Andre Alforque

Doorways for Awareness

2026-06-17T10:27:35.522-05:00

Interesting deep dive into the evolution of The Internet. Did Infinite Scroll mark the beginning of the end? Can we create doors to context shift/make us more aware traversing the world?

I'm trying to use YouTube less and Nebula.tv more. It's one of the doors that helps moderate the content I consume. (Most creators post on both platforms, so that's why I share YT links.) I think this is also why I like using a physical camera as opposed to my phone; it's another doorway. Using a desktop computer as opposed to a laptop/tablet. Eating meals at the dining table. I've consciously been doing these things perhaps for the subconscious need to create doorways? 🤔

Simple Backup

2026-05-03T12:31:00.002-05:00

Stayed up until 4am setting up my external HDD (hard drive) and running backups. I have two 10 TB HDDs by different manufacturers which I use to backup 1) all raw photos, and 2) Dropbox.

Last year was my first time using robocopy, and it worked great! Especially when synchronizing the changing directories and files of Dropbox. In Dropbox, I'll move files from Camera Uploads/ into specified YYYY/MM/ folders for example; RC will make those changes. However, last year I didn't take good notes, so I had to relearn how to use the command. It's a simple CLI/PowerShell command, but since the Dropbox backup is destructive, I wanted test runs to verify everything is correct; especially specifying which drive is source, and which is destination. I took better notes this year, so hopefully it's much easier when I do this again in about 6 months time. Here's the doc in case anyone is interested.

AI: Artificial Intelligence Bias in American Culture

2026-05-02T09:49:00.001-05:00

"The odds of establishing a true Low Traffic Neighborhood (LTN) that encompasses the entirety of The Nettelhorst School are effectively zero."

I got into it with Google Gemini today. It kept pushing back on my ideas of LTNs: Low Traffic Neighborhoods. It insisted I conform: push for bump-outs and the like that have already been put into place and are ineffective, stating "You are confronting a structural reality of American urban planning...".

After calling it out and having it critique itself, it acquiesced. However, it stalled at being able to provide the next steps, instead leaving it to me to figure it out, asking "...what methods ... align better with your strengths and available resources?".

full text: https://gemini.google.com/share/a432fa5731ab

Finding Myself in the Stars: An Autistic Reading of Pixar’s Elio

2026-04-28T11:52:00.003-05:00

(note: created using Gemini AI)

TITLE: Finding Myself in the Stars: An Autistic Reading of Pixar’s Elio

(Visual: [Camera: Medium shot, host looking directly at the lens. Warm, inviting lighting. B-roll of Elio looking up at the sky plays in the background.])

HOST: History is written by the victors. But what happens to the stories written by those who don't fit the mold? When Pixar’s Elio debuted, the critical consensus was swift and unforgiving. They called it a "lackluster science-fiction adventure." They declared the protagonist "hard to connect with." But I want to challenge that baseline assumption. Why, exactly, was he hard to connect with? Was the failure in the film’s design—or in the audience's capacity for empathy?

As a late-diagnosed autistic adult, I didn't experience a lackluster adventure. I experienced a profound, undeniable reflection. Let's ask ourselves: what does it mean to truly see a mind at work?

(Visual: [Camera pushes in slightly. Text on screen: 1. The Architecture of Connection])

HOST: Consider the architecture of connection. The film doesn't hand us the label "autistic." But it demands we look at the evidence. We see the selective eating. We see the physical regulation—the fidgeting, the stimming. We see a boy who can map the emotional topography of others, yet stands completely lost in his own. We see the meltdowns of an overwhelmed system, anchored by a fierce, all-consuming passion for space.

Critics often point to Pixar’s 2020 short film Loop as the gold standard for neurodivergent representation. But ask yourself: how does Loop actually function? Its plot relies on a naive co-protagonist to translate the autistic lead's experience for the audience. It provides a comfortable, neurotypical buffer. Elio, however, refuses to make that concession. It refuses to hold the viewer's hand. By making Elio our solitary anchor, the film forces an uncomfortable proposition: connect directly with his unfiltered autistic experience, or risk feeling as isolated and alienated as he does.

For the critics, this was an alien landscape. But for those of us who grew up in that exact isolation? It was a homecoming. Look closely at Elio. Is he unapproachable, or is he simply speaking a frequency the neurotypical world refuses to tune into?

(Visual: [Camera angle changes to a slightly wider shot. B-roll of the Voyager 1 museum exhibit from the film.])

HOST: That frequency is rooted in a sweeping, historical legacy: the human drive to find our place in the dark. Elio doesn't just wander into a museum; he steps into the continuum of our greatest explorers. When you hear Kate Mulgrew narrating the Voyager exhibit, it isn't just an Easter egg. It is a structural anchor. It connects Elio to Captain Janeway, to the pioneers of science fiction.

And then—the voice of Carl Sagan. Archival. Real. Why include Sagan? Because Sagan understood that looking outward is how we survive looking inward. The film elevates Elio's specific, intense interest from a mere childhood quirk into the grand, enduring human endeavor of seeking contact.

(Visual: [Camera: Medium shot. B-roll showcasing the glowing, translucent aliens and the vibrant "Communiverse".])

HOST: This reverence is the catalyst for absolute awe. When Elio ascends to the Communiverse, the animators don't just give us a standard alien world. They give us biology. Tardigrades. Bioluminescence. They give us the visual equivalent of an autistic special interest: hyper-detailed, vibrant, all-consuming. But we have to ask: is this just spectacle? Or is it a meticulously crafted simulation of how a neurodivergent mind experiences a moment of unbridled, safe discovery?

(Visual: [Camera pushes in close. The lighting slightly dims or cools to reflect the shift in tone. Text on screen: The Calculus of Grief])

HOST: Yet, every ascent requires a descent. And here is where the narrative shifts from wonder into the harsh calculus of grief. Because the laws of this story dictate that Elio must return to Earth. As someone who has lived this alienation, we must confront an uncomfortable truth.

Look at "Other Elio"—the clone left behind. The clone who receives the unconditional love, the external validation, the effortless acceptance from peers and family at camp. How many of us have built an "Other Elio"? How many of us have constructed a mask, a perfectly acceptable projection, just to survive the neurotypical world? It is a devastating, quiet tragedy to watch a fiction be loved more than your reality.

(Visual: [Camera returns to the standard medium shot. Lighting warms up again. Text on screen: The Arc of Hope])

HOST: But the arc of this narrative is long, and it bends toward hope. Elio is not Inside Out. It is not a story trapped entirely within the confines of emotional processing. It is a structural, external shift. It is the story of a child who stops apologizing for his differences and forces the world to make room for them.

The pivot point is Aunt Olga. Originally written as his mother, the creators made a deliberate, structural change to make her an aunt. Why does that matter? Because it shifts the dynamic from a parent's inherent duty to an external, earned validation. By the end of the film, she doesn't just tolerate him. She accepts the entirety of his difference.

(Visual: [Camera: Medium-wide shot. Host smiles warmly.])

So, perhaps missed the mark for those looking for the standard, comfortable formula. But challenge your perspective. If you know what it means to sit in the dark and wait for a signal... this film isn't a failure. It is a sweeping declaration. Our differences are not deficits waiting for a cure. Sometimes, they are the exact traits that make us the perfect ambassadors to an unwritten universe.

Letter to My Parents

2020-03-26T17:02:00.000-05:00

Dear Mom & Dad,

Please practice social distancing, and adhere to calls to shelter-in-place. Early results from clinical studies indicate a significant number of people infected with SARS-Cov2/COVID-19 show no symptoms. These carriers are unsuspectingly spreading the virus and the disease it causes. Already, there are 16 positive tests confirmed in Lancaster, California as of Tuesday, March 24th. Today, LA County reports 1,216 confirmed cases, including 21 lost souls. Compare that to Illinois which was at 1,285 positive tests confirmed 3 days ago, and today is nearly double at 2,538 positive tests confirmed; across both urban and rural areas of Illinois.

Our duty to slow the spread of this virus is two fold: 1) buy time for a cure and vaccine to be produced and distributed, and 2) prevent our existing medical structure from being overwhelmed. Remember that while this pandemic is occurring, people still have urgent medical needs. The current system has finite capacity in terms of people (doctors and nurses), equipment (particularly personal protective equipment), and appropriate physical space for patients (with necessary equipment and proper hygiene). Even before this pandemic, emergency department visits due to influenza-like illness are high this season. This particularly bad flu season exacerbates the situation at our medical facilities.

We do these things not only to benefit ourselves and our family, but as our Catholic duty to be neighbors to our friends, enemies, communities, country, and humanity.

At the very least, please continue to diligently wash your hands, disinfect surfaces, and practice overall good hygiene.

Thank you for listening!

Love,
Kathleen & Andre, Alexis, Valerie.

SARS-CoV2 COVID-19 Don't Panic

2020-03-16T07:10:00.004-05:00

I am trying. I am doing my best not to panic, to keep anxiety at the level of concern. But it's difficult and I'll tell you why. Right now, social distancing seems to have started, fueled, and caused by communities needing to act. They feel that need to act because we have no faith in our government leaders at any level. We have no faith in our government leaders because they did not have a plan, nor have proposed a plan, nor have put into action anything resembling a plan. We don't have a plan because it takes hard work and determination, it takes grit to create and maintain a plan against a future foe that will take an unpredictable form. And nobody in the government took that time and effort and grit to create the plan. And since we have no plan, we have no leadership. And since we have no leadership, we have no faith in leaders. And since we have no faith in leaders, we simply return to basics. We look after ourselves. We selfishly do the things we can to control what we can control given the little education that we have available to us, no matter how unsubstantiated or outrageous.

Yes, I am trying. But this ship is sinking and I can only bail water from this small pail I happen to have.

[EDIT TO ADD]
Sadly, protecting those most at risk is only a secondary concern for me because the panic is pounding on the door. I know it's morally wrong, but it seems socially acceptable in our current environment: that we're looking at deaths by the numbers, and not the people that they are. I'm stupidly drinking the sand not because I'm thirsty, but because I can't tell the difference. The signal-to-noise ratio is completely whacked... I mean, why are comedians like John Oliver and Trevor Noah my beacons, and not journalists like Korva Coleman and Judy Carline Woodruff, or political leaders like Governor JB Pritzker or #45?

Nettelhorst Elementary School Stampede Fundraiser

2018-05-01T18:33:00.000-05:00

Alexis will be participating in the Stallion Stampede walkathon on May 11th.

Please help support her school.

Click here to donate.

Happy Fourth Birthday!

2016-05-10T13:20:00.002-05:00

Dear Alexis,

The past year you have experienced an immense amount of mental growth. From speech to emotions, you have been inundated with many difficult situations. For me, it's a harsh reminder of the black-and-white views of my own past, and the difficulty (near impossibility) to instigate change in people. On the optimistic side: as parents we learn and employ varying tactics to help you gain empathy, and for you to learn to keep an open mind in this seemingly unfair world set against your joy and happiness.

Regardless of how you act/react, I always love you. At times you have bent me beyond my personal breaking point. Looking back it's difficult to understand the exact factors both within and outside my control leading to that point. But because it's you, I must find ways to deal with it and move on. There's no giving up. I must have pliability both with my memory and my emotions. Despite the absurdity of your stubbornness and your demands, we still need to understand or find the underlying cause of your troubles, and help you deal with that situation. More often than not, we fail. But as you experience intense emotional situations, we always strive to grow your arsenal to handle what life throws your way.

You have an increasing social awareness. Contrary to fears of you "inheriting" my shyness, you display a healthy amount of extroversion. You enjoy playing with friends at school, and chatting with family you have not seen or heard in weeks. On the playground you enjoy leading others around. Around strangers you will lower your voice, but respond to questions and comments. You have an acute awareness of conversations and social situations. Like majority of the population you hate feeling left out.

As I stumble through changes to being a better father, you relentlessly drive forward to being a better daughter. As mentioned in the past, your presence truly drives me to a better place. The experience and change of parenthood is indescribable, and seemingly inconceivable. Yet, here I find ourselves growing and learning from each other on all levels. Thank you!

Love,

Your Dad

Progress in United States

2015-12-07T11:31:00.002-06:00

To Senator Dick Durbin, Senator Mark Kirk, and Representative Mike Quigley, In light of US Attorney General investigations into Chicago PD, I want to know what is being done to protect both the rights of citizens and the lives of our law enforcement personnel? How do we balance the 1% of criminals ruining the every day lives of the 99%? It's understanding that this is a difficult question but changes must be made towards progress in the United States. As a constituent I urge that we work in small strides towards the ultimate goal of eliminating private ownership of firearms. RE: http://artandeverythingafter.com/i-fit-the-description/ Similar incident happened to a friend that was riding a motorcycle. What's worse: his incident included a helicopter with night sun, and a taste of pavement as an officer dug a knee into his back to detain him. As they left the officer muttered, "you fit the description of someone fleeing police on a Ninja motorcycle." He was riding a Yamaha, not a Kawasaki. On the flip side, the job of law enforcement is not to be taken without suspicion. Stories of officer shootings are all too common, and some very disturbing (http://abc7.com/news/dash-cam-images-of-west-covina-traffic-stop-shooting-released/989093/). We train officers to respond to worst-case-scenarios with assault weaponry because it's the current norm of society. Something needs to change. We cannot continue as-is because the current laws by which we're governed and the state of our current societal norms: all are barely hobbling through year by year, day by day, minute by minute, second by ticking second. Innocent people are being wounded, some are sadly dying. It will be a long journey to a better US but we know it will be worth the effort. Please help us get there by proposing and/or supporting legislation that continues progress into a better future for me and my wife, our daughter, US society, and humanity in general. Regards, Andre Alforque

Review: Scrum by Jeff Sutherland

2015-08-09T19:08:00.001-05:00

Quick book review: http://amzn.com/038534645X

This book inspires me to be a better Scrum Master for the team. It provides solid advice to incrementally improve not only our team performance but also my personal skills.

Biggest takeaways: Work as a team in an honest, safe environment. Find weaknesses of the process to solve missed deadlines, poor performance, or large amounts of technical debt. Always improve or evolve, never be complacent with status quo.

Pros: Great anecdotes regarding Scrum origins, and also successful transformations from waterfall into Scrum. Sutherland discusses common struggles of implementation, and prescribes fairly simple cures.

Cons: Overly optimistic view with little to no stumbling once Scrum is in place. Very few concrete demonstrations of blocker removal in a software development environment. Large assumption that Scrum implemented across entire organization.

The Year 2013

2013-12-31T12:35:00.001-06:00

It's difficult to reflect on the past year. Many aspects remain in flux. I minimized my belongings by releasing all cycling equipment. I left Tribune Company into an unknown world of contracting. I picked up golf, again. I acquired technology that exponentially improved productivity and quality. Yet with all these changes I feel more distant from family and friends, and more disconnected from reality.

Fleeting Memories

2013-07-22T10:55:00.002-05:00

As an amateur photographer, why are there so few pictures of my daughter? The simple answer is time.

The life of a photographer, life behind the lens is disconnected from reality. On its foundation are the technicality of camera setup, lens choice, and other second-nature decisions. Then it dissects situations; it creates potential realities to prepare for the future. During the event, it draws on preparation and experience to be at the right place at the right time, then fall back on basics when everything goes to hell (because everything that can go wrong will go wrong). After each event, it spends vast amounts of energy to cull down to a single product that reflects the story. And finally, even more energy is required to process the raw selections into a polished presentation.

Most times I'd rather just hold my daughter's hand as she walks me around the department store, or push her on the swing, or do my best to comfort and distract her when she's crying because she's hungry or sleepy.

Thankfully, I'm not a videographer! ...yet.

One-Year-Old Lessons

2013-04-30T14:48:00.000-05:00

Parenting has a way of motivating (scaring) you into openness and learning: growth. Even with the head start of nieces and a nephew, there are aspects of parenting never discussed that emerge; mainly: the relationship with your partner. While the barrage of emotions is not new, the mad pace at which these emotions arrive felt like being a child all over again. Especially since we both were dealing with situations completely foreign.

My biggest misconception? The amount of control I would have over any situation. All it takes is one fever to feel immensely powerless and useless. For panic to take over. For target fixation to narrow my view on only one symptom: the temperature reading.

And even little decisions have me reeling because of their novelty. When do we change diaper size? What solid foods should we feed her? Which stroller should we buy? What should she wear today? Does she need heavier layers of clothing? Will she be too hot? Where can I get diapers and wipes the cheapest?

The biggest luxury we've lost that we didn't know we had is time. Time to sleep. Time alone with our thoughts. Time together. Time for work. Time for family & friends. Time for a movie. Time to prepare and cook a meal. Time to sleep. Time to eat. Time to watch our favorite TV show. Time to sleep (did I mention that already?).

It's easy to see why people turn conservative after having children: it's easy to take the "black and white" path, where answers come quickly. But I've tried and continue to take the more difficult path of questioning issues, experimenting methods and tactics. I'm coming to grips with the reality that there is no "right" path to raising a "perfect" child; there is only the direction of loving and raising our child.

I don't know how we could do this without the help of family and friends. I'm eternally grateful for the candid conversations, and advice and guidance, and reality checks, and sympathy and empathy, and motivation, and generosity.

UX Checklist (WIP)

2013-03-01T14:27:00.002-06:00

- Assess influence

  - 1%, 5%, 10%...
  - complete UT Project Charter
  - set expectations
    - learning experience
  - hypothesize personas
    - traits
    - behaviors
    - goals
- Recruit
  - build rapport
  - determine likeness to personas
- Interview
  - continue rapport
  - discover
- Analysis
  - Brainwriting (written, silent) not brainstorming (vocal)
  - grouping
  - QUICKLY CURB TALK AND IDEAS ABOUT SOLUTIONS
- Presentation
  - tell a story
  - back the story up with data

Influences

Google's Usability Lab
Usability Testing. Oh, The Things You Can Learn. By Jared Spool
Usability Guidelines
UIE Variants
UIE Dissect Failures
Farnam Street Blog: Mental Models
Dana Chisnell interview by Tomer Sharon
Richard Feynman interview
Mike Elgan: Group Think Kills Creativity
various other sources

Photograph File Organization: Exiftool

2013-01-20T12:21:00.000-06:00

Using exiftool by Phil Harvey, I performed numerous operations on digital photographs to clean up over 10 years of images spread across numerous platforms. This allows me to consolidate all rendered photos into one, organized location. Below are the command line arguments used to accomplish this task.

exiftool

exiftool '-DateTimeOriginal>FileModifyDate'

Change the file's date to the photograph's date contained within EXIF. This allows me to sort photos by date and resolve conflicts.

exiftool '-Filename<${DateTimeOriginal}-$Model-$ImageWidth-$ImageHeight.%le' -d %y%m%d-%H%M%S

Change the file's name to the date and time of the photograph's date, the camera model name, and the image and height of the actual photograph. This allows me to resolve conflicts, and move smartphone/tablet photos to a different location.

exiftool -s [TAGS INSTEAD OF DESCRIPTION]

Allows you to see the tags to use within the EXIF.

-stay_open 1 -fast -fast2 -r -q -q

Performance arguments entered after using an above command and specifying the location to act upon.

Improbability of the Improbable as the New Normal

2013-01-10T12:19:00.001-06:00

+Kevin Kelly writes The Improbable is the New Normal (via Farnam Street Blog).

I wonder about this, especially as it relates to news. What news do people read? How do they chose? Why do they go deeper into some stories and not others?

In my experience: extraordinary is not the new ordinary. The Internet is not a lens that delivers the extraordinary as a focused beam. The Internet does not make us more expecting of the improbable. We will not have an insatiable appetite for the extraordinary.

Individually, we somehow choose our illumination of the day. It could be an "ordinary" photo from a relative that we find cute, or it could be an "extraordinary" photo from The Big Picture that inspires feeling. It could be a local news story about crime that makes us think twice about whipping our smartphone out while waiting for the train, or it could be an international story about a mass shooting that makes us ponder the safety of our family and our ourselves, and what it has to do with gun control.

What I find extraordinary is how the news cycled has evolved. From 24-hours in print, to a few hours in radio, to a few minutes on TV, to a few seconds on the Internet. And perhaps the speed at which information is made available rather than the information itself is truly the improbable that is the new normal.

We will be more selective about the news and media we consume, and the ways we consume it. We will be more selective about the way we share, and whom we share it with. And, hopefully we will be more skeptical of the news and media we consume, and we will form our own opinions rather than eat the opinions we are fed.

Creativity and UX and Design and Life

2012-10-24T14:40:00.000-05:00

This short, 3-minute video hints at the importance of paying attention. The importance of observation is not only for good UX. It's not only for good design. It's not only for creativity. It's for all aspects of life! Observation is not only paying attention, but also being open and receptive to what the environment presents. Park your bias and preconceptions at the door; soak the world in.

In other words: be like Dr. Gregory House! ;)

via http://venture-lab.org/creativity/ (Lecture 2)

Excerpt from inGenius

Are You Paying Attention?

Acute observation is a key skill for gaining valuable knowledge about the world around you. This knowledge is the fuel for your imagination. Steve Blank, a serial entrepreneur, provides a great example. He has been on the founding team of eight companies, and many people have praised Steve for his creativity and fearlessness. He chuckles and says, “I’m not brave. I’m just incredibly observant.” Steve has discovered that the more you observe, the more data you collect, the more patterns you see, and the more boldly you can act. As Steve would say, “This is a big idea!”

In 1988, for example, Steve was brought in to run marketing at a company called SuperMac, which made graphics boards for computers. At the time the business had just emerged from bankruptcy. The company had only a 10 percent market share, which was way below the other two leading players in the field. As Steve put it, “They were twentieth in a field of three.” Soon after he arrived, Steve noticed an enormous pile of fifteen thousand product registration cards that had been sent in by customers. They were stacked up recklessly in the corner of the break room. He asked his colleagues about this massive stack of cards and learned that they were just piling up, year after year. Everyone was much too busy executing their plans to take a look at these seemingly meaningless pieces of paper. Steve started digging through the pile himself and quickly realized that they contained a gold mine of information.

Steve pulled out three hundred of the most recently received cards and started calling these customers himself. He asked them what business they were in, how they used the graphics board, what its most important attributes were, how it could be improved, and how much they would be willing to pay for it. He learned a tremendous amount from each call, and the collective information allowed Steve to make choices about product positioning and pricing, with great confidence that they would work. Within a short time, Steve overhauled the promotion of the product line and increased the prices. As a result, the company’s market share increased from 10 to 70 percent. This would never have happened if Steve had not paid attention to the little pieces of paper that others ignored.

Another example comes from David Friedberg, the founder of the Climate Corporation. While working at Google, David passed a small bike-rental shack each day as he drove to work. Over time he noticed a pattern: whenever it rained, the shack was closed for business. This observation led to the insight that millions of businesses are influenced by the weather, including farms, movie theaters, and ski resorts. He decided to leave Google to start a company that sells insurance to protect businesses from weather-related losses. David would never have come up with this idea, and launched this successful venture, had he not paid careful attention to the world outside his car while driving to work. This story illustrates how paying attention can reveal valuable opportunities and the prior story shows how observation uncovers solutions that are hidden in plain sight.

Connected Devices - Surprising Behavior

2012-09-14T11:53:00.001-05:00

Over the course of this year I had the opportunity to interview nearly 100 people. While the focus of these interviews varied, inevitably we talked about the connected devices in each person’s life. Feelings towards these devices varied from despise (“I hate it when people have their face buried in their phone while at a party!”) to love (“I don’t know what I’d do without my iPhone!”). These feelings varied regardless of demographics: age, income, etc. In my observations I stumbled across a consistent behavior: safety and security.

Physical Safety

A common theme amongst consumers is the need to stow connected devices in public for physical safety. Whether to deter theft by not advertising, or to keep attention to the road, the common theme was to stow your device while walking or commuting. The method of commute affects these observations (in Chicago: the Metra is considered more secure than the ‘L’ due to its enclosed space, fewer stops, and presence of an Engineer roaming the cars), but all observations using local city transit are in agreement. Most people perform brief, targeted actions on their devices. Others keep their devices stowed.

Digital Security

A common theme amongst people is the need to avoid identity theft. This is despite the low probability of this occurrence. (Wikipedia cites a 2008 document claiming 2%; With the proliferation of social networking, Blogging, and online email platforms, I assume this probability reduces.) People either employ inventive tactics (a set of passwords depending on the situation) or more likely an artifact to keep track of individual passwords (Excel, dedicated application, addressbook).

“Where do We Go from Here? …You Must Love Me!”

Current active measures are transitional. People need passive measures enacted by responsible companies to enable security. New products and software must keep our customers safe and secure in a passive manner. From today’s “car mode” that keeps interaction brief and simple, to tomorrow’s Google Glass that integrates real and virtual interfaces: we must love our customers’ desire to be safe. From today’s KeePassX that creates and organizes a plethora of passwords, to tomorrow’s OpenID that centralizes and secures the customer’s identity: we must love our customers’ desire to be secure. Let's build products and software that always keeps our customers safe and secure.

Ad Hoc Usability Testing: Webcam Positioning

2012-08-03T14:15:00.001-05:00

The overhead camera was proving to be an issue. The Logitech C310/C260 webcams have a 40cm minimum focus distance (infinite focus). The old setup positioned the camera too close. I converted a desk lamp into a multi-position webcam holder, allowing us to position the webcam farther from the device. The second webcam is positioned at the elbow and will point at the participant.

Ad Hoc Usability Testing: Smartphone/Tablet Stand

2012-07-31T14:26:00.003-05:00

When performing usability tests, we want to record user actions. Easy enough on a computer with screen capture, a bit more difficult with a smartphone or tablet. Unfortunately, we don't have the budget (or fabrication machine) for a latch-on device such as the Mr. Tappy or Mod 1000. Next best thing will be to record the device using a stationary webcam. From past experience I have found the variable placement and angle of the device in a user's hands a difficult obstacle for consistent screen recording. I need the device stationary as well. So... how about a stand?

Much like a book stand, this stand will let the device rest at a slight angle to accommodate recording, and allow the user-device interaction with relative ease.

After performing a Google image search for "cardboard book stand," I drew inspiration from this example. I found left over foam core and felt. It took plenty of measuring and some X-acto cutting to fashion the finished product pictured in the album below. Example video also available below, too.

17 Days Early

2012-05-01T21:29:00.000-05:00

April 30, 2012

3:00 AM CT - Contractions begin. Kathleen experiences moderate cramps, but the timing isn't consistent. Since we're 17 days from due, she decides they're just part of being pregnant and in her last trimester. Kathleen gets rest here and there, I sleep through the night.
8:00 AM CT - I cook us eggs and tortilla with salsa for breakfast. Kathleen notices bleeding (a bit more than spotting) and is worried about a detached placenta or some other complications (Internet searches make us all self-diagnosing, paranoid freaks). After paging her doctor, we're advised to check into triage for a once-over. Kathleen eats a light meal of bread and water, in the unlikely event she's in labor. I eat the eggs and tortilla in the kitchen to reduce the torture of Kathleen's hunger pangs. We're still pretty confident that we'll be released back into public; after all, we're still 17 days from due.
10:00 AM CT - We check into triage. Once the sensors are attached, we're told that Kathleen is having contractions. Another check shows that her contractions are about 6 minutes apart and she is 3cm dilated. Maybe we'll be asked to come back when the contractions are under 5 minutes and she is more dilated. Wait, does this mean the baby is coming now, and not in over two weeks from now?
11:15 AM CT - No time like the present to get my Tdap! I've been trying for two weeks to get this vaccination; my doctor's office ran out. When I called this morning at 9 AM, I learned a new batch had arrived, and I scheduled an appointment (thinking I'd simply drop by after our quick visit to the hospital). Instead, it's a near sprint back-and-forth to the appointment. Thankfully, the office is just down the street. It's starting to really set in for me. I think, "Wow! I'm going to be father!"
3:00 PM CT - An ultrasound is ordered to check the position of the baby: all looks good for birth. Contractions are about 4 minutes apart and she is 5cm dilated. We're admitted into the ward, officially going from Early Labor into Active Labor. Although I had a big breakfast, I'm feeling a bit hungry.
3:30 PM CT - I am tasked with getting the luggage from the car. Taking advantage of the time, I head over to Chipotle to grab a quick bite; who knows if I'll be able to eat a full meal tonight. I also drop into the apartment to grab some movies to pass the time. How is it that Kathleen has never seen Ella Enchanted?!
4:00 PM CT - We're only at 6.5cm dilation and the doctor recommends we push Pitocin to get the delivery back on track or even speed it up. Kathleen is apprehensive because of the added pressure and pain as a side-effect. She wants to proceed without an epidural; if we go with Pitocin, she decides she'll definitely get an epidural. For now we wait and monitor her progress, hoping it picks up again.
7:20 PM CT - A little bit of progress in labor, but not as much as we hoped. The choice of Pitocin is almost a given, so specialists are brought in to start the epidural process. As they check her body, her bag breaks. Labor is back on track! Pitocin is no longer necessary. However, the decision is made to proceed with the epidural because of the intensity of current contractions. I assure her that there is no right or wrong decision here; I let her know why I think that both decisions are good and support her. I can see the tiredness setting in like slow torture.
8:30 PM CT - She's at 7cm dilation, and the pain is ever increasing. Right before the epidural takes effect, she rates the contraction 8/10 but really cannot take any more (meaning it's 10/10). Despite the power of Chipotle, I'm about running on empty. The cafeteria is closed, but luckily the nurses are willing to share their coffee pot with me!
11:59 PM CT - The doctor is called in to help with the birth. Kathleen spikes a temperature of 101.7 (101.4 is the threshold). Pushing is delayed while antibiotics are pushed into Kathleen's system. It's all just a game of hurry-up and wait.

May 1, 2012

1:00 AM CT - After just 10 big pushes, Alexis is pushed into this air-breathing world. She lets out a scream as soon as she is pulled out! The doctors and nurses are taken aback by her quick adaption to breathing our air. I cut the cord. She is given a quick rub down before being placed into her mother's awaiting arms. Kathleen is near tears of joy. "She's so beautiful! I love her!" We cuddle her for several minutes. Her temperature is 102.7, and the tentative decision is made to bring her into the nursery to bring her temperature under control. But while she is cleaned and measured, her temperatures drops to the normal range; she came out hot because of Kathleen's fever. She is allowed to stay in our room, foregoing the nursery. We're now a family of three!

Google Offers + Google Latitude

2012-04-18T16:06:00.000-05:00

Today's email from Google Offers includes a "Near work" link. I cannot recall entering addresses into Google Offers; I assume it pulled my data from Google Latitude. Yay! I really enjoy and appreciate when Google products play nicely with each other.

iPhone Camera - Lens Flare

2012-04-14T17:36:00.001-05:00

The lens protector on the iPhone 4 (and other iPhones) have a tendency to get scratched. I'm not sure why Apple chose to use cheap plastic instead of glass... after all, it's a camera. I tried buffing the lens, but to no avail. Apple charges something like $30-$40 to replace the "lens."

This temporary fix cost me nothing since I already had these screen protectors in stock (I found them on Amazon for $3.66: http://amzn.com/B002C6MOO0). Why does this work? The liquid adhesive fills the tiny scratches on the lens.

Even if you don't have this problem with your iPhone camera, I'd recommend placing this screen protector on the back of your iPhone to prevent future damage.

Weening Off Upgraded Shipping

2012-04-13T09:14:00.002-05:00

Amazon Prime is awesome. Who doesn't like receiving their packages in two days, versus the "5-7 business days?" And for every single item Amazon can ship, you too can use and abuse this sense of urgency for a mere $80/month. Is there any way out of this addiction?

Amazon thinks so. With the rising costs of oil (and therefore shipping) and instability/sustainability issues surrounding oil, we're bound to see a plethora of solutions for the energy crisis. But what can Amazon do besides raise the prices for Amazon Prime? What can Amazon do to postpone (or perhaps avoid) complete backlash from its current customers? How about electronic money?

While purchasing items today, I noticed a link after the 5-7 days shipping: "Get $1 to Spend on MP3s - Learn More." That's one song. That's 1/10 of an album. Considering that I just bought a couple albums (Gotye and Lisa Hannigan) and considering my sporadic desires for a song here-and-there, this piqued my interest, and may ween me off the addiction to 2-day shipping.

Amazon Shipping: Get $1 to Spend on MP3s - Learn More

What Clothes to Pack

2012-03-09T03:11:00.001-06:00

Tonight, while doing laundry before heading out on a business trip, I thought about what clothes to pack. As I fold the clean laundry from the previous week, I realize the clothes to pack are now neatly folded in front of me.