Sunday, 2nd November 2003
Web design and usability guidelines
Usability.gov’s Research-Based Web Design & Usability Guidelines lose instant credibility for being available only as a 39.2 MB PDF file [ Update: this statement is incorrect—see my correction ], with all of the usability and accessibility problems that brings with it. I’m on a fast connection here so I downloaded them anyway to have a look. There’s actually a lot of good things I can say about them—the document is attractively laid out, the guidelines clear and easy to follow and each is backed up by references to academic research (hence the title). There are however some guidelines with which I completely disagree, in particular the ones in chapter 4, entitled “Hardware and Software”:
[... 431 words]That G5 Cluster
Confessions of the World’s Largest Switcher is the best coverage I’ve seen to date of Virginia Tech’s 1,100 Dual G5 Mac cluster, now the third fastest supercomputer in the world and built for a fraction of the price of its rivals. Mac Supercomputer Just Got Faster on Wired has some more information.
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