I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to share such a wonderful world of specialty coffee with everyone. Big thank you to all the roasters and the Malaysian coffee community. Cannot express how excited we are to get back into the scene. This is the first public event where we have talked about that top secret info! It was so cool to see how well it was received.
Much love,
-Cynthia
Location: @beta_coffee
📸: @windkiss.caleb
#sydneycoffee #cupping #specialitycoffee #sydneyspecialitycoffee
After believing that the problems with flashing the esp's had been fixed, Harry brought the hardware to the office to test them. There seems to be a problem when Harry uses his mac (classic), or maybe it's simply when switching happens, irrespective of which platform it was switched to. Either way it worked on Harry's desktop but not on his mac so he'll test it tonight when he gets home or tomorrow.
Touch interfaces have become the primary input method on most devices. From stove-tops to cars, we now use our eyes instead of our fingers to identify when and where to press. Machines have become either silent or reduced to abrasive, screeching beeps. What is the problem with this, and why do designers and engineers keep doing it?
With the advent of Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) a massive shift occurred. We began designing for a single sense: sight. This birthed a major problem; when a user is engaged in a task that is not in the system but supported by it (let's say changing the air-con temp while driving), their visual attention is now being competed for and breaking this attention causes slips, mistakes, and errors occur.
The solution used to be buttons and dials that people could feel their way around, hear respond, or register through a physical click. That diversity of input methods made systems more intuitive. I believe that because people have become so used to skeuomorphism in GUIs, they have started to assume the real world operates like an iPhone touchscreen. The result is a generation of interfaces designed with no real consideration for the attention they demand or the environments in which they are used. We are left with kitchen appliance interfaces that fail when our hands are wet, which in a kitchen is most of the time.
There are supposedly legitimate reasons for this shift as well: dustproof interfaces, waterproof interfaces, and grease-resistant surfaces. But if you remember more than ten years ago, we had highly tactile buttons on underwater film cameras you could buy for a trip to Fiji.
I call bullshit.
Lazy engineers, lazy designers, and modernism are to blame. You are also to blame. If you do not like an interface, speak up. Otherwise, you will end up using an induction stove that takes five presses just to turn down the heat.
We aren't afraid of touching some knobs to give you a good experience.
This is art for better science. This is FBR ROM.
mDOT coming April 2026.
We have been trying to decipher what ways we can express the passage of time and guide a user input interaction with time. The circular approach to a clock is classical; same as the crown, but, it presents some other limitations. The clocks hand based time approach and crown interaction are limited to a very rigid 12 h 60 min mental model. By breaking these constraints we actually confuse the user and make the seemingly attractive and intuitive approach very shit to use. If the complete circle is constantly changing its defined period, how will the user interpret that relative to a clock. So we looked at other objects and how they interact with time, how they are to use, and how long they take to learn. Sometimes the design is wrong, sometimes the system, sometimes the logic. This time we fucked the logic. So we ditched it.
This week we are beta testing our new series 'X on Y'.
Join us this Saturday 11:00-16:00 with melise of @distractvintage for a workshop on all things french press and vintage coffee wares.
Scrumptious beans from @diggydooscoffee and @headlandscoffee
vintage homeware pieces available as well.
Come enjoy the slower more intentional side of living.
RSVP is free in bio
See you soon,
FBR café
FBR x distract vintage
on saturday 19th july, i’ll be showcasing my vintage bodum collection at @fbr.cafe as part of their ‘x on y’ series. along with the display, i’ll also be sharing a step-by-step guide to brewing with a french press—talking through the recipe, process, and why i love it.
the event will be from 11am–4pm, and the brewing session will be at 12pm. come by, grab a coffee, and hang out in fbr’s beautiful, all-green inspiring space.
i’m really excited to share this slower, more intentional side of distract—hope to see you there.
melise 🥏
p.s. a few rare bodum pieces will also be available to purchase on the day!
