Critiquing HCI

I only abbreviated in the interest of keeping the title brief; I'm not being arrogant about acronyms because I didn't know this one myself. It stands for human-computer interaction, and one concerned put up his opinions on the top 8 reasons why it has gone to the dumps. Of course I wouldn't be citing them if they weren't worthwhile thoughts as he does make some valid points. An OS like Mac OS X is awesome for beginners, but I don't like that level of simplicity at a certain point. It's not that I'd prefer the extreme of what Linux provides, but it really should grow with you. One of his best points is the micromanagement involved in day-to-day operations on your computer in that you have to divert your focus to do different things or face bad results (as I have encountered many a time with closing a window where I thought its 'X' button was). Hotkeys are a start, but we really should have more. If that stuff interests you then click the link and read more about it all.

I'm going to start out the remaining tech stuff with the funniest article today: one guy's account of how he failed the Turing test. I'd consider that a must-read just because of how hilarious it is and it's basically just that this dude got put on some weird AIM lists so people think he's a robot and they don't believe him when he claims to be human. I've actually been on the other end of the situation while playing Counter-strike last year and my room mate was convinced that our opponent was a bot. Speaking of games, the New York Times made a good point today in portraying game studios' concern that World of Warcraft is sucking away a lot of business from normal games and even other MMOs (like Matrix Online). It really is scary the hold it has on people, but I think it'll end when consoles start impressing people like they used to. The last thing I wanted to mention was this survey of salaries for jobs in the computer industry, which shows that CS isn't as unprofitable as the media would have you believe. I'm sure plenty of people make well over those numbers though if they're smart enough. Just something to entice my fellow computer geeks.

If you want to see more pictures from the Goblet of Fire such as that then you'll want to head over to JoBlo where they got several new ones. I was tempted to show you the new Serenity poster instead, but I've already put up so many of those. Yahoo! Movies has the trailer up for Ang Lee's next movie, Brokeback Mountain, and it looks like phenomenal look inside the kinds of challenges homosexuals have to face with some great actors at the helm also. Casino Royale, which many of you know has really gotten nowhere, may be postponed by Sony Pictures given that it's supposed to start shooting in 12 weeks, and I wonder if it would come back anytime soon if they were to do that. Lastly, in a strange twist Fun with Dick and Jane is going to undergo 5 weeks of reshoots for 40 rewritten pages from the script in order to get more Jim Carrey schtick. This either means that they're making it better or it sucked so much that they needed more stupid comedy to fill the gaps.

Before I conclude I just want to mention that I agree with much of what Kanye West said during the telethon. I suppose his chosen venue was questionable, but why is it that the people who are looting are always shown as African-Americans? And why is Bush so much more concerned with Iraq than his own citizens?

Now for the Ten on Tuesday meme:

10 Great Love Songs
10. "My All" - Mariah Carey
9. "When Can I See You Again" - Babyface
8. "Besame Mucho"
7. "I'll Make Love to You" - Boyz II Men
6. "In The Still of the Night" (I've heard too many versions to know the original)
5. "Can't Help Falling in Love" - Elvis Presley?
4. "With or Without You" - U2
3. "Love Me Tender" - Elvis Presley
2. "Unchained Melody" - Everly Brothers
1. "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You" - Tom Jones?

I don't know if they all count as love songs, but I would classify them as such myself. I'm sure I'm leaving some good songs out, but that's what I came up with off the top of my head.

EDIT: Upon reading other people's I realized that I left out "Here Without You" (3 Doors Down), "I Knew I Loved You" (Savage Garden), "You and Me" (Lifehouse), "The Way You Look Tonight" (Frank Sinatra), "Autumn Leaves", and "Iris" (Goo Goo Dolls). So consider those my honorable mentions.