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 | United Stop The War |
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| United Stop The War |
| last updated:09 Apr 2003 10: 49 Webword time, or 09 Apr 2003 15:49 UK time |
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| Webword Statistics - Recent Comments (Comments added for week ending Sun 06 Apr 2003) | View Other Weeks |
| The process of redesigning a | Sat 05 Apr |
| Since Digital Web Magazine had no idea what their new logo should actually look like, they gave me carte blanche for the initial concepts. Not an easy assignment—many questions started popping into my head. Who do I actually design the logo for? Who is their audience? What does that audience feel comfortable with? And so on... The answers to such questions are fundamental in order to create a decent and representative logotype. (MadMan comments: Am I the only one who thinks their logo looks like a motorbike helmet?) |
| Sat 05 Apr 12:59 | Anonymous | Make that two for helmet. I would love to do a Dilbert/Roger And Me by taking a $5,000 logo and one done by a twelve-year-old, and getting a group of business people to pick. It could be entertaining, if you had enough execs involved. |
| Sat 05 Apr 14:40 | Brian C | I decided to check out their logo before reading the article just as a test. I wanted to see if I could guess the 'attributes' of the logo by myself. I couldn't. I think that's a problem with most logos. I also see a helmet. |
| Sat 05 Apr 16:16 | Anonymous | That sucker is a sickle. What a bloodthirsty logo. Cool. |
| Sat 05 Apr 19:04 | Frank Lynch | This foodie saw a meat hook. |
| Sun 06 Apr 11:39 | Adam Greenfield | 'and the swooshing top curve gave our logo a modern and active look.' Uh, nope. I wanted to keep mum on this, and in fact would have if this article hadn't appeared; I'm frankly hesitant to publicly crit D-W because I think a great deal of Nick and have gotten a lot out of the magazine in the past. Having said that, this article did go live and did get linked, and so I think I'll just have to go ahead and say what I feel: that's a...well...um...that's not a particularly attractive, nor a very communicative, logo. That's about as diplomatic as I can be. The swooshiness, and its ability to make something look 'modern' and 'active,' hardly needs to be commented on at this late date. The negative space does *not* contain a 'W,' at least not to me - looks more like a 'V.' Most critically, the logo doesn't scan as anything particularly suggestive of the Web or of the content to be found in the magazine, either on first glance or after a few weeks of hoping it'd settle. Now I am all too aware just how frustrating it is to work with someone volunteering their labor, someone you like and whose feelings you care about, and not get anywhere close to where you thought you were heading when you set out. I also think it's underappreciated just how much work Nick puts in putting out a quality production. Finally, I'm sure that Kristof is a great guy who tried his best to come up with something meaningful and beautiful. But unfortunately, all of the above being the case is no guarantee of success. My opinion only - as ever, other informed viewpoints may differ. |
| Sun 06 Apr 12:34 | Frank Lynch | I also see a bird above the meat hook, flying to the left... Or is it a fish tail? |
| Sun 06 Apr 17:38 | Matt Round | I think it's an OK logo, but it doesn't fit in particularly well with the 45-degree-angle elements in the site, maybe if they introduce a few small curves it'll integrate better. I didn't see any specific objects in the design, just a stylised D. A bad client would in this case have demanded a picture of a web with a 'more computery' font and forced the whole design process into an ugly corner. When that happens an experienced designer knows all is lost and they'll just have to think of the money while producing crap work to order. |
| Sony axes eVilla Web-surfing appliance | Sat 05 Apr |
| Sony executives blamed the demise on stability and usability problems with the $499 desktop Web-browsing appliance, but did not offer specifics. (Comments: Thanks Daniel Szuc.) |
| Sun 06 Apr 10:56 | Bjorn | Seems like they also axed one of their web sites that had notable 'stability and usability problems.' A heartening trend, and one that should be encouraged. |
| Sun 06 Apr 16:02 | Anonymous | Huh, knowing nothing about the eVilla, but hearing it described as a 'web-browsing appliance,' I can unequivocally decree that the problem was not stability or usability. It was price. $500? No. $100 for a web-browsing appliance. Gimme a break! |
| Metaphor and War, Again | Sat 05 Apr |
| It is a common folk theory of progressives that The facts will set you free! If only you can get all the facts out there in the public eye, then every rational person will reach the right conclusion. It is a vain hope. (Comments: I think George Lakoffs analysis of how people think is insightful. Many years ago he wrote Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things, and excellent book on categorization, metaphors, and related ideas.) |
| Sun 06 Apr 09:11 | Anonymous | The faith people put on cognition of facts is miraculous. People aren't generally cognitive -- they're emotive. The cognitive friction many feel is in getting the facts to fit the emotional choice they've already made. I wonder if, applied to information systems (defined as most seem to do), we find they don't exist in many cases and are simply not wanted as such. |
| WebWord Comment | Sat 05 Apr |
| Surgical mask fashion. Are some designs better than others? Why? |
| Sat 05 Apr 22:28 | daniel szuc | We just stick to the standard vanilla flavour. Dannmmmphhh (sorry trying to type with my mask on and its a bit muffled) - You do know its gone too far when PCs and printers are wearing masks ;) - Dan in Honkers |
| Information Architecture Leadership Seminar | Sat 05 Apr |
| This advanced, full-day seminar is designed for information architecture and user experience leaders who wish to engage the most important and intractable problems faced by the architects of today’s information systems. (Comments: Dont miss the presentations at the bottom of the page. Via Elegant Hack.) |
| Sat 05 Apr 20:56 | daniel szuc | Peter's presentation on 'Strategy, Architecture & Tomorrow’s Web' is particularly interesting and his reference to http://www.ambientdevices.com |
| Social Mobiles | Thu 03 Apr |
| (ideo.com) The user knocks on this phone to communicate the urgency of their call. The recepient hears this knock through their phone and can be discerning about which calls they answer. |
| Thu 03 Apr 13:12 | Anonymous | Most users believe every call they make is important, that's the problem. Putting a distinctive ring/vibrate/knock will probably work, the first few times. Then, gradually, urgency inflation sets in. |
| Thu 03 Apr 13:24 | Anonymous | Several years ago IDEO put out a prototype Kiss Communicator. Couples snap it apart, each taking half, and use it to send a kiss. |
| Thu 03 Apr 17:53 | Anonymous | My favorite is the Knocking Mobile, because you could tell close friends and family a distinctive knock they could use. The shave and a haircut pattern is the most well-known--maybe too well known. |
| Thu 03 Apr 21:31 | daniel szuc | The main issue with mobility I see is if you dont want to be contacted. Some people can get really offended if you have your mobile off or if its on a divert. There was a time when people did not have to be contactable all the time, and think it will be interesting to see (with converged communications, internet and telco) how this can be managed better. Where people can somehow have a rest from the comms. and pick it up at a time that suits them. |
| Fri 04 Apr 08:19 | Anonymous | 'Some people can get really offended' Exactly, accees as status. First you can create a series of distinctive tones on the touchpad, no need to knock a code. Second, there is a missing social component, the people around those talking. Mostly the people in the conversation are oblivious, and it is the people around them disturbed by the call. What IDEO needs is the 'dirty glare' phone. |
| Fri 04 Apr 16:58 | MadMan | Ah, but what's urgent for you may not be urgent for me. ;) |
| Fri 04 Apr 20:10 | Lydia | Daniel, that is an interesting statement (about offense) because I have noticed the same thing. I have a mobile, but it is off most of the time - I only turn it on when I'm in the car driving or I need to make a call. I figure it has voice mail and is on at least twice a day, so I'll get any important messages. Otherwise, the people I want to be able to contact me have my work number and e-mail, so it should be no big deal, but I am constantly teased. Meanwhile, I'm annoyed by a guy in our office who is attached to his as if by umbillicus - if a call comes in he'll just stop talking to you and answer it. Whenever he does that I just walk away, since he's obviously done talking with me. It really irritates him (ha ha). |
| Fri 04 Apr 20:54 | daniel szuc | Same thing in Hong Kong and it took me some time to get used to. It's quite common for people to leave their mobile on during meetings or even if they are already on other phone conference calls. Seems strange right? You may be in mid conversation with a person and they will take the call OR you will be a meeting and you will hear phones going off left and right. My *personal* choice is to put the mobile on vibrate or divert to the office when I am in a meeting. My rule is if I am with *that* person, I am devoting my attention to that moment and everything else can wait until this moment is finished *ooops there goes my phone ... * :) |
| Fri 04 Apr 23:49 | MadMan | Lydia, on another topic, you said you'd email me Joel's article on building communities (the one he sent by email.) Could you please do that? I don't have your email so I had to post a message here. Apologies for wasted bandwidth. |
| Sat 05 Apr 11:02 | Boyink | Point (former boss) http://www.jugglezine.com/CDA/juggle/0,1516,49,00.html Counterpoint: http://www.jugglezine.com/CDA/juggle/0,1516,43,00.html |
| Sat 05 Apr 13:10 | Anonymous | The article(s) are timely. What nobody mentioned is the commercial cell phone just recently celebrated their 30-year anniversary. links: Cell Phone Designer Reflects on 30th Anniversary http://www.wirelessnewsfactor.com/perl/story/21177.html CNN Anniversary piece http://us.cnn.com/2003/TECH/ptech/04/03/cell.phone.anniversary.ap/ |
| U.N. Fears U.S. Bomblets Resemble Food Packets | Wed 02 Apr |
| Confusing unexploded ordinance with food places children at huge risk of injury or death. (Comments: Obviously a usability problem. Sheesh.) |
| Thu 03 Apr 03:04 | Alan Fisher | As the article points out, they had the same problem in Afghanistan and changed the colour of the the food packets. Why have they gone back to using the yellow colour in Iraq? Did they think the Iraqis wouldn't make the same mistake as the Afghanis? |
| Thu 03 Apr 10:24 | Anonymous | c'mon people. everybody knows that the rich white people want to kill all of the non-whites. this is intentional. the smaller the native population around any source of natural resource, in this case oil and the fresh waters of the Tigris & Euphrates, the easier it is for an outside power to control it. if you let the people live they might get the idea that they should benefit from it. so you try to kill them, whether it's through genocidal sanctions, anti-personnel cluster bombs in population centers, or rendering the land unfit for living for the rest of time (or at least the next 4.5 billion years) by using artillery containing uranium and depleted-uranium. would you expect anything less from white male capitalists? this is not new. of course not enough people are aware of it, thanks to the control of actual information that gets out, so it's always good to see the light bulb come on in some peoples heads as they wake up from the dark slumber of artificial reality. 'The darkness had always been there. The light was new.' |
| Thu 03 Apr 11:18 | Francis Wu | Make the comparison. Humanitarian Daily Ration and BLU-97 bomblet. |
| Thu 03 Apr 13:42 | Anonymous | to the posted calling themself 'reality' - You are right. I'm a white male capitalist. You have cracked the code! We WMC's have secret meetings, and have decided that killing all the non-whites, strating in Iraq, and stealing the precious waters of the Tigris and Euphates rivers is the top project for 1Q2003. How ever did you figure out our plan? Drat! We are revealed! Gnash! Gnash! |
| Thu 03 Apr 16:03 | Anonymous | of course you realize that it doesn't make any difference what _we_ think of that image comparison... and to the moron who thinks himself clever, yours is the mind that kills |
| Fri 04 Apr 02:37 | Mac | How about taking the explosives out of the bomblets, and replacing them with twinkies? |
| Fri 04 Apr 23:35 | Anonymous | The last thing we need is kids stumbling across intact twinkies 50 years from now. |
| Ann’s Rant: The Time and Place for Usability | Fri 04 Apr |
| (usabilitynews.com) So, its all a matter of timing. Too early and the idea doesnt struggle into life. Too late and a lot of money gets wasted and emotion invested into products and services that dont work as well as they could. |
| Fri 04 Apr 21:00 | daniel szuc | For me, its not just about usability any more. Its about understanding and working with complimentary disciplines to develop a great product. Its also about understanding the constraints of the technology and what can be achieved now and in the future. As mentioned before, I think *empathy* is a big part of what usability folks do in terms of usability testing and working in project teams. |
| The Science of Shopping | Thu 03 Apr |
| (Malcom Gladwell) The American shopper has never been so fickle. What are stores, including the new flagship designer boutiques, doing about it? Applying science. (MadMan comments: Much of this article just talks about Paco Underhill. Thanks Kingsley.) |
| Thu 03 Apr 13:16 | Anonymous | It might be interesting to know about what experiments are going on besides Underhill. Any consumer research site out there? (non-Web, non-software would be a breath of fresh air). |
| Fri 04 Apr 14:15 | Lydia | Interesting article, if a little scary. I had no idea people were so closely scrutinized for buying behavior. I liked Gladwell's Tipping Point book - he uses the same journalistic writing style (without being too heavy). |
| Fri 04 Apr 16:57 | MadMan | I don't think they call it 'usability' yet. :) With POS machines recording sales, data can be analysed in real time. So if you move the soap to the top rack, you can know almost instantly how it has affected sales. Ah, the power of technology... (An interesting application to e-comm sites perhaps?) |
| Microsoft says to take aim at Google | Wed 02 Apr |
| We do view Google more and more as a competitor. We believe that we can provide consumers with a better product and a better user experience. |
| Wed 02 Apr 21:00 | Lydia | Oh, please. Can't they just leave well enough alone? I suppose it would be easy to default IE to their crappy MSN search engine, but what is the point? |
| Wed 02 Apr 21:12 | Anonymous | You should be more concerned about the government using companies to data mine. How soon before Uncle Sam has a complete profile on me, from my purchases to my medical history to every last thing I've search for using Google? Oh wait, I forgot, corporations run the government. No difference. |
| Wed 02 Apr 23:13 | Toby Thain | If the search interface to msdn.microsoft.com is any clue, there's little indication Microsoft can produce a workable interface to search, let alone a functional underlying engine. It's obvious from their own web site that they do not understand much about 'user experience', structuring results, or quickly retrieving *relevant* information (Google's forte). Perhaps we are supposed to regard their search facility as yet another 'version 1.0'? Give me Google version 0.1 any day. |
| Thu 03 Apr 00:21 | MadMan | I'm not a Microsoft-basher at all, but this makes me say, 'C'mon Bill, hit 'em with everything you've got, pal!' The only way MS will have a superior search engine is if they buy out Google. |
| Thu 03 Apr 01:37 | Anonymous | Why the hell can't Windows XP do a complete, accurate full text search of my hard drive? Time and time again it fails to find documents that non-MS programs have no trouble locating. I simply don't use Windows' built-in search function anymore. |
| Thu 03 Apr 04:22 | daniel szuc | Based on my readings to date, think thats what MS want to improve considerably in Longhorn i.e. the find my file capability by restructuring the file system into more of a database structure. Implementing google technology as part of the next o/s would be a smart move ... but thats probably not the MS way. |
| Thu 03 Apr 09:44 | Anonymous | Too funny. Maybe Microsoft has become jealous over the attention Google has received lately. The fact that Google has been demonized by various bonehead factions probably confirms Microsoft's suspicions that Google must be doing something right. Microsoft: This town ain't big enough for more'n 1 demon... |
| Handhelds gain space | Tue 01 Apr |
| (via UsabilityNews.com) A researcher at the University of California at Berkeley has rigged up a device that turns the small screen of a handheld computer into a movable keyhole. Rather than pressing scroll buttons to get to a position in a document, a user simply moves the handheld computer. |
| Tue 01 Apr 12:03 | Blogmin | We work with a ton of maps and handhelds here, we can't wait for this to go commercial. P.S. Old news, this was on slashdot months ago. |
| Wed 02 Apr 18:24 | Che Tamahori | I'm surprised that commericalisation is 'within 5 years' -- why that long? It seems that it would be almost trivial to add an optical mouse mechanism to the underside of a palmtop. Two would give you detection of rotational as well at linear motion. It would only work on surfaces (not in 3D space) but it would be relatively trivial to implement, IMHO. On another note, as someone who has used two handed interfaces (I was lucky enough to get to play around with Bill Buxton's laptop a few years ago), I know how quickly this kind of interface feels completely natural... |
| Wed 02 Apr 20:57 | Lydia | Blogmin, what is the point of your P.S.? It is very likely the person who posted this link was aware how 'old' the technology is but thought the audience might not know about it. This was news to me, for example, so I just want to put in my vote for the continued posting of interesting links even if they might be a bit stale. |
| Thu 03 Apr 03:54 | Mac | Here's another one I like : The cranky user recants |
| Thu 03 Apr 07:11 | daniel szuc | Was also new to me! Thank you Mac. |
| Corporate Ethics, Corporate Culture and Corporate Image. Today's Key Managerial Issues. | Wed 02 Apr |
| Unfortunately, as marketers we are often no less dirty in our shenanigans and tricks than our colleagues in the financial department have been. (Comments: Thanks Daniel Szuc.) |
| Thu 03 Apr 03:32 | Philip Chalmers | He's right,of course. A good corporate culture is a longer-lasting competitive advantage because it's much harder to copy than products, business processes or marketing techniques. Unfortunately it's also a fragile thing - just one bad management appointment can corrupt it because other managers have either to fight fire with fire or accept that the unscrupulous appointee will take over. And the corporate eco-system limits how good a company's behaviour can be: * for example if company A uses conservative accounting and company B uses aggressive accounting, there's a risk that B will for a few years have a more favourable share price and can use this to take over A. * we can all think of similar examples in marketing. So accounting standards, codes of practice and, above all, alert and far-sighted shareholders are essential both to preserve a good culture and to improve a poor one. |
| Whitespace | Tue 01 Apr |
| Most modern programming languages do not consider white space characters (spaces, tabs and newlines) syntax, ignoring them, as if they werent there. We consider this to be a gross injustice to these perfectly friendly members of the character set. Should they be ignored, just because they are invisible? Whitespace is a language that seeks to redress the balance. Any non whitespace characters are ignored; only spaces, tabs and newlines are considered syntax. |
| Wed 02 Apr 09:27 | Anonymous | White supremacy? At WebWord? Oh my. |
| Wed 02 Apr 20:41 | Lydia | Netscape makes a good case for the value of ignoring whitespace. |
| WebWord Comment | Sun 30 Mar |
| Spam from Taiwan (300K). Is it funny? Is it political? Is it intelligent? Is it a special offer? I have no idea! |
| Mon 31 Mar 00:01 | Anonymous | I enjoy the non-English spam I get. So much easier to detect and delete. |
| Mon 31 Mar 03:36 | Matt Round | I get sent strange stuff like this offering me great deals on large mineral exports. |
| Mon 31 Mar 07:04 | Simon | It's actually from China and is about the persecution of the Falungong. |
| Mon 31 Mar 08:20 | daniel szuc | Any suggestions out there for good SPAM add ons for Outlook? The quest continues for good SPAM software. |
| Mon 31 Mar 11:32 | MadMan | Daniel, please check out SpamNet. |
| Mon 31 Mar 14:30 | Anonymous | The Happiness Fairy has arrived to bid you well wishes and give you a secret to inner joy. [...] Begin your path to enlightenment with approved body posture. Form your hands into a universal portal for your inner spirit to break free from your umbilical scar of sorrow. [...] Hear beyond reality. You are more than your body. Mighty quest of hearing. [...] Follow close or you will hurt. Be careful on this journey. [...] Do you wonder if you can come? Join us and be happy. |
| Mon 31 Mar 19:10 | daniel szuc | Thanks MadMan :) One recommendation was to install a Linux box to manage email and installing SPAM ASSASSIN on Linux to 'kill and destroy' before hitting the client. All sounds good to me. |
| Tue 01 Apr 11:57 | MadMan | Daniel, I use SpamAssasin for one of my email accounts. While it's mostly reliable, some HTML newsletters can be caught in it. You'll have to experiment with the spam threshold for a while. |
| Tue 01 Apr 18:28 | Sid | I believe 'goddess' or 'magical woman' are more appropriate interpretations than 'fairy.' |
| Tue 01 Apr 22:08 | daniel szuc | Thanks again Madman. |
| Wed 02 Apr 19:05 | Anonymous | One has to wonder whether a fairy, goddess, or magical woman would appear as a little girl garbed in a blue dress and purple sandals, with dyed red and purple hair, and donning a magic wand. If only for the wand, my vote is fairy. If she were a goddess there would be a fertility inference, and a magic woman normally wears glasses. |
| Keeping it simple | Tue 01 Apr |
| On this point, my message to vendors is simple and perhaps obvious: Listen to your customers. They will tell you what they need, and, although you should certainly set forth the products the long-term vision with clear explanations of why new features might be useful to your customer, dont assume that the customer inherently cares about your favorite feature. It might not matter. |
| Wed 02 Apr 02:48 | daniel szuc | Perhaps there is something to be said for a 'Simplicity Consultant' |
| Wed 02 Apr 07:24 | Ralph | I was just wondering today how to achieve the best balance between user input and design by the designer. Without a vision and a set of guiding principles on the part of the designer, something can become a hodgepodge very quickly if every user's favorite feature is added without question. But this is probably still preferable to an autocratic design. |
| Wed 02 Apr 09:32 | Anonymous | Most designers design for themselves. Even if they use colors or graphics they believe the audience will like, the information architecture tends to be based on the designer's own experience and comfort level using web sites. Begin with a draft design from your designer. Then give users carving knives to cut the fat. |
| Wed 02 Apr 16:43 | Lydia | Designing for internal reasons is sooooo tempting. For instance, I recently made a bad UI decision because I wanted the program to capture certain information without having to search a database for it. It took my manager reminding me who I was designing the thing for in order to snap me out of it. Ouch. Talk about embarrassing. I should have known better. I liked this article. I think a lot of companies let themselves be swayed by the potential of a solution, forgetting that 9 times out of 10, the system has to work perfectly for full (or even half) potential to be reach, and since that never happens, disappointment is rampant. |
| Wed 02 Apr 17:10 | Joshua Kaufman | 37signals has been talking about the value of simplicity for years. It's about time it starts getting some more mainstream attention. |
| Wed 02 Apr 17:54 | Jason Fried | Hey, thanks Joshua! |
| HelloWorld | Tue 01 Apr |
| HelloWorld provides a fresh, visual approach to connecting people, online messaging, search and transfer operations, and personal publishing, in a decentralized network environment that is owned and operated by the network community. (Comments: Thanks Yarone Goren.) |
| Tue 01 Apr 21:58 | Yarone Goren | BTW, HelloWorld is VERY SIMILAR, on paper, to Microsoft's ThreeDegrees. I'd be interested to hear how you people feel about these 'social computing' initiatives, and, in particular, HelloWorld's NON-TRADITIONAL interface (which typically = 'bad'). But, how do we innovate when it is a no-no to use non-standard controls? What have you guys learned from similar projects, such as Kai's Power Tools, Kai's Photo Soap, and Bryce (which, similarly, had a very nonstandard GUI, and, interestingly enough, were created by much of the same team as HelloWorld)? |
| Problem of sleep-deprived soldiers is as old as war itself | Sun 30 Mar |
| (Kansas City Star) For others, such as a B-2 stealth bomber crew that recently completed a 30-plus-hour mission into the war zone, rushing adrenaline, catnaps and a go pill or two can keep them functioning for days. |
| Tue 01 Apr 16:36 | Lydia | Well, I don't see how sleep-deprivation can be avoided. Lack of manpower is one issue, but in other situations you can't just stop in the middle of a mission for some sleep. Fear and anxiety can keep people up at times when they have an opportunity to sleep, pushing their body to a point where it has to shut itself down at inappropriate moments. From what I hear, catnaps are helpful. There have been documented cases of people who don't have traditional sleep cycles because they cat-nap all day long, so it could be useful as a band-aid for shorter (48 hour) time periods where traditional sleep isn't possible, or for situations where constant physical exertion saps endurance. |
| WebWord Comment | Tue 25 Mar |
| Click on the Permanent Link below. |
| Tue 01 Apr 12:23 | Anonymous | All google does is pull your telephone listing, which online is linked to map and driving directions. What is so scary about that? This information was available to anyone who wanted it before the internet in the form of a printed phone book and calling the operator, so what is so much more threatening about having it online? We've come along way with societal acceptance of new technologies, but then I see a forward like this, and it tells me we still have a long way to go. |
| The Aims of Artificial Intelligence: A Science Fiction View | Sun 30 Mar |
| is one of the best articles Ive read on artificial intellgence. Ian Watson covers a lot of ground in the article, including a ton of philosphical material. Many people feel that they can discuss artificial intelligence without talking about philosophy. Impossible! |
| Mon 31 Mar 19:20 | Lydia | Good article. My only question is that the author seems to say that AI has nothing better to do than focus on humanity. Many of the stories he profiled feature AI as they relate to humans, sometimes as a metaphor for something else, so this would seem to be supported, but what about AI that doesn't always think of humans? I saw the AI beings in the movie 'AI' as archeologists for their people and not as representatives of the thrust of their civilization. For instance, just because our (human) archeologists dig up dinosaur bones doesn't mean humanity as a whole is looking for our creators. |
| Gray Text Revisited | Mon 31 Mar |
| However, after trying several different LCD screens over the past few months, I think I have sufficient proof that the increasing adoption of LCD screens is one of the major reasons of the gray text phenomenon. |
| Mon 31 Mar 08:54 | Matt Round | Because LCD screens display brighter and sharper images, they hurt your eyes faster after prolonged use as compared to CRTs I find I can stare at my LCD indefinitely without any problems, whereas CRTs will give me a headache after a few hours (that's partly why I switched to an LCD, and it's proved to be the best computer-related purchase I've ever made). The sharpness of LCDs means they can cope better with extremes of contrast. Designers use grey text when they want to avoid harsh contrasts, or want to make text appear 'thinner'. Those using LCDs may be less aware of legibility problems on poor CRTs, but I very much doubt they're choosing grey because they were getting a headache. |
| Mon 31 Mar 12:39 | Timo | I question this research, and second what Matt said. |
| Mon 31 Mar 14:17 | Anonymous | I've never had problems with either CRT or LCD. Room lighting is the only issue that affects my eye strain. I doubt ultra-bright screens are an issue. I have the brightness maxxed out on both monitors because it makes everything easier to see. No more mucking about in darkness. |
| Mon 31 Mar 16:04 | John S. Rhodes | Vision, Reading and Computer Users (WebWord) -- An Interview with Distinguished Optometrist, Dr. Gary J. Williams |
| Mon 31 Mar 18:51 | Che Tamahori | I also question this research, if it can be called that. Aycan's argument uses a non sequitur to support an observation. Yes, LCD displays are sharper and can be glary. Yes, they have limited greyscale range, with posterization (particularly in the shadows). But what does this have to do with text being too sharp? And how does this equate to the assertion that LCDs 'cannot display grayscale text (or graphics for that matter) properly'? I don't see a lot of continuous-tone text... If he's saying that LCD's have a native gamma curve that is distinctly different to CRTs, then that is true -- yet drivers and colour managament software attempt to resolve this, hence the afore-mentioned posterisation. I'm just not getting it. From my perspective, LCDs are sharp because they have a 1 to 1 relationship between screen elements, and pixels (no fuzz, no bleed). I don't think it has much to do with greyscales, gamma or anything else. |
| Episode One: Alert Level Orange | Tue 25 Mar |
| Whats your school doing to protect my daughter from terrorism? |
| Mon 31 Mar 15:31 | Zelda | The public schools here have been practicing tornado drills, which I'm guessing probably involve the same response as a terrorist alert. Basically, the kids all huddle on their knees in the hallways and cover their heads. |
| US Patent 6,004,596 | Thu 27 Mar |
| A sealed crustless sandwich for providing a convenient sandwich without an outer crust which can be stored for long periods of time without a central filling from leaking outwardly. The sandwich includes a lower bread portion, an upper bread portion, an upper filling and a lower filling between the lower and upper bread portions, a center filling sealed between the upper and lower fillings, and a crimped edge along an outer perimeter of the bread portions for sealing the fillings therebetween. The upper and lower fillings are preferably comprised of peanut butter and the center filling is comprised of at least jelly. (MadMan comments: In other words, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Anyone want to patent a hamburger? Think of how much you could charge McDonalds in royalties.) |
| Mon 31 Mar 15:29 | Zelda | I think the idea is cute but personally, I wouldn't eat it. The public schools here serve that type of crustless prepacked peanut butter and jelly sandwich every day as an alternative menu choice. My kids won't touch it, but apparently there must be some out there who like it. |
| Bias Affects Story Updates on Political Weblogs | Sun 30 Mar |
| Recently, I noticed that several webloggers that discussed the suspected chemical weapons plant found in southern Iraq on March 24 werent mentioning those claims turned out to be false, even after the story was revised on USA Today, New York Times, the Washington Post, and Yahoos front page yesterday. (Comments: How do you know who and what to trust in the blogosphere? Thanks Anti-War Guy.) |
| Mon 31 Mar 14:57 | Anonymous | You give them the same weight you'd give any barber or taxi cab driver. |
| The Interaction Domain | Sun 30 Mar |
| (W3C) The Interaction Domain seeks to improve and evolve Web user interface technologies. Work includes formats and languages that add new interaction methods to the Web (e.g. speech recognition, multimodal access), as well as mechanisms for handling the increasing number of new Web access devices (mobile phones, PDAs, interactive television sets etc.). (Comments: Thanks Daniel Szuc.) |
| Mon 31 Mar 12:18 | Joshua Kaufman | Is this really a new domain or is it a new word attached to old domains? The Interaction Domain seeks to improve and evolve Web user interface technologies. Sounds like an umbrella organization for almost everything the W3C does. |