Separating the sheep from the goats

In the book The Inmates are Running the Asylum, Alan Cooper explains how software is difficult to use because they have design flaws.  He says the graphical user interface does not match how users want to use the software.  However, the reason software is difficult to use is because it is crowded with too many unused features.

A garage full of junk, no matter how you organize it, is still full of junk.  Most software users only use a small amount of the available features.  The rest of the features are left untouched or not even known about.  In order for interfaces to be intuitive, the unnecessary features need to be stripped away.  It is easier to find a certain feature if searching through hundreds of other features isn't necessary.

Instead of trashing all of the less commonly used features, multiple interfaces could be developed.  One example is to have three separate interfaces.  One for only the basic features, another for users more accustomed to the software, and a third for only the most advanced users.  In this way, no functionality is lost and all types of uses can have an interface tailored to their needs.

Hypnosis in our Homes

Media such as television, movies, and the internet can easily cause us to loose track of time.  It seems harmless, but the time we spend doing such activities quickly adds up. Watching television a few hours a day means spending six and a half weeks in front of the TV in one year.  Over the course of your life, you could easily spend ten years watching television.  Living an unbalanced life can be detrimental to your future as well as your spiritual progression.  On judgement day I don't want to say I spent ten years sitting in an unresponsive haze, void of any cognitive thought.

Here's an interesting article about this topic:
https://lds.org/ensign/2008/01/unplugged?lang=eng

The World Wide Waste

I have a couple roommates that are not taking classes or working this semester.  Most of their time is spent playing video games, watching TV, or surfing the web.  All of these activities can be highly addictive.  Because there is always some sort of entertainment running in my apartment, I often find myself sucked in to some of these activities, even though I try to elude them and do homework instead.  It is not only important to avoid addiction, but also to place yourself in an environment where you aren't bombarded with reasons to procrastinate.  Avoid situations that make it harder to achieve your goals.

Paid Volunteers

Many open source projects are developed solely by volunteers.  Projects are enhanced when these volunteers have time to spend on the project.  On the other hand, some open source projects are funded by companies.  These projects have full-time developers working on the software.  A couple examples of this are Firefox, which is funded mostly by Google, and the popular Linux distrobution, Fedora, which is funded by Red Hat.  These full-time developers can ensure that the project grows at a steady pace.

The idea behind open source is volunteers contributing to the cause.  As more open source projects become successful, more companies may turn to the open source business model and pay developers to work on their open source projects.  When developers are paid for their work, then volunteers are less likely to contribute.  Will this shift from volunteers to paid developers be good for open source software, or is it a step closer to proprietary software?

World of Warcraft Debate

Copywoes

If you find a CD on the ground and pick it up, you are suddenly responsible for knowing what kind of copyright the contents of that CD are under.  You might be violating the copyright laws just because you picked up the CD.  To prevent such an atrocious act, instead of printing the band and album name on a CD we should print the copyright information.  Before you touch a CD you can ensure that doing so will not be a criminal act.  Instead of saying "Hey, have you heard Mayday Parade's new album?", we can say "Hey, have you heard that new CD under copyright version 10.2.3?"

Under Pressure

Women shouldn't be pressured to enter technical fields because they are at a low percentage in those fields.  Often students are forced into engineering or mathematics, even if they hate the subject, because those fields are viewed as more prestigious and better paying.  Parents will often coerce their children to enter the field they are in (or wish they were in).  Women, like men, should be encouraged to enter a field that they enjoy, not forced to enter a field they hate.  A small salary cut is worth loving your profession.

Getting on the Bandwagon

An increasing number of people, both members and non-members, have become interested in family history work.  Elijah has clearly turned the hearts of the children to their fathers.  Due, in part, to this shift in our hearts, new tools have made finding ancestors easier than ever.  Those of us who haven't tried family history work, maybe we should find out what all the fuss is about.

A Blessing and a Curse

Computers can help us be more efficient, but they can quickly become a distraction.  Sometimes we become so preoccupied with task management software that we spend more time planning our work than actually doing it.  Other times we surf the web and forget what our goal was.  If computers are distracting, the next time you write a paper try using a pen.

Sifting Through the Junk

Garages are typically crammed with junk. We resist discarding this junk to prevent missing it in the future.  A beautiful house isn't littered with old newspapers that might someday be read.  Similarly, well-kept programs don't have large chunks of unused code.  Programs frequently receive new features, yet features that have become obsolete are rarely eliminated.  We need to overcome this fear of deletion in order to streamline our programs.

Power to the Users

Privacy is something we all strive for, but there is no sure-fire way to keep your data and system safe.  A system administrator can monitor users and use various methods to discover hackers, but this will not keep them out of the system.  There are always other holes that a hacker can exploit.  While monitoring is encouraged, it alone will not keep your system safe.

We can also control how open our system is.  If we are too open then it allows hackers to access our data and abuse our system.  However, if we are too closed, then it diminishes our productivity.  Data can be protected by keeping all sensitive data on machines that are not connected to a network or the Internet.  Who is now unable to access the data, the hacker or the user?  Most likely both.  Restricting access to the point that it hinders the users from accessing their own data is absurd.

Perhaps the best method to prevent hackers from attacking a system is by helping system users understand the dangers of hackers.  They need to know how to do their part to prevent sensitive information from falling into the wrong hands.  Your system can force users to only select passwords that are strong and also require users to change passwords frequently.  Helping users do their part to keep the system safe allows your system to remain accessible while limiting the power of hackers.

The Copy Engine

A recent experiment by Google shows that Bing is likely copying Google's top search results.  While Bing's and Google's search algorithms are different, they show very similar results in their top 10.  It makes sense to copy results from Google--their search engine is the most popular and it arguably returns the best results.  While Bing tries to improve their search results, they instead discredit their validity.  Bing's commercials show people that have become robotic because they have been overloaded with search results.  The cure for these people is to stop using search engines, and to use Bing's "decision engine" instead.  Their commercials focus on how they are different from other search engines, but their search algorithm focuses on copying results from Google.

Evils of the Upgrade Treadmill

Companies today will make new versions of their software solely to rake in profits.  They add very little functionality, or they add functionality that most people won't use.  Often this "upgrade treadmill" approach will try to force users to buy new versions.  A new version of the software has a different format for saving files so that users with the older version of the software are forced to upgrade.  Users should purchase newer versions of software for added functionality, not because they feel forced into doing it.  People defend the upgrade treadmill saying that it is the main source for innovation, but programmers that are paid to find ways to "upgrade" Microsoft Office are not innovating.  They are changing the look of Word, but it's the same program today as it was ten years ago.  Innovation comes from the most unlikely sources.  Did anyone expect Mark Zuckerberg to invent one of the most revolutionary social constructs ever when he started Facebook?  The upgrade treadmill is a method used by large companies to make more money then they deserve; it is not the source of innovation.

More about the upgrade treadmill:
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/web/library/wa-cranky44.html

Microsoft's Monopoly

Countless people complain about Microsoft having too much power and that they have a monopoly on the software business.  Microsoft only has as much power as we give them.  If we refuse to use their products for one reason or another they will be forced to improve or change them.  One example of this is Microsoft Office.  Many people feel locked in to using it.  If using their program rubs you the wrong way morally, then don't use it.  There are other options such as OpenOffice, AbiWord, or even Google Docs.  If you are tired of Microsoft having so much influence, then don't feed the fire!  There may be some disadvantages to using OpenOffice or Google Docs instead of Word, but you need to stand your ground.  Start using open document formats such as odt and encourage others to do the same.  If enough people would accept and use an open document standard, then Microsoft would be forced to be more accommodating or risk losing a significant amount of profit.  If you wish that Microsoft had less of a monopoly then, instead of complaining about it, do your best to change it.


Here are some articles and opinions about Microsoft's monopoly.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Microsoft
http://www.zaimoni.com/George/MicrosoftMonopoly.htm

Power to Influence Society

It is interesting to think about how advances in technology have given everyone power.  Before the invention of the printing press, in order to spread one's own ideas though a book, it was next to impossible.  After the invention of the printing press it became much easier to spread one's own ideas.  However, an average person would not have the means nor the connections to publish a book that would be available throughout the nation, let alone across the globe.  The Internet has made it possible for anyone to express their own ideas and opinions and make them accessible to the world almost instantaneously.  Almost everyone takes this power that is now at their fingertips for granted.  No longer do people have the inability to influence people throughout the world.