I should add a little more to the story. We did some simple usability testing with basic versions of the screens that the clients had laid out. The people we used in this testing were the people who will actually have to use the system day in and day out (the "clients" we interacted with are the managers/highest-level end-users, and very few of them). Every one of these testers had the same reaction - "why would you want me to do things like this?" And when we presented them with what we considered a more usable option, they liked it - or at least hated it less.
Yet the clients chose to ignore these results and pushed ahead with their poor designs.
Whenever you're changing the system that people use on a daily basis to do their job, all they're going to want to know is where you hid the menu function that they're supposed to use where such-and-such a situation is encountered.
There is no system that's being "changed." It's an entirely new online system to replace their 1950s-era paper-based process.
These people weren't "consulted" - they were given free reign. Their first design (yes, they were allowed to do a huge design before we brought in any experts on the topic of UI design) had navigation/actions/menus on three of the 4 sides of the screen. They never just said "we need to have the ability to do X, Y and Z" - they said "we want a button right here and that is the only place it can be" and many other similar things.
How about the PHB making the end users listen when the usability consultant tells them what to do?
Last summer, in the visual design phase of my current project, we did a 6-week engagement with the consulting arm of a large, blue company to the tune of $30,000, for information architecture, visual design & usability - with the blessing of the clients. When we got to the end and presented everything to the "clients" (internal end-users), they said "that's nice, but we want what we want, so throw out 75% of what you just showed us." They cared not at all about actual usability, they wanted this horrific system that they had all cooked up in their heads.
Our consultant had never seen such a meeting. Never had he heard people answer "yes" to the question "are you saying you want to ignore all these recommendations, industry best practices (and standards) and suggestions presented by this industry giant who have proven that they know what they're talking about?"
I must have missed that part, my system is as responsive as it was 3 weeks ago. OTOH, the first time I fired up KDE on this box, within 15 minutes all my physical RAM (768MB) and most of my swapfile were filled for no reason at all. It never happened again, but watch out where you are before you start throwing stones.
I'm not one to defend Microsoft but this "argument" is becoming less and less relevant every year. Sure, there are plenty of Windows boxen that need a regular reboot (my 2K box in my office at work gets rebooted daily because of shit video drivers). But there are just as many that run for weeks or more without a forced reboot. I'm trying to find the last reboot on my XP Pro desktop here at home and it looks like it was at least 22 days ago, at which point I installed a hotfix. Very few software installs I've done lately have required a reboot, and normally restarting a service will clear up most problems for me.
The Linux community needs to stop hiding behind "we don't have to reboot" - it's just not as compelling an argument as it was 2 years ago. And with clustered servers becoming the norm, (MS AppCenter, etc.), reboots are hardly even noticed by the end-users.
And after shelling out $50 3 or 4 times to get things fixed, maybe they'll get the message that they either need to be more careful or learn to fix it themselves?
Worse than that. Blocking access means that brand-new copy of McAfee or Norton can't be updated to catch the worm that came out this week and infected the machine yesterday.
Kodak has been laying off IT staff by the hundreds. The company is sliding really fast. How do I know that? I'm trying to find a job there. I'm competing against over 300 people who just got laid off with more industry experience and no relocation needs (I am relocating to the city). Finding a job is real hard when you're up against that.
Step 1, younger brother lives with the parents still. Much easier.
Step 2, they never got hooked on an MS program for mail, and for some reason have gravitated towards Netscape 7 (and 6, and 4 before that). My father says he's never really liked IE. Who am I to question?
My mother doesn't do much more than run her Avon business, surf the web, do email and IM on her computer. Plus little games, nothing that comes from offbeat sources. My father does a little more, but again, doesn't stray into unclean areas of the intarweb. Dad's relatively self-sufficient, on the rare occasions mom needs help, little brother knows about it before she does. They pretty much take care of themselves.
My sister is another case. She's in college and when we got her a PC 3 years ago, I gave her explicit instructions to not let anyone touch it. Didn't even give her the Admin password (2K Pro). Being only 2 hours away, I could support her on a 24 hour or less turnaround time. College dorm "techs" are clueless. She did fine for 2 years, then this fall got hit in all the worm activity as a somewhat innocent bystander. Not sure exactly what happened. So we cleaned that up on her first break of the semester and all is well. Set her up with MS's auto-update and things are running smooth there. She tends to check with me before doing anything that might endanger her system.
If he's doing things that require he install XP monthly, he shouldn't be using them for his business in the first place. "Business" usage rarely takes one into territory that would endager your PC.
Perhaps he needs separate business & non-business PCs?
I managed to survive a 30% cut of our IT staff in one day a little over a year ago. About 9:15 AM, we all knew what was going on. The rest of the day, nothing got done, and everyone was looking over their shoulders, afraid they'd be next.
Just keep doing your job. Keep your head down and your production up. Don't bitch to management. Don't publicly (in the office, I mean) bitch to/with anyone. Call up your former co-workers and take them out for a beer. Let them vent. Vent some yourself. Get it out of your system that week. Then move on.
They could have a delay system in place to catch that. You call in, say you'll ask X, and when they can tell you're going to ask Y, they hit the delay and it's like you never were there.
SCO pretty much has to do this. The last time I listened to a conference call my company's top brass gave, they had about a half-dozen callers basically ruin the party. Management stuck to their BS story, tried to brush off the queries, but it was obvious they were in a major bind because they simply couldn't handle having to answer those questions in such an environment.
Slashdot Mirror
Yet the clients chose to ignore these results and pushed ahead with their poor designs.
Which is exactly what our consultant and I tried to do. They didn't want to hear us even try to explain things, their minds were already made up.
These people weren't "consulted" - they were given free reign. Their first design (yes, they were allowed to do a huge design before we brought in any experts on the topic of UI design) had navigation/actions/menus on three of the 4 sides of the screen. They never just said "we need to have the ability to do X, Y and Z" - they said "we want a button right here and that is the only place it can be" and many other similar things.
Last summer, in the visual design phase of my current project, we did a 6-week engagement with the consulting arm of a large, blue company to the tune of $30,000, for information architecture, visual design & usability - with the blessing of the clients. When we got to the end and presented everything to the "clients" (internal end-users), they said "that's nice, but we want what we want, so throw out 75% of what you just showed us." They cared not at all about actual usability, they wanted this horrific system that they had all cooked up in their heads.
Our consultant had never seen such a meeting. Never had he heard people answer "yes" to the question "are you saying you want to ignore all these recommendations, industry best practices (and standards) and suggestions presented by this industry giant who have proven that they know what they're talking about?"
I must have missed that part, my system is as responsive as it was 3 weeks ago. OTOH, the first time I fired up KDE on this box, within 15 minutes all my physical RAM (768MB) and most of my swapfile were filled for no reason at all. It never happened again, but watch out where you are before you start throwing stones.
The Linux community needs to stop hiding behind "we don't have to reboot" - it's just not as compelling an argument as it was 2 years ago. And with clustered servers becoming the norm, (MS AppCenter, etc.), reboots are hardly even noticed by the end-users.
Why did you ever connect this all to your personal cell phone? If it's for work, work pays for it. Period. There's no grey area here.
AutoZone in most locations (not California, though, last I heard) will plug in an OBD-II scanner and read & translate your codes for free.
It's also called "deskass"
I demand transparent aluminum!
Then he's still wrong, as carriers have no offensive weapons mounted to the ship.
There are no nuclear portions to see, aside from maybe the weapons store. The USS Kennedy (CV-67) is conventional, not nuclear-powered.
One can only dream.
Worse than that. Blocking access means that brand-new copy of McAfee or Norton can't be updated to catch the worm that came out this week and infected the machine yesterday.
Kodak has been laying off IT staff by the hundreds. The company is sliding really fast. How do I know that? I'm trying to find a job there. I'm competing against over 300 people who just got laid off with more industry experience and no relocation needs (I am relocating to the city). Finding a job is real hard when you're up against that.
Step 2, they never got hooked on an MS program for mail, and for some reason have gravitated towards Netscape 7 (and 6, and 4 before that). My father says he's never really liked IE. Who am I to question?
My mother doesn't do much more than run her Avon business, surf the web, do email and IM on her computer. Plus little games, nothing that comes from offbeat sources. My father does a little more, but again, doesn't stray into unclean areas of the intarweb. Dad's relatively self-sufficient, on the rare occasions mom needs help, little brother knows about it before she does. They pretty much take care of themselves.
My sister is another case. She's in college and when we got her a PC 3 years ago, I gave her explicit instructions to not let anyone touch it. Didn't even give her the Admin password (2K Pro). Being only 2 hours away, I could support her on a 24 hour or less turnaround time. College dorm "techs" are clueless. She did fine for 2 years, then this fall got hit in all the worm activity as a somewhat innocent bystander. Not sure exactly what happened. So we cleaned that up on her first break of the semester and all is well. Set her up with MS's auto-update and things are running smooth there. She tends to check with me before doing anything that might endanger her system.
Perhaps he needs separate business & non-business PCs?
I get it on Time Warner cable.
In most locations yes, it is illegal to wear headphones while driving, riding a bicycle or operating any other mode of transportation on public roads.
Just keep doing your job. Keep your head down and your production up. Don't bitch to management. Don't publicly (in the office, I mean) bitch to/with anyone. Call up your former co-workers and take them out for a beer. Let them vent. Vent some yourself. Get it out of your system that week. Then move on.
They could have a delay system in place to catch that. You call in, say you'll ask X, and when they can tell you're going to ask Y, they hit the delay and it's like you never were there.
SCO pretty much has to do this. The last time I listened to a conference call my company's top brass gave, they had about a half-dozen callers basically ruin the party. Management stuck to their BS story, tried to brush off the queries, but it was obvious they were in a major bind because they simply couldn't handle having to answer those questions in such an environment.
Yep, we're all forgetting your made-up history. http://www.oscars.com/legacy/pastwinners/picture3. html
If drinking Yuengling and Saranac is "suffering", sign me up for an eternity in hell.