Not to defend any of the new-ish UIs, but the conventional UI model has always sucked. Every moment I spend moving a window around or resizing it is frankly wasted time. Same with launching programs or organizing my menus.
If we can abandon the model where the user has to fiddle with a bunch of unnecessary crap just to use their computer, that would be a step forward.
Thing is, I'm not sure any of the new UIs are quite there; they made radical changes but only minor usability improvements.
Whatever Ubuntu includes, they insist it fit on a CD (for better or worse.)
The Mono runtime libraries and Banshee together are over 15 megs. Then consider the size of Gtk+2, and the case to leave it off the disk makes a lot of sense.
(Of course once you've installed Ubuntu it's not very difficult to install Banshee, Mono, etc. on your own.)
There's a difference between a "brain teaser" and an analytical problem.
I've certainly been in interviews filled with "gotcha" problems that only has one right answer, and yeah those are a waste of time.
What you want is a general, yet realistic problem with a variety of solutions. That way you can find candidates who can solve problems and discuss things.
While a programming test can be a valuable part of the interview process, it would be a mistake not to do some in person "tests" as well.
Why? Because the entire point of those tests isn't to see if they get the right answer, it's to see if the candidate can work with the people in your office.
Remember what prompted the price cut in the first place? It was Best Buy (and presumably other retailers) unhappy about their big stockpile of WebOS tablets that weren't selling.
Most of the companies called banks nowdays have about as much to do with banking as going down to Vegas and putting all your money into a slot machine.
Banking is relatively low-risk; creating "financial instruments" and selling them is potentially high risk, unregulated, and untested.
"Nothing the government does is subject to market factors..."
Not a bug, that's by design -- the free market works great for an economy, and terrible for a government. If you don't believe me, take a trip to Mexico and see how the free market police handle peacekeeping.
Slashdot Mirror
Yup. Would anyone have installed Silverlight if it hadn't been for Netflix?
I never said I had a solution, I just said it's one problem the UIs are now starting to address after ~20 years of stagnant UI shell design.
By your logic, we should still be flipping switches and feeding in tape to boot our computers.
No thanks.
Not to defend any of the new-ish UIs, but the conventional UI model has always sucked. Every moment I spend moving a window around or resizing it is frankly wasted time. Same with launching programs or organizing my menus.
If we can abandon the model where the user has to fiddle with a bunch of unnecessary crap just to use their computer, that would be a step forward.
Thing is, I'm not sure any of the new UIs are quite there; they made radical changes but only minor usability improvements.
...this is the worst you'd have to worry about:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASoCJTYgYB0
Whatever Ubuntu includes, they insist it fit on a CD (for better or worse.)
The Mono runtime libraries and Banshee together are over 15 megs. Then consider the size of Gtk+2, and the case to leave it off the disk makes a lot of sense.
(Of course once you've installed Ubuntu it's not very difficult to install Banshee, Mono, etc. on your own.)
I don't care where it came from, it hasn't worked. Only a fool repeats a failure and expects a success.
So you support welfare for the rich? Because that's exactly what these people are buying.
How about getting rid of corruption? Corporate donations, professional lobbyists, etc.
Just make it flat out illegal, and consider it treason.
Do you actually make a living at what you do? If so, how?
There's a difference between a "brain teaser" and an analytical problem.
I've certainly been in interviews filled with "gotcha" problems that only has one right answer, and yeah those are a waste of time.
What you want is a general, yet realistic problem with a variety of solutions. That way you can find candidates who can solve problems and discuss things.
While a programming test can be a valuable part of the interview process, it would be a mistake not to do some in person "tests" as well.
Why? Because the entire point of those tests isn't to see if they get the right answer, it's to see if the candidate can work with the people in your office.
Remember what prompted the price cut in the first place? It was Best Buy (and presumably other retailers) unhappy about their big stockpile of WebOS tablets that weren't selling.
That's what the story is referring to.
At some point you have to stop looking for external validation of your personal preferences. "Coolness" doesn't have to be democratic.
You can't "objectively" prove that one thing is "better" than another. "Better" is not a measurable metric.
Or just maybe "power users" bitch about every tiny change. That's why Slashdot still looks just like it did 10 years ago.
It's the same crybaby attitude people had about Vista's interface, KDE 4's interface, the Fark.com redesign, etc. etc. Heard it all before.
Yes, design changes can truly make something unusable. But chances are if you say that, you're just whining and being overly dramatic.
Don't mean to knock Mozilla's hard work here, but how about tackling this problem in the other direction: get rid of PDFs entirely.
Sure, PDFs are great for printing, but who prints anymore? It's 2011.
And before you say "well you can fill out forms with PDF" might I remind you that you can do the same on the web, in plain ol' HTML.
That's not how supply and demand works. Prices are set to what will make the most money, NOT what will cover the costs.
I always thought Perl was a randomly generated programming language.
Most of the companies called banks nowdays have about as much to do with banking as going down to Vegas and putting all your money into a slot machine.
Banking is relatively low-risk; creating "financial instruments" and selling them is potentially high risk, unregulated, and untested.
So don't call it banking.
Not sure what reality you're talking about, but in the US the government employs hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people.
The only people out to destroy those jobs are the anti-tax crowd who are squeezing money out of schools, police departments, etc.
Not a bug, that's by design -- the free market works great for an economy, and terrible for a government. If you don't believe me, take a trip to Mexico and see how the free market police handle peacekeeping.
Wait... so GW Bush wasn't the "establishment"?
Guess coming from a wealthy family and having your dad as a president doesn't cut it anymore to get into the club, huh?
Often we see people who failed in business try to get into politics. It's time to stop this -- government is not a business.
Let's find people who understand government to run ours.
Implementation != Interface. Just because your shitty management used a concept to make poor decisions doesn't mean the concept itself is poor.