|
| |
 Places
to go, people to see - When I was growing up, summers
meant one thing: road trips! If you're looking to get your kids
away from the television and video games in the remaining summer months,
this list of "100 Geeky Places to Take Your Kids This Summer" should arm
you for the ride. (I do, however, think they missed at least one really cool attraction,
The Henry Ford®
in Dearborn, Michigan. There you can see Thomas Edison's original
"invention factory," which was the inspiration for our own Menlo
Innovations!)
[more] |
 |
| Official Wardriving - The Australian police in Queensland have a mission: to eliminate wireless networks that are not secured. To do this they will be "wardriving" -- a geek term for driving around looking for open networks. "All unsecured WiFi networks out there are open for exploitation by the crooks and the average mum and dad don't understand the vulnerabilities," said Detective Superintendent Hay. [more] |
|
|
 One more thing for job seekers to worry about - If you're
unfortunate enough to be unemployed, you can start feeling like you'll
do anything to land a job. Unfortunately, that's precisely what scammers
and identity thieves are counting on. The increase in unemployment
levels has been accompanied by an increase in fake websites and people
posing as recruiters "to trick job seekers into giving up sensitive
personal information." [more] |
|
|
| The keyboards, they are a changin' - Despite the near disappearance of typewriters in society, they typewriter's keyboard remains a staple. If you look at your typical computer keyboard, the layout is virtually the same as it was in the 1800. The keyboard is somewhat of a "sacred cow" -- with so many touch typists, any change to the keyboard can spell trouble. Enter Lenovo. They've decided to make a subtle, but important change: enlarging the escape and delete keys. [more] |
|
|
 That's
one whopper of an error - How would you feel if you opened your
credit card statement and saw a $23,148,855,308,184,500 charge? (That's
approximately 2,007 times the national debt, for those of you keeping
track at home.) That's just what happened to Josh Muszynski of
Manchester, New Hampshire. [more] |
|
|
 Are
you a stupid user? - Have you ever had the experience
of pushing on a door and having it not move only to realize that you
missed the enormous sign that says "PULL"? How did that make you
feel? Did you slink through hoping no one noticed, particularly
since you've worked in the building for years and you use this door
every day? Did you feel "stupid"? IT'S NOT YOUR FAULT! A door
shouldn't need a user manual! It's evidence of failed design. The
same is true for software! The need for a user manual is evidence of
failed design. Come to Menlo for a
Taste of how we use High-tech Anthropology® to avoid
this common failure of software design. |
| |
| On the road again - If the list of "100 Geeky Places to Take Your Kids This Summer" wasn't enough, how about a list of oddball tourist attractions? The Atlas Obscura bills itself as "A Compendium of the World's Wonders, Curiosities, and Estoterica." [more] |
|
|
 Where are they now? - This month celebrated the 40th anniversary
of man walking on the moon. You can't help but to wonder, where
are they now? [more] |
|
|
| Paying it forward - A new smartphone application developed by University of Michigan students seeks to make the world a better place, one act of kindness at a time. With suggestions including "Be courteous while driving today", "Make someone laugh today", and "Turn off some lights today", DoGood may sound a little bit hokey. However, it does statistical tracking that shows that lots of people are doing nice things for one another every day. [more] |
|
|
 We're
all ears! - Have a story idea for The Menlo Briefs? We'd love to hear
from you, and now it's easier than ever because Menlo's on Twitter! Tweet
us at @menloinnovation (no "s"). Not using Twitter? No
problem! You can e-mail us at
briefs2009@menloinnovations.com. |
|
|
| A Little About Menlo Innovations |
| |
|
So what happens when passion, joy, fun and a bit of whimsical irreverence meet up with process, discipline, seriousness, dedication and hard work? You get a place like the Menlo Software FactoryTM. Just one peek and you know we're different!
Menlo Innovations is a refugee camp for an industry gone off course. We've escaped from the land of mindless specification documents that no one reads and just collect dust on the bookshelf, Microsoft Project generated Gantt Charts that never match with reality, project managers who can claim success even when the project fails, software that doesn't work, designs that are only usable by the power users who designed them, and project schedules that claim they are right on target even though the team is working 80 hour weeks that were never forecast. Imagine a place where you know exactly what everyone is working without even having to ask them. Imagine a place where there are almost no meetings but far more communication. Imagine a place where you get a weekly check-in on project progress by running the software being built. Try to imagine a place where project teams are always the right size and have just the right mix of skills for the phase of the project. Imagine a place where if we need more done we can add more people, which means sane 40 hour workweeks that result in high quality software produced by an energized team that works at a sustainable pace. Imagine a place that so believes in the power of great user experience that we consider it bad design if there is a need for a user manual or help text. Come visit us for a tour or a seminar and you won't have to imagine it any longer! Menlo Innovations LLC Our mission: To end human suffering in the world as it relates to technology.TM Coding, format, and on-site content copyright © 2009
|
| |
|
### |
Think
Green! Don't print this email unless you need to.
The Menlo Briefs is a permission-based newsletter. If you would like to subscribe to this newsletter, visit our