We're Not Afraid

Kasia posts her impressions of a woman at JavaOne.

The next ass that touches my shoulder will be the last!

A BBC Radio Dashboard widget.

Poeple are going apeshit over the interface at DontClick.it. Some have even called it "excellent UI."

One of the things about UI designers that most annoys me is their dangerous tendency to confuse "I like it" or "isn't that cool" with "it is good UI."

Explore the UI at DontClick.it. Activate one of the links, like "Learn." Then decide you don't want to explore "Learn" and try to "back out" of the link. Wait for one of their "dialogs" to appear. See how easy it is to click the wrong choice.

The reason we click or release the mouse button is because these are gestures distinct from moving the pointer. Clicking the mouse intuitively says "take this action."

Removing the click gesture from the UI makes it less usable. It also makes things like drag and drop next to impossible.

The confusion of move and action gestures, added to the fact that UI elements move around the screen, makes the DontClick.it UI rather bad. It would be particularly baffling to less savvy users. If DontClick.it is claiming some kind of UI breakthrough, I'd love to see the results of user testing that they should have conducted.

Someone on LiveJournal is collecting British reaction to the bombing this morning. Some quite funny. I can't remember being more proud to have a little Birmingham blood in me.

POTD

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Also, I forgot my cell phone today. Don't bother calling / SMSing. My pillow isn't likely to answer.

What happened in London today was mindless, tragic violence. In deference to the dead and wounded, today, let's stay off our soapboxes. Let's not pretend to know why this happened, who did it, or how to stop such acts in the future.

I think I might need one of these for my bedroom.

POTD

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2002

2005

Fucking weak.

Judge sentences Lil' Kim to a year and a day in prison. Lil' Kim appeals for clemency, asking the judge "to consider my entire life's work and not just the days in the grand jury and on the witness stand in the courtroom. I'm a God-fearing, good person."

Yes, lets consider her life's work.

Uh...no. Still guilty.

Our president should just stop trying to do things that require articulate speech or physical coordination.

Get a Mac.

POTD

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I don't see you. There is no one here but me.

A Diane Arbus movie is in production? And Nicole Kidman is playing her?

Make sure the sun is at your back, and hold your breath before hitting the shutter.

Damn, The Times is fast. How did they get this photo essay together so quickly? It was done by the time I got home..

POTD

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Happy birthday, U.S.A.

This year, more than any other I can remember, our flag stands alone. I hope I live to see a time when this isn't so. These seem dark times to me.

Nasa has good coverage of Deep Impact on its site. Cool stuff.