It's a victim of spammers and fraudsters, so could people remember this if their company is considering using a "Search Engine Optimizer" for their website...
"If US companies are considering outsourcing to Canada, it seems like they could try other places in the US where they could hire people for less then in California or NY."
Like, for example, outsourcing to US prisons where they can get workers for less cost even than India.
As a bonus, the people they laid off when they closed the previous factory (nextdoor to the prison) eventually end up in the prison (no job, no money, right?) and come back to work for "less than the cost of slave labor"
"Since it seems he's used this camera analogy throughout the article I'll comment on this little blurb. I'm not so sure it's a very good analogy to use either."
Interesting choice of comparaison, though. Just before I read this, some friends were saying that they'd have no idea how to turn off the flash on their camera if they wanted to take a photo somewhere where it was prohibited, nor how they could tell whether the flash was going to be used for the next photo or not.
(Look for the tiny zigzag button, and press it to toggle between zigzag mode, zigzag-in-circle mode, zigzag with zigzag through it mode, or blank mode, indicated by tiny icons on a tiny monochrome LCD display)
This is an example of good user-interface design? Better than computer programs or websites?
(My camera has a good usability for flash. You can tell it's active because there's a bloody big flashbulb bolted to the top of the camera. You inhibit the flash by removing it)
If we need inspiration for making things easy-to-use, then cameras, videos and cars are probably not the place to look.
"My guess is at least 90% of the home users DOES run through an account with admin rights."
How flexible is the user system in WindowsXP then? People are always going on about how you can have accounts, but can you still run a browser "as guest" or run a file-window "as administrator" whilst you are logged in as a normal user?
It's easy enough on linux to run programs as another user if you have the passwords to do so, or to even run a whole console session as another user, but presumably a Windows restricted user has to logout and login as administrator (yes, and re-setup Windows for the administrator account) to install anything?
"Apart from initial install, how often does one need to install a browser plugin? Why should it be made easy? What kind of legitimate website needs a plugin to browse it?"
Well, these security updates come as an XPI plugin that you install by clicking on a link...
"I feel it's my duty to the internet to point these clowns to h4wh4w@127.0.0.1. You'd be suprised how many sites will actually allow this, since the regular expressions that check them usually allow for identifier@sub.dns.com.country, with each allowing [a-zA-Z0-9]."
Indeed, "yourname@127.10.190.1" ought to work just as well (anything with 127 on the front, really), and gets past people who filter-out the obvious fake email addresses from their list. (Assuming incompetance on the part of spammers, but we can improve the theory later if necessary)
"Actually, my dummy email has always been support@microsoft.com"
Does that mean someone is sending them the latest Microsoft patches by email? Wonder if they install any of them.
Maybe they even get the advertisements for Microsoft Software at reduced prices. If they bought some of that, they might save money when they have to give software to the schools.
"This will run stuff on the local machine, and limit lags to filetransfers."
Essentially, it's putting your home directory on a subversion server.
[*] Check out.* (application settings) [*] Check out/work/ directory [*] Do some work [*] Check everything back in. Go to another computer, check out your files from there, and start again where you left off.
Ok, you can't leave programs running in this mode (program running on the local machine won't stay running when you change local machines), but you always have the option of running programs on a remote machine (with delays to your commands) if you want to leave some programs running. SSH, VPN, X, etc.
How long before you can store your home directory on google and download it at any computer you're using, update the global copy when you finish?
"OK, so let my just think a little bit here. You get a virus that remains dormant for say, 6 months. Then sudennly it does something really bad to your computer so what do you do? Rollback 1 day and have it screw up the next day or rollback 6 months and lose 6 months work?"
And this is different from the situation on the computer you're currenly using?
(yes it's a problem, no, there's nothing you can do about it, other than secure your computer and keep very old backups)
"Get good cables. Stock ribbon cables block airflow and lead to case clutter."
Yet rounded cables put all the signal connectors next to each other and form capacitors down the whole length of your IDE cable, conveniently bypassing the "ground wire between each signal wire" solution which the people who designed those cables used to ensure that you can reliably transmit data that fast...
You might want to get an audiophile-quality IEC mains lead for your computer though, that'll really improve the airflow through your case...
"It's hard to do away with GIF because GIF's are animated."
Not if you configure your browser right, they're not... F*ing annoying animated adverts, can't stand them! How does anyone plan to get any work done when they're using a browser that allows GIF images to animate?
"Because when you're working on a corporate project that costs money, it's very difficult to put a business case forward for something which will only be of benefit to a very small number of visitors. Most clients would rather pay for something that directly benefits the browsing experience of the other 95%."
So what's the business case for Java applets and Macromedia shockwave and Flash? Do we just hand-wave the lack of installed compatibility when we're talking about a buzzword?
"25% of our customers will see a blank screen instead of our website. Screw 'em!"
"And the answer is simple- hook it up to a Linux-based NAT router!"
Why not just do the web-browsing on the linux machine? It would be easier, nicer, and more secure than using it to protect what we can only call "the virus-bait"
"Well most people dont do this over and over again on each and every machine."
Yes... we do...
I'm not bitter, honest! It's great fun getting a load of WindowsXP machines, and trying to convert them into something useful.
Even when machines are arriving in dribs and drabs and 8 machines every few weeks, it still doesn't seem worth the effort to buy tools and figure out what to do to make WindowsXP non-sucky. Especially when it might go wrong and screw lots of stuff up, and even when all the machines are pre-installed by Dell.
Can't Dell have a tickbox option on the order form: "leave off the eyecandy please, I want to run computationally-intensive programs on this machine"
Maybe even a tickbox saying "yes I've used windows before, I really don't need a big-ass sign pointing to the start menu and demanding I click it on each machine I install"
I suppose the real question is: these install tools, do they help with the really crappy stuff about windows? For example, the having to agree to a license agreement on each machine you get, setting different network settings for each machine, or configuring a normal-looking desktop without mucking up things like drivers for whatever odd hardware Dell has installed in each machine. Are any of the tools actually easy to use, useful to have, and if so, where can I download them?
So I guess the real question is: how many of the websites which include the full list of 239 countries do something useful enough with the list to justify including it?
There are plenty of websites which get a truly international feel, by letting you choose between 5-10 countries, and they'll adjust the language, and timezone for you, display local telephone numbers, change text to display their local offices, etc.. So, good design. Most such sites use hyperlinked flags (i.e. one click) to select your country.
Other websites (most notably google) lookup the IP of the country your network is in, and silently use it to provide better service. In google's case, showing adverts from people in the same country as you.
Some websites need a postal address. So they provide a textbox that lets you enter the country. After all, your website visitor lives in Finland. You live in the US. Who knows better how to address a parcel to Finand, you or them? With the textbox, not only do you not have to update it when a new country is born, not only is it easier to use, but you don't offend any chinese by including tibet, don't offend any tibetans by not including tibet, and don't offend any catholic northern irishmen by forcing them to describe their country as the united kingdom. Did I mention it's easier to use?
And as for the other sites... well I have a lot more respect for someone with 3 localisations who knows how to do something useful with them, than the websites which give 239 country options and do absolutely nothing with them. Why waste my time? You'll never get the demographic information you seek (hint: all the NYTimes subscribers are marked as living in Afghanistan because it's the easiest to enter on a dropdown list)
And if you do want to know where someone's from, why not ask them to describe it? If you really need to group the americans together regardless of their inability to name the country, then program a regular-expression for each of the common countries. It'll take you about half an hour. If a common misspelling gets through, then modify your regexp, but don't worry about that until it happens.
Is there really any justification for the country checkboxes, other than laziness, the "wow! shiny!" factor, lame attempts at appearing multinational, or just drag-and-drop in some webdesign program that makes these horrible country lists as easy to add as a regular textbox?
If a workaround can be used, that's no basis for suggesting that the original problem is "talking crap". Your drop-down list of countries is still an unusable and stupid design and people who use it should be unplugged from the internet and taken away from anywhere they might influence website design.
Pre-selecting the US. Wow. So I still have to scroll through hundreds of countries (did I mention the tiny area of the dropdown list) to find my country.
"Hit U and each time you hit it, a different U value appears in the box."
You've used a drop-down list. The drop-down facility can only be activated by the mouse. So you've obviously chosen a mouse navigation. Yet your answer to the unusability of the mouse navigation you chose is to suggest keyboard? Usability rules state that you don't mix the two in one task.
So is pressing "u, down, down, oops.. up" easier or harder than typing "UK"?
Slashdot Mirror
"Is google a victim of it's own success?"
It's a victim of spammers and fraudsters, so could people remember this if their company is considering using a "Search Engine Optimizer" for their website...
"That was a translation to British."
If it was written by The Register, then it wouldn't need translating; ElReg is written in a London 'accent' anyway.
"Where does this leave xfree?"
It leaves XFree86 with the world's most complex configuration file, and as the source of most of the linux-related problems people have.
"Annoying people exist everywhere. The trick is to direct their annoying behaviour at your foes."
The Tribes 2 Annoying Bastard Guide
"If US companies are considering outsourcing to Canada, it seems like they could try other places in the US where they could hire people for less then in California or NY."
Like, for example, outsourcing to US prisons where they can get workers for less cost even than India.
As a bonus, the people they laid off when they closed the previous factory (nextdoor to the prison) eventually end up in the prison (no job, no money, right?) and come back to work for "less than the cost of slave labor"
"Since it seems he's used this camera analogy throughout the article I'll comment on this little blurb. I'm not so sure it's a very good analogy to use either."
Interesting choice of comparaison, though. Just before I read this, some friends were saying that they'd have no idea how to turn off the flash on their camera if they wanted to take a photo somewhere where it was prohibited, nor how they could tell whether the flash was going to be used for the next photo or not.
(Look for the tiny zigzag button, and press it to toggle between zigzag mode, zigzag-in-circle mode, zigzag with zigzag through it mode, or blank mode, indicated by tiny icons on a tiny monochrome LCD display)
This is an example of good user-interface design? Better than computer programs or websites?
(My camera has a good usability for flash. You can tell it's active because there's a bloody big flashbulb bolted to the top of the camera. You inhibit the flash by removing it)
If we need inspiration for making things easy-to-use, then cameras, videos and cars are probably not the place to look.
"Spending 25 hours to let 8% (or less at times) at certain points in production just doesn't seem to be worth it."
Ah yes, the people incapable of designing a cross-platform website, in a language specifically designed to be cross-platform.
(Hint: you had to spend more than 25 hours to make it incompatible with lots of browsers -- stop moaning about having to make it work again)
" "When are the masses going to learn?" -- When there is a VIABLE desktop alternative to Windows?"
Viable, in this case, meaning "is written and supported by Microsoft, and runs Microsoft Office and Internet Explorer"?
Face it, you can lead the horse to a viable linux desktop, but you can't make them drink a different Office suite.
"My guess is at least 90% of the home users DOES run through an account with admin rights."
How flexible is the user system in WindowsXP then? People are always going on about how you can have accounts, but can you still run a browser "as guest" or run a file-window "as administrator" whilst you are logged in as a normal user?
It's easy enough on linux to run programs as another user if you have the passwords to do so, or to even run a whole console session as another user, but presumably a Windows restricted user has to logout and login as administrator (yes, and re-setup Windows for the administrator account) to install anything?
"It has filesystem security and true protected memory. Whatever else you say about it, it is more secure than Win9x."
But to maintain balance in the universe, they added Windows Messenger and turned it on by default. Still more secure than Win98?
"Apart from initial install, how often does one need to install a browser plugin? Why should it be made easy? What kind of legitimate website needs a plugin to browse it?"
Well, these security updates come as an XPI plugin that you install by clicking on a link...
"I feel it's my duty to the internet to point these clowns to h4wh4w@127.0.0.1. You'd be suprised how many sites will actually allow this, since the regular expressions that check them usually allow for identifier@sub.dns.com.country, with each allowing [a-zA-Z0-9]."
Indeed, "yourname@127.10.190.1" ought to work just as well (anything with 127 on the front, really), and gets past people who filter-out the obvious fake email addresses from their list. (Assuming incompetance on the part of spammers, but we can improve the theory later if necessary)
"Actually, my dummy email has always been support@microsoft.com"
Does that mean someone is sending them the latest Microsoft patches by email? Wonder if they install any of them.
Maybe they even get the advertisements for Microsoft Software at reduced prices. If they bought some of that, they might save money when they have to give software to the schools.
"This will run stuff on the local machine, and limit lags to filetransfers."
.* (application settings) /work/ directory
Essentially, it's putting your home directory on a subversion server.
[*] Check out
[*] Check out
[*] Do some work
[*] Check everything back in. Go to another computer, check out your files from there, and start again where you left off.
Ok, you can't leave programs running in this mode (program running on the local machine won't stay running when you change local machines), but you always have the option of running programs on a remote machine (with delays to your commands) if you want to leave some programs running. SSH, VPN, X, etc.
How long before you can store your home directory on google and download it at any computer you're using, update the global copy when you finish?
"OK, so let my just think a little bit here. You get a virus that remains dormant for say, 6 months. Then sudennly it does something really bad to your computer so what do you do? Rollback 1 day and have it screw up the next day or rollback 6 months and lose 6 months work?"
And this is different from the situation on the computer you're currenly using?
(yes it's a problem, no, there's nothing you can do about it, other than secure your computer and keep very old backups)
"Gmail does support Mozilla, even Firefox"
And if that's not cool enough, it also supports the KMail [and Pine] keyboard-shortcuts
"Can you imagine what a Beowolf cluster of KenJens would be like?"
Google?
"Get good cables. Stock ribbon cables block airflow and lead to case clutter."
Yet rounded cables put all the signal connectors next to each other and form capacitors down the whole length of your IDE cable, conveniently bypassing the "ground wire between each signal wire" solution which the people who designed those cables used to ensure that you can reliably transmit data that fast...
You might want to get an audiophile-quality IEC mains lead for your computer though, that'll really improve the airflow through your case...
"It's hard to do away with GIF because GIF's are animated."
Not if you configure your browser right, they're not... F*ing annoying animated adverts, can't stand them! How does anyone plan to get any work done when they're using a browser that allows GIF images to animate?
"Because when you're working on a corporate project that costs money, it's very difficult to put a business case forward for something which will only be of benefit to a very small number of visitors. Most clients would rather pay for something that directly benefits the browsing experience of the other 95%."
So what's the business case for Java applets and Macromedia shockwave and Flash? Do we just hand-wave the lack of installed compatibility when we're talking about a buzzword?
"25% of our customers will see a blank screen instead of our website. Screw 'em!"
"I dare somebody to mention the phrase "ready for the desktop"!"
In case those of us with linux on our desktops reply?
"And the answer is simple- hook it up to a Linux-based NAT router!"
Why not just do the web-browsing on the linux machine? It would be easier, nicer, and more secure than using it to protect what we can only call "the virus-bait"
"Well most people dont do this over and over again on each and every machine."
Yes... we do...
I'm not bitter, honest! It's great fun getting a load of WindowsXP machines, and trying to convert them into something useful.
Even when machines are arriving in dribs and drabs and 8 machines every few weeks, it still doesn't seem worth the effort to buy tools and figure out what to do to make WindowsXP non-sucky. Especially when it might go wrong and screw lots of stuff up, and even when all the machines are pre-installed by Dell.
Can't Dell have a tickbox option on the order form: "leave off the eyecandy please, I want to run computationally-intensive programs on this machine"
Maybe even a tickbox saying "yes I've used windows before, I really don't need a big-ass sign pointing to the start menu and demanding I click it on each machine I install"
I suppose the real question is: these install tools, do they help with the really crappy stuff about windows? For example, the having to agree to a license agreement on each machine you get, setting different network settings for each machine, or configuring a normal-looking desktop without mucking up things like drivers for whatever odd hardware Dell has installed in each machine. Are any of the tools actually easy to use, useful to have, and if so, where can I download them?
So I guess the real question is: how many of the websites which include the full list of 239 countries do something useful enough with the list to justify including it?
There are plenty of websites which get a truly international feel, by letting you choose between 5-10 countries, and they'll adjust the language, and timezone for you, display local telephone numbers, change text to display their local offices, etc.. So, good design. Most such sites use hyperlinked flags (i.e. one click) to select your country.
Other websites (most notably google) lookup the IP of the country your network is in, and silently use it to provide better service. In google's case, showing adverts from people in the same country as you.
Some websites need a postal address. So they provide a textbox that lets you enter the country. After all, your website visitor lives in Finland. You live in the US. Who knows better how to address a parcel to Finand, you or them? With the textbox, not only do you not have to update it when a new country is born, not only is it easier to use, but you don't offend any chinese by including tibet, don't offend any tibetans by not including tibet, and don't offend any catholic northern irishmen by forcing them to describe their country as the united kingdom. Did I mention it's easier to use?
And as for the other sites... well I have a lot more respect for someone with 3 localisations who knows how to do something useful with them, than the websites which give 239 country options and do absolutely nothing with them. Why waste my time? You'll never get the demographic information you seek (hint: all the NYTimes subscribers are marked as living in Afghanistan because it's the easiest to enter on a dropdown list)
And if you do want to know where someone's from, why not ask them to describe it? If you really need to group the americans together regardless of their inability to name the country, then program a regular-expression for each of the common countries. It'll take you about half an hour. If a common misspelling gets through, then modify your regexp, but don't worry about that until it happens.
Is there really any justification for the country checkboxes, other than laziness, the "wow! shiny!" factor, lame attempts at appearing multinational, or just drag-and-drop in some webdesign program that makes these horrible country lists as easy to add as a regular textbox?
"Don't talk crap"
If a workaround can be used, that's no basis for suggesting that the original problem is "talking crap". Your drop-down list of countries is still an unusable and stupid design and people who use it should be unplugged from the internet and taken away from anywhere they might influence website design.
Pre-selecting the US. Wow. So I still have to scroll through hundreds of countries (did I mention the tiny area of the dropdown list) to find my country.
"Hit U and each time you hit it, a different U value appears in the box."
You've used a drop-down list. The drop-down facility can only be activated by the mouse. So you've obviously chosen a mouse navigation. Yet your answer to the unusability of the mouse navigation you chose is to suggest keyboard? Usability rules state that you don't mix the two in one task.
So is pressing "u, down, down, oops.. up" easier or harder than typing "UK"?