Archive for June, 2004

MPX200 Virgin

Wednesday, June 30th, 2004

I’m getting a new phone today, the MPX200. I posted some questions on Mobile Gadget News about it. We’ll see how much these folks can help me get and running with my new SmartPhone. I’m excited about it!
On a related topic, I’ll try talking a lot about my phone over the next few weeks. Right […]

APCHI 2004

Wednesday, June 30th, 2004

“The Asia Pacific Computer-Human Interaction (APCHI) 2004 conference is the sixth biennial gathering of computer-human interaction experts and the first time the event has come to New Zealand.”
Read the article…
Visit the APCHI 2004 web site…
(Thanks for the submission Daniel Szuc!)

Why have meetings?

Wednesday, June 30th, 2004

The Age — “I once worked for a company that banned meetings during business hours in an attempt to improve productivity. This was alluring at first, but we soon found that sitting down in person with members of your group really is the most effective way to accomplish many tasks.”
Have you ever had a meeting […]

Premium usability: getting the discount without paying the price

Monday, June 28th, 2004

“The debate rages. “Formal usability testing costs too much,” says one side. “We need methodological rigor,” maintains the other. “You can find the important problems with just five users,” insists the first. “Such a small number doesn’t give us reliable results,” counters the second.And never the twain shall meet.Or will they? In this Whiteboard, Jeff […]

Restoring Confidence in Usability Results

Monday, June 28th, 2004

Jeff Sauro — “Adding confidence intervals to completion rates in usability tests will temper both excessive skepticism and overstated usability findings. Confidence intervals make testing more efficient by quickly revealing unusable tasks with very small samples. Examples are detailed and downloadable calculators are available.”
Read the article…

Great Quote

Monday, June 28th, 2004

“I spell well, but I type badly.”

Et Tu, Amazon?

Monday, June 28th, 2004

I cancelled an order for a cell phone through Buy.com and instead I ordered it through Amazon. I’ve had pretty good experiences with Amazon so I didn’t expect any issues.
Amazon promised 2-day delivery and I even paid extra for it. However, it has been delayed for 2 days already. It should be shipping tomorrow, […]

Dynamic Text Replacement

Monday, June 28th, 2004

A List Apart — “Using JavaScript and PHP, we can generate accessible image-headings using any font we like. And we don’t have to change the structure of our HTML or CSS at all.”
I missed this article a few weeks ago, or I just ignored it as techno mumbo jumbo. However, when I saw the demo, […]

Innovative Ways to Fight Graffiti

Monday, June 28th, 2004

I’m on a committee to clean up Binghamton, NY. The area is hosting the 2004 Empire State Games and we want the place to look good. Below is a note that I sent to the committee detailing some ideas on fighting graffiti.
Based on research, and some
of my own ideas, here is the list of things
interesting […]

Micropayments

Monday, June 28th, 2004

Some folks are talking about micropayments again, and some micropayment companies such as PepperCoin are gearing up for full battle. In a recent article, PepperCoin announced that they are going to allow people to use their credit cards to carry out tiny ($0.20 - $0.25) transactions.
Clay Shirky wrote a good article on why micropayments […]

Microsoft planning to boost CRM apps

Monday, June 28th, 2004

“Using the Web services-based Microsoft Information Bridge Framework bundle, end users will be able to more easily create and track customer letters, escalate cases and retrieve customer-related data without having to leave the Office application.”
1. What is the Microsoft Information Bridge Framework?
2. Do you really want to do CRM from Microsoft Office?
3. Will […]

Setting up an IT business in China

Monday, June 28th, 2004

“Internet-related businesses are heavily controlled, both as to content and functionality. Enterprises using websites for profit must submit to a plethora of further controls. All this is not for the faint-hearted. The biggest issue is often the lack of certainty surrounding whether one’s business is wholly compliant at any given moment.”
Good, quick overview of the […]