The DreamLand Express - Charles Oppermann's Software Blog
Commentary on software design, development and management
-
The Three Seashells applied to UI Design
I frequently refer to "the three seashells" approach in user interaction design. Here's a video clip for the origin of the term. Watch the person with the headset mock the unknowing Sylvester Stallone. Have you ever opened a high-tech gadget and didn't know how to make it work? Were you mocked by others who had (eventually) figured it out?
-
Replacement for FrontPage 2003
A friend recently asked:
-
Software Quality, Then and Now
Long before I was creator of software products, I was a space geek. When Apollo 11 landed on the moon, my parents said their three-year old boy was fascinated. I closely followed every phase of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project in 1975. In 1981, two friends and I petitioned NASA to allow us to "cover" the first launch of the space shuttle Columbia.
-
The Great Shutdown Debate on Windows 8
Since September, I've been reading the many complaints regarding the process used to shut down a computer running Windows 8. The general theme is that's hard to find, with some folks suggesting that this is emblematic of Windows 8 being difficult to use.
-
Balloon Timeout and Notification Duration
Today I was reading a new post on one of my favorite blogs, The Old New Thing by longtime Microsoft developer Raymond Chen. I got to know Raymond in the waning days of 1994 when we were working on "Chicago", the codename for what would become Windows 95. I was a rookie Program Manager for this new thing called "accessibility" and he was the go-to developer for just about anything in the guts of Windows.
-
Mailbag – Flash Player Install and Windows Games – Reversi and Minesweeper
Nearly every day people come up to me, or email, questions on software. Last night at the Tampa Bay Computer Society, a gentleman was having trouble getting Adobe Flash installed. I went through the installation process and it appeared to work correctly, but going to YouTube, the following message was displayed: "You need to upgrade your Adobe Flash Player to watch this video."
-
My Favorite Keyboards: The IBM Model M and the Microsoft Natural Keyboard
[Update 2011-04-04: Added links to Coding Horror articles]
-
HTML Email Oddities with Outlook 2010 Part I: Automatically Detect Language
Two days in a row I’ve had to hunt down strange issues with HTML formatted emails created with Microsoft Outlook 2010 beta.
-
Fixing Windows 7 Help and Support
For the past few months I noticed that Windows 7 Help and Support feature wasn’t working correctly. Pressing WIN+F1 or choosing “Help and Support” from the Start menu would open a window, but the help contents weren’t there. Searching for a topic wouldn’t work either.
-
Apple Mouse Marks Mighty Change
Various pundits want to proclaim Apple's new multi-button mouse as a major departure and admission that clean design (in the form of a one-button can't be screwed up manner) isn't always acceptable to the consumer.
Recall that the original Macintosh keyboard did not have cursor keys. The original vision was to have the mouse perform all functions, while the keyboard was solely for text input. Steve Jobs and Macintosh team wanted to force people into using the mouse for all operations, even scrolling pages of text.
After several months, Apple realized their folly and made a keyboard with a number pad and cursor keys. I don't know if that was introduced along with the "Fat Mac" in October 1984 or was slipstreamed into the Macintosh production line. I know that it hard to get one of those original keyboards. I am looking for one by the way!