It’s alive! The kitsch .gif

• Frames: few
• Size: small
• Purpose: LOOK AT ME
• Habitat: Geocities

When the information superhighway was still called the information superhighway, enterprising AOL account holders ran amok in creating their own personal homes in cyberspace on free real estate such as Geocities, Angelfire, and Tripod. Though defunct, these sites have been well preserved by enthusiasts. A personal webpage was different than analog alternatives in one important way: STUFF COULD MOVE. There was a proliferation of the tag, the tag, and animated gifs. Mostly, variations on the .gif to the left.

Many, many more here. It was also not uncommon to see animated backgrounds or horizontal dividers. Early gifs were characterized by vivid colors, a small number of frames, and no perceptible benefit over their less sassy cousins, jpegs. Luckily, gifs-for-the-hell-of-it went out of style around the same time as hidden, auto-playing midi files.

The New Wave: Glitchgifs

• Frames: few
• Size: varies
• Purpose: fetishization of primitive computer technology, commentary on technology
• Habitat: tumblr

Glitchgifs, as their name implies, depict technology gone slightly wrong. We all relate to the portions of a digital broadcast that don’t update or stutter, or the error-ridden appearance of an NES game whose cartridge needs blowing. We find beauty in the unintended, in things that are never supposed to exist. Whose very existence is a sign of some technical failure. Sometimes, failure looks really cool.

Trompe l’oeil: Wigglepics

• Frames: 2
• Size: small
• Purpose: simulated autosteroscopy
• Habitat: 3DPorch

The first photograph I ever took with my 3DS3D photography is anything but new– it predates the internet by more than 100 years. But the practice has proliferated due to the wide availability of cheap, connected 3D cameras. The internet makes sharing photographs much easier, and naturally, 3D photographers want to share their work. However, very few computer screens are capable of achieving either an active (with powered glasses) or passive (via parallax barrier, like the 3DS) 3D effect. The enterprising internet gave birth to a workaround, the wigglepic.

Wigglepics are notable because they provide something (besides pizzazz) that jpegs don’t: they convey a three-dimensional image. Though it is not “true” 3d– both eyes see the same perspective at the same time, the rapid switch between perspectives lets your brain approximate a 3D image. A huge collection of wigglepics is available at 3DPorch, which serves as the YouTube of 3d gifs.

Fewer frames, more story: Minifilms

• Frames: few (usually 3)
• Size: small
• Purpose: to convey a story by showing very few frames separated in time
• Habitat: 3fram.es

These .gifs are notable in that they are almost smoothly animated, the camera usually moves between frames, and they provide an insight into a situation by showing disjointed frames. The images provide a cinematic experience with a little more than 1/10th the frames used in one second of film.

A moment in time: Cinemagraphs

• Frames: high
• Size: large
• Purpose: convey a sense of presence by only animating a masked portion of a movie file
• Habitat: fashion and design blogs

Though cursorily similar to Minifilms, this variety of .gif has a completely different purpose. There is less of a full story, and more of a focused presentation of some visual detail. A cinemagraph is created by converting a movie into a series of frames, and only defining a portion of the frame to animate. The result is a photograph with (usually) very subtle animation. Whereas a minifilm is a super low-fi film, a cinemagraph is a super hi-fi photograph.

There are no words: Reaction .gifs

• Frames: many
• Size: large
• Purpose: to appromixate a critic’s emotional responses when words just won’t do
• Habitat: Reddit

The internet is not amused, and it has an untold number of .gifs to demonstrate that fact. Comment threads all over the internet are filled with 1-2 second clips of people reacting to stuff, reduced to .gif form. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then it seems that a .gif is worth .2 million. When you can’t find the words, surely you can find the .gif.

Any varieties of .gifs I haven’t dealt with? Let me know in the comments!

Any I’ve forgotten?

Clearly "Sassy Fairy Shimmer" from Claire's Boutique.

Shark tooth??

Raptor? Looks like a Tercel.

If you’re into that kind of thing.

But we’ve already seen Ice Cream Sandwich, in a way. Google has shown it to us, both through the recently updated version of the Android Market for phones, and through its Google Reader Android application.

Let’s take a look.

I’ll post a few screenshots on which I’ve numbered certain UI elements. I’ll go through these elements in turn and discuss why they are relevant to the user experience that Ice Cream Sandwich will deliver. First, let’s discuss some notable elements of Android 3.0 (Honeycomb).

Honeycomb’s UI Additions

Three things. First, there are no hardware buttons on the face of the device. Rumours suggest that the flagship Ice Cream Sandwich phone, the “Nexus Prime,” will also lack face buttons. Two, the status bar on the bottom encompasses 2 important UI elements: system-wide navigation and notifications/clock/status icons. Notifications accumulate to the left of the status elements, and a popover with all notifications appears when you touch the clock/status icons. Third, there is an Action Bar on the top of the display containing information about the current content and inter-app navigation options (on the left), and context-specific action buttons (on the right). These are the three most significant differences between Android 2.0 and 3.0. And all three of these elements are coming to Ice Cream Sandwich.

A Bite of Ice Cream, Today!

1. The updated Android Market clearly has an Action Bar built-in. The elements are all in the same place.

2. The context-specific action button (Search) changes depending on the content on the screen. Within the Market, this icon will change.

3. Prominent repetition of rectangles. There has been discussion by UI designers over “signature shapes.” iOS has the rounded square, Windows Phone’s MetroUI has squares. In Honeycomb, we see 2:1 rectangles everywhere– widgets, the recent apps launcher, etc. Now, we see it on buttons in the new Android Market. The shape will be a defining feature of Ice Cream Sandwich. I also predict that Ice Cream Sandwich will adopt Honeycomb’s recent apps launcher (sliding rectangular screenshots)

4. Similar design elements from Honeycomb. The diagonal stripes are a common motif through the UI. Lots of grays, and the signature Android green. Google also uses this motif throughout it’s web-based Google Music Beta interface.

5. The Menu button popover has an overhaul. Instead of 2.0′s shades of gray, it’s a stark black and white.6. The Action Bar buttons change to accomodate the content. The buttons are not labeled like they are on Honeycomb, likely because of the much reduced width of a phone, as compared to a tablet. There’s a new icon for Share, which used to be 2 diverging arrows pointing up.

 Google Reader also has received an update to prepare it for Ice Cream Sandwich. Here’s what’s new.

7. The app has also gotten an Action Bar, with context-specific (and unlabeled) buttons. The name of the content is on the left of the Action bar, as in Honeycomb.

8. More Action Bar hotness. In-app navigation on the left, context-specific unlabeled Action Buttons on the right. Google has omitted the vertical pinstripes in this app, and it’s unclear whether that motif will be carried throughout the OS only, or also through Google’s native apps.

Status Bar Fragmentation

It looks weird to have the Status Bar with the Action Bar immediately beneath it. There are too many UI elements stacked on top of each other. In Honeycomb, Google solved this by consolidating the Status Bar with the Navigation Buttons on the bottom of the screen. This same approach will work beautifully with the Nexus Prime, and with future Android devices that lack face buttons, since their screens will likely be longer.

But what of devices WITH dedicated hardware buttons? Even the Droid Bionic, the top-of-the-line Android handset that was released this week, has these buttons. Further, new Android handsets from the major players in the ecosystem have promised to provide new software upgrades for 18 months after releasing a handset. They will be forced the support Ice Cream Sandwich, and reconcile the soft navigation button and status bar with the hardware buttons.

My guess is that phones will do one of two things:

1. Without hardware buttons: fancy Honeycomb-style soft navigation buttons on the bottom left, notification icons/clock/status icons on the lower right. Fewer notifications will be shown at once, since the screen is narrower than a tablet. A notification list popover can be summoned in the same way as in Honeycomb, by tapping the clock. The navigation buttons will change dynamically, as they do in Honeycomb. If a menu popover is unavailable, there will not be a menu button, etc. Recent apps will be similarly invoked.
2. With hardware buttons: the status bar will function exactly as it does in 2.3.4. A narrow strip across the top, notifications on the left, clock and status icons on the right. Notifications will be invoked by swiping down on the Status Bar. Recent apps will be invoked in the same way as always– holding the Home hardware button.

Same OS, Only Different

Google intends to “unify” Android on phones and tablets, but there will be differences. I predict that Android tablets will have blue accents (status icons, clock, launcher elements), whereas phones will retain the characteristic Android green. Phones likely cannot support fragments in the same way tablets can, but this will be handled by navigating between fragments via Action Bar navigation. Everything else will look pretty much the same. The slick new Honeycomb widgets will be carried over, down to the redesigned Google search box (that is also used at Music Beta). I hope that the Google team can add the same design magic that they’ve added to their web-based offerings. If they do, they’ll be able to impress even the most impossible critics.

Mameshiba. I just discovered this Japanese phenomenon. A little bean dog appears and gives unsolicited trivia, usually spoiling the bean’s friend’s lunch. There are twenty of these videos. They’re all adorable. Here’s a choice selection.

These photos are causing all kinds of monkey business. Techdirt, the target of a C&D for copyright infringement, has an ongoing series about who owns the copyright in these images.

Hold! You crafty ones, strangers to work, and pilferers of other men’s brains. Think not rashly to lay your thievish hands upon my works. Beware! Know you not that I have a grant from the most glorious Emperor Maximillian, that not one throughout the imperial dominion shall be allowed to print or sell fictitious imitations of these engravings? Listen! And bear in mind that if you do so, through spite or through covetousness, not only will your goods be confiscated, but your bodies also placed in mortal danger.

-Albrecht Dürer

Makes the INTERPOL warning on DVDs look absolutely toothless. Found in Patry on Copyright.

Never going to happen.

The Nintendo faithful are eagerly anticipating that company’s next home console, internally nicknamed “Project Café.” As anyone who even remotely follows the game press knows, Nintendo fan speculation rivals– maybe surpasses– Apple fan speculation. Nintendo is great at leaking just enough information to leave you hooked, and then draws a product release out over a period of two years. They’ll give a glimpse of the new console next Monday, but gaming and tech journalists have already posted possible designs for the new console’s controller.

And I’d bet big cash that the actual controller will not resemble any of these.

The most popular render. It's just a Classic Controller Pro with a screen stuck in the middle. It's pretty hideous. And you could never reach the screen with your thumbs.

A DS Lite and Wii remote had a baby! This is just too gigantic to be real.

Eek!! This is horrifying. Also, I think your wrists would get tired from supporting this protrusion. The center of gravity is so high.

You can fit PLENTY of information on this screen.

Who knows? That's a tiny screen, though.

Not hideous! I'll bet Nintendo will ditch the glossy white, though.

We’ll see come Monday! I’ll be waiting with baited breath.

Dumpster, Treasure Island, corner of Broadway and Cornelia.

3fram.es

3fram.es is a site for sharing stop-motion webcam gifs. The “social” features are very barebones (you can favorite gifs, tag them, and each user’s gifs are available on that user’s profile page), but I still find it to be a very cool idea. It’s always fun to see someone make a series of gifs, fleshing out ideas that they had before. It’s really exciting that the users are able to tell such interesting stories in the span of a few frames. There is a 3fram.es iOS app, and I hope than an Android one is close behind.

3dPorch

I purchased a Nintendo 3DS, and one of the most exciting and fun features of the device is the ability to capture and view 3d pictures. Since nobody else has a 3ds, it was very hard to share them. Startup 3dPorch is a very simply, but powerful platform for sharing 3d photography in a 2d space. The service converts .mpo files into “wobble .gifs,” cyan/red anaglyphs, and stereoscopic jpegs. You don’t need any special glasses to appreciate the wobble gifs, and these are great for sharing with friends. You can also download .mpos of any image on the site.

I’m very excited to see what the users of these sites can accomplish, as they bring their ideas into the fourth and third dimensions, respectively.

Traditional Publishing Bingo by flickr user Shmuel510

As seen on FAILblog.