Category Archives: Usability

AIM BOTS!! (Henry takes a math test)

When did AIM add even MORE aimbots? I just noticed that it’s gone from just “Moviefone” and “ShoppingBuddy” to a whole slew of worthless bots. Although I am a bit curious about this “Prof Gilzot” Bot, i’ll take the bait.

Well, here’s how my conversation with Prof Gilzot went:
12:29:42 PM hreonsrey: Hello
12:29:42 PM profgilzot: [...]

Google Indexing Content created with JS

Here’s an interesting article discussing whether the googlebots are able to index content published to a page using javascript.
It wasn’t long ago that people were concerned about whether google was indexing dynamic pages created with server-side php/asp/etc. They do. I’m sure they’re working on getting the Javascript content indexed too, but this serves as a [...]

Update

It’s been forever since I’ve posted over here, so, quick update.
For the last month I’ve been working on a game designed to teach teens some consumer skills. It’s bankrolled by the National Consumer’s League and is … almost … really cool.
Anyway it’s bee a lot of php which has been good experience. Also some XML [...]

Reading: The 1984 Olympic Message System

Today I read the Gould Paper “The 1984 Olympic Message System: a test of behavioral principles of system design”. (PDF from www.tol.oulu.fi) It was an interesting paper from a systems design perspective and I’m hoping I can draw from it some useful points for the designers and builders of modern web applications.
More after the cut, [...]

A quick Usability Bug

I’m working from a coffee shop in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood today. Just now I went to the restroom and while I was there I washed my hands and went to dry them.
At this shop they’ve elected to use a paper towel dispenser that incorporates a motion detector to release the towels, presumably to promote [...]

Back to School

So I’m going back to school. I’m going to MIT to study Human Computer Interaction and Interface Design. Sort of.
Here’s the catch: I’m doing it for free.
You might be familiar with MIT’s OpenCourseWare project. Basically they offer the syllabus and lecture notes for free online. Most of th readings are available for free online (Checkout [...]

Walking on Water

Despite the fact that I am in fact an ordained reverend I cannot yet walk on water. Although, google thinks I can:
Google Transit Route from Home to Parents’