Month: August 2008

understanding user interfaces, part 1

As much as I dislike rants on this blog, there’s nothing worse about local public transport in the Rhein-Main area (Frankfurt am Main et al) than this ticket machine in use at all metro stations:

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Even though the menu is available in different languages, obtaining a valid ticket is really complicated for those who do not know how to operate it.

  1. for tickets within the City area of Frankfurt am Main, just press the “Einzelfahrt Frankfurt” button which is the 7th (red) button on the left column.
  2. for tickets to destinations outside of the City area, one has to choose it from the list on the left (note: not all are listed!), type in the corresponding 4-digit number and choose “Einzelfahrt” (first red button on the left column marked with an adult icon/pictogram).

As you can see from the picture, the machine also accepts banknotes, chip cards and certain mobiles. Pls also note the already mentioned coin-scratch-area to the right of the coin slot which – for some reasons – is ALWAYS on the same spot with all machines.

RMV apparently knows how bad their machines are – which is why they’ve published a detailed explanation online.

What I dislike about these machines:

Why make it complicated if it can be done way easier instead? Just put a coloured map of destinations on the left and assign 4-5 buttons on the column to the right that correspond to the coloured destinations.

Why do they offer the (rather primitive, no-touch-) screen in five different languages (German, English, French, Italian, Spanish and Turkish) if the rest of the machine is kept in German only?

If they’re already using pictograms for language symbols and age groups, why can’t they extend this to the overall interface?

Too many buttons are confusing! After all, you just want customers to obtain a valid ticket. 4-5 buttons are enough!

Do not offer too many steps during the ticket-selection-process. Instead, use something like this:

  1. Destination?: Where do you want to go? 1-5 price groups, not more!
  2. Discount?: Adult or child (~ discounted tariff for disabled, elderly, students, children, etc.)?
  3. Payment?: Insert money (bank notes, coins, chip cards, mobile RFID chips, etc.)
  4. Done!

Sometimes I just wish I was working in automation engineering (instead of in the field of ecological sanitation systems) and could approach the RMV with a simple upgrade proposal for a better user interface on their ticket vending machines. And this although I am not even an Apple user :-) and since there are others out there who are real professionals for keeping things really simple. Much like the upcoming elections in the US, anything is better and will be an improvement to the existing system. Right now the purchase of tickets through these machines is more complicated for most customers than programming your VCR.

Also, if I was into automation engineering and had to deliver a diploma thesis, I’d cover this subject.

p.s.: The red little sticker next to the mirrored image of yours truly & “Wählen Sie bitte Ihr Fahrziel” actually indicates when it was cleaned (!) for the last time.

Mobile Citizen Reporter

Just in line with my previous series on mobile blogging, check out the following:

mobilecitizenreporter

Add this for other mobile operating systems (other than Nokia’s S60 line – though Series 60 is quite good for this special task), combine it with a monetary incentive programme (~ citizen reporters get paid in terms of airtime or via M-Pesa for each published multimedia item) and hook this up to AllAfrica.com or A24.

never change a running system

The missing ability to run a simple cronjob on my 1&1 hosting package actually contributed to the decision to eventually move all my domain names and sites to another server.

Kwaheri, 1&1…
I don’t know about 1&1 in the US, but here in Germany where they started many years ago (I had become their customer in 1999 when they were still called puretec.de), 1&1 = United Internet AG just suck. It’s their web hosting package that doesn’t provide enough flexibility (limited amount of MySQL dbs, no cronjobs, etc.) as well as how they treat their broadband customers. Back in 2004 when flatrates were introduced to the DSL market in Germany, the flatrate option was only made available to new customers, leaving those with an ongoing contract (min. 24 months) stuck to a volume- or 20h/month contract. And the worst, really worst, part on 1&1 is their so-called customer service. Whoever does their L1-support should be fired and kindly asked to stay away from computers.

Technically, though, 1&1 is great. During all those…9years?? with 1&1, I never experienced any server failures nor speed issues.

And it’s not that I or other customers never told them to improve. The management @ 1&1 (United Internet) obviously never studied The Cluetrain manifesto. Did I already mention how much I hate their customer service? Well….

Anyhow, the missing cronjob and limited number of available databases (5, which already was an improvement to the previous 3!), my good mood on a thursday morning and the perspective to be paying much less in future (I’ve spent like ~2.8000 € on hosting services since 1999 alone) eventually led me to switch to a cheaper and much more competent web hosting service. Not the cheapest – and maybe I could/should have switched to one in the US instead (who btw also often have some hidden extra costs), but one that just delivers. Fast. The way I like it.

As a consequence of that, I’ll be moving (done!) all of my domains and sites from the old server to the new one in the next few days. Let’s hope it all works out, especially the database backups. For those of you trying to get in touch with me via e-mail: try my gmail address or twitter account (@jke). Thx!

It also means that I’ll be implementing some changes, or rather – I’ve thought about changing a basic issue that has been bugging me for quite some time now:

change of name / blog title
My online presence under the nickname “Kikuyumoja” started off in early 1997, with my own home page residing under different URLs (AOL, geocities.com, Rhein-Main.Net, Manri.com) until I managed to register kikuyumoja.de in early 1999, quickly followed by uhuru.de and umoja.de.

While searching for an adequate blog title way back in June 2005, I chose to continue using “Kikuyumoja’s realm”. My blog was accessible either via https://kikuyumoja.com or even via http://kikuyumoja.de .

Now, imagine the situation where someone asks you what “Kikuyumoja” actually means. That is, to me it’s just a name, but to many others it’s either “Kikuyu1” or “Kik-Kuuu-ju-moh-jha”. Something that remains difficult to explain. And yet it’s just another (sort-of) brand name like WhiteAfrican, Afromusing, Mentalacrobatic, tHiNkEr’S rOoM to name just a few.

So please allow me to ask the following questions:

1. What do you – dear reader – think I should do? Change it from “Kikuyumoja’s realm” to just “Kikuyumoja”? “Kikuyumoja’s”? “JKE”? “Kikuyumoja Inc.”? “Kikuism”?

2. I didn’t use uhuru.de as the starting page of my blog, as I am currenty hosting different sites on my webspace of which some are accessible via uhuru.de/xyz.
So I was wondering: should I configure my blog to take uhuru.de as the ultimate starting page and force other sites on uhuru.de to use their own domain names? Much like it already is the case with WhiteAfrican.com? Solved!

3. How long does it take to load my blog in areas where there’s no broadband available? Should I maybe reduce the amount of posts shown on a single page? And what should I do with that blogroll? Do ppl still need it? Will I need it or may I just kick it out?

4. What about those Google Ads on my site – are they offensive in any way? I’ve noticed some advertisement for Asian dating services on my blog – which is kinda strange. I understand that GoogleAdSense isnt the only advertisement programme out there, but they at one time in the past at least helped me to *pay lunch* – so I thought about keeping their ads inside my blog.

Ah, so many open questions. Comments on these are highly appreciated!

Thank you.

[EDIT: DAMN….will still have to do something about that UTF-8 issue…argh!!! Fixed!]

[EDIT2: just registered kikuyumoja.COM after 9 years of kikuyumoja.de – and although I do not think Kikuyumoja is such a good name, it still is a brand).

mobile blogging, part 3

It’s almost one year ago that I published three (1, 2, 3) articles on mobile blogging – and nothing has really changed since then.

Back in 2007, both the Nokia N95 and the Apple iPhone were released – two completely different phones that were only compared on numerous blogs due to setting new standards on each segment: the N95 being a true multimedia phone with a decent 5mp cam, 640×480 @ 30fps video (albeit a mono mic), a (slow) internal GPS module and a really nice multimedia player. With the latest firmware, it even plays flash videos (YouTube & Co.) and has different applications run at the same time (sort of multitasking). The iPhone on the other hand provided a compatible device that suits Apple users – a nice user interface and all-in-one device like the N95 which unfortunately still missed some basic phone tools (MMS, Bluetooth exchange, etc.). And although both phones aren’t the only cool devices out there, they sold quite well. Even if the iPhone doesnt feature all these special goodies the N95 comes with, Apple’s phone still has the best browser on a mobile phone.

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GoogleReader on my N95…

Back in 2007 I had bought the N95 because the music player on my Nokia 6230i had constantly failed (due to a bug in the firmware) and because I urgently wanted to have a new, sexy phone. Something that enables a better mobile blogging experience.

And that’s exactly the basic point here: until now, no mobile phone has actually delivered this *sweet mobile blogging* experience so far.

Back in 2007, I argued that it’s a software issue. And still believe it is. So instead of buying new phones, a systematic adjustment between the phone’s software (firmware & single programmes) and your blogging platform (WordPress, Vox, Typepad, etc.) comes into mind.

Sure, there’s this WP iPhone app some of us have tested some time ago, but still: it doesnt work that well, and it doesn’t provide a similar experience we’re having online on our laptop, surfing the net with decent browsers on bigger screens with full JavaScript support etc..

And this – I believe – is also one of the many reasons for the success of Twitter. Twitter just filled that gap on mobile blogging, phone manufacturers have failed on providing. Why? Because that special Twitter experience is the same whether you’re online via a browser window on your laptop, use it via an extra widget somewhere on the desktop, have it run as a stand-alone utility on S60 & iPhone platforms or just use SMS (for sending only, though).

You know I had a discussion with my Minister of Finance earlier this week on getting a new phone (again), and I had mentioned the new Nokia E71 and why it could be an improvement on what I am looking for (~ mobile blogging device). However, with the above mentioned discussion on mobile blogging being a software issue, I am rather confused now and think I should stick to my N95 at this point. Maybe wait for Google Android’s phone being released by the end of this year?

Another interesting developement since 2007 is the success of so-called Netbooks – which are lightweight laptops at 7″-10″ screen sizes, often equipped with an energy saving CPU, a solid state disk and enough flexibility to provide surfing the net, answering your e-mails and doing some other office work. Battery runtime still is an issue though, often only giving 2-3 hrs. Netbooks are currently sold for 300-400,- EUR in Europe and are small enough to fill that special gap the need for mobile blogging has created.

So here’s my conclusion: instead of waiting for the ultimate mobile web experience via a dedicated & maybe also expensive smart phone, I’ll bet on another setup: ppl – especially those in need in a rural Africa – will imho be introduced to the combination of basic GPRS & UMTS (3G) phones, hooked up to cheaper laptop computers such as netbooks.

Not today, not tomorrow – but maybe in two years time when basic netbooks wil sell for ~ 150,- EUR and will also be sold on the African continent in a big style. Why? Because a mobile phone is – although it is often shared with members of the extended family – still a device for a single user (despite of these new Nokias that come with multiple phonebooks). A computer though can easily be shared with others. Here’s what I had in mind:

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Solar panels are already for sale in rural Kenya as well as simple GPRS-capable phones, netbooks could be equipped with a free & open OS (+ BT, serial port & USB cable driver package) and it would still cost below the amount you’d normally spend on a) getting a normal desktop pc online or b) a fancy smartphone that just still doesnt deliver the real web experience.

And the best part: this setup isn’t reduced to the needs of a rural environment, but also applies to urban areas in the US, Europe or Asia. In other words: if I had to do true mobile blogging right now, I’d go for this setup (ok, maybe without those solar panels).

Netbooks are what Twitter is used to be to SMS: added value.

on the CEFR & YouTube generation

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What you see here is the first page of a brand new textbook for 12-year-old German kids who want to learn Spanish (as a foreign language).

It starts with a listening comprehension unit and provides relatively short exercises throughout the whole textbook. Nothing really new so far, but with the difference that most pages come within a teen magazine style.

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And that’s exactly the trend today: providing small bits of information which may then be served to the inattentive YouTube generation – a new generation used to max. 10-minutes videos online, single mp3 files instead of complete (music) albums, Google-able knowledge and interests for specific topics (only).

This development, however, is not as bad as it may sound in the first place. Sure, today’s kids may find a different learning environment than what we had when we were kids, and one could argue if a school should continue supporting this open, free & easy approach. But then, in today’s world where everything and everyone needs to be *special*, needs to have specific knowledge on something and thus requires much more of this *modular knowledge* (as I call it – modular, as in exchangeable), it’s very interesting to see that publishers are already starting with textbooks to adopt to new learning (teaching?) methods.

It’s not that things had really changed over the years when it comes to language textbooks. I remember having a longer discussion with my mum many years ago on such a topic where we were both wondering about the very strange and embarrassing approach in textbooks for German as a foreign language (Deutsch als Fremdsprach, DaF). Some of those exercises were just so….ouch! + *sigh* + out of this world.

The real difference between this DaF textbook back in the days and today’s “Gente Joven” Spanish textbook is that the latter is focused on the YouTube generation.

Now, if we argue that the next generation is our biggest asset – how will they perceive this world in future, how will this upcoming generation positively influence the future and in which way does their specific knowledge, paired with a healthy ambition to win competitions, contribute to the future?

In the end, it all starts with what we’re providing them with right now – as much as our own success is based on previous generations (e.g. the creation of programming languages and integrated circuits, implementation of a world-wide IT network, etc.).

Another interesting developement is the introduction of A1/A2, B1/B2, C1/C2 levels on a school level – the Common European Framework of Reference for Language (CEFR): Learning, Teaching Assessment…

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… which provides “clear standards to be attained at successive stages of learning” and helps to evaluate “outcomes in an internationally comparable manner”. I wish we already had this system way back in school!

Clearly, the harmonization of (language) learning levels and setting of standards is a very good way to create a common basis in Europe. Imagine the problems I am always having explaining my German degrees to the English speaking world… and again, Europe is becoming such a modular world.

Après l’amour, le repentir.

Is this already mainstream cinema?

2 Days in Paris – a wonderful movie on sex, food and relationships.? And this although it beautifully covers the cliché of both the French & American’s inability to communicate in any other language then their own, the cliché of the French(wo)men always talking about sex & food, racist tendencies in a multicultural Paris (~ taxi driver scenes), the freedom of soixante-huitards and all of this embedded into never-ending neurotic conversations between all actors.

If you already liked Before Sunrise & Before Sunset, you’ll definitely like this one.

Here’s the final scene:

I especially liked it being in both French & English, even the German version is in German and a subtitled French (that’s btw one thing I will never understand about Germany: dubbed movies. They usually dub all of them – which is also why most Germans have such a bad pronounciation of English words. If you never get to hear the original version, there’s no real comparison possible…sigh).