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Usability - It's not just for websites!

Mon, 02 Jul 2007 12:55:26 GMT

As a web developer, usability is something that we consider on a daily basis. When it comes to functionality that has become a standard, we don't jack with it! For instance, we have long established that when you mouseover a link the cursor turns into a pointy finger. Can we alter that? Sure! But people would be confused and would likely miss some content in your application. See that navigation bar at the top of my page? I could easily move to align with the bottom of my site, but the result would lead to more confusion.

This leads me to a mini-rant about my new phone. A couple weeks ago I dropped my LG phone one too many times. It seemed to always think I had a headset plugged in, although I have never actually owned a phone headset. In addition, when I turned it on, it would randomly call my Mom and Dad. That one I still can't figure out!

So, being a generally cheap guy, I stopped by the Cingular store to pick up the the next-to-the-bottom-line model for about 60 bucks and was on my way without paying too much attention. After unwrapping it and charging for the first time, I discovered something that baffles me. Check out this keypad!

What genius thought it would be a good idea to design the keys like that? After about 35 years of a consistent and well-defined pattern of telephone keypads, Sony/Ericsson decided it would be a good idea to alter that by offsetting the middle column. This serves no functional purpose either. You can see they could have quite easily shifted the middle column of buttons up so that they would be aligned. I am sure my fingers will get used to it, but dialing without looking at my fingers presents a new challenge. I suppose that is one of the costs of being cheap. :)

Cyber attack us eh? How about a counter attack IRL!

Thu, 08 Feb 2007 20:25:59 GMT

This is pretty interesting, especially in light of this week's rampant DoS attacks. From the article:

If the United States found itself under a major cyberattack aimed at undermining the nation’s critical information infrastructure, the Department of Defense is prepared, based on the authority of the president, to launch a cyber counterattack or an actual bombing of an attack source.

Apparently if the nation's networks come under a severe attack, there is a group called the National Cyber Response Coordination Group (NCRCG) that is responsible for coordinating a defense/retaliation strategy. Members of the NCRCG include experts from the US-CERT computer-readiness team, the Department of Justice and the Defense Department. They are actually playing out "war games" in order to prepare for an attack. Where it gets especially interesting to me is the fact that the strategy potentially could include a physical bombing attack. I am certainly glad to see them protecting my career as an internet developer! :)

Read the complete article...

ps. Make sure you keep those Windows Updates current We sure would miss you if your computer was commandeered and was preforming an attack from your house!

Cool video showing an iPhone in action - and a question to web developers

Wed, 31 Jan 2007 16:50:43 GMT

I have been kind of passively watching the iPhone news go by the past month knowing I am far too cheap to actually buy one until they are no longer cool and people have moved on to the next flash in the pan at which point I will be stuck with the old and busted iPhone.

This morning a coworker sent me this video demonstrating the features. There is some really sweet stuff in there! As I watched it I could hear a future conversation my kids will be having their kids.

"Son, when I was a little boy we had these big noisy metal boxes under our desks and *those* were our computers. Can you believe that?"

So to the web development community -- What do you think we need to be doing today in order to be prepared for the future in such a way that we remain viable as developers? I don't want to end up staring at the same fate as client-server Windows application developers, watching my corner of the development world get smaller and smaller!

Does it really change much for us? What what should we be learning now?

[youtube YgW7or1TuFk]

We have landed

Sun, 10 Jul 2005 05:00:00 GMT

Well, I have installed my blogging software. Time to play. :)