The Project Management Swing --- Some Updates

The original:

Commentaries and/or corollaries:

For your PowerPoint® Pleasure....

Designing Accessibility is NOT About Us vs. Them

This Rubik's Cube "for the blind" has gotten a lot of blog attention lately:

There's just one problem. It's not really for low vision users. Many low vision users may not read Braille at all, but instead use magnifying devices to blow up what they see.

Others may have never learned Braille (because they lost sight after school, for example) and with audio technologies may not have needed to learn it.

Still others are color blind.

Great accessible design helps everyone, without hurting anyone.

How would I design a Rubik's Cube for the visually disabled? I would put the Braille AND a black text label on the already existing color blocks. Then everyone can use the same Cube.

THIS is great accessible design:

Easy to use, not labeled and stuck to the side (I've heard text-only websites disparaged as the "Section 508 ghetto" by disabled users!), not inferior, not different... just more useful, in the end, for everyone.  A wheelchair user could use that lift, but so could an overburdened shopper, or just someone who had had a really long day.

Scott Adams Is Just Plain Mean Today

I read Dilbert™ often enough to know that the plot line here is that Dilbert® has lost his job for hosting a web site from work.

However, in a time when his core constituents face the worst recession of their lifetimes, is it really necessary to tell the millions of jobless that they are "utterly worthless"?

Since Scott Adams^(?™?) is a multi-millionaire himself this strip seems particularly tacky and tasteless. I am reminded of the stories of George Bush Sr.'s shock and awe at the grocery store scanners-- someone who is out of touch with the trials of average folks.

The Dark Heart of Twitter, Revealed

A little inspiration for your holiday shopping

Unfortunately, Often Seems True

General, I Salute You

I'm Not Generally a Fan of The Onion

Unless I'm on the DC Metro, that is.

But this is worth it...



YouTube Contest Challenges Users To Make A 'Good' Video

Web 2.0 = DRAMA!

Angry online divorcee 'kills' virtual ex-hubby
Police say woman logged on virtual reality game and ended ex's avatar
By Mari Yamaguchi
The Associated Press
updated 10:48 a.m. ET, Thurs., Oct. 23, 2008

TOKYO - A 43-year-old Japanese piano teacher's sudden divorce from her online husband in a virtual game world made her so angry that she logged on and killed his digital persona, police said Thursday.

She used his identification and password to log onto popular interactive game "Maple Story" to carry out the virtual murder in mid-May, a police official in northern Sapporo City said on condition of anonymity, citing department policy.

"I was suddenly divorced, without a word of warning. That made me so angry," the official quoted her as telling investigators and admitting the allegations.

The woman had not plotted any revenge in the real world, the official said.

She was charged with illegal access onto a computer and manipulating electronic data, police said. If convicted, she could face a prison term of up to five years or a fine up to $5,000.

As in "Second Life" in the U.S., players in "Maple Story" raise and manipulate digital images called "avatars" that represent themselves, while engaging in relationships, social activities and fighting against monsters and other obstacles.

The woman used login information she got from the 33-year-old office worker when their characters were happily married, and killed the character. The man complained to police when he discovered that his beloved online avatar was dead.

The woman was arrested Wednesday and was taken across the country, traveling 620 miles from her home in southern Miyazaki to be detained in Sappporo, where the man lives, the official said.

The police official said he did not know if she was married in the real world.

In recent years, virtual lives have had consequences in the real world. In August, a woman was charged in Delaware with plotting the real-life abduction of a boyfriend she met through "Second Life."


In Tokyo, police arrested a 16-year-old boy on charges of swindling virtual currency worth $360,000 in an interactive role playing game by manipulating another player's portfolio using a stolen ID and password.

Virtual games are popular in Japan, and "Second Life" has drawn a fair number of Japanese participants. They rank third by nationality among users, after Americans and Brazilians.

The whiteboard says, "You can't spell bitch without I.T."

post edit: that's not the video i copied the embed from... don't know what's going on...

office @ Yahoo! Video

Today Is the Day!

Crap Week at Work

Here's some distraction.

Yeah, I've Known That Guy....and That Guy, Too

Fan Service

So,

A little tiny core of people (bless you) reads this thing.

I've got about 4 zillion and 2 starred items in Google Reader I want to talk about.

But I thought I would ask....

What do you want to hear from this blog?

Let me know by commenting or emailing jdoe@yetanotherdot.com.

If you like the current mix, let me know that, too?

Reminded me of Warcraft...

Expanded Your Accessibility, Lately?

Congress (see below) has expanded the ADA. If you (mr. web designer) haven't thought about online accessibility and what it means for disabled users, now would be a good time to start.

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September 18, 2008
Congress Passes Bill With Protections for Disabled
By ROBERT PEAR

WASHINGTON — Congress gave final approval on Wednesday to a major civil rights bill, expanding protections for people with disabilities and overturning several recent Supreme Court decisions.

The voice vote in the House, following Senate passage by unanimous consent last week, clears the bill for President Bush.

The White House said Mr. Bush would sign the bill, just as his father signed the original Americans With Disabilities Act in 1990.

The bill expands the definition of disability and makes it easier for workers to prove discrimination. It explicitly rejects the strict standards used by the Supreme Court to determine who is disabled.

The bill declares that the court went wrong by “eliminating protection for many individuals whom Congress intended to protect” under the 1990 law.

“The Supreme Court misconstrued our intent,” said Representative Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, the House Democratic leader. “Our intent was to be inclusive.”

In an effort to clarify the intent of Congress, the bill says, “The definition of disability in this act shall be construed in favor of broad coverage.”

Representative F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. of Wisconsin, the principal Republican sponsor in the House, said, “Courts have focused too heavily on whether individuals are covered by the law, rather than on whether discrimination occurred.”

Bills passed with overwhelming support are often insignificant or noncontroversial, but that was not true for this bill. “This is one of the most important pieces of civil rights legislation of our time,” said Representative Jim Langevin, Democrat of Rhode Island, who uses a wheelchair.

Disagreements over the bill were worked out in two years of intense behind-the-scenes negotiations that included members of both parties and people with disabilities, as well as the National Association of Manufacturers and the United States Chamber of Commerce.

LeAnne Wilson, chief operating officer of the association, said the bill would help “meet the work force needs” of employers.

Lawrence Z. Lorber, a labor law specialist who represents employers, said the bill would change the outcome of “a slew of cases that were thrown out of court in the past.” Now, he said, “employees who have cancer or diabetes or learning disabilities will get their day in court and are more likely to get accommodations from employers.”

Lawmakers said that people with epilepsy, diabetes, cancer, multiple sclerosis and other ailments had been improperly denied protection because their conditions could be controlled by medications or other measures. In a Texas case, for example, a federal judge said a worker with epilepsy was not disabled because he was taking medications that reduced his seizures.

In deciding whether a person is disabled, the bill says, courts should not consider the effects of “mitigating measures” like prescription drugs, hearing aids and artificial limbs. Moreover, it says, “an impairment that is episodic or in remission is a disability if it would substantially limit a major life activity when active.”

Senator Tom Harkin, Democrat of Iowa, the chief sponsor of the bill, said: “The Supreme Court decisions have led to a supreme absurdity, a Catch-22 situation. The more successful a person is at coping with a disability, the more likely it is the court will find that they are no longer disabled and therefore no longer covered under the A.D.A.”

Senator Orrin G. Hatch, Republican of Utah, said the bill, by establishing more generous coverage and protection, “will make a real difference in the lives of real people.”


Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company

This is Right, but Also Wrong...

Email is not a big enough chunk; I've replaced BrickBreaker with Sudoku; and I don't use tasks.

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I have a couple of things I want to write about (on a post-it™ even!), but I'm having and absolutely craptastic week at work and it leaves me too drained. I'm hoping to have some good, real content soon. Hang in there?

Utterly and Completely True...

Who, Me?

It feels like they are implying that this is not a good vendor-management strategy....

Hmmm...

I think I've spent too many years doing design work.

I saw this and my only thought was, "mmmm mad Photoshop skillz."