Dao: Daddy, I pooped.
Dad: So what?
Dao: Somebody has to wash my butt.
Daddy couldn’t help laughing and had to wash his butt and flush his poops.
Dao: Daddy, you’re my best friend.

I have a horrible sense of direction; therefore, I don’t drive anywhere without my GPS navigation device. Prior to the GPS, I used MapQuest or Google Maps to get around. Even with turn-by-turn directions printed out on a piece of paper, the proximity of the distance always confused me. For instance, when the direction said drives 6.3 miles and makes a right turn on Main Street. Did I miss the turn? Had I gone too far? Why don’t I see the street sign? I either looked for road signs or found a gas station to figure out where I was. It just occurs to me now (as I am writing this essay) that I never used a map to orient myself because I also don’t have a good sense of using the maps. Somehow following a set of instructions always appealed to me over a map. Even with the GPS, I rather listen to the instructions than look at the map.

Because of my horrible sense of direction, I became a much better web designer. If I can’t figure my way around a website my users probably can’t either; therefore, I always try to make the site navigation as clear and simple as possible. In Inventing the Medium’s chapter six on “Spatial Design Strategies,” Janet Murray writes:

Websites also create a sense of place, using consistency of style sheets to unite the page displays, and including the homepage as a landmark to which other pages are all related. When the space is well designed the organization is reinforced through the experience of navigation. Each time I go to a page I get a concrete experience of the relationship of one topic to another. Designers can reinforced the experience of an information space, and make it more memorable, by using clear labels and a navigation pattern that follows a logical information hierarchy. Creating a separate “site map” is poor substitute for creating a navigation menu that provides a clear, logical, and memorable map of the site organization.

While I agree with Ms. Murray that using clear labels and logical navigation patterns would make websites easier to use, I totally disagree with her that creating a sitemap is a poor substitution. In fact, I would argue that a sitemap is a design choice on the part of the creators to make the web site easier to use. A site map can’t replace an intuitive navigation system, but it could enhance the experience. For example, if users want to know everything on a particular web site and they don’t have time to navigation through the menu, the sitemap is a good place for them to see every page on the site. Furthermore, sitemap tells search engines like Google about the pages on the site they might not otherwise discover. Having a sitemap not only enhances the user experience, but also increases search engine optimization.

Design choices such as images, type and space make a web site welcoming. If the images are well designed, chosen and optimized, they can attract visitors and make them want to explore further. If the typefaces are legible and readable, visitors might want to stay and read. If the space is balanced with breathing room, visitors might want to learn more. The homepage is the space that could lure visitors into exploring the site; therefore, the space on the homepage has to be well executed. For example, the homepage of Apple.com uses big open space to promote the company’s latest product.

With social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, the virtual world is perhaps an improvement over reality. Facebook allows users to connect with friends and acquaintances from that past that might not be possible in the real world. If it weren’t for Facebook, I would never discover friends from middle school. As much as Facebook and Twitter would like their users to stay in their network, they can’t force them. The way that they signal users that they are leaving or entering their network is to make them sign in. Once inside the network, users can still leave to other sites by opening up a new window. For instance, I can view a YouTube video in Facebook or open up a new window on YouTube site.

(Fifth essay for Graduate Design Seminar)

For a while now my wife has been telling me that my RSS feeds take almost twelve hours later (from the time I posted on my site) to arrive to her email. I knew something’s up with FeedBurner, but I didn’t want to let it go because I have 113 subscribers. Now’s the time to make the move because FeedBurner APIs will be shut down next month. FeedBurner is redirecting back to my WordPress’s original feed for 30 days. So if 112 of my loyal readers would like to continue to subscribe to my feed, please update to this address: http://www.visualgui.com/feed/

Thank you for reading.

In profiling Mitt Romney in the New Yorker, Nicholas Lemann shows the positive side of Romney. He writes:

[Romney] combines an utter confidence in his ability to fix anything with an utter lack of confidence in his ability to explain to people what he intends to do, which is why he appears so stiff and so unspecific in talking about his prospective Presidency.

Unfortunately the article is not available for free online. Lemann shows that Romney seems to have the ability to get things done and to turn the economy around. Is it too late in the game?

In the past few weeks, I recollected most of the designs I have done in the past for Visualgui and made screenshots out of them for posterity. Obviously I don’t have everything, but close enough to give an idea of how the design has evolve over the years. It does seem to get simpler and simpler. Check out the history.

Hôm nay lớp cancelled luôn mừng như được thoát nạn. Cu Đán ở nhà cũng ngoan. Ngủ được hai giấc dài. Cu Đạo thì được cái gumball machine nhỏ hôm qua bà ngoại và bác Trâm cho nên chơi với cái đó cả ngày. Mấy tuần nay nó cứ muốn cái gumball machine. Cuối cùng thì cũng được bà và bác nó chìu. Thằng Cu Đạo là thế hể có gì mới mà nó thích thì chơi cả ngày. Đi đâu cũng đem theo thậm chí đi nhà cầu hoặc đi ngủ.

Khi nhận được email không có lớp mừng quá nên dẩn hai thằng đi mall cho thoải mái một tí. Vả lại cũng muốn cho thằng Đạo nó ngủ trên xe. Ba cha con ngủ ở bải đậu xe cũng được 45 phút. Cu Đán lại bị ho nên thức giấc rồi khóc lên khi nghe tiếng động ở ngoài. Khi vổ nó nhìn thấy mặt của nó nổi hột đỏ lên rất nhiều. Không biết tại nó khóc hay đã cho nó uống nước dừa tươi hôm nay mà bị dị ứng. Thật là tội.

Nhắc đến dừa dạo này uống hơi nhiều nên chặt cũng kha khá. Nhớ ngày xưa có một em hàng xóm chặt dừa rất nhiển tay. Lúc về Việt Nam thường ghé qua nhà em uống dừa nhưng chẳng lần nào em chịu lấy tiền cả. Em cũng xinh lắm nhưng hàng xóm đồn rằng em này chuyên dụ dổ Việt Kiều. Nghe thế mình cũng ngán. Không biết giờ đây em có chồng và mấy con rồi. Còn mình bây giờ thì phải chặt dừa cho vợ uống nữa. Chẳng những thế còn phải ca bài “Ngậm Ngùi” nữa: “Em ơi hãy uống anh hầu dừa đây.” Nói gì thì nói bà xả cũng dể thương lắm. Lo lắng cho con và khuyến khích mình đi học. Như thế cũng đã đủ rồi. Lúc cà ràm thì cứ cho rằng bà ta đang ca “Dạ Cổ Hoài Lang” vậy.

Hôm nay không có lớp nên ở nhà chơi với vợ con. Đầu óc cũng thoải mái một tí.Ngày mai nghỉ làm ở nhà trông con. Trường cu Đạo đóng cửa ăn mừng năm mới của người Jewish. Muốn dắt hai đứa đi chơi nhưng Cu Đán vẫn còn ho. Tội nghiệp thằng bé đang ngủ mà cứ ho. Hồi nảy tắm cho nó thấy nó đã nhẹ hẳng đi còn mặt mài thì tái mét. Vậy đó mà lúc chơi vẫn quậy quá như thường.

The worse part being a parent is seeing your little angel suffer but you can’t do a damn thing. Poor little Dan has been teething, coughing and vomiting the whole week. At night he got up every half an hour because of his cough. I hardly take photos of him because his eczema around his mouth is getting worse. Being sick brings both the bad and good parts out of him. Despite all the struggles, my baby boy always manages to put a smile on his face. If he keeps this attitude, I am positive that he’ll live a much happier and healthier life. My baby Dan is a carefree spirit.

Dao, on the other hand, is much more crankier than Dan. He’s stubborn but very determine. The other day when I picked him up from daycare, I told him to go pee pee before we go home. We went into the men’s room and I told him to use the stool to pee. He said, “No, I don’t need a stool. I am a big boy.” He pulled down his pants and put his thing right on the stall because he’s a bit short. Being a clean freak, I was speechless. People pissed all over that stool. Yesterday we did the same thing, but this time, he nudged up his feet so that his penis doesn’t touch the stall. Man, I was so proud of him.

Between the sick kid and the homework, I slept less and less. Last night I had about two hours. I am on my second venti coffee frappacino with two extra shots of expressos of the day. I went to class yesterday and I got slammed on the new project. I didn’t let it get to me, but I wanted to just step up my game for the class tomorrow. When I got home late last night I found out that one of my client’s sites was compromised so I had to fix it first. I was so dead tired, but I couldn’t sleep so I worked out my homework. Man, I don’t know how long I can keep up with this crazy schedule. Now I could understand why people with young children would have a tough time getting through school.

Developed by Marco Arment, Instapaper is a simple application that allows users to save online articles and read them later at their own convenience. A year ago when I was still commuting everyday from Virginia into Washington DC using the Metro, Instapaper was my reading tool on my iPod Touch. Before heading to work or leaving work, I would save a handful of articles I want to read during the train ride.

One of the activities Instapaper deems important is downloading the main content of the articles on the web and presenting them in a way that is legible and readable on the user’s devices. Instapaper makes saving articles easy via “Read Later” bookmarklet. Once the bookmarket is on the browser’s bookmark bar, users can click on it when they are on a page or an article they want to read later.

One of Instapaper’s standout features is the capability to ignore related elements surrounding the article such as the navigations, sidebars and especially annoying ads. For example, reading an article on a web site like New York Times is quite distracting because of all the moving ads, sidebars, paginations (an article is broken down to several pages) and tiny fonts. Trying to read the New York Times on a small device like an iPod Touch is even worse. Users have to constantly zoom into the text to read. Instapaper changed all of that. By focusing on the main content and stripping away unnecessary elements, Instapaper makes reading much more pleasurable.

Instapaper defines the attributes of the information it process by saving the articles for the users. Before Instapaper, I collect my favorite online articles by printing them out and saving them. Instapaper allows me to save that paper-wasting process and have my favorite articles all in one place. Once my collected articles are saved and downloaded into Instapaper, I don’t need Internet access to read them. I can open up the app on my iPod and read the articles whenever or wherever I prefer. I can archive as many articles as I like and I can delete the ones that I don’t want to keep.

Sharing information is not important to Instapaper because its main service is to collect, but it does make sharing easy. Users can post a link to social networks including Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Pinboard and Evernote. Instapaper requires users to create a free account to archive all the articles. Since Instapaper only asks for email address and a new password to sign up for an account, maintaining users private information is fairly minimal. All the transactions of purchasing the software are done through Apple’s app store or Android’s app store. Instapaper generates its revenue by offering the service to users. While Instapaper has several competitors such as Readability and Pocket, its elegant design and continuous refinement make Instapaper a fine tool for reading online articles offline.

(Fourth essay for Graduate Design Seminar)

Joe Klein:

I suspect Romney doesn’t really believe that 47% of the electorate are moochers; he was just dialing for dollars. But it’s becoming increasingly difficult to see how the man who mouthed those words, whether he believes them or not, can be elected President.