The totally off-topic thread

[Flashback]

Has anyone else noticed there are two emoticons that are the same ...... and

 

[Mal]

And it’s just soared since you’ve been gone!

But we’d love to have you back, even if it’s just another drought.

What a correlation

Queensland (and esp. Brisbane) doesn't rate as a place I want to return to , but perhaps it will happen around the end of May...

 

[Bundy Bear]

Go away for a few days and find that AFF has had a make over. :shock:

Looks like Anat0l and myself got away from Fiji at exactly the right time as cyclone Tomas hit the eastern part of Fiji only a few hours ago.

Flights were all good; only 1 out of 6 was late and this was due to connecting passengers.

Took a few photos including some photos for the AFF scavenger hunt.

Certainly its enjoyable flying in the front cabin its going to be hard to go and sit at the back of the plane; although I have now have a change of status from QF NB to QF PS so I move a row or 2 forward.

 

[Mal]

Looks like Anat0l and myself got away from Fiji at exactly the right time as cyclone Tomas hit the eastern part of Fiji only a few hours ago.

<snip>

Certainly its enjoyable flying in the front cabin its going to be hard to go and sit at the back of the plane; although I have now have a change of status from QF NB to QF PS so I move a row or 2 forward.

You both were pretty lucky. Lots of flights cancelled etc. WebFIDS

Congrats on the PS.

 

[oz_mark]

It would be very hard to limit it to just one complaint. Whatever you, or anyone else, may think this new version of the vBulletin software looks very amateurish and is at least a few steps back from the previous version.

And yes there were reasons why admin had to go to the new version and eventually we all will get used to the new version but it does not make it better. Barely acceptable is more accurate....

Most, if not all, of the issues raised revolve around the user interface, and people are much more fussy about user interface issues than they were a couple of decades ago. Once upon a time, I could write a program to to stick a number on a screen and everyone would be happy. Nowadays we seem to get into long convolted discussion about placement of the number, what font blah blah blah. People look at that much more than they look at whether the calculation of the number was right!

A program that says "Hello World" these days simply doesn't cut it, people want the screen to be completely customiseable, which maked even the "Hello World" application these days to be a much more complex exercise!

 

[anat0l]

anat0l,
you seem very fired up at people who are nearly expressing their thoughts on an appropriate thread :!:

You must mean 'merely'. Although we all know some people expressing their opinion goes beyond the word 'merely'.

Perhaps it's just that being away from this all for even a mere couple of days, then coming back to it, not also including a consideration of the environment and culture of people that we were around. So maybe I was just irritable to read complaints, complaints, complaints....and I was just completely sick of hearing them.

Now that I'm back in a more "normal" (?) society, perhaps I'll be used to seeing them as common language once again.

Maybe I'm conditioned to always offer a compliment or slightly better than neutral comment first rather than a complaint. So for me to hear complaints first is slightly unusual. I remember making a slight negative comment at first when my father brought me back some new clothes (of course, ill-placed remark, I should have offered a compliment first.) He slapped me hard across the face, called me a thankless, selfish moron and yelled at me that he would never buy me anything ever again. Needless to say, I learnt my lesson.

 

[oz_mark]

Only when the new system is worse than the previous system. It is quite clear that the new version has serious user interface issues. This is what happens when a person is given control of a project (and I assume has poor project management skills) who should not be in charge of any project.

Nothing to do with poor project management skills. A project manager can have fantastic project management skills, but if they start making decisions on things that they are not qualified to do, problems can ensue. I have seen many project issues arise when project managers make technical decisions, especially when their decision is based on project management issues (budgets etc), rather than on technical matters.

It's just one of the many things that we have to deal with in life - delivered IT projects are often the result of compromise, rather than technical perfection.

 

[anat0l]

Most, if not all, of the issues raised revolve around the user interface, and people are much more fussy about user interface issues than they were a couple of decades ago. Once upon a time, I could write a program to to stick a number on a screen and everyone would be happy. Nowadays we seem to get into long convolted discussion about placement of the number, what font blah blah blah. People look at that much more than they look at whether the calculation of the number was right!

A program that says "Hello World" these days simply doesn't cut it, people want the screen to be completely customiseable, which maked even the "Hello World" application these days to be a much more complex exercise!

That is a good point.

It is not as if the entire board functionality fell apart. Unlike, say, LHR Terminal 5 day 1 and their baggage system.

It's all about the interface.

Having had to study a bit of IT HCI before, designing a UI that will be good for anyone to use is nigh impossible, unless you have a specialist target audience. You end up making a UI so that:

• The power users complain that the interface looks too baby-ish, and it's insulting to their intelligence
• The IT illiterate people still find the interface is c**p (and you snarl at them that they should learn some basic IT skills), or they keep asking you the same questions about the same buttons or fields umpteen times
• A whole range of people complain that the old interface was better than the new interface, simply because the button they were looking for is a different colour and/or is located about 50 pixels away from where it was placed before

In other words, no one is happy; 'normal' people rate on a binary scale - i.e. success and failure. Guess which one most people would press.

Is it reasonable to expect that humans can and have the ability to comfortably adapt to new things?

The same thing happens in many circles: word processing applications, operating systems, web sites, computer hardware, consumer electronics etc. etc.

 

[anat0l]

Nothing to do with poor project management skills. A project manager can have fantastic project management skills, but if they start making decisions on things that they are not qualified to do, problems can ensue. I have seen many project issues arise when project managers make technical decisions, especially when their decision is based on project management issues (budgets etc), rather than on technical matters.

It's just one of the many things that we have to deal with in life - delivered IT projects are often the result of compromise, rather than technical perfection.

That has certainly been well established, hence why I say that it is extremely difficult to find an IT project which has been successfully delivered without a single complaint. It is hard enough to find an IT project that has been delivered without overruns on budgeted cash or time, or both. It is quite easy to quote IT projects that have been closed or shelved as failures; the traditional rule-of-thumb figure of 50% still holds much like gravity.

 

[Flashback]

That has certainly been well established, hence why I say that it is extremely difficult to find an IT project which has been successfully delivered without a single complaint. It is hard enough to find an IT project that has been delivered without overruns on budgeted cash or time, or both. It is quite easy to quote IT projects that have been closed or shelved as failures; the traditional rule-of-thumb figure of 50% still holds much like gravity.

When I did IT PM at Uni, the figure quoted was much higher than 50%...!

Edit: aww, yuck! What happened to the blue rolleyes emoticon?

 

[anat0l]

When I did IT PM at Uni, the figure quoted was much higher than 50%...!

Edit: aww, yuck! What happened to the blue rolleyes emoticon?

You're right - it was much higher than 50%...can't remember what it is, but boasting a failure rate of greater than 50% is absolutely nothing to be proud of!


Yes...the seemed to have been replaced overnight or something (because I do remember the old blue one yesterday when I used it).

 

[Flashback]

You're right - it was much higher than 50%...can't remember what it is, but boasting a failure rate of greater than 50% is absolutely nothing to be proud of!


Yes...the seemed to have been replaced overnight or something (because I do remember the old blue one yesterday when I used it).

I think it was something like 90%! I've got my textbook at the office... if I can be bothered, will check it if/when I make it into work today.

 

[serfty]

Try the disastrous transfer that big pond web mail has just undergone.

From a simple interface where one could reliably park emails (before downloading them as desired) to an engorged slug that vomits every time you try anythng other than the simple.

 

[JohnK]

Most, if not all, of the issues raised revolve around the user interface, and people are much more fussy about user interface issues than they were a couple of decades ago. Once upon a time, I could write a program to to stick a number on a screen and everyone would be happy. Nowadays we seem to get into long convolted discussion about placement of the number, what font blah blah blah. People look at that much more than they look at whether the calculation of the number was right!

I was never an expert at screen design, and remember I have mainly worked with "green screen" in 25+ as a computer developer/consultant, but the user interface is the most important thing when you use a program for many hours more than once a day.

Tahoma font is way too small and I am squinting trying to read it all the same, the screen looks cluttered in most areas and there is useless, unitilsed, white space in other areas.

A program that says "Hello World" these days simply doesn't cut it, people want the screen to be completely customiseable, which maked even the "Hello World" application these days to be a much more complex exercise!

Now if you were going to write a "Hello World" it has to be able to display it in all written languages on Earh plus a few close neighbours in our universe. After all not all people speak or read English.

 

[oz_mark]

Try the disastrous transfer that bg pond web mail has just undergone.

I can't say I even saw a change in it!

 

[samh004]

Has anyone else noticed there are two emoticons that are the same ...... and

Good catch, that might need to be posted in the bug thread.

Took a few photos including some photos for the AFF scavenger hunt.

If you’re going to post Eggs Florentine you’ll find notzac beat you to it

Certainly its enjoyable flying in the front cabin its going to be hard to go and sit at the back of the plane; although I have now have a change of status from QF NB to QF PS so I move a row or 2 forward.

After all that flying I’d think you should be closer to SG than PS

When I did IT PM at Uni, the figure quoted was much higher than 50%...!

Edit: aww, yuck! What happened to the blue rolleyes emoticon?

I noted that as one of the first bugs, along with changing into whatever that is.

Also, I didn’t realise by posting a blog I’d end up in the side bar at the top of the community page

 

[anat0l]

Hmmm....blogs are up.

Of course, now I won't get a post count credit if I do blog instead of post TRs through the TR forum (sure I'll get Blog Post credit, but that doesn't count towards your member status ). Apart from no 6 picture limit now (do blogs get emoticon support?) anyone see any other advantages?

 

[samh004]

Hmmm....blogs are up.

Of course, now I won't get a post count credit if I do blog instead of post TRs through the TR forum (sure I'll get Blog Post credit, but that doesn't count towards your member status ). Apart from no 6 picture limit now (do blogs get emoticon support?) anyone see any other advantages?

Perhaps admin could include blogs in “membership status” for you.

You could still post in the TR forum, just linking to the beautifully laid out entry in your TR blog, and then turn off comments so you have to comment in the forum.

 

[NM]

Perhaps admin could include blogs in “membership status” for you.

Looks like its already done for you!

 

[Must...Fly!]

Try the disastrous transfer that bg pond web mail has just undergone.

There is your problem!! (aside from the spelling error, of course )