD storage, came in later 2007 much later after OLPC, I guess the major brands were scared to test new territories. And till that time, people still couldn’t figure a perfect bracket to categorize this new avatar of laptop. hmm.. mini-laptop, ultra-portable laptop… I tried one of these machine during one of my shopping trips and at 8 inch, 800×640px screen, it was better than surfing the net using a cellphone. The user installed Win XP version was dragging though.

I heard about new player MSi Wind, never touched one, but when I saw the new Acer Aspire One, 9inch (1024×600px screen), Atom powered, 160 Gb HDD, 1 Gb RAM, with pre-installed Win XP OS phew… that’s pushing the limit to reach me, the consumer :)

Smaller than a tabloid, lighter than a hardcover. You can call this the paperback version of the laptop. We can’t call it Netbook, since tech company PSION claiming it owns the trademark of the term.

While Acer One doesn’t have bluetooth, some of the latest entree from Lenovo, DELL, HP comes bundled with bluetooth, while most config remains the same. And yes all devoid of a DVD drive. The latest entrant is the Sony VAIO P, costing an exorbitant estimated street price of Rs 50,000, while most netbook is around Rs 20,000 to Rs 25,000.

Did you know: Psion Teklogix, a UK company, on 23 Dec 2008 reportedly claimed trademark rights to their discontinued product name ‘Netbook’.

Photo: Shot with my phone camera.

Have you got your 2009 Bad Usability Calendar. I’ve pulled down the 2008 calendar and got the new 2009 printed an up on my work area. The Bad Usability Calendar is brought to you by Netlife Research, Norway.

Photo: Sarit Arora’s photo posted with kind permission.

Just completed 6 days, 12 to 17 January 2009, two sessions conducted by Human Factors International.

• User-centered analysis and conceptual design
• The science and art of effective Web and application design

Thanks to Sarit Arora & Atul Saraf, trainer of respective courses. Besides, the tons of knowledge I’ve gained, glad to meet some amazing folks from all areas, sharing valuable experiences.

And 20 & 21 January, I’m again in another training for management. I feel I’m starting the year in the right step, that’s LEARNING.

FFFFOUND! this image, from Mark Malazarte.

Haobam 2009 Poster

My little wish to all my visitors 2009. DOWNLOAD the poster in printable PDF format.

Tomorrow will be another year, and tonight we celebrate. Sharing some personal insight of my life, looking back at 2008.

Usability:
Finding a meaning to my design, I’d always had an interest in usability. And looking forward to Jan 2009 for the week long usability training at HFI Bangalore. But then “in their perfect world of usability, everything would be so boring“. That’s why the planet needs people like Martin, who could strike a balance ;)

Photography:
I’m not a purist when it comes to photography, so my photos are normally baked in Picasa and sometimes in Photoshop. That doesn’t mean the sanity of the original composition is compromised. I still don’t have a Flick PRO account, but it’s one place which I’m very active. In 2008, I got several inquiries for my photos, including some from an ad agency in Sydney & an Indian publishing house. Not to forget, featured on Schmap.com.

Airi Haobam:
2008 is a year I won’t forget for the sole reason that me & my wife, Khuman, we’re blessed with a beautiful baby girl Airi Haobam, on 28 August 2008. She completed 4 months few days back and she’s a Daddy’s girl. Love you sweetheart :)

Projects:
Beside my regular job, some projects of 2008 includes a radio station in Houston, Texas. Interactive learning modules, websites, training and conference materials for a Management firm in Dubai. And lastly consulting & visual design for a web portal for preparing students online appearing in competitive exams.

Music:
Since my in-and-out association with Heavy Water, I’m more in rock metal these days. Two composition are in progress, one almost done. Hopefully, we’ll be able to finish early 2009. My friends at Sonic Flare, recently re-recorded one of my first composition “Dumb” as “Hurt”, with a new lyrics dedicating to Mumbai terror attack. And I don’t care what people said, I really like Chinese Democracy :P

Interior design:
Might be a hangover from my Civil engineering days. I love sketching geometric shapes that includes architecture. Check my idea of my living room.

Website:
FFFFOUND!, I just can’t get over this site. Radical, innovative, creative or you can just surrender yourself in the site. Quite an array of image from all over. Please be aware, it got some nudity. IDEO is another which inspires me. And with my new found interest in interior design, just can’t have a day past without browsing Apartment Theory.

Thanks:
Finally a big thanks to Jonathan Lochhead at Website Design Awards for the making this site a reality. And to the pillar of my strength, my lovely wife Khuman, love you dear.