DEMOletter Weekly Edition Nov. 9, 2004 Volume 9, Number 44 Editor's note: Enjoy all that DEMOletter has to offer. The e- mail below simply outlines topics covered in the highly colorful and accessible weblog, www.demo.com/demoletter. Any of the links below will take you directly to the full article, along with other items such as the "Weather Report" on past demonstrators, and polling on current topics. In addition, we now have an RSS feed, so you can get DEMOletter articles sent to you directly as they publish! To sign up for that, add the following URL to your RSS reader application http://www.demo.com/demoletter/index.xml * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * INSIDE DEMOLETTER THIS WEEK * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ SIMPLICITY BEATS COMPLEXITY EVERY TIME ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ Last week I was talking to a Web developer and used one of my favorite UI words: disambiguate. Its meaning: to differentiate among a set of items or choices, to clearly understand the meaning or purpose of each element, of each choice. In the context of my conversation with the developer, I said readers had no evident way to differentiate among the tabs of a particular Web interface. The words "features," "newsletters," and "articles" might mean something to the editorial staff of the site, but they aren't easily disambiguated by site visitors. In other words, it was bad UI. A day later, I talked with an entrepreneur who is developing a new consumer electronics product. He is struggling over the feature set, the integration of software and hardware, and the interface to both. In consumer electronics, I argued, no matter how much software technology is involved, the interface is the hardware's external design and it was important - and here I got to use that word again - to disambiguate the buttons and the display menu items so the device was super simple to use. Read the full story at http://www.demo.com/demoletter/006701.html ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ END NOTES: ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ * Share your favorite DEMO moments with us! * KeyComputing releases secure USB key * Software helps crack WPA in wireless LANs This week's End Notes are located at http://www.demo.com/demoletter/006706.html ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ THIS WEEK'S POLL QUESTION ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ Would you prefer a consumer electronics device that had a few great features, or something with all of the bells and whistles? Add your voice at www.demo.com/demoletter ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ WEATHER REPORT ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ * E-mail security vendor IronPort gets $45 million in Series D funding and adds a new member to its board of directors. * Route1 gets $4.4 million (Canadian) in new funding and announces plans for field trials for its Mobi device. * Groxis gets $12 million in funding for its search-engine tool. The complete Weather Report archive is located at http://www.demo.com/demoletter/weather_report.html ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ MID-WEEK ITEM ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ * Cloudmark announced its new SafetyBar application, which aims to stop spam and fraudulent (aka phishing) e-mails from clogging up the in-box. Full story at http://www.demo.com/demoletter/006661.html * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * LAUNCH AT [EMAIL PROTECTED] * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The DEMO Conference will celebrate 15 years of launching innovative products into the technology markets. Will you be a part of this proud tradition? If your company is preparing a product for an early 2005 market introduction, there is no better place to launch it than the DEMO Conference. For more information and to apply, go to www.demo.com/apply. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * SURVEY ON PURCHASING DECISIONS * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Phelon Research+Analysis Group is conducting a confidential survey of IT buyers, the results of which will help professionals like yourself make better and faster IT purchasing decisions. Your opinions on the hardware and software buying process DO matter, so please take a few minutes to complete the survey: http://www.zoomerang.com/survey.zgi?p=WEB223WJMWPAL9 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION * * * * * * * * * * * * * * DEMOletter Weekly Edition is written by Chris Shipley mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] and Keith Shaw <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. IDG Executive Forums, a division of Network World, Inc., is an information resource company dedicated to serving executives in the high-technology marketplace. Most widely known for producing the high-tech industry's premiere executive conferences and newsletters, the company provides the industry analysis, information, insights, and networking opportunities its customers need to excel in the fastest paced marketplace in the world. The company's products include AGENDA(R), DEMO(R), DEMOmobile(R), DIGITAL SPECTRUM(tm), VORTEX, DEMOletter(R), and VORTEX Digest. All registered trademarks are owned by IDG. More information can be found at <http://www.idgef.com>. SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES To subscribe or unsubscribe to any Network World email newsletters, go to: <http://www.nwwsubscribe.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe from promotional email, go to: http://www.nwwsubscribe.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To change your email address, go to: <http://nwwsubscribe.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions? Contact Customer Service by replying to this message. You can find back issues of DEMOletter Weekly Edition at: <http://www.idgexecforums.com/demoletter/archive/index.html> Editorial comments? Contact Keith Shaw at: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Need advertising information? Contact Mark Hollister at: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Copyright 2004 ------------------------ This message was sent to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
