A Random Pattern

Myst V | Ubisoft

I’m both sad and excited – this is the last release in the Myst series, one of the best video game series ever (in my opinion, anyways). Of course, if you’ve been following Myst, and Cyan (the company founded by the brothers who created the first 3 Myst games), there weren’t supposed to be any more after 3. I suppose the franchise was sold to someone else, and they’ve decided this is as far as the money would carry it.

If you take a look at the site, it’s got some great looking graphics, and a few tiny puzzles to unlock more graphics. I’m not really grasping the whole “slate” thing – hopefully they’ll find a way to explain it more clearly soon. Or just put out a demo, that’d be fine too. Anybody done any hands-on with this game yet?

So I’d put this series just below X-Com on my favorite PC game list. I don’t buy consoles, otherwise I’d put Mario Kart 64, Donkey Kong, and Super Mario World on the list too.

So back to Myst – like puzzles and awesome graphics? Check out Myst V, especially if you’ve liked the rest of the series.

Frvade – The hardest enigma on the internet

Here’s one more puzzle site. I really enjoy these things – the key is to not give up and cheat, but take as many breaks as necessary. If you really need help, try finding someone who can give you hints (there’s another guy at my office, we can help each other).

Here’s your first hint: you can always post here, and I’ll help (unless you’ve already passed where I am, then you probably don’t need any hints!)

Leuven – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Take a look at this picture. I’m staying a few hundred steps away from this amazing building, built in 1904. Leuven has an interesting history, as does Belgium. Check out the wikipedia article for some interesting facts. Leuven is a college town, and during both world wars it’s library was destroyed. Both times it was rebuilt. The city center (where my hotel is) is very nice, and very culturally rich. Lots of restaurants and bars!!

Go to Google maps or some other mapping service and find Belgium, if you don’t know where it is. Oh, and if you like fine chocolate, maybe you should plan a trip here yourself ;).

“There are two ways to slide easily through life; to believe everything or to doubt everything. Both ways save us from thinking.”
– Alfred Korzybski

What do you think of that? And which side do you tend towards?

Riddle Challenge – Blifaloo.com

Blifaloo.com Riddle/Puzzle Challege Thingy

Can you complete our first set of 5 riddles?

Click here to go to the first puzzle, after completing it you will be taken to the next challenge. Or, read below for more info and hints.

Here starts a new series of posts introducing you to some fun web puzzles, or riddles. I’ve started you off easy, this one’s got plenty of hints, and will give you a good idea of the tools you’ll need for the next challenges. I’ll put another puzzle up in a few days, after you’ve had a chance to conquer this one. Post in the comments if you’re desperate for a hint. I don’t give away answers easily, but if you’re stuck I’ll gladly give you a little push in the right direction.

Communication Nation: Picasso on “getting things done”

To search means nothing. To find is the thing.

Take a look at this comic – this is a philosophy that I think by and large escaped my generation. The internet doesn’t necessarily help here – it encourages searching, but not necessarily finding.

I’m expanding my “Podcast of the Week” series (which hasn’t run in, oh, 2 months maybe) to include Blogs. Maybe I’ll come up with a new title, something catchy like “Interesting Internet Auditory or Visual Source of the Week”…

Here’s a quote from this week’s selected Blog, which I just found tonight:

Jensen Harris: An Office User Interface Blog

One of the concepts behind the Ribbon is that it’s the one and only place to look for functionality in the product. If you want to look through Word 2003 to find an unfamiliar command, you need to look through 3 levels of hierarchical menus, open up 31 toolbars and peruse about 20 Task Panes. It’s hard to formulate a “hunting” strategy to find the thing you’re looking for because there’s no logical path through all of the UI.

Office “12” consolidates all of the entry points into one place: the Ribbon. So if you’re trying to find a feature and don’t know where it is, the scope of your search is drastically reduced. Click on the leftmost tab, and click across the tabs until you reach the end. That it. It’s either there or it’s not–there are no other “rocks” to look under, no other places we’ve hidden functionality. We’ve found in early tests that people find it easier to discover how to do new things in the Ribbon, and they’re more apt to explore the UI looking for better ways to get things done.

There are a few reasons I’m so excited about this blog:
1. I’ve developed a strong interest in Usability, especially since the software team at my company made the mistake of letting me get involved in a Design document for one of the major interfaces in our software.
2. I create, edit, and use documents created with Microsoft Office constantly.
3. B/c for once, Microsoft seems to really be nailing something on the head, which is good for the whole world (at least in some ways).

So watch the video before you critique the new design. I have to say it’s probably one of the biggest usability improvements I’ve seen in software since I’ve been using computers (which isn’t all that long, really). It’s certainly one that has the potential for the biggest improvement for my day-to-day activities. Oh, and if you have a suggestion for a better title for my weekly suggestion, throw it in the comments. I’ll be sure to respond.

Tonight after dinner Tessa wanted to get down from the table. Since we’re working with her on potty training, Mommy wanted her to say “Yes Potty”, and said and signed this for Tessa. Tessa had asked to get out and go play, so she kept saying “No” to Mommy’s guidance…until it became clear to her that Mommy wasn’t getting her out until she said what Mommy wanted.

So she said “Yes”, paused, and then said “Play”. Not Yes Potty, Yes Play. She knows what she wants! I couldn’t help but laugh out loud, which made Tessa happy enough to give in.

Pop Star in the making – yeah, she’s cool.
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Ha – guess who’s learning how much fun rasberries are?
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