Slashdot Mirror

The problem is that open source developer tools are suited for source code over all other aspects of projects. This isn't just a problem with UX/UI design, it is also a problem with technical writing for documentation, marketing, user interaction, the whole nine yards.

Right now, please, tell me the best way to submit a conceptual UI design for an application into a git repository? Do you just create a PSD file and submit it? Then when someone else edits the PSD, how do you diff it? How do you easily track revision changes of visual assets?

In the closed source world, we have asset management systems that work in parallel with our source code management systems. But this is something that isn't common within the open source world. On top of this, great design is quite possibly much harder than great code. With code, it is easy to run new changes against unit tests to ensure that things do not break. But with layout changes, small or overhauls, how do you test them? They are subject highly to opinion more so than pure fact.

On top of this, take the general nature of open source projects in general. There are often many hoops to jump through to even push a fix for a confirmed bug after discovering it. Just one example (but this has been par for the course all along), I discovered a simple but critical bug in the MariaDB database server returning incorrect results on a SELECT statement. The test case was extremely simple and verified within an hour or two of the bug report being submitted. A couple weeks went by, no work happened on it. I decided to pull down the MariaDB code, hunt down the bug, fix it, and push the change to their git repo. The entire change was only modifying a single if statement condition. The approval process missed several releases of their software and took months, and countless chats in their IRC channel as well. If this is what it takes to get a single simple bug fixed, just imagine what someone would have to do for a serious change like UI cleanup and overhaul of a major application?

On top of that, just read the comments throughout here on Slashdot on this article. The main opinion is that UX/UI design is just "change for the sake of change" - which is apparently inherently bad. But take a step back and think about this: We're about to hit the year 2016. When are we finally going to have "The year of Linux on the Desktop?" We've been trying to push that concept for over a decade. But what is preventing it? Absolutely horrible UX/UI design, that is it. Linux itself may have almost every feature of Windows/OSX, but the elegance of being able to access and use those features is absolutely horrible from someone that doesn't already know Linux. Now look at Android, Google took Linux and re-imagined the UI from scratch, and now it is widely used and successful. It is intuitive and easy for novice users. They don't even need to know it is Linux at the core, it shouldn't matter. The interface is sleek, clean, and simple (save for some bastardizations that some of the handset makers and carriers screw up)

If you want the ultimate test of good vs bad UX/UI design, it is actually quite simple: have people sit down that have absolutely no idea how your program functions. They've never seen it or used it before. And have them attempt to use it with zero supervision. Watch how far they can get. See what all they can do. Look for trends and patterns in their usage. Find where people are getting frustrated, and try to make it simpler. This is what Microsoft did back in the '90s to create the start menu and start button. Check out the history of Windows Chicago: http://oyvind.servehttp.com/wi...

Maybe I missed it, but there appeared to be no references to Windows Chicago at all? The article makes it seem like the START button just appeared out of thin air, not a series of trial and error over time. Check out this document which highlights the evolutionary processes that happened between Windows 3.1 and 95

http://oyvind.servehttp.com/wi...

A good read (something Microsoft should study)

The section "The Start Button: Up and Running in Seconds" is something in particular that is really important that just isn't explored in modern UX/UI design, sadly.

http://oyvind.servehttp.com/wi...

These things are probably too cool to stay legal (if Apple can ban them somehow)... Someone should add a "hackintosh" /. tag to this thread... http://www.efixusa.net/product_info.php?products_id=28
They take Paypal and Credit Card and it was $169 + $10 shipping...

Interestingly, I noticed that their Website appears to be based in England? http://geotool.servehttp.com/?ip=209.25.134.78&host=www.efixusa.net
I wonder if Apple and its vast team of Lawyers are the reason for the offshore hosting and sales site? (I bet it will be shipped from overseas too...)
Hardware Compatibility List: http://www.efixusa.net/hardware_comp.php
NOTE: The EFiX-USA Ebay Store has no inventory at this time: http://stores.ebay.com/EFiX-USA

Penguins are the best, the following is a cool, free, silly fun penguin website. http://penguins.servehttp.com/

You could always uses this handy Social Security Number generator when someone who has no good reason to have your Social Security Number, like a school for example, asks for it.

http://kearney.servehttp.com/test/newssn.php

it does support chinese.
Tested on Win IE and Mac Camino

but there're some conflicting between the pharse suggestion function in the chineses input method on the OS level. maybe that's why Google is not officially supporting that at the moment/in the future.

it does support chinese.
Tested on Win IE and Mac Camino

but there're some conflicting between the pharse suggestion function in the chineses input method on the OS level. maybe that's why Google is not officially supporting that at the moment/in the future.

I've taken the liberty of setting up a torrent of the clip. This is a version my friend found on the usenet and I'm not sure if it's the same one that was linked in the /. posting. This is a 24kbps MP3

Torrent

(Only one seed as of this posting, but I just put it up now...)

Build Your Own Rack Cabinet Or, how to rack 'em and stack 'em for a third the price...

choice quote from this article
"NOTE: Due to TREMENDOUS bandwidth usage thanks to this article's sudden fame on sites like Overclockers.com and Slashdot (to the tune of 17 THOUSAND hits in 18 hours!), you may experience problems loading images. If you do, please load the individual images manually."

the article covers building a frame from both metal (welding required) or wood

I was watching tech tv the other day and they said they're testing out ip blockers to stop this BS. Anybody have any information on this?

http://www.suprnova.org/
http://www.zenith-net.co.uk/
btlinks.no-ip
http://sakstream.tk/
http://www.torrentialbits.tk/
http://www.digitaldistractions.org/torrents.php
http://kung.servehttp.com:8080/live/index.asp
http://absolutesega.bounceme.net:79/
http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~crosses/eyesonly/
http://nx01.us/index.php?page=torrent
http://www.hawkie.org.uk/
http://www.sakstream.cjb.net/
http://www.downloadparadise.tk/
http://bittorrent.kicks-ass.net/dvdrtorrents/index .html

I have, in one pile on top of my main PC's case, a KVM, ADSL modem, and router, piled on top of each other. The modem and router were generating enough heat to kill the stability of the modem. Simple solution: I took the heatsink from my old, dead PC - standard heatsink from a 633MHz Celeron - and put it, vertically, between the modem and the router. It probably isn't very efficient, but it works.

crappy webcam photo of it: http://edwards.servehttp.com:969/heatsink.jpg

FYI, the modem is an Alcatel SpeedTouch Home, and the router is an SMC Barricade 7004ABR.

e3609e352afba37683c47ce60f9086bb for the waste-setup.exe

554cfa7350333aa4e6eb3b6e24201d80 for the waste-source.zip
5645d0378b5bca6d2cf337686dca9a4d for the waste-source.tar.gz
115d1a2554db4490bdf97b9862df5 a24 for the waste.zip

The Technical Overview for the W.A.S.T.E. package has been coverted into HTML, courtesy of Mr. Lucas Gonze , and it is available at http://gonze.com/waste/WASTE_Design.html

A sourceforge project site has also been set up for the W.A.S.T.E. package. The project site is at http://sourceforge.net/projects/waste/ . It may be empty for the moment, but something will be cooked up very soon.

Below is just a partial list of mirrors for the W.A.S.T.E. package that are currently in operation:

Kindly please click here to find out more about the W.A.S.T.E. package
Kindly please click here to find out more about the W.A.S.T.E. package
Kindly please click here to find out more about the W.A.S.T.E. package
Kindly please click here to find out more about the W.A.S.T.E. package
Kindly please click here to find out more about the W.A.S.T.E. package
Kindly please click here to find out more about the W.A.S.T.E. package
Kindly please click here to find out more about the W.A.S.T.E. package
Kindly please click here to find out more about the W.A.S.T.E. package
Kindly please click here to find out more about the W.A.S.T.E. package
Kindly please click here to find out more about the W.A.S.T.E. package
Kindly please click here to find out more about the W.A.S.T.E. package
Kindly please click here to find out more about the W.A.S.T.E. package
Kindly please click here to find out more about the W.A.S.T.E. package
Kindly please click here to find out more about the W.A.S.T.E. package
Kindly please click here to find out more about the W.A.S.T.E. package
Kindly please click here to find out more about the W.A.S.T.E. package
Kindly please click here to find out more about the W.A.S.T.E. package
Kindly please click here to find out more about the W.A.S.T.E. package
Kindly please click here to find out more about the W.A.S.T.E. package
Kindly please click here to find out more about the W.A.S.T.E. package

teaser.mov
actone.mov
acttwo.mov
actthree.mov
tag.mov

I'm still downloading the files, but they should be up soon. I'm still pretty good transfer rates, and the first part is already complete.

(this is going to be the most violent slashdotting EVER)

teaser.mov
actone.mov
acttwo.mov
actthree.mov
tag.mov

I'm still downloading the files, but they should be up soon. I'm still pretty good transfer rates, and the first part is already complete.

(this is going to be the most violent slashdotting EVER)

teaser.mov
actone.mov
acttwo.mov
actthree.mov
tag.mov

I'm still downloading the files, but they should be up soon. I'm still pretty good transfer rates, and the first part is already complete.

(this is going to be the most violent slashdotting EVER)

teaser.mov
actone.mov
acttwo.mov
actthree.mov
tag.mov

I'm still downloading the files, but they should be up soon. I'm still pretty good transfer rates, and the first part is already complete.

(this is going to be the most violent slashdotting EVER)

teaser.mov
actone.mov
acttwo.mov
actthree.mov
tag.mov

I'm still downloading the files, but they should be up soon. I'm still pretty good transfer rates, and the first part is already complete.

(this is going to be the most violent slashdotting EVER)