Meriblog: Meri Williams’ Weblog

I saw the most fantastic advertisment on daytime telly the other day. For those of you who have Cable, daytime telly in the UK on the terrestrial (”free” in that you just pay for your TV licence) channels is the closest you get to the general crap informercialness of normal Cable channels all the time. The best thing on was this fantastic ad for an idiot-proof video recorder. It was about a minute long, describing how with this fantastic piece of equipment you could be guaranteed to record what you wanted, when you wanted it.

Sounds good, right? Well, yes and no. See the instructions were very very simplistic. The remote consisted of three dials — the top dial for setting the day (Mon - Sun), the second for the start-time, the third for the end-time (or number of hours to record for, or something). Each about 5 cm in diameter, so the remote itself is massive. The voice-over also explained that you have to put the video in and set the right channel on the video recorder itself. So this video can’t even record on BBC 1 at 8pm for an hour, then Channel 5 at 11pm for an hour to get this week’s episode of Lexx. It’s the most simplistic video-recorder I’ve seen in my entire life … and I am old enough to remember some fairly basic ones.

What concerns me is that there is evidently this opportunity in the market. Some people are so over-faced by their complicated video recorders that they feel the need to go back to absolute basics. The usability of their sophisticated modern technology has failed them so absolutely that they are willing to pay more money for far far fewer features, just so they can rely that it will do what they want it to do, rather than what their 2 year old has programmed it to do. This I can understand … if all I had was a house full of taped Teletubbies episodes, I’d be a little closer to the edge too.

But what does this say about the industry? This has happened in the arena of electronics although perhaps it is a doomed attempt to corner a market that isn’t really that big. My interactions with various relatives, however, lead me to suspect that maybe there really is a massive market for this type of thing. Nobody wants to have to rely on their kids to get their stuff video’d. In a way this is the appeal of the Sky Plus boxes, which are Tivo-like, but apparently more idiot-proof. Are we going to see a similar trend in computing?

Or has this trend already started? For reasons best not explained here, I had to do an install of Win XP Pro this weekend. Whilst it was doing it’s thing and throwing up propaganda onto the screen, I glanced at what it was trying to get across. A lot of it revolved around only the options you needed being on the screen … about simplifying the interface. This is presumably what that horrible green-blue creation is all about .. making your PC “friendlier”. It’s definitely what that saccharine little paper-clip is all about. Is the next phase of software development not going to be about functionality, but about usability taken to an extreme? Are we just going to make things dumb and dumber from now on?

Well, firstly my work laptop appears to have b0rked completely. Corrupted hard-drive. So much for the safety and reliability of this new-fangled XP malarkey. Luckily I don’t think I’ve lost much significant work, as I’d had problems a few weeks ago and was fairly religiously backing up.

I have just realised, however, that our corporate backup only saves My Documents and my Lotus Notes related files to the server. This means that my Firebird bookmark files are lost to the corruption. I know this shows how geeky I am, but this is the most upsetting thing of all — I had weeks and weeks worth of unvisited links, things I meant to return to, at least 20 things I had intended to blog …. the list goes on. I am such a geek, mourning over lost links *rolls eyes*

Hey everyone. Fantastically I am on holiday from tomorrow (Xmas eve) until next Monday. Technically I’m working every working day over the festive season, so I’m quite grateful my company sees Xmas Eve as a holiday as well. 5 whole days off! We’re off to see my clan and then the in-laws as well, so it should all be … interesting.

So for now I leave you with a load of links and a reminder to vote for the pet homophobe’s name. My favourite at the moment is still “Prince” but “Spot” is growing on me too. It’s a fairly short list, so I won’t shortlist it and I don’t think we need Big Read-style commentaries, so just go give your vote or suggestion!

• Linux focusing more on desktop user experience at the same time that Joel talks about the difference in *nix and Windows cultures. Another critique of Joel’s critique I found interesting here
• Luck actually exists — after a fashion
• Antibubbles in beer
• We might not all be pope (despite Paul’s protestations) but you can get a thought from him every day on your mobile
• Commentary on 3D virtual worlds which strikes quite a chord with me. I definitely wouldn’t shop online as much if I had to walk through a virtual mall, jostling other virtual shoppers similarly represented to “enhance the look and feel”. Sod that, give me Amazon anyday.
• Narcotics offers trap Texan housewife for selling vibrators from the no-drug-crime-here-folks-had-to-keep-busy-somehow department
• Logic bumps on the information superhighway — the exception is always the bastard…
• The Bush Tax
• Modern young women are more likely to say they’re gay or bisexual. Possibly not the silent minority for much longer
• Conspiracy Theory MMXVIII : Saddam was actually captured months earlier
• Every single particle in Star Trek. I am so so scared that someone did this
• FUH2
• Stunning beautiful fantastic art origami courtesy of 0xDECAFBAD
• Top Ten Web Design Mistakes Alertbox courtesy of Simon
• Perhaps not so impartial … maybe just prescient? The media did help try him, after all…
• Girls don’t want girly games — you’ll need to watch an ad to see the full version — we just want something that accepts that possibly we can communicate with other human beings
• Acts of Gord — fantastic light reading for those days when users are getting you down. It could be worse … you could run a video games store!! Just go read it
• Grand Text Auto looks promising
• Ming the Merciless is absolutely fantastic. Go there, now. Don’t stop clicking until you get to the Yoda page
• I’m not the only one who gets the urge to do handbrake turns and run over pedestrians after playing too much GTA
• Joel on Interviewing which Simon reminded me of. Hits the nail on the head and I’ll probably come back and write some more about it sometime
• And finally, evidence that some people really need to get out more, courtesy of my friend Tom, who is desperately lacking in the weblog department

Happy Commercial Season to you all!

There’s an interesting article over at UsabilityWorks from a little while ago, essentially about design by committee. Situations where a consensus is needed for even the most minor decision are very difficult — particularly when everyone has a different (sometimes political) agenda.

This sort of environment leads to two main things happening: either 1) decisions end up being taken in a hurry by some random person who it falls to in the end, because “we’re hitting a deadline now and we just haven’t been able to get everyone in a room to point at the same bit of paper” (just for the record, I’m a BIG fan of everyone pointing at the same bit of paper) or 2) decisions not being taken at all, potentially critical issues not being addressed because achieving consensus is just too difficult.

What often occurs in these situations is as Matthew predicts: “the person who speaks first/loudest is the authority”. For some this is a fantastic opportunity and they build their career on the great decisions they have made at critical moments. For others it is disastrous — they are not the right person to make the decision, due to lack of experience, misunderstanding of the issues, etc. Projects driven on consensus and designed by committee are made or broken in those critical moments when someone without authority (for essentially no one has authority) makes a decision. The person who speaks loudest is not necessarily the best person to make the decision, as the guys at OK/Cancel have previously illustrated.

Admittedly, sometimes this setup is needed. If you have a number of stakeholders, each representing a given role/viewpoint, then everyone being involved in the design may be essential. It often falls over, however, when those involved have not clearly declared their roles and discussions become fights because no-one understands where anyone else is coming from. The real problem is when you have a team which is not a team at all — it is possible for a team to design something, even a group can do so. But never a committee.

As Elly previously touched upon, what you end up with is a situation where any idea that doesn’t cause a fight is a Good Idea ™. There is a similar concept in Software Engineering called Groupthink — where any idea the group comes up with is by definition great, because the group came up with it (yes, ladies & gents, psychosis and circles all in one concept…).

Now, the question really crystallizes down to the following: do we want to design “OK” things? Surely any critical design decision should evoke some sort of emotion from people? I think this is where Apple have got the right idea. They design beautiful things, things that people feel strongly about. You don’t just buy an iPod or a Powerbook. You WANT one. If you’re Simon then you lust after one for months and it is a major event when you finally order one.

I want to design things that people love, hate, adore, detest, recommend, ignore. I’d rather the strength of feeling were there than just mindless acceptance or apathy. Maybe I’m not the only one, but you wouldn’t know to look at a lot of the things produced out there.

Strange things from today:

• Courtesy of b3ta, Tramp o Claus is coming to town! [Flash]
• Japanese Seldom Asked Questions
• A book of idiots in a games store, by the looks of it via Tony
• A great way to get to watch your favourite TV programmes whilst driving home on your motorbike … well, I hope it has other applications!
• We’re all nerds now
• Powerpoint makes you dumb … and makes you miss the important details — what a surprise!
• An easy way to compare Small Form Factor boxes

Also, I’m not the only one getting homophobic weblog comments … and so far the names in the running for our pet homophobe are “Fobey”, “the homophobe formally known as Prince” and “Pokey”. For now, please go along and contribute, or just vote for your favourite. I might set up a voting script if I can find time, but this week it’s unlikely…

As some of you might have noticed, here at Meriblog we have had some homophobic and malicious comments. I found it quite amusing and Tony pointed out to me this morning that we have a pet homophobe, just in time for Xmas!

Now he also pointed out that every pet needs a name (and that “a homophobe is for life, not just for Xmas” … to which I pointed out that a homophobe is only for life if they never face up to being gay themselves ) so I thought we should have a competition.

This isn’t just to take the festive piss, but also a chance for all those of you lurking who haven’t shown yourself to do so. So what’s the best name for our pet homophobe? If you have a new idea, or like an existing one, post a comment stating your preference

Some strange and interesting things that have wandered through my tabs today:

• Geek Social Fallacies — which explain so so much! (via Simon)
• And from the same site scary bachelor recipes
• An absolute quality no underage sex ad, somewhere in America, I assume
• If Film Makers were Web Designers II
• RFID Tag — cartoon via 0xDECAFBAD
• The Evolution of Type from I can’t remember where
• The Bunny of the Month Club, I think this one is via Neil Gaiman
• Cthulhu Chick Tract
• Interesting commentary on Vice City’s removal of the line “Kill all Haitans”. I have to say I think Jane @ GGA is right on track with this one
• Web comics recommended … found the link on 0xDECAFBAD, I imagine
• Jelly bath scariness

I am ill. This commentary will be suspended until I can breathe normally, walk without my muscles screaming and possibly even talk without sounding like a coffee grinder.

I will see you all, later. *mopes off to find more Lemsip*

I was working today at a football club, as a doorman (I am a qualified doorperson (yes, you have to be qualified, believe it or not!!) and earn some extra money by doing this sort of thing in my spare time). We were on full alert and had an increased police presence because there had been a posting somewhere online, a call to arms for football hooligans to converge on the stadium for this particular match, to cause some trouble.

Happily, there was no trouble and even if there had been, there were few enough away supporters that we definitely had the personnel to deal with any issues.

On the way home, though, I was considering how this sort of thing might be being used as a tool. Today is known in football for being a bad day, because it’s the weekend when everyone gets dragged out Xmas shopping, footie or no. That, in turn, means a lot of cash and purchases wandering around various city centres, shopping malls etc. If I wanted to carry out a significant operation on either people on the streets, shops which had done particularly well or the banks that had received some of the good fortune (from the shops at the end of the day) then I would definitely use such a ploy if it occurred to me.

Perhaps I am too suspicious of human nature. But the sympathetic side of me feels remarkably sorry for the police, for they are in a complete catch 22. They are damned if they do send a significant presence along, because this must surely decrease the force available for other areas. If nothing kicks off, they have given criminals extra opportunity. But if they are aware of a potential threat (such as these internet postings, which in the past have led to significant incidents and even casualties) they must act or the one time they don’t and things kick off it will be both a tragedy and a political nightmare.

Does anyone have thoughts on how this sort of thing could be better handled? I had similar thoughts when dear Mr Bush came to London and every policeman in a 100 mile radius appeared to be forced to converge on his exact location for however many days it was.

Via Neil Gaiman’s Journal, the story of a 7 year old boy who was embarrassed in front of his class, sent to a “behavioural clinic” and other stupidities for explaining that he had two moms because his parents were gay. No profanities, just a simple and remarkably lucid explanation from a young boy.

I thought that even countries such as America would be far enough down the road of tolerance to not engage in such blatant discrimination and senseless hate-mongering. None of the Americans I know personally behave or think like this and I would like to think that they wouldn’t stand for it. But the simple fact that the teachers involved thought they had the right to do this makes me afraid for society.

I hate to think that my kids will be treated like this one day. I know they’ll have a hard time of it, because kids are kids and kids hate anything different as soon as their parents have taught them to. There are no racist babies, but plenty of racist pre-schoolers. But the fact that schools are behaving like this … well, it makes me furious. What do they teach if they can’t teach respect for other human beings above all else??

This makes me angry, but more than anything it just makes me so so sad.

Last night I attended a great gig at the Bedford in Balham. It was the Xmas special of a band called Kohiba (a ten piece jazz/funk/soul band) with a number of guest appearances from various people, including Herbie Flowers (go to the Google…), a number of people associated with The Orpheus Centre (the charity the concert was raising funds for) and Caliko (also a fantastic band).

It was a great night and I thought it was the best of both worlds — Caliko did some of their original numbers which are fantastic [Go! Go now, I don’t care if you don’t come back, go listen to Lifeless MP3 (Warning: 4MB)] and then Kohiba and the rest of the guests also did some really great covers … everything from jazz through to rock and pop. There were a disturbing number of Xmas tunes (Wham! should really be dead be now, last Xmas or no…) and even a (terrible) attempt at a Christmas Carol. Face it, the audience participation probably made it worse

What impressed me most about both bands (and all the guests) was how they completely looked like they were having the most fun in the world for the entire time they were on stage. Their glee was absolutely infectious and it had everyone jumping around and smiling like maniacs. It was an absolute quality gig, wonderful music and a really inspiring bunch of people. The Orpheus Centre also looks an absolutely amazing concept and from what I hear it makes a massive difference — its aim is to “provide opportunities for young disabled people to participate in and enjoy music and drama”. Top stuff.

Slight Cheat: This is actually Caliko at another gig earlier this year, but you get the idea.