Picture My World

2:30 am. Poke, poke, poke, poke. Kim is trying to wake me up. I grudingly open my eyes and ask, “What’s wrong?” She tells me she just heard a woman screaming at someone to leave her alone. I wake up a little more and hear a scream. It’s quite faint and obviously a block or more away. I pull on my robe and head downstairs to look outside. Nothing.

A few years ago, I would have gone back to sleep. This morning, I picked up the phone and dialed 911.

I described what we heard to the operator who quickly said, “We have units in the area. They are checking it out.” She kept me on the phone while they searched the neighbourhood. I had very little information to offer her even as she asked for all kinds of details including the direction the scream came from. I was out on the porch when the unmarked police car cruised by, spotlight scanning the block. I waved. I felt a great appreciation for the police at that hour we all should have been soundly asleep.

The 911 operator kept me on hold a little longer in case the officers had more questions. Eventually she said they had received another, related call and let me go. I hope that woman’s ok and that my action got help to her a little sooner.

Shula Digs Birds

Originally uploaded by JZip.

Shula and I went to Granville Island today (some quality aba and daughter time) and she couldn’t get enough of the pigeons and seagulls. We chased them with the stroller.

Our car must have a large bullseye painted on it, but every time I search for one I can’t find it.

We’ve had the car back from the shop for less than 2 weeks and, already, someone has taken a screwdriver to the driver’s side door and mangled the crap out of it. I don’t think they got in, but it’s only a matter of time. If they do succeed, hopefully The Club will keep them from taking the car (again).

The airline industry has to do some serious usability testing. [This article](http://www.azcentral.com/business/articles/0322wsj-airbus22-ON.html) (registration required) discusses the challenges in testing the exits on the new double-decker [Airbus A380](http://www.airbus.com/product/a380_backgrounder.asp). They need to demonstrate that the maximum load of 853 people can get off the plane in 90 seconds or less. To do this, they will actually pack a plane full of volunteers and simulate an emergency. Wow.

The article goes on to say that the volunteers often get injured in these tests. It cites one particularly grim case:

In a 1991 test of a McDonnell Douglas MD-11 inside a darkened hangar at Long Beach, Calif., one attempt took 132 seconds and resulted in 28 injuries. McDonnell Douglas did the test over and got people to move faster. But in the mayhem, a 60-year-old woman caught her foot on a slide. She flipped, crashed headlong against a pile of people at the bottom, and broke her neck. She was left paralyzed for life. McDonnell Douglas failed the test and the FAA denied its request to put up to 421 people on the MD-11. (It eventually approved up to 410.)

If anyone ever complains about one of my usability tests, I’ll just point to this and tell them it could be worse.

Check out [amaztype](http://amaztype.tha.jp) a nifty Amazon.com search interface. For example, [search by author for Jay](http://amaztype.tha.jp/CA/Books/Author?q=Jay) and see what it does.

(Thanks for the link, [John](http://webword.com).)

I’m doing it. I’m really selling the car. And for some reason I feel terrible.

I’ve been trying to figure out why I feel so bad. I was expecting to feel relief on a number of levels. Financially, the car is an unfair burden to place on the family. Personally, I no longer have the time to drive it like its meant to be driven. Globally, it and its 6 cylinder engine are not good for the environment. When I think ahead to being rid of it, I do feel better, so it must be the sale itself.

I know that part of it is the negotiation. I hate negotiations. I take them too personally and cannot make rational decisions. I’m trying to mitigate that by consigning the car and letting professionals handle that aspect. However, there will be some negotiation in determining their fee.

I think I’ve put my finger on the other part of what is troubling me and I am loath to admit it (but I will because it’s more of a comment on society).

I’m worried that people are going to look at the condition of this car as a reflection of me.

There. I said it.

I think it’s sick and I hate the fact that there is so much *meaning* wrapped up in a car. Even if it is a classic. I know I’m not saying anything new here. Our culture over-emphasizes the importance of “stuff” and many of us get caught up in it.

But I didn’t buy the car as a status symbol. I honestly wanted a sports car that I could *drive* (*really* drive) for the sheer pleasure of it. I agonized over the purchase for months to the point of talking to my rabbi about it. I convinced myself my ego had only a small part to play; however, after getting the car I will admit feeling a certain buzz when people ogled it.

Maybe the car has become a status symbol and I’m conflicted over selling it. Maybe I just care too much about what strangers think about me. Or maybe I’m just worried that I won’t get a fair price for the thing and I’m over analyzing all this.

Ah well… I’m sure my seller’s angst will be replaced by buyer’s remorse soon enough. I’ve just ordered one of these.

Life is like driving into the sun:

+ You can’t see too far ahead.
+ Some people pull over and wait for the view to improve.
+ Some people continue on cautiously.
+ Others put on their sunglasses and floor it.

Which person are you?

I’ve been busy getting our finances in order and preparing my tax return. Life just doesn’t get more exciting than this.

I did get to watch a Battlestar Galactica episode today, though. That was fun.

It’s amazing what you find just surfing around. Soferet‘s link to Byronverse led me to a cool looking company called Wondermill which finally led me to Coolsig. A sig for all occasions. Here’s one from the Military section that lept out at me:

A slipping gear could let your M203 grenade launcher fire when you least expect it. That would make you quite unpopular in what’s left of your unit. – the Army’s magazine of preventive maintenance.

Today’s lesson on remote usability testing: Don’t conduct intercontinental tests. We tried testing between Canada and the UK and things went horribly wrong. The biggest problem was communication. Supposedly we were both speaking English but I had the toughest time understanding what the participant was saying. His accent combined with a sub-standard phone connection made him sound like he was speaking through a gag. Then, at around 8:15 am with at least 30 minutes of testing left, his screen updates just stopped. It’s as if someone turned off the switch on the trans-Atlantic fibre. (The observer room’s WebEx feed was fine.)

The positive coming out of an experience like this is I now have an excuse to make a European visit.

More backup stuff. Mark over at MarkTAW recommends SyncBack. It does look quite good, but I’m too lazy to try it. Maybe Scott will test it and report back.

Dave’s blogging.

Kim has visited the local US consulate a couple times to register Shula as an American citizen (sorry, I don’t know if she’s a Republican or Democrat). The consulate has a couple of interesting aspects. 1) US citizens get to butt in at the front of the line and 2) cell phones are not allowed. Kim visited today and witnessed a man complaining to the security guards as they prevented him from entering because he had a cell phone. His exact words were, “What kind of discrimination is this?” It’s **cell phone discrimination**, my friend, and that is how it feels to be a minority. (OK, not really.)

If I was one of the guards I would have looked at the computer screen and said, “Our records tell us you speak too loudly on your phone in public places. We cannot allow you to enter.”

Also interesting is that security will hold your cell phone for you, but only if you are an American citizen. Apparently they have nothing to fear from their own.

WeedAtTarget

Originally uploaded by JZip.

Took a screenshot of this web page a few months ago and wanted to keep a copy before I deleted it off my computer. It’s amazing what you can get at Target!

Blogger just spat this message at me (my emphasis added):

> ### Internal Server Error
> The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request.
>
> Please contact the server administrator, support@blogger.com and inform them of the time the error occurred, and **anything you might have done that may have caused the error**.
>
>More information about this error may be available in the server error log.

Not only does this error message imply that *I* did something wrong, but it tells me about a server error log that I don’t have access to.

This is a prime example of why *everyone* in product development should be thinking about usability. “Internal” errors like this are usually the worst offenders when it comes to useful error messages.

Ticket

Originally uploaded by JZip.

Grr.

I’m reading Good Morning, Merry Sunshine by Bob Greene. Published in 1984, it’s Greene’s daily journal covering the first year of his daughter’s life. The quotes on the cover hail it as some revelation that fathers have feelings and really do understand their wives. As I read, I think it’s actually showing that fathers don’t really get what their wives go through during the first year. Many of his entries express his shock or confusion when he does or says something that raises his wife’s ire. He barely reports on what his wife does when he’s not home and I get the sense she doesn’t have much of a life.

I would never claim fathers should or could empathize with their stay-at-home wive’s experiences. How can you if you haven’t had to take care of the baby yourself for an extended period (i.e., more than a couple hours)?

My final observation is that on a normal day, he will write half a page or a page centred around his daughter. But, if he has an exciting story about work, he suddenly writes pages and pages. Remind you of anyone in particular?

**Update**: Isn’t this interesting. Bob Greene was fired from his newspaper (the Chicago Tribune) in 2002 after it was discovered that in 1988 he had some sort of sexual encounter with a 19 year old he had interviewed for a story. I’ll be reading the rest of his book in a different light.

**Update**: Chicago Magazine has a good article summarizing Greene’s career and life until 2003.

Time for a usability-related blog…

A usability test is an excellent opportunity for the development team to see someone use (or *try* to use) their product. For a usability test facilitator, having observers in the testing room can increase the workload as you have to manage both the test and the observers. A good briefing can keep observers in line, but the facilitator still needs to be on his or her toes.

The obvious solution is to get the observers out of the room yet still let them see. (more…)

I sometimes admit to myself that I’m not perfect. Sometimes I admit it more often than it makes me comfortable. We (including me) are almost always failing at something whether it’s messing up a corporate takeover or simply forgetting to mail a letter. Most of the time we put these things out of our minds and carry on.

Sometimes, though, failure lands on your head and leaves a nasty welt. And then, while you’re holding your head in pain, you need to clean things up to prevent the failure from growing any larger. This is the position I find myself in today and I hate it.

I wish I could write more, but I can’t.

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