In discussions about a website, I had said that the word “downloads” on a software site would make the user think the page that followed with have links to download something, probably the software itself. The reply was, “Well, how do you know what the user would think?”

This is a very tough question. This question is sticking in my mind because it is so difficult to answer. My whole career is focused around the notion that I know what users would be thinking in any given situation. What kind of UI Designer or Interaction Designer would I be if I didn’t know what the user was thinking and feeling.

But the question wasn’t “What would the user be thinking?”; it was “How do you KNOW what the user is thinking?” What statistics could I muster to prove my point? My mathematical proof could I show? What specialized training and diploma would act as credentials?

This problem has been a thorn in my mind for years, this is not new. I can blabber on about this forever. But I am consistently stuck on the same question, for which I have no answer.

In a related note, the boys are starting to ask questions for which I also have no answers. “Because I said so” is not an acceptable answer to my colleagues and it isn’t acceptable to the kids either.

I realized something interesting about books I was reading in public. Some books I would hold high and almost invite people to see what book I was reading. Some books, I would hold low and cover the spine. This pride and embarrassment syndrome was almost unconscious, but I noticed it.

I definitely think a book is good or bad BEFORE I actually read it. What am I making this judgment on? What are the factors that make me want to advertise or hide the book I am reading? Does it make me look smart that I am reading that book? Does it make me look stupid?

Books for Dummies is an incredibly popular series of books, but I rarely see someone reading one on the train. Usually I see newspapers and magazines. I wonder if people reading the New York Times hold the paper up higher than people reading People magazine.

I imagine I am not the only one who does this. How much of our behavior is so focused on other people’s opinions?

The first time I heard of the Taliban was in 2000 when they announced that they were outlawing the poppy crop. They cracked down on the heroin producing plant with dictatorial authority. The next time I heard about them was after 9/11 when the U.S. entered the country and overthrew the Taliban control and drove them underground.

The last time I heard about the Taliban was yesterday on NPR when they said the government under Harmad Karzai can not control the poppy growers. In fact, Afghanistan has reached their record levels of illegal drug export.

I am certainly not defending the Taliban or saying that they were good guys. However, I am wondering how much their decision regarding poppy affected the world drug trade. I am wondering how much that illegal enterprise has contributed towards recent world events.

Is the middle east just about oil? Or is there something just as powerful at work?

So both of my servers are down. I pulled our workstations off the domain and switched to workgroup mode. So far, I haven’t had any withdrawal symptoms. I was going to set up a Microsoft Media Center Edition 2005 box, but ran into a problem. To make it work, I would need a better video card with S-Video output and a tuner card with S-Video input. I need shop this around, but CompUSA had what I wanted for about $400 total. Someone (I won’t mention who) said I am not allowed to spend that much money.

So now I need to research cheaper methods to make it work. I also need to give Katie details to sell the servers on CraigsList or eBay.
Dell SC420 - Pentium 4, 2.8 ghtz HT, 1 G of ram, Dual ATA 120 gb HD. I’m guessing $250 each? Any takers?

PowWeb is working out well. Not the cheapest service, but cheap. Good technical support chat thing. The UI for their control panel sucks, but I have seen worse. The new Beta version of the control panel is not much better. It’s slower and doesn’t add alot of UX improvements. Note to the world: Upgrade doesn’t mean “new colorful icons”.

I am not longer using the mail or DNS servers from Network Solutions. I am still forwarding my mail to Gmail. So far, so good. They just added a “delete” button, which is a pretty funny UI story. I just hope using Gmail for mail storage doesn’t blow up in my face one day.

Otherwise, all is well.

MSNBC Article describing Mayor Ray Nagin’s recent speeches. He says God sent the hurricanes because God doesn’t like America and is mad at black people.

So I imagine God is watching TV. God has a kickass system, large plasma display with surround sound. Probably SONY. God also has a sweet remote that controls the TV and the sound system as well as DVD and DirecTV. God has the NFL Sunday Ticket.

Ok, so God is watching TV and says, “You know what? Those damn Americans are so smug with their McDonalds and stuff. They need a good ass whoopin!” Then he presses the “Hurricane” button on his remote control and points it at New Orleans.

Come on, are we that retarded? God isn’t to blame for the levies breaking. It’s like blaming God when you are sick after eating bad fish. Mayor Nagin is clearly insane. The mayor of New Orleans has lost his mind.

I researched the cost of the equipment I need to set up a PC using Windows Media Center Edition. I also bumped into a guy in the store who works for the MCE division of HP. He helped out alot with information. Unfortunately, I need a video card with a s-video output and a tuner card with an s-video input. They had some at compUSA, but the cost was $400 total. Katie put the nix on that.

I need to shop around. Hmm, maybe I can talk her into it if it’s cheap enough.

I am seeing the light at the end of my server tunnel. The last steps are to:

1. Backup Exchange and mail people the PST files.
2. Re-configure Katie’s Outlook to ignore Exchange.
3. Change to Workgroup mode and re-setup the profiles for Katie and I.
4. Bring down Exchange.
5. Install MCE 2005 on one of the servers and try to make it work with the TV.
6. Sell the other machine. (along with the missile command and car bed)

I am almost home free.

In other news, I am learning about SixSigma. Fascinating stuff. I am having a good time at work. I need to fill out a million things though. The benefits of working here are pretty awesome. I am pleased.

Normally, I try to post as little content about work as possible. Although this blog is designed for my kids to read when they are older, it is still accessible by the public and therefore I believe saying little about work is prudent. You never know how information persists. With that said…

Today is my last day working for Remend. I have been here about 1.5 years and have learned much about myself and others. I have become much stronger in JavaScript and knowledgeable about J2EE and a host of other technologies.

On Monday, I start working as a UI Designer and Prototyper for Intuit in their web group. Intuit is a big company and I am nervous about culture shock. I have been asked to do so many different kinds of things for 10 years and now I have the chance to focus on one specific area. I believe that User Experience is where my skills are strongest and I hope to grow my career in this area. I am hopeful that Intuit will be a long term home for me.

I have so many questions about my future. I feel similar to my first days of college. What will I learn? Will I fit in? Will I succeed? What does the future hold?

Lately, I have thought that my happiest times are when I am given problems to solve and the tools to solve them. The bigger and more complex the problem, the happier and more productive I become.

So many mixed emotions. I hope I have provided value to Remend in the past 18 months and I hope I can provide even more value to Intuit in the coming years. Wish me luck.

Here is a fun link: Rock Paper Saddam.

I am working now on setting up PowWeb. So far, nice customer service. I am somewhat excited to get rid of all of my hosting requirements and sell the servers. Lots of little details to work out though. It’s fun.

My god, online photo sharing is a complex landscape. There are literally a hundred choices.

What I really want is to use JAlbum or Picasa or other tool to make the album itself locally on my PC. Then I want to upload it (automatically) to an online service. My issue is that all of these services demand you use their html.

Maybe I am going about this wrong. If JAlbum is free and makes great albums, then what are my real goals?

1. Backup. I need offsite disaster recovery. If I lose these photos I will be incredibly upset. And Katie will kill me.
2. Bandwidth. I don’t want to host the bandwidth of the server and lessen the quality of Vonage.
3. Servers. I really don’t want to manage servers anymore. This actually includes my resume site and my/katie’s blog.

I have just had a revelation. I don’t want a photo sharing site at all. I want a hosting service that gives me 5-10 gigs of space. I think I can manage the DNS to point the right domains at the right URL. And I need FTP of course.

I think that after I get rid of my email server, I could move my local storage to my workstation, then I could get rid of my file server. Let’s say I sell them for $250 each? That would pay for years of hosting. Hmm, I need to do research now on hosting. Opinions?