It's about business. Maximizing the number of users who can access your site will increase the number of users who can buy products from you.
Indeed, this is an admirable (and obvious) goal of web design. However, Mr. Nielson, IMO, is somewhat myopic in his view of what usability is, or rather what is necessary to facilitate it. I don't disagree with everything he says, in fact his premises are based upon indisputable common sense. However, I personally see him as being pompous, curmudgeonly, and unwilling to see the benefit of newer techniques and technologies.
I wholeheartedly agree, but good design and layout can achieve the same goals without relying on an interface composed entirely of underlined text hyperlinks. I'm not equating "innovation" with "masturbatory graphic design" - I'm saying that there is room for rich web interfaces using images, flash, CSS, DHTML, or whatever. Mr. Nielson has been rather inflexible in his decrees of how interfaces should be designed. Clean, functional, and usable is definately the way to go, but there are ways to achieve those goals that Mr. Nielson chooses to ignore or denounce.
Is it just me, or does Jakob Nielson say less and less with the same amount of words as time goes on? We've heard his trip before, over and over. Do we really another book from him telling us not build sites using any post-1996 technology?
Over the years, I've slowly developed an active dislike for the man. Should we really keep from using current technology in order to be backwards compatible with the 2.3% of all users who are incapable of upgrading their browser? How can innovation occur if we confine ourselves to Nielson's 256 color, 1995 view of the web? Can you really trust someone who includes the string "discount usability engineering" in the meta keywords on his site to give you good advice on web design?
Certainly there are applications for which the most minimal distillation of information is preferable (yes, I use lynx from time to time as well - put your flame thrower down), but come on - let's move forward.
Actually, most new American food is low country sothern cuisine with French and Asian accents. It's fairly unique, and, when well concieved and prepared, quite good.
You're right - it's not music making, and I think you'll be hard pressed to find an experienced DJ that disagrees with you. What it is, however, is juxtaposing existing music in new and unexpected ways to keep your audience engaged. There are a lot of mediocre DJs out there, (most of the big names even), that simply play anthem after anthem and never really do anything interesting. There are also many who take mixing to the next level and put together sets that keep people on the dance floor. DJs just play records for people. Some are better at it than others, and it's hard to tell the difference if you don't dance.
That being said, one of the things that separates good DJs from great DJs is the ability to not only read and react to a crowd, but anticipate how a crowd will react to a track that's dissimilar to what's being played - thus creating progression. I don't see that ability in this system.
Well put. As long as people with power are willing to screw others for their own gain, no social or political system will succeed as designed. It's a fundamental flaw of human nature.
Heh - yeah, it's the same in the states. You can actually purchase "unauthorized substance" tax stamps. Although having the proper taxes paid on your stash won't make it legal, the man can't railroad you for tax evasion if they bust you (which is common practice - hence impounded cars & such). You actually don't have to identify yourself in order to purchase the stamps, and any state employee that gives out info on purchasers of these stamps can be found guilty of a class 1 misdemeanor. Most states have a similar arrangement. I couldn't find any pricing info, but IIRC, the tax on illegal drugs is an order of magnitude higher than their street price.
Perhaps, but I doubt bin Laden is a big Marx fan. Besides, it's a cause and effect relationship. You can't get generate the critical mass necessary to "undermine the public's faith in the target government" in the western world without causing a media sensation. So, this is really a pedantic argument.
Also, bin Laden's specific goals can be found in his interviews and "press releases":
"We say to the Americans as people and to American mothers, if they cherish their lives and if they cherish their sons, they must elect an American patriotic government that caters to their interests not the interests of the Jews. [...] This is my message to the American people. I urge them to find a serious administration that acts in their interest and does not attack people and violate their honor and pilfer their wealth."
(more here)
So, it can be surmised that bin Laden's ultimate goal is not to cause a revolt by American people against the US government, but rather to draw attention to the policies of the US government that he disagrees with, in the hopes that the American people will agree with him, then use the existing system, as it was designed, to affect changes in those policies. A subtle, but very distinct difference.
Perhaps the most disturbing outcome of this whole affair (besides, of course the deaths of thousands of innocent people), is the opportunism (as you mentioned) that we're seeing in its wake.
The fact is who ever is sending it one letter at a time obviously doesn't have enough brain cells to figure out how to use the existing distribution mechanisms of society to do the job.
Actually, the goal of terrorism is to get draw attention to the cause that the terrorists support, not kill large numbers of people. What better way to get massive media coverage than sending bio weapons to high profile media centers? They could send them to government officials, or even you or I, but the gov't. would most likely sweep that right under the rug to avoid mass hysteria. Hit the media themselves, and you're guaranteed to get a huge media response. It's the same chillingly efficient and minimalist logic behind the WTC attacks. Low tech, low investment, high concept - virtually impossible to detect before it's too late.
OK, I'll tell you. I'm not on the Linux kernel mailing list. I'm interested in this topic none the less, and would never had known about it had it not appeared here.
In a word: yes. 145,100 (current Senate salary) doesn't go far inside the beltway. Align yourself with a few lobbyists, and champion an industry. This kind of thing isn't a one-off. Corporate interests DO control the US govt. Check out the rest of opensecrets.org for more info.
OK, so what I'm getting out of your post is "American corporate fodder is worse than European corporate fodder". Is this a surprise? Mass produced entertainment from anywhere is going to give you the least common denominator. America, being the epitome of corporatism, is going to have a lower LCD than just about any other country. But why subject yourself to corporate entertainment "programming" in the first place? Go out and see a band/DJ, poetry event, indy film, etc..., or, better yet, get involved in whatever local scene you're interested in? Real American culture can't be found in corporate sponsored media - it's taking place in real life, in the clubs, galleries, and streets. You have to get off your ass and go find it. Media entertainment is the fast food of culture. You want real culture in America? Support your local band/DJ/artist/poet/restaurant.
I think that it's safe to assume that each of the "Top 200 corporations" are based in one of the "biggest 10" countries. This puts their sales in the GDPs that were excluded from the comparison.
And this post is offtopic how? if you use OpenBSD for a firewall, chances are you're using IPF. removing IPF from openBSD is a big deal - the natural first question for users to ask is, "oh, ok, so like, what the hell am I supposed to use now...".
Think before you moderate.
So, you're saying that the Clinton impeachment circus wasn't a GOP attempt at character assasination? Gimme a break - neither major party plays nice. If the GOP hadn't blown that issue WAY out of proportion, we wouldn't have spent the last 94 days finding out how much more conservative Dubya is than his handlers led us to believe last year.
Slashdot Mirror
Mother of god man - that's amazing!
It's about business. Maximizing the number of users who can access your site will increase the number of users who can buy products from you.
Indeed, this is an admirable (and obvious) goal of web design. However, Mr. Nielson, IMO, is somewhat myopic in his view of what usability is, or rather what is necessary to facilitate it. I don't disagree with everything he says, in fact his premises are based upon indisputable common sense. However, I personally see him as being pompous, curmudgeonly, and unwilling to see the benefit of newer techniques and technologies.
I wholeheartedly agree, but good design and layout can achieve the same goals without relying on an interface composed entirely of underlined text hyperlinks. I'm not equating "innovation" with "masturbatory graphic design" - I'm saying that there is room for rich web interfaces using images, flash, CSS, DHTML, or whatever. Mr. Nielson has been rather inflexible in his decrees of how interfaces should be designed. Clean, functional, and usable is definately the way to go, but there are ways to achieve those goals that Mr. Nielson chooses to ignore or denounce.
Is it just me, or does Jakob Nielson say less and less with the same amount of words as time goes on? We've heard his trip before, over and over. Do we really another book from him telling us not build sites using any post-1996 technology?
Over the years, I've slowly developed an active dislike for the man. Should we really keep from using current technology in order to be backwards compatible with the 2.3% of all users who are incapable of upgrading their browser? How can innovation occur if we confine ourselves to Nielson's 256 color, 1995 view of the web? Can you really trust someone who includes the string "discount usability engineering" in the meta keywords on his site to give you good advice on web design?
Certainly there are applications for which the most minimal distillation of information is preferable (yes, I use lynx from time to time as well - put your flame thrower down), but come on - let's move forward.
Actually, most new American food is low country sothern cuisine with French and Asian accents. It's fairly unique, and, when well concieved and prepared, quite good.
You're right - it's not music making, and I think you'll be hard pressed to find an experienced DJ that disagrees with you. What it is, however, is juxtaposing existing music in new and unexpected ways to keep your audience engaged. There are a lot of mediocre DJs out there, (most of the big names even), that simply play anthem after anthem and never really do anything interesting. There are also many who take mixing to the next level and put together sets that keep people on the dance floor. DJs just play records for people. Some are better at it than others, and it's hard to tell the difference if you don't dance.
That being said, one of the things that separates good DJs from great DJs is the ability to not only read and react to a crowd, but anticipate how a crowd will react to a track that's dissimilar to what's being played - thus creating progression. I don't see that ability in this system.
Well put. As long as people with power are willing to screw others for their own gain, no social or political system will succeed as designed. It's a fundamental flaw of human nature.
Peace, love, paranoia, linux?
+1 insightful
Heh - yeah, it's the same in the states. You can actually purchase "unauthorized substance" tax stamps. Although having the proper taxes paid on your stash won't make it legal, the man can't railroad you for tax evasion if they bust you (which is common practice - hence impounded cars & such). You actually don't have to identify yourself in order to purchase the stamps, and any state employee that gives out info on purchasers of these stamps can be found guilty of a class 1 misdemeanor. Most states have a similar arrangement. I couldn't find any pricing info, but IIRC, the tax on illegal drugs is an order of magnitude higher than their street price.
I'd rather just have a chip implanted in my neck. Or maybe a nice barcode tattoo.
Perhaps, but I doubt bin Laden is a big Marx fan. Besides, it's a cause and effect relationship. You can't get generate the critical mass necessary to "undermine the public's faith in the target government" in the western world without causing a media sensation. So, this is really a pedantic argument.
Also, bin Laden's specific goals can be found in his interviews and "press releases":
"We say to the Americans as people and to American mothers, if they cherish their lives and if they cherish their sons, they must elect an American patriotic government that caters to their interests not the interests of the Jews. [...] This is my message to the American people. I urge them to find a serious administration that acts in their interest and does not attack people and violate their honor and pilfer their wealth." (more here)
So, it can be surmised that bin Laden's ultimate goal is not to cause a revolt by American people against the US government, but rather to draw attention to the policies of the US government that he disagrees with, in the hopes that the American people will agree with him, then use the existing system, as it was designed, to affect changes in those policies. A subtle, but very distinct difference.
Perhaps the most disturbing outcome of this whole affair (besides, of course the deaths of thousands of innocent people), is the opportunism (as you mentioned) that we're seeing in its wake.
The fact is who ever is sending it one letter at a time obviously doesn't have enough brain cells to figure out how to use the existing distribution mechanisms of society to do the job.
Actually, the goal of terrorism is to get draw attention to the cause that the terrorists support, not kill large numbers of people. What better way to get massive media coverage than sending bio weapons to high profile media centers? They could send them to government officials, or even you or I, but the gov't. would most likely sweep that right under the rug to avoid mass hysteria. Hit the media themselves, and you're guaranteed to get a huge media response. It's the same chillingly efficient and minimalist logic behind the WTC attacks. Low tech, low investment, high concept - virtually impossible to detect before it's too late.
OK, I'll tell you. I'm not on the Linux kernel mailing list. I'm interested in this topic none the less, and would never had known about it had it not appeared here.
Err, this is incorrect. Stop and disable the WWW publishing service (IIS), install Apache as a service, start it, viola.
In a word: yes. 145,100 (current Senate salary) doesn't go far inside the beltway. Align yourself with a few lobbyists, and champion an industry. This kind of thing isn't a one-off.
Corporate interests DO control the US govt.
Check out the rest of opensecrets.org for more info.
But I thought the Endless were forbidden from spilling the blood of kin?
OK, so what I'm getting out of your post is "American corporate fodder is worse than European corporate fodder". Is this a surprise? Mass produced entertainment from anywhere is going to give you the least common denominator. America, being the epitome of corporatism, is going to have a lower LCD than just about any other country. But why subject yourself to corporate entertainment "programming" in the first place? Go out and see a band/DJ, poetry event, indy film, etc..., or, better yet, get involved in whatever local scene you're interested in? Real American culture can't be found in corporate sponsored media - it's taking place in real life, in the clubs, galleries, and streets. You have to get off your ass and go find it. Media entertainment is the fast food of culture. You want real culture in America? Support your local band/DJ/artist/poet/restaurant.
I think that it's safe to assume that each of the "Top 200 corporations" are based in one of the "biggest 10" countries. This puts their sales in the GDPs that were excluded from the comparison.
And this post is offtopic how? if you use OpenBSD for a firewall, chances are you're using IPF. removing IPF from openBSD is a big deal - the natural first question for users to ask is, "oh, ok, so like, what the hell am I supposed to use now...".
Think before you moderate.
check out www.headfone.com. Sorta primitive, not free, but cool nonetheless.
"Since time is short, and you may lie, we're going to have to torture you. But I want you to know, it isn't personal." - Agent Rogers
"The life of a repo man is always intense." - Bud
"It's too late - you already are."
just take a look at who relies on character assassination in the pursuit of political goals, and who doesn't
So, you're saying that the Clinton impeachment circus wasn't a GOP attempt at character assasination? Gimme a break - neither major party plays nice. If the GOP hadn't blown that issue WAY out of proportion, we wouldn't have spent the last 94 days finding out how much more conservative Dubya is than his handlers led us to believe last year.