From: Gleanings
To: tummies
Subject: Gleanings: Joining the Thanksgiving Recovery Program
OPENING THANG
So, I had a very traditional beige-plate thanksgiving
(for my foreign readers, that's a plate with beige turkey, white potatoes with beige gravy all over them, beige stuffing and green bean casserole -- which is typically beige, since it's made with cream of mushroom soup. It's a meal that has remained unchanged since 1953-- think "happy days").
The upside is that I managed not to stuff myself, and here's hoping if y'all did, at least it wasn't with something beige. sigh.
If only we had cooked from this
http://www.epicurious.com/e_eating/e04_thanks/main.html
Also, my blog wasn't getting updated because of a blogger bug. But I was able to fix it, and there are bunch of ramblings up there now. enjoy.
http://www.eleganthack.com/blog/index.html
USABILITY MATTERS
from InteractionArchoitect.com
"Our exploratory user study on the use of a major portal site in Belgium
shows that a category of "skeptical Internet users" has abandoned searching
the web. The skeptical Internet user has made a return-on-investment
evaluation of his Internet experience, and has come to the conclusion that
the return on some sites is just not worth the investment of his personal
time and energy."
Read more at
http://www.interactionarchitect.com/articles/article20001122.htm
and I'm also touting this site
http://www.usabilitysucks.com
although I'm still annoyed usable and beautiful are being shoved into two camps.
NEWS
Vive la liberté!
"The chances of the French ruling against Yahoo! ever being enforced are slim. But it may still set a dangerous precedent"
http://www.economist.com/business/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=434168
This scares me.
getting grandma wired
http://strom.com/awards/224.html
mandatory reading if you plan to put an imac in your parent's stocking this year.
If I was channeling this user, I'd say "The internet is a hassle to use, and though there is good stuff out there, but most of the time it's just to hard to locate. I've found a few sites that really meet most of my needs (usually my brother sends them to me. search engines suck.).
I won't stop using my favorites until they let me down... but then I will, because there are plenty more that are waiting to fill my needs..."
They find their favorite sites through recommendations of friends and family. They are loyal out of laziness, and any big redesign could sever that loyalty. They believe in the promise of the net, but they are only too aware of the reality.
Which is a few treasures tucked in a mountain of trash.