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About this site

For six years, the Internet Nexus served as my technology blog, but I've since started blogging at the SuperSite Blog instead. If you're looking for the blog, please head there. --Paul

Thursday, August 08, 2002

Bad interface, part three
Have you ever dialed *69 after you missed a phone call to find out who called? I just did it and was greated with the following message, "The number you are trying to reach is unavailable. If you know the number, please dial it now." If I knew the number I wouldn't have dialed *69. Grr...

[ Posted at 11:33 AM | Permalink ]

Wednesday, August 07, 2002

What everyone should know
This is a great article and I especially like the fact that he touches on the accepted truths--or "common knowledge," as I think of them grudgingly--that people blindly accept without any proof at all. One example cited in this article, "If you sit in a draft, you'll catch a cold," is a classic demonstration of this type of thing, which can carry over to virtually any topic area: Food ("Eating fat will make you fat"), cars ("GMC trucks are better built than Chevy trucks"), software ("Linux is more secure than Windows"), computers ("Macs are as fast as PCs"), people ("Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus"), and so on. Getting over bogus yet accepted assumptions such as these should be a societal goal for everyone on this planet.

[ Posted at 2:14 PM | Permalink ]

Tuesday, August 06, 2002

Apple support: Not so supportive
Speaking of my iBook (see the blurb below), it will reach the first anniversary of its purchase soon, and given the recent problem I had with the screen, I thought it would be a good idea to buy the AppleCare warranty, which will extend support for two more years at a cost of $250. So naturally, I browse over to the Apple Store online, since I purchased the machine online, and look up AppleCare which, sure enough, you can purchase online. Except for one thing: When you order it this way, Apple actually sends you a box in the mail, which will take 5 to 7 days, after which time you look at a number on a slip of paper inside the otherwise empty box, enter it into a box in a Web form, and then extend your warranty. OK, that's retarded. So I drive up to the Apple Store in Cambridge, where I find out, much to my chagrin, that I can't purchase the AppleCare warranty extension there either, even though they actually stock the almost empty boxes (with a specific one for the iBook, no less). Instead, I'm told I have to call Apple. On the telephone. Seriously. After asking the woman, "You realize how ridiculous this is, right?" I ask her for the phone number, to which she says, "1-800-APL-CARE." "No," I explained, "the NUMBER." And I dial Apple right there from the register in the Apple Store. It took two minutes, total, to extend the warranty. Over the phone. From within the Apple Store. Sometimes I really wonder.

[ Posted at 8:16 PM | Permalink ]

Bad user interface, part two
So I drive up to Cambridge today to extend the warranty on my iBook, and I'm trying to find the Apple Store using an Apple map which, of course, is more stylized than usable. Anyway... Adding to the problem is the fact that the streets of Cambridge make no sense whatsoever and are, naturally, often not even labeled. So I pass 1st Street, then 3rd Street and expect that the next street will be 5th Street. But it's not. Oh, no, not in Cambridge. No, the next street is Ames Street. And the next street after that, you ask? Why, it's 6th Street. Of course.

[ Posted at 8:10 PM | Permalink ]

Inductive user interfaces rock
I've long been touting the advantages of Windows XP's task-based user interface over the pretty but dated Mac OS X user interface, which is basically just the same tired old desktop metaphor yet again. Well, here is a more technical look at Microsoft's task-based, or inductive, user interface efforts. Good reading.

[ Posted at 12:20 AM | Permalink ]

The plot thickens
David Hyatt, co-creator of the Mozilla-based Chimera browser is now working for Apple Computer and one of the things he's currently working on is indeed a new Mozilla-based Web browser. But it's not Chimera. Instead, it's called Phoenix, a revival of the old Mozilla/browser project, which sought to divorce the Web browser from Mail/News and the other Mozilla apps. "Phoenix … is a redesign of the Mozilla browser component, similar to Galeon, K-Meleon and Chimera, but written using the XUL user interface language and designed to be cross-platform." So it doesn't use Carbon like Chimera, but instead will run on any platform. Confused yet?

[ Posted at 12:15 AM | Permalink ]

Monday, August 05, 2002

Corel Linux - Xandros - LindowsOS
OK, this is all starting to make sense. According to an article by Malcolm Dean (one of two Linux journalists I actually trust), Xandros (which used to be Corel Linux) is the basis for the controversial LindowsOS. Like Corel Linux, Xandros is heavily KDE- and Debian based, which is good. But it's involved with LindowsOS, which is very, very bad. I'll be keeping an eye on this one for a few reasons, not the least of which is Xandros' explanation for its deal with the devil.

[ Posted at 11:22 AM | Permalink ]

IMAP rocks
But it's better on the Mac, go figure, where I can configure Entourage to use specific server-side folders for Sent Items and Drafts. On the PC, Outlook Express doesn't offer a "find" dialog, and instead requires you to enter the paths to these special folders. Since they're under Inbox, I tried Inbox.Sent Items and so on, which works on the Mac, but not on the PC (which complains that "." is not an allowable character). I'm still trying (next I'll see how Mozilla handles this), but no matter. Another step away from email hell is well underway. Good stuff.

Update: OK, Mozilla works fine (again, go figure) and lets you specify which folders to use for IMAP special folders. Smart. But, it's sssllllloooowwwww sending mail, and pops up an annoying "Sending mail..." dialog. Gotta work on this.

[ Posted at 9:50 AM | Permalink ]