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Usability in the Movies -- Top 10 Bloopers
Ant writes "A UseIt.com article talks about user interfaces (UIs) in film that are more exciting than they are realistic, and heroes have far too easy a time using foreign systems. The way Hollywood depicts usability could fill many a blooper reel. Here are 10 of the most egregious mistakes made by moviemakers. From the article: '3. The 3D UI - In Minority Report, the characters operate a complex information space by gesturing wildly in the space in front of their screens. As Tog found when filming Starfire, it's very tiring to keep your arms in the air while using a computer. Gestures do have their place, but not as the primary user interface for office systems.'"
As long as I can just 'overrule' every password that is blocked, I am fine with it.
Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
I know this!
My favorite is always the login screens. Someone turns on the computer, and within a second or two a big generic login screen pops up. What's funny is that it usually doesn't have a user name, just a password. Then once logged in, all of a sudden the character can access any file instantaneously.
You've Got Mail is Always Good News is a good one from the list though. I'd love to see the movie of the same name change so that Meg Ryan opens up her Mac notebook to a "You've got mail", which turns out to be 37 advertisements for penis enlargement pills and viagra. Hehehe...
Crack - Free with every butt and set of boobs
I read a one-liner that said, "Artificial Intelligence is the science of making computers behave like they do in the movies."
The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
Actually, every computer professional has a midi footpad under every computer desk, so they can control beeping noises. Sort of like whenever I slide a lighting slider I say "woooosh" or "wht" depending on how fast I slide it.
I have freaks! I did something right...
Twas the night before Christmas,
As I clicked on my mouse,
Across a pile of old floppies, I had tried to degauss;
Windows kept hanging with a Blue Screen Of Death,
While I cursed out Bill Gates under my breath.
The missus slept, as did the kids and newborn,
So I took the time to surf for some porn.
I found a free site that contained many jpegs,
(So that's just exactly, how chickens can lay eggs!)
When out down the hall I heard a loud noise,
I jumped out of my chair and put back the boys.
I figured the wife must be up and about,
If caught again, she'd toss my ass out.
I laced up my robe and thought of a story
About why I'm up and how to say sorry.
I stuck out my head by the light of the john
(One of the kids must've left the light on)
I squint and I strain to see what is what
When what hove into view was a giant red butt.
The first thing I thought was to reach for a bat
(Wait a minute. A red suit, fur trim and he's fat!)
The Claus man is here with high-tech type gadgets
The latest geek toys that run all the gamuts.
New cell phones! New sound cards! New controllers and games!
For Xbox! For Gamecube! For Playstation and MAMEs!
Wireless Routers! And they're eleven G!
Not slow! Not slow! Not slow like B!
As dial-up was, before we all had high speed,
Time seemed to slow as I watched with my greed.
" All those wonderful toys" as the joker did say,
Where does he get them? Best Buy and Ebay?
And then, with a beeping, off went my pager,
(Some idiot at work with a dumb question, I'll wager)
As I fumbled to stop the beep-beeping sound,
Santa had stopped and now turned around.
It was unfortunate that he tripped the motion detector
Because the police would soon be dispatched to our sector
He dropped the toys to make quick his escape
And he flew 'cross the room like that dude in the cape
His ass -- How it rippled and flapped, I say truly
It's explained in a principle by a guy named Bernoulli.
Yes, he flew 'round the room just like he was Neo
While playing a song by Letters To Cleo
I silenced the alarm and he returned to the floor
I said I was sorry, but boy, was he sore!
He hitched up his belt and headed my way
But I managed to calm him with some Grand Marnier.
We laughed, we talked and he told me his troubles
About a lawsuit, an affair and a chimp named Bubbles.
He was falling down drunk. He walked with a sway.
I thought I had better take the keys to the sleigh.
I pulled out my cell phone and called for a cab
To take the jolly old elf back to his lab.
He spoke not a word, but threw up on my slippers.
By the smell, for breakfast, he must've had kippers.
That's about the time the policemen arrived,
So I went for some coffee to get old Santa revived.
In his current state and with no ID to display,
The cops had no choice, but to haul him away.
He gave me the finger as the cops drove out of sight,
" HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, AND TO ALL A GOOD-NIGHT.
I have the CSI plug in for Photoshop, don't you? :)
Watch those corners
I'd have to disagree with the article when they say the voice interfaces, such as those used in Star Trek, would be inefficient. If the machine is able to understand natural language, I'd think it would be much easier for a person to simply have a dialog with the computer than it'd be to try and figure out how to properly word the stuff, type it in, and then pick things from the screen. Not to mention the fact that the machine would literally need hundreds of thousands or millions of options, depending on what the user wanted. If you already know what you want, why not just say it?
... wtf? no big boobs option?!
Voice:
"Computer, what's the status of the plasma conduit in section XYZ?"
Alternative:
Okay, Engineering -> Systems -> Energy -> Plasma Conduits -> Section XYZ -> Status
Voice:
"Computer, how many crew members on board are human, female, and single? Oh, and with big boobs?"
Alternative:
Hmmm, Personnel -> Crew Listing -> Filter based on species, gender, marital status ->
Anyway. I just thought it seemed silly. A lot of times it's easier to say what you want than it is to write it out. If the computer can understand written english that isn't specially formatted, then why not take it to the next step and have it accept voice input? After all that is said, they did still have LCARS and all, so it isn't like voice interaction was the only way to work with the computer.
Even on Christmas Eve, I figured someone would have mentioned this by now.
Jeff Goldblum['s character] is able to plant a virus in the computer designed by AN ALIEN SPECIES. This assumes he has a good working knowledge of not only their user interface, but their hardware, software APIs, programming language, and arguably their natural language as well. Oh, and he learned all this in, like, a day. Granted, he had a Mac, but still.
What if I do the same thing, and I do get different results?
Great, now that you've brought that up, the next remaster of Episode IV will have the computer saying...
"It looks like you're trying to target a two-meter exhaust port with proton torpedoes.
Would you like some help with that?"
Right, but you have to reboot to enable it.
=)
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
~If you're wondering how he eats and breathes And other science facts, Just repeat to yourself "It's just a show, I should really just relax~ Just enjoy the movie!
Those special ops guys have to train a lot to get to that point...
Well, most of the time, anyway. "So much for the seashells. See you in a few minutes.".
and not a Bolian search? ;)
See this, It wasnt UNIX Machine, it was a Cisco Call Manager :D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLXE0lqjY8M
What I think is funny is that, in a movie that features dinosaurs, cloned using frog DNA, running amok and basically eating a theme park, the biggest complaint here is that a kid can figure out how to use a computer.
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Don't be silly, he goes in the ad breaks, like everyone else!
I'm scared of numbers that can't be written as a fraction. It's an irrational fear.