Joel Spolsky wrote "User Interface Design for Programmers" which discusses exactly what you are asking. Not the technical aspects of the API, but the Human Interface aspects that make an interface easy-to-use, intuitive, and useful.
The answer to your question as to what is holding you back is complicated and multi-faceted. I'm sure you'll receive many interesting answers (and I look forward to reading them...hopefully it'll help me become a better coder).
From a pure Computer Sciency standpoint, remember that no code is ever completely bug-free...its mathematically impossible. Testing does not prove the absence of bugs, it only proves the presence of successful use/test cases.
But the number one thing holing me back is time. When I'm coding on the company's dollar, there's only so much time to spend in design, in writing test cases, in having someone peer review your code. And thus, there's just not enough time to spend doing things in the absolute, 100% correct way. There has to be some compromise.
I suspect that even if I had time, I would run out of mental energy first.
All discussion here about how much right an author/imaginer has to "protect" their property, I suspect a lot of this is ego. Ms. Rowling is probably very protective of her work because she thinks she's the greatest writer since Charles Dickens.
I for one enjoy the longer articles that are in magazines. Not just reviews, but in-depth behind-the-scenes and interviews as well. Online just doesn't cut it for me. I want something I can read on a subway, an airplane, in bed, in a conference room before the start of a meeting, and on the toilet. Can't easily do that with 1up.com.
The short blurby reviews are useless. If I want to review a game I will do research at gamerankings.com. I want something sevreal pages that takes me 10-15 minutes to read.
This thread happens every single time some tragedy with loss of life is posted here on Slashdot. Some people find the humor, then others are "sickened" and "can't believe the heartlessness".
The simple matter is, many, many people die every day. Many, many people are also born every day. You can't be personally upset over every life lost or you would spend all your time in overwhelming grief. And sometimes humor is the only alternative to what would otherwise be shock, anger, sadness, or fear.
But maybe this book can show them that by knowing math and being well-educated can make you a *BETTER* homemaker. I try to get this concept across in my freshman college algebra course I teach.
-Doing taxes -Understanding mortgages (not getting screwed by a baloon payment ARM) -Not getting ripped off by sales prices and percentages -Budgets (again, percentages and ratios) -Understanding the world and the media (statistics) -Etc
I agree with you completely. I played Morrowing straight for two years. I cannot get into Oblivion, but yet I can't quite put my finger on why the game isn't as enjoyable.
I suspect it has something to do with the Xboxness, cause I had the same experience with Deus Ex/Deus Ex 2.
What good is a word document if someone else doesn't read it?
circuit simulation,...which you then pass off to QA, then to prototyping, then to fabrication, etc... What if you could easily and automatically do that to your coworkers desktops?
and (most dramatically) video editing
Wouldn't it be cool if, after editing together a video, with a simple push of a button it were published to your website?
Sure, in the business world I see zillions of Windows XP computers lined up side-by-side in cubicles like so many cattle. But spend some time hanging out at a coffee shop, library, or bookstore and I see nothing but pure white laptops.
Amusingly, my laptop is a black Dell but when people make snide comments I just show them the kubuntu logo and smile back.
I'm an adjunct instructor at a college. If you pick the right courses to apply for to teach, its the best of all worlds. If you teach adult education (i.e. night courses) that means that you can teach one night a week and keep your day job. And the adult college students are more serious about being there to learn. Also, as an adjunct you don't participate in as much as the tenured politics. You show up, teach, and leave.
Downside is the pay is pittance. When I do the math I only make about $15/hour for teaching. But its only part time and I have another job, so I do it for the satisfaction and the fun and the helping the students, not for a paycheck.
So if you *really* want to teach, then get out there and do it! Most community colleges I look at are *dying* for quality IT, MIS, and math teachers.
This comment is almost certainly redundant, and it certainly is with the usual Ubuntu forums. But my number one problem is WIRELESS. For whatever reason, the wireless chipsets that my laptops have (Broadcomm) do not work easily in Ubuntu. Yes, I have gotten them to work, but only by some minor hacking and lots of forum-crawling.
Wireless is becoming part of the "out-of-the-box" requirement for a home personal user. I want to be able to just put the Edgy Edge CD in, install, and everything just works. And if the LiveCD worked with wireless out of the box...that would be pure heaven.
Other than wireless, everything else is fine. Printing, OpenOffice, web browsing, everything else works out of the box!
Sure. In a 168-hour week, I spend 56 hours sleeping, 50 hours at work on a PC, 8 hours at home on a PC, and maybe 36 hours quality time with my SO (4 hours per day during week, 8 hours per day on weekends).
Does this mean I'm "ignoring" her for my PC? No, it means that I work.
Back in the 1800s men on the farm probably spent more time with their horses than their wives...hmmm, that didn't sound so good...
I'm actually not a teenager, I'm a married adult with a real job and bills and everything!:-)
I make a lot of decisions where I chose other values over money. I personally call it "voting with my dollars". Some examples: -I don't shop at Wal-Mart -I buy organic groceries -I tip my restaurant servers above and beyond 15% if they did a good job (a few extra dollars means nothing to me, but it can brighten a server's day)
Does this mean I spend more money than if I searched out the best deal for everything? It sure does. But, as I said, there are things that I consider more important than money.
If by spending 7K a year instead of 4.5k a year meant we ("we" meaning the United States) could take steps towards reducing our dependency on foreign oil, you bet your sweet bippy that's something I would happily undertake.
I understand that this is all just a fragile straw man, but its the Socratic method: You start somewhere then beat it up and see if it still stands.
So you're saying the ONLY reason to switch is to save money? What about other reasons? Saving the environment? Being a good steward to the Earth? Being an ubergeek?
Yay! One of my personal heroes, Admiral Grace Hopper. My admiration of her comes mostly from being a great manager of geeks.
One of my favorite quotes from her, and something I try to live by every day in my career, "You manage resources; you lead people."
In other words, people are not resources. You can't just assign warm bodies against tasks and expect work output to magically appear. Instead, you give people the tools they need to accomplish the work they want to do, and inspire them to do the right work for your organization.
Slashdot Mirror
The pointy headed boss called me one time when I was in the middle of taking a massive dump.
Why, oh why, in the world did you ANSWER THE PHONE?
Joel Spolsky wrote "User Interface Design for Programmers" which discusses exactly what you are asking. Not the technical aspects of the API, but the Human Interface aspects that make an interface easy-to-use, intuitive, and useful.
Here is the Amazon link
He was also nice enough to put the book online for free: http://www.joelonsoftware.com/uibook/chapters/fog0000000057.html
The answer to your question as to what is holding you back is complicated and multi-faceted. I'm sure you'll receive many interesting answers (and I look forward to reading them...hopefully it'll help me become a better coder).
From a pure Computer Sciency standpoint, remember that no code is ever completely bug-free...its mathematically impossible. Testing does not prove the absence of bugs, it only proves the presence of successful use/test cases.
But the number one thing holing me back is time. When I'm coding on the company's dollar, there's only so much time to spend in design, in writing test cases, in having someone peer review your code. And thus, there's just not enough time to spend doing things in the absolute, 100% correct way. There has to be some compromise.
I suspect that even if I had time, I would run out of mental energy first.
All discussion here about how much right an author/imaginer has to "protect" their property, I suspect a lot of this is ego. Ms. Rowling is probably very protective of her work because she thinks she's the greatest writer since Charles Dickens.
.plan and saying, "Oh John, if only you had to work on my XML-driven timesheet application..."
See following quote: "In February 2007 Rowling issued a statement on her website about finishing the final book, in which she compared her mixed feelings of "mourning" and "incredible sense of achievement" to those expressed by Charles Dickens in the preface of the 1850 edition of David Copperfield, "a two-years' imaginative task." "To which," she added, "I can only sigh, try seventeen years, Charles...""
I mean, wow. That's like me reading John Carmack's
I for one enjoy the longer articles that are in magazines. Not just reviews, but in-depth behind-the-scenes and interviews as well. Online just doesn't cut it for me. I want something I can read on a subway, an airplane, in bed, in a conference room before the start of a meeting, and on the toilet. Can't easily do that with 1up.com.
The short blurby reviews are useless. If I want to review a game I will do research at gamerankings.com. I want something sevreal pages that takes me 10-15 minutes to read.
This thread happens every single time some tragedy with loss of life is posted here on Slashdot. Some people find the humor, then others are "sickened" and "can't believe the heartlessness".
The simple matter is, many, many people die every day. Many, many people are also born every day. You can't be personally upset over every life lost or you would spend all your time in overwhelming grief. And sometimes humor is the only alternative to what would otherwise be shock, anger, sadness, or fear.
I don't save in either with Writer. I save in PDF. That way ANYONE can open my document, no matter who they are
Or Starcraft: Ghost. That would definately fit the definition of "very awesome".
Put the PC in the living room, with the screen facing outward. Tell Junior he can't use the PC when she's not home.
If he does, and she finds out, he's grounded.
Other than that, he simply sees what every other teenage boys sneaks a look at...
Really?.... I always ping microsoft.com. I figure if someone is going to pay for the bandwidth it may as well be them.
They're all over. KFC and Pizza Hut. Taco Bell and Long John Silver's. Or my personal favorite...Baskin-Robbins and Dunkin Donuts.
Its really weird to be able to order pizza, tacos, and friend fish at the same counter.
But maybe this book can show them that by knowing math and being well-educated can make you a *BETTER* homemaker. I try to get this concept across in my freshman college algebra course I teach.
-Doing taxes
-Understanding mortgages (not getting screwed by a baloon payment ARM)
-Not getting ripped off by sales prices and percentages
-Budgets (again, percentages and ratios)
-Understanding the world and the media (statistics)
-Etc
"ZOMG u cn tlak 2 VADAR!!1!"
What the hell does this statement even mean?
I agree with you completely. I played Morrowing straight for two years. I cannot get into Oblivion, but yet I can't quite put my finger on why the game isn't as enjoyable.
I suspect it has something to do with the Xboxness, cause I had the same experience with Deus Ex/Deus Ex 2.
word processing,
...which you then pass off to QA, then to prototyping, then to fabrication, etc... What if you could easily and automatically do that to your coworkers desktops?
What good is a word document if someone else doesn't read it?
circuit simulation,
and (most dramatically) video editing
Wouldn't it be cool if, after editing together a video, with a simple push of a button it were published to your website?
Yes, I vaguely agree with p3net.
Sure, in the business world I see zillions of Windows XP computers lined up side-by-side in cubicles like so many cattle. But spend some time hanging out at a coffee shop, library, or bookstore and I see nothing but pure white laptops.
Amusingly, my laptop is a black Dell but when people make snide comments I just show them the kubuntu logo and smile back.
I'm an adjunct instructor at a college. If you pick the right courses to apply for to teach, its the best of all worlds. If you teach adult education (i.e. night courses) that means that you can teach one night a week and keep your day job. And the adult college students are more serious about being there to learn. Also, as an adjunct you don't participate in as much as the tenured politics. You show up, teach, and leave.
Downside is the pay is pittance. When I do the math I only make about $15/hour for teaching. But its only part time and I have another job, so I do it for the satisfaction and the fun and the helping the students, not for a paycheck.
So if you *really* want to teach, then get out there and do it! Most community colleges I look at are *dying* for quality IT, MIS, and math teachers.
Too bad you posted anonymous...this could have made "+5 Funny" or "+5 Informative"
So intel 2200bg works out-of-the-box for Ubuntu? Good to know...
OK, this was a sub-par review. I still have way more questions about the game.
Can you go inside buildings? Or is everything outdoors?
What is the driving like? Are there decent car chases? Or are they a weak subgame?
Is there any depth to hand-to-hand melee fighting? Or is it just punch, but the goal is to get strong enough that punches do more damage?
Can I throw a bad guy? How far? What if I punch him really hard? Does he go flying?
*sigh* I guess I'll just rent it.
This comment is almost certainly redundant, and it certainly is with the usual Ubuntu forums. But my number one problem is WIRELESS. For whatever reason, the wireless chipsets that my laptops have (Broadcomm) do not work easily in Ubuntu. Yes, I have gotten them to work, but only by some minor hacking and lots of forum-crawling.
Wireless is becoming part of the "out-of-the-box" requirement for a home personal user. I want to be able to just put the Edgy Edge CD in, install, and everything just works. And if the LiveCD worked with wireless out of the box...that would be pure heaven.
Other than wireless, everything else is fine. Printing, OpenOffice, web browsing, everything else works out of the box!
So we (the community) are *almost* there...
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.
---Mother Teresa
Sure. In a 168-hour week, I spend 56 hours sleeping, 50 hours at work on a PC, 8 hours at home on a PC, and maybe 36 hours quality time with my SO (4 hours per day during week, 8 hours per day on weekends).
Does this mean I'm "ignoring" her for my PC? No, it means that I work.
Back in the 1800s men on the farm probably spent more time with their horses than their wives...hmmm, that didn't sound so good...
I'm actually not a teenager, I'm a married adult with a real job and bills and everything! :-)
I make a lot of decisions where I chose other values over money. I personally call it "voting with my dollars". Some examples:
-I don't shop at Wal-Mart
-I buy organic groceries
-I tip my restaurant servers above and beyond 15% if they did a good job (a few extra dollars means nothing to me, but it can brighten a server's day)
Does this mean I spend more money than if I searched out the best deal for everything? It sure does. But, as I said, there are things that I consider more important than money.
If by spending 7K a year instead of 4.5k a year meant we ("we" meaning the United States) could take steps towards reducing our dependency on foreign oil, you bet your sweet bippy that's something I would happily undertake.
I understand that this is all just a fragile straw man, but its the Socratic method: You start somewhere then beat it up and see if it still stands.
So you're saying the ONLY reason to switch is to save money? What about other reasons? Saving the environment? Being a good steward to the Earth? Being an ubergeek?
There's more to life than money...
Yay! One of my personal heroes, Admiral Grace Hopper. My admiration of her comes mostly from being a great manager of geeks.
One of my favorite quotes from her, and something I try to live by every day in my career, "You manage resources; you lead people."
In other words, people are not resources. You can't just assign warm bodies against tasks and expect work output to magically appear. Instead, you give people the tools they need to accomplish the work they want to do, and inspire them to do the right work for your organization.