I certainly am.

An explanation via TechCrunch: “Nithin Mathews, Anders Lyhne Christensen, Rehan O’Grady, and Marco Dorigo are researchers from Universite Libre de Bruxelles and Instituto Universitario de Lisboa and they are leading us down the primrose path towards human extinction. More precisely, they’re using a method called specially-targetted communication. The flying robot “selects” ground robots and communicates with them by changing LED colors. Once the airborne robot sends the right signals to the ground robots, they can work together to move over and around obstacles that the ground robots cannot see.”

Is it mobile optimization? Is it a marketing code? Is it some sort of exclusive or viral URL? I have no idea. The 007 website did a good job optimizing their site for mobile. The weird thing is, they added a device tag to the URL that seems to do absolutely nothing.

You can replace the device name with any word and the site will work all the same. The site doesn’t detect your device and direct you to the appropriate page/URL, the tag appears to just be there. Odd at best, confusing at worst.

If anyone has any insight into the real world function of this anomaly, please share!

(Thanks to Daring Fireball for catching this.)

If the software you develop is not easy and natural to use, it will most likely fail once it hits the hands of real-world users. Usability and functionality are everything when it comes to software success. In one of our blog posts from last week, Jamie Saine emphasized just that in sharing a video she found showing a series of real world on-the-street tests of Windows 8 and different users’ reactions. The video showed that in the tests conducted, users found Windows 8 to be confusing and very un-intuitive.

Recently, I came across this video of three-year-old Julian using Windows 8 in-the-wild. This little boy has only had moderate experience with Windows 8, yet Julian seems to know the software in-and-out. As father of Julian “AdamDesrosiers” says in his YouTube post:

“The long and short of it is: If my 3 years old son can learn Windows 8 through very moderate usage, anybody with half a brain can do so too.”

If a three-year-old can do it – we can too, right? Share your thoughts about Windows 8 in the comments section.

So you have this great idea to reverse the effects of climate change. Good job. The only problem, you have no idea if it will work, or if it will destroy civilization as we know it. And of course,  there’s no way to test your theory in-the-wild. That’s the situation that the Carnegie Institution for Science finds themselves in with their idea to use aerosols to thwart rising temperatures. Here’s the story from The Register:

Solar geoengineering basically works by reflecting sunshine back into space, thereby offsetting global warming. Scientists would pump aerosols into the stratosphere or create low altitude marine clouds to scatter solar heat from the Earth.

But geoengineering has a whole host of potential side effects, where, for instance, attempting to eradicate the effects of climate change has different consequences in different countries and could result in totally unforeseen fallout. Most boffins don’t want to meddle in such global forces.

But a new study shows that geoengineering could work if it is targeted by region.

The study found that fixing the Arctic Sea ice loss would require much less shading from the sun. The solar geoengineering would be varied with different amounts of sunlight deflected by region and by season.

Of course, the methods of this kind of geoengineering are theoretical, so the study can only go so far. The boffins acknowledged that even though they used a state-of-the-art model, any real world results would produce unanticipated outcomes.

Read the Rest >>>

You know those tech products or add-ons that just drive you nuts? You can’t figure out why they keep being produced in the same awful design, but yet they appear time and time again. These are the real world products that aren’t so in-the-wild friendly.

PC World’s Michael Brown put together a top 10 list of his PC product pet peeves. Here’s a look:

“10. Twist ties that can’t be reused. These fasteners were once made from coated wire that could be re-used again and again, but now many companies are wrapping annoying plastic twist ties around cables when they package their products. The newfangled ties are exceedingly difficult to extricate from the cable they’re wrapped around, and when you finally manage to unwind them, they remain “sprung” and utterly useless.

9. Ethernet patch cables that aren’t labeled as to whether they’re CAT5, CAT5e, or CAT6. Call me a pedant, but these categories exist for a reason. You’ll want to use at least CAT5e cable to move data over your network at gigabit speed. CAT6 cable is better at reducing crosstalk (electrical signals bleeding into adjacent wires), and it can support throughput up to 10 gigabits per second. CAT6 is backward compatible with CAT5 and CAT5e.

8. Glossy, lacquer-like finishes that show every fingerprint and speck of dust they collect—and then suffer from scuffs and scratches when you try to wipe them clean. This is especially annoying on hardware that’s meant to be handled frequently and on products that are horizontally oriented. I’ve seen these fragile finishes applied to everything from routers to speakers to all-in-one computers with touchscreens. Note to manufacturers: If you must wrap your product in yards of thin plastic film to protect it from the cardboard box you ship it in, you’re using the wrong material!

7. Buttons located right at the edge of a laptop, monitor, or other device, so that you inadvertently press the button every time you pick up, move, or reposition the hardware. The optical drive trays on laptops are particularly vexing. Maybe PC manufacturers follow Apple’s example and make the eject button a key on the keyboard.

6. Laptop keyboards with spacebars that travel so deep into the well that your thumbs slam painfully against the edge of the well.”

Do you feel Michael Brown’s in-the-wild product pain? Read the rest here. What products get under your skin? Let us know in the comments section.

What happens when your end users don’t find your software intuitive? They don’t like your software and don’t want to use it.

Case in point, this on-the-street trial of Windows 8 conducted by Chris Pirillo. Chris stopped everyday people and had them test drive the new Windows UI that is set to hit shelves later this month. What’s most worrisome is that all of these people have prior Windows experience, can articulate what they’re looking for and are young enough to have been using computers most of their lives.

Did you feel the earthquake yesterday? Here in Massachusetts, the uTest headquarters is still standing and everything remains in its place. However, the momentary rattle sure caused load problems across media websites and cellular connections.

Several people reported that Boston.com’s website was down during periods of time after the quake. In addition, Engadget reported cell phone and landline service crashes:

“Verizon Wireless has released the following statement on Twitter: ‘Seeing no reports of damage to our wireless network. There was some network congestion in the East after tremors. Continuing to monitor.’

T-Mobile was feeling left out and sent us an email: ‘T-Mobile’s network is experiencing higher call volumes in all areas and counties affected by the earthquake. If customers are experiencing temporary difficultly placing calls due to network congestion, we advise them to use SMS or E-Mail until call volumes return to normal.’”

All types of software and technology should be in-the-wild tested for load problems. While earthquakes may not happen often – there are countless different kinds of events that could take place and cause serious network and web congestion. By in-the-wild testing to make sure your app functions under peak loads, you can avoid discouraged customers when a real world event does occur.

Did you experience any post-quake issues? Let us know in the comments section.

Rolling out new features and technology to select markets for a bit of in-the-wild testing has been all the rage lately for location-based businesses in the US – Metro-North Rail, Burger King and Walmart have all done it lately. Now that trend is spreading across the pond as UK grocery chain Sainsbury starts some in-the-wild testing of their own.

Sainsbury is testing a new scan-and-go app for iOS and Android that will allow shoppers to scan items as they shop and quickly pay at the register (or till if you will) without unloading their carts. The process uses a combination of QR and barcode scanning (which in my opinion might prove to be a bit burdensome – but that’s what testing is for!). Here are some details from The Next Web:

The trial is taking place in three stores with a limited number of customers at the moment and these shoppers can download the app from the App Store or Google play and register using their Nectar loyalty card.

In stores, customers need to scan the ‘Check In’ QR code at the location and then use the phone’s camera to scan bar codes on products as they shop. As items are added, a running total shows how much a customer is spending and possible savings along the way. Customers then pay scan the ‘Check Out’ QR code at a till and pay as usual with cash or card. …

Sainsbury is running the trial with 800 shoppers spread across three locations – interesterd customers can even volunteer to be part of the trial.

Read the full story at The Next Web >>>

Can you imagine taking a 24 mile leap down to earth off a platform in space? It takes a tremendous amount of bravery and preparation to perform (and survive) a stunt like that. On Sunday, the world watched as Austrian Felix Baumgartner earned his new nickname “Fearless Felix”.

Felix broke the sound barrier in a free fall from 24 miles up in space. Fearless Felix’s free fall is said to have broken several world records including the longest free fall without a parachute, the highest jump from a platform and the highest vertical velocity. Felix reached a speed of 833.9 miles per hour during his four minute and 20-second fall.

Without the right planning and preparation Felix’s jump could have been fatal. So how did Felix ensure his survival? By testing in-the-wild, of course.

In a CBS News article prior to the jump Mark Strassmann cites the importance of real world testing:

“Dr. Jonathan Clark, the mission’s medical director, has monitored Baumgartner’s practice jumps. The most recent, in July, was from 97,000 feet, 18 miles above earth. His top speed? 536 miles per hour.

…Asked about the feat and if he’s nervous, Baumgartner said, ‘Oh yeah, because this is a step into the unknown. Because at the very end of the day if something goes wrong I have to pay for it.’”

A feat like this could not have been accomplished without testing. The mission’s planning team did not simply virtually test or calculate the results of a 24 mile leap – they put Felix out there and had him perform real world practice jumps.

What did you think of Felix’s 24 mile leap? Share your thoughts in the comments section.

With tablets getting more popular, people are undoubtedly going to be looking to use the light, easily portable devices in lieu of laptops in more and more situations. A laptop isn’t heavy, but it seems so burdensome once you get used to toting a sleek tablet around. The one major factor that is slowing the transition to tablets-all-the-time is the lack of word processing/spreadsheet software (and the keyboard that makes those programs usable). Productivity apps that claim to solve this issue have hit the tablet market, but are they any good?

This is the exact dilemma that Bree Fowler, of The Star, faced. So Bree downloaded three tablet productivity apps and did a little in-the-wild testing. Here’s a peek at what she found:

Quickoffice (iOS and Android)

The $20 app includes programs similar to Microsoft’s Word for documents, Excel for spreadsheets and PowerPoint for presentations. But the programs have some shortcomings and don’t mesh perfectly with the Microsoft versions.

For instance, Quickword, the word processing program, doesn’t include a spellcheck feature. Rather, it has an autocorrect function similar to those in phone email and messaging programs. While autocorrect is nice, it’s not always enough.

iWork (iOS)

Pages, for word processing, Numbers, for spreadsheets, and Keynote, for presentations. They cost $10 each, or $30 for the set, making iWork pricier than Quickoffice. …

Pages, for word processing, Numbers, for spreadsheets, and Keynote, for presentations. They cost $10 each, or $30 for the set, making iWork pricier than Quickoffice.

Microsoft Office (Windows)

Working with Microsoft Office on a tablet is much like working with it on a desktop. As a result, there’s less of a learning curve than with Quickoffice or iWork. …

Microsoft’s version of Office for the tablet seems best suited for business users who crave seamless connections between their computer and on-the-go tablet.

The Final Consensus

If you’re serious about replacing your laptop with a tablet, regardless of what brand, you probably want to invest in a good external keyboard. With both the Apple and Samsung tablets, typing was very awkward, whether I laid them flat or propped them up at an angle. …

Whatever you decide, don’t expect to shelve your laptop in favour of a tablet or phone anytime soon. These programs fill in a gap, but are far from replacements.

Read Bree’s full assessment at The Star >>>