Usability guidelines from mainframe days remain largely valid today

Durability of Usability Guidelines (Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox)

70% remain valid
10% invalid though underlying concept is valid
20% valid but not relevant today

Computers have changed less than we think, people have changed not at all. Good reference article with pointers to some old guidelines and to Nielsen's current material.

Removing those cursed Microsoft Windows toolbars

Lose that Adobe Acrobat Toolbar

The Adobe Acrobat toolbar is only one of several pieces of toolbar flotsam that infest my XP environment. No, I don't have any spyware infestations (oddly enough I've never gotten anyway, perhaps because I don't use IE!). These toolbars are all legit commercial products that just won't go away. I'm beginning to understand, though, why spyware vendors typically target toolbars to deliver their wares. It looks like the Microsoft Windows toolbar architecture is a festering mass of muck -- with many different backdoors and hacks that one can use to inject code into an application. Yay Microsoft.

In particular I'm cursed by pieces of Acrobat 4.0 and, more recently, the the silly Yahoo Desktop search toolbar (I like X1/Yahoo Desktop Search, I don't like Yahoo's toolbar -- which is starting to feel a bit like Adware).

This page provides some tips. I found 2 copies of PDFMaker.xla in "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE11\XLSTART" and deleted the older one, that seems to have gotten rid of the ghost Acrobat 4.0 toolbar in Excel. A search of my file system for "PDFMaker" found flavors of that beast in the Acrobat 6.0 folders and in C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE11\STARTUP and C:\Documents and Settings\[myUserName]\Application Data\Microsoft\Excel\XLSTART.

I still haven't figured out yet how to remove the Yahoo Outlook toolbar. Deleting it from the Outlook toolbar list doesn't work. (Hmm. Feels like spyware indeed ...). Regedit tells me I have "Yahoo! Desktop Search Outlook Addin" loaded. Unfortunately I can't parse this further or find a file corresponding to the Addin. I'm defeated for the moment ... I might need to let the web chew on this one for a while.

Update: I received an email from Nigel L. He suggested: "You can remove the YDS Outlook toolbar by simply deleting the X1Outlook.dll ... I have not noticed any other unwanted effects from doing this (YDS can still index your PST files etc.). I also removed X1Launch.dll to stop YDS from trying to open up an internet connection…". These files are located in the Yahoo Search directory. I tried both of his suggestions and it seems to work well. The desktop toolbar still works.

Update 8/17/05:

By chance I found the official way to remove the YDS toolbar.

1.	On the Tools menu, click Options.
2.	On the Other tab, click Advanced Options.
3.	In the Advanced Options dialog box, click COM Add-Ins.
4.	Click to clear the YDS Add-in check box then remove it.

Macintouch reviews recycling computers and their components

Recycling

An obscure frailty at the base of all unix systems, including OS X

MacInTouch Home Page

[Scott Boone] The 'short name' used by the system is mapped to a (supposed to be) unique user identifier (number). This mapping can be seen using NetInfo Manager. It is an age-old problem whereby these 'unique' identifiers collide, and is a legacy reminder that unix was NOT invented in the Internet era. Combined with the fact that the unique identifiers are used sequentially (typically starting at 500 or 1000) when creating user accounts, such problems are nearly inevitable; the first user you create on each account, even with different names or passwords, will have the same ID.

Also because of the inherent 'trust' given to a mounted volume, passwords are NOT USED AT ALL to protect files on an individual basis. This is, in fact, a common vector for getting to other users' files--you need only to utilize a second system that can mount the target volume and then change your UID to match the target user's to gain access to that user's data. Backup tapes and backup files are historical favorites.

An easy way to see these numerical IDs in action is to perform this command in the Terminal: ls -aln - that will spit out a long directory listing, with the -n switch causing the output to NOT convert the user/group IDs.

This is a bit amazing on first glance. The fundamental UNIX user identifier is an integer that increments with each user added. The text username is a convenience that's mapped to that integer. It's ok that usernames aren't unique (neither are text usernames, but they don't overlap as much as the first 25 integers do!), but it's a poor behavior that to mislead the universe about the nature of the fundamental user indentifier. Of course this wasn't designed, this behavior arose as an accident of the evolution of UNIX. It's an example of how very early decisions persist as environments change. This kind of forgotten vestige of prior evolution is fodder for crackers. There are biological equivalents -- bits of protein that viruses need but may no longer have much value for us.

Yahoo! Desktop Search (X1) review by PC Magazine

Yahoo! Desktop Search review by PC Magazine

They liked it. It's quite a good review, they make some of the same points I made.

Lookout for Outlook + YDS covers what I need at work. At home I need to search Eudora. Looks like YDS doesn't do that, but X1 commercial does. So X1 + Lookout together would do the job. I'll have to see if X1 will offer an upgrade path at less than list price.

Moving iTunes Libraries: the SMB version

iBook, iPod and OS X: News, Notes and References

On the one hand, iTunes is very adaptive. It can handle a lot of upset in where files are stored. On the other hand, Apple provides NO help with moving an iTunes library between machines or between files stores. Their support site mentions using an iPod to make the move; a technique that that's roughly the equivalent of moving a house by chopping it into pieces and throwing it in a large bin.

There are many ways to move an iTunes Library. OS X Hints has mentioned a few. This is only my experience -- and it's very anomalous.

Background

There are 3 parts to an iTunes Library. The first tow of these always travel together. The third can be anywhere, but the default location is set by iTunes. (Music folder, My Music, etc)

1. iTunes 4 Music Library (PC version has the extension .itl): This is a binary file. This is the true iTunes database. I think iTunes gets the location of this binary database file from the plist file (Mac) or registry (PC).
2. iTunes Music Library.xml: This is an ascii file. I think iTunes generates this from the binary file. It's used by applications other than iTunes. I believe one could delete this file and iTunes would regenerate it, I've not tested that.
3. iTunes Music (may have other names): This is the folder iTunes uses for music it manages. If you import from CD, the compressed files are stored here. The iTunes database poins to music in this folder. In fact you can have many different folders with music on many different machines, all indexed by the iTunes database, but only one of them is actively managed.
   

Moving an iTunes library or hosting it on a different drive.

There are two techniques. The first technique leaves the iTunes database in the default location (user folder if you're using a Mac). The second technique, which is riskier but is the one I started with, moves the iTunes Library database too.

Technique One: Move the music only

This is the more official technique. Configure iTunes so it manages music (keep library consolidated). Use Consolidate Library menu item in the Advanced menu. In the advanced preferences change the location of the library. When asked if you wish to move the files, say yes. iTunes moves the files. The database doesn't move.

Technique Two: Move music and database to a remote drive

Once upon a time I moved all my iTunes music from my iBook to an SMB share. Alas, I'm not sure how I did it! I've since moved that music to a different SMB share. I sort of know how I did that. So this is really a reconstruction of what I think I did. It is probably not correct, but it might provide some insights.

1. Copy the iTunes music folder, database files and music folders alike, to the server.
2. Create a shortcut (alias) to the new music files.
3. Remove the default iTunes folder and replace it with the shortcut.
4. Start iTunes. You may need to use the Advanced consolidate library feature. (Astoundingly I think I did this and it worked, but I don't see why it worked. I think iTunes may use relative paths in the binary database, and updates the XML with abolute paths.)

I think Technique One is safer, if I were starting over I'd do that one. I was able to move the files from one SMB share to another but it was a hairy and error prone process.

Technique Three: Moving to a new machine

I haven't done this yet. I think it would go something like this:

1. Consolidate the library as in Technique One.
2. Copy the database files and the music to the default location in the new machine.
3. Start iTunes.
   

Given that I keep iTunes in a remote SMB share, when I switch to a new machine I'll probably just have to swap the shortcut into the new machine's default music location. Now the trick will be moving the entire Library from an SMB share to the new machine. Hmmm. I might have to do something like this:

1. Remove the shortcut.
2. Copy the music files and database over to replace the shortcut.
3. Fire it up and see what happens!
   

Biggest iPod usability issue: the alarm design

Apple - Discussions - Biggest usability issue: the alarm

I like using my iPod as an alarm clock (3G). This taught me the biggest usability issue for an iPod.

When you set the alarm, it stays on. So set it at 6am. Wake up. Turn off the iPod. Pack it. At 6am the next day, the iPod starts up. If one doesn't check it, the iPod gets bounced around all day with the disk spinning -- until it finally runs out of power. It doesn't matter whether the iPod is locked off, it will still power up.

Ok, so I'm an older demented gomer. Maybe everyone else remembers to turn off the device. Or, forgetting about the alarm, maybe they decide their iPod is broken (powering on by itself) and send it in for repairs.

Perhaps Apple should change the behavior so the alarm turns off after it activates.