Can we all please make this the last GNU/Linux "usability" study that begins with some ridiculous description of a "joe shmoe" mythical target user. I am sick and tired of it. It is possible to make something usable for "normal" users, while at the same time comfortable for both "mewbies" and "power users". Please let us retire "Bob" and "Aunt Tillie" and "Grandma" and every other stupid target user.
If you don't agree with my statement in the first paragraph go look at http://www.google.com - great for newbies AND power users. I've never heard anyone say "Google works fine for Aunt Tillie and Uncle Bob but I really could use MORE features to the interface." Its interface is clean, simple and completely intuitive. And if you want to do some arcane power search you CAN!.
And if google isn't a good enough example for you (because its a website and not an OS, etc.) look at GNOME. GNOME has proven that you can make a good clean interface that is user friendly, newbie friendly, and has all the access a "power user" could want. Yes, I firmly believe that the whining about lack of config options in every panel is entirely from masochistic freaks that simply like to know they can easly change whether the delay to close a window when the close button is clicked is 2ms or 3ms WITHOUT having to open a configuration editor. And BTW gconf-editor IS super simple and user friendly ANYWAY!)
Besides, I am probably what most people would consider experienced with Debian GNU/Linux (been using it exclusively for about 3 years) and I like a good clean, intuitive interface over something that is so-called "geek friendly" any day.
BTW - No I haven't read the whole article yet, I saw the bob bit and HAD to get this off my chest before I read the rest (now I will).
I have never read I, Robot... maybe I will so it won't be ruined. But I have to say the few Asimov things I have read were terribly dated. It can be a problem in fiction, and especially sci fi, and I think asimov's work has mostly succombed to time.
The errors in my Slashdot posts are embarrasingly bad. I am sorry. I will have to pay more atention in the future:)
And to think I thought bigfoot was real science...
on
Man Admits to Bigfoot Hoax
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
Sometimes I listen to Coast to Coast... and ussually the guests are so outragously wrong, or dumb (the people who 'record' ghost voices onto 'blank' tapes come to mind, thats so funny its sad) I can't stand more than five minutes.... but occassionally I hear someone talk about Bigfoot, or Crop Circles, or some other nonsence and they actually sound sane... you think 'if this evidence is valid, then....'
So I wonder for a second or two, why is there no one putting as much effort into showing the faults, or conversly if it is real why hasn't the entire media gone ape-shit over it?
And suddenly I remember, to most rational people the faults are obvious if you stop for a few minutes and look at the 'evidence' (take a look at Richard Hoagland's wonderful blown up martian images). And to the believers everything that points against them is either from close minded "establishment" scientists, or some grand conspiracy.
You could give UFO nuts immediate access to EVERYTHING the US gov't has ever produced, and when they found no records of the grand Alien-Gov't summit they would claim that it was all removed.
While the concept of 'bigfoot' isn't as ridiculous and absurd as aliens coming all the way to our planet is supposedly faster-than-light craft to anally probe whitley steiber, drawn in some wheat, and possibly do things to people that can ussually be otherwise explained with real psycological/physialogic explainations its increasingly closure that that level when NOONE has ever taken a remotely clear photo / video or capture/killed one. Its a figgin lare animal in a relatively well traveled and populated region people!
Everyone always uses "Google" when they just mean any old search engine. AS if the streets would be filled with encyclopedia salesmen if we all used Yahoo! and AltaVista.
Second, have you noticed that MS gives Encarta away with everything ?
Third: Duh! Universal free access to a worldwide information store is eliminating the need for large, expensive and quickly obsoleted books? My god stop the presses. In other news the Edison wax cylinder is no longer used in favour of a strange plastic disc read by lazers, wax salesman frieghtened.
The politics are always more important. And definatly more important than if some kid can play a proprietary piece of software on a proprietary platform over the network.
I say if your not willing to accept the console makers restrictions, you find a new product, and perhap learn your lesson about proprietary platforms.
Discovering "serious" problems in 2 of 4 programs that quickly sounds high. But I would have thought the 1 in 20 figure would be higher. I would have guessed from 10%-20% at least instead of teh 5% they got.
I guess not running windows distorts how bad it is for you. I gave up on that platform a few years back and have been happy and spyware free with Debian since.
Re:My system for spam.
on
Gates on Spam
·
· Score: 1
OpenPGP is a standard.
Re:My system for spam.
on
Gates on Spam
·
· Score: 1
ahh but unlike the side effects we all experience from people opening attachments (even those of us who don't use MS's OS) someone else not verifying thier own mail has NO effect on me.
Re:I already pay
on
Gates on Spam
·
· Score: 0, Troll
I like how you added (way too much) after taxes. I find that funny, beause I don't pay enough taxes, and I don't know anyone else who does. Maybe your in another country? I live in New York.
Re:My system for spam.
on
Gates on Spam
·
· Score: 1
Sorry I forgot to delete a sentence. I have more important things to do than more than a quick glance over for a post to slashdot.
Whats wrong with microsoft?
on
Gates on Spam
·
· Score: 1
They call it "Caller ID" ?
Whats next longhorn will be released as "Operating System" because "Windows" just isn't generic enough? Is microsoft the only company to has NO ONE on staff who can come up with a name? or do they use common words to seem that much more ubiquitous?
My system for spam.
on
Gates on Spam
·
· Score: 5, Interesting
First off requireing on supposedly time consuming math is absurd. First off it can't be too complex because it would encumber normal users and recievers (who have to check it I suppose) second spammers will develope a cheat sheet (and if Bill doesn't think so he should do a search on the web for "Microsoft Product Activation Code".
My system is beautiful and simple.
Everyone use an OpenPGP program (maybe gnuPG) to sign all their email. then recipients can easily check a public keyserver (probably would have to set up more, but ideally each large domain would have one so you can check 'keyserver.microsoft.com' for the key for an adress from microsoft.com) of course you wouldn't need to check a server for someone in your keyring, but I bet through this method anti-spam webs of trust would become very easy to protect.
This is currently standards complient, so it breaks nothing. And it allows people to decide their level of protection.... you want unsigned mail to get through more power to you. You want to see only verified email fro people YOU know, go for it. you want to accept from any one who has signed that you can get the identity of from a keyserver, sounds great.
Why don't people do this? it requires nothing more than minimal changes to mail readers, and mild diligence. once it became popular enough its very easy to eliminate all non-trusted mail (although st first you would have to slowoly build it up of course)
Well I eneded up designing a website for the very small company I work for. Its only for existing customers, and its not that good, but my boss hired an outside guy gave him the requirements and text. He comes back with a site and the menus are all flash. the contract was terminated on the spot and I was told to do it.:)
I'm a programmer nota web designer, but the point was to have the easiest simplest site for our customers to log in and grab the information they need and leave.... he figured after the first demo that in house was the way to go.
because we know how successful the vast majority of those are:)
really, you need someone to manufacture the units and sell them to the states. (I like the bootable CD idea, so the software can't change.)
I would work on something like this, but I have NO experienece with crypto, and NO experience with anything about voting systems, this is a project that needs a leader who has respect in the industry.
Think of the selling points:
A) Everyone can see the source so you KNOW if there is a backdoor. B) MUST print a paper ballot C) Good gpg crypto or something similar. D) no writable media so the software disc can bee "sealed" the way the machines are (maybe a secret serial number system to verify each disc.
seems like the actual voting app would be fairly easy. - Probably could bang sonething out in a VERY short time that did the touch screen voting UI bit of it. Its the verifying of the crypto/communication backups that need to be rock solid (of course from what I've heard about the diebold machines it wouldn't take to much talent to do better)
Why isn't there a project to create a Free Software electronic voting system that fixes all the Diebold issues? Seems to me we need an open system, visable source has proven to be far more secure than closed source, and it would be accountable to the public.
Where are the people willing to start a company that produces an open product with the flaws fixed?
What about X Windows? Thats clearly a common phrase (seeing as everyone says "X Windows" and the X people say its not "X Windows". What about the fact that wxWindows isn't even remotely a competing product with MS Windows. And the fact that people called multitasking GUIs windowing systems before microsoft came up with Windows.... I'm gonna go out on a linb and say thats why they called it Windows.
I think they are just upset they don't have a cool name like "Linux" "BSD" or "OS X":)
Its so difficult with game polls. They aren't like Books or Film... the tech is so intertwined with the games that anyone who comes after the tech moves on just CAN'T aprpreciate it. Music suffers from the same problem but instead of tech its a cultural thing, you like your music better than your parents because your music reflects your culture.
This christmas I got the gamecube, and the one thing that shocked me the most was how I discovered that I found the original Legend of Zelda for more engaging and entertaining, and balanced that the Ocarina of Time or Majoras Mask... Its just simply a better game.
Now with movies I can take a younger person to see 2001, or "Citizen Kane" and the film stock doesn't get in the way of the acting, story, shots etc... but my younger siblings just don't have the skills to enjoy a game that is such a huge departure from the current gameplay interface.
and yes personally I would call "The Legend of Zelda" the "Citizen Kane" of console games.
Gabriel Knight beating Kings Quest 4 ? - That is a travesty, I played teh Gabrial Knight II game and it sucked compared to the earlier sierra titles.
And of course reading that Symphony of the Night is beating Simon's Quest makes me want to give on on society and move off into the woods.
There is no competition here.... one of the glaring problems with the Castlevania series has been that its all down hill since Simon's Quest.... cleary the majority of voters jsut don't remember.
Remember Debian has 11 architectures to support... far more than any other major distro, and far more that the XFree86 team supports.
So you can bitch that once again Debian is behind the times, but remmember YOUR copy of XFree86 is more stable because of all the porting and testing the fine folks at the Debian X Strike Force do.
I just have to say I was glad to wait this long, and good work guys.
Slashdot Mirror
Can we all please make this the last GNU/Linux "usability" study that begins with some ridiculous description of a "joe shmoe" mythical target user. I am sick and tired of it. It is possible to make something usable for "normal" users, while at the same time comfortable for both "mewbies" and "power users". Please let us retire "Bob" and "Aunt Tillie" and "Grandma" and every other stupid target user.
If you don't agree with my statement in the first paragraph go look at http://www.google.com - great for newbies AND power users. I've never heard anyone say "Google works fine for Aunt Tillie and Uncle Bob but I really could use MORE features to the interface." Its interface is clean, simple and completely intuitive. And if you want to do some arcane power search you CAN!.
And if google isn't a good enough example for you (because its a website and not an OS, etc.) look at GNOME. GNOME has proven that you can make a good clean interface that is user friendly, newbie friendly, and has all the access a "power user" could want. Yes, I firmly believe that the whining about lack of config options in every panel is entirely from masochistic freaks that simply like to know they can easly change whether the delay to close a window when the close button is clicked is 2ms or 3ms WITHOUT having to open a configuration editor. And BTW gconf-editor IS super simple and user friendly ANYWAY!)
Besides, I am probably what most people would consider experienced with Debian GNU/Linux (been using it exclusively for about 3 years) and I like a good clean, intuitive interface over something that is so-called "geek friendly" any day.
BTW - No I haven't read the whole article yet, I saw the bob bit and HAD to get this off my chest before I read the rest (now I will).
I have never read I, Robot... maybe I will so it won't be ruined. But I have to say the few Asimov things I have read were terribly dated. It can be a problem in fiction, and especially sci fi, and I think asimov's work has mostly succombed to time.
The errors in my Slashdot posts are embarrasingly bad. I am sorry. I will have to pay more atention in the future :)
Sometimes I listen to Coast to Coast... and ussually the guests are so outragously wrong, or dumb (the people who 'record' ghost voices onto 'blank' tapes come to mind, thats so funny its sad) I can't stand more than five minutes.... but occassionally I hear someone talk about Bigfoot, or Crop Circles, or some other nonsence and they actually sound sane... you think 'if this evidence is valid, then....'
So I wonder for a second or two, why is there no one putting as much effort into showing the faults, or conversly if it is real why hasn't the entire media gone ape-shit over it?
And suddenly I remember, to most rational people the faults are obvious if you stop for a few minutes and look at the 'evidence' (take a look at Richard Hoagland's wonderful blown up martian images). And to the believers everything that points against them is either from close minded "establishment" scientists, or some grand conspiracy.
You could give UFO nuts immediate access to EVERYTHING the US gov't has ever produced, and when they found no records of the grand Alien-Gov't summit they would claim that it was all removed.
While the concept of 'bigfoot' isn't as ridiculous and absurd as aliens coming all the way to our planet is supposedly faster-than-light craft to anally probe whitley steiber, drawn in some wheat, and possibly do things to people that can ussually be otherwise explained with real psycological/physialogic explainations its increasingly closure that that level when NOONE has ever taken a remotely clear photo / video or capture/killed one. Its a figgin lare animal in a relatively well traveled and populated region people!
Everyone always uses "Google" when they just mean any old search engine. AS if the streets would be filled with encyclopedia salesmen if we all used Yahoo! and AltaVista.
Second, have you noticed that MS gives Encarta away with everything ?
Third: Duh! Universal free access to a worldwide information store is eliminating the need for large, expensive and quickly obsoleted books? My god stop the presses. In other news the Edison wax cylinder is no longer used in favour of a strange plastic disc read by lazers, wax salesman frieghtened.
I know I saw this and was reminded to join... and perhaps I will now... nothing like argueing with RMS as an incentive to join :)
The politics are always more important. And definatly more important than if some kid can play a proprietary piece of software on a proprietary platform over the network.
I say if your not willing to accept the console makers restrictions, you find a new product, and perhap learn your lesson about proprietary platforms.
Who says "let's make it closed source as long as it is still 'free'" ?
You either close source to hide IP theft, hide security flaws, OR to attempt to have a better chance of making money on the product.
doesn't make sence to continue to make it freely available, and remove right you were giving away.
of course irrational childish behavoir is par for teh course for a lot of that comunity.
Discovering "serious" problems in 2 of 4 programs that quickly sounds high.
But I would have thought the 1 in 20 figure would be higher. I would have guessed from 10%-20% at least instead of teh 5% they got.
I guess not running windows distorts how bad it is for you. I gave up on that platform a few years back and have been happy and spyware free with Debian since.
OpenPGP is a standard.
ahh but unlike the side effects we all experience from people opening attachments (even those of us who don't use MS's OS) someone else not verifying thier own mail has NO effect on me.
I like how you added (way too much) after taxes. I find that funny, beause I don't pay enough taxes, and I don't know anyone else who does. Maybe your in another country? I live in New York.
Sorry I forgot to delete a sentence. I have more important things to do than more than a quick glance over for a post to slashdot.
They call it "Caller ID" ?
Whats next longhorn will be released as "Operating System" because "Windows" just isn't generic enough? Is microsoft the only company to has NO ONE on staff who can come up with a name? or do they use common words to seem that much more ubiquitous?
First off requireing on supposedly time consuming math is absurd. First off it can't be too complex because it would encumber normal users and recievers (who have to check it I suppose) second spammers will develope a cheat sheet (and if Bill doesn't think so he should do a search on the web for "Microsoft Product Activation Code".
My system is beautiful and simple.
Everyone use an OpenPGP program (maybe gnuPG) to sign all their email. then recipients can easily check a public keyserver (probably would have to set up more, but ideally each large domain would have one so you can check 'keyserver.microsoft.com' for the key for an adress from microsoft.com) of course you wouldn't need to check a server for someone in your keyring, but I bet through this method anti-spam webs of trust would become very easy to protect.
This is currently standards complient, so it breaks nothing. And it allows people to decide their level of protection.... you want unsigned mail to get through more power to you. You want to see only verified email fro people YOU know, go for it. you want to accept from any one who has signed that you can get the identity of from a keyserver, sounds great.
Why don't people do this? it requires nothing more than minimal changes to mail readers, and mild diligence. once it became popular enough its very easy to eliminate all non-trusted mail (although st first you would have to slowoly build it up of course)
is this that bad of an idea?
Well I eneded up designing a website for the very small company I work for. Its only for existing customers, and its not that good, but my boss hired an outside guy gave him the requirements and text. He comes back with a site and the menus are all flash. the contract was terminated on the spot and I was told to do it. :)
I'm a programmer nota web designer, but the point was to have the easiest simplest site for our customers to log in and grab the information they need and leave.... he figured after the first demo that in house was the way to go.
because we know how successful the vast majority of those are :)
really, you need someone to manufacture the units and sell them to the states. (I like the bootable CD idea, so the software can't change.)
I would work on something like this, but I have NO experienece with crypto, and NO experience with anything about voting systems, this is a project that needs a leader who has respect in the industry.
Think of the selling points:
A) Everyone can see the source so you KNOW if there is a backdoor.
B) MUST print a paper ballot
C) Good gpg crypto or something similar.
D) no writable media so the software disc can bee "sealed" the way the machines are (maybe a secret serial number system to verify each disc.
seems like the actual voting app would be fairly easy. - Probably could bang sonething out in a VERY short time that did the touch screen voting UI bit of it. Its the verifying of the crypto/communication backups that need to be rock solid (of course from what I've heard about the diebold machines it wouldn't take to much talent to do better)
Why isn't there a project to create a Free Software electronic voting system that fixes all the Diebold issues? Seems to me we need an open system, visable source has proven to be far more secure than closed source, and it would be accountable to the public.
Where are the people willing to start a company that produces an open product with the flaws fixed?
wxWidgets is a better name anyway.
What about X Windows? Thats clearly a common phrase (seeing as everyone says "X Windows" and the X people say its not "X Windows". What about the fact that wxWindows isn't even remotely a competing product with MS Windows. And the fact that people called multitasking GUIs windowing systems before microsoft came up with Windows.... I'm gonna go out on a linb and say thats why they called it Windows.
:)
I think they are just upset they don't have a cool name like "Linux" "BSD" or "OS X"
Its so difficult with game polls. They aren't like Books or Film... the tech is so intertwined with the games that anyone who comes after the tech moves on just CAN'T aprpreciate it. Music suffers from the same problem but instead of tech its a cultural thing, you like your music better than your parents because your music reflects your culture.
This christmas I got the gamecube, and the one thing that shocked me the most was how I discovered that I found the original Legend of Zelda for more engaging and entertaining, and balanced that the Ocarina of Time or Majoras Mask... Its just simply a better game.
Now with movies I can take a younger person to see 2001, or "Citizen Kane" and the film stock doesn't get in the way of the acting, story, shots etc... but my younger siblings just don't have the skills to enjoy a game that is such a huge departure from the current gameplay interface.
and yes personally I would call "The Legend of Zelda" the "Citizen Kane" of console games.
as I read on it becomes more absurd.
Gabriel Knight beating Kings Quest 4 ? - That is a travesty, I played teh Gabrial Knight II game and it sucked compared to the earlier sierra titles.
And of course reading that Symphony of the Night is beating Simon's Quest makes me want to give on on society and move off into the woods.
There is no competition here.... one of the glaring problems with the Castlevania series has been that its all down hill since Simon's Quest.... cleary the majority of voters jsut don't remember.
I am not that old, but I can clearly see that the demo for gamespy is younger than I.
There is no WAY Grim Fandango should beat Maniac Mansion. just NO WAY!
It does for the XFree86 guys, which is why the porting Debian does is so important!
Remember Debian has 11 architectures to support... far more than any other major distro, and far more that the XFree86 team supports.
So you can bitch that once again Debian is behind the times, but remmember YOUR copy of XFree86 is more stable because of all the porting and testing the fine folks at the Debian X Strike Force do.
I just have to say I was glad to wait this long, and good work guys.