Zebra Stripes and Polka Dots
Tuesday, September 9th, 2008 | Design, Uncategorized | 3 Comments
Ok, no dots.
But anyone who’s ever worked with spreadsheets and tables has likely seen zebra stripes: where every other line is shaded to supposedly improve readability.
A List Apart published the results of a study in May that found that zebra stripes didn’t really help one way or the other. The problem with this study is that there wasn’t any pressure; there was no time limit, so participants had no trouble completing the easy questions.
This time around, a 15 second limit per question was imposed, and the tasks were harder (a bigger table, blank fields occasionally). In 3 of the 8 questions, zebra stripes had a “statisticaly significant” advantage.
User preference was also measured. 6 different versions of the same table was shown, and asked by participants to be ordered in terms of readability. Almost a third of participants selected the single-color, single-striped (traditional zebra striped) table as the most readable. Nearly another quarter said that the dual-color (green and gray) zebra striping was the best.
Personally, I would tend to go with the single-striped. I think the extra color distracts my eye a little to much. I would be interested to know what people think about a two-color striped table where the two colors are different shades of gray. I think that might be an acceptable compromise between the two.
I guess people just love their zebras.
Photo by Flickr user .imelda
Check out the original article here.
How to Win Friends and Influence People
Monday, September 8th, 2008 | Life | 1 Comment
1. Lure Them in with Gifts. Make them think you’re a nice, stable person. Buy them a good book or something. Maybe a lollipop. Everybody loves candy. (Timmy, I thought I told you to stay away from the black limousine and the big, fat man with the Skittles…)
2. Once you’ve got them, Be Possessive. Your friends are yours and no one else’s, so make sure they know that. Be sure to give them massive, smothering amounts of attention, because if you don’t check up on them at regular intervals, they might wander off and get new friends with better candy.
3. Insult Them. A lot. Breaking the will of your friend is the best way to lowering the barriers of resistance. You might want to be careful with this one, though. A minuscule fraction of the population may respond to this tactic with a further galvanized will and will only revert to their baser, less civilized instincts and become more of a wild beast. Proceed at your own caution. (Writer cannot be held liable for any biting, scratching, or goring that takes place.)
4. Blame Them for Everything. Keep them on the defensive. Even if you instigated it, it’s their fault. If they even hint otherwise, go immediately back to step 3.
5. If you’re having trouble with step four, Justify Your Actions Any Way You Can. The truth be damned, they don’t know what truth is anyway. Oh, and make sure they know that. It helps with step 3.
6. Cry. It will certainly end in tears. Hopefully, they will not be yours and you will not have to resort to this step. In the event the subject is still standing and not in the corner in the fetal position by this time, the sympathy card can be a powerful one. Just don’t overdo the tears. Nothing screams “I’m intentionally trying to ruin your so-called life!” like the River Nile on your face.
If you’re feeling particularly devious, make sure you’re leaning over something precious to it and easily damaged by water, strategically place a few drops. Much as I hate to admit it, an open Bible is a prime target, because then you can play the spirituality card. You can figure that one out. I have faith in you.
7. If all else fails, Move On. This one’s not worth your time, and there are plenty of other lemmings to prey upon. Find a good one, and break it.
Go on, do it for me.
Vacations
Saturday, September 6th, 2008 | Life | No Comments
This past week has been great. Being back home without the day-in-day-out nightmare hell-hole life-drain that is Cape Cod has been amazing. Between the inordinate overtime doing what I changed my major from in the first place to my chauvanistic, asanine wonderful roommate, let’s just say I’m looking forward to my Caribbean cruise in November.
Hell, I’m even looking forward to RIT; what does THAT say…?
But it’s been really nice being home. Being with my family for more than a weekend, lunch with old friends, my first legal drink; it’s all been fun.
Last Saturday we went down to Foxwoods to see Cirque Dreams Pandamonia, a show related to Cirque du Soliel, and it was phenomenal. From the clowns before the show proper started (whom I got to act with a little; made my night =D ), to the amazing acrobatics and athletic feats, to the final curtain call, the entire show was astounding. I would go again in a heartbeat (and for any guys reading this, it makes a great date. A little pricey, but totally worth it.)
I’ve been able to cross something off my list as well. My dad, brother, a few friends, and I went paintballing last weekend, and had a blast. Running through heavy woods, going after the other team’s flag (even if it was just an old t-shirt on a stick), getting shot at, and sweating our asses off…ohh, damn was it fun. Definitely something I’m glad I did, and will certainly do again.
I’ve also been able to rekindle some stagnant friendships, which has been great. There may even be the possibility of something deeper than simple friendship on my horizon. I’m hopeful, but only time will tell if the winds of change will sail my ship in that direction. (C’mon God, praying for a little breeze here…)
It really has been a great week. But alas, all good things must come to an end. In the meantime, I just keep telling myself:
Two more months…
Two more months...
Bucket List
Friday, August 15th, 2008 | Life | 1 Comment
While I’ve never seen the movie “The Bucket List” (although I’d like to), I like the idea of having a list of things that you want to accomplish before you “kick the bucket.” I’m not trying to sound morbid or anything, and I’m not planning on dying anytime soon, but I realize that there’s a lot of things that I want to do, I’m not getting any younger, and setting goals for myself like this is a good thing.
Also, a lot of things on the list, especially the ones in the travel category, are going to require some financial planning in advance, so acknowledging that now will help me plan for the future.
The list in its current form is just the things that came to mind over the last couple days; I’m sure it’s a living document that will grow (and shrink) over time.
As is custom (or should be, hehe), I try to include a question to pose in every post:
What would be on your “bucket list”?
Clouds and Meteors
Tuesday, August 12th, 2008 | Uncategorized | 1 Comment
Last night was the peak of the Perseids meteor shower. I’d been looking forward to it for a while, since I love watching the night sky and the stars.
Unfortunately, here it was a huge thunderstorm the whole night. Totally cloudy. %@#*. Needless to say, I was disappointed.
Of course, I was less disappointed adter I learned that the Leonid shower is November 18-19. And I’ll be on a cruise ship in the middle of the Caribbean.
Epic win…
Love Keeps Her In The Air: The Spiritual Parallels of Firefly, Pt. 2
Thursday, July 17th, 2008 | Fun, God, Movies, Tv | 2 Comments
It’s always bittersweet finishing a captivating story. It’s an close on an exciting and captivating chapter, but there are so many good memories.
Enough nostalgia, let’s move to the waxing philosophical.
(Again, there may be spoilers so you’ve been warned.)
So I just finished watching Serenity, the movie set after Firefly. At the very end, as Mal and River are flying Serenity up and out of the storm, we find another instance where we can catch a glimpse of God’s nature.
Mal: Ain’t all buttons and charts, little Albatross. You know what the first rule of flying is? Well, I suppose you do, since you already know what I’m ’bout to say.
River: I do. But I like to hear you say it.
People have grappled for centuries with the question that “if God knows our hearts and minds, why do we pray?”. Questions of predestination aside, if God knows what we think and what we are going to pray, why should we bother actually doing it?
The simple answer would be because God wants us to. He didn’t create us so that we could just go our own way and live on our own, apart from him. He did it so that we could experience his goodness, love, and community, and so that He could love us in return and take pleasure in our lives. It is God’s joy, and therefore our own, that we pray and talk with Him. He may know what we’re going to say. But He likes to hear us say it.
Mal: Love. You can know all the math in the ‘verse, but you take a boat in the air you don’t love, she’ll shake you up sure as the turn of the worlds. Love keeps her in the air when she ought to fall down. Tell you she’s hurting before she keens. Makes her a home.
I don’t know any biblical parallel to this off the top of my head, other than Paul’s description of love, but this is such a powerful quote.
Love is the fuel that a true home runs on. If your home isn’t built on a foundation of love, it’ll fall right out of the sky and crash to the ground in a fiery wreck. But a home built on love has the power to soar high above the clouds, lifting you and yours above anything that threatens to tear you apart.
Speaking of which, we might as well finish out the scene:
River: Storm’s getting worse.
Mal: We’ll pass through it soon enough.
Persist through the storms of life, and you will come out the other side. Like Serenity emerging from the clouds to journey back out among the stars.
Shiny!
Power in the ‘Verse: Spiritual Parallels of Firefly
Tuesday, July 15th, 2008 | Fun, God, Tv | No Comments
Firefly is one of the most awesome shows ever made.
I’ve been watching the whole series over the past few days. Why Fox canceled it is beyond me. It’s funny and intelligent, dramatic and action-packed. Anyway, enough raving, if you haven’t seen it, go watch it. Or come watch it with me, it’s a great time.
Also if you haven’t seen it, and don’t like spoilers, you might want to stop reading now. If you don’t mind them, you might see one of the reasons I love this show so much.
To give some backstory first, they just rescued Jayne, and Simon and River (both wanted fugitives) from the Alliance after Jayne ratted them out for the reward money. Mal, being a man who looks after his own, has a little chat with Jayne.
This is probably the most moving (and chilling) scene in the whole series for me, because it directly parallels reality.
“He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’” - Matthew 25:45
The words and sentiments of Malcolm Reynolds directly parallel those of Jesus Christ. “You turn on any of my crew, you turn on me…You did it to me, Jayne.” I said it was chilling because it’s not a far stretch to put myself in that airlock, feeling the same fire of righteous fury directed my way. I imagine that that’s quite similar to how Jesus will respond to those who have sinned. I can’t think that the Creator of the ‘verse would take any more kindly to betrayal…
Another thing that made me shiver a bit was Mal’s response to Jayne’s question:
Jayne: What are you gonna tell the others?
Mal: About what?
Jayne: About why I’m dead.
Mal: I hadn’t thought about it.
Jayne’s betrayal caused a rift so great that Mal would simply abandon and forget him. Sound similar?
About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi,[a] lama sabachthani?”—which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” - Matthew 27:46
But it’s what happens next that brings hope. Jayne accepts his impending doom, and genuinely repents. And because of that, Mal shows him mercy, and the rift is gone. Well, maybe not gone, as Jayne gets to ride in the makeshift brig for a while, but then again, he’s only human. Atherton Wing can attest to that:
Because of it’s spiritual parallels, and awesome humor, plot, and characters, I love Firefly. You should too. Dong-ma?
Women: Objects of Affection or Possession?
Thursday, June 26th, 2008 | Uncategorized | 1 Comment
“Women are objects.”
I can’t decide whether my roommate was being serious when he said this, or just being sarcastic.
On one hand, it wouldn’t be a far stretch given what I’ve seen so far, but on the other, it’s hard for me to believe that someone can look at a woman and see anything less than a living, breathing human being complete with a heart, a mind, and a soul. Then again, maybe it’s not hard to believe, considering I am at fault of doing the same thing from time to time.
The objectification of women is nothing new, women have commonly been seen as playthings, mere flesh to be owned and ogled, for millennia. What I find interesting is that even given the advances in feminism over the past decades, and the gain of so-called equality, this has not changed. If anything, women are now more ready participants! How many advertisements do you see everyday that use sex and sex appeal to sell the product?
It saddens me to see beautiful creations of God treated in such a way that diminishes their value. It’s a disgusting and perverted practice that far too many men participate in. We are called to love and care for them, not to use and manipulate them.
I know my concerns have been echoed elsewhere, but after hearing it in my own home, I am appalled and distressed at just how far we have fallen, when we see our own sisters as slaves.
Merge Madness
Monday, June 23rd, 2008 | Uncategorized | 1 Comment
From the guys over at Office Offline comes this gem:
New Stuff
Monday, June 9th, 2008 | Uncategorized | 3 Comments
So a bunch of new stuff has been going on lately.Hopefully I’ll be able to cover it all in a clear, concise manner. Here goes:
Year 1 at RIT. It’s finally over. No more homework, hallelujah! =) Came out with 3 A’s and a B. So no more 4.0. Thank you Professor, and here’s some advice to everyone who has to take Interactive Digital Media (4002-330): be prepared to accept a mediocre return for working your ass off. I’m not bitter…
Basileia. InterVarsity’s annual spring retreat, held at the Young Life camp on Saranac Lake in the Adirondacks. Simply amazing. So much fun, and an incredible experience. I don’t even know where to start talking about this, and even if I did it would take way too much time, so just ask me about it if you want to know. And check out the pictures on Facebook. Amazing. =)
Cape Cod. Started my new job on Monday as the assistant IT person for a company out there. It’s a pretty sweet gig, and I’m learning a lot. So, for the summer and fall, I am in Osterville, Massachusetts, out on Cape Cod, just a few miles from the beach. For those of you who are growing envious, I expect my friends to come visit me…
Apple. Recently I’ve been dealing with Apple products. This has been both weird and totally awesome for me. On the weird side, I’m dealing with Macs, which I’ve never really had to do before, and it’s been interesting learning all about them. On the other hand, I’m dealing with Macs, and am learning how inherently superior they are. Now, before you get your feathers all ruffled, let me make my case.
Especially coming straight from a full class on design principles, it’s clear to see that the MacBook Pro, which is what I’m typing this out on, is an amazing machine. There are so many things that are just like “Why is this not in every computer?!” Case in point, the magnetic power adapter: easy to attach, reasonably difficult to detach by accident, but if it needs to come out, it does. Or the backlit keyboard. Or the touchpad (1 finger tap is single click, 2 finger tap is double-click, 2-finger slide scrolls the page). C’mon people. I’m not an Apple fanboy or anything, but they’re just beautiful machines, inside and out. And no, I’m not getting paid to say that, unless Steve Jobs wants to change that. =D
Well, that’s about it, I’d say.
Later days. 
EDIT: Changed some of the details from the post. Small things, you can ask me if you care.
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