I’m editing an eBook that requires special formatting for every story. Naturally, this was a good fit for a macro. The first macro did all the steps, but fumbled on the call outs. Better idea: create two macros with the second one covering the call outs. This worked like a charm… until I closed Word … Read more
Finally. It took one month, 46 email messages, and two visits to the store to resolve a problem with my Sidekick II. The solution wasn’t complicated, but I can’t honestly say it would’ve worked had I not got a new SIM card. SMS (short message service) had not been working for months, but I didn’t … Read more
Have you ever abandoned a shopping cart during the checkout stage — other than to find out the price (like Amazon says to add to basket to find out price)? I’m sure I have, but the reasons why are not coming to me at the moment (call it human virus-infected memory syndrome — no worries, … Read more
Painting the Digital River takes a view of art by comparing digital art and classic art. Author James Faure Walker makes many points as he gives value to both art forms, discarding neither as less legitimate than the other. Himself an artist, Walker knows that many artists are confused as to what it means to … Read more
The Treo takes up one whole chapter of this book plus references in the communication-related. Still although the Treo is a popular PalmOS-based device, it rightfully doesn’t dominate the book. After all, many owners of PalmOS devices don’t need or want to have a powerful device like the Treo. In spite of “hacks” in its … Read more
No matter what business a company is in, it can make its site useful for its visitors and turn them into eventual buyers. Cashing In with Content shows how to do that with 20 case studies of types businesses — ecommerce, business-to-business, nonprofits, healthcare, education and politics. Every case study includes an interview with an … Read more
I needed to get a new mouse or desktop set (keyboard and mouse) because the Microsoft Wireless Intellimouse Explorer 2.0 was working erratically — I had to work hard to use the buttons. I tried upgrading the software, putting in fresh batteries, and pushing the connect buttons. Nothing worked. Time for a new mouse. First, … Read more
Many newsletter publishers believe in “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” So they send their newsletters a second time and maybe even a third. Whether or not this is a good thing has yet to surface. Spam has driven many publishers to take this step, as legitimate email newsletters get diverted to … Read more
When we design Web sites, we often overlook the simplest things because we’re too wrapped up in the design. After working on Web sites for a while, some of us have slowly moved away from what we know is usable to adding or removing elements that may enhance the ‘look’ — and also break a … Read more
We have a day or holiday for everything now including usability. November 3 is World Usability Day, which is about to start as it’s Thursday in New Zealand. Its purpose is to promote the importance of making things easy to use. If my toaster oven breaks today and I buy another one, I won’t likely … Read more