steve kwan user experience designer

Dragging your software to the trash can

(July 28th, 2005 - 9:50PM)

I was asked to determine if our Web interface is Apple friendly.

My tentative answer: WHO CARES?

Our software is currently not 100% compatible with Firefox. Were compatibility the most important thing on my plate, that would be my first concern. Making our software Safari friendly is not the sort of thing I fantastize about.

Speaking of which, what kind of troll have I become? I'm posting on my blog about how I fantasize about Web browser compatibility. Do I have nothing better to do?

By the way, I heard the new Matt Good song on Fox today, and wow. What an audioturd that was.

Ethics final

(July 27th, 2005 - 11:11PM)

The final exam for my Ethics class is tomorrow. I was told that I should cheat on it.

I am also quite broke, which is unfortunate.

Oh, and I saw Fantastic Four. You know how it's been getting really bad reviews? Well, add mine to the list. It's really bad. I'd also like to add that being really flexible is not a really manly power. I don't care how much CGI you pump into a movie. You just can't make a really flexible guy look cool. And the fact that Mr. Fantastic makes ridiculous facial expression doesn't help.

Mitigated

(July 23rd, 2005 - 6:47PM)

I think I resolved the phishing problem; if anybody is still getting junk mail from stevekwan.com, please post a message or send me an e-mail informing me of this. If you post a message, please be sure to include your e-mail address so I can ask you for further information (not so I can add you to a phishing mailing list). Thanks.

Phisherman Blues

(July 23rd, 2005 - 1:31AM)

My Linux server - the host of stevekwan.com - was hacked. Not quite sure what happened, but apparently the machine has been sending a lot of phishing scams around the Net. Thankfully it hasn't been spamming me.

Anyway, I guess that shakes my confidence in the theory that Linux is so secure. I'm sure there are a whole myriad of penguin fuckers out there who will accuse me of not R'ing TFM or something equally ludicrous, but TFM or not, I've never had such security problems with a Windows machine.

The nice thing about not having much important data is that there's little to lose when your machine gets compromised. This wasn't really a setback for me, except for having to spend time sniffing around my server.

Oh, and apparently a former Linux instructor I know dumped his wife for a student.

Xenogears

(July 22nd, 2005 - 11:08PM)

Great game. Oldie, but fun. I've been playing it on my PSX emulator. In fact, I'm really looking forward to playing it this weekend. Does that make me a loser?

I've come to the conclusion that this blog doesn't use nearly enough XML. I should XMLify the whole thing.

What I did

(July 20th, 2005 - 11:14PM)

My itinerary for today:

• Drank four cups of coffee
• Spent four hours in meetings
• Attempted to develop a website using <div> tags and no tables, and failed
• Got sassy with online classmates in Ethics.

I'm starting to wonder...

(July 19th, 2005 - 11:22PM)

If it's worth trying to teach an old dog new tricks.

I'm having a heck of a time trying to convince the boss to change his ways. I think we've got a lot more potential now, and it's not being efficiently used. The problem with my boss is that he doesn't want to listen. I've got advice, and he doesn't want to hear what I'm saying.

It's incredibly frustrating to be in a position where your input is not valued.

Dunning's great idea

(July 14th, 2005 - 10:50PM)

Mike has gotten into the habit of posting his current interests (comics, bookware, etc.) on his site. What a great idea! Dunning, if it's okay with you I'd like to adopt it for my site.

Current music: Armchair Cynics - Bang
Current game: Xenogears
Current book: Jim Collins - Good to Great

insight++

(July 9th, 2005 - 3:48PM)

If there's one critical point I've learned in my journey as a software engineer, it's this:

No matter how bright you are, or how hard you try, your singular effort doesn't matter. The effort of the team is all that counts.

Quite a revelation, seeing as how egos run rampant in this trade. But what I've discovered is that the efforts of one are rarely greater than the efforts of a team. So shelf the egos, geeks. Play with others.

A great song has been circulating on CFOX: Bang, by Armchair Cynics. The song is available on the 604 Records website. As much as I hate to endorse anything produced by Chad Kroeger, these guys are so hot right now.

How far we've come

(July 7th, 2005 - 8:02PM)

Pictures provided by id Software.

STRESS

(July 4th, 2005 - 11:14PM)

Once again, the stress of work pisses me off.

Although this time I don't really have much of a reason to be stressed. Rather, it has come to light that all the work I did for Mr. Consultant is completely crap. Not due to my part, but due to the design (the work of Mr. Consultant).

So it looks like we're going to scrap two months of work as a result. As much as my ego may be offended by having to throw out two months of labor, I also feel vindicated because everyone finally knows I was right.

The sad thing is the wasted work. It's always a shame to waste time, especially when you're part of a small company. Hopefully we learn.

Canada: Sexy since 1867

(July 3rd, 2005 - 5:13PM)

As Sadie would say: Canada! Sexy since 1867.

Sarah and I went out to a beach and played volleyball with some friends. Pictures are available in my gallery.

The remainder of the weekend has been spent playing video games. And not just me. Sarah has been playing them too. I've been a little worried, because she hates it when I sit around playing games, but she's been doing it too. She says she's having a good time, so I won't interfere.

My games:

• Doom 3
• Far Cry
• Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind

Sarah's games:

• Age of Empires

Sarah and I went to see War of the Worlds. My expectations were low, as Roger Ebert panned the movie and we tend to have similar tastes. However, his biggest complaint revolved around the tripods - the large three-legged robots that attack Earth in the movie. He says he didn't like them. Seeing as how they have a prominent role in the movie, I can see why your opinion of War of the Worlds could be lessened if you thought the tripods look stupid. I personally thought they looked fine, so maybe that's why I enjoyed the film.

The aliens in this movie don't mess around. You never learn much about them. You are never really sure where they are from, or why they invaded. No reasons are provided for their actions. But that's really quite realistic; if aliens were to invade Earth, I doubt they'd give us advance notice of who they are and why they're attacking. I personally think that the whole mystery of the aliens' motives adds to the movie.

Sarah and I were discussing the role of Tom Cruise in the movie. I don't know much about Scientology, but isn't putting Tom Cruise in a role where he fights aliens sort of like putting Mel Gibson in a role as Judas? I thought Scientologists had this thing with aliens. Then again, this is a completely ignorant comment, as I don't know anything about Scientology other then that celebrities love it. If you happen to know anything about Scientology, don't bother commenting on this question as I really don't care one way or the other.