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  Friday, February 14, 2003


"Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job." 

 Douglas Adams. [Quotes of the Day]

A corollary to my contention that anyone who wants the job is automatically unqualified.


9:15:54 PM    Questions? Comments? Flames? []

Gordon links to Gary on the error of writing procedures without thinking about the user--dang, pesky users. And Gary takes a swipe at the antiquated 7 +/- 2 rule.

Avoiding the endless march. Step by step, what's so hard about writing documentation? It's easy to do a bad job, but it takes work to ensure you're not just marching the user down a trail without purpose. [Usable Help]

Note that the 7 +/- 2 "rule" is a misinterpretation of research ("The Magical Number Seven") that's now nearly 50 years old. It applies to things we have to remember. If it's written down, the "rule" no longer applies, it's just a misused rule of thumb.


8:00:53 PM    Questions? Comments? Flames? []

  • Made last minute tweaks to the doc that goes to preproduction next week--developers don't know when to quit.
  • Tried out a different shop for service on my Passat--the proprietor convinced me that I didn't need to spend $600 on new struts. I think he's a keeper.
  • Added another fan to my Win2K box, trying to repair the random reboot issue.
  • Tweaked the link colors on the blog, to make basic links a dark red, visited links lighter.
  • Watching the chaos on New Zealand in the AC competition.
  • Received my copy of Adobe GoLive! so I can work on the DUX2003 site this weekend.

4:56:24 PM    Questions? Comments? Flames? []

Team New Zealand just abandoned Race 1 of the 2003 America's Cup, handing a free win to Alinghi. New Zealand broke their boom, pulled two jibs out of the foil, and was taking on an alarming amount of water! This series is over before it's even started.

New Zealand Encounters Early Trouble in Cup Race. Two-time defending champion Team New Zealand was forced to withdraw after its boat broke down twice less than 20 minutes after the start. By Warren St. John. [New York Times: NYT HomePage]


4:50:10 PM    Questions? Comments? Flames? []


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