I was playing one of those stupid "Which X Are You?!?!?!?" quizzes which seem to be the rage these day. I'm weak willed, I know. One of the questions had a particularly interesting UI issue. It's not a particularly subtle problem. The image on the left related to the button on the right, and vice versa. We know, from countless studies, that people don't read websites. They scan and they click. People are used to large target areas and are quite accustomed to assuming that an image…
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Did you know that the LEDs on the front of your Internet router fire out WiFi beams? That's why you should never cover their incessant blinking with duct tape. In the 1980s, the Thatcher Government decided that treating mentally ill people in specialised institutions wasn't an effective use of money. Instead, they rationalised, sell off the hospitals and treat people in their own homes. Thus "Care In The Community" was born. The policy was a disaster. It didn't save money. People felt…
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Well, it's not often I get to completely influence the UK Government's approach to open standard. GOV.UK is adopting .ODF as their official document standard! All documentation will be also made available in HTML & PDF. Sweet! Yeah, yeah, so I only played a small part in the (no doubt) hideously complicated process - but I'm happy to take full credit :-) Last year, the UK Government opened up a Standards Hub. They were actively soliciting for challenges that the UK Government could take…
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I got a SmartWatch the other day. One of our interns had bored of it, so I swapped my long-disused BlackBerry PlayBook for it. I configured it, paired it with my Android phone, then set about trying to use it. This, very roughly, was my experience with it. Terence Eden is on Mastodon@edentMy first full day with a Sony SmartWatch!I forgot to wear it, & it spent all day by my bed.... Other than that, it is pretty nifty!❤️ 0💬 0🔁 019:49 - Wed 09 July 2014 Terence Eden is on Mastodon@edent2nd full…
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So Google Ventures is swinging in to London Town, dragging one hundred meeeeeellion dollars with it. Wow! What a way to reinvigorate the European tech scene. All that cash is sure to filter its way down into the economy. Viva la trickle-down economics! Or, not so much. Earlier last week, I was asked if I would mentor teams in a start-up hackathon - partly backed by Google. That, in itself, is nothing too unusual. I'm often asked by start-ups, early stage companies, and big business to…
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I love the TV Show True Blood. I really only watch it for the insightful social commentary and tasteful depictions of interspecies erotica. And the User Interface mistakes, obviously. During the recent episode "I Found You", the Jessica (the Vampire) places a phone call to Sookie (a sort of telepathic fairy... it doesn't really matter...) Sadly, Sookie has dropped her phone. Notice the obvious mistake? Take a look at the dichotomy 'twixt the screen and physical buttons. The touch…
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One of the greatest cultural achievements of the last Labour Government was making museum entry free for everyone. Whether you're rich, poor, British, foreign, young, old - you can enjoy the treasures of our museums and galleries. Of course, while museums are funded by the state, they still rely on generating some external revenue - hence the ubiquitous gift shop and major corporate donations. In the front of most museums, you'll find a vessel for collecting donations. Usually half full…
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I got into an argument with a friend a few weeks ago. I was complaining that I really didn't like the spam that Facebook shoves into my newsfeed. His argument was - and I paraphrase... I don't mind the occasional advert - between the Farmville notifications and "inspirational" quotes, I barely notice them. For me, this was quite the shocker. I don't see game invitations. I rarely see "spiritual" messages, or ill-informed racist rants. Why? Not because my friends are better than his -…
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I was reading an article in The Guardian about a new "no frills" transatlantic airline. The author talked about the various costs, and whether the cost savings were worth it. So, how much cheaper is it really? BA wanted a minimum of £709.31, while Virgin's cheapest was £689.31. Norwegian offered us a flight at £579.20 without hold luggage or meals, or £649.20 with. So while the new challenger is still cheaper, the difference becomes more marginal, narrowing to as little as 6%. Can Norwegian r…
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