"View from 9th Avenue" written by Tinypliny on estrip.org

Category: science

08/07/11 08:17 - ID#54901

View from 9th Avenue

This classic cartoon by Steinberg could easily be titled:
"View with a limited dataset".

Or maybe.
Who cares?!

Permalink: View_from_9th_Avenue.html
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Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 08/07/11 08:50

Category: the odes

08/07/11 04:24 - ID#54900

Being intuitive

inÂ·tuÂ·iÂ·tion/ËŒint(y)oÍžoËˆiSHÉ™n/Noun

1. The ability to understand something immediately, without the need for conscious reasoning.
2. A thing that one knows or considers likely from instinctive feeling rather than conscious reasoning.

Is it bad to require that people use their conscious reasoning at least some of the time? Or does having this requirement imply that the method put forward to explain things is not clear enough?

Conscious reasoning is clearly, more effort than intuition. Where do you draw the line at slaving over keeping everything super-easy and "intuitive" and requiring at least some effort on the part of your audience or end-user? Could not slaving over providing "intuitive understanding" to your audience a sign of laziness or worse, reflective of your imperfect understanding of the system or the subject matter? I wonder...

tinypliny writes at 08:05:40 08/07/11 - Comment #64222: I am glad you wrote that bit about "essential complexity". It translated SO WELL to what I was wondering about. The challenge now is to determine where the essential complexity lies. I am very unsure of whether I understand if I am capable enough of assigning this complexity.

I am constantly worried that I might expand on relatively simple things and gloss over complex things that really require more detailed analyses, thought and interpretation. It is directly related to the question, what is my central concern and objective when I look at this data? Am I presenting enough objective details to let my audience reach their own conclusions without relying too much on what are "known" facts or their intuitions (all of us make intuitive judgments about associations in data especially in medicine, for eg. oh, smoking must be always associated with everything bad. Oh, fat is always the worst part of the diet. etc. etc.) So the concept essential complexity comes in when you force people to take that extra effort to look at data in a different way and possibly take away some more clarity and objectivity in how they think about associations. That is the job of a well-oriented epidemiologist.

I don't know if I am there yet. So I find your insight fascinating and extremely pertinent.

jim writes at 07:53:51 08/07/11 - Comment #64219: Ah, I'm laughing at myself for reading so much of my own obsession into what you were describing that I made so many assumptions :)

tinypliny writes at 07:32:14 08/07/11 - Comment #64215: Wow. that was amazing! Thanks. :) Believe it or not, I was not thinking about UIs at all. I was thinking about how best to present my findings at tomorrow's meeting with my advisor! I was thinking should I go all graphical or pages and pages of numerical data. I think I am shifting more and more towards a graphical view with numbers for only the nastier details.

I actually do agree with you a lot. The essential aim of any design should be getting out of the way and letting the use concentrate easily on the job at hand and getting it done rather that worrying about how it is going to be done and wasting time by tweaking the workflow of that job. your analogy of the rock as a unintuitive hammer is spot on. I think I might use that someday (and thank you in my mind!) :)

I want to come back and read that many times more to pick on more details. On the whole I think this is where Linux is faaar behind Macs or even windows. It's not user-friendly and makes you think TOO much about the mechanics and less about getting stuff done - at least in my case, as you probably noticed in my tangential linux post. I never thought like that when I was unconsciously on windows. I never once wondered about what libraries I would need or "compiling" source codes or back-ward compatibility or backporting or even component crashes. Now all these things are in my subconscious as I experience quirk after quirk on this OS. It is interesting but sometime annoying as well...
Do I have a choice? Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like it.

jim writes at 06:41:45 08/07/11 - Comment #64212: I think about this all the time, it's basically the focus of my career.

I'm not disagreeing with what I think you're getting at, which is that we have to use our minds and not mindlessly click through software wizards.

I am disagreeing with the implication of your question, which I read as that UI design strives to remove the need to pay attention when instead it tries to direct it. And I'm also explaining my thought processes as I do this work.

Tools exist to allow a user to do something that they care about, and should only insist on as much attention and concern about the tool itself as is minimally needed in order to solve the user's problem. A UI designer's responsibility is to guide the user in such a way that their valuable and limited attention is spent in areas that a user is most likely to actually mean to spend it to accomplish something.

It's a combination of being consistent in how you construct things and providing coherency in how you align related concepts. Things that are alike should look alike. Things that are different should look different.

It's being novel only when you have a novel problem to solve, and not reinventing the wheel poorly at every opportunity when a more familiar solution would be kinder to the user.

It's stepping back and looking at how everything fits together, and preemptively solving as many possible misunderstandings as possible, to reduce frustration and error.

Everything about creating the right mix of these techniques is a judgement call about who your audience is, how often they use the tool, and what the consequences for screwing up are. UI for a web site is different from UI for a microwave, or from a programmer's build script.

Example: A hammer with a poor handle (uncomfortable to hold) might make a carpenter think more consciously about how is holding it, but does it really make him any more attentive to his actual job at hand (which is constructing a wall that is straight and sturdy)? A rock off the ground is just an "unintuitive" hammer.

Example: most unix commands provide options prefixed by a dash. But "dd" uses a totally different style, with name value pairs separated by an =. It's a block level file copy program, rarely used, and yet it's got a unique interface that's easy to screw up.

Example: hyperlinks. In 99.9% of web browsing, it's always safe to click a link (you can always go back). Sometimes web apps will have a link to delete something, instead of a button. If you're making a page, and you want to be sure a user thinks through the consequences of clicking on something, you make it a button. Most users have never consciously thought through this difference, but if you ask them about it, they immediately understand what you mean.

A way to distill this is to look at a problem and think, "What is the essential complexity?" A well designed interface will downplay or hide inessential complexity, and clarify the essential. The user is presumed to care about only the essential complexity.

For an MP3 converter, the essential complexity is merely choosing the songs to convert.

For a pilot, the essential complexity is managing a wide array of information and making holistic decisions, not consciously figuring out the how and why of a million gauges at once. That's why the gauges and units of those gauges are standardized and honed with almost a century's experience to provide information as clearly as possible. They can be read without any conscious effort at decipherment.

The UI designer whose work is least noticed is probably doing the best job possible.

This was fun to write up, thanks for bringing up the topic :)

Permalink: Being_intuitive.html
Words: 141
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 08/07/11 04:26

Category: i-tech

08/07/11 11:41 - ID#54895

Keyboard conclusions

I think I have learnt some keyboard lessons from all this keyboard shopping over the last couple months.

What is quiet and fast now will eventually turn noisy (logitech)
What is fast now will remain fast but will never be quiet (logitech)
What is quiet now can be fast depending upon your skills (Chiclet keyboards)
However, if you learn to type faster on the quieter keyboards, you are most likely doomed to finger fatigue and RSI.
Costlier keyboards are not necessarily exempt from the above rules.

The choice is basically between more noise or more pain. I think more noise is a better alternative if I want a healthier RSI/fatigue-free typing future. I am keeping all the three keyboards I got ((e:tinypliny,54877)) for now. Noisy for painful days and quiet for chaotic days.

tinypliny writes at 04:30:09 08/08/11 - Comment #64228: Maybe I will get used to the spacing on the chiclet keyboard... My newer laptop has one too, which is the basic reason I started looking for similar keyboard because I like them so much.

heidi writes at 04:23:58 08/08/11 - Comment #64225: I had a split keyboard for many years and loved it. The apple chiclet keyboard is the best - I use lots of different keyboards at client sites and those are consistently my favorite. I've always loved apple keyboards (since my first Apple II GS in the mid-80s). They're quiet, tight, easy to type with. My newest sony laptop has a chiclet keyboard (a really big feature for me on this purchase) and I like it a lot; it's much quieter, the keys are distinct and easy to find. I don't know why PC keyboards are so huge and noisy in comparison.

tinypliny writes at 09:26:05 08/07/11 - Comment #64223: Hmm.. I need to try typing on your apple chiclet keyboard someday or borrow it for a day (like a keyboard swap experiment where you could experiment with one of mine instead).

jim writes at 07:56:36 08/07/11 - Comment #64221: A week to get up to speed (though pretty quickly I got even faster... its a keyboard for touch typing). Another week or two after that to be able to switch to a normal keyboard and back comfortably.

paul writes at 07:56:00 08/07/11 - Comment #64220: I type on a pretty quiet apple flat chicklet keyboard for up to 10 hours per day with no wrist pain.

I used to have pain years ago but realized I just couldn't type with my wrists bent. Then again I never had much wrist pain to begin with. The worst is typing a a laptop on my laptop.

tinypliny writes at 07:37:04 08/07/11 - Comment #64217: how long did you take you to learn typing on that keyboard?

tinypliny writes at 07:36:10 08/07/11 - Comment #64216: I am headed your way. And yes, the conclusion definitely is that noisier = less pain. There doesn't seem to be any other way.

Hand separation seems to be the key to avoid RSI. I am really horrible at typing so I am not there yet. But with the amount of typing that is right ahead, I might just end up with another radically keyboard before a couple months are out.

jim writes at 06:46:04 08/07/11 - Comment #64213: I own this keyboard, it looks bizarre, it is expensive, and sounds like a machine gun when I'm typing (mechanical scissor switch). But it's the only keyboard that I can type on for 8 hours straight without the slightest twinge of pain. :::link:::

metalpeter writes at 01:11:09 08/07/11 - Comment #64204: :) well something that is scary but not so much that it stops one from working in theory could drive one... Of course if it is to scary then that is where the problem lies in creating bad work... Cause you just want to get done....

But the real problem with say playing music is that yes if you can find the right stuff it could help writing but at the same time it is something one must do instead of the writing so.....

tinypliny writes at 12:38:03 08/07/11 - Comment #64203: Put a spider on my computer? Balance teacups while doing tough yoga poses? Seriously, I am bit scared of your potential as an authority figure.

;-)

I do play music a lot but lately I have been playing a ton of romantic-era piano and it's not very effective at drowning out anything but helps me synthesize ideas. The keyboard noise interferes with that then.

And what you say is true. If I am writing on a deadline and really need to finish whatever, the sounds hardly matter. Sounds only matter when I am trying to be creative and think about connections, hypotheses, ideas, new projects etc.

metalpeter writes at 12:21:41 08/07/11 - Comment #64198: Sorry to be a wise ass a bit but I just thought of one thing that might again I say might fix this problem..... Crank So METAL!!!!! Or if you have to think and be in a place of zen sounds of the ocean? Point is if there are other sounds I'm guessing you won't notice the keyboard either that or put a big spider on the computer and it will distract you...... On a side note I have never thought of the sound of the keyboard ever and now since you wrote this post I can hear every key stroke.....

Permalink: Keyboard_conclusions.html
Words: 135
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 08/07/11 11:42

Category: linux

08/07/11 10:19 - ID#54892

Learning about linux by dissecting packages

What makes a flawless efficient productive system? What goes into all those small things that make sticking to one OS easier than the other? What is behind those simple little tricks that you get used to in one OS that helps you work so much more faster than in another new system?

I want a system that will just stay out of my way and not make me think about it. But to not force people to think about anything requires careful thought into what works in the background silently and smoothly. There is of course the universal kernel and the efficiency of code of all bits and pieces of software. But an easier and more non-technical "everyone" way to dissect why one distro offers better productivity than the other is to look at the packages.

I am going to take a look at Crunchbang's packages and list them so that I can understand why that distro comes close to being one of the most perfect distros I have worked on. As usual, the easiest way is to just dissect the hard work already done by the experts. Omns (or Grant Galbraith) in his omns project blog puts together Debian systems all the time and writes post-install scripts for them. I am just going to extract commands from these scripts and put them down here. The difference will be I want to write my own descriptions for each package, why they are essential to the system and what they bring to the table in terms of making that distro a bit more "intuitive", all based on my limited understanding of linux systems.

I guess the goal is to learn not by building linux from scratch but by pulling apart a system that works well. And since I am working backwards, I am hoping to go from the superficial layers to the deep, first looking at the packages that form and work with the graphical interface and immediate enduser functions going down to what comprises the system itself. I probably won't be done in one day or even one year, but hopefully, this will be a useful exercise in understanding a bit more about linux systems that are better than others.

From part II: XFCE 4.8 on Debian Squeeze

Set Repositories

wget
mv /etc/apt/sources.list /etc/apt/sources.list.bak
cp sources.list /etc/apt/sources.list

I usually do:
sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

So what is his sources list...

(% means commented out since the # means something else on (e:strip))
-- DEBIAN SQUEEZE
deb

squeeze main contrib non-free
% deb-src

squeeze main contrib non-free

-- DEBIAN SQUEEZE UPDATES
deb

squeeze-updates main contrib non-free
% deb-src

squeeze-updates main contrib non-free

-- DEBIAN TESTING
deb

testing main contrib non-free
% deb-src

testing main contrib non-free

-- DEBIAN UNSTABLE
deb

unstable main contrib non-free
% deb-src

unstable main contrib non-free

-- DEBIAN EXPERIMENTAL
% deb

experimental main contrib non-free
% deb-src

experimental main contrib non-free

-- MOZILLA
% deb

squeeze-backports iceweasel-4.0

-- DEBIAN SECURITY
deb

squeeze/updates main non-free
% deb-src

squeeze/updates main non-free

-- DEBIAN MULTIMEDIA
deb

stable main non-free

-- DEBIAN BACKPORTS
deb

squeeze-backports main contrib non-free

So I don't like firefox. Never have. I have always been an Opera or currently a Chrome fan. The Mozilla-ice-weasel needs to go in my set up.

Setting up preferences

wget
mv /etc/apt/preferences /etc/apt/preferences.bak
cp preferences /etc/apt/preferences

This is something I don't know about. Something called apt-pinning. Omns has done a post about it that I need to read about. For now these are the preferences in the file we just copied:

Package: *
Pin: release n=squeeze-backports
Pin-Priority: 1001

Package: *
Pin: release n=squeeze-updates
Pin-Priority: 950

Package: *
Pin: release n=squeeze
Pin-Priority: 900

Package: *
Pin: release n=stable
Pin-Priority: 800

Package: *
Pin: release a=testing
Pin-Priority: 700

Package: *
Pin: release a=unstable
Pin-Priority: 600

Package: *
Pin: release a=experimental
Pin-Priority: 200

Add Keyrings

This is to prevent the system from whining about "uncertified" and "untrustworthy" sources.

wget
dpkg -i debian-multimedia-keyring_2010.12.26_all.deb

Update Repositories and Upgrade packages

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

I have noticed that an upgrade always breaks stuff in Crunchbang Statler. Probably an indication that that exact package collection only works with some older Debian components and not with the newer updates. I still haven't learnt how to pinpoint the source of the break.

Base packages and applications.

sudo apt-get install
xorg --> the graphical interface.
gksu --> launches programs in graphical interface
gdebi --> enables double-click *.deb and install ability
file-roller --> an unzip/unrar/untar utility (does not play well with evince)
% why do I need all the compression programs under the sun?
lha --> lzh archiver
lzop --> fast compression program
rzip --> compression program for large files
unalz --> De-archiver for .alz files
zoo --> zoo archive extractor
xz-utils --> XZ-format compression utilities
p7zip-full --> extract 7zip archives
alsa-base --> sound server. Maybe replace with pulseaudio
vlc --> video lan player
audacity --> audio player. vlc is fine really.
libdvdcss2 --> ?
lame --> mp3 codec
gimp --> high end graphics program similar to Photoshop
ttf-freefont --> better fonts rendering. Absolutely essential!
ttf-mscorefonts-installer --> M$shit fonts that are not so shit.
gcolor2 --> ?
agave --> ?
gedit --> The "linux notepad" I like so much!
fortunes --> ?
fortune-mod --> ? (I have read this is important as a notification machine but I am not really sure.)
gedit-plugins --> ? Not sure which plugins these are, the ons that bring along different code highlighting and syntax highlighting maybe. I just need some eye-popping bright ones that may not necessarily belong to R but make error-spotting easier.
evince --> pdf reader. ver 3.0 has annotation support but still ages behind wine + pdf xchange viewer.
gcalctool --> ? calculator?
iceweasel --> weasel I hate (firefox).
gftp -->?
xchat --> irc client. useful for naggy questions in realtime.
transmission-gtk --> torrent client.
wicd --> I think network manager is better in terms of offering a bigger variety of connections. 3G, VPN etc
cups --> something to do with the printer?
cups-pdf --> pdf printing?
system-config-printer --> ?
hpijs --> ?
hplip --> ?
dmz-cursor-theme --> ?
gtk2-engines-murrine -- ?
tango-icon-theme -- ? do I need this eye candy?
gnome-colors --> ?
bash-completion -- ?
screen -- ?
cowsay -- ?
figlet -- ?
scrot -- ?
whois -- ?
rpl -- ?
conky-all --> system monitor. DonÂ´t need this as I only use the clock, that xfce can provide.
zenity -- ?
gparted --> partition disks. Do I really need this?
xfsprogs --> ?
reiserfsprogs --> ?
reiser4progs --> ?
jfsutils --> ?
synaptic --> package installer. Useful sometimes when you don't want to mess around with command line.
ttf-bitstream-vera --> font
ttf-dejavu --> font
ntfs-3g --> ?
pcmciautils --> ?
parcellite --> clipboard manager. I this messes up gnumeric.
fontconfig-config --> ?
libcairo2 --> ?
firmware-linux --> drivers but not sure which ones
firmware-iwlwifi --> I need to compile and install my dear realtek here, this won't help. Atleast not in the current kernel where my wireless has not been integrated.
libreoffice --> current openoffice avatar. I don't need all of it. Maybe only writer, impress and math
libreoffice-gtk --> ?libreoffice related

Clean up downloaded packages

sudo apt-get clean

Install Xfce 4.8

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
sudo apt-get -t testing install
xfce4
xfdesktop4
xfce4-power-manager
xfce4-screenshooter
xfce4-notifyd
thunar
thunar-archive-plugin
thunar-media-tags-plugin
thunar-thumbnailers
gvfs-backends
gvfs-bin
gvfs-fuse
xfce4-mixer
xfburn
terminator

Clean up downloaded packages

sudo apt-get clean
reboot

Hmm.. quite a few question marks I need to fill out there.

Permalink: Learning_about_linux_by_dissecting_packages.html
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Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 08/08/11 11:08

Category: eating in

08/07/11 09:44 - ID#54891

Learn the method. The method.

His closing words are perhaps the best words of advice in any scenario. Once you have the method down, endless variations and innovations are possible.

Permalink: Learn_the_method_The_method_.html
Words: 27
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 08/07/11 09:44

Category: i-tech

08/06/11 09:09 - ID#54887

Pringles Cantenna

What I really want to do is to be able to work from my building's rooftop. Unfortunately, my router's wireless signal is weak and pathetic. I am thinking...

Pringles Cantenna!

Now, I only have to pick the flavour of choice and mooch some copper wire from (e:paul).

Permalink: Pringles_Cantenna.html
Words: 70
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 08/06/11 09:11

Category: eating in

08/06/11 08:46 - ID#54886

Secondary Fuel

I am trying to learn how to cook with just 3 - 4 ingredients as opposed to throwing the whole fridge in.

It's a tough ordeal for me because I am constantly tempted to throw in everything I spot. In the end, everything I make starts to resemble everything else. It's not good for the cooking soul.

Permalink: Secondary_Fuel.html
Words: 57
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 08/06/11 08:51

Category: eating out

08/06/11 05:29 - ID#54884

Primary Fuel

Considering I just wiped off the entire shelf of the Lindt 85% at the store, I probably have the biggest stash in a mile radius now.

Wonder how many hours these will now drive me.

Permalink: Primary_Fuel.html
Words: 36
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 08/06/11 08:48

Category: i-tech

08/06/11 10:24 - ID#54877

Keyboards

I am always looking for quieter keyboards that don't sound like the train is rattling through my flat as I type. I type a lot and keyboard rackets really bother me. So I recently bought this unbranded chiclet-keys-type keyboard:

I reviewed it on Amazon. In short, I like how the keyboard feels and sounds (not quiet but tolerable). But I mistype on this keyboard often because the spacing is somewhat non-standard.

I tried out this Azio keyboard

and hated it.

The noise factor was okay but the keyboard was too hard to type on and fatiguing. Plus it was glossy and retained fingerprints.

Then I got this logitech K120 yesterday.

It is just a classic keyboard with well spaced out keys so that mistakes are minimum and you get everthing right at the very first type. But it is not quiet as they say. Its not quiet at all. All the clackety clatter is very much there. I think it has got noisier from yesterday. That is exactly what happened to my earlier M$shit keyboard.

The racket steadily increased over the years till I had to drown the sound out with heavy metal or full orchestras. Chopin was completely out of the question. I am afraid this keyboard might be headed the same way.

I am pretty torn. Do I care more about precision or do I care more about the sound. Or should I just hold on to the noisier but more precise keyboard and just suffer through the noise?
Both keyboards are a pleasure to type on though. They hardly require any effort. Both are not entirely quiet but I prefer the sound of the chiclet keyboard rather than the clackety noise of the logitech k120 (I wonder what the people who think this is quiet were smoking!).

For now, I have two of the unbranded silky chiclet keyboards and the classic logitech k120. I returned the Azio. I think I am holding on to the chiclet keyboard but I am not sure what to do with the logitech keyboard yet. I am typing on it now, hardly making any mistakes but I am not liking the noise at all.

tinypliny writes at 03:46:35 08/06/11 - Comment #64161: That small paragraph took me 3 minutes to type correctly on this keyboard with 3-4 tea sips in between. That's not very productive.

tinypliny writes at 03:45:21 08/06/11 - Comment #64160: I have now switched from logitech to the chiclet and my typing has slowed down A LOT. I am making a ton of mistakes. I keep going back to correct words. But there is no irritating racket. It sounds like I am typing on a laptop. If only they had spaced out this chiclet keyboard a little more... it could have been the most perfect keyboard. I don't know why they had to jam all the keys together in non-standard formats.

tinypliny writes at 03:42:38 08/06/11 - Comment #64159: Hmm... I don't know if I can deal with those silicone membrane keyboards because there is no tactile feedback when you type. In a regular keyboard, you can be confident that you have hit a key even when you are not looking at the keyboard or the screen but on a membrane-like keyboard, it could be tough to be certain of whether you have typed correctly or not without looking.

I really don't know. I like the chunky feedback of a keyboard like logitech but I hate the noise.

metalpeter writes at 01:21:19 08/06/11 - Comment #64157: Silly Question? Back in the days of some recent time ago you had two kinds of keyboards the standard kind that click like a type writer a bit where each letter is a key stroke then you had (picture the ateri video game quickly with keyboard) where you don't have keys that go up and down you hold down and get the letter.... Now granted those it was very easy to hold downnnnnnnnnn and it used to be with these other type of key boards if you wanted double letter or numbers you had to type again but now if you hold it down you get multiples.... the question I have is can you get the kind that makes no sound because there is no button that goes up and down you just press it and depress it? I thought I saw and add someplace for a key board like that and it unrolls... Just an idea not sure if they still make that kind..........

Permalink: Keyboards.html
Words: 419
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 08/06/11 10:39