Scalari.net

Today I installed Windows 7 on my netbook. I had heard that Windows 7 runs good on netbooks, better than XP even, and I must say it sure feels snappy while adding a shine to my desktop. New taskbar is neat too.

Installation went relatively smooth, considering netbooks don’t come with any disc drive. I had to make a bootable USB key. I then had to install all of the various Samsung tools and drivers to get all the peripherals up and running again. This was trickier since most of the installers wouldn’t recognize Windows … Continue Reading

Killzone 2:

“Decent shooter with some pacing issues”.

Mirror’s Edge:

“Spring-spring-spring-spring-HOPPA!”

Trash Panic:

“Fun but traditionally unforgiving”.

Bionic Commando:

“A completionist’s nightmare”.

Resident Evil 5:

“As good as four except there were two of us”.

I’ve touched before on the importance of prioritizing the end user when designing any kind of user interface and in my work with Novelty I’ve gained a keen interest in the science of GUI design. Coincidentally, I’ve recently stumbled across a few examples of really bad GUI. I first intended this post to be an attack on what I can easily say is the worst interface ever, but instead I opted to write a list of all the things I’ve learned and then it’s up to you to decide whether or not a particular piece of software abides to it or not.

So if you’re not a GUI nerd like me or even know what I’m talking about, spare yourself the trouble and stop reading. There be dragons ahead. A lot of the things I’m going to go through are the very basics, but you’d be surprised to see how some applications fail at even that.

Continue Reading

I bought myself a netbook to make myself a little bit more portable. A white Samsung NC10. I like it.