Thanksgiving Anarchy in the UK

Well I think we were planning on Thanksgiving dinner (Nov. 24) in the evening. This is somewhat unorthodox. I shall explain.

Now, usually - at least where I come from, where we are gun-toting and God-fearing - Thanksgiving dinner is at about 12 or 1, "dinner" being a term we Texans often use for what people in other countries like California (or England) call "lunch". This leaves plenty of time for eating, feeling bloated, and watching real football in the afternoon. There is always a game on TV during Thanksgiving, and one may find after years of 'training' that to watch men brutally crush one another aids the digestion (it is more civilized than Rugby, which occasionally draws blood - the horror!). Rooting for the Cowboys after dinner (when they are playing) is required in Texas, followed, or occasionally interrupted by, passing out on the Lay-Z-Boy. At this point, the remote control tends to fall to the carpet - take care less'n a toddler come over and chew on it. Somehow childern abound at Thanksgiving, even amongst the unmarried and they get bored with the adults rather quickly, turning to their own forms of mischief. But I digress.

Around 4 or 5pm is time for seconds, usually more dessert. Speaking of, "pudding" is invariably a custardly substance that comes out of a box marked: JELLO in big red, sans-serif letters. Dessert - be it pudding, pecan pie, pumpkin pie, or otherwise - is usually destined for an encounter with CoolWhip (see picture above), a ready made "whipped topping" of which it is mandatory to keep a tub in stock, should guests request it. This does not mean necessarily that it is edible or that it need be. But traditions must be guarded. Breaking with tradition, however we'll not have any CoolWhip since they are still inspecting the shipment at HM Customs and Excise.

We plan however, to have other delights on hand this year, though we'll not be serving the traditional Thanksgiving Turkey for two reasons. First, that they aren't usually very tasty anyway, unless a senior matriarch, ( e.g., grandma) has laid hands to the poor thing - and my partner doesn't qualify yet, thankfully. Second, that they are hard to cook, which is kinda related to the first but I had to come up with at least two reasons. Therefore, we are likely to have a perfectly respectable Thanksgiving ham again - another good ham this year I hope, accompanied by his old friends, the baked sweet potatoes. We shall not want for starch! It would be un-American.

If there aren't leftovers, we will have failed utterly, as it is mandatory to send off the guests with Tupperware containers brimming great helpings of food that one cannot again bear to look upon. We plan to bless our guests with the same. Happy Turkey-day to all.

robot or marionette?

These days, most radios have a digital tuner; one that changes the station by pressing a button. Pressing the button alters the frequency that the radio is receiving by a very small, discrete amount, allowing one to tune in a station more clearly. Formerly, most radio tuners were analog. Tuning in a station was accomplished by turning a knob, which in turn, moved a piece of wire or string inside the radio. This string was attached to an electronic component called a capacitor. The movement of the string moved metal plates inside the capacitor, and this physical change of the position of the plates caused the radio to turn up or down the freqency spectrum. The mechanical linkage allowed a person to adjust the signal very precisely (especially important for the weaker signals in the shortwave spectrum).

Changing the frequency by turning a knob produces a very subtlely shifting auditory experience, one that has an infinitely fine gradient. A person can use this to find exactly the right place, "the sweet spot" where the reception is best. On modern radios, this is usually not necessary unless the signal is very weak. If so, it can be very difficult or impossible to tune such a radio, with a digital tuner, to the very best spot that is available. At times like these, an analog control can be a nice thing to have around. Recognizing this need, manufacturers of digital music synthesizers and samplers have responded by adding to newer models special knobs that simulate the analog controls that former synths used to have - with the benefit of being able to store and recall the position, and thus the sound. Pretty neat. Systems that use digital interfaces that replace analog, mechanical linkages are called "fly-by-wire" systems in the airline industry, and "guide-" or "drive-by-wire" in other industries. Paradoxically, the phrase "-by-wire" refers to the electrical wire connecting the circuity, not the mechanical wire that connects parts of analog control systems.

In terms of user interface design, the difference is important to consider. Such decisions change how people perceive and interact with devices. The digital guide-by-wire devices increment in steps - hopefully ones that are small enough to be useful, but not so small that they are tedious. They also can usually store their state for later recall. Analog devices can be better for some tasks and provide extremely fine control, but are often more expensive to manufacture, and cannot store their state. The mertis of each approach must be weighed carefully in the design of any physical interface.

A thought

It seems obvious that if Peircean Semiotics can inform/describe the design processes of HCI, then it should also be the case that such theory can apply to Information Visualisation deisgn. Can Peircean semiotics extend or inform a Pattern language of visualisation?

A Semiotic Introduction

A Semiotic Introduction

Notes in the right direction...

Design Patterns

Christopher Alexander admits (according to Gabriel) the failure of design patterns to yield the "quality without a name". It would be interesting to note whether the same holds true for Software patterns, and by extension patterns for Information Visualisation. Corollary: can considerations of aesthetics reveal where there are deficiencies in the effectiveness of patterns for visualisation design?

PresentationPro - The PowerPoint Experts

Could be useful for sharing presentations. Corp. types won't choke on the price - too much.

PresentationPro - The PowerPoint Experts

slipping this

between no longer and not yet

no longer <------------------------------------>not yet

Notes and ephemera

Notes and ephemera