keyboard shortcuts
Nobody has time to memorize a complete list of web browser keyboard shortcuts, and really, why should they? I only know a handful of web browser keyboard shortcuts, myself, and I probably use the same five shortcuts a hundred times a day. But not everyone knows about these five essential
file management
What is user space? User space is the location in the filesystem where users put their personal files – their “stuff.” Here’s the user space folder structure in the Windows XP operating system: Documents and SettingsUser Application Data Cookies Desktop Favorites Local Settings My Documents My Music My Pictures My
sorting algorithms
The default sort functions in almost every programming language are poorly suited for human consumption. What do I mean by that? Well, consider the difference between sorting filenames in Windows explorer, and sorting those very same filenames via Array.Sort() code: Explorer shell sortArray.Sort() Quite a difference. I can
programming languages
In case you hadn’t noticed, it’s that time of year again: let the wholesale buying of crap begin! As a technology enthusiast with a bad impulse purchase habit, I get a lot of complaints that I am difficult to buy for. That’s sort of intentional. I spent
customer service
In this interview with Werner Vogels, the CTO of Amazon, he outlines how Amazon’s developers stay in touch with their users: Remember that most of our developers are in the loop with customers, so they have a rather good understanding about what our customers like, what they do not
user experience
Has this ever happened to you? You’re merrily typing away in some application, minding your own business, when – suddenly – a dialog pops up and steals the focus from you. At best, your flow is interrupted. You’ll have to switch back to the window that you were using, figure
user experience
Frets on Fire is an open source clone of Guitar Hero. It’s a great idea. Think of all the user-created songs we could play! My excitement quickly faded after I downloaded it and tried it out. I’ll be first in line to champion gameplay over graphics, but the
programming languages
Reginald Braithwaite writes consistently great stuff on his blog, but I think my absolute favorite thing he’s ever written is We Have Lost Control of the Apparatus. But we programmers have lost and we must be realistic about things. The fact of the matter is this: people own their
graphics editor
In my continuing quest for a decently full-featured graphics editor that hasn’t succumbed to feature bloat, I recently installed Paint.NET for the first time. I’ll admit that I had low expectations based on the abysmal user interfaces I’ve experienced in other open source projects. Imagine my
desktop organization
I’m of two minds on the desktop. If you’re really using your computer, your desktop should almost never be visible. Your screen should be covered with information, with whatever data you’re working on. I can’t imagine why you’d willingly stare at a static background image
usability
I was struck, the other day, by how much I had to think when attempting to heat up my sandwich in the microwave. There are so many controls: a clock, a set of food-specific buttons, defrost and timer controls, and of course a full numeric keypad. Quick! What do you
user experience
I’m one of the rare people who actually likes Windows Vista. Sure, it’s far from what was originally promised in terms of features, but it’s still a solid quality of life improvement from the crusty old 2001 version of Windows XP. Or at least it will be,