Usable Writing

Swiss Army USB Knife

2005-06-11T18:15:00.000-07:00

A Swiss Army knife for MacGyvers more comfortable with mice than multiple explosive devices. See http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/tools/6b3b/ No, I didn't buy it...yet!

Linksys docs

2005-06-11T06:51:00.000-07:00

Linksys puts out some nice, user-friendly documentation. I bought a USB networking adapter (after I managed to drop my laptop and kill the part of the motherboard that allowed me to use a slim wireless networking card). Here's the link.

When you open the package, you get a nice 1, 2, 3 presentation of your steps to connect it. You really can't miss it. The writing is direct and concise and not hard to understand.

But did the steps actually work?? Well, no. But I was trying to get onto an established, secure network. My friendly neighborhood networking geek had to make a house call to reset my wireless access point to "open" to get the new device to talk to it and then get it all tightened up again.

I live in a town of 4,600 people and most of them don't seem very Internet savvy. Yet somehow I managed to live within 100 feet of an unknown geek who, for fun, not only surfed free on my DSL wireless network, but took control of it AND LOCKED ME OUT. This is the sort of luck I have.

But I do like that Linksys company.

cable ties

2005-06-09T20:49:00.000-07:00

Cable ties rule. Here they hold up my rabbit fence. The rabbits here are the size of Labrador retrievers and they eat all the tulips in one gulp.

You're not supposed to notice I installed it upside down.

I mean, is there anything cable ties CAN'T do?

dulcimer

2005-06-08T04:58:00.000-07:00

I got to play the coolest instrument last weekend...a dulcimer. As sweet as its name.
It was really easy to play, so easy even a 3-time musical failure like me can imagine achieving harmonic success. I may be overly optimistic, but bear with me.

[In English-speaking countries, dulcimer (or dowcemere, dulcimor, dulcimur, doucemelle, doulcemelle, dolcimela, or dolcema, all from dulce melos, Greek for sweet sound) was the name given to the type of box zither which had a trapizoidal soundbox.]

In the third grade, I tried playing the coronet. It's like a trumpet but you blow raspberries into it. Although I thought that was neat, I also though the instrument was kind of geeky and much too heavy to drag a mile up the hill to school. I lasted maybe a month. Fast-forward another 8 years, when Dad threatened to chop up the dining room piano if someone didn't learn to play it. Enter my piano lessons...despite the fact that I was a an overscheduled, overcommitted teen, short on time as well as hand reach. I liked piano very much, I just never had time to practice. I always tried to do it 5 minutes before class but somehow that didn't fool the teacher. We stopped wasting Dad's money after a few months and someone the piano survives today. His grandkids bang one a few days each year, just to drive his poor ghost back out to the garden where it's nice and quiet (if depressingly untended).

At age 24 (holy crap, that's exactly 8 years later, too!) I decided to try the guitar. My sister's musician boyfriend got me one for about $50. He was going to teach me to play, but they broke up. Her next guy (now her husband) can also play well but has never offered to teach me. (Maybe he knows some of this history.)

So now, I'm 39 (15 years after the guitar phase). It seems about time to try again. (A numerologist would now ask if I forgot that I tried the harmonica around age 32. I didn't forget. I don't count the harmonica.)

This time, no callouses to impede my efforts. I will sticky-tape numbers onto the frets, get a nice pick and go for it. Really, I'm gonna do it this time. So stay tuned.

My love affair with Paint Shop Pro

2005-06-07T11:58:00.000-07:00

I need to find out if these guys have a sales affiliate program, because I definitely could sell this. I'm speaking of my favorite piece of software: Paint Shop Pro. Now mind you I am not a graphic artist. I will never be a graphic artist. In fact, my pen and ink drawing skills don't even include recognizable stick figures. My 3-year-old can outdraw me easily and probably has always been able to do so. So, why do I need a graphics program?

I'm a tech writer. That means I have to use a half dozen pieces of software every single time I do anything at all on the computer. I need a writing tool (like Word), a graphics program, a layout program or maybe something to author Web pages or Help files or multimedia output. I'll also need a screen capture program if I want to work efficiently (Print Screen doesn't give you easy options for capturing particular windows and showing or hiding the cursor). I might also need a tool to convert file types, to compress files, plus of course the usual e-mail and browser programs. Paint Shop Pro is both a terrific "screen grab" app as well as an easy-to-use yet powerful graphics program. For me, it does everything I need it to do, everything that the lauded PhotoShop can do that I know how to use, yet costs a fraction of its Adobe cousin.

Corel bought PSP recently and if they kill it I will hateblog like you've never seen. So far, so good. I thought PSP8 was too complicated for the first week or so but now I've grown to appreciate and love it. I do wish they'd make the capture tools easier to access, though...maybe a separate dockable toolbar? Well anyway I use a lot of software so it takes quite a lot of good development work to impress me. As my sis would say, PSP is the bomb.

Simple Soaker

2005-06-07T11:25:00.000-07:00

I like to garden and maintain all sorts of flowers, vegetables and shrubs all over my yard. I was spending a ridiculous amount of time watering them all with just a hose and a cheap sprinkler that always got me wetter than the plants. So I figured I'd try microirrigation. Then I realized not only would it cost me close to $200 altogether, but I would need to spend hours painstakingly designing the system and burying the conduit. Needless to say, not this year.

At my local Menard's I stumbled across this $20 kit that had 5 sprinklers (enough for an average sized flower plot) and figured, why not give it a shot. That was the Nelson Simple Soaker (http://www.lrnelson.com/sim_soak/home.html). You gotta try it.

It's wicked easy to set up even if you have limited spatial skills. [In high school I managed to score a 0 on the spatial skills portion of the Army Battery Test (ASVAB), which I took solely to get out of a math exam I hadn't studied for. I'm sure some Army personnel staffer still has that score framed somewhere with a sticky note that says "If woman ever joins military, CHAIN TO DESK JOB!"] I'm 39 now, but I'm sure that's still on file, just in case.

Nelson, on the other hand, would be a big hit in Iraq, I'm sure. Maybe they should see about military contracts...

Hooray for a Safer Pill Bottle

2005-04-18T10:45:00.000-07:00

A story that ought to make a lot of design and communication journals soon...after more than 50 years, the pharmacy pill bottle is getting a redesign.

After her grandma accidentally took Grandpa's medication, a New York City design grad student decided to make over the typical pill bottle. Other designers gradually got involved and what emerged has a new squarer shape, much easier to read label, and color-coded rings to attach to the bottle. Each colored ring is assigned to a family member to help keep everybody's meds straight. She sold the design to Target which will have it on shelves in May. (It's also going to be featured in a MoMA exhibit this fall.) See the article here: http://newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/health/features/11700/index1.html.

Now, if we can only find a way to get our older relatives to take their pills on time. Actually I think there are some services for forgetful pill-takers that will call you when it's time to take a pill. I also think I there are pill boxes with audible alarms (if not, there ought to be).

Any other things we need for safer (prescription) drug taking?

I also wonder, why the heck did this really obvious design flaw exist for so long? I really do think Target's design will be imitated slavishly from the get-go and so help me Walgreens, Osco et. al. will hear from me if I'm wrong!