UI: Hawaii Library
I have run across numerous usability flaws with my local online library catalog. I was very surprised about how poorly their UI is, considering it is a public and popular way to order books in Hawaii. Take a look at the below screen shot of their Login Screen.
As you can see, both the Barcode, and the Pin are marked with *’s. This is very annoying because I’m not able to see the random 10 digit number I need to enter in. This comes especially annoying because the bar code is printed plain as day on your library card. If this # is being displayed on your card, why can’t it be displayed on the web login? I have to think hard about entering these 10 digits, because alot of the #’s are repeated. The worst part about this? I’m unable to even save the cookies to their page, to enable me to log in quickly. At this point, I could save alot of thinking by just driving to the library. I think this catalog system could be majorly re-done to allow a more comfortable book borrowing method.
UI: chuckpalahniuk.net
I was browsing Chuck’s website today when I noticed a problem that disturbed me. This was not the typical Chuck Palahniuk chill either, it was a poor web design chill.
Below you can see the navigation of each Book Chuck has written.
My problem with this UI design is when I click on the main BOOKS link, I get directed to this.
You will find a page not found, instead of a nice listing of all his books with photos. I also lose the main Navigation when I’m shuffled off to this dead page. I noticed that the page linking is to a Fight Club Directory, which is where the problem may lay. This left me very confused. As a huge Chuck Palahniuk fan, I hope he fixes this minor problem. The rest of his site is just fantastic! I love his book club, as all the listings are right up my alley of reading.
Driver Cleaner Pro
I just wanted to give a huge thanks to the developers of Driver Cleaner Pro. I recently had a small sound problem with my old Gateway MX6124. One day, after upgrading to Service Pack 3, I noticed that I had no sound with Windows XP. I tried uninstalling drivers, installing different drivers. I thought I tried it all some days. This is extremely annoying to a person that uses his computer for television. I went as far as installing RealTek AC’97 which is when I noticed even bigger problems! After reading instructions to try RealTek, I could not uninstall it from my PC without getting the Blue Screen of Death (BSOD). I was so frustrated. I tried everything I could, even uninstalling / updating drivers Via the Device Manager. Nothing, until I found a nice little application called Driver Cleaner Pro. It turns out, quite a few people have had problems with getting rid of all Driver files when installing/uninstalling. After I installed Driver Cleaner Pro, I Cleaned the RealTek Driver completely off my computer. I restarted, and I still didnt have sound. I felt doomed, but didn’t give up yet. I followed these instructions.
1. Go to device manager, find the Realtek AC ‘97 audio item under “Sound, video, and game controllers”. Right click on it and select UPDATE DRIVER.
2. Select NO if it asks to connect to Windows Update, click NEXT.
3. Select “Install from a list of specific location” and click NEXT.
4. Select “Don’t search. I will choose the driver to install” and click NEXT.
5. UN-select “Show compatible Hardware”. Now, CONEXANT should show up under manufacturer because you tried to install the driver earlier.
6. Click on CONEXANT on the left, then select “Conexant AC-Link Audio” on the right and click NEXT.
The driver will install. It may ask you for the location of some files a couple of times, keep pointing it at the c:\cabs directory.
7. You may hear sound right away, if not reboot and you should hear the glorious windows music!
I hoped this helped someone. I had to search for hours and hours, and this is the only fix I found for my specific problem. Post yours if you have anything different!!
[ Download Driver Cleaner Pro ] From AfterDawn.com
Optimus Maximus Keyboard
Recently, I ran across a very unique keyboard. The keyboard can be programmed to look anyway you want, with any sort of key configuration. This allows the keyboard to be positioned anyway you want. A lot of people are probably sitting back, and wondering why you would want to change the keys. I don’t believe it’s main consumer base is worried about changing the key structure, as much as they are worried about changing the letter size, the key typography, or even the “hot” keys and actually making use of the space where the F keys are, or the num pad. The keyboard itself comes with a price tag that is far out of my reach, but the company claims to be trying every way possible to make the keyboard more price friendly, without ruining the overall quality of the board. I believe that Art Lebedev Studio’s will really hit the nail on the head if they can produce this product for a friendlier price. Head onover to their website, and check it out. It’s design like this that really amazes me!
Free Blue Icons
Found them here. Thanks to garcya, as I will be using some of these!
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