leev2 has adopted no words, looked up 0 words, created 1 list, listed 3 words, written 10 comments, added 0 tags, and loved 0 words.

Comments by leev2

  • I am faster than a speeding bullet, relativityly speaking.

    March 18, 2009

  • Thanks, reesetee, for the clarification. We have unwittingly created another example of just how difficult it is to communicate with the written word alone. Smilies were the first crude attempt to allow a modicum of emotional context into the process, but subtle nuances created in person by tone, timbre, non-word utterances and body language are still largely missing. I guess this is why we use yet more words in special notations to extend and/or clarify the main text. *Lips pressed together. Eyebrows raised equally. Slight shrug of both shoulders.*

    March 17, 2009

  • My wife and I once lived in a custom steel-and-glass house on 47 isolated acres of high desert ranch land some 25 miles north of Sonora, Mexico. She was never fond of creepy crawlies, and it had become my habit to quietly and secretly capture and dispose of any such critters found to be living with us but not paying rent. However, when confronted by the mother of all vinegaroons (as large as my hand plus a six inch tail) and watched it rear up like a monstrous toy transformer, waving it's claws in the air, I abandoned SOP, calling out to her: "Honey, you've GOT to come see this!"

    Big mistake.

    But this episode solved a long-standing riddle. For months we had been finding and vacuuming up dessicated moth wings. No bodies; just wings. Turns out that the vinegaroon was consuming the bodies but could not (or would not) digest the wings. Who knew?

    March 17, 2009

  • As my brother is fond of saying, "Even a blind pig can find an acorn once in a while." I bow to your superior intellect and gracefully withdraw.

    March 16, 2009

  • Since the earliest days when mere mortals came to use computational devices, the most entrenched and problematic issue has been that the GUI (i.e. front-end software) was designed by programmers. Programmers know how to interact with machines, but almost never know how non-programmer humans best interact with machines. I have personally experienced this many, many times. Also, having been a teacher, I know that it is damnably difficult to describe how to perform a relatively simple task using words alone. Try writing down instructions on how to tie a shoe lace and then have someone follow those written instructions exactly. This exercise points out how people familiar with a process make careless assumptions that lead to massive confusion.

    In this case, since I assume that data being submitted is in turn being used to add to, modify, or delete table entries in a structured database, the easiest solution is based on understanding that presenting two apparently related input opportunities on the same screen will likely create more confusion than necessary. The most obvious solution would be to design the interface so that it is impossible for users to screw up so easily; be totally linear and confirm actions as they are completed (e.g. "Add Word"-->(new page)"Thanks, your word has been added. If you would like to enter a definition or comment about this word, type it into the text area below and hit 'SUBMIT'."(new page)-->"Thanks. Your comment or definition has been added. "Select from the following list what you would like to do next." (Radio buttons for single operations, check boxes for multiple operations....)

    Never assume that new users have any clue as to how you organize things. Be simple and direct and as linear as possible when providing input options, and provide thorough descriptions and/or explanations of what is happening at each step in the process.

    This is not rocket science; it is design for human interaction. Beta test with a 12 year old. Never trust a programmer to get it right. :-)

    March 16, 2009

  • Ah. Perhaps senility has finally struck. I am confounded by the GUI, I suppose, doing what appeared to make sense at the time but which was, in the end, incorrect. I'm certain that the GUI and process makes sense to its designer (and apparently to everyone else here), so I think I'll just sit back and watch. Thanks for the tip.

    March 16, 2009

  • UKKU was originally coined simply because of its uniqueness and the possibilities of mirrored bifurcation.

    March 16, 2009

  • A giclairune is a unique, one-of-a-kind, totally digital, two dimensional artistic creation, as opposed to a giclée, which has come to mean a high quality ink jet printed reproduction of another work, usually created by non-digital means.

    March 16, 2009

  • A giclairune is a unique, one-of-a-kind, totally digital, two dimensional artistic creation, as opposed to a giclée, which has come to mean a high quality ink jet printed reproduction of another work, usually created by non-digital means.

    March 16, 2009

  • UKKU was originally coined simply because of its uniqueness and the possibilities of mirrored bifurcation.

    March 16, 2009

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