Sunbeams illuminating a coastal forest in Port Orford, Oregon

Chuggnutt!

Blog

  • Master Builder user interface – poor

    A couple of months ago I blogged a bit about Intuit Master Builder software and some of the problems that come with it. One of the things I wrote was, “It’s got a low barrier-to-entry user interface that makes it easy to learn and use for non techie types.”

    While that statement is (for the most part) true, it’s also true that the UI for Master Builder is completely ridiculous—especially for a Windows application in this day and age. Just how ridiculous it truly is struck me last week when we were at a user group meeting for Master Builder (they don’t happen often), and the consultant/expert was showing off some of the newest features.

    So, here are two examples of the poor UI that plagues this program. Both are from the “Equipment” screen, and are completely typical of every screen in the system. Click them for full-size images.

    Thumbnail image of the Equipment screen in Intuit Master Builder

    Thumbnail image of the Equipment screen in Intuit Master Builder

    Pretty horrible. But my particular favorites are the totally non-standard menu bar at the top (“Exit” is the first item?) and the garish, circa-Windows 3.1 toolbar buttons, also in a totally non-standard layout and position.

  • The Ultimate Star Trek Collection

    This is one of those over-the-top, for-the-person-who-has-everything, I-have-too-much-disposable-income type of things: The Ultimate Star Trek Collection on Amazon. It’s insane:

    • 212 discs
    • All 5 TV series
    • All 10 movies
    • Commentary, interviews, documentaries, featurettes, deleted scenes, trailers, and more
    • All for the whopping-low price of $2,499.99!

    What a deal! Especially since you save $1,409.

  • Peanuts philosophy

    This panel from my daily Peanuts calendar struck me as being pretty philosophically deep for Charlie Brown.

    Charlie Brown philosophy: That's life... all the trues are false and all the falses are true.

  • Another Scooby sighting

    Scooby's at the front door, a church sign

  • Dancing Transformer goodness

    I had to link to this video just because it’s so cool. (“Cool” in a geeky way.) Not because of the dancing part, but just the transforming effects are so good that if I didn’t know better, I’d swear it was for real. If ever there’s a live action Transformers movie, I’d hope it’s this good.

    Via Gadgetopia.

  • One big reason to never visit Kansas

    The Kansas Board of Education has approved new school standards that promote and teach so-called “intelligent design.” Wow; I don’t even have the words, so I’ll quote the article…

    “This is a sad day. We’re becoming a laughingstock of not only the nation, but of the world, and I hate that,” said board member Janet Waugh, a Kansas City Democrat.

    You got that right, sister.

    Via Slashdot.

  • Local Fox news

    Today Shannon writes:

    i’m surprised that other bend bloggers haven’t commented on this but apparently the fox station is going to start a 10 p.m. local newscast at the first of the year according to our local paper who doesn’t have the story online. yea, two news stations! maybe i can stop watching portland and eugene news.

    We don’t get the paper, and if it’s not online, then I wouldn’t otherwise see it. Anyway, what I’m wondering is, will the local Foxcast be bringing in new talent, or are they going to poach it away from Z21?

  • I’m no longer cutting edge on PHP

    I just realized this; I haven’t used PHP 5 at all since it came out, so I’m terribly illiterate about this latest version of PHP. I still use PHP 4. That means I’m no longer cutting edge on PHP! Or maybe that just means I’m no longer bleeding edge, since PHP 5 adoption has been terribly slow.

  • National Novel Writing Month

    Today is the first day of National Novel Writing Month. Write a 50,000-word (or more) novel in 30 days. I like the concept on this. And I’m tempted to take a crack at it, if for no other reason than cachet-factor. I’d post the efforts to the blog, of course, otherwise, where’s the love?

    Valuing enthusiasm and perseverance over painstaking craft, NaNoWriMo is a novel-writing program for everyone who has thought fleetingly about writing a novel but has been scared away by the time and effort involved.

    Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It’s all about quantity, not quality. The kamikaze approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly.

    Make no mistake: You will be writing a lot of crap. And that’s a good thing. By forcing yourself to write so intensely, you are giving yourself permission to make mistakes. To forgo the endless tweaking and editing and just create. To build without tearing down.

  • Scooby sighting

    Scooby's at the front door - street sign