Seen at a gas station: You know your UI has usability issues when people tape multiple signs on your gas pump to help people get through the intricate and error-prone process of purchasing fuel. Why does the upper note exist? The trouble is that there’s a Debit button but not a Credit button, and so [...]
Archive for the ‘Friday Thoughts’ Category
You Know When Your UI Needs Help When…
Posted in Friday Thoughts on 2009-05-01 | 15 Comments »
A Wryly Repurposed Quotation
Posted in Friday Thoughts on 2009-04-17 |
In my travels, I recently came across this empty store with an almost-empty box beside the front door. As seen in Monterey, CA: Evidently some character had also noticed the empty store with its empty box, and decided to do a little walk-by wry economic commentary via repurposed quotation. Zooming on the once-empty box:
Income in Perspective: 2 Bppl @ $3/day
Posted in Friday Thoughts, Opinion & Editorial on 2009-02-06 | 4 Comments »
I just saw a CNN headline that read: “Young workers scrimp to live on $15/wk.” Before reading further, what do you think: Is that stunning and shocking? Or shockingly typical? The story turned out to be a piece about white-collar workers in China trying to live frugally, spending only 100 Yuan on travel and food [...]
From the "we know what they meant, but it’s not what they said" department
Posted in Friday Thoughts on 2009-01-16 | 8 Comments »
While walking our dogs recently, we came across several of these signs — ironically, in front of our neighborhood school.
Anon on Data
Posted in Friday Thoughts on 2008-08-08 |
The adage, quoted again this week by Bruce Schneier: The plural of “anecdote” is not “data.” But lest we enshrine raw data as holy in itself, another perspective: And the plural of “datum” is not “proof.”
Seneca and Shakespeare on Goals and Opportunities
Posted in Friday Thoughts on 2008-06-27 |
From the ancient dramatist Seneca the Younger: “Our plans miscarry because they have no aim. When a man does not know what harbor he is making for, no wind is the right wind.” And from the Bard, not to be outdone in metaphors of ships and seas: “There is a tide in the affairs of [...]
Talking Lambdas with Bill Gates on BBC
Posted in C++, Friday Thoughts, Software Development on 2008-06-20 | 8 Comments »
[6/25: Added YouTube availability and notes.] A few weeks ago, the BBC was in town to tape a special interview/documentary on Bill Gates. As part of the footage they got, there’s a Bill-in-a-technical-review-meeting shot that includes yours truly at a whiteboard presenting an overview-plus-drilldown on C++0x lambda functions. It was a good review; Bill’s a [...]
Usability: Watch out for those non-errors that start with “ER”
Posted in Friday Thoughts on 2008-04-11 |
Today I had a nice lesson in transaction codes. I did a happy little online transaction, and then the confirmation screen came up with what at first glance looked like an error. It startled me, until I read more closely: Thank you. Your transaction has been placed and received by SuperMondoCorp. Transaction Confirmation Number: ER6661234567 “Yikes!” thought [...]
Many Books
Posted in Friday Thoughts on 2008-01-25 | 2 Comments »
When I walk into a Chapters or a Borders, seeing the many shelves of books often recalls the ancient writer’s words about quality vs. quantity, circa 1000 BC: "To the making of many books there is no end." So true. Yet that observation predates the printing press… and netnews… and now RSS. (Yes, I’ve been [...]
Newton on Tact
Posted in Friday Thoughts on 2008-01-18 |
"Tact is the knack of making a point without making an enemy."
