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  • Eclipse properties panel error

    - by OXMO456
    Hi, Each time i launch the properties panel i get this error: Could not accept change: the currently displayed page contains invalid values. I have tried to use a fresh new workspace & a new install of eclipse without any result. I am on mac OS X. Any help wellcome

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  • PHP PowerPoint with kohana 3 got encoding errors

    - by Jabeen
    I have just downloaded the fresh copy of phppowerpoint and added the following line of code 'phppowerpoint' = MODPATH.'phppowerpoint', and now my page got blank and I got the following error: The character encoding of the HTML document was not declared. The document will render with garbled text in some browser configurations if the document contains characters from outside the US-ASCII range. The character encoding of the page must to be declared in the document or in the transfer protocol. Any thoughts? Thanks.

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  • Getting "invalid XML in the response" while checking out my project from github

    - by Shusl
    I was trying to get fresh copy of my project from github using tortoise svn client. But I am getting following exception. The PROPFIND request returned invalid XML in the response: XML parse error at line 1: no element found (Checkout from https://github.com/anoopchaurasia/JavaScript-File-Manager.git) When I tried to checkout using subeclipse on Eclipse, it saying "Folder does not exist.". I am able to checkout same repository on my other system.

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  • Borland problem: typing

    - by b3y4z1d
    When I type in Borland C++,it types over the line,not on a new one.That means that every time I press enter,it doesn't give me a fresh,new,empty line in which to type but goes to the one underneath. And there when I try to type I expect the symbols,numbers and letters to move as I add text behind them in the line,but the new symbols keep overwriting the old ones.Sort of deleting them and replacing them with the new characters as I type. Could it be some kinda option I've activated unvoluntarily?

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  • Allow users to pull temporary data then delete table?

    - by JM4
    I don't know the best way to title this question but am trying to accomplish the following goal: When a client logs into their profile, they are presented with a link to download data from an existing database in CSV format. The process works, however, I would like for this data to be 'fresh' each time they click the link so my plan was - once a user has clicked the link and downloaded the CSV file, the database table would 'erase' all of its data and start fresh (be empty) until the next set of data populated it. My EXISTING CSV creation code: <?php $host = 'localhost'; $user = 'username'; $pass = 'password'; $db = 'database'; $table = 'tablename'; $file = 'export'; $link = mysql_connect($host, $user, $pass) or die("Can not connect." . mysql_error()); mysql_select_db($db) or die("Can not connect."); $result = mysql_query("SHOW COLUMNS FROM ".$table.""); $i = 0; if (mysql_num_rows($result) > 0) { while ($row = mysql_fetch_assoc($result)) { $csv_output .= $row['Field'].", "; $i++; } } $csv_output .= "\n"; $values = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM ".$table.""); while ($rowr = mysql_fetch_row($values)) { for ($j=0;$j<$i;$j++) { $csv_output .= '"'.$rowr[$j].'",'; } $csv_output .= "\n"; } $filename = $file."_".date("Y-m-d",time()); header("Content-type: application/vnd.ms-excel"); header("Content-disposition: csv" . date("Y-m-d") . ".csv"); header( "Content-disposition: filename=".$filename.".csv"); print $csv_output; exit; ?> any ideas?

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  • Deleteing cache upon submit

    - by user279521
    I have an asp.net web form (c#, .NET framework 3.5) that returns to itself after the user clicks the submit button. I think that some values of the form are cached (some controls in a "placeholder" are out of position... meaning they have moved slightly up or down on the web form). How can I delete the cache after user clicks submit, and ensure that the form reloads fresh, after submit?

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  • What's this setting of MATLAB for(which is causing lots of troubles for lots of people)?

    - by Runner
    This setting in PATH: D:\MATLAB\R2007b\bin\win32 Here is a fresh bad affect by this setting for me: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2712913/why-does-this-program-require-msvcr80-dll-and-whats-the-best-solution-for-this-k And here's an issue reported by another guy: http://groups.google.com/group/ggobi/browse_thread/thread/dacea0fa93dcaf75 What's that setting for and why it's causing so many problems?

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  • Allow users to pull temporary data then delete table data (headers remain)?

    - by JM4
    I don't know the best way to title this question but am trying to accomplish the following goal: When a client logs into their profile, they are presented with a link to download data from an existing database in CSV format. The process works, however, I would like for this data to be 'fresh' each time they click the link so my plan was - once a user has clicked the link and downloaded the CSV file, the database table would 'erase' all of its data and start fresh (be empty) until the next set of data populated it. My EXISTING CSV creation code: <?php $host = 'localhost'; $user = 'username'; $pass = 'password'; $db = 'database'; $table = 'tablename'; $file = 'export'; $link = mysql_connect($host, $user, $pass) or die("Can not connect." . mysql_error()); mysql_select_db($db) or die("Can not connect."); $result = mysql_query("SHOW COLUMNS FROM ".$table.""); $i = 0; if (mysql_num_rows($result) > 0) { while ($row = mysql_fetch_assoc($result)) { $csv_output .= $row['Field'].", "; $i++; } } $csv_output .= "\n"; $values = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM ".$table.""); while ($rowr = mysql_fetch_row($values)) { for ($j=0;$j<$i;$j++) { $csv_output .= '"'.$rowr[$j].'",'; } $csv_output .= "\n"; } $filename = $file."_".date("Y-m-d",time()); header("Content-type: application/vnd.ms-excel"); header("Content-disposition: csv" . date("Y-m-d") . ".csv"); header( "Content-disposition: filename=".$filename.".csv"); print $csv_output; exit; ?> any ideas?

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  • Hosting a subversion working copy in an remote WebDAV folder

    - by Daniel Baulig
    This might be a bit awkward, but I'll try to explain what I am trying to achieve and what problems I encountered. First of all: whats this about? I am currently trying to set up a distributed working enviroment for developing a web page. My plan was to setup a SVN repository for version control, a live server where the actual live page ist hosted and a development server where I can work on the page. To ease things I intended to not have a local copy of the project on my disk, but to actually work directy on the files, that the development server hosts. For that I setup a WebDAV directory, under devserver.com/workspace, that actually mapped to files served under devserver.com/. So I could connect to devserver.com/workspace, change something and view the results live at devserver.com/. So far this worked perfectly. The next step was to create a SVN repository that would take care of my version control. I intended to be able to checkin to the reposiroty from my development server and at any time, with a small shell script, deploy any revision from the svn to the live server by checking out a copy of the revision into the live server directories. The second part, checking out into the live server, also worked perfectly. The first part though is where problems arose: My workstation is a Windows 7 machine. I connected to the WebDAV share using Windows built-in WebDAV support, which worked quite well. I can create, move, delete, edit, whatever files on my WebDAV share from my Windows machine perfectly. The next step was to checkout a working copy from the SVN (actually hosted at devserver.com/subversion/) into the WebDAV share. In the first try I used the Eclipse plugin subversive. The actual checkout worked fine and I can update and commit stuff to the repository, however, I cannot add any files to the ignore list. It always brings me an error. So I tried the same thing with a complete fresh repository using TortoiseSVN - and again it failed with the same errors. Here is what it says when trying to add files to svnignore: Some of selected resources were not added to ignore. svn: Cannot rename file '\\devserver.com@SSL\DavWWWRoot\workspace\.svn\tmp\dir-props.66fd8936-2701-0010-bb76-472f0b56a5d1.tmp' to '\\devserver.com@SSL\DavWWWRoot\workspace\.svn\tmp\dir-props' This is what apache2 tells me, when I try to add a file to svnignore: [Sun Mar 07 03:54:19 2010] [error] [client xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx] Negotiation: discovered file(s) matching request: /var/www/devserver.com/.svn/tmp/dir-props (None could be negotiated). [Sun Mar 07 03:54:31 2010] [error] [client xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx] (20)Not a directory: The URL contains extraneous path components. The resource could not be identified. [400, #0] Actually both messages are repeated several times. The first one occurs first and is repeated about 5 times and the second comes there after and is repeated propably more than 20 times. If I create a regular file, delete, rename or modify it none of those messages appear in my error.log While writing this question now I was able to add fils to svnignore using TortoiseSVN. However, after that, Eclipse would not let me commit anymore. The error that used to pop up when adding files to svnignore now also shows up while commiting. While searching the web I found some people having this same message appearing because they had files only different in upper- / lower-case naming. I checked my repository and did not find such files. I also read somewhere about people having troubles with WebDAV and file locking, because WebDAV's file locking capabilities seem to be very limited. At some stage I got errors telling me my repository was locked and thus the operations could not be completed. This error though did not appear anymore, since I setup a completely fresh repository and working copy. I would really appreciate any help anyone can provide me in fixing this problem! If there are any more questions feel free to ask. I know this is a somewhat unusual setup. Best regards, Daniel

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  • Moved DNS and Email Hosting, Now Can't Send/Receive To/From Domains Hosted on Previous Host

    - by maxfinis
    Our company had 4 domains whose emails and DNS were hosted by one company, and then we moved the email and DNS hosting for 3 of the 4 domains to a new company. Now, the 3 domains that were moved can't send or receive emails to and from the one domain still left on the old server. All other email functions work fine for all 4 domains. There are no bouncebacks, error messages, or emails stuck in queue, and no evidence of these missing emails hitting the new servers. The new hosting company confirms that everything is fine on their end, and assures me that it's most likely an old zone file still remaining on the old nameserver, and so the emails sent from the old host is routed to what it believes is still the authoritative nameserver. Because the old zone file's MX records still contain the old resource, the requests never leave the old nameserver to go online to do a fresh search for the real (new) authoritative nameserver. The compounding problem is that the old company is rather inept and doesn't seem to have the technical expertise to identify the problem, much less fix it. (I know, I know.) Is the problem truly that this old zone file just needs to be deleted from the old company's nameserver? If so, what's the best way for me to describe this to them? If not, what do you think could be the issue? Any help is much appreciated. I'm not in IT, so all this is new to me. I know it seems weird for me (the client) to have to do this legwork, but I just want to get this resolved. Here's what I've done: Ran dig to verify that the old server's MX records still point to the old authoritative server, instead of going online to do a fresh search: ~$ dig @old.nameserver.com domainthatwasmoved.com mx ; << DiG 9.6.0-APPLE-P2 << @old.nameserver.com domainThatWasMoved.com mx ; (1 server found) ;; global options: +cmd ;; Got answer: ;; -HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 61227 ;; flags: qr aa rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 1 ;; QUESTION SECTION: ;domainthatwasmoved.com. IN MX ;; ANSWER SECTION: domainthatwasmoved.com. 3600 IN MX 10 mail.oldmailserver.com. ;; ADDITIONAL SECTION: mail.oldmailserver.com. 3600 IN A 65.198.191.5 ;; Query time: 29 msec ;; SERVER: 65.198.191.5#53(65.198.191.5) ;; WHEN: Sun Dec 26 16:59:22 2010 ;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 88 Ran dig to try to see where the new hosting company's servers look when emails are sent from the 3 domains that were moved, and got refused: ~$ dig @new.nameserver.net domainStillAtOldHost.com mx ; << DiG 9.6.0-APPLE-P2 << @new.nameserver.net domainStillAtOldHost.com mx ; (1 server found) ;; global options: +cmd ;; Got answer: ;; -HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: REFUSED, id: 31599 ;; flags: qr rd; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 0, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 0 ;; WARNING: recursion requested but not available ;; QUESTION SECTION: ;domainStillAtOldHost.com. IN MX ;; Query time: 31 msec ;; SERVER: 216.201.128.10#53(216.201.128.10) ;; WHEN: Sun Dec 26 17:00:14 2010 ;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 34

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  • CPU/JVM/JBoss 7 slows down over time

    - by lukas
    I'm experiencing performance slow down on JBoss 7.1.1 Final. I wrote simple program that demostrates this behavior. I generate an array of 100,000 of random integers and run bubble sort on it. @Model public class PerformanceTest { public void proceed() { long now = System.currentTimeMillis(); int[] arr = new int[100000]; for(int i = 0; i < arr.length; i++) { arr[i] = (int) (Math.random() * 200000); } long now2 = System.currentTimeMillis(); System.out.println((now2 - now) + "ms took to generate array"); now = System.currentTimeMillis(); bubbleSort(arr); now2 = System.currentTimeMillis(); System.out.println((now2 - now) + "ms took to bubblesort array"); } public void bubbleSort(int[] arr) { boolean swapped = true; int j = 0; int tmp; while (swapped) { swapped = false; j++; for (int i = 0; i < arr.length - j; i++) { if (arr[i] > arr[i + 1]) { tmp = arr[i]; arr[i] = arr[i + 1]; arr[i + 1] = tmp; swapped = true; } } } } } Just after I start the server, it takes approximately 22 seconds to run this code. After few days of JBoss 7.1.1. running, it takes 330 sec to run this code. In both cases, I launch the code when the CPU utilization is very low (say, 1%). Any ideas why? I run the server with following arguments: -Xms1280m -Xmx2048m -XX:MaxPermSize=2048m -Djava.net.preferIPv4Stack=true -Dorg.jboss.resolver.warning=true -Dsun.rmi.dgc.client.gcInterval=3600000 -Dsun.rmi.dgc.server.gcInterval=3600000 -Djboss.modules.system.pkgs=org.jboss.byteman -Djava.awt.headless=true -Duser.timezone=UTC -Djboss.server.default.config=standalone-full.xml -Xrunjdwp:transport=dt_socket,address=8787,server=y,suspend=n I'm running it on Linux 2.6.32-279.11.1.el6.x86_64 with java version "1.7.0_07". It's within J2EE applicaiton. I use CDI so I have a button on JSF page that will call method "proceed" on @RequestScoped component PerformanceTest. I deploy this as separate war file and even if I undeploy other applications, it doesn't change the performance. It's a virtual machine that is sharing CPUs with another machine but that one doesn't consume anything. Here's yet another observation: when the server is after fresh start and I run the bubble sort, It utilizes 100% of one processor core. It never switches to another core or drops utilization below 95%. However after some time the server is running and I'm experiencing the performance problems, the method above is utilizing CPU core usually 100%, however I just found out from htop that this task is being switched very often to other cores. That is, at the beginning it's running on core #1, after say 2 seconds it's running on #5 then after say 2 seconds #8 etc. Furthermore, the utilization is not kept at 100% at the core but sometimes drops to 80% or even lower. For the server after fresh start, even though If I simulate a load, it never switches the task to another core.

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  • Installing .NET Framework 4 Client Profile breaks Windows Update

    - by Richard
    I have a Samsung NC-10 netbook with a fresh install of Windows 7 Home Premium 32-bit (it only had 2GB). If Microsoft .NET Framework 4 Client Profile is installed on it, Windows Update will always return error code 8024402F ("Windows Update encountered an unknown error"). As soon as I uninstall it, Windows Update works just fine again. Out of the four computers in this house, only this netbook has the problem. My question is: How can I get the .NET Framework 4 Client Profile installed on my netbook and continue to have a functioning Windows Update? ----- More information ----- The hard-drive recently died on my netbook so I replaced it with a nice new SSD and did a fresh installation of Windows 7 Home Premium (SP1) - along with all the updates. At some point I found that, when I ran Windows Update, I was greeted with error code 8024402F ("Windows Update encountered an unknown error"). Looking in C:\Windows\WindowsUpdate.log, I saw the following issue: WARNING: ECP: Failed to validate cab file digest downloaded from http://download.windowsupdate.com/msdownload/update/software/dflt/2012/02/4913552_4a5c9563d1f58c77f30d0d5c9999e4b8bff3ab21.cab with error 0x80091007 WARNING: ECP: This roundtrip contained some optimized updates which failed. New Update count = 0, Old Count = 3 FATAL: ProcessCoreMetadata did not return any update to be committed WARNING: Sync of Updates: 0x8024402f WARNING: SyncServerUpdatesInternal failed: 0x8024402f When I downloaded the CAB from the URL listed and opened it, it contained a file called 4913552.txt. A search on Google suggested that it's related to Microsoft .NET Framework 4 Client Profile. Other people had reported problems with it breaking Windows Update, but they were running Windows XP. I tried the steps outlined on the Microsoft site for this error code, but it reported that there was nothing wrong. I also found this superuser question, I tried all the answers listed but none of them made any difference. My router doesn't block ActiveX, changing my internet settings in IE made no difference, assuming it was a corrupted update repository didn't do anything (except wipe my update history), my date and time was correct, switching to Google's DNS didn't work and neither did disabling IPv6. Figuring that this update was corrupted, I repaired it and nothing changed. In desperation I un-installed it and Windows Update started working again! Brilliant! I then downloaded the full version from the Microsoft website, installed it and, thankfully, Windows Update continued to work just fine. A week later I turn on my netbook and Windows Update is broken again with exactly the same error message and log entries as before. Repairing .NET Framework 4 Client Profile did nothing, removing it entirely solved the problem again. Thinking this might be some odd Windows installation issue, I formatted the hard-drive and re-installed Windows. Same problem as before - as soon as .NET Framework 4 Client Profile ended up on the netbook, Windows Update stopped working and reported error 8024402F. As soon as it was un-installed, everything worked just fine again. There are three other machines in this house and all of them have working Windows Update and this Client Profile. Does anyone know why it causes this netbook to break and, more importantly, how I can fix it?

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  • Installation of Access Database Engine 32-bit Fails

    - by Rayzor78
    I am trying to install Access Database Engine 2007 32-bit. The splash screen comes up, you click "Next", then it fails with the error: Installation ended prematurely because of an error You click "OK" and another error window says: The installation of the package failed. The exact same situation happens when I try this with Access Database Engine 2010 32-bit. This production server is running Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 64-bit. Before I tried installing Access Database Engine 32-bit, I first needed to install Microsoft Office 2010 Pro (Excel and Office Tools only). I tried the 32-bit version on the production server since that is how I set it up in our Dev environment. No luck. The 32-bit version would not install. I did NOT get the error "You have 64-bit components of Office installed". I simply received the exact same two errors listed above. So, I knew that 32-bit/64-bit did not really matter for the Office install for my project, so I installed 64-bit of Office Pro 2010 (Excel and Office Tools only) with no problems. I have a requirement that I need to have the 32-bit version of the Access Database Engine installed. 2007 or 2010, doesn't matter. I cannot use the 64-bit version of Access Database Engine 2010 because my SSIS package will not work with it. I require the 32-bit version. I've tried several steps to try to get it installed. I seriously think that the production server has some aversion to installing 32-bit applications. Here's what I've tried: Tried installing via command line with the "/passive" switch....no luck. Tried numerous iterations to copy the install file to the server (downloaded a fresh copy directly to the server, downloaded a fresh copy to my local machine then copied it over, copied it over zipped up) (http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/sqldataaccess/thread/efd3c1f0-07cd-45ca-a626-2dd0c7ac3e9f). Tried Method 1 from this link. Could not try Method 2 because it requires a server reboot and in my environment that requires a long change management process. I've verified that I am a local administrator on the server. (Evidence, I am able to install other applications (office 64-bit per above)). Verified that there are no other office products that should be blocking the installation. The fore-mentioned install of Excel 2010 64-bit was the first Office product installed on the server. VERY ODD: To test my theory that the production server does not like 32-bit applications, I installed something lightweight. I installed 7-Zip 32-bit on the production server with no problems whatsoever. Here are some things that I have not tried (i will follow-up once I do): Method 2 (as mentioned above). Requires a server reboot. Have not verified that the Dev and Production environments are 100% identical. I've done a cursory check and on the surface they appear to be the same (same OS and SP version). I need to do a deeper dive to be 100% certain. I had no problems in my Dev environment. In Dev, I installed Office 2010 Pro 64-bit (Excel & Office Tools only) then via command line w/ the "/passive" switch, installed Access Database Engine 2010 32-bit. I don't know what else to try. Any suggestions or comments?

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  • How can I make subversion reset the stored passwords/users and remember my authentication credential

    - by NicDumZ
    Hello folks! Background: I used to have everything working just fine on my fresh install: $ svn co https://domain:443/ test1 Error validating server certificate for 'https://domain:443': - The certificate is not issued by a trusted authority. Use the fingerprint to validate the certificate manually! Certificate information: - Hostname: **REMOVED** - Valid: **REMOVED** - Issuer: **REMOVED** - Fingerprint: **checked with issuer and REMOVED** (R)eject, accept (t)emporarily or accept (p)ermanently? p Authentication realm: <https://domain:443> Subversion repository Password for 'nicdumz-machine-hostname': Authentication realm: <https://domain:443> Subversion repository Username: nicdumz Password for 'nicdumz': # proceeds to checkout correctly $ svn co https://domain:443/ test2 # checkouts nicely, without asking for my password. At some point I needed to commit stuff using a different account. So I did that $ svn ci --username other.user Authentication realm: <https://domain:443> Subversion repository Password for 'other.user': # works fine But since then, everytime I want to commit as 'nicdumz' (default user, all repos have been checked-out with that user), it prompts me for my password: $ svn ci Authentication realm: <https://domain:443> Subversion repository Password for 'nicdumz': Hey come on, why :) The same happens if I want a fresh checkout, since read-access is also protected. So I tried fixing the issue by myself. I read around that ~/.subversion/auth was storing credentials, so I removed it from the way: $ cd ~/.subversion $ mv auth oldauth $ mkdir auth It seemed to work at first, because svn had forgotten about certificate validation: $ svn co https://domain:443/ test3 Error validating server certificate for 'https://domain:443': - The certificate is not issued by a trusted authority. Use the fingerprint to validate the certificate manually! Certificate information: - Hostname: **REMOVED** - Valid: **REMOVED** - Issuer: **REMOVED** - Fingerprint: **checked with issuer and REMOVED** (R)eject, accept (t)emporarily or accept (p)ermanently? p Authentication realm: <https://domain:443> Subversion repository Password for 'nicdumz-machine-hostname': Authentication realm: <https://domain:443> Subversion repository Username: nicdumz Password for 'nicdumz': # proceeds to checkout correctly $ svn up Authentication realm: <https://domain:443> Subversion repository Password for 'nicdumz': What? how is this happening? If you have suggestions to investigate more about the behaviour, I am very interested. If I'm correct, there is no way to do a verbose svn up or anything of the like, so I'm not sure should I go for investigation. Oh, and for what it's worth: $ svn --version svn, version 1.6.6 (r40053) compiled Oct 26 2009, 06:19:08 Copyright (C) 2000-2009 CollabNet. Subversion is open source software, see http://subversion.tigris.org/ This product includes software developed by CollabNet (http://www.Collab.Net/). The following repository access (RA) modules are available: * ra_neon : Module for accessing a repository via WebDAV protocol using Neon. - handles 'http' scheme - handles 'https' scheme * ra_svn : Module for accessing a repository using the svn network protocol. - with Cyrus SASL authentication - handles 'svn' scheme * ra_local : Module for accessing a repository on local disk. - handles 'file' scheme * ra_serf : Module for accessing a repository via WebDAV protocol using serf. - handles 'http' scheme - handles 'https' scheme

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  • Refreshing Your PC Won’t Help: Why Bloatware is Still a Problem on Windows 8

    - by Chris Hoffman
    Bloatware is still a big problem on new Windows 8 and 8.1 PCs. Some websites will tell you that you can easily get rid of manufacturer-installed bloatware with Windows 8′s Reset feature, but they’re generally wrong. This junk software often turns the process of powering on your new PC from what could be a delightful experience into a tedious slog, forcing you to spend hours cleaning up your new PC before you can enjoy it. Why Refreshing Your PC (Probably) Won’t Help Manufacturers install software along with Windows on their new PCs. In addition to hardware drivers that allow the PC’s hardware to work properly, they install more questionable things like trial antivirus software and other nagware. Much of this software runs at boot, cluttering the system tray and slowing down boot times, often dramatically. Software companies pay computer manufacturers to include this stuff. It’s installed to make the PC manufacturer money at the cost of making the Windows computer worse for actual users. Windows 8 includes “Refresh Your PC” and “Reset Your PC” features that allow Windows users to quickly get their computers back to a fresh state. It’s essentially a quick, streamlined way of reinstalling Windows.  If you install Windows 8 or 8.1 yourself, the Refresh operation will give your PC a clean Windows system without any additional third-party software. However, Microsoft allows computer manufacturers to customize their Refresh images. In other words, most computer manufacturers will build their drivers, bloatware, and other system customizations into the Refresh image. When you Refresh your computer, you’ll just get back to the factory-provided system complete with bloatware. It’s possible that some computer manufacturers aren’t building bloatware into their refresh images in this way. It’s also possible that, when Windows 8 came out, some computer manufacturer didn’t realize they could do this and that refreshing a new PC would strip the bloatware. However, on most Windows 8 and 8.1 PCs, you’ll probably see bloatware come back when you refresh your PC. It’s easy to understand how PC manufacturers do this. You can create your own Refresh images on Windows 8 and 8.1 with just a simple command, replacing Microsoft’s image with a customized one. Manufacturers can install their own refresh images in the same way. Microsoft doesn’t lock down the Refresh feature. Desktop Bloatware is Still Around, Even on Tablets! Not only is typical Windows desktop bloatware not gone, it has tagged along with Windows as it moves to new form factors. Every Windows tablet currently on the market — aside from Microsoft’s own Surface and Surface 2 tablets — runs on a standard Intel x86 chip. This means that every Windows 8 and 8.1 tablet you see in stores has a full desktop with the capability to run desktop software. Even if that tablet doesn’t come with a keyboard, it’s likely that the manufacturer has preinstalled bloatware on the tablet’s desktop. Yes, that means that your Windows tablet will be slower to boot and have less memory because junk and nagging software will be on its desktop and in its system tray. Microsoft considers tablets to be PCs, and PC manufacturers love installing their bloatware. If you pick up a Windows tablet, don’t be surprised if you have to deal with desktop bloatware on it. Microsoft Surfaces and Signature PCs Microsoft is now selling their own Surface PCs that they built themselves — they’re now a “devices and services” company after all, not a software company. One of the nice things about Microsoft’s Surface PCs is that they’re free of the typical bloatware. Microsoft won’t take money from Norton to include nagging software that worsens the experience. If you pick up a Surface device that provides Windows 8.1 and 8 as Microsoft intended it — or install a fresh Windows 8.1 or 8 system — you won’t see any bloatware. Microsoft is also continuing their Signature program. New PCs purchased from Microsoft’s official stores are considered “Signature PCs” and don’t have the typical bloatware. For example, the same laptop could be full of bloatware in a traditional computer store and clean, without the nasty bloatware when purchased from a Microsoft Store. Microsoft will also continue to charge you $99 if you want them to remove your computer’s bloatware for you — that’s the more questionable part of the Signature program. Windows 8 App Bloatware is an Improvement There’s a new type of bloatware on new Windows 8 systems, which is thankfully less harmful. This is bloatware in the form of included “Windows 8-style”, “Store-style”, or “Modern” apps in the new, tiled interface. For example, Amazon may pay a computer manufacturer to include the Amazon Kindle app from the Windows Store. (The manufacturer may also just receive a cut of book sales for including it. We’re not sure how the revenue sharing works — but it’s clear PC manufacturers are getting money from Amazon.) The manufacturer will then install the Amazon Kindle app from the Windows Store by default. This included software is technically some amount of clutter, but it doesn’t cause the problems older types of bloatware does. It won’t automatically load and delay your computer’s startup process, clutter your system tray, or take up memory while you’re using your computer. For this reason, a shift to including new-style apps as bloatware is a definite improvement over older styles of bloatware. Unfortunately, this type of bloatware has not replaced traditional desktop bloatware, and new Windows PCs will generally have both. Windows RT is Immune to Typical Bloatware, But… Microsoft’s Windows RT can’t run Microsoft desktop software, so it’s immune to traditional bloatware. Just as you can’t install your own desktop programs on it, the Windows RT device’s manufacturer can’t install their own desktop bloatware. While Windows RT could be an antidote to bloatware, this advantage comes at the cost of being able to install any type of desktop software at all. Windows RT has also seemingly failed — while a variety of manufacturers came out with their own Windows RT devices when Windows 8 was first released, they’ve all since been withdrawn from the market. Manufacturers who created Windows RT devices have criticized it in the media and stated they have no plans to produce any future Windows RT devices. The only Windows RT devices still on the market are Microsoft’s Surface (originally named Surface RT) and Surface 2. Nokia is also coming out with their own Windows RT tablet, but they’re in the process of being purchased by Microsoft. In other words, Windows RT just isn’t a factor when it comes to bloatware — you wouldn’t get a Windows RT device unless you purchased a Surface, but those wouldn’t come with bloatware anyway. Removing Bloatware or Reinstalling Windows 8.1 While bloatware is still a problem on new Windows systems and the Refresh option probably won’t help you, you can still eliminate bloatware in the traditional way. Bloatware can be uninstalled from the Windows Control Panel or with a dedicated removal tool like PC Decrapifier, which tries to automatically uninstall the junk for you. You can also do what Windows geeks have always tended to do with new computers — reinstall Windows 8 or 8.1 from scratch with installation media from Microsoft. You’ll get a clean Windows system and you can install only the hardware drivers and other software you need. Unfortunately, bloatware is still a big problem for Windows PCs. Windows 8 tries to do some things to address bloatware, but it ultimately comes up short. Most Windows PCs sold in most stores to most people will still have the typical bloatware slowing down the boot process, wasting memory, and adding clutter. Image Credit: LG on Flickr, Intel Free Press on Flickr, Wilson Hui on Flickr, Intel Free Press on Flickr, Vernon Chan on Flickr     

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  • Why does Akonadi on KDE 4.6.0 refuse to start?

    - by Patches
    Akonadi refuses to start on my fresh installation of KDE 4.6.0 from the kubuntu-backports PPA on Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat, preventing me from usking KMail. Here is the full error output: patches@pleistocene:~/.local/share$ akonadictl start Starting Akonadi Server... done. patches@pleistocene:~/.local/share$ Connecting to deprecated signal QDBusConnectionInterface::serviceOwnerChanged(QString,QString,QString) search paths: ("/home/patches/bin", "/usr/local/sbin", "/usr/local/bin", "/usr/sbin", "/usr/bin", "/sbin", "/bin", "/usr/games", "/usr/sbin", "/usr/local/sbin", "/usr/local/libexec", "/usr/libexec", "/opt/mysql/libexec", "/opt/local/lib/mysql5/bin", "/opt/mysql/sbin") Found mysql_install_db: "/usr/bin/mysql_install_db" Found mysqlcheck: "/usr/bin/mysqlcheck" Database process exited unexpectedly during initial connection! executable: "/usr/sbin/mysqld-akonadi" arguments: ("--defaults-file=/home/patches/.local/share/akonadi//mysql.conf", "--datadir=/home/patches/.local/share/akonadi/db_data/", "--socket=/home/patches/.local/share/akonadi/socket-pleistocene/mysql.socket") stdout: "" stderr: "Could not open required defaults file: /home/patches/.local/share/akonadi//mysql.conf Fatal error in defaults handling. Program aborted 110209 16:41:12 [Warning] Can't create test file /home/patches/.local/share/akonadi/db_data/pleistocene.lower-test 110209 16:41:12 [Warning] Can't create test file /home/patches/.local/share/akonadi/db_data/pleistocene.lower-test 110209 16:41:12 [Note] Plugin 'FEDERATED' is disabled. /usr/sbin/mysqld-akonadi: Can't find file: './mysql/plugin.frm' (errno: 13) 110209 16:41:12 [ERROR] Can't open the mysql.plugin table. Please run mysql_upgrade to create it. 110209 16:41:12 InnoDB: Operating system error number 13 in a file operation. InnoDB: The error means mysqld does not have the access rights to InnoDB: the directory. InnoDB: File name ./ibdata1 InnoDB: File operation call: 'create'. InnoDB: Cannot continue operation. " exit code: 1 process error: "Unknown error" "[ 0: akonadiserver(_Z11akBacktracev+0x35) [0x8086055] 1: akonadiserver() [0x8086516] 2: [0xb772e400] 3: [0xb772e416] 4: /lib/libc.so.6(gsignal+0x51) [0xb6e9f941] 5: /lib/libc.so.6(abort+0x182) [0xb6ea2e42] 6: /usr/lib/libQtCore.so.4(_Z17qt_message_output9QtMsgTypePKc+0x8c) [0xb74d62dc] 7: akonadiserver(_ZN15FileDebugStream9writeDataEPKcx+0xc4) [0x8087574] 8: /usr/lib/libQtCore.so.4(_ZN9QIODevice5writeEPKcx+0x8e) [0xb757168e] 9: /usr/lib/libQtCore.so.4(+0x103425) [0xb7581425] 10: /usr/lib/libQtCore.so.4(_ZN11QTextStreamD1Ev+0x3d) [0xb758295d] 11: akonadiserver(_ZN6QDebugD1Ev+0x43) [0x8081b73] 12: akonadiserver(_ZN13DbConfigMysql19startInternalServerEv+0x1c27) [0x810c177] 13: akonadiserver(_ZN7Akonadi13AkonadiServer20startDatabaseProcessEv+0xe3) [0x8087a23] 14: akonadiserver(_ZN7Akonadi13AkonadiServerC1EP7QObject+0xca) [0x8088b6a] 15: akonadiserver(_ZN7Akonadi13AkonadiServer8instanceEv+0x48) [0x808a1d8] 16: akonadiserver(main+0x364) [0x8080fb4] 17: /lib/libc.so.6(__libc_start_main+0xe7) [0xb6e8bce7] 18: akonadiserver() [0x8080b81] ] " ProcessControl: Application 'akonadiserver' returned with exit code 255 (Unknown error) search paths: ("/home/patches/bin", "/usr/local/sbin", "/usr/local/bin", "/usr/sbin", "/usr/bin", "/sbin", "/bin", "/usr/games", "/usr/sbin", "/usr/local/sbin", "/usr/local/libexec", "/usr/libexec", "/opt/mysql/libexec", "/opt/local/lib/mysql5/bin", "/opt/mysql/sbin") Found mysql_install_db: "/usr/bin/mysql_install_db" Found mysqlcheck: "/usr/bin/mysqlcheck" Database process exited unexpectedly during initial connection! executable: "/usr/sbin/mysqld-akonadi" arguments: ("--defaults-file=/home/patches/.local/share/akonadi//mysql.conf", "--datadir=/home/patches/.local/share/akonadi/db_data/", "--socket=/home/patches/.local/share/akonadi/socket-pleistocene/mysql.socket") stdout: "" stderr: "Could not open required defaults file: /home/patches/.local/share/akonadi//mysql.conf Fatal error in defaults handling. Program aborted 110209 16:41:12 [Warning] Can't create test file /home/patches/.local/share/akonadi/db_data/pleistocene.lower-test 110209 16:41:12 [Warning] Can't create test file /home/patches/.local/share/akonadi/db_data/pleistocene.lower-test 110209 16:41:12 [Note] Plugin 'FEDERATED' is disabled. /usr/sbin/mysqld-akonadi: Can't find file: './mysql/plugin.frm' (errno: 13) 110209 16:41:12 [ERROR] Can't open the mysql.plugin table. Please run mysql_upgrade to create it. 110209 16:41:12 InnoDB: Operating system error number 13 in a file operation. InnoDB: The error means mysqld does not have the access rights to InnoDB: the directory. InnoDB: File name ./ibdata1 InnoDB: File operation call: 'create'. InnoDB: Cannot continue operation. " exit code: 1 process error: "Unknown error" "[ 0: akonadiserver(_Z11akBacktracev+0x35) [0x8086055] 1: akonadiserver() [0x8086516] 2: [0xb77ae400] 3: [0xb77ae416] 4: /lib/libc.so.6(gsignal+0x51) [0xb6f1f941] 5: /lib/libc.so.6(abort+0x182) [0xb6f22e42] 6: /usr/lib/libQtCore.so.4(_Z17qt_message_output9QtMsgTypePKc+0x8c) [0xb75562dc] 7: akonadiserver(_ZN15FileDebugStream9writeDataEPKcx+0xc4) [0x8087574] 8: /usr/lib/libQtCore.so.4(_ZN9QIODevice5writeEPKcx+0x8e) [0xb75f168e] 9: /usr/lib/libQtCore.so.4(+0x103425) [0xb7601425] 10: /usr/lib/libQtCore.so.4(_ZN11QTextStreamD1Ev+0x3d) [0xb760295d] 11: akonadiserver(_ZN6QDebugD1Ev+0x43) [0x8081b73] 12: akonadiserver(_ZN13DbConfigMysql19startInternalServerEv+0x1c27) [0x810c177] 13: akonadiserver(_ZN7Akonadi13AkonadiServer20startDatabaseProcessEv+0xe3) [0x8087a23] 14: akonadiserver(_ZN7Akonadi13AkonadiServerC1EP7QObject+0xca) [0x8088b6a] 15: akonadiserver(_ZN7Akonadi13AkonadiServer8instanceEv+0x48) [0x808a1d8] 16: akonadiserver(main+0x364) [0x8080fb4] 17: /lib/libc.so.6(__libc_start_main+0xe7) [0xb6f0bce7] 18: akonadiserver() [0x8080b81] ] " ProcessControl: Application 'akonadiserver' returned with exit code 255 (Unknown error) search paths: ("/home/patches/bin", "/usr/local/sbin", "/usr/local/bin", "/usr/sbin", "/usr/bin", "/sbin", "/bin", "/usr/games", "/usr/sbin", "/usr/local/sbin", "/usr/local/libexec", "/usr/libexec", "/opt/mysql/libexec", "/opt/local/lib/mysql5/bin", "/opt/mysql/sbin") Found mysql_install_db: "/usr/bin/mysql_install_db" Found mysqlcheck: "/usr/bin/mysqlcheck" Database process exited unexpectedly during initial connection! executable: "/usr/sbin/mysqld-akonadi" arguments: ("--defaults-file=/home/patches/.local/share/akonadi//mysql.conf", "--datadir=/home/patches/.local/share/akonadi/db_data/", "--socket=/home/patches/.local/share/akonadi/socket-pleistocene/mysql.socket") stdout: "" stderr: "Could not open required defaults file: /home/patches/.local/share/akonadi//mysql.conf Fatal error in defaults handling. Program aborted 110209 16:41:12 [Warning] Can't create test file /home/patches/.local/share/akonadi/db_data/pleistocene.lower-test 110209 16:41:12 [Warning] Can't create test file /home/patches/.local/share/akonadi/db_data/pleistocene.lower-test 110209 16:41:12 [Note] Plugin 'FEDERATED' is disabled. /usr/sbin/mysqld-akonadi: Can't find file: './mysql/plugin.frm' (errno: 13) 110209 16:41:12 [ERROR] Can't open the mysql.plugin table. Please run mysql_upgrade to create it. 110209 16:41:12 InnoDB: Operating system error number 13 in a file operation. InnoDB: The error means mysqld does not have the access rights to InnoDB: the directory. InnoDB: File name ./ibdata1 InnoDB: File operation call: 'create'. InnoDB: Cannot continue operation. " exit code: 1 process error: "Unknown error" "[ 0: akonadiserver(_Z11akBacktracev+0x35) [0x8086055] 1: akonadiserver() [0x8086516] 2: [0xb778b400] 3: [0xb778b416] 4: /lib/libc.so.6(gsignal+0x51) [0xb6efc941] 5: /lib/libc.so.6(abort+0x182) [0xb6effe42] 6: /usr/lib/libQtCore.so.4(_Z17qt_message_output9QtMsgTypePKc+0x8c) [0xb75332dc] 7: akonadiserver(_ZN15FileDebugStream9writeDataEPKcx+0xc4) [0x8087574] 8: /usr/lib/libQtCore.so.4(_ZN9QIODevice5writeEPKcx+0x8e) [0xb75ce68e] 9: /usr/lib/libQtCore.so.4(+0x103425) [0xb75de425] 10: /usr/lib/libQtCore.so.4(_ZN11QTextStreamD1Ev+0x3d) [0xb75df95d] 11: akonadiserver(_ZN6QDebugD1Ev+0x43) [0x8081b73] 12: akonadiserver(_ZN13DbConfigMysql19startInternalServerEv+0x1c27) [0x810c177] 13: akonadiserver(_ZN7Akonadi13AkonadiServer20startDatabaseProcessEv+0xe3) [0x8087a23] 14: akonadiserver(_ZN7Akonadi13AkonadiServerC1EP7QObject+0xca) [0x8088b6a] 15: akonadiserver(_ZN7Akonadi13AkonadiServer8instanceEv+0x48) [0x808a1d8] 16: akonadiserver(main+0x364) [0x8080fb4] 17: /lib/libc.so.6(__libc_start_main+0xe7) [0xb6ee8ce7] 18: akonadiserver() [0x8080b81] ] " ProcessControl: Application 'akonadiserver' returned with exit code 255 (Unknown error) search paths: ("/home/patches/bin", "/usr/local/sbin", "/usr/local/bin", "/usr/sbin", "/usr/bin", "/sbin", "/bin", "/usr/games", "/usr/sbin", "/usr/local/sbin", "/usr/local/libexec", "/usr/libexec", "/opt/mysql/libexec", "/opt/local/lib/mysql5/bin", "/opt/mysql/sbin") Found mysql_install_db: "/usr/bin/mysql_install_db" Found mysqlcheck: "/usr/bin/mysqlcheck" Database process exited unexpectedly during initial connection! executable: "/usr/sbin/mysqld-akonadi" arguments: ("--defaults-file=/home/patches/.local/share/akonadi//mysql.conf", "--datadir=/home/patches/.local/share/akonadi/db_data/", "--socket=/home/patches/.local/share/akonadi/socket-pleistocene/mysql.socket") stdout: "" stderr: "Could not open required defaults file: /home/patches/.local/share/akonadi//mysql.conf Fatal error in defaults handling. Program aborted 110209 16:41:12 [Warning] Can't create test file /home/patches/.local/share/akonadi/db_data/pleistocene.lower-test 110209 16:41:12 [Warning] Can't create test file /home/patches/.local/share/akonadi/db_data/pleistocene.lower-test 110209 16:41:12 [Note] Plugin 'FEDERATED' is disabled. /usr/sbin/mysqld-akonadi: Can't find file: './mysql/plugin.frm' (errno: 13) 110209 16:41:12 [ERROR] Can't open the mysql.plugin table. Please run mysql_upgrade to create it. 110209 16:41:12 InnoDB: Operating system error number 13 in a file operation. InnoDB: The error means mysqld does not have the access rights to InnoDB: the directory. InnoDB: File name ./ibdata1 InnoDB: File operation call: 'create'. InnoDB: Cannot continue operation. " exit code: 1 process error: "Unknown error" "[ 0: akonadiserver(_Z11akBacktracev+0x35) [0x8086055] 1: akonadiserver() [0x8086516] 2: [0xb784e400] 3: [0xb784e416] 4: /lib/libc.so.6(gsignal+0x51) [0xb6fbf941] 5: /lib/libc.so.6(abort+0x182) [0xb6fc2e42] 6: /usr/lib/libQtCore.so.4(_Z17qt_message_output9QtMsgTypePKc+0x8c) [0xb75f62dc] 7: akonadiserver(_ZN15FileDebugStream9writeDataEPKcx+0xc4) [0x8087574] 8: /usr/lib/libQtCore.so.4(_ZN9QIODevice5writeEPKcx+0x8e) [0xb769168e] 9: /usr/lib/libQtCore.so.4(+0x103425) [0xb76a1425] 10: /usr/lib/libQtCore.so.4(_ZN11QTextStreamD1Ev+0x3d) [0xb76a295d] 11: akonadiserver(_ZN6QDebugD1Ev+0x43) [0x8081b73] 12: akonadiserver(_ZN13DbConfigMysql19startInternalServerEv+0x1c27) [0x810c177] 13: akonadiserver(_ZN7Akonadi13AkonadiServer20startDatabaseProcessEv+0xe3) [0x8087a23] 14: akonadiserver(_ZN7Akonadi13AkonadiServerC1EP7QObject+0xca) [0x8088b6a] 15: akonadiserver(_ZN7Akonadi13AkonadiServer8instanceEv+0x48) [0x808a1d8] 16: akonadiserver(main+0x364) [0x8080fb4] 17: /lib/libc.so.6(__libc_start_main+0xe7) [0xb6fabce7] 18: akonadiserver() [0x8080b81] ] " ProcessControl: Application 'akonadiserver' returned with exit code 255 (Unknown error) "akonadiserver" crashed too often and will not be restarted! I tried moving the ~/.local/share/akonadi folder and running it fresh, and I also tried starting Akonadi from a brand new user, all to no avail. Requested by @djeikyb: patches@pleistocene:~$ ls -ld ~/.local drwxrwx--- 3 patches patches 4096 2011-02-07 03:15 /home/patches/.local patches@pleistocene:~$ mysql_upgrade Looking for 'mysql' as: mysql Looking for 'mysqlcheck' as: mysqlcheck Running 'mysqlcheck' with connection arguments: '--port=3306' '--socket=/var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock' mysqlcheck: Got error: 2002: Can't connect to local MySQL server through socket '/var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock' (2) when trying to connect FATAL ERROR: Upgrade failed patches@pleistocene:~$ mysql_upgrade -S ~/.local/share/akonadi/socket-pleistocene/ Looking for 'mysql' as: mysql Looking for 'mysqlcheck' as: mysqlcheck Running 'mysqlcheck' with connection arguments: '--port=3306' '--socket=/var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock' '--socket=/home/patches/.local/share/akonadi/socket-pleistocene/' mysqlcheck: Got error: 2002: Can't connect to local MySQL server through socket '/home/patches/.local/share/akonadi/socket-pleistocene/' (111) when trying to connect FATAL ERROR: Upgrade failed

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  • What Makes a Good Design Critic? CHI 2010 Panel Review

    - by jatin.thaker
    Author: Daniel Schwartz, Senior Interaction Designer, Oracle Applications User Experience Oracle Applications UX Chief Evangelist Patanjali Venkatacharya organized and moderated an innovative and stimulating panel discussion titled "What Makes a Good Design Critic? Food Design vs. Product Design Criticism" at CHI 2010, the annual ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. The panelists included Janice Rohn, VP of User Experience at Experian; Tami Hardeman, a food stylist; Ed Seiber, a restaurant architect and designer; John Kessler, a food critic and writer at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution; and Larry Powers, Chef de Cuisine at Shaun's restaurant in Atlanta, Georgia. Building off the momentum of his highly acclaimed panel at CHI 2009 on what interaction design can learn from food design (for which I was on the other side as a panelist), Venkatacharya brought together new people with different roles in the restaurant and software interaction design fields. The session was also quite delicious -- but more on that later. Criticism, as it applies to food and product or interaction design, was the tasty topic for this forum and showed that strong parallels exist between food and interaction design criticism. Figure 1. The panelists in discussion: (left to right) Janice Rohn, Ed Seiber, Tami Hardeman, and John Kessler. The panelists had great insights to share from their respective fields, and they enthusiastically discussed as if they were at a casual collegial dinner. John Kessler stated that he prefers to have one professional critic's opinion in general than a large sampling of customers, however, "Web sites like Yelp get users excited by the collective approach. People are attracted to things desired by so many." Janice Rohn added that this collective desire was especially true for users of consumer products. Ed Seiber remarked that while people looked to the popular view for their target tastes and product choices, "professional critics like John [Kessler] still hold a big weight on public opinion." Chef Powers indicated that chefs take in feedback from all sources, adding, "word of mouth is very powerful. We also look heavily at the sales of the dishes to see what's moving; what's selling and thus successful." Hearing this discussion validates our design work at Oracle in that we listen to our users (our diners) and industry feedback (our critics) to ensure an optimal user experience of our products. Rohn considers that restaurateur Danny Meyer's book, Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business, which is about creating successful restaurant experiences, has many applicable parallels to user experience design. Meyer actually argues that the customer is not always right, but that "they must always feel heard." Seiber agreed, but noted "customers are not designers," and while designers need to listen to customer feedback, it is the designer's job to synthesize it. Seiber feels it's the critic's job to point out when something is missing or not well-prioritized. In interaction design, our challenges are quite similar, if not parallel. Software tasks are like puzzles that are in search of a solution on how to be best completed. As a food stylist, Tami Hardeman has the demanding and challenging task of presenting food to be as delectable as can be. To present food in its best light requires a lot of creativity and insight into consumer tastes. It's no doubt then that this former fashion stylist came up with the ultimate catch phrase to capture the emotion that clients want to draw from their users: "craveability." The phrase was a hit with the audience and panelists alike. Sometime later in the discussion, Seiber remarked, "designers strive to apply craveability to products, and I do so for restaurants in my case." Craveabilty is also very applicable to interaction design. Creating straightforward and smooth workflows for users of Oracle Applications is a primary goal for my colleagues. We want our users to really enjoy working with our products where it makes them more efficient and better at their jobs. That's our "craveability." Patanjali Venkatacharya asked the panel, "if a design's "craveability" appeals to some cultures but not to others, then what is the impact to the food or product design process?" Rohn stated that "taste is part nature and part nurture" and that the design must take the full context of a product's usage into consideration. Kessler added, "good design is about understanding the context" that the experience necessitates. Seiber remarked how important seat comfort is for diners and how the quality of seating will add so much to the complete dining experience. Sometimes if these non-food factors are not well executed, they can also take away from an otherwise pleasant dining experience. Kessler recounted a time when he was dining at a restaurant that actually had very good food, but the photographs hanging on all the walls did not fit in with the overall décor and created a negative overall dining experience. While the tastiness of the food is critical to a restaurant's success, it is a captivating complete user experience, as in interaction design, which will keep customers coming back and ultimately making the restaurant a hit. Figure 2. Patanjali Venkatacharya enjoyed the Sardinian flatbread salad. As a surprise Chef Powers brought out a signature dish from Shaun's restaurant for all the panelists to sample and critique. The Sardinian flatbread dish showcased Atlanta's taste for fresh and local produce and cheese at its finest as a salad served on a crispy flavorful flat bread. Hardeman said it could be photographed from any angle, a high compliment coming from a food stylist. Seiber really enjoyed the colors that the dish brought together and thought it would be served very well in a casual restaurant on a summer's day. The panel really appreciated the taste and quality of the different components and how the rosemary brought all the flavors together. Seiber remarked that "a lot of effort goes into the appearance of simplicity." Rohn indicated that the same notion holds true with software user interface design. A tremendous amount of work goes into crafting straightforward interfaces, including user research, prototyping, design iterations, and usability studies. Design criticism for food and software interfaces clearly share many similarities. Both areas value expert opinions and user feedback. Both areas understand the importance of great design needing to work well in its context. Last but not least, both food and interaction design criticism value "craveability" and how having users excited about experiencing and enjoying the designs is an important goal. Now if we can just improve the taste of software user interfaces, people may choose to dine on their enterprise applications over a fresh organic salad.

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  • What Makes a Good Design Critic? CHI 2010 Panel Review

    - by Applications User Experience
    Author: Daniel Schwartz, Senior Interaction Designer, Oracle Applications User Experience Oracle Applications UX Chief Evangelist Patanjali Venkatacharya organized and moderated an innovative and stimulating panel discussion titled "What Makes a Good Design Critic? Food Design vs. Product Design Criticism" at CHI 2010, the annual ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. The panelists included Janice Rohn, VP of User Experience at Experian; Tami Hardeman, a food stylist; Ed Seiber, a restaurant architect and designer; Jonathan Kessler, a food critic and writer at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution; and Larry Powers, Chef de Cuisine at Shaun's restaurant in Atlanta, Georgia. Building off the momentum of his highly acclaimed panel at CHI 2009 on what interaction design can learn from food design (for which I was on the other side as a panelist), Venkatacharya brought together new people with different roles in the restaurant and software interaction design fields. The session was also quite delicious -- but more on that later. Criticism, as it applies to food and product or interaction design, was the tasty topic for this forum and showed that strong parallels exist between food and interaction design criticism. Figure 1. The panelists in discussion: (left to right) Janice Rohn, Ed Seiber, Tami Hardeman, and Jonathan Kessler. The panelists had great insights to share from their respective fields, and they enthusiastically discussed as if they were at a casual collegial dinner. Jonathan Kessler stated that he prefers to have one professional critic's opinion in general than a large sampling of customers, however, "Web sites like Yelp get users excited by the collective approach. People are attracted to things desired by so many." Janice Rohn added that this collective desire was especially true for users of consumer products. Ed Seiber remarked that while people looked to the popular view for their target tastes and product choices, "professional critics like John [Kessler] still hold a big weight on public opinion." Chef Powers indicated that chefs take in feedback from all sources, adding, "word of mouth is very powerful. We also look heavily at the sales of the dishes to see what's moving; what's selling and thus successful." Hearing this discussion validates our design work at Oracle in that we listen to our users (our diners) and industry feedback (our critics) to ensure an optimal user experience of our products. Rohn considers that restaurateur Danny Meyer's book, Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business, which is about creating successful restaurant experiences, has many applicable parallels to user experience design. Meyer actually argues that the customer is not always right, but that "they must always feel heard." Seiber agreed, but noted "customers are not designers," and while designers need to listen to customer feedback, it is the designer's job to synthesize it. Seiber feels it's the critic's job to point out when something is missing or not well-prioritized. In interaction design, our challenges are quite similar, if not parallel. Software tasks are like puzzles that are in search of a solution on how to be best completed. As a food stylist, Tami Hardeman has the demanding and challenging task of presenting food to be as delectable as can be. To present food in its best light requires a lot of creativity and insight into consumer tastes. It's no doubt then that this former fashion stylist came up with the ultimate catch phrase to capture the emotion that clients want to draw from their users: "craveability." The phrase was a hit with the audience and panelists alike. Sometime later in the discussion, Seiber remarked, "designers strive to apply craveability to products, and I do so for restaurants in my case." Craveabilty is also very applicable to interaction design. Creating straightforward and smooth workflows for users of Oracle Applications is a primary goal for my colleagues. We want our users to really enjoy working with our products where it makes them more efficient and better at their jobs. That's our "craveability." Patanjali Venkatacharya asked the panel, "if a design's "craveability" appeals to some cultures but not to others, then what is the impact to the food or product design process?" Rohn stated that "taste is part nature and part nurture" and that the design must take the full context of a product's usage into consideration. Kessler added, "good design is about understanding the context" that the experience necessitates. Seiber remarked how important seat comfort is for diners and how the quality of seating will add so much to the complete dining experience. Sometimes if these non-food factors are not well executed, they can also take away from an otherwise pleasant dining experience. Kessler recounted a time when he was dining at a restaurant that actually had very good food, but the photographs hanging on all the walls did not fit in with the overall décor and created a negative overall dining experience. While the tastiness of the food is critical to a restaurant's success, it is a captivating complete user experience, as in interaction design, which will keep customers coming back and ultimately making the restaurant a hit. Figure 2. Patnajali Venkatacharya enjoyed the Sardian flatbread salad. As a surprise Chef Powers brought out a signature dish from Shaun's restaurant for all the panelists to sample and critique. The Sardinian flatbread dish showcased Atlanta's taste for fresh and local produce and cheese at its finest as a salad served on a crispy flavorful flat bread. Hardeman said it could be photographed from any angle, a high compliment coming from a food stylist. Seiber really enjoyed the colors that the dish brought together and thought it would be served very well in a casual restaurant on a summer's day. The panel really appreciated the taste and quality of the different components and how the rosemary brought all the flavors together. Seiber remarked that "a lot of effort goes into the appearance of simplicity." Rohn indicated that the same notion holds true with software user interface design. A tremendous amount of work goes into crafting straightforward interfaces, including user research, prototyping, design iterations, and usability studies. Design criticism for food and software interfaces clearly share many similarities. Both areas value expert opinions and user feedback. Both areas understand the importance of great design needing to work well in its context. Last but not least, both food and interaction design criticism value "craveability" and how having users excited about experiencing and enjoying the designs is an important goal. Now if we can just improve the taste of software user interfaces, people may choose to dine on their enterprise applications over a fresh organic salad.

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