Black History Month

Black History Month reminded me to recommend Coming of Age in Mississippi.

It is not a feel good story. In fact it is a feel bad story but it is real and urgent and rings disturbingly of truth.

I think of Anne Moody often; I dare you not to be moved by her story.

Link to "Coming of Age in Mississippi" on Amazon

So it's a control issue?

Why Products Fail

Most gadget and software makers don't understand what users want most: Control

"Both users and product designers alike talk about user interface (UI) consistency, usability and simplicity, and system attributes like performance and stability. What's missing is that these attributes are means to an end. The real issue is always the user's physiological feeling of being in control. And control comes in many ways: . . ."


Link to article

Seriously, did they have to name it The Fusion Render Node?

" Advanced Micro Devices CEO Dirk Meyer on Thursday said the company will deliver high-definition gaming and movies to devices like smartphones in an attempt to bring more usability and interactivity to the devices. . .

People will only need a Web browser on a smartphone and a decent broadband connection to access the supercomputer to instantly play games or watch Blu-ray movies, Meyer said. The supercomputer, which will be called the Fusion Render Node, will change the way games and movies are delivered to mobile devices, Meyer said."

AMD to Bring HD Gaming and Movies to Mobile Phones

10 Best Intranets of 2009

"Intranets are getting more strategic, with increased collaboration support. Team size is growing by 12% per year, and platforms are becoming integrated, with a strong showing for SharePoint. Improving usability increased use by 106% on average."

Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox, January 5, 2009

Skid Software - helping children with disabilities

"17-year-old Arpit Khansili, could not use the Internet earlier because he suffers from a motor disability that makes it difficult for him to use the mouse or the keyboard attached to his personal computer.

However, he is surfing away, thanks to a software program that identifies inputs from any device such as a joystick, wheel or a gaming console. What’s more, it is a free software and based on an Open Source platform – which makes it easily modifiable. . .

The program, named Arpit’s Wheel, has been conceptualised by IIT alumnus Arun Mehta, who has won the Manthan Award this year for his work. “Our software is based on Rubyonrails, a language based on Open Source, and can be accessed on any Web browser,” said Mehta, who is also the managing director at Delhi-based computer training organisation Indata Com Private Limited.

Currently, the software offers about 12 modules that help a user write or edit pictures. The software is available for a free download at www.skid.org.in."
Hindustan Times Link to article

*I met Dr. Mehta at the 2008 Nonprofit Development Summit. If you can help him with his project which provides free software for disabled children, especially if you are a Ruby developer, please visit www.skid.org.in and contact him.

Kryptonite for MRSA?

"A study found that copper fittings rapidly killed microbes on hospital wards, succeeding where other infection control measures failed. In the trial at Selly Oak hospital, in Birmingham, England, copper sink fixtures, toilet seats and push plates on doors all but eliminated common bacteria. Lab tests show that the metal kills off the deadly MRSA and C difficile superbugs."

http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/WBL02118/Copper-Sink-Fixtures-Kill-95-Percent-of-Superbugs.html

Reaching beyond your grasp . . .

"The critical path organization of the Apollo Project disclosed some two million tasks that had to be successfully accomplished before the human astronauts were to be returned safely to Spaceship Earth. NASA's Apollo management then put a scientifically and technically competent control group to work to identify all the approximately two million tasks, a million of which required technological performances the design, production, and successful operation of which had never before been undertaken by humans."
Critical Path, R. Buckminster Fuller

Get the Vote Out - and in the system correctly

"Our goal in designing a voting system should be to accurately capture the intent of the voters. If actual, real voters can't figure it out, then you need to redesign the ballot. If election officials need to create detailed instructions on how to vote, then the voting process has already failed."
Dan Wallach, Discovery Tech

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/11/03/tech-electronic-voting.html

A Key to Free and Fair Elections

"Usability - the ability of everyone to use the voting systems easily and effectively - is a key to free and fair elections." Whitney Quesenbery

Review Whitney Quesenbery's expert research on Voting and Usability:
http://www.wqusability.com/articles/voting-intro.html

Find Your Voice, Find Your Vote

The U.S. isn't the only country where electronic voting machines are causing problems. Usability experts have some harsh words about Finnish voting machines, which where trialed in municipal elections on Sunday and caused about 200 lost votes.

http://news.iwebtool.com/article_74963.html?mp=1

Google Analytics Update

The new features include the ability to create custom reports, better ways to look at audience segments, the ability to track and measure AdSense inside Google Analytics, an API (on it’s way), the introduction of cool bubble “motion charts,” and some user interface improvements. Let’s take these new features one at a time.
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008

Armchair Exploring . . .

The internationally recognized WorldImages database provides access to the California State University IMAGE Project. It contains over 65,000 images, is global in coverage and includes all areas of visual imagery. WorldImages is accessible anywhere and its images may be freely used for non-profit educational purposes.

http://worldart.sjsu.edu/?sid=893&x=100582

Destiny vs. Destination

The American Heritage definition of destination:

1. The place to which one is going or directed.
2. The ultimate purpose for which something is created or intended.
3. Archaic An act of appointing or setting aside for a specific purpose.

"All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware." - Martin Buber

Keep those Consonants Coming . . .

"From nursery rhymes to Shakespearian sonnets, alliterations have always been an important aspect of poetry whether as an interesting aesthetic touch or just as something fun to read. But a recent study suggests that this literary technique is useful not only for poetry but also for memory."

http://www.psychologicalscience.org/media/releases/
2008/lea.cfm


And try the Visual Thesaurus just for fun:
http://www.visualthesaurus.com/landing/?word=
alliteration&ad=mwcom.dict.txt1

Graffiti or Art? You decide . . .

since I don't have to scrub it off the next day, I think it's art -

“Digital Graffiti” at Alys Beach is a festival created to celebrate and promote the world’s most talented and innovative digital artists - with the entire town literally serving as their canvas. . .
“We invited artists to project their works onto our town's famous white walls,” said Arnold. “Alys Beach will literally become their blank canvas.”

http://www.digitalgraffiti.info/

Lighting the Bulb

"Epiphany has little to do with either creativity or innovation. Instead, innovation is a slow process of accretion, building small insight upon interesting fact upon tried-and-true process. Just as an oyster wraps layer upon layer of nacre atop an offending piece of sand, ultimately yielding a pearl, innovation percolates within hard work over time."

Link to New York Times article

Bamboo House Built for Quake Victims

"A USC professor on sabbatical in China has created a prototype of a sturdy, quick-to-build bamboo house designed to help the vast number of people made homeless by the May 12 Sichuan earthquake."

http://www.usc.edu/uscnews/stories/15335.html

Joining Technorati

Technorati Profile

How to Avoid Death by PowerPoint

Surviving PowerPoint: make it minimal and meaningful

http://www.slideshare.net/thecroaker/death-by-powerpoint/

The Art of Searching

Interesting, appealing, easy to understand advanced search that provides users with lots of feedback and lots of options - from the Boundless Gallery site.