I wonder, on a daily basis, how someone less abled than I could use some of these interfaces. Not to pick on these apps but they are on my mind.
VLC, when it stops playing, resizes back to 1 inch by 2 inches or so. If it's maximized, and you click the exit button on the top right, there's a chance it will go away and you will click the exit button of whatever app was behind it, maximized. I trained myself to use "ALT-F-X" to quit, then they removed the "File" menu, and added a shortcut ALT-Q, so now it makes no sense among other windows apps.
Firefox tell you when it's time to update. It has "update" on the left side, and "skip" on the bottom right, where I am used to seeing "next" or "continue" type buttons. Then when the update is finished, the "finished" button is on the bottom right, the opposite side of the dialog from the "update" button you just clicked. So I usually hit "skip" because it's in the wrong place, then when I do hit the "update" button I'm pissed off because now the next button I have to click is right where I wanted to click in the first place.
Typing any sentence that includes a space in it can have any random effect on your computer. While you're typing, a modal dialog pops up and asks you something, with the default key set to "yes". Just typing the space key clicks the button. If you are a touch typist you might catch the dialog, but hunt-and-peck typists or anyone struggling to use a keyboard will have no idea that they just clicked something. So the alternate interface (keyboard) in this case interferes with the intended interface (mouse).
Application Minimize/Maximize buttons are RIGHT NEXT to the "close this application immediately" button. How in the holy crap is a disabled user supposed to deal with that?
Internet explorer especially, trying to navigate through forms, you get a "tab stop" on every link, form field, or any random collection of things ever. So on a site with extensive top navigation, sub navigation (left side) and hyperlinked help text, it can be hundreds of links you have to tab through to get to the form field. Of course there's the old "onLoad=javascript:document.formname.fieldname.focus()" but if I'm already typing because the site loads slowly, that function is going to make me overwrite something. In some cases, I have typed in a username, hit tab, then the page finishes loading and focuses back on the username while I type in the password in clear text. Opera used to use TAB for forms, and "a" key for links. Firefox lets you choose a mutually exclusive way of doing things, so as far as I can see there is no "links only" and "fields only" command available at the same time (accessibility.tabfocus). If I were disabled and trying to navigate a web page, I would probably go back to lynx, or quit using the intartubes completely.
Especially in Windows NT-based lines, hard disk I/O is prioritized. I can't tell you how many times I switch between applications, or even just try to accomplish something in Windows while I/O is going on, and I can't even figure out what's going on. CTRL-ALT-DEL does not bring up the task manager for 30 seconds to a minute. ALT-TAB doesn't switch, or the application seems hung. Can't click on any explorer windows (and explorer is almost the entire graphical interface). But when it comes up, Task Manager reports 20% or lower CPU usage, often 95% plus is going to the system idle process. I can't cancel anything when that happens, just have to wait for your computer to do what it wants before it does what I want. This isn't particularly a user's abilities complaint, but the interface should actually interface - not be a one way read only "I'm busy doing something, come back laterface". Especially with multithreading and multiple cores!
I went from a college network to intense internet usage at "home" (the parental units' dwelling). Entered college in 1993, and used pine, lynx, gopher, telnet, finger, MOOs, MUDs, and a number of other things best left forgotten.
When I went home for Christmas the next year, they bought a new Windows 95 computer. I don't know if it had IE on it - I remember using SlipKnot to browse via slurp running on my college account. I downloaded slipknot via unix, and used kermit to get it onto the windows 3.11 host, then to my floppy. I got Netscape home the same way probably, along with a file splitting tool to put warez ("juarez" in those days) on my gigantic 50 floppy connection.
I remember fravia putting up the first "anti-microsoft" page. It wasn't made FOR internet explorer, which was in vogue by the Trig Palins of website design, it was actively AGAINST it. It would freeze or crash your PC if you visited with IE of any version. And I loved fravia for it. But the thing was it didn't seem out of place. I knew you could crash the hell out of some IE (and some netscape) and I just lolled, back before there was such a thing.
IE 3 was just "internet explorer". IE 4.01 was the first one with a version number attached to it by anyone other than Microsoft (where the number actually mattered).
I have a great new business plan, looking for investors. Want to buy in?
1) Claim we own someone else's IP 2) Get laughed at 3) Claim to have irrefutable evidence 4) Drag out the court case while bleeding legal fees 5) Finally lose and claim the courts must not have understood our arguments
I'm hiring lawyers first, so how this works is you give me a kickback in exchange for guaranteed 4 years minimum employment at your requested salary of filing horseshit counterclaims.
My job is to make the claims sound plausible, get additional investors when the stock tanks, and pay myself enough to get by while squirreling away kickbacks. E-mail in profile.
Doesn't matter. Anyone who can recognise "Legolas", l33t-crypted like that, deserves a gay furry avatar[0], and I'll stand by that assertion until the day I die.
"If you don't sign here, there's a hundred bands who would kill for the opportunity - I'll just go find someone to replace you"
My guess at what the quote would be, but it'd definitely something like that.
No shit. 4 clicks in and I still have no reason to care about this. So rather than read more, I posted a message on Slashdot, where people read my message and did not care any more than they did before.
As long as the company gets punished, I usually don't care to whom the money goes. But in this case the dollar amount does not seem large enough to justify apathy, so I agree with you in this particular case but not in general.
Interesting, but I would be more concerned with false negatives - people who are convinced their destruction is Allah's will, or whatever other delusion, and there is no need to be anxious because the plan is divinely blessed.
Consumers need to buy replacement devices, and companies need the specs to make them. If this truly is buy once play anywhere, what's the difference between patent-free devices and a completely encumbered system which has the same effect? That's right, someone owns the patent and is making money. Like selling bottled water.
It's a site for MBAs - they were waiting for the "technical guys" to fix it. First techie to raise the issue gets fired as a scapegoat, second one has to fix it.
Slashdot Mirror
I went from a college network to intense internet usage at "home" (the parental units' dwelling). Entered college in 1993, and used pine, lynx, gopher, telnet, finger, MOOs, MUDs, and a number of other things best left forgotten.
When I went home for Christmas the next year, they bought a new Windows 95 computer. I don't know if it had IE on it - I remember using SlipKnot to browse via slurp running on my college account. I downloaded slipknot via unix, and used kermit to get it onto the windows 3.11 host, then to my floppy. I got Netscape home the same way probably, along with a file splitting tool to put warez ("juarez" in those days) on my gigantic 50 floppy connection.
I remember fravia putting up the first "anti-microsoft" page. It wasn't made FOR internet explorer, which was in vogue by the Trig Palins of website design, it was actively AGAINST it. It would freeze or crash your PC if you visited with IE of any version. And I loved fravia for it. But the thing was it didn't seem out of place. I knew you could crash the hell out of some IE (and some netscape) and I just lolled, back before there was such a thing.
IE 3 was just "internet explorer". IE 4.01 was the first one with a version number attached to it by anyone other than Microsoft (where the number actually mattered).
I'd be surprised if your job didn't entail database programming, or at least some form of abuse of spreadsheets. Brilliant numbers, those.
I have a great new business plan, looking for investors. Want to buy in?
1) Claim we own someone else's IP
2) Get laughed at
3) Claim to have irrefutable evidence
4) Drag out the court case while bleeding legal fees
5) Finally lose and claim the courts must not have understood our arguments
I'm hiring lawyers first, so how this works is you give me a kickback in exchange for guaranteed 4 years minimum employment at your requested salary of filing horseshit counterclaims.
My job is to make the claims sound plausible, get additional investors when the stock tanks, and pay myself enough to get by while squirreling away kickbacks. E-mail in profile.
Even though we are all supposedly geeks, it might help if you gave grammar lessons in English instead of regex.
Interesting. "lr" is the language dropdown.
<table cellspacing=0 cellpadding=2><tr><td class=label><label> Language:</label></td><td width=74%><select class=sef name=lr ><option value= selected>any language</option><option value=lang_ar >Arabic</option>....
You can emulate mirrors on the ceiling with this thing and a decent webcam. I am so buying this, a webcam, and some c14715 or v14gr4.
The XBOX version or the PC version?
Screw the prior art argument - just bring this guy along to explain that it simply won't work so why bother. Instant retraction.
Doesn't matter. Anyone who can recognise "Legolas", l33t-crypted like that, deserves a gay furry avatar[0], and I'll stand by that assertion until the day I die.
[0] Not that there's anything wrong with that.
There are like a million copies of this article verbatim and with the same picture. Here's his page http://www.mscs.dal.ca/~brown/
and then find these:
http://www.guitarplayer.com/story.asp?sectioncode=8&storycode=15819
http://www.mscs.dal.ca/~brown/AHDNSoloJIB.pdf
Goddam, how much time did you spend on that?
Tthis *is* someone's work. their entire existence at work is finding and field testing the best name so that people buy stuff.
Windows
Internet Explorer
Office
Word
Excel
Fits right in, no?
I hope you can see this, because I'm doing it as hard as I can.
"If you don't sign here, there's a hundred bands who would kill for the opportunity - I'll just go find someone to replace you" My guess at what the quote would be, but it'd definitely something like that.
No shit. 4 clicks in and I still have no reason to care about this. So rather than read more, I posted a message on Slashdot, where people read my message and did not care any more than they did before.
As long as the company gets punished, I usually don't care to whom the money goes. But in this case the dollar amount does not seem large enough to justify apathy, so I agree with you in this particular case but not in general.
Interesting, but I would be more concerned with false negatives - people who are convinced their destruction is Allah's will, or whatever other delusion, and there is no need to be anxious because the plan is divinely blessed.
Dr. Gallaher?
And then crashes bad enough that CTRL+ALT+DEL doesn't do anything. Yup, we remember.
Consumers need to buy replacement devices, and companies need the specs to make them. If this truly is buy once play anywhere, what's the difference between patent-free devices and a completely encumbered system which has the same effect? That's right, someone owns the patent and is making money. Like selling bottled water.
It's a site for MBAs - they were waiting for the "technical guys" to fix it. First techie to raise the issue gets fired as a scapegoat, second one has to fix it.
The other option is to install blinking Christmas lights at about 15-20 Hz.
You think aliens have 4chan?
I wouldn't mod that funny - I'd be worried about making it to my next birthday if I did that.