Tim Brown's notebook

The Incompetence of American Airlines

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:23:42 -0500

Killer vaccines and the killers who kill with them

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 11:33:25 -0400

Killer vaccines and the killers who kill with them

"Many of the most compelling usability test insights come not from the elements that are evaluated,..."

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 23:14:27 -0400

“Many of the most compelling usability test insights come not from the elements that are evaluated, but rather those not evaluated. They come from the almost unnoticeable moments when a user frowns at a button label, or obviously rates a task flow as easier than it appeared during completion, or claims to understand a concept while simultaneously misdefining it. The unintended conclusions—the peripheral insights—are often what feed a designer’s instincts most. Over time, testing sessions can strengthen a designer’s intuition so that she can spot troublesome design details with just a glance.”

- A List Apart: Articles: The Myth of Usability Testing

Video on the Web - Dive Into HTML5

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 15:15:11 -0400

Video on the Web - Dive Into HTML5:

“HTML5 defines a standard way to embed video in a web page, using a element is still evolving, which is a polite way of saying it doesn’t work yet. At least, it doesn’t work everywhere. But don’t…

The myth of the page fold: evidence from user testing

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 09:22:30 -0400

The myth of the page fold: evidence from user testing:

People tell us that they don’t mind scrolling and the behaviour we see in user testing backs that up.

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Tags: Usability, Research, …

"Here was a chance to establish himself, definitively, as an American president — too self-confident..."

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 17:11:16 -0400

“

Here was a chance to establish himself, definitively, as an American president — too self-confident to accept an unearned accolade, and too instinctively democratic to go along with European humbug.

He didn’t take it. Instead, he took the Nobel Peace Prize.

Big mistake.

People have argued that you can’t turn down a Nobel. Please. Of course you can. Obama is a gifted rhetorician with world-class speechwriters. All he would have needed was a simple, graceful statement emphasizing the impossibility of accepting such an honor during his first year in office, with America’s armed forces still deep in two unfinished wars.

”

- Heckuva Job, Barack by Ross Douthat, for the NY Times

Candy-craving criminals

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 11:30:05 -0400

Candy-craving criminals:

It’s the inability to successfully cope with delayed gratification that has doctors concerned, since rash behavior in children can be linked to criminal acts and violence in adults. The British study, which followed 17,000 children over four decades, found that, by the age of 34, 69% of daily candy eaters were apprehended for violent acts.

Philip Glass on Sesame Street

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 11:29:02 -0400

Philip Glass on Sesame Street

"I don’t simply forget facts; no, that would be too easy. Instead, my mind rewrites facts and fools..."

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 20:53:42 -0400

“I don’t simply forget facts; no, that would be too easy. Instead, my mind rewrites facts and fools me into thinking I’ve remembered them with encyclopedic precision.”

- Jason Santa Maria, Coudal Partners’ Field Tested Books

“Basement”

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 22:54:30 -0400

“Basement”

All-I-could-carry firewood. August, 2003.

Sun, 27 Sep 2009 07:12:14 -0400

All-I-could-carry firewood. August, 2003.

Finessed Google

Sat, 26 Sep 2009 10:17:44 -0400

Finessed Google:

You can change the search engine by clicking on the logos.

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Tags: Design, Inspiration, Google, Search

We are Colorblind

Sat, 26 Sep 2009 03:45:23 -0400

We are Colorblind:

“The patterns and examples on this site help you create websites the color blind can use without problems.”

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Tags: Color, Color…

A history of modern art in three paragraphs

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 09:02:25 -0400

A history of modern art in three paragraphs

Jim Ray on Google Chrome Frame

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 05:44:27 -0400

Jim Ray on Google Chrome Frame:

John Gruber: “Jim Ray on Chrome Frame, a new IE plugin from Google which swaps out IE’s entire HTML/CSS/JavaScript engine and replaces it with Chrome’s version of WebKit”

Saved By: tbrown | …

www.beardhead.com

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 22:35:07 -0400

www.beardhead.com

Legos becoming just another single-use plastic toy

Sat, 19 Sep 2009 22:05:10 -0400

Legos becoming just another single-use plastic toy:

“When you have kids playing out Indiana Jones, they’re playing out Hollywood’s imagination, not their own.”

“The vast majority is theme-based, and when you go into Toys “R” Us, you’d really be challenged to find a simple box of bricks.”

Acting

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 17:42:16 -0400

Although I neglect such items so much that I worry they will be destroyed before I ever make time to parse them properly, saving and sharing things I’ve found is why I play the game. It’s part of what reading means to me. (Reading in the sense of work, not of pure pleasure.)

Only occasionally am I prepared to share, express public approval toward, or properly bookmark something while I am reading. Many times I would simply rather set an item of interest aside—so as not to forget about it—and act later, when I am in the mood to act (which, you will recall from the beginning of this entry, is not very often).

When I am prepared to act, how I act depends on context.

On the iPhone, I opt for the paths of absolute minimum resistance: starring items in Google Reader; favoring or marking tweets in Twitterrific; starring items in Instapaper. Beyond these unobtrusive mechanisms, acting when I read costs too much energy. I can’t wait around for the OS to lurch. It’s especially challenging when I have to log in to something. Or when apps forget my place when I return. Or when apps crash.

At my desk, there are many more options. So many options, in fact, that I felt compelled to list the services I use to share things and the options each offers. The following (brief) list is about acting on atomic elements, so subscribing to feeds doesn’t count.

Google Reader: star, like, share, email, “send to”, mark as read
Twitterrific iPhone: favor, mark, RT
Instapaper iPhone: “read later” (adding something to Instapaper), star, share, move to a folder, archive (mark as read)
Delicious: bookmark, bookmark privately
Pinboard: bookmark, bookmark privately, star, “to read”

Then there are various kinds of ShareThis-style blog tools, if I happen to be reading something in its actual web context rather than the aggregate.

…

Acting: the concepts

Add an item to the tool of your choice (optionally for offline reading and posterity)
Toggle whether an item is public or private
Keep, but hide/archive, an item
Delete an item
Mark (as in distinguish favorably or rate) an item, visibly or invisibly
Share an item of interest with another person or many people
Parrot an item, adding/editing or not
Thank the author (a Magnolia relic, yes, but I’m nostalgic)

How I use Twitter (for Nice Web Type)

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 16:42:49 -0400

How I use Twitter (for Nice Web Type):

Nice Web Type on Twitter is not repackaged RSS, although I do announce each new Notes post. Nor is it a personal stream of consciousness. Instead, its simple goals have been 1) to share what I know/think/find, 2) to listen, and 3) to not be annoying.

stewf: Houndstooth Pattern in Parking Lot, at Disney World, FL...

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 15:02:28 -0400

stewf:

Houndstooth Pattern in Parking Lot, at Disney World, FL by Alex MacLean