Does UX Exist (Redux)?  In which I step into the fray a bit.

It Keeps Gettin' Worse It's amazing to me how the Bush admin can stonewall on this Rove thing. Utterly amazing.

Quam diu, Bush?  How long will you try our patience? Apparently for awhile. As Nancy Pelosi said, ""He is willing to exploit the sacred ground of 9/11, knowing that there is no connection between 9/11 and the war in Iraq.""
It's shameful, really shameful. Sad thing is: The suburban conservatives lap this stuff up like LSD-laced lemon water. Despite the facts that Bush et al. lied [or at best were simply lazy and incompetent in their analysis] to get us in this war, despite the lies of Deferment Dick whose "the insurgency is in its last throes" rings hollow, and despite the bloodthirsty rush to blow up funny-looking buildings (as my friend Doug Jay told me after September 11, the dull-eyed and SUV-driving dullards believe this lie: that Iraq can be connected to the attacks on us.
Quam diu, indeed.

Why Collaboration Can Fail  The LA Times tried, but it failed to foment a collaboration space. This hijacking of content is indicative of why I think folksonomies, social networks, and wikis ultimately will fail.

The Downing Street Smoldering Gun  Claims that the intelligence reporting on Iraq-both CIA and British-were simple errors of interpretation should be considered settled. Quam diu?

Search Still Sux  So the NYT covers the problem with search. My question is, where are the interviews with Lou & Christina & Peter & so on?

I think it's my fault...  So Joe writes about a big company putting a layer of documentation on a bad UX, trying to fix it on the cheap...and I recognize that I might be responsible for the memo.
See, I complained to a bean counter that I was having waaay too much difficulty in filling out my expense report. I talked to her about user experience (UX) and how the software should conform to my needs, not vice versa. She said, "I know, I know. I spend half my day talking to folks about how to fill these blankety-blank forms out...and I have a lot more other work to do each day!"
I suggested the form be changed to reflect how users' mental models work, but she'd have none of it. Reflecting that she'd drunk the Kool-Aid, she said, "Nope, that's the way they created the software."
So it's obvious that, to fix it, they simply added a layer of documentation to the UX, hoping that'll make folks go away, I guess.

Dazed and Confused...  Back from West Virginia and the Moto Guzzi rally...and I'm dazed and tired and a bit woozy from not being on the bike. Tom and I did the whole stretch (from East Liverpool, OH, to Richmond) in one day. I'd planned a 6-hour timeline. Boy was I wrong! Figure more like 10 with stops.
The rainy day on Tuesday was tough, but Wednesday's trip was fun. Cloudy but no rain made for a nice day of curvy riding on US 250 West. I'll blog more later plus add Flickr pics...but suffice it to say, I'm glad to be home.
Now, what'll the next trip be?

Off to West Virginny  Despite impending rain, I'm leaving on Tuesday afternoon for the Moto Guzzi National Rally. Tom and I are riding up, and though I hate riding in the rain, I am looking forward to the adventure.

Dienstleistungwüste  So my motorcycle is still at the dealer, waiting to be fixed. So the contractor still hasn't gotten back to me with an estimate
So the dealer received the waranteed parts on Monday (May 9), but didn't know until mid-day Tuesday. Someone had put the package on his workbench but didn't tell him...and he didn't see it.


OK.


Now it's Thursday (May 11) and still no word. I left a voice message yesterday & sent an email today, curious as to the status.
What's a reasonable time before I start getting antsy? I don't want to be a pain/pest, but I am kind of stuck without my brand-new Breva. Too, next weekend I'd planned an overnight, pre-National. I'm a bit concerned...but maybe I'm overreacting.

Happy Birthday, Dave!  Let Dave Winer know you're thinking of him.

So Maybe I Fixed It...  I did a bunch of fiddling with my Blogger template...so maybe comments now work.

Comments Not Working  For whatever reason, my blog's comments feature is broken. I've sent a note to Blogger support...we shall see if they can figure it out. In the meantime, you can send me a note at joe at the domain sokohl dot com, if you like.

What's This Country Coming To?  Ain't it a shame when even candy isn't safe from hooliganism?
I saw this at a local candy store, Fore the Love of Chocolate.

Sunday Driving  So I'm at the richmond BMW Sunday a.m. breakfast. I rode my new Breva there, mainly just to show it off...and show it off I did!
After the breakfast/meeting, everyone goes out into the parking lot. I had hooked up with my friend Bruce, who rides a 1970ish R75/5 (that won People's Choice at the Morton's open house the day before). He was with two friends, Nikki & Rachel. At any rate I went outside with 'em...Rachel had been telling me how she wanted a BMW, an older model, but didn't have $$ or license yet. I mentioned taking the MSF course, easy and userful way to a license, and as we walked out, she said, "What do you ride?" and I said, "Moto Guzzi Breva."


She perked up bigtime & said, "Guzzi! Worshipworshipworshipworship!" So I took her and Bruce and Nikki over to my bike, where they oohed and ahhed appropriately. Also, about a dozen riders came up to me saying, "Wow! First Breva I've seen in the flesh." Lots of people were very appreciative.


Fun stuff....

So Now What?  It looks like Macromedia and Adobe will merge, with Macromedia shareholders owning 20% of the new company.
What does this mean for Freehand vs. Illustrator? What happens to Captivate and RoboHelp? And will we see Flash capabilities integrated into Photoshop? Finally, what about Mac support?

Valuing Different Values  A friend is working on his degree in management & leadership. He knows that I lived & worked in Germany. So for a class on HR, he askes about vacation: sort of, "Is it true that Germans get more vacation than Americans?"
I confirmed that, yes, they do...but that it's more than just a straight comparison. For example, though Amis earn more, they get less vacation.

Other questions I'd ask are:

1. How far away from work do people live?

2. How accessible, reliable, and viable are public transportation assets?

3. How easy/difficult is it to get a driver's license?

4. How much protection do workers have against arbitrary layoffs?

5. How intrusive into personal life can the company be?

6. If you have a sore throat and a cough, how long does it take to have a doctor see you?

7. If it's 12:30 a.m. and you have a headache, how do you get aspirin?

8. If you have 4 weeks of accrued vacation, can you take it all at once, or are you limited to two weeks at the most?

It's just not meaningful to make these comparisons.

Great Bikes, Great Deals  Not trying to be too commercial, but if you're looking into buying a motorcycle, check out the bikes at Speakers Cycles in Ohio.

The Long and Winding Road  I picked up my new Breva on Saturday. What a great ride!

I flew to Cleveland Friday night, had a few drinks with Bob & Mouser, then slept at Bob's house (after late-night political discussions). In the morning we had coffee while listening to Phil Ochs ("I Ain't Marching Anymore"!". We then drove down to Steubenville on Saturday.

After Jason Speakers got a few things sorted out on it, I took her for a short test ride. Bob & Jason went with me, Bob on the demo Breva and Jason on the Le Mans. All was well. Also joining me was John from western PA, who just wanted to see the bike & ride with me for a little while.

I beat the rain, making it to Winchester on Saturday night. the Travelodge was quite accomodating, allowing me to park under the registration canopy.

Saturday I went south on 522, then picked up the Skyline Drive for awhile. Figured that some lower-speed driving would be good for the breakin period. Gotta tell you, though, it's a bit tough to keep to the 35-mph speed limit on the Drive. weird, huh? Ya pay $5.00 and can go only 35, while on the Blue Ridge Parkway you pay nothing and can go 45! Oh well, it was fun.

Then it was east on US 211 at Thornton Gap--a nice road that I had the pleasure of riding with Messrs. Hagan & Farley last season. The Breva liked it a lot! After stopping in Sperryville for a cuppa joe (!), I went south on State Route 231--a great Virginia Byway, so named because of its scenicness. Virginia has an excellent system of designating beautiful roads as such--makes it easy for us Guzzistas.

Finally, I hit 33 to get me back to US 522 south. I took it all the way through Gum Springs and into Goochland, where I headed east on SR 6--a most excellent route back to Richmond.

No Longer a Cool Kid  It's funny...you think you're one of the In Crowd, your self-esteem vaunts itself because you e-mail and blog-post with some of the folks you've met at summits and seminars, you feel democratic and involved as if your opinions and thoughts and logic are actually taken seriously...then you get pushed onto the virtual couch with the retards, a la Animal House...