Does Usability Matter?  Some random thoughts...

• Usability is a quality of something, not a thing in and of itself
• Despite ROI claims to the contrary, businesses still don't get the need to worry about what users think
• Customers and users are two different (though often intersecting) groups

Goin' to the Show  We went to the opera last night—the first time I'd ever been! My wife's first time, too. It was extraordinary. I especially loved the sets and the acting. A lot of my impression about opera is built on popular myth—divas posing on stage and hardly moving, much less really acting. Yet Errol and I agreed on the connection between silent movies and opera—the ability for actors to act without talking is a skill rarely seen in an age replete with the technobabble and gratuitious eye-snapping action of matrices.

Let the People Decide  Peter Merholz has a great photographic discussion of paths people take.

Feats Still Don't Fail Me  On the 7th of May I went to see Little Feat in concert at the pasture they call Innsbrook Pavilion in Short Pump/Glen Allen, Virginia (a suburb of Richmond). Man o man o man did the Feat rock!
They started with a killer version of "Cadillac Hotel," with Shaun Murphy belting out the vocal gymnastics the song requires. They then proceeded to play for 90 minutes straight. Tunes such as "Time Loves a Hero" and "Day or Night" sounded timeless and clear and poignant. Pulling out the Band's "Rag Mama Rag" (which the Feat covered on Chinese Work Songs) delighted the audience of largely 40+ listeners. And the acoustic trio of songs included one they'd just written and recorded for their next album.
If you wanna hear the music again, go see the Feat on their current tour!