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22 March 2008
Project Reports: March 2008
Three years after Tsunami
26 December 2007
This is the third year memorial service after the tsunami hit the Vaddawan village in Batticaloa. Many people participated in the memorial service at Blue Bird Nest Children's center on December 26, 2007. Vaddawan is developing and people now talk about the future not only past events. The memorial event was supported by Yomiuri Light and Humanity Association. Thank you.
Drinking water support
30 December 2007 to 25 February 2008
In December there was heavy rain and the village well was damaged. We distributed drinking water for 200 families to prevent waterborne disease especially for young children. We're thankful for quick correspondence enabling us to get support to do this work by Magokoro Fund of JOCA (Japan Overseas Cooperative Association). We also thank Japan Postal Saving for International Aid who granted a water tank for the BBN project last year water.
Organic farm training
1 February 2008 to 5 February 2008
BBN staff participated in organic farming training through environment NGO Green Movement of Sri Lanka. Before the training, they used chemicals pesticides and fertilizer. They were surprised to learn how they could make good soil using natural materials such as compost, and Neem tree seeds could be used as pesticides, etc. They all are happy to have learned good, safe ways to produce vegetables for children. Let us continue to watch the development of their gardens.
One day program at Colombo
29 February 2008
Twenty-two preschool teachers from Mannar JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) project MANRECAP and Colombo SVS preschool group participated in handwork and First Aid practice. They learned many things while laughing and enjoying themselves. This was a good opportunity for both Sinhala and Tamil teachers to exchange their views. At the end of the program, both groups expressed interest in visiting their own preschools in the future.
Meeting with Smiles child
6 January 2008
Mr. and Mrs. Mori came to Sri Lanka to meet their Smiles child, Sujith. Sujith and his father came to Colombo from Buttala. They spent the whole day at the planetarium and seashore. Sujith was really happy to see new things and enjoyed playing at the seashore.
More Alipencha from Japanese Embassy stuff
22 February 2008
The Association for spouses of Japanese Embassy staff and Kasumigaseki Fujinkai Japan made a donation for 5 Alipencha Picture book boxes. SVS will distribute these sets for SVS preschool federation members the end of March. Surangani preschool children came to the office and showed them how to use the Alipencha. They sang and danced and everyone was happy and smiling.
School Bag from Japan
March 2008
We received a donation of school bags from one of Japanese member. This style of bag is common in Japanese elementary school. Because these bags are very well-made, even used they can be used many more years. We presented these bags to two Smiles children. They are happy to have uncommon and cute bags and their friends and schoolteacher said, "Cool bag." They are happy with these bags.


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This kite flying 'recital' involves indoor kite flying with no fans to move the air. There are solos, duets and group performances of two and four line kites choreographed air routines to music. 'Hot Trick Shoot Out' matches pairs of flyers for comic capers and tricky maneuvers. January 17-19, 2014
January 17-19, 2014

subset: commoncrawl


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- Report: #283746
Report - Rebuttal - Arbitrate
Complaint Review: Galaxy Member Benefits
Galaxy Member Benefits3438 E. Lake Rd., Suite 14, Post Mail Box 602 Palmharbor, Florida U.S.A.
Galaxy Member Benefits They called and said they were The Government Grant Co. & I won a $3,500 grant & withdrew $90 out of my bank account. Palmharbor Florida
*Consumer Comment: They did make it better
*UPDATE Employee: Let Us Make It Right
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On 9/26/07 they withdrew $19.95. On October 11, $29.95 & $39.95. On October 26, they tried to withdraw $19.95 but I closed my account and put a stop payment on the $19.95. So in total they got me for $89.85 and I had to close my bank account because of them.
I was in constant contact with them by phone and email during the whole time they were withdrawing money. I cancelled the account by email 3 times but they refused to give me a confirmation number for the cancellation. I also cancelled by phone 3 times. I did not open an account in the first place.
They laughed at me when I asked them about the grant money. They are operating an illegal grant scam and I was stupid enough to fall for it.
Holladay, Tennessee
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We are also considering developing our own sales division to have more control over how customers are being contacted. If we become aware of any marketing company misleading consumers, we immediately halt sales and investigate. We have terminated agreements with marketing companies that we believe were not representing us in a fashion we desired. Previously, we were using a third-party mail house as well. They would provide us with shipping dates for all customers and we would calculate how long we allow the trial membership from that date, including time for the mail to be received.
In any case we received something back in the mail, we would cancel the customers account without billing them. We found this method to be insufficient, so we supply our own fulfillment now. We send out every welcome letter from our office now, and verify addresses before sending them. We have also updated our customer database, eliminating the chances of double billing and deleted cancellations. We do apologize for the inconvenience through our previous methods, and are more than willing to rectify any negative experiences. We have also extended our customer service hours, making it easier for customers to reach us. We are here from 9am-8pm Mon.-Fri., EST. at 1-800-974-7913.
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Date : 01/03/2012
Weather : Dry
Temperature : Air: 31 degrees, Ground: 50 degrees
Humidity : 65%
Strong finish for the Repsol Honda Team in Sepang
The Repsol Honda team leave the Sepang circuit satisfied with a job well done.
Casey Stoner set the fastest time of the day with a flying lap of 2'00.473 and team mate Dani Pedrosa recorded the second fastest time with a lap of 2'00.648, just 0.175 from Stoner.
Despite missing yesterday, the two Repsol Honda riders have been able to complete their testing program planned for Malaysia. Casey and Dani spent the test working on their RC213V chassis', focusing on reducing the chattering and both reported a slight improvement.
The next test will be at the Jerez circuit at the end of March, a different track where they will be able to fine tune their machine in preparation for the first race in Qatar on April 8.


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AP photo
Sen. John Cornyn
Welcome to the Texas on the Potomac morning briefing. Every morning, we offer Texas links, "Potomac" links for Washington stories and a sampling of the best Texas political blogs. Check back with us at midday and the end of the afternoon for more news links.
Texas Links
Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., said Thursday that he would not run for re-election in 2012, a long-rumored announcement that will end a decades-long political career and prompt a fierce scramble to succeed him. Top contenders may include Sen. John Cornyn, R-Tex. against Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn.
DEA and FBI officials today released the names of men arrested in connection with raids at Alameda used-car lots allegedly connected to a drug trafficking group in the El Paso-Juárez area. El Paso Times>>>
Anti-abortion activists rallied at the Texas Capitol on Thursday and lobbied lawmakers for tougher restrictions on abortions. AP>>>
Online retail giant Amazon.com is closing a suburban Dallas distribution center and scrapping plans to expand Texas operations after a dispute with the state over millions of dollars in sales taxes. AP>>>
Potomac Links
President Barack Obama promoted plans Thursday to bring high-speed wireless to nearly all American households, pushing the importance of investing in wireless technology as a pathway to jobs and "winning the future." AP>>>
Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference, Newt Gingrich declared that "Barack Obama is no Ronald Reagan." But he offered a pointed suggestion to the audience: invite President Obama to give the keynote speech at the conference next year. New York Times.>>>
Testifying in Washington before the House Intelligence Committee, CIA Director Leon Panetta said, "There is a strong likelihood that Mubarak may step down this evening" — but during a speech on Thursday, Mubarak refused to quit.
House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers, R-Ky., announced Thursday that he intends to reduce government spending by $100 billion from President Obama's 2011 budget request, bowing to pressure from conservative Republicans who had called for the sweeping cuts. Washington Post>>>
Texas Blogs
Today at their monthly luncheon, members of the Capital Area Democratic Women called Senator Dan Patrick's office on a matter of great importance: should they choose chicken, or beef as their taco filling today? Burnt Orange Report>>>
"We wanted Sen. Patrick to weigh in on what we were having for lunch," said Genevieve Van Cleve, President of CADW. "The Sonogram Bill is a clear indicator that Sen. Patrick does not trust women to make major life decisions. If we can't be trusted with the big ones, how can be possibly carry on living our lives without government consultation for all the decisions we make every day?"
Chairman of the Texas Workforce Commission Tom Pauken testified before Congress Thursday afternoon, touting the new Texas Back to Work program, designed to encourage businesses to hire the unemployed. Trailblazers>>>
As sunshine and warm weather finally seems to be returning to the Lone Star State, Dallas News lists reasons why there's no place like Texas.
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Feb 11: On this date in 1836, Col. James C. Neill relinquished command of the Alamo in order to leave the fort to care for his sick family. more>>>


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In the June 22, issue of The Inter-Mountain newspaper, I read that our County Commission has made the decision to launch a county-wide website. That's great, and my question would be is how is that going to help our unemployment rate? Or finding jobs of our recently graduated high school students that are not going on to college?
Now if there is a company looking to come to Randolph County, they can get on this website and see just what we don't have. We don't have the school system that they would be used to and we don't have the services they are used to and most of all we don't have the infrastructure that they have been used to where they are currently living.
Now the website can tell them how much money were are going to be getting from the wind farm placed in the county coffers but the commission has not decided how to spend the money they will be receiving. Yes, they could pay off the annual 911 bill for everyone in the county, which would show concern for the citizens that put them in office. Or they could direct the funds be spent on reducing everyone's electric bill with the funds they will be receiving. Either of these would be a good way to spend this "wind fall" but then that would show they had concerns for the county.
Remember, this would not be talked about if the permits or the land contract for leases could not have been obtained. That is why I feel that these funds need to be spent on the citizens of Randolph County and not some pet project they have cooked up. The two that I have already mentioned could be done with one being done as soon as the county receives the funds from the wind farm project and the other could be taken care of the following year. Or they could just pay the 911 fees every year with the funds and use the surplus for their pet projects if there is any.
The only people that are benefiting from this project are the landowners that have leased the tracks of land to the company that is running the wind farm project. I don't see why we all should not be able to receive benefit from this project for the life of the project. I know I would feel better knowing that my 911 fee is being paid and that would be funds that I might be able to use elsewhere.
Mike McRae


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Moving toward a transportation system that fuels healthy people and a healthy planet.
By Winona Bateman
Minneapolis, Adventure Cycling Association, bicycle travel, cycling, U.S. Bicycle Route System, Mississippi National River Recreation Area, Winona Bateman
Today's post was written by Ginny Sullivan, lead staff at Adventure Cycling Association on the U.S. Bicycle Route System.
I recently came across a couple of articles about Minneapolis, Minnesota, that got me thinking. The first one was about a new vending machine and bike station, called BikeFixtation, which enables cyclists to fix their bikes on the fly. The other story focused on the city's increasing bike/walk numbers recorded over the past few years (up 52% since 2007). The increases are attributed to the ever-growing infrastructure in which the city is investing -- both on- and off-road accommodations and a top-notch bike share program, called Nice-Ride. Additionally, the staff at the Mississippi National River Recreation Area, a 72-mile urban national park that runs through the Twin Cities (pictured above), views alternative transportation options as a priority for both locals and tourists who wish to experience this unique park.
So, I started to think about what makes Minneapolis so special. Long before they had bike share and bike boulevards, they had a vision for the city. Minneapolis began putting in transit, then connected transit with trails and bike-friendly roads -- in essence, they created a network that could accommodate various transportation options. A few years ago, these efforts were rewarded when Minneapolis was one of four cities that were each given $25 million for a federal project called the Nonmotorized Transportation Pilot Program, which seeks to demonstrate how infrastructure can boost bicycling and walking rates. Bike Walk Twin Cities administers the grant.
The Twin Cities are exactly the kind of urban setting cyclists want to access before, during, and/or after their bike tour. In a bicycle tourism survey recently conducted by Adventure Cycling, respondents indicated that most cyclists on tours enjoy small to medium sized cities. Why? Probably because most large cities aren't as easy to get around by bicycle as places like Minneapolis and St. Paul, and most cities do not connect cycling to other transportation modes as well as the Twin Cities do.
But there are small things that any city -- large, medium, or small -- can do to become more bike-travel friendly. Think of the Fixtation at the very basic level: just having a bike pump and a patch kit available. (There's an entire list of such ideas on the Adventure Cycling Building Bike Tourism page that might spark some ideas for your city.)
Where should these small, but helpful amenities be placed? Where cyclists go, of course: coffee shops, ice cream shops, bike shops, restaurants, libraries, tourism and information centers, campgrounds, bed & breakfasts, inns, and motels.
Minneapolis is a great case study -- a place that many other communities can aspire to emulate. With weather conditions that are often snowy and blustery, and despite facing many of the same growth issues other American cities deal with, Minneapolis is taking a different approach. And the result is a healthier, more active community. According to this blog, it's the third fittest city in America. Now that's something to boast about!
Photos by Ginny Sullivan
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Don Norman vs The Realities of Web Design?
Hi all,
I'm not sure if many of you are on the PHD-DESIGN list, but Don Norman recently slammed an educational website to the extent of saying people shouldn't study there:
There's been a whole load of conversation on the list about designers and typography etc, but no one so far has acknowledged just how difficult it is to change a website within a large organisation. (The lead from the programme did reply to say a new one is in the works).I've blogged my thoughts here. http://vickyteinaki.com/blog/don-norman-slams-universitys-design-dept-website-i-call-foulMain point: am I the only one who considers this a consultants-at-their-worst attitude?
Simon Sadler sent out a job announcement for UC Davis (California). I've been advising another UC campus on design, but i didn't realize Davis had a design department so i thought i would check out their web page. http://design.ucdavis.edu/index.html Font Size: Font size. Font size. (Gee, you mean soe one is supposed to read the words? Nah.) Wow: believe it or not Davis teaches communication design, but you would never guess it from their website. why do graphics and communication designers love tiny, tiny type? Especially communication designers, who one would have thought would like their stuff to communicate. I have never seen such small type on a website for the main message. There is one good side. Most graphical designers love to use gray letters on a gray background, with small font. At least here we have black on white. (Oh, another good side: maybe this can be my next column for core77.) Moral: Never send anyone to study at UC Davis. That design department doesn't get it.
Agree very much with Don. One should be thankful that he has devoted
so much time to write detailed emails on this issue on the PHD-DESIGN
Companies' products, including websites, can tell a lot about the
company. And if there is a mismatch, then bad luck for the company.
If more would follow this advice, companies and therefore their
products would be much better.
PS: my email is registered at ixda list, so why can't I post and had to come to the ixda website to post this comment!?
Adler Looks Jorge 蔡鷹達
Interaction Design Consultant, Hong Kong
To fuel our economic growth, we scrape the planet of its resources,
laying waste to more than we build.
Graeme Maxton http://endofprogress.com
Thanks Adler, my post was rejected too, for insufficient right....Why is that?
Did Don Norman lack diplomatic skills in slamming the UC Davis design site? Probably.
What are the realities of Web design? I don't know what that means.
Is a small font a problem in modern Web design? Does everyone know how to make it larger? Or to set their default settings so that the page will come up as readable in their browser?
Speaking of browsers, it does not even come up in Safari--(Version 5.1.1 (6534.51.22) that's not good design.
Will that site scale up even if I changed my browser settings? No, it's a flash page. You cannot change the font size. Is this good design? No Is it accessible? No.
Yes, I can zoom in if I have a device that has a touch screen.
Anyone looking at the site will not have inside information that they are about to improve it, so you have to go on what is there now.
So while in my opinion Don Norman may have been undiplomatic, and perhaps he has seen enough cool looking design that was unreadable in his long career to be impatient with it.
But he's right. You have to question whether the department cares more about looking good or working. Too often this is the case in the big D Design world. It should not be that way. It's not a tradeoff.
He might have said "you should contact the department head of this organization before applying here, and seriously question whether they know how to make design usable or to communicate" instead of slamming them.
Ron Perkins
Principal, Design Perspectives
Web Design and Usability
I do enterprise level websites for clients from Fortune 500 corporations to small businesses and no-profits. I agree with Don. Good visual design is important. Visual organization is key to creating good information pathing. Good typography not only aids in providing better information scent (by speeding up comprehension while scanning the page) but also is critical for conveying the brand attributes of your organization. The site screams old, stodgy and boring. The liquid page design provides no benefits. Why design for a 800x600 screen? Why 2 navbrds? I think Don was rather kind. If this represents the best the visual design group at UC Davis has to offer I'd say go elsewhere. This is not good design from an IA, UX or Brand perspective.
I don't have much of an opinion on whether or not Don was being PC about it, but there's a lot o' wrong with that site. We can all agree on that, right? I'd say thank him for raising the awareness of not only ourselves and the site's designers, but perhaps for the stakeholders which you mention in your blog post.
I certainly do not consider it "consultants at their worst" because he is not their consultant.
Furthemore, his critique is spot on, whether the reason is age or stakeholders. It's still true.
Should someone not go for a design school because their website sucks? I doubt anyone will actually pass based on one line of Norman on a mailing list, so you are giving him too much influence. But if it is not pointed out, it won't change. He may be doing the designs chool a favor in getting the capability to change it.
Reckless assumptions much, Don?
I'll be the first to agree the site is straight out of 2004--probably literally since the source code specifies making the site require Flash Player version 6. But at the same time I would also likely bet the PHDs and faculty aren't sitting down at their desks and building organizational/departmental web sites either (I've worked with a number of higher ed colleges & universities so I have some firsthand experience here).
And while I also agree that UC Davis isn't putting an accessible, useful front face to its design program, let's not lose sight that there IS A DESIGN PROGRAM to begin with that is separate from the Art department.
And I would trust other people have more awareness of the quality of the UC system to look past a dated web site. But what about sites that do have clear calls to action, larger fonts to distinguish primacy of content, and sharp, attractive photos? Just google 'online education' and you'll find no shortage of sites that are of questionable reputation ready to offer a degree in whatever you want to pay for, but the hell if I'd NOT consider UC Davis just because of their site.
We'd have a lot dumber people working in design today if people only went to colleges that reflect Don's opinion of what makes a good site.
You would figure that someone with a PHD should spell the word "some" correctly. The type being small, might have alot to do with designing for browsers and computer monitors on a global level. Especially since they are using Flash, it implies these needs. I don't think the school's usage for using small type should be the basis for designers attending this school. It actually displays fine on my computer, plus i can zoom in and out of text on my browser. Rather choosing the right school goes way beyond that box. It's a little disappointing for hear Don knock on Graphic and communication designers choice of fonts within his generalization of them. If not for them, we wouldn't have the elegant type that you see before you on the screen of the computer to begin with.
executional problems).
ways to look at this:
One point I should add that isn't clear from my commentary here, the people from the site did respond (if you're here as well, hi!):
Hello Don -- Fair -- if rather harsh! -- call. We actually are in the process of changing our website.('Process of changing a website'… I'm sure we all know that that process can take a long time!) I still feel that it was worth highlighting the discussion though.
Institutional laziness does not excuse blatantly bad design.
On the other hand I often find commentary from the Nielsen-Norman group completely ignores commercial realities and institution memory. While I often wish the world would as well, the reality is that design--and interaction design is just one form of that--is a way for companies to distinguish themselves from one another.
An invididual element that 's poorly designed (in some cases to create that distinction) does not necessarily condemn the entire design if it's accomplishing its goals.
Institutional laziness does not excuse blatantly bad design.
On the other hand I often find commentary from the Nielsen-Norman group completely ignores commercial realities and institution memory. While I often wish the world would as well, the reality is that design--and interaction design is just one form of that--is a way for companies to distinguish themselves from one another.
An invididual element that 's poorly designed (in some cases to create that distinction) does not necessarily condemn the entire design if it's accomplishing its goals.
I often wonder what it must be like to be on the receiving end of our "wrath" when we decide to go after a "bad design."
What would it be like if Don Norman or any of the thought leaders in our field went after one of our designs, whether they were right or not?
Do we do our field a disservice when we attack without data or evidence to support, based on our own opinions? After all, the designer was working from their own best judgement. Who really are any of us to berate their best judgement? Can we really say that we're that perfect?
Just wonderin'...
I suppose I've been on the receiving end a couple times.
There's the non-malicious one where a prominent UX leader described one of the site's I worked on as "busy" within his presentation. It was an audience of a couple hundred and I did feel myself getting a little flush with embarrassment (even though no one knew who I was), but like any presentation you have to come up with examples to illustrate your points, right? S'ok, I understand. Besides, it WAS busy and given our directives there was only so much our design team could do to work around that (think executives wanting to retain legacy content mixed with tons of advertising--an explosive combination).
On the other end of the scale, I read a pretty scathing review via Twitter concerning another site I was working on. This time it was from a UX peer who was fairly active in the social sphere who proceeded to say (in 120 characters or less) that she counted x number of usability problems and that our beta product was destined to fail. It wasn't addressed to me directly, but I was proactive about it and tweeted back to her asking what those problems were. She replied and proceeded to tell me that she'd be happy to share them at her standard rate of $200/hr. What the...
It stung a little bit, but hey, I used it as motivation to do better work. Plus, only my team and I knew the challenges and hurdles that we had to deal with so I took their comments with a grain of salt. Did these folks purposely mean to hurt me? No, I don't think so, although I suppose you could say they might've profited at my expense (ie. to teach others and to stroke one's ego). It happens.
So to answer your question, no, I don't believe it's a disservice. I don't feel anyone's saying they're perfect and I believe most of us are capable of separating the grain from the chaff (even when it involves thought leaders). Don's just pointing out the irony here: a design school has a poorly designed website. And I get it.
But a question for you: Are you having second thoughts about berating the airline industry? Don't think I've seen a tweet about that in awhile. ;)
rolls eyes at Norman
I liked the web site. The font size was small, but maybe it is my eyes since I am getting to that age. I am sure Norman is much older than I am and may simply have failing eyes, hence the small font size bothered him. However, He nor I are the intended audience.
He could have been kiinder in his critique, much like most of us.
I often used to think that a web site was representative of the quality of the institution but have learned that often places do not take the advice they are teaching and there is massive politics involved. It is never a simple case.
@Jared Spool
Interesting point - but I think most of us don't tend to "go after" a design as much as provide a critique (or Christ I hope so!).
Of critiqueing is an art in itself.
If we're just basing our comments on our own opions, it's a little like saying "Make the logo bigger...just cause".
That said, if a designer can't justify every design decision made based on research - bringing it to real users' needs - then I suppose that's the same thing - self-indulgent design?
What can I say - everyone's got an opinion and loves to be heard :)
@Queen Catherine
I've been studying effective critique technique for the last year and one of the things I've learned is that it works best when it's a collaboration between the critics and the designer. The designer gets to present their work, including discussing their intention behind the decisions they made. (You can read more about this in a post I wrote the other day: Moving Beyond Critical Review to Critique - http://www.uie.com/brainsparks/2011/10/27/moving-from-critical-review-to-critique/ )
When we do these "unsolicited critiques", where do we give the designer a chance to discuss what their intention was? Where do we get a chance to talk about if their design met their intention?
In my opinion, it's unprofessional to give a critique any other way. Are you advocating unprofessional critique techniques?
Yes, everyone has an opinion and wants to be heard. Does that mean we, as a profession, should advocate the propogation of random opinions to give everyone a voice, even if it diminshes the outside respect of the field?
Woah...wait..wait..you're suggesting that the people who *do* things should be given a chance to *explain why they did it.* No...no...that's just wrong.
Well said, Jared. Well said.
There are times when a right to critique exists and there may be aspects that can be critqued without input. I'm very critical of our local ferry monopoly and the way they relate to customers, and I'm wriiting a critique of their web site in that context. I'm not commenting on color choices, typeface choices or other subjective matter which may be beyond my purview. There are limits to which you can critique anonymously.
On 1 Nov 2011, at 13:46, Jared M. Spool wrote: [snip] > When we do these "unsolicited critiques", where do we give the designer a chance to discuss what their intention was? Where do we get a chance to talk about if their design met their intention? > > In my opinion, it's unprofessional to give a critique any other way. Are you advocating unprofessional critique techniques? [snip]
This reminds me of one of the most interesting & impressive items I ever saw in a designers portfolio.
The visuals and workflows were - to put it bluntly - f**king ugly. Nobody would look at it and say it was a wonderful piece of design in the abstract.
The story behind it though... the constraints that she had to deal with, the (radical) improvements she had managed to push through compared to the previous system, the way that she had communicated the issues to management and the product development team, the obvious changes in mindset she had left the organisation with.
Judged with no context the output was "bad design". With the context it was the output of a bloody excellent designer doing superb work under huge constraints.
Hear hear! On both your comments, Jared.
I tried to email something similar, though less eloquent, but the wonderful design of this email system is such that it prevented me for now apparent reason (I am told by the IxDA support to use the Web instead). Summary:
Designers should be embarrassed of themselves posting public critical reviews without taking the time to understand (as fully as they can) the constraints that the designers (of the design in question) were under. Seems far more common to me that factors that designers have little control over are often the cause for making good designs go kablooey. We should all know this and be more reticent.
I asked my wife, who professionally writes copy, to have a look at Don Norman's critique. She pointed out at least 8 basic errors in the style and formatting. I advise anybody who wants to create a website with written copy in it to avoid his texts.
A few observations:
I don't believe Don was making a detailed critique. He was doing a long-form version of what we see designers do on Twitter all the time - complaining about poor design choices. Let he/she who has never written a #FAIL tweet cast the first stone. If we think Don's approach (rather than his content) was wrong, we should apply the same yardstick to ourselves.
Don is suggesting that design schools have an obligation to do good design. Good design means more than looks. Don has fought the fight to elevate design above surface considerations for a long time. If design schools don't understand and promote this, they are doing a disservice to the entire field. "Eat your own dog food", etc.
Was Don's rant an effective way to help UC Davis make things better? No. Was it intended as such? I seriously doubt it.
Should Don have done this? No. Not only is it rude, it risks turning critique into something as superficial as the surface design he's complaining about. As if my outrage should be your to-do list. That also doesn't further our cause. But let's be constructive in our critique of the critique. Commenting on his writing style or how old his eyes are is just more venomous opinion.
Don is a respected elder in our field. He has worked long and hard to make design more than an afterthought. I respect his work. But I'd like to see him (and others) lead by example and show the community how to critique effectively and behave professionally. Because I, for one, am tired of the cheap and easy #FAIL approach.
Those coming to defense of DN in this thread remind me of those defending RMS in this one:
I mean, really? I'm not saying it's quite as distasteful, but there are definitely similiarities.
The problem isn't the size of the font, it's the fact that it is an image that was obviously created in photoshop that was very poorly optimized for web viewing. I LOVE small font, but I've run into the same problem many times. When using a font that ins't web safe, you have to do it through an imported .jpeg and small font often comes out blurry. The only real solution I've found is to make it bigger. I'm surprised something like that would even make it through the editing process.
I don't think the website is THAT bad. In fact, the pages beyond the cheesey flash HP are actually pretty good. Like this page:
The problem is more complex. The UC system is different from the Cal State system in California. Different budgets and origins. For design, the Cal State system generally have better programs. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, for instance. The UC is more the "fine art", law, medicine, very broad liberal arts research universities. Generally, the Cal State campuses are more "applied" arts, like architecture and design. Although, that is changing as they also become more research and liberal arts in nature. There are exceptions but generally, the design area is usually found in the art department at a UC and that department is controled by tenured and *always* majority fine art and art history professors. They do no get design at all and, sadly, often have a very negative view of it. But students and alumni know the importance of design now more than ever, the fine art faculty cannot ignore it. They reluctantly OK adding one or two lines of faculty, often not tenured, to cover design. Which is also often blended with more of a fine art view of what design is (more crafts or a kind of digital contemporary fine art approach). Instead of hiring a designer (graphic design, industrial design, or a person with a digital media design background) they hire a fine artist who dables in web sites but calls themselves a designer. The mess, both in the class and out, then ensues.
I had a friend who was an award winning fine artist at a state university art program (not CA). He had a BFA and MFA in fine art doing printmaking and sculpture. Excellent artist. Inexplicably, he called me some years ago, after teaching fine art for a decade, to ask about books on typography. It turns out he decided (or his colleagues did) that he would "start" a design program. Not having any experience or training at all in graphic design or any design field. Well, he did, and he hired more faculty over the years due to student demand to get degrees in design (not because he made a suddenly great design program!) Those new "design" professors he hired; fine artists.
I could go on with many more stories I have heard or witnessed of a majority fine art and art history faculty at universities that have squashed or messed up design programs by keeping them underfunded, poorly staffed, or in poor facilities. For every great design program, teaching various areas of design, at any school, there are dozens of starving, poorly staffed programs all around the U.S.
The irony is that the design programs keep the fine art programs alive. Many of the best students in fine art classes are the design students. That situation would be found typically in programs that require a portfolio entry for the design program and/or a review in 2nd or 3rd year of student progress. Programs that let any student enter a program and that have no design foundation program the first year (undergrad) and no review of work, are the ones to avoid. Also be sure the majority of faculty have experience as professional designers, art directors or ID/arch or other type of designer and/or have 5 or more years teaching design. The best design programs to apply to are the hardest to get into and the hardest to stay in. Be sure it is a design major and not an emphasis. The distinction is critical. That it is a BFA and not a BA. (There are some Bachelors of Graphic Design too but very rare. BArch for arch.) That they have a general portfolio entrance into the art/design school. They should have a foundation program the first year with design focus for design majors. A portfolio review to enter the design program around the later part of the first year. A review of design majors class work in Junior year. If one of these is missing from a program - it should be the Freshman portfolio entrance requirement. That is almost always just a bunch of high school art junk and tells the design facutly nothing (but does point out the worst and the very best of the applicants - with the majority in the middle and then accepted more on the full university entrance requirements and placed accordingly). But many great designers study design after 1-3 years as engineering majors, biology majors, journalism majors, etc. Many young people simply do not know what design is! College helps them learn more about majors when they meet and befriend other majors in dorms, greeks, and classes and see what the design students actually do.
This post is already too long but, the problem is partly historical and very much a political struggle of the fine art world versus what they see as the comercially driven field of design (not worthy of study, is what they would say and have said to my students over the years!) Ironically, fine art has become much more than ever about money and galleries and rich buyers while design has become more engaged with solving complex problems for people of all backgrounds while also providing elegent visual and pysical solutions for all of us to enjoy. Art is just about being a famous artist and selling it to rich people.
MFA design programs are in less trouble but, many of the same problems exist mostly at the research univeristies, like the UC. Buyer beware when applying to any design program for a BFA or MFA. Do your research and if it smells bad, it probably is. Look for the best experienced faculty, small class sizes, the reviews while you are a student mentioned above, and it should look right when you visit it. If it looks dated, reconsider. But don't let old buildings or poor equipment and labs fool you. Many top programs require students to buy a Mac in the second year; usually no need while freshman with lots of hands on and general liberal arts courses - use the on campus labs for papers, etc. Then get a super fast loaded machine for Fall of your Sophomore year.
Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
Unsolicited criticism is all too often based on personal dogma (and that is okay in my book as long as acknowledged) accompanied by a lack of information about the tradeoffs inherent in any project. Perhaps the stakeholders had issues that controlled the outcome? Thirdly, as our medium is not carved in stone, nor should our methods. What is vile today could be a common practice in 10 years. How often has heresy become the norm throughout history?
Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE Unsolicited criticism is all too often based on personal dogma (OK in my book as long as acknowledged) accompanied by a lack of information about the tradeoffs inherent in any project. Perhaps the stakeholders had issues that controlled the outcome? Thirdly, as our medium is not carved in stone, nor should our methods. What is vile today could be a common practice in 10 years. How often has heresy become the norm throughout history?
I wrote a whole blog article about this...
Six Things User Experience Designers Forget When They Criticize Websites
I'm working on an enterprise system where we are trying to improve some of the legacy UI issues, and it's frustrating. I'm working on a team where we are trying to improve what we have as quickly as possible, and many times I try to reach out about usability issues that we see reported on Twitter. All I want to do is have the conversation so I can ask how they would make it better,
There are so many issues people don't consider when they decide to post a critique. I think it's irresponsible sometimes for UX Designers to criticize designs publicly when all it takes is a single email to get the perspective of the designer who worked on the site. There might be inside knowledge of those constraints.
This blog post also illustrates some of the constraints.
-Are you advocating unprofessional critique techniques?
I believe I have been deeply misunderstood...
What I was trying to say (in my somewhat notes to self fashion) was this:
Designers need to be able to tell the story behind their design - relating it to real people's real needs, and also how they arrived here. This is something I am constantly shocked at with designers, and try to instil in them. Don't just show me a design, tell me why it is the way it is. Otherwise, friends, you may be torn apart in those who "go after" a design.... (which is what I meant by "everyone's got an opinion and loves to be heard").
On the flip side, those who critique need to understand the story, and justify their comments with more than subjective criticism.
Hope that makes more sense...
Odd, I was blocked from replying to this from firstname.lastname@example.com . That's never happened before.
Anyway, here's what I wrote:
On Mon, Oct 31, 2011 at 10:03 PM, Jared M. Spool <firstname.lastname@example.com> wrote:
I often wonder what it must be like to be on the receiving end of our "wrath" when we decide to go after a "bad design."
What would it be like if Don Norman or any of the thought leaders in our field went after one of our designs, whether they were right or not?
Do we do our field a disservice when we attack without data or evidence to support, based on our own opinions? After all, the designer was working from their own best judgement. Who really are any of us to berate their best judgement? Can we really say that we're that perfect?
Just wonderin'...
Prolly be the same sort
of thing that playwrights and novelists and others who get
journalistically written up as part of "fair comment and criticism"
would be. (architects too)
Not a bad thing to be exposed to, imho.
OTOH, having logged a lot of years in academia, I can tell you it is a culture of neglected web sites. You don't get tenure for keeping service sites up to date. Not even course catalog sites, to be honest. Students end up getting the job, with the great idea that they can do them as "design class projects" for whatever year the project gets taken up.
Students come, students go. Sites get lost when they leave. Some students (hell, some grad assistants) do good work, write good code, comment it out, whatnot, and some don't (I had one graduate assistant once who came in drunk for his hours, and the damage he did to updates to the proprietary code of a comprehensive site I'd hired him to maintain took me YEARS to discover! All kinds of sloppiness baked deep in, stuff even validators couldn't get through to diagnose). So you're trying to jam on publications for tenure, and your assigned grad students are a bit hit and miss, but the head of graduate studies says we gotta keep 'em to keep our numbers up...
And you know, academia is gonna be the next thing like newspapers, right? Such a hollowed-out house of cards (great facade, tho! Administrators love it!) that universities will be lucky if they ever recover from the hit this past recession dealt them. Bloated tuitions, thinly staffed departments, adjuncts and grad students doing the bulk of the teaching (more than 70%), all of them besieged by helicopter parents of precious darlings contesting every grade below a B, even if they rarely showed up and plagiarized most of their work.
Do I paint a grim picture? Ask the people in the California state university system, in particular. Was a time I painted a grim picture of what was happening to newspapers, but few wanted to hear that story in the late 80s and early 90s. Now the books detail the real damage that was done, behind the scenes, during that heyday of 30% profit margins and rampant layoffs.
But back to the graveyard of neglected academic web sites, built largely with transient student labor. Two things you can be certain of:
1. The code is gonna be iffy. The kids are still learning, and some students are better than others, admissions and work ethics being what they are. No matter how well you try to teach and grade their work.
2. The faculty have no clue the dead code lying around uncommented and unknown, still served on the web who-knows-where. I can still pull up some deep server archives of web work I did back in 94-95 while in grad school. I think the backdoor password I left is still there too, not that I use it for anything. The faculty who can read or improve it may not know about it, or (and this is far more likely), the work was fostered off on the students by a faculty member who was teaching design aesthetics or interaction theory or whatever, but who perhaps never actually touched code or even knew the arcana of accessing the server. The overworked and stressed professor would have evaluated the output, the served site, not how it was constructed, as part of a heavy grading load.
Many times, faculty who take up "dept. service" web projects aren't the ones teaching the "sexy" interaction design or IA courses, or running the great usability projects through their corporate grant-funded labs. They're the other faculty, who feel a little left out and over their heads, working hard on their research and trying to retool for a digital world at the same time, who often inherit those department "service" sites. For those who already have tenure, it can look like they are still professionally active, even if not as active as in their hungry, tenure-track days. And they have good hearts and intentions, are willing volunteers, ready to give it a shot, bless 'em!
It's a thankless job, the department service site. It is an important door for recruitment, but it is rare that anyone other than students do any of that work. Grad students have moved on to sexier projects. Undergrads, or even underclassmen, draw this straw.
I am surprised to see so many comments in favor of not critiquing a user interface without sufficient information about the constraints the designer was under. Users - the ones we advocate for - are not concerned with said constraints when using these sites/applications.
We have to allow for some room to critique a design without knowing anything of its constraints, etc. One example of this is a simple heuristic review, which is basically a critique of a design's most basic issues based on sound evidenced guidelines arrived at after many years of finding out what works and what doesn't. The UCDavis site breaks many of these principles and results in a site that's hard to read and use for reasons which - as far as I am concerned as a user - don't matter.
Designers need to be a little more thick-skinned when it comes to critiques in general. I myself am included in this statement. The designers of the IXDA site are as well, as I remember the rough period when this site was redesigned... ;) We have to NEVER take it personally and move on, realizing the points brought up are ones which will make your site/application more successful.
Who is Don Norman (or any of us) to make an ill-informed critique of a site? He's a designer who cares about the usefulness of things, like the rest of us. Did he need to add the "...you shouldn't go to school there..." comment? No. But come on - this is a Design-oriented site. Should be held above the rest, right?
I don't think anybody is defending the design, just criticising the critique. Mr Norman needs a thick skin too.
We all need a thick skin...but...
... if you tell the story of how you got there - the design should be uncontentious. i.e. bulletproof.
It's not about what I think is great design (because I'm going through a totally black phase right now) - it's about what the people who might use this showed me, told me. It's about them not me.
So therefore - every question / criticism can be justified without personal insult.... no?
So - how dare any of us critique (or worse- criticise) without contezt.
Perhaps there is research that proves otherwise to what we think is a brilliant way of doing things in our designer awesomeness?
Just saying...
... if you tell the story of how you got there - the design should be uncontentious. i.e. bulletproof.
As designers we don't always get the chance to tell the story of how we arrived at a particular design.
It's not about what I think is great design (because I'm going through a totally black phase right now) - it's about what the people who might use this showed me, told me. It's about them not me.
I used the site the minute I went to it. When you view the site, you too are a user. Naturally as designers we are users of this kind of site looking for info about possible studies. Immediately questions arise as to why it's difficult to read, why the content area is so narrow, etc. We're allowed to make these judgements - no? I agree with your comment about personal insults - that''s never ok.
So - how dare any of us critique (or worse- criticise) without contezt.
Because this is our profession and personally I would hope I have learned a thing or two about what makes an interface work for the user, and what doesn't.
Let me start by saying that I don't think that the DN's tone is especially constructive. As a UX professional, go into a design presentation and talk to a young art director like that. Or a CEO who loves small gray type. Not helpful.
That's not to say that his assessment is without any merit, even if his opinion wasn't solicited or paid for (supposedly freeing him from social norms of polite society ... but hey, at least he signed his own name and didn't do it under a banner of anonymity.)
That said, I have a broader question for the group... It seems there is a lot of discussion here around the idea that we need to understand the designer's intent in order to critique the work. While this is probably most effective at helping redesign the site, it doesn't mean the critique is inaccurate.
The small type ... in an image ... has fundamental problems that aren't dependent on designer's intent. What's important is the user's intent. And if those intents are ignored, then it negatively impacts the business intent. And this is how design is different than baseball. In design, it's two strikes and you're out.
So I'd just say -- for clarification only, because I don't think I've heard anyone directly contradict this -- that good design is often a product of the work of a lot of people who need the soft skills of collaboration and interpersonal communication. Yes, it involves tradeoffs that usually come out of meetings and critiques and design-by-committee. But although we may be sympathetic to the sacrifices designers sometimes have to make to please stakeholders, excuses for poor design do not transform poor design into good design.
By all means, explain your intent -- explain your constraints -- but only for the purpose of finding a different strategy to solve the problem, in pursuit of good design.
That doesn't seem to be DN's intent here -- And say what you want about what character that reveals, it doesn't make his critique immediately suspect.
I guess my concern is about how we get change. If our goal is that every design be an awesome design (especially those of the institutions that are training the next generation of designers), how do we engage in conversations that move towards that goal.
When leaders and others from our field burst into harsh-toned unsolicited critiques without giving the design team a chance to say where they were coming from, I fear we squash the opportunity for that engagement.
Sure, asking about intent isn't necessarily going to produce a better design, but it starts a conversation much better than an are-you-some-kind-of-idiot approach.
That's where I'm coming from.
Jared wrote:
When leaders and others from our field burst into harsh-toned unsolicited critiques without giving the design team a chance to say where they were coming from,
Seems to me that the people who are responsible for the website found their chance to say where they were coming from just fine. And actually declined to do so, but instead said it was fair call.
You have a point here for the larger conversation, but I wouldn't say so for this specific instance. This isn't some amateur geocities effort; when a Design or Communications Department designs communication and then sends specific 'leaders' announcements about come learn design and communication with us, there's an argument that they are inviting crituiqes about their own design and communication. Was it harsh? Not nearly as harsh as would have come from my Accessibility colleagues: now they can get harsh when their screenreaders choke on yet another thoughtless website.
A Design Department that educates people is styling itself to be a leader as well. I don't think we're going to get to everything being an awesome design either by letting leaders off the hook easily or gently.
What exactly WAS Norman's intent?
Letting off steam? Ridiculing the UC system & the folks who worked hard on the design? Trying to get a consulting gig for nngroup?
I don't think any intent can excuse his comments. They weren't constructive. They were rude. They were based on personal opinion.
I didn't have any problem with the site. If he had some sort of issue, it would have been much more productive (and professional) had he spelled it out.
This kind of dogmatic approach to design is bad for our profession.
On Nov 4, 2011, at 3:13 AM, Queen Catherine wrote:It's not about what I think is great design (because I'm going through a totally black phase right now) - it's about what the people who might use this showed me, told me. It's about them not me.
I used the site the minute I went to it. When you view the site, you too are a user.
On Nov 4, 2011, at 3:13 AM, Queen Catherine wrote:So - how dare any of us critique (or worse- criticise) without contezt.
Because this is our profession and personally I would hope I have learned a thing or two about what makes an interface work for the user, and what doesn't.
A thing or two, surely. But never everything.
I used to believe that when a group of experienced UX designers and researchers evaluated a proposed user interface change and all expressed the confident opinion that it would not make the interface work better for the user, there was no need to confirm our skeptical view through testing. But then I was involved in situations where both usability studies and analytics indicated that proposed changes we had all ridiculed actually worked very well.
And these websites were our own. We knew even less about the users of other people's websites.
If you visit a site designed for people who read Urdu and you can't read Urdu, you will find it illegible. The fact hat you visited it does not make you an intended user.
Larry, you missed my point. As interaction designers, I would assume that we are all prospective users of the UCDavis site - no? If I was looking to broaden my design skills and visit the UCDavis site for information on any potential classes would I not be a valid user of the site? Exactly how specific is the user of a higher education site? As an example, do these users generally desire small text that is difficult to read? No matter, I would argue that *any* site should be easy to read and be flexible to the viewer, at a minimum.
This is a simple issue, as far as I can tell. I am not arguing for a different color that I think the site's users would find more useful - or a different font, etc. I am arguing that any/all UIs should be easy to read and have a level of flexibility to be most useful. When you display small fonts and do not let the user scale them - it's a fail. When you display that amount of homepage content in Flash - as far as I'm concerned - fail. How could you or anyone on this list possibly argue against this? There are fundamental things all UIs must do to make them successful regardless of the users, the designer's intent, whatever.
I, too, always object to small type and Flash home pages. I wasn't expressing an opinion about either the UC Davis Design site or Don's critique of it. I was commenting about two sentences you wrote that I interpreted to mean that you thought anyone who visited a site was a user whose needs the designer should have addressed. Now I think I took what you said out of context. Sorry.
(Erik:) Larry, you missed my point. As interaction designers, I would assume that we are all prospective users of the UCDavis site - no? If I was looking to broaden my design skills and visit the UCDavis site for information on any potential classes would I not be a valid user of the site? Exactly how specific is the user of a higher education site? As an example, do these users generally desire small text that is difficult to read? No matter, I would argue that *any* site should be easy to read and be flexible to the viewer, at a minimum.<br><br>This is a simple issue, as far as I can tell. I am not arguing for a different color that I think the site's users would find more useful - or a different font, etc. I am arguing that any/all UIs should be easy to read and have a level of flexibility to be most useful. When you display small fonts and do not let the user scale them - it's a fail. When you display that amount of homepage content in Flash - as far as I'm concerned - fail. How could you or anyone on this list possibly argue against this? There are fundamental things all UIs must do to make them successful regardless of the users, the designer's intent, whatever.(Larry:) If you visit a site designed for people who read Urdu and you can't read Urdu, you will find it illegible. The fact hat you visited it does not make you an intended user.(Erik:) I used the site the minute I went to it. When you view the site, you too are a user.
That is all I have to say.
Well, maybe not....
Sometimes our web presence doesn't reflect our talent. I would call it the mechanic's car or the handy man's house complex. Sometimes you spend so much time working on other things you forget to fix your own home. I agree though, it is hard to read the text, but worse yet it is flash.
Don Norman is becoming (or already is) the John C Dvorak of design. His articles are intended to generate page views by making radical/controversial statements. Having said that, in this case I would agree with him and the approach he took to critique the UCDavis design web site. Professor Norman has been part of the UC system and now serves as Professor Emeritus, so I am sure he is to some degree familiar with the process that goes in to designing an academic site. I'd say he may also be a little embarrassed by the design of a site he may remotely be associated.
It's very likely he is asked to recommend programs and he'd love to point prospective students in the direction of UCDavis, but with a site like that he can't. Perhaps, he enquired what was going on and received some bureaucratic answer that a "new" design is in the works. That may have been 6 months ago. In the end, it's not his role to be involved in the redesign, it just needs to get redesigned for the sake of the program.
Is there a right way to critique design work? Yes, and Don Norman followed it by supporting his comments with the reasons that go beyond simply "he doesn't like the colors". To Mr. Spool's contention of what is the best way to get change, I'd argue that Professor Norman's use of his platform to post the critique is going to get change a whole lot quicker than if he sat in some meeting with the UC administrators all explaining to him why the process is taking so long. Having the designer explain their intent is great for coming up with ways to improve a design, but a design has to stand on it's own without someone explaining it to the people who perceive and use the design. Don's critique was intended to get that process started (it seems that it had already) or spur them to get it completed sooner than later.
Professional critiques are based on valid evaluations and assumptions, and can be done in a number of formats or approaches. It is incumbent upon the person making the critique to show why their criticism is valid and should be considered. What makes a critique unprofessional, whether solicited or not, is when it has no basis that can be objectively supported. It is also equally valid to critique the critique. If a reviewer is not aware of or ignores a constraint that is a legitimate issue then it is correct to call them out on that.
As an example of unprofessional critique, there was a recent unsolicited redesign of a prominent news publication's web site, in which the redesign did not include advertisements. While the design looked like an improvement, it left out a critical constraint that would have to be brought back for the design to be successful. Certainly, if you are involved in a design process, Professor Norman's approach would not likely get you invited to the process to improve the design.
As a side note: I've noticed that it is the inline editor is causing the problem of seeing the formatting style junk. People are writing up their responses in MSWord or other word processing program and it is capturing the junk formatting in the copy/paste process.
I would only dispute your use of the continuous tense "becoming." Norman's been filling that role for a while now.
Actually another is that Norman has *credibility* in that he's practiced in the field. Dvorack is a curmudgeon with a column.
Just wondering what your definition of credibility is, with regard to Norman. His resume only lists one IA-related gig at Apple - which is hardly focused on web design. All his other experience is academic or "consulting with management", which doesn't exactly translate into practical design work.
I put him in the same category as Nielsen, who is, of course, his partner - the "do as I say, not as I do" critic.
Remember the Flash is 99% bad comment? That was until Nielsen was hired by Macromedia....
Frankly, these guys are big on theory and cranking out books and articles telling us what to do without having to duke it out in the trenches . I've long since tossed them aside, along with Tufte, as references for my ux design work.
ps. those who live in glass houses, should not throw stones: ex. nngroup.com
That's his post? Really?
First, there is at least one typo. Second, his use of grammar is questionable - especially for an academic.
But the real point is, what is so horrible about the site? Except for slamming designers & students in an incredibly condescending manner, he failed to provide any critique at all.
Critiques are constructive criticism intended to provide insight into how a work is coming across to the viewer (users in this case) and one would think that someone with his supposed stature in our industry would be more thoughtful and gracious when it comes to sharing his.


text:
> Hi!
> I have closed #495928 by uploading finish-install 2.21, but it would be
> great if you could make another test installation to see if the bug is
> really fixed in your environment.
Tested it and works like a charm!
If I can find some time for it, I'll try it on a P630 as well. That is a
plain pseries without LPARs.
Folkert van Heusden
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text:
If you answered yes to any of these questions, you may suffer from craniofacial hyperhidrosis, or excessive sweating of the face, head, or scalp.
Facial sweating is a common problem and often more irritating and embarrassing than other types of excessive sweating. Even people who sweat heavily in other areas of their body may find that it's their facial sweating that bothers them the most. That's because our faces are how we present ourselves to the rest of the world, and we cannot hide the effects of excessive sweating on the face.
From a diagnostic standpoint, it can be difficult to find the fine line between heavy sweating as a reaction to heat, stress, or exercise and true primary hyperhidrosis of the face and scalp. But regardless of why a person's face sweats excessively — the treatments are the same if it is primary hyperhidrosis.
First, an assessment should be made as to whether a medical condition (other than hyperhidrosis) or medications are the root cause of the excessive facial sweating, which, if so, it is called secondary hyperhidrosis. It is important to investigate and address underlying causes of the excessive sweating as it may be serious. Read our full discussion of secondary hyperhidrosis here on SweatHelp.org.
If the sweating is found to be independent of other medical conditions or medications, it is said to be primary hyperhidrosis and the hyperhidrosis treatment plan is similar to that of other focal areas of excessive sweating. For example, products used on the skin at the area of sweating (often called topical solutions) should be tried first. These may include common over-the-counter antiperspirants containing aluminum chloride and prescription-strength antiperspirants containing aluminum chloride hexahydrate. Of course, as with other areas of the body, strong antiperspirant products can be irritating to the skin of the face, head, or scalp and so may not be a good long-term solution. It's important to first understand how antiperspirants work so you can use them most effectively and safely.
If topical antiperspirant solutions don't work or are too irritating, onabotulinumtoxinA (commonly known as Botox brand) injections may be recommended. Botox injections work well on the head and face but the injection technique requires skill so patients should seek an experienced practitioner. A potential side effect of Botox injections in the face as a treatment for sweating is asymmetry, particularly of the forehead. This can happen if some of the Botox diffuses into the facial muscles. Such asymmetry, however, is always temporary and can, if necessary, be balanced-out by additional Botox injections. Working with an experienced dermatologist can minimize these risks.
Systemic medications (prescription medicines taken by mouth called anticholinergics) may also be used to treat facial sweating. But because of their side effects, including dry mouth, blurry vision, and constipation, systemic medications aren't usually a good long-term treatment. They may, however, be useful for those people who want to temporarily treat their facial sweating in order to prevent discomfort or embarrassment at an important event, such as a critical presentation at work, wedding, graduation, or dramatic performance. Read our full discussion about this hyperhidrosis treatment option here.
You may have heard about new treatments for hyperhidrosis in research. And you may be a bit discouraged when you see that many of the studies are for treatments for underarm sweating. Please take heart and remember that all research has to start somewhere. For hyperhidrosis treatments, the starting place is the underarms because they are relatively 'uncomplicated'. Once the treatment is proven safe and effective--and the researchers see that there is interest in applying the treatment to other focal areas--then the research moves to other focal areas like palms or face. What does that mean to you? It means you have to stay active in the hyperhidrosis community here and jump on any opportunity that the International Hyperhidrosis Society sends to you. Make sure that you are signed-up to receive the alerts. If no one answers the call, no progress will be made.
If you're living with excessive and embarrassing head, scalp, or facial sweating, isn't it time to head off the problem? From antiperspirant products to Botox injections, there are ways to treat head and facial sweating so you can always put your best face forward. Talk to your dermatologist or healthcare professional.


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The referee blows for the end of the match.
Cillian Sheridan replaces William Gros.85
Johnny Hayes takes a shot. Jamie Langfield makes a save. Johnny Hayes takes the inswinging corner, clearance by Ryan O'Leary. Ryan Jack goes off and Peter Pawlett comes on.80
Free kick awarded for an unfair challenge on Cameron Bell by Niall McGinn. Niall McGinn receives a yellow card for unsporting behaviour. Cameron Bell takes the free kick.75
Niall McGinn is ruled offside. Cameron Bell restarts play with the free kick. Robert Milsom leaves the field to be replaced by Johnny Hayes.69
(Aberdeen) makes a substitution, with Clark Robertson coming on for Gary Naysmith.66
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Hadron wrote:
> which tools do you primarily use for code navigation?
Not really Emacs solution, but...
When I need to inspect large code and learn it, I run Doxygen on it and
then use regular web browser (Firefox for example) to browse around.
It's really good, for example, you see a variable or class anywhere in
the code, just click on it, and it goes to definition, etc.
Milan Babuskov


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Many consumers are worried if the use of compatible or aftermarket printing supplies will void their printer's warranty. The answer is no.
More simply put, this means that your printer warranty cannot be voided just because you choose to use compatible products unless the manufacturer can prove that the compatible product caused direct damage to your printer. In cases such as this, the manufacturer may choose not to repair your printer but your warranty would remain in effect for all other warranty issues.
For more information see:
United States Code Annotated
Title 15 Commerce and Trade
Chapter 50 Consumer Product Warranties
15 Section 2302 Section C.


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Reset My Password
This will send a password reset to your email address on file. A reminder that your email address on your account must be valid and working to receive the reset request.
A wise man once told me to "Buy it Built". You'll earn a hell of a lot of respect and pride when you build your car from the ground up but you'll save a hell of a lot of cash if you buy it built. Often built cars are a total bargain, though we're sure whether this Bonkers B5 RS 4 build qualifies will be hotly debated. What we're pretty sure won't be
West Virginia-based Audi tuning firm STaSIS has released its first photos of the new Audi A7 with upgrades. In the photos we can see STaSIS wheels, exhaust, Alcon Brakes and a lowered suspension (presumably Ohlins). Since STaSIS is one of the companies offering an ECU upgrade for the 3.0 TFSI, expect an upgrade there too. Check out the rest of the photos below.


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Marathoner Bill Rodgers may have been right when he commented more marathons are won or lost at the porta-toilets than they are at the dinner table! Diarrhea is a major concern for many athletes, particularly those who run. Understandably so. Running jostles the intestines, reduces blood flow to the intestines as the body sends more blood to the exercising muscles, stimulates changes in intestinal hormones that hasten transit time, alters absorption rate, and contributes to dehydration-based diarrhea. Add some stress, pre-event jitters, high intensity effort—and it's no wonder athletes (particularly novices whose bodies are yet unaccustomed to the stress of hard exercise) fret about "runners' trots."
Exercise—specifically more exercise than your body is accustomed to doing—speeds up GI transit time. (Strength-training also accelerated transit time from an average of 44 hours to 20 hours in healthy, untrained 60-year old men.) As your body adjusts to the exercise, your intestines may resume standard bowel patterns. But not always, as witnessed by the number of experienced runners who carry toilet paper with them while running. (They also know the whereabouts of every public toilet on the route!) Athletes with pre-existing GI conditions, such as irritable bowel or lactose intolerance, commonly deal with runners' trots.
Solutions for intestinal rebellion
To help alleviate undesired pit stops:
--try exercising lightly before a harder workout to help empty your bowels.
--experiment with training at different times of the day.
--if you are a morning runner, drink a warm beverage (tea, coffee, water) to stimulate a bowel movement; then allow time to sit on the toilet to do your business prior to exercising.
--visualize yourself having no intestinal problems. A positive mindset (as opposed to useless fretting) may control the problem.
The following nutrition tips might help you fuel wisely and reduce the symptoms:
1) Eat less high fiber cereal. Fiber increases fecal bulk and movement, thereby reducing transit time. Triathletes with a high fiber intake reported more GI complaints than those with a lower fiber intake.
2) Limit "sugar-free" gum, candies and foods that contain sorbitol, a type of sugar that can cause diarrhea.
3) Keep a food & diarrhea chart to pinpoint food triggers. For a week, eliminate any suspicious foods--excessive intakes of juice, coffee, fresh or dried fruits, beans, lentils, milk, high fiber breads and cereals, gels, commercial sports foods. Next, eat a big dose of the suspected food and observe changes in bowel movements. If you stop having diarrhea when you cut out bran cereal, but have a worrisome situation when you eat an extra-large portion, the answer becomes obvious: eat less bran cereal.
4) Learn your personal transit time by eating sesame seeds, corn or beets--foods that can be seen in feces. Because food moves through most people's intestines in 1 to 3 days, the trigger may be a food you ate a few days ago.
5) Stay well hydrated. GI complaints are common in runners who have lost more than 4% of their body weight in sweat. (That's 6 lb. for a 150 lb. athlete.) Runners may think they got diarrhea because of the sports drink they consumed, but the diarrhea might have been related to dehydration.
6) When all else fails, you might want to consult with your doctor about timely use of anti-diarrhea medicine, such as Immodium. Perhaps that will be your saving grace.
The bottom line
You are not alone with your concerns. Yet, your body is unique and you need to experiment with different food and exercise patterns to find a solution that brings peacefulness to your exercise program.
Eat wisely & exercise well,
Author, Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook


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Tottenham Hotspur Message Board
Stop Farting About.
Never mind pussyfooting around these overseas so called modern day managers. Find a good Brit, and give him and his staff an 8 years contract.
H---stop shaking your fuskcing head Arry.Sort: Newest | Oldest | Most Replied Expand all replies
not really berkshire, just pointing out there are nasty people everywhere! the north east isnt any different, no matter how what alan says!
insecure about what alan?
fletcher has just scored again. what a signing he is turning in to. a johnson is a good signing too. i wouldnt have minded him at the lane. i reckon MON will get his first prem win for a while today.
Reckon you've got a bit of an insecure problem, young lady. You remind me of Joey Barton.
Berkshire Yid Berkshire Yid Sep 29, 2012 13:02 Flag
ouch that was a bit low SB
MON needs to stop farting about & win a premiership game.
ps. im sure we will lose to them now!
- 1 Reply to Layla
Babe should keep up, you're about 8 miles out.
H---RAC route finder.


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Penn State York course to prepare students for engineering exam
Penn State York will be offering a technical engineering course this fall called EMET 402 Fundamentals of Engineering Review. Current students with seventh-semester standing or higher, engineering graduates, and others in the engineering field are eligible to take the course. This two-credit course, to be held from 6 to 7:45 p.m. on Thursdays, will offer a review of material designed to help participants prepare for the Fundamentals for Engineering Exam. The course begins Aug. 25.


text: I like knitting in the car on long trips but it drives my Husband nuts when I do it. He says it's really dangerous because if we were in an accident I could stab myself with the needle and be seriously injured or worse. I see his point (no pun intended) but I've never heard of anyone being unjured while knitting in the car. What is everyone's thoughts on this? Anyone heard of someone hurt because of in-car knitting? Is it something you even worry about?


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Our Third Generation Aortic Valvuloplasty Balloon Catheter. Designed to reduce balloon movement and optimize aortic valve area. See how easy Valvuloplasty can be.
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©2016 InterValve Inc. All rights reserved. Access to this global website is reserved for healthcare professionals. This product may not be available in all markets.The V8 Aortic Valvuloplasty Balloon Catheter is a trademark of InterValve, Inc.
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Of course, the most anxiously awaited news announced by the Jaycees at today's Sikeston Area Chamber of Commerce meeting was this year's lineup of entertainers. Scheduled for Aug. 9 is Trace Adkins followed on Aug. 10 by Terri Clark. Rising star Craig Morgan will be featured on Aug. 11 with Keith Anderson wrapping up the rodeo on Aug. 12.
But, it isn't just about singers. This year's rodeo will offer fans more to see and the chance to join the Jaycees in helping a worthy cause.
Promising another top-notch event, Rodeo Chairman Chris Harper noted this year's rodeo will feature a new event, team roping. "We think this will pull in several more cowboys along with local cowboys," he said.
The opportunity to catch some of the cowboys and cowgirls performing prior to actual rodeo free of charge is expanding also. Harper explained a second night of "slack," where those contestants who don't draw a slot to compete during one of the four-nights of rodeo will ride, rope and wrestle for honors.
"This went over well last year," Harper said. "We had a lot of people come out for that."
According to Harper, the 2006 rodeo will add Corey Walls, a leading rodeo clown, who helps protect the cowboys. He will join Dustin Brewer and Jerry Norton and of course, one of the Jaycees' favorite clowns, Rick "the Agin' Cagin'" Young.
The Jaycees emphasized the money raised from the Rodeo each year goes back to the community to aid a variety of causes, yet this year's event is going one step further.
Chris Dean, novelty chairman, displayed a pink shirt and announced even cowboys wear pink, at least when it is for a good cause - breast cancer awareness.
"We thought we should do something, too," he said, adding that the rodeo novelty stands will also sell bracelets to benefit the Cancer Society.
Even the Jaycees will have a special pink shirt embroidered with the words "tough enough to wear pink," for that evening. "Everybody is really getting on board - regardless of whether we like pink or not we are going to support the cause," Dean said.
The entertainers were introduced in a special presentation featuring their music.
Adkins' performance at the rodeo several years ago proved popular and with new songs earning air play, he was the right man to open the rodeo, said Scott Balcer, entertainment co-chairman. "Trace has one of the industry's highest-energy shows," he said.
Both his Comin' On Strong CD and Trace Adkins Video Hits are certified platinum, and his Greatest Hits Collection, Volume I, which entered the charts at No. 1, is on the verge. His CD Chrome has also gone gold.
Also back but this time looking for clear skies, Clark last performed at the rodeo in 1997 when crowds waited through the rain to hear her perform. "She is a favorite of country music fans because she is equally accomplished as a singer and a guitar player," Balcer said. "And even though she has lots of hits to her credit, she still is putting out great new material."
Clark, who already has three platinum albums from her years in the music business, has several songs which will be released this summer from her newest album, Life Goes On, he added.
Morgan, who recently released his third album, On My Kind of Livin, uses his music to tell the stories of the small, meaningful things in everyday lives.
Recounting his songs, such as "Lotta man (In That Little Boy)" and "Rain for the Roses," Tim Jaynes, who is co-chairing the entertainment with Balcer, said these are stories country music fans relate to in their own lives. "He sings about everyday America," said Jaynes.
Although Anderson may be upcoming on the entertainment circuit, his music has been heard for years.
In 2002, Anderson won the 10th annual Jim Beam Country Band Search held at the Wildhorse Saloon. That same year, Garth Brooks and George Jones recorded a hit duet of "Beer Run (B Double E Double Are You In?)," which Anderson wrote with Kent Blazy, George Ducas, Amanda Williams and Kim Williams. The duet received Grammy, CMA and ACM nominations. In 2004, Gretchen Wilson included Anderson's composition "The Bed" on her debut album, Here for The Party, co-written by Vicky McGehee and Big & Rich's John Rich.
"Keith is one of those young country entertainers that is making a mark for himself. We think fans will really enjoy his show," said Jaynes.
The box office at the Jaycee Bootheel Rodeo grounds will be open Thursday, Friday and Saturday for fans to purchase tickets. Also tickets can be purchased online at www.sikestonrodeo.com.


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March is almost over and I still can't help but spend a little money here and there. But I am happy to say our paying down debt continues. We're down almost 14% from our starting point, even with last month's measly numbers.
Another accomplishment for March was the completion of my last class for my English degree. That was a long time in the making and I am a little sad to see it end, but not sad to have weekends without homework! To celebrate my first weekend without school, I dragged my family to Eagle Rock for some food.
Eagle Rock is a Los Angeles neighborhood just west of Pasadena. Home of Occidental College, where Barack Obama attended for a brief time before heading to Columbia. It's known for being a hipster hangout, but don't let that preconceived idea get in your way. One good reason to visit Eagle Rock is for the food, if you are me. Or beer, at the Eagle Rock Brewery, for my husband. Drive along Colorado Blvd and you can find a number of good places to eat.
A lot people have eaten at the Oinkster before me, but I hadn't ever gone until this past weekend. Highlights for my kid, chocolate milk shake. For me, garlic aioli and chipotle ketchup for my fries! So good and worth visiting. Especially if you like pastrami.
After we stuffed our faces, we headed to the Eagle Rock Italian Bakery and Deli. We bought some cannolis after browsing all of the sweets on display. Back at the house, after we had room in our stomach for more food, we ate our cannolis. I will say, that they were the best cannolis we have ever eaten.
Eagle Rock Italian Bakery
1726 Colorado Blvd.
The Oinkster
2005 Colorado Blvd.


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Partly cloudy and warmer for your Valentines Day. Another cold front moves our way Friday night giving us a slight rain chance. Be sure to look for the full moon Friday night.
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The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) reminds homeowners and landowners living adjacent to state of Minnesota-owned lands to learn where their personal property lines are located before starting construction projects this spring.
State law prohibits construction on state land. "Any type of residential construction, such as homes, garages, drain fields, septic tanks, driveways or additional out-buildings, prohibits the use of these lands by the rest of the public," said Dave Schuller, DNR statewide lands coordinator.
If a construction project occurs on state-owned land, the landowner may be charged with trespass violations. If there is construction on state lands, the project is generally removed and the land is restored at the private landowner's expense.
To avoid this, the DNR urges people to do their homework before building near any publicly-owned land. Homeowners should contact their local zoning office to make sure they are in compliance with any property line setbacks.
Those who suspect they may have already constructed buildings or encroached on lands owned by the state of Minnesota should contact a local DNR area office.
Location, ST | website.com


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October 20th, 2010
Beyond The Basics: 4 Tricky Rules of Credit to Master
5 Comments |
**Welcome to What To Know Wednesdays here at Credit Karma Bootcamp: Your 31-Day Credit Health Plan.**
The tenants of using and building good credit is second-nature to many consumers—pay on-time and don't max out your credit card. But the more mysterious practices of credit card underwriting and credit reporting leaves some gray areas. For example, how much credit should you use and how do you score perfect credit? Typical credit score advice doesn't reveals much about this.
There are some unexpected facts many consumers don't know about credit use. If you want to master your personal path to a better credit score, you need to know these 4 tricky rules of credit:
Using more credit could be a good thing…
You never want to max out your credit card, but you also must use credit in order to build credit. Your credit card utilization rate is defined as your total credit balances divided by your total credit card limits, which at a glance, shows how you manage credit. For example, if you are using 90% of your total credit card limit, you may be seen as desperate for credit and a risky borrower.
Generally speaking, the lower the credit utilization rate, the better the credit score; experts recommend keeping credit utilization rate under 30%. That, however, does not mean you should be carrying over a certain amount on your credit card balance to benefit your credit score. Credit card utilization is calculated at any point in time, not at the end of your credit card billing cycle. So keep your utilization at under 30% throughout the month, but still pay off your credit card in full.
…And not using credit is a bad thing.
People with 0% credit utilization have credit scores as poor as consumers who are considered risky borrowers. To illustrate this point, the graph below shows a sampling of 70,000 Credit Karma users, their credit scores, and corresponding credit card utilization rates:
Why would 0% credit utilization hurt your credit score? A number of situations could be happening: consumers with 0% credit utilization may not have a credit card due to poor credit, or they simply don't use their credit cards. Either way, a 0% credit utilization rate is not useful for building credit. Using credit allows you to establish a positive payment history and active credit profile, and shows lenders that you have access to credit and know how to manage it well.
The higher your score, the harder it is to improve and the harder you fall.
Credit score models are closely-guarded algorithms, and it's only recently that FICO disclosed how certain negative actions affect your credit score. Check out our post, Score Points On Your Credit Score in 5 Minutes.
Noticed a peculiar pattern? Credit score algorithms are calculated so that higher credit scores are harder to raise; also, the higher your credit score, the more damage a negative action will have. In this post's example, while a bankruptcy can cost a fair credit consumer with a 680 credit score as much as 150 points, an excellent credit consumer with a 780 credit score will suffer a 240 point drop.
The jump from 650 to 700 is relatively easier to do than the jump from 800 to 850 because at the excellent credit range, it's a matter of years and years of consistent, long-term good-credit behavior to climb the ranks to perfect credit. People with excellent credit in the 780+ range may barely see a change in their credit score despite all the right credit score moves, while it could take just a few months of good credit habits for poor credit consumers to build credit quickly. To see how certain actions could affect your credit health, check out our Credit Simulator.
Don't waste your time and energy on perfect credit.
Of course, you should work hard on achieving great credit—but don't kill yourself to get to 850. The truth is, the difference between a 780 and an 850 is negligible since lenders offer the best rates to anyone within that excellent credit score range. Plus, as mentioned earlier, credit scores' algorithmic scoring model makes it harder and harder for high credit scores to climb higher. So shoot for the moon and land in the high 700s and low 800s so you can enjoy all the perks excellent credit has to offer.
CK Bootcamp Tip: Don't stop at knowing the basics to credit. The rules change all the time and credit score algorithms can be tricky, so stay on top of them by checking your credit score often and always staying up-to-date on personal finance (with resources like this blog!).
Credit Karma Bootcamp: Your 31-Day Credit Health Plan
Throughout October, Credit Karma Bootcamp gives you daily information on what you need to make wise, credit-savvy decisions when it comes to credit cards, mortgages, insurance, loans, and most importantly, ALL THINGS CREDIT.
Follow along to get financially fit and credit healthy.
Disclaimer: All information posted to this site was accurate at the time of its initial publication. Efforts have been made to keep the content up to date and accurate. However, Credit Karma does not make any guarantees about the accuracy or completeness of the information provided. For complete details of any products mentioned, visit bank or issuer website.
5 Comments
"The tenants of using and building good credit"
That's *tenets* …libertarian at 7:33 am on February 26, 2011


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'The Lego Movie' impressed the best at the box office for the second weekend in a row, bringing in $63.5 million. The first spot winner stunned critics as it cruised to the top of the box for Valentine's Day Weekend.
'About Last Night' starring Kevin Hart debuted at number two this weekend, with $28.5 million. This is his second big film of the month, making 2014 a great year for Kevin Hart so far.
The remake of the 1987 film 'Robocop' captured third place for the weekend, taking in $26.4 million.