| last updated:01 Sep 2003 13: 43 Webword time, or 01 Sep 2003 18:43 UK time |
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| Webword Statistics - Recent Comments (Comments added for week ending Sun 31 Aug 2003) | View Other Weeks |
| The Gender Genie | Fri 29 Aug |
| Inspired by an article in The New York Times Magazine, the Gender Genie uses an algorithm developed by Moshe Koppel, Bar-Ilan University in Israel, and Shlomo Argamon, Illinois Institute of Technology, to predict the gender of an author. (Comments: Thanks Dennis G. Jerz) |
| Fri 29 Aug 14:48 | Matt | I just copied-and-pasted a whole bunch of paragraphs from e-mails between myself and a friend of mine (both of us male). Every time, without exception, the 'Gender Genie' thought the author of the text was female. Maybe if they inverted the equation... |
| Fri 29 Aug 14:58 | Wolf | Copied this section from The Wonderful Wizard of OZ - Chapter 9, where Dorothy, Scarecrow and Tin Woodman see the Cowardly Lion for the first time: The Tin Woodman was about to reply when he heard a low growl, and turning his head (which worked beautifully on hinges) he saw a strange beast come bounding over the grass toward them. It was, indeed, a great yellow Wildcat, and the Woodman thought it must be chasing something, for its ears were lying close to its head and its mouth was wide open, showing two rows of ugly teeth, while its red eyes glowed like balls of fire. As it came nearer the Tin Woodman saw that running before the beast was a little gray field mouse, and although he had no heart he knew it was wrong for the Wildcat to try to kill such a pretty, harmless creature. Got a no idea!!! |
| Fri 29 Aug 15:03 | Wolf | Actually, that isn't the Cowardly Lion at all; he appeared earlier. Sorry. |
| Fri 29 Aug 16:40 | fajalar | I pasted the preface to my book. I am female apparently. I didn't think I was, but can technology be wrong? What are they teaching kids in school these days? |
| Sun 31 Aug 06:16 | Michael | According to their survey results, it's correct almost exactly 50% of the time! Based on this, I was able to accurately reproduce their system using only a quarter. |
| Sun 31 Aug 08:16 | Wolf | I tried a test of a book 'written as' by a ghost author. Specifically Robert Ludlum (now dead) written by Gayle Lynds. From 'The Altman Code': On the north bank of the Huangpu River, giant floodlights glared down on the docks, turning night into day. Swarms of stevedores unloaded trucks and positioned long steel containers for the cranes. Amid the squeals and rasps of metal rubbing metal, the towering cranes lifted the containers high against the starry sky and lowered them into the holds of freighters from across the world. Hundreds streamed in daily to this vital port on China's eastern coast, almost midway between the capital, Beijing, and its latest acquisition, Hong Kong. To the south of the docks, the lights of the city and the towering Pudong New District glowed, while out on the swirling brown water of the river itself, freighters, junks, tiny sampans, and long trains of unpainted wood barges jostled for position from shore to shore, like traffic on a busy Paris boulevard. At a wharf near the eastern end of the docks, not far from where the Huangpu curved sharply north, the light was less bright. Here a single freighter was being loaded by one crane and no more than twenty stevedores. The name lettered on the freighter's transom was The Dowager Empress; her home port was Hong Kong. There was no sign of the ubiquitous uniformed dock guards. This was rated as male. I would guess she would need to come across this way; maybe it's speciffically why she was chosen. |
| Sun 31 Aug 22:16 | Anonymous | Amazing! Gender Genie does an astonishing job of correctly guessing my gender 50% of the time! |
| What lies ahead? NECs advanced designs may come soon | Sat 30 Aug |
| (gizmodo.net) Thankfully, NEC is looking to breathe new life into the industry. Although these new-age devices are currently in the design phase and hold no immediate plans for production, they prove that not every one is content with the current standstill. |
| Sun 31 Aug 22:08 | Anonymous | If engineers would just observe users in their native habitat the next PC would have a spill-proof keyboard with a built-in snack tray and beer cozy. |
| ReUSEIT | Fri 29 Aug |
| Here’s the idea: create a redesign of Jakob Nielsens useit.com. Design a usable, intuitive layout and navigation, organize the content with usability in mind, and create a work of art which still reflects the importance and influence of Nielsens work. This is NOT a Jakob Nielsen slam-fest. It is a legitimate design contest that Mr. Nielsen himself has given his blessing to. So dont even think about it! (Comments: Thanks Gabriel White) |
| Fri 29 Aug 13:15 | MadMan | I get the feeling that Jakob Nielsen himself cannot afford the services of Jakob Nielsen to redesign the useit.com site. ;) |
| Sat 30 Aug 19:01 | Ron Zeno | Perhaps he doesn't value his services enough to use them? ;) |
| Sun 31 Aug 22:03 | Anonymous | > 'Many people, designers mostly, it seems, have ridiculed the plain, > minimally-styled web site, but no one has put their money where their mouth is, > so to speak, to suggest anything more stylistically attractive.' Huh? I can't criticize a thing unless I provide a solution? That kind of thinking will push a million pundits to the soup lines. |
| Hi-tech tome takes on paperbacks | Mon 25 Aug |
| (BBC) The pages are turned by running a finger along one of the strips. Stroking the strip at different speeds allows the reader to speed read or casually browse the book. |
| Mon 25 Aug 07:24 | Curtis | Oh, look. Yet another e-book device that spells the end of paper books in the near future... no, really. We guarantee it this time. Yawn. Cluelessness is confirmed by the statement, 'The main reason e-books haven't taken off [and presumably, taken over] is poor screen resolution.' Yep, no other factors to consider here. Just improve the technology and that solves the problem. What a classic developer attitude. So what does this _latest_ miracle gadget cost? (Not that cost would be a factor, mind you. Only screen resolution matters.) |
| Mon 25 Aug 08:06 | Frank Lynch | When will I be able to write in the 'margins'? |
| Mon 25 Aug 08:10 | Anonymous | Curtis is onto something. Another great $49.95 device which will price out considerably higher. My guess is they've never actually watched what people do with books -- including leave them places. Will there be a way to highlight, or scribble notes in the margin? Probably not. I don't believe today's book designs succeeded by closely copying previous alternatives like scrolls and large manuscripts. Rather they pioneered a new, superior, interaction model and consumer pricing. Until they prove out brand new advantages which are unique to ebooks, they will continue to flop. |
| Mon 25 Aug 08:34 | fajalar | Assuming you could keep it in the library, this might be a better solution (considering space, energy) for replacing microfiche (sp?) viewers. Or any place where documents/maps need to be displayed, and interacted with, but the owner doesn't want the document changed. Eh, I'm just trying to be positive. I need the practice. |
| Mon 25 Aug 10:33 | Porkins | No one buys e-books because: 1) The interfaces suck. 2) Their usage is confusing. How do you load new books? Where do you even get new books? Am I buying the next betamax? 3) They're way way way too expensive. Forget revising the interface. Establish a standard so I can buy, rent or borrow an e-book like I can a DVD or VHS tape. Do all that, and get libraries to adopt the technology, and printed books will begin receding. Why would manufacturers want to establish a standard? The desktop printer ink ideology states there is no money in selling the product. Bilk on the accessories, or make the technology obsolete every two years. Neither are conducive to e-books being taken seriously. And, on the other end, many industries stand to lose from e-books, from print houses to pulp processors. This isn't only a user-friendly issue. Monied interests have a huge stake in delaying adoption. Who in their right mind would want to waste away hours searching for, downloading and burning music onto CDs? Why, it only took 15 years for the technology to make its way across the U.S. border. |
| Sun 31 Aug 16:25 | Drachen | The Stanford-Poynter study (5-2000) found that reading on screen is 25% slower than reading text on paper. What a tremendous improvement this device will be for wasting our precious time! -To say nothing of the added eyestrain, and the added cost! -AND if you drop it, it probably will stop working! Why would any old Luddite want a BOOK, I ask you? Aaaah, technology... |
| WebWord Comment | Sun 24 Aug |
| While on the way to get some durian, we passed through a red light district. An actual sign at a Singapore hotel posted rates of $15 per minute. Wish I had my camera... |
| Mon 25 Aug 00:53 | MadMan | Ah, Singapore. I can tell you about food to try. :) Have you tried: 1) Laksa (Yummy soup) 2) Mee Goreng 3) Char Kway Teow 4) Beef Rendang 5) Hokkien Mee 6) Nasi Lemak 7) Roti Pratta 8) Mee Siam 9) Sambal Udang 10) Poh Pia 11) Gulai Ayam 12) Ayam Buah Keluak 13) Satay 14) Gado Gado 15) Sambal Kangkong All of them are wonderful dishes. No, there's no 'exotic meat' in any of them. ;) |
| Mon 25 Aug 00:57 | MadMan | Were you in the Geylang area by any chance? That's generally the red light zone. $15 per minute? Must be a typo. That's the per-hour rate at some of the hotels there. (No, I'm not an expert, but I stayed at a hotel there on my first visit to S'pore without knowing about the area's reputation. I was later told about it by a friend. So much for Internet research.) |
| Mon 25 Aug 01:10 | daniel szuc | Gado Gado is sensational! We have a little Indonesian place around the corner from our office that makes very home style meals like this. All Usability folks invited :) |
| Tue 26 Aug 14:12 | Greg Benoit | Ron, I was with John on the trip, and I can tell you that Durian is one of the most vile, disgusting things I've ever smelled and tasted. I put it in my last 20 things I'd ever want to eat again. John put it in his last 10. It's hard to describe without trying it, but it's got these off-white lumps inside it that have a skin on them and a sweet-ish goo inside them. Blech. We tried a whole slew of delicious dishes, but I don't know their non-English names. Some of the best were pepper prab, chili crab, shark-fin soup, scallops wrapped in mashed yams, and drunken prawns. (Did I miss any, John?) We did have Satay as well, which was great. - Greg |
| Sat 30 Aug 06:27 | daniel szuc | Durian is indeed a very strong smell. But not a patch on burnt tofu! My goodness ... enough to bring tears to the eyes :) |
| Sat 30 Aug 13:25 | MadMan | RECIPE: GADO GADO Gado Gado is a wonderfully light vegetable dish that doesn't follow any fixed recipe. In fact, it can be made with any leftover vegetables in your refrigerator. This makes it highly versatile. Use the veggies in this recipe as a guide but use whatever you have. If you want a totally vegetarian version, leave out the boiled eggs. WHAT YOU NEED Vegetables: Cabbage - 100 gm (1 cup) - shredded Beans - 200 gm (2 cups) - cut into 1/2 inch lengths Carrots - 4 medium-sized - peeled and sliced thinly Cauliflower florets - 100 gm (1 cup) Beansprouts - 50 gm (1/2 cup) washed For the garnish: Some lettuce leaves and watercress Eggs - 2 - boiled and quartered. Potato - 1 medium-size - boiled in its skin, peeled and sliced Cucumber - 1/2 - thinly sliced HOW TO MAKE IT 1) Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Then blanch each of the vegetables in it separately. Drain in a colander and set aside. To save myself the labour of constantly draining the water and putting it back in the pot, I use a Chinese wire mesh strainer to hold the veggies and then dunk it into the boiling water. When I pull it out, the water stays in the pot. We're blanching them separately to avoid overcooking. The vegetables must be tender-crisp, not mushy. You can do beans, carrots and cauliflower together if you want. Beans, carrots, and cauliflower: ~4 minutes Cabbage - 30 seconds Bean sprouts - 10 seconds 2) Arrange the lettuce around the edge of a serving dish. Then pile the vegetables in the middle of the dish. Arrange the eggs, sliced potatoes, and sliced cucumber on top. Prepare the peanut sauce as given in the recipe below. Add more water if it is too thick. Pour the sauce over the vegetables. Serve. * RECIPE - Peanut sauce (Sambal kacang) There are many recipes for peanut sauce. I have two that I use. One is this one which is made from water. Another is a much richer-flavoured peanut sauce made using coconut milk and is also flavoured with lemon grass and more chilli. That recipe for that will have to wait another day. Ignore recipes that call for using peanut butter. Sure, it's convenient, but can't come close to the flavour of freshly roasted crushed peanuts. This sauce also goes well with any grilled meat preparation. WHAT YOU NEED Peanut oil - 2 tablespoons Raw peanuts (without skins) - 200 gm (approx. 1 cup) Garlic - 3 large cloves - chopped Shallots - 4 - chopped Shrimp paste - 1 tsp (optional) Salt - to taste (try 1/2 tsp and adjust later) Red chilli powder - 1 tsp Palm sugar or brown sugar - 1 tsp Dark soy sauce - 1 tbsp Water - 2 cups (500 ml) Tamarind water or juice of a lemon - 1 tbsp HOW TO MAKE IT 1) Roast the peanuts. Heat a skillet on low heat. Don't add any oil. Put in the raw peanuts. Roast on low heat for about 10 minutes till the colour turns to a light brown. Stir (or toss) frequently to make sure they don't burn and turn black. Burnt peanuts taste terrible. Once they're roasted, take it off the burner and leave it for about 15 minutes to cool. 2) Grind the peanuts into a fine powder using a blender or coffee grinder 3) Blend the garlic, shallots and shrimp paste in a mortar or in a blender with a pinch or two of salt. Heat the 2 tbsp peanut oil in a wok or non-stick frying pan. Fry the blended paste in the oil for about 3 minutes on medium heat, reducing the heat if anything starts to burn. 4) Add the chilli powder, sugar, soy sauce and water. Bring this to the boil, then add the ground peanuts. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sauce becomes thick; this should take about 8-10 minutes. You're looking for the consistency of... oh, thousand island dressing. Add the tamarind water or lemon juice and more salt if needed. Ta da! Your peanut sauce is ready. You can now refrigerate it in a covered jar if you want, where it will stay for a week or two. When you need some, take out the required amount, put it in a pan, add a few tablespoons of water, and reheat on a low flame. |
| what is Jakob smoking? | Wed 27 Aug |
| (V2) I do not want a machine whose UI and form factor and power-consumption profile are based around watching movies and editing long text files. I mean, thats what I have a laptop for. |
| Wed 27 Aug 18:33 | Anonymous | The banality of linking to Jakob could perhaps only be surpassed by linking to the hipster doofuses who whine about Jakob. At least link to commentary that is mildly entertaining. |
| Thu 28 Aug 11:42 | Adam Greenfield | Hey, Jim? My anger management classes seem to have gone all threadbare on me, so I'll have to leave you with a hearty 'fuck you, and the horse you rode in on.' |
| Thu 28 Aug 12:36 | Anonymous | Oh great, here we go again. Any time someone doesn't like/agree with Adam's commentaries he lashes out at them. Very professional. |
| Sat 30 Aug 02:25 | Anonymous | Gee, I feel like the bully of Mrs. Weinstein's 3rd grade class just pushed me against the wall for striking a little too close to the truth. How sad for you. |
| Sat 30 Aug 02:30 | Anonymous | On second thought, I shouldn't be surprised getting crap from someone who starts his article with the question, 'What is Jakob smoking?' If you can't be smart, be funny. The world already has enough jerks. |
| WebWord Comment | Sat 23 Aug |
| Ive been in Singapore for the last several days. It is a clean and safe country, and very Western. Except for the high numbers of Indians and Chinese, I feel I could easily be in some city in California. I had to visit the CIA Factbook site to learn about Singapore. Im embarrassed by how little I knew. Last night I went out with some folks for a wonderful dinner. We had shark fin soup, pepper crab, fish heads, prawns in peanut sauce, chicken and beef fried rice, and much more. Im very picky but I still enjoyed just about everything. Once again I used chopsticks. Im definitely getting better! Today I was at the zoo after getting a ton of work done. (Nothing like taking a well deserved break, eh?) Now, unlike zoos in the United States, you are allowed to get very close to the animals. (Ill try to post some pictures when I return home next week.) In fact, if you arent careful you can actually step on them, or walk into them. The Singapore Zoo wouldnt work in the U.S. because, Im sad to say, that Americans cant seem to handle the responsibility. Im almost certain that some parents would allow their children to touch or pick up animals even when the signs clearly say, Dont Touch or Feed the Animals. The attitude in Singapore is much more respectful; more rules and people follow them. (I heard from a colleague here that you need a permit to speak against the government. How interesting!) Speaking of the rules, they are everywhere. It is actually entertaining to see them. (No chewing gum! Death to people who traffic in drugs!) Some Americans would love this I think, but others would find it oppressive. Ill tell you this I definitely feel safe. No personal security issues here. |
| Fri 29 Aug 04:03 | jabba | Shark fin soup? Suggest you read this before you have your next bowl. http://www.thailandlife.com/food/sharkfinsoup.html |
| PowerPoint Is Evil | Thu 21 Aug |
| (wired) At a minimum, a presentation format should do no harm. Yet the PowerPoint style routinely disrupts, dominates, and trivializes content. Thus PowerPoint presentations too often resemble a school play -very loud, very slow, and very simple. |
| Thu 28 Aug 20:53 | Dino DRomero | E. Tufte is right on the mark with this article. Some PowerPoint presentations are way too heavy on the graphics, especially using colorful frames or clip art. I can’t understand the logic of adding flying graphics to enhance the slide – it serves no purpose to the meat of the presentation. The moving, appearing and disappearing text/headlines technique needs to be outlaw too. 'Information over presentation' |
| Linux vs. Windows: Choice vs. Usability | Thu 28 Aug |
| (DevX) The average user doesnt know—or care—about the underlying operating system, the idea of GUI interfaces, the various types of file systems, or about any other technical aspect of using a computer. |
| Thu 28 Aug 15:37 | Brian Curtis | And therein lies one of the biggest conceptual gaps between techs and regular users, which explains why Linux is wildly popular among the former and almost unknown among the latter. (Hint: It's not just superior marketing, guys.) Want to know the REAL difference? It's the techie notion that 'choice is good.' Well, for users, it isn't. Choice is bad. Choice (or its popular euphemism among coders, 'control') is a nuisance because it adds another barrier, another level of complexity to wade through before you can get on with your task. This has nothing to do with the miracle of the free market or the evils of socialism--it has do with how much crap users are willing to put up with just to use a device. And the answer is always 'surprisingly little.' A LOT less than gizmo-tolerant lovers of technology would suspect, or even understand. Linux offers a choice of interfaces? To geeks, that's a major plus. To regular users, it's one of the most staggeringly huge negatives imaginable. 'What do you MEAN it won't look the same everywhere I go and every time I pull it up on any random PC? How will the tech support guy be able to answer my questions if---wait a minute... What do you MEAN, 'What tech support guy?'' This is what so many Linus enthusiasts are missing--an understanding that users want standards more than creativity. They want stability, not choices. And they want reliable, predictable, dirt-simple interfaces far more than any amount of 'power and control.' |
| Thu 28 Aug 16:43 | Anonymous | Amen! |
| When sci-fi forgets the science | Mon 25 Aug |
| (BBC) A strange idiocy seems to have over-taken the makers of blockbusters such as The Matrix Reloaded, Star Wars: Attack of the Clones and others who are bolstering their creations with some decidedly dodgy science. |
| Tue 26 Aug 06:28 | MadMan | Hey, that photo looks like me! ;) My brother calls me The Incredible Bulk. |