Tab Scope is a very handy Firefox add-on that shows a pop-up preview of a tab's contents when hovering over a non-selected tab...oh, a picture probably will say it better: The developers have clearly put a huge amount of work into Tab Scope over the years and have largely got it right, and in addition to a preview image, there's a couple of controls like back, forward, refresh in the pop-up itself. After using Tab Scope version 0.3 with the fx4 theme for a couple of weeks, there's a few things on my wish list, however: Left-clicking on the actual preview image...

I recently discovered the new Google Reader "Explore" section, just above my subscriptions in the left-hand panel: Using it like my screenshot above - not expanded - means that when I click on the "Explore" text, I get an endless, combined feed of everything Google Reader thinks I might like (there's actually been some good stuff there too) for the price of one line of text. This is much handier than viewing a list of feed titles using the old "Browse for stuff" link and having to make a decision to even click on a feed based on the title, author and...

I love the DailyWTF blog and recently had a WTF moment of my own while signing up at the Blockbuster (Australia) website:   In my case the password wasn't long enough, but Blockbuster effectively "threw the book" at me and dumped all the password error text onto the screen. I read and re-read the highlighted text but it still didn't make sense, especially considering I didn't use any non-alphanumeric characters. If something should "contain at least zero" then it could also be written "should not contain" which might have come off better. Tags: wtf, blockbuster, design, ui, error

I develop software, and by extension write a lot of text intended for another person, ranging from on-screen labels, full-blown user manuals, FAQs, tips, e-mails, even comments in code. Having to write means that when I read, I do so with a critical eye.I'm not qualified to give a complete overview of writing styles for different situations, but I can tell you one thing I hate wherever I read it: anthropomorphism.Anthropomorphism is making something human (see the Wikipedia definition here) - for example, the way help text is presented using the Office Assistant (Clippy). Any text that describes a non-human...

At work we have a very simple microwave with only 4 buttons (not counting the door open lever/button): This microwave manages to be one of the most effective user interfaces I've ever come across. Pressing the plus ("+") button ups the time in 10 second increments, until you reach 90 seconds, and then it ups the time in 1 minute intervals. Once you pass 90 seconds, the display shows whole minutes. You can't set a time of 17 seconds, for example, or even 6 minutes and 30 seconds. Pressing the minus button decreases the time by 1 minute if the current time...