This is annecdata - not a serious academic study. Adjust your expectations accordingly. When I first got online, the World Wide Web was still in its infancy - so CompuServe was my gateway to the Internet. I loved their well organised chat room. A couple of clicks and I could be discussing Babylon 5 with people in another country, downloading wallpapers, and uploading my poor attempts at fan-fiction. Magical. At some point, I discovered Usenet and its decentralised collection of newsgroups.…
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This is a necropost - resurrected from one of my ancient USENET posts. Some web-browsers use "Stop Loading" icons that were represented with USA stop signs. To anyone else in the world, that's just a red octagon. Similarly the spell-check button in MS products is a tick over an "ABC". I don't know what the spell check button is like in countries with a different lexicography. Also, in countries which read right to left, are the back and forward buttons reversed? If you are only writing…
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This is a necropost - resurrected from one of my ancient USENET posts. One of the problems I've encountered is that most people (users and, to an extend, designers) are socially conditioned to believe that tasks should be difficult. They expect a learning curve that isn't always logical. It stems from childhood when we don't understand something and are told "that's just the way it is". Users have become conditioned into accepting a hundred page manual for toaster ovens because, often,…
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This is a necropost - resurrected from one of my ancient USENET posts. I can only apologise... On the other hand, Tim Curry as Lockhart... (pictures Harry dashing into Lockhart's office, and seeing him wearing a Merry Widow bustier and high heels. Begins giggling hysterically.) (To the tune of "Sweet Transvestite" by Richard O'Brian) (Gilderoy Lockhart) Don't get strung out by the way that I look Don't judge a Wizard by his cloak, I'm no good with a wand, by the light of day But by night …
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