The cog in the wheel

Good friend and colleague Matt Queen has just been published on Boxes and Arrows with his article about Interaction Modeling. He argues of the importance to display the realtionship between observable (user) behavior and the claim that a usability problem exists. Matt's interested in getting at the "why" behind the problem in order to held design a suitable solution.

The emphais of Matt's argument is based on cognitive modeling of user interactions.

An unhealthy obsession

I do have a big mad love for the Olympic games, even the opening cermonies, even the emotionally manipulative television coverage, even the ski hippies who confess to being wasted on the slopes. I love it all. And Turin looks like it's off to a big old gay start.

So I'll be enjoying the nonstop sportage for the next couple of weeks and trying to determine which is better: summer or winter games.

What do you think?

Who owns February?

Hi little lost reading lambs, if there are any left out there. It's been a while since I've been a-postin. Life has been quite busy with grad school, work, teaching and the like.

Some things that occupied my mind this week:

• Chernoff faces: unique way to map multivariate factors to faces or a quantitative phrenology?
• Postcolonial theory, Orientalism and Edward Said: maps a bit more closely to the way I see the world than others in the fact that there is a resistance component.
• The fact that reading postcolonialism might impede one's ability to enjoy other activities like a smug American chastising a continent while he flies over it. I think I prefer the talks at National Geographic when they stick to animals.
• Time to get my butt in gear in terms of my preliminary exam for the PhD
  

As you can see in the previous posts the wind tore down our backyard tree and no the dog on a string was not harmed - I actually haven't seen that matted little guy in months. Once in a while it's good to be a renter.

This weekend is going to be about bowling, writing, reading, and getting to go behind the scenes at a museum. Dating a budding biologist has its privileges.

Hope everyone is happy!

Aftermath

Windy