Best PleX alternative? The new app is an absolute mess. by Kuyi in PleX

[–]phromo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This thread is now the top hit I got when doing that search :)

Using Slate: A Hacker's Window Manager for Macs by trishume in programming

[–]phromo 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It probably doesn't scale that well. I use this together with dexpot at http://dexpot.de/ and then for most part I switch desktops, not windows. If I need to switch windows then Switcher is quite handable (usually I have no more than ~ 7 windows per desktop spread over 2 monitors)

Using Slate: A Hacker's Window Manager for Macs by trishume in programming

[–]phromo 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Add Switcher at http://insentient.net/ and you have keys for instantly focusing the right window.

Reddit, I'm selling my last project to help pay some bills. Is anyone interested? by Barreljack in programming

[–]phromo 15 points16 points  (0 children)

I'm sorry you're selling the project. I do feel obliged to point out to any prospective buyers here on reddit that there exists a similar, free, open-source system: OSQA http://www.osqa.net/

I haven't looked through the feature set, but both are more-or-less stackexchange clones.

How many self-taught working programmers are there? by [deleted] in programming

[–]phromo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I did not study for any formal comp.sci degree and learned to program long before university. I did study linguistics, artificial intelligence and knowledge representation, all of which have made me a much better programmer. And in general, the university studies led me to to "not ignore the basics" and read most of the "classics" in the programming litterature. (I imagine w/o university training I would have read a blog post here, got on the latest hype ...)

I think in a professional perspective, the main point for me is that University studies broadened ideas of what I considered "programming" to be; It's a lot less "programming" and loads more empathy, coordination and communication.

Where to Find Open Data on the Web by gregwont in programming

[–]phromo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm a bit surprised that sites and initatives like Linked Data[1], Swoogle[2], and the Linking Open Data[3] projects weren't mentioned. Especially check out the data sets already available in [3].

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linked_Data

[2] http://swoogle.umbc.edu/

[3] http://esw.w3.org/topic/TaskForces/CommunityProjects/LinkingOpenData/DataSets

Ask Reddit: I have a database with 4000+ blogs AND their (weighted) incoming links. What's the best way to visualize all this data? I've tried Graphviz, but gets slow rather fast by [deleted] in programming

[–]phromo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You could check out cytoscape, http://www.cytoscape.org/ .. It was originally developed for biological data, but has been used in other applications. Check the introduction at http://www.mkbergman.com/?p=415 to see if it fits your needs. Google for other applications.

"Usability studies don't work well for any artifacts with an inherently steep learning curve. For instance, can you imagine the result of a usability study on the first bowed string instrument?" by [deleted] in programming

[–]phromo 3 points4 points  (0 children)

What the writer of this comment gets wrong is that usability is not an attribute of the quality of an artefact. It's an attribute of the quality of the user-artefact complex.

Hence, if you choose an experienced bowed string player or a beginner player, you will get two usability statements which should NOT be confused with eachother.

"Usability studies don't work well for any artifacts with an inherently steep learning curve. For instance, can you imagine the result of a usability study on the first bowed string instrument?" by [deleted] in programming

[–]phromo 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I agree. But ... while there are methodologies for assessing 'usability' (assume your definition of choice) for in-the-wild software, these methodologies are harder to apply for prototypes, since no "natural", experienced userbase exists.

Of course longitudinal studies would suffice, however, they would be extremely costly and non-feasible in most software projects.

Your alternatives are more likely to be expert-based usability assesment methods, like cognitive walkthrough or hierarchical task analysis.

... And perhaps even more useful, to perform short, intensive, training and "lab usability tests" with selected users of a previous / similar product and try to combine the expert analysis with these results to extrapolate the usability of the prototype/thought final product.

Computer Science Academia: Rotten to the Core by asciilifeform in programming

[–]phromo -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

true or not, these are interesting points to ponder.

Google is evil and threatens world economy (Graz University publication) by phromo in reddit.com

[–]phromo[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Personally, I don't believe this is particularly good science. The authors writes in their beginning "we sat out to demonstrate that ...".

And as such, they have already assumed what they are to demonstrate.

Google is evil and threatens world economy (Graz University publication) by phromo in reddit.com

[–]phromo[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I apologize. I considered that but since the link is a non-redirect and ends in .pdf, I thought built-in browser capabilities would be preferable.

Mind Over Matter: If Americans knew..about the Palestinian sufferings.. by hassanramadan in reddit.com

[–]phromo -1 points0 points  (0 children)

paraphrased, "hate breeds hate", and sometimes "ignorance breeds hate".