I'm trying to catch up on my Bloglines reading, and came across an entry on What Do I Know, where Todd talks about his web development testing platform. Todd refers to a Skyzyx.com post about hosting multiple versions of IE on XP. Todd's blog entry also has a nice comment thread that provides other suggestions for testing against multiple browsers. If you aren't testing now, this one's probably worth bookmarking for later.

06:31 PM | | linkme | home

I don't know if it was my biorhythms or what, but Sunday was a terrible day. I now have a nice pea-sized crater in my windshield courtesy of a drive on I395 in the Washington area, and worse yet, it seems like the hard drive in my TiVo melted down. I've ordered a replacement hard drive, so hopefully tomorrow I'll be back to normal (I'm having to actually record a program on VHS tonight--yikes!).

I ordered the drive from WeaKnees, and one of the things I found interesting was their practice of putting their installation instructions online:

When you order a WeaKnees.com TiVo upgrade, we will send instructions specifically written for your TiVo. These instructions have been created and improved over the years to insure that your upgrade experience is simple and straightforward.

tIn fact, we want you to see--in advance--just how easy the TiVo upgrade process can be with the right kit and the right instructions. We have therefore made available our customized instructions for each type of TiVo upgrade, for each variation of TiVo recorder, in Adobe Acrobat PDF format.

I realize they aren't the first (I've downloaded manuals for cell phones and PDAs before too), but it occurred to me today what a useful practice this was for smaller companies too.

My primary motivation in deciding "TiVo hard disk replacement?" or "new TiVo unit?" was cost. But I'm feeling warm fuzzies now because the docs make it look pretty straightforward, even for someone like me, who doesn't normally go into the guts of my electronics.

06:24 PM | | linkme | home

Oy, mea culpa for being a bit absent here. Right now, it's been all conferences, all the time for me. I've been one of the coordinators for the Aging by Design conference next week that's being co-hosted by AARP and Bentley College. There's still time to sign up, and we have a fab list of speakers.

I'm also working on what I'm affectionately referring to the "world's largest focus group" at AARP's National Event in Las Vegas in mid-October. If you're nearby, this is such a deal...just $10 for members, $20 for non-members for three days of cool speakers like Dave Barry, Frank Bielec (of Trading Spaces fame...a personal fave), Roger Ebert and more, and a packed exhibit hall.

On top of that, I'm getting reading for the planning meeting for STC's 52nd Annual Conference in Seattle next May. I'm the program manager for this event, and am working to make it a great conference for both STC regulars and newcomers interested in information design, usability, and other UX-related fields.

05:57 PM | | linkme | home

Not a W fan? Then you'll likely appreciate this very funny (IMO) Swift Boat parody.

The site is dedicated "to those who drank the last full measure of tequila and didn't pass out." And the pretzel choking was a nice touch. Hat tip: Dave Winer.

If you are a W fan (or are annoyed by deviations from the subject of information design), do check out this post from Christina about why Target's junk mail isn't.

06:37 PM | | linkme | home