second-order visual illusions?

[gusl]

When I look at my GMail from far away, at my list of messages (shown as grey lines), I tend to interpret the top one as white (probably because of the contrast) and thus UNREAD, and the black text on it as bold (either due to "second-order contrast", or because UNREAD messages appear in bold).

Comments

[peamasii.livejournal.com]

You can also choose a different color scheme for your gmail, in Settings.

[easwaran.livejournal.com]

I sometimes have the same illusion. At least, I have trouble telling if the top message in the list is read or unread, when I don't look at it especially closely. (The ones further down are much clearer.)