If you're going to ask for something be direct, don't beat around the bush.
So I'm confused, Microsoft. Do you want me to use Edge? After installing updates Edge wants to 'Get started', on a nice modal with no cancel button or even any little x to close it. Must be some mistake right, not quite ready for prime time if they forgot the 'Don't get started' button. Maybe I'll try it when the kinks are worked out.
Ah, right clicking the icon and choosing close would work, right? Nope. Feels more and more like malware.
You can kill it from task manager so at least someone was paying some attention to usability.
Don't I remember some settlement with the DOJ after an antitrust judgement for forcing browsers on someone? That was a while back, must be remembering a different company.
(Published to the Fediverse as:
Do you want me to use Edge, Microsoft? #etc#microsoft#edge Please help me, I'm having a really hard time understanding if Microsoft wants me to switch to their Edge browser or not.)
I don't know about you, but when it comes to Google Search Console I spend about 0.01% of the time adding sites and 99.99% analyzing existing ones. And yet when signing into Search Console with many verified sites the interface is ALL about adding a new one. Maybe 10% of the UX would be reasonable but it looks for all the world like I have nothing added.
To get to my sites I need to click the hamburger. Come on Google, being mobile first doesn't have to mean being desktop hostile.
Clicking the hamburger isn't even enough. This just brings up a practically blank sidebar. I then need to expand the 'Search property' drop down. Finally I get a needlessly scrolling list of my sites.
(Published to the Fediverse as:
Google search-for-your-own-verified-sites Console #etc#google#searchconsole Why do I need to click a hamburger AND drop down a menu to get to a list of verified sites in Google Search Console?)
I've just launched a redesign of I Thought He Came With You. The main thrust is to make the site more usable on desktops. Which seems nuts, but the data doesn't lie. The site has low mobile traffic and for a while I thought this was some kind of technical issue. I optimized the design heavily for mobile and spent a lot of time on speed and some AMP. I guess it's the content. Google loves it when I write documentation for them and doesn't think I have anything useful to say on politics. They're probably right. So I've gone back to having an old school sidebar and I've taken the performance hit of using Bootstrap to get some better looking forms and navigation without spending a lot of time on it. I hope you enjoy it, and if you find anything broken please email or leave a comment.
"Please be careful not to update while in riding on vehicles, such as trains, or in environments where 2.4 GHz band radio waves such as Wi-Fi, microwave ovens, cordless phones and many other radio waves are intermingled."
It looks like I need to travel to the United States National Radio Quiet Zone in West Virginia to update the firmware in my headphones, and I don't think that's on the cards for several months so I hope the update isn't important.
Nice touch that they gave an example of a vehicle though, that really helps.
(Published to the Fediverse as:
Firmware #etc#sony What is the worst thing that could happen if you updated your headphone firmware on a train? Possibly Sony should invest in checksums.)
Catfood Earth 4.00 has been released. The new version includes 4K remastered day, night and cloud images as well as the latest timezone database.
It's a month for updates - you can also grab Catfood WebCamSaver 3.20 which includes an updated list of working webcams around the world. WebCamSaver is a Windows screensaver that shows you a feed of open webcams.
Back in 2016 I shared an idea for a tool that would automatically arrange meetings to maximize stretches of production time. As a marketing genius I called it Meeting Defragmenter.
I just read about Clockwise, a startup that is doing exactly this. Right now it supports GSuite and it looks like Office365 is coming soon. Can't wait to try it!
(Published to the Fediverse as:
Clockwise - Meeting Defragmenter #etc#lazyweb#meetings Clockwise - a tool that is close to my idea for a Meeting Defragmenter.)