nStation » opinion http://nstation.org Online existence, portfolio and journal of Nadeeshyama Talagala. Sun, 10 Jul 2011 07:33:53 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 The Paint Experience http://nstation.org/articles/the-paint-experience http://nstation.org/articles/the-paint-experience#comments Tue, 14 Sep 2010 18:31:29 +0000 Nadee http://n.talagala.org/?p=255 I use Microsoft Paint occasionally. Its features are limited and functionality is basic. But for regular people, Paint seems to be the tool of choice for a random doodle or running an office captioning contest. Readily availability can’t be the only reason. Hear goes my two cents on the matter.

Microsoft Paint on Windows XP

  • Paint has an extremely simple user interface strictly following the desktop metaphor. Because of this, there is no way a user can go wrong with Paint. There is one window, one canvas and one toolbar/ribbon area to deal with. There is the pallet area too (prior Windows 7); but most users are OK with it.
  • Paint starts fast: you don’t have to wait a few minutes to use Paint. It has such a small memory footprint and will start before you are done doing with double-click. Another benefit of the small memory footprint is that you don’t need a fancy computer to run Paint on.
  • You can only use the most common file types with Paint. Here again, you do something, and save the file in your format of choice without being presented a handful of post-save options. The file is just saved and ready to be used in a few clicks.
  • You will never rip apart the Paint UI by accident. Most modern software are designed with ‘total UI flexibility’ in mind so that there are 101 toolbars and menus to a density where people are scared to move the mouse pointer across the screen with the fear of moving one part of the UI and sticking it in another area rendering a total mess in the GUI. Paint doesn’t have this pervasive silliness.
  • Paint is ubiquitous. Buy a new computer and Paint will be pre-installed with it; go to a friend’s PC and Paint could be found there; it’s installed by default on every PC since Windows 95. It’s totally available to you during the lifetime of your computer and will never expire asking you for a new serial number.

Certainly these aren’t the only reasons why someone would like Paint. For most people, the main reason to like Paint is its simplicity and availability. A normal user doesn’t fancy sophistication in software. They want their job done, in the easiest way and in the shortest time. Maybe there are the same reasons why Notepad is the most famous text editor for Windows.

]]> http://nstation.org/articles/the-paint-experience/feed 0 'We Are Designers' To Die Down? http://nstation.org/blog/we-are-designers-to-die-down http://nstation.org/blog/we-are-designers-to-die-down#comments Fri, 28 Dec 2007 08:45:09 +0000 Nadee http://n.talagala.org/2007/12/28/we-are-designers-to-die-down/ We Are Designers LogoCheckout the website of the local design house ‘We Are Designers’: they showcase a decent portfolio and some attention-grabbing lab work. Despite all this, their own logo reads ‘die’ horizontally down. The design house doesn’t strive for excellence in their own work?

Logo designing or branding is an art needs to be dealt with utter caution. Often design houses that make super brands fail to take their own brand to the next level. This short post is not to criticize a brand that in my opinion done without considering all ‘sides’; but to make aware the fact that, branding isn’t just painting a portrait.

]]> http://nstation.org/blog/we-are-designers-to-die-down/feed 0 If Microsoft Made Cars With WGA http://nstation.org/blog/if-microsoft-made-cars-with-wga http://nstation.org/blog/if-microsoft-made-cars-with-wga#comments Fri, 02 Nov 2007 12:55:35 +0000 Nadee http://n.talagala.org/2007/11/02/if-microsoft-made-cars-with-wga/ Note: My attempt here is to show the negative impact of Microsoft Windows Genuine Advantage program on users. I do not hate Microsoft. I love most of their products.

WGA LogoI despise Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA). Even cooperates are uncomfortable with the extra burden. In my opinion WGA is an annoyance to users. The simplest update or hot-fix available on the Microsoft website requires a validation.

There have been numerous gigs on “what if Microsoft made …” – the most circulated being a notable urban legend with a comment made by General Motors in response to the Bill Gates’ COMDEX address where he compared the auto industry to the computer industry. This post is about what if Microsoft made automobiles with WGA.

  • You need to validate your vehicle with WGA after purchasing.
    • Without validation, you may only drive for 300km. After the 300km limit the vehicle will immobilize. The vehicle will start again, but you may only drive for 10mins. You have to start again to drive it for another 10mins and so on.
    • You will be prompted to validate every time you start the vehicle until validation.
  • After a successful validation a new dashboard indicator appears. This tells you that your vehicle is a genuine product.
    • The dashboard indicator blinks every time a new update is received to tell you that your genuine vehicle received an update.
    • These updates may occasionally restart the vehicle to apply themselves regardless of the speed or other critical aspects of your drive.
  • You need to re-validate if you decide to change tires, lubricants, filters, wipers, or battery water.
    • You have to buy all those components from Microsoft or otherwise your vehicle is considered non-genuine. However if you decide to upgrade to a high performance component (ex: high-performance air filter) the validation process might think you are cheating. You need to call and convince customer support that this is the same you that bought the vehicle from them.
    • If by any chance the revalidation process fails, the vehicle will run for 10mins and immobilize. This time, certain functionalities will be disabled.
  • Engine modifications are strictly prohibited. If you install/replace any engine part, a convincing call to the customer support division is a must. Chances are that you may have to buy a new license and re-validate it to drive your already purchased vehicle.
  • If the validation process has a bug or an error in the program, then the vehicle will refuse to start until Microsoft fix the error and you perform a revalidation manually.
]]> http://nstation.org/blog/if-microsoft-made-cars-with-wga/feed 0 This Happens to Me Too http://nstation.org/blog/this-happens-to-me-too http://nstation.org/blog/this-happens-to-me-too#comments Tue, 30 Oct 2007 04:31:20 +0000 Nadee http://n.talagala.org/2007/10/29/this-happens-to-me-too/ Design Advice

Often designers have to face this at least once in their career. Just for having a creative edge in one specialization makes others presume that you have a knack for design in general; people expect you to be creative in all areas. It is true that designers usually tend to cross boundaries on their main discipline and try to reach new creative heights. But that doesn’t necessarily make designers a breed of magicians.

Comic from OK/Cancel

]]> http://nstation.org/blog/this-happens-to-me-too/feed 0 Not ‘On Intelligence’ http://nstation.org/blog/not-on-intelligence http://nstation.org/blog/not-on-intelligence#comments Wed, 17 Oct 2007 05:15:58 +0000 Nadee http://n.talagala.org/2007/10/17/not-%e2%80%98on-intelligence%e2%80%99/ Guess what! According to Audible, my geographic location prevents me from listening to the audiobook - On Intelligence. I can buy and listen to other audiobooks from Audible, but not this. The feeble excuse is ‘We are not authorized to sell this title to your geographic location’.]]> On Intelligence Book Cover ModI listen to Leo Laporte on several of his Netcasts (a.k.a. Podcasts). He recommends audiobooks from Audible on most of his shows. That’s how I ended up listening to NEXT by Michael Crichton, The Chopin Manuscript, etc. Listening to audiobooks is the best habit I have developed after a long time. It is the best way to utilize your commuting time otherwise wasted for no particular important thing.

On many occasions I heard Loe recommending the book On Intelligence by Jeff Hawkins and Sandra Blakeslee. I never got the chance to add it to my library for some reason. So I thought of adding it to my collection today. Guess what, according to Audible, my geographic location prevents me from listening to this great book (see screenshot). My question is, if I can buy and listen to other audiobooks from Audible, why not this? I find the notice ‘We are not authorized to sell this title to your geographic location’ somewhat a feeble excuse.

Audible Screenshot - On Intelligence
Perhaps the authors have prohibited Audible from selling this book to Sri Lanka and some other selected countries. Perhaps we are not supposed to listen to it as an audiobook in this part of the world. (Sigh)

]]> http://nstation.org/blog/not-on-intelligence/feed 0 Twenty Nine and Counting http://nstation.org/blog/twenty-nine-and-counting http://nstation.org/blog/twenty-nine-and-counting#comments Sun, 07 Oct 2007 15:07:47 +0000 Nadee http://n.talagala.org/2007/10/07/twenty-nine-and-counting/ Twenty NineI am twenty nine today (and with a lot of mixed feelings).

Many people have born on October 7th according to these statistics. Apparently the pop-star Alesha Dixon and cricketer Zaheer Khan were also born on this day. :-)

“Happy birthday!” to everyone who is celebrating their birthday on 10/7 and a big “thank you” to everyone who took the time and energy to send me wishes.

As usual, Nadeera had it all planned for a scrumptious chocolate forest cake along with other sugar-rich delights. It was not a huge deal of a party, although a birthday is a day of celebration for many people out there. The thought of writing this post hit me after overhearing someone talking about birthday related traditions at the Japanese restaurant we went out to dine that night.

The following is a brief on how the modern birthday related traditions came in to establishment in the society.

Party
Birthday parties were held because people believed that evil spirits are particularly attracted to someone on their birthday. The largest birthday party happened to date was in 1970 for Colonel Harlan Sanders for his 89th birthday with over 35,000 guests.

The Cake
Some believe that the birthday cake originated with the Greeks, who baked round cakes to represent the full moon for the goddess Artemis. Candles were places to make it glow, like the moon.

Germans are also credited for the first cake and candle. They represented “the light of life” with the candle and they were more skilled in candle making than anyone else.

The Song
The Happy Birthday song is more than one hundred years old. Written in 1893 by two sisters, Patty and Mildred Hill, who were schoolteachers in Louisville, Kentucky, it originated as a morning greeting to their students, entitled “Good Morning To All”. The ownership has swapped hands in multi-million dollar deals ever since Patty’s death and the current copyright are owned by Warner Communications who purchased it in 1989 for more than $22 million dollars. This song is also the most popular song in English language.

The Card

The tradition of sending a birthday card has started in England about 100 years ago to send an ‘apology’ when a person couldn’t visit someone else in person on their birthday.

That’s it folks. This Wikipedia article has many other birthday related information if you need more. And as always keep in mind that “the best birthdays of all are those that haven’t arrived yet.” – Robert Orben

Facts from: birthdaycelebrations.net

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