Diary of a Network Geek

A scrapbook of bad design.

Okay, so you think your company’s homegrown application is crippled by bad design? Well, check out Bad Human Factors Designs! Here’s a collection of the worst design ever misconcieved. You can’t believe what developers think looks like a good idea.
And, if you are one of those developers, think twice before you inflict that cruel and unusual interface on your users!

Hey, just because it’s Friday, doesn’t mean you can’t learn something!

Either “best” or a “buy”.

I hate BestBuy. Why? Because their sloppy web design cost me several hours of my life. In fact, I’m so irritated with their malfunctioning website that I will not ever buy anything from them again, if I can help it. I would have given up after the first try last night, but my favorite nephew and godson (yes, that means I am a Godfather), said that all he wanted for his birthday, which was yesterday, was a gift card from BestBuy. Though, “WorstSale” is probably a better name for them.
It all started quite simply, as these things usually do, with me going to their cursed website to purchase a simple $25 gift card for my nephew. Sounds simple enough, right? Fifteen minutes worth of transaction and off to bed, I figured. WRONG! After getting through the transaction the first time, I noticed in the side-bar, in small print, something about needed to have pop-up windows enabled to complete the transaction. What? WHY? What sort of crazy e-commerce website would require me to open a potential security hole in my browser just to spend money on their website? And what kind of moron would let that roll out to the public?
So, I check my Account and see that there are no orders. Just to make sure, I do a search on the order number. Nothing. So, I call and verify with the very polite customer service person that my credit card has not, in fact, been charged. She then tells me to go ahead and try it again now that I have pop-ups enabled for their site and it should all be good. Fine. Only, it wasn’t. I tried this three times only to have NONE of the attempts show up. Not even the one I did through the hated Internet Explorer, which I generally don’t use for security reasons.
So, I call Customer Service again, cursing the idiot who thought up this moronic system. The second very polite Customer Service rep confirms again that no charges have gone through to my card and offers to take care of the transaction for me. Okay, great. All done. And, he tells me that I will be e-mailed a confirmation. Wonderful.
This morning when I check my e-mail, guess what I found? FOUR confirmations, each for a $25 gift card. All of which were processed at around 1:00AM, which was more than TWO HOURS after I was done on the phone with BestBuy’s Customer Service. So, I get to waste even MORE time trying to ge this straightened out today.

I have never, ever in more than ten years of on-line purchasing had a worse experience than I did with the BestBuy website. I have bought from little “mom-and-pop” stores and even game companies from the United Kingdom and never had problems like I’ve had with BestBuy. Gee, aren’t they supposed to be a technology company? Don’t they sell high-tech gear? You sure wouldn’t know it from their non-functional website!
So, what has all this taught me? Don’t ever use BestBuy again. In fact, I’m going to tell everyone I know about this experience and encourage them not to use BestBuy, either. If you live in Houston, I recommend that you try MicroCenter or Fry’s. If you want to get something from the internet try CDW. Personally, I will go to extreme lengths now to avoid spending even one more cent inside a BestBuy. All because one stupid web development team couldn’t get their shit together. (Crap, I almost made it through that entire rant without making any excretory remarks. Oh, well, shit happens.)

Are we headed toward a military state?

The stories about passports, technology and privacy just keep on coming. And, they seem to be picking up speed! Well, maybe we’re just headed toward a world government. At least, to hear how people are talking about sharing international data on travelers and passorts, electronically, of course, to try and combat terrorism. Thankfully, according to this article on Wired News, there are already people who are concerned about the implications. It really feels like we’re headed toward the death of privacy on a global scale. There is more and more talk every day about government agencies and international governments sharing data on criminals and suspected criminals. And, frankly, that’s the part that bothers me.
Is it right or just to tag someone as a potential risk and then pass that information to every law enforcement agency in the world? What constitutes a risk? Is the criteria the same in the United States as it is in, say, the United Emirates? Is having information about crime and criminal activity carried out by a third party a “warning sign” that someone may be dangerous? (If so, I better get rid of all those old 2600 Magazines and those text files from my hard drive!)
Now, I don’t plan on travelling internationally any time soon, but how long will it be before they start doing the same thing with driver’s licenses? I mean, wouldn’t it be nice to track people who’ve had DUI convictions with an RFID tag on their license? How long before I have to show my internal passport to buy gas because it might be used as a bomb? And, if you’re thinking, “But that could never happen here!”, remember, that’s what they said in Nazi Germany, too.

So, even though I’m a fairly conservative guy, politically, I like the fact that the ACLU is out there looking out for my freedoms. I may not agree with everything they fight for, but I still think they’re a good check and balance.
Know your rights. Know what they’re trying to take away from you, and fight for what you believe.

Man, there are times I could have used this!

I can’t count how many times I’ve had a problem with a Windows PC that required all kinds of esoteric futzing with drives and configurations. Oh, how much simpler it would have been if I’d only had the right bootable CD. Well, there’s a guy over in the Netherlands named Bart who’s got a page all about bootable Windows CDs. There’s nothing here that a really competent Admin couldn’t do by hand, but, oh, the time savings you get by having all the information and tools in one place!
I can’t remember all the times that I’ve had to do this, or find a way around doing it, over the years. Now, we all have a better resource. I hope it helps someone in need.

Oh, man, this guy just doesn’t get it….

Okay, so I was checking my links and updating my link to A Day in the Life of an Information Security Investigator and saw another blog on the same site called Viewpoint from India: An IT Outsourcing Blog. Out of morbid curiosity, I went to look. The poor buy was complaining that he didn’t get enough response from his blog. My first thought was, “Man, this guy doesn’t get it! He’s the freakin’ enemy! Of course no one wants to comment on his blog!!” But, then, I actually read some of his earlier posts. Turns out, he’s afraid of all the same things we are: bad economy, a weak job market, and, yes, even outsourcing. Of course, he’s worried about the Chinese, but he’s also worried about the US pulling work back. I can’t say I’m sorry about that last bit, but I do understand his fear.
But, still, in the very same post that he whines about not enough readership, he also tells his readers to, essentially, suck it up and accept that this is the new way of doing global business. He says, essentially, that he and others like him will undercut us as much as they can for as long as they can to improve their way of life and too bad if we don’t like it. Not a friendly, warm, welcoming blog author, is he? And, not real big on who his potential readers are, either.
Now, I know that outsourcers read my blog, based on semi-anonymous comments that they have left, apparently out of cowardice. But, I write how I feel anyway, because my target audience is other guys like me who are constantly on the verge of losing our jobs to guys like them!

Here’s the thing, we determine the global economy. If we make it too expensive in terms of good will for companies to outsource overseas, then we change the global economy in a way that we like. That, gentle readers, is the way economics works. We, the consumers, are, in fact, a market force. How we feel and how we prefer that companies do business is an important factor in global markets. So, if we’re tired of losing jobs to offshoring, are we wrong to change that? Even to legislate a change? NO! We are acting as a market force! Welcome to the real global economy, buddy. I do have a say in how well, or even if, outsourcing works. And so do the rest of you. Either way you feel, make your voice heard. It’s your right as a participant in that oft cited global economy, so don’t forget to exercise it.

No, really, I’m serious!

The famous Bikini Atoll, where the US Government did their atomic bomb testing, has their own website. Apparently, there are people actually living there! Who knew?
In any case, they have quite an active tourist trade, inlcuding sport fishing and diving. Hmm, I wonder if they have contests for fish with the most eyes? And, I bet the night diving is spectacular, what with the glow and all! But, really, the best thing is the shop on the site. You, too, can own a Bikini Atoll Dive Program shirt.
Oh, c’mon, it’s Friday! Go check out the site!

people listen.

And, that, gentle readers, is no joke. Whatever you may think about Micro$oft and Chairman Bill, he drives the industry. So, what he thinks really does matter. So, what does Bill Gates think? Well, according to this article on eWeek.com, this year, he’s thinking about XML and webservices, wireless protocols, shockingly enough, security, XBox, and surprise, market domination. So, this is what’s going to matter for the next year, or so, in IT. You’d better learn about it and know it well enough to be relavent.
Thankfullly, I know a little about webservices of various kinds and I’ve got a couple of XML and PHP books lined up. And, I’m working on my Security+, still. And, I also have a book or two in my queue on security. Hmm, maybe I won’t be too bad off if I get outsourced….

How about you?

Well, maybe not entirely…

But, according to this article on Australian IT, it sure hasn’t had much effect. The law was supposed to stop unwanted “junk” e-mail completely, but it hasn’t quite done that. In fact, according to the article, it’s barely had any effect at all.
Frankly, I’m not surprised. That law didn’t really have much in the way of teeth. I know I could see that back when it was first proposed. Honestly, I couldn’t believe that lawmakers thought it would do any good at all! But, still, it got passed and it was at least something that headed in the right direction. Now, at least, there’s precedent for the law. Maybe they can draft new laws that will add a bit of oomph to the enforcement end of things. God knows, I’d love to stop the 50+ junk e-mails I get every day.
Oh, well, just remember, when you see people running for office that are in favor of stricter laws regarding this kind of thing, vote for them!