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Swan Dive updated for BlogEngine.NET 1.2 release

by James Skemp, September 30, 2007 19:30

(All original content on this site is licensed under the Creative Commons License Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0.)

BlogEngine.NET 1.2.0.0 has been released.

In 'honor' of this release, I've updated Swan Dive, using the Standard theme as a guide.

Any questions or concerns can be directed to me via the comments on the original post.

View the original post, and download Swan Dive.

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Categories: StrivingLife | software

Netflix shipping, for Madison WI - Year 2

by James Skemp, September 29, 2007 10:00

(All original content on this site is licensed under the Creative Commons License Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0.)

I had previously written on how Netflix shipped and received DVDs, for Madison WI. This article continues that one, by discussing Year 2 with Netflix (first year began September 26, 2006).

Plan changes

On December 2, 2007, I decided to upgrade to the two at-a-time (unlimited) plan. Since my plan begins on the 10th of each month, that means I had to pay an extra $1.26 to upgrade now, instead of for the next month (I figure this way they'll send a movie out tomorrow morning).

As of January 10, 2008, I'll be back on the 1-unlimited plan, since House should be back on the air. As always, I'll continue to track my progress below.

As of February 22, 2008, I'm back to 2-unlimited.

As of April 28, 2008, House is back on, but on Mondays. Since I get so few movies on Monday, I'll be staying with the 2-unlimited plan.

As of May 7, 2008, since I'm getting busier, I'm downgrading to the 1-unlimited plan, as of May 10.

View my queue, in RSS format.

View my FeedFlix page.

The times

09/27/2007 (R) - Movie received by Netflix and next one shipped.
09/28/2007 (F) - Received next movie.
09/29/2007 (Sa) - Watched GoodFellas (1990) and put into the mail to Madison.
10/01/2007 (M) - Movie received by Netflix and next one shipped.
10/02/2007 (T) - Received and watched Outlaw Star: Vol. 1: Disc 2 and put into the mail to Madison.
10/04/2007 (R) - Movie received by Netflix and next one shipped.
10/05/2007 (F) - Received and watched the very excellent 3 Days of the Condor. Wow. Put into the mail to Madison.
10/08/2007 (M) - Movie received by Netflix, and next one shipped. The email says I can expect delivery on Wednesday. This day is a Federal holiday, hence no mail.
10/09/2007 (T) - Received next movie.
10/10/2007 (W) - Watched Constantine (2005) and put into the mail to Madison. Great movie, but for some reason I couldn't give a 5/5, as much as I'd really like to ...
10/12/2007 (F) - Movie received by Netflix and next one shipped.
10/13/2007 (Sa) - Received and watched The Island (2005) and put into the mail to Madison.
10/15/2007 (M) - Watched Six-String Samurai (1998) online. The moral? Stay away from attachments; they'll kill you dead.
10/16/2007 (T) - Movie received by Netflix and next one shipped.
10/17/2007 (W) - Received and watched The Magnificent Seven (1960) and put into the mail to Madison. I think I liked the original more, since it's rather Americanized.
10/19/2007 (F) - Movie received by Netflix and next one shipped.
10/20/2007 (Sa) - Received next movie, but watched The Brood (1979) first, which Rob Lumley was kind enough to lend me. The one thing I don't like about the movie is the ending; I'm not sure why we're shown what we're shown (are they more than tears?) ...
10/21/2007 (Su) - Watched Dawn of the Dead (1978) (European Version) and put into the mail to Madison.
10/23/2007 (T) - Movie received by Netflix and next one shipped.
10/24/2007 (W) - Received and watched My Girl (1991) and put into the mail to Madison.
10/26/2007 (F) - Movie received by Netflix and next one shipped.
10/27/2007 (Sa) - Received and watched Army of Darkness (1993) and put into the mail to Madison. No, they probably couldn't throw together any more one-liners ...
10/28/2007 (Su) - Watched The Gospel According to Philip K. Dick (2000) online. Worst animations ever.
10/29/2007 (M) - Movie received by Netflix and next one shipped.
10/31/2007 (W) - Received and watched the kick-a** Hot Fuzz (2007). Too bad they leave a plot point open, but ... Put into the mail to Madison.
11/02/2007 (F) - Movie received by Netflix and next one shipped.
11/03/2007 (Sa) - Received and watched the Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) and put into the mail to Madison. However, part of the movie didn't play. Nonetheless, it was rather good.
11/06/2007 (T) - Movie received by Netflix and next one shipped.
11/07/2007 (W) - Received and watched Shoot the Piano Player (1960). I think this was the first French movie I've seen, and I rather liked it. Put into the mail to Madison.
11/09/2007 (F) - Movie received by Netflix and next one shipped.
11/10/2007 (Sa) - Received and watched Casablanca (1942). I should have watched it earlier. Put into the mail to Madison, but since there's no mail Monday ...
11/15/2007 (R) - Movie received by Netflix and the next one was shipped, since the mail person decided not to pick up outgoing mail on Tuesday ...
11/16/2007 (F) - Received and watched Death Proof (2007). Unfortunately, when this came out my sister said she'd watch Grindhouse with me, and I believed her. I don't know what was added on, but this film was longer than it needed to be. But, was fairly good. Put into the mail to Madison.
11/21/2007 (W) - Reported DVD as lost in the mail, since they still haven't received it.
11/22/2007 (R) - Watched Live Free or Die Hard (2007) outside of Netflix.
11/23/2007 (F) - Next movie shipped by Netflix.
11/24/2007 (Sa) - Received and watched A Hard Day's Night (1964) and put into the mail to Madison.
11/27/2007 (T) - Movie received by Netflix and next one shipped.
11/28/2007 (W) - Received and watched Transformers (2007) and put into the mail to Madison. Long, but rather good; 4.5 if I could, 4 because I couldn't.
11/29/2007 (R) - Watched Requiem for a Dream (2000), outside of Netflix, thanks to Mr. Rob Lumley.
11/30/2007 (F) - Movie received by Netflix and next one shipped.
12/01/2007 (Sa) - Watched Time Bandits (1981) online. Cool opening and closing songs, but I'm confused by the ending ... Also watched Gilbert Gottfried: Dirty Jokes (2005) online (eh) and received the next movie from Netflix.
12/02/2007 (Su) - Watched The Transporter (2002) and put into the mail to Madison. It was my first Blu-ray DVD, and I had some issues with it on my Playstation 3. The quality was good, but I couldn't get the main DVD menu to display. I did end up getting a smaller menu to come up, but I think it was just from what the PS3 read off of the DVD itself. When I went back in to review them ... no go. However, the audio was fine. I think Jason Statham is one of my favorite actors ...
12/03/2007 (M) - Next film mailed by Netflix.
12/04/2007 (T) - Received and watched Le Samourai (1967) and put into the mail to Madison. Another French film. And, rather good. However, I feel as though I'm missing something ... (a visit to the Wiki cleared it up, but a watching of the films included with the Criterion disc would also seem to do the same). Netflix also received the previous film, and put the next into the mail.
12/05/2007 (W) - Received and watched Planet Terror (2007) and put into the mail to Madison. Better than Death Proof, in my opinion.
12/06/2007 (R) - Movie received by Netflix, and next one shipped.
12/07/2007 (F) - Received next movie from Netflix, and Netflix received and mailed another movie.
12/08/2007 (Sa) - Watched Daisies (1966) and put into the mail to Madison. My first Czech film. Received next movie from Netflix.
12/09/2007 (Su) - Watched Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) and put into the mail to Madison.
12/10/2007 (M) - Movie received by Netflix, and next one shipped.
12/11/2007 (T) - Movie received by Netflix, and next one shipped.
12/12/2007 (W) - Received and watched Formula 51 (2001) and the other next movie (due to mail not being delivered Tuesday, for some reason). Put Formula 51 into the mail to Madison.
12/13/2007 (R) - Watched Who Killed the Electric Car? (2006) and put into the mail to Madison. Utterly depressing how dead the spirits of some men are ...
12/14/2007 (F) - Movie received by Netflix and next one shipped.
12/15/2007 (Sa) - Watched Sideways (2004), leant to me by Rob Lumley. Not quite sure what to think of the movie in whole ... Received next movie from Netflix. Watched The Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933).
12/16/2007 (Su) - Watched House of Wax (1953) and put into the mail to Madison.
12/17/2007 (M) - Movie received by Netflix and next one shipped.
12/18/2007 (T) - Movie received by Netflix and next one shipped. Received and watched Stranger than Fiction (2006), and put into the mail to Madison. One of the most wonderful films I've seen in a very long time.
12/19/2007 (W) - Received next movie, but watched Blade Runner: Final Cut (2007) in the theatre instead.
12/20/2007 (R) - Movie received by Netflix and next one shipped. Watched Samurai Rebellion (1967) and put into the mail to Madison. Watched American Beauty (1999), thanks again to the tastes of Rob Lumley.
12/21/2007 (F) - Watched Hard Eight (1996), courtesy of Rob Lumley. Received next movie from Netflix.
12/22/2007 (Sa) - Watched Samurai Champloo: Volume 2 (2004) and put into the mail to Milwaukee. Saw Sweeny Todd (2007) at Star Cinema. Marcus Theatres decided not to spend the money to pick it up.
12/23/2007 (Su) - Watched Boogie Nights (1997), also courtesy of Rob Lumley.
12/24/2007 (M) - Movie received by Netflix and next one shipped (for Wednesday). Watched Magnolia (1999), another courtesy of Rob Lumley.
12/25/2007 (T) - Watched Mr. Brooks (2007) at my mom's, for Christmas. Watched Punch-Drunk Love (2002), the final P.T. Anderson weekend film, from Rob Lumley.
12/26/2007 (W) - Movie received by Netflix, and next one shipped. Received and watched The Punisher (2004) and put into the mail to Madison.
12/27/2007 (R) - Received next movie.
12/28/2007 (F) - Movie received by Netflix, and next one shipped. Watched Ray (2004) and put into the mail to Madison.
12/29/2007 (Sa) - Received next movie.
12/30/2007 (Su) - Watched The Bicycle Thief (1948) and put into the mail to Madison. Courtesy of Rob Lumley, watched Bananas (1971).
12/31/2007 (M) - Watched Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex But Were Afraid to Ask (1972) courtesy of Rob Lumley. Yawn.
01/01/2008 (T) - Watched Sleeper (1973), courtesy of Rob Lumley.
01/02/2008 (W) - Movie received by Netflix and next one shipped. Watched Corpse Bride (2005), which my sister had given to me for Christmas.
01/03/2008 (R) - Received DVD, but it was cracked. Reported the problem and put into the mail to Madison.
01/05/2008 (Sa) - Received replacement DVD. Netflix still hasn't received Ray, so I reported it missing/lost. Watched Samurai Champloo: Volume 3 (2004) and put into the mail to Madison.
01/07/2008 (M) - Damaged DVD received by Netflix, and next one (movie, not damaged, hopefully ;) ) shipped.
01/08/2008 (T) - Movied received by Netflix. Received and watched Final Destination (2000), which I guess I have watched all the way through before, and put into the mail to Madison. Next movie shipped by Netflix.
01/09/2008 (W) - Received and watched Samurai Champloo: Volume 4 (2004) and put into the mail to Madison. I picked up the set through Amazon, so I won't be viewing any more through Netflix.
01/10/2008 (R) - Movie received by Netflix, but since my one-at-a-time plan starts today ... Watched Annie Hall, courtesy of Rob Lumley.
01/11/2008 (F) - Movie received by Netflix and next one shipped.
01/12/2008 (Sa) - Received next movie.
01/13/2008 (Su) - Watched No End in Sight (2007) and put into the mail to Madison.
01/14/2008 (M) - Watched Manhattan (1979), courtesy of Rob Lumley. Unfortunately, perhaps, I just wanted it to end ...
01/16/2008 (W) - Having bought Stranger Than Fiction on Blu-ray, watched the film again with my sister. She pulled a Dan Conderman and fell asleep during a great movie.
01/17/2008 (R) - Reported DVD lost, since Netflix still hasn't received it ...
01/18/2008 (F) - Next movie sent by Netflix.
01/19/2008 (Sa) - Received Grateful Dawg (2000) and put into the mail to Milwaukee. However, it won't go out until Tuesday ... I may drop it off at the post office instead.
01/24/2008 (R) - Movie received by Netflix and next one shipped (although they report on the site that it went out yesterday). Received and watched Escape From New York (1981). Why do John Carpenter's early movies have such great soundtracks? Because he did them. I'll be dropping this off at the post office, I think, mailing to Madison.
01/28/2008 (M) - Movie received by Netflix and next one shipped.
01/29/2008 (T) - Received next movie. Holding off on watching until tomorrow, since House is on tonight (finally).
01/30/2008 (W) - Watched Silent Running (1971). Eh. Not sure how it got it's cult ranking. Put into the mail to Madison.
02/01/2008 (F) - Movie received by Netflix and next one shipped.
02/02/2008 (Sa) - Received and watched The Silence of the Lambs (1991). I can remember the movie poster, but never watched the movie until now. Unfortunate. I'll probably drop by the post office on Monday morning.
02/05/2008 (T) - Movie received by Netflix and next one shipped.
02/06/2008 (W) - Received and watched Escape From L.A. (1996) and put into the mail to Madison. Contrary to many reviews, a very good movie, having watched New York.
02/08/2008 (F) - Movie received by Netflix and next one shipped.
02/09/2008 (Sa) - Received and watched Serpico (1973). Either way, it'll be picked up Monday (mailing to Madison). Very good movie.
02/12/2008 (T) - Movie received by Netflix and next one shipped.
02/13/2008 (W) - Received and watched Zatoichi 1: The Tale of Zatoichi (1962) and put into the mail to Madison.
02/15/2008 (F) - Movie received by Netflix and next one shipped.
02/16/2008 (Sa) - Received next movie.
02/17/2008 (Su) - Watched Zatoichi 2: The Tale of Zatoichi Continues (1962) and put into the mail to Madison. Watched The NeverEnding Story (1984) online. Robot Chicken plus my tiredness made it into a disfigured comedy. Those crazy Germans. Watched Jeff Dunham: Arguing with Myself (2005) online. The first one was great, the others were okay.
02/18/2008 (M) - Watched Hellraiser (1987) online. Definitely seen most of this before, but ...
02/20/2008 (W) - Watched Strangers on a Train (1951) online. Watched The Red Balloon (1953) online as well. Didn't watch White Mane (it was a double feature, so ... might as well clarify).
02/22/2008 (F) - Reported Zatoichi 2 as lost in the mail. Upgraded to 2-unlimited plan. Next two movies shipped.
02/23/2008 (Sa) - Received two movies. Watched Zatoichi 3: New Tale of Zatoichi (1963). I plan on watching the other movie tonight/tomorrow, and putting both in the mail in the same envelope.
02/24/2008 (Su) - Watched Oldboy (2003). I'll be dropping both movies off tomorrow morning, at the post office. The movie didn't end as I first expected, and I believe I'll end up watching this movie again.
02/25/2008 (M) - Watched Stephen King's Cat's Eye (1985) online.
02/26/2008 (T) - Movies received by Netflix, and next ones shipped. Watched Trial and Error (1997) courtesy of Daniel Conderman. I was confused why Charlize Theron wasn't on the cover, but she doesn't have a lot of screen time, so it makes sense, I suppose.
02/27/2008 (W) - Received next two movies. Watched Adaptation (2002), which I'll drop off at the post office tomorrow. "You are what you love, not what loves you."
02/29/2008 (F) - Movie received by Netflix, and next one shipped. Watched Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002). What's especially interesting is that the two main male characters are in fact, in a way, both good. I'll drop this off at the post office tomorrow morning.
03/01/2008 (Sa) - Received Next (2007), which I'll be dropping off at the post office by Monday morning. I wasn't expecting as much from this P.K.D.-based movie, but I dare say it was quite good.
03/03/2008 (M) - Movie received by Netflix and next one shipped.
03/04/2008 (T) - Movie received by Netflix and next one shipped. Received next movie from Netflix, but I didn't have time to watch it.
03/05/2008 (W) - Received second movie from Netflix, The Conversation (1974), which I'll drop off at the post office tomorrow morning.
03/06/2008 (R) - Watched Lady Vengeance (2005), which is also referred to as Sympathy for Lady Vengeance in the film. Anyways, having now seen the complete trilogy, Old Boy seems like it should be switched with this one. Nonetheless, a very good movie. I'll drop it by the post office tomorrow.
03/07/2008 (F) - Movie received by Netflix and next one shipped.
03/08/2008 (Sa) - Received and watched UHF: Special Edition (1989). I'll drop off at the post office by Monday morning.
03/10/2008 (M) - Movie received by Netflix and next one shipped.
03/11/2008 (T) - Movie received by Netflix and next one shipped. Received and watched Zatoichi #4: The Fugitive (1963). I'll drop off at the post office tomorrow morning.
03/12/2008 (W) - Received and watched The Graduate: Special Edition (1967), also called More Reasons to Stay Away From Mothers. I'll drop off at the post office tomorrow morning.
03/13/2008 (R) - Movie received by Netflix and next one shipped.
03/14/2008 (F) - Movie received by Netflix and next one shipped. Received next movie.
03/15/2008 (Sa) - Received next movie.
03/16/2008 (Su) - Watched Zatoichi #5: On the Road (1963). Watched The Red Shoes (2005), which may be a Ring, etcetera, clone, but it was pretty darn good. Anywho, I'll drop them both off, in one mailer, at the post office tomorrow.
03/18/2008 (T) - Movies received by Netflix and next two shipped. Watched The Replacement Killers (1998) online.
03/19/2008 (W) - Received next two movies from Netflix. Watched Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) which I'll drop by the post office tomorrow morning.
03/20/2008 (R) - Watched the definitely-not-suck Ghost Rider (2007), which I'll drop off at the p.o. tomorrow morning.
03/21/2008 (F) - Movie received by Netflix and next one shipped. Watched The King of Kong (2007) online.
03/22/2008 (Sa) - Watched episodes from Amazing Stories: Season 1 (1985) online; Ghost Train and The Main Attraction. Received and watched Robocop (1987) which I'll drop off at the post office on Sunday or Monday morning. Watched episodes from Amazing Stories: Season 1 (1985) online; Alamo Jobe, Mummy, Daddy and The Mission.
03/23/2008 (Su) - Watched episodes from Amazing Stories: Season 1 (1985) online; The Amazing Falsworth, Fine Tuning and Mr. Magic. Watched The Simpsons Movie (2007) at my sister's. Watched District B13 (2004) online. Watched Outpost (2007) online.
03/25/2008 (T) - Both movies received by Netflix, and next ones shipped.
03/26/2008 (W) - Received next two movies from Netflix. Watched Zatoichi #6: Zatoichi and the Chest of Gold (1964), which features an almost 3 minute long, stylized, opening, and blood (the first time I believe a Zatoichi film featured any). Watched Le Femme Nikita (1990). Is he ever not the coolest character in the movie? I'll drop both off at the post office tomorrow morning.
03/28/2008 (F) - Movies received by Netflix and next two shipped. Watched Guilt Trip, part of Amazing Stories: Season 1 (1985), online.
03/29/2008 (Sa) - Watched Michael Clayton (2007). Received next two movies from Netflix. Watched Dawn of the Dead: Unrated Director's Cut (2004), which was decent enough.
03/30/2008 (Su) - Watched Zatoichi #7: Zatoichi's Flashing Sword (1964). As with the last, a deal more blood, including one splattering shot. I'll drop both by the post office tomorrow morning. Watched Joint Security Area (2002) online.
04/01/2008 (T) - Movies received by Netflix and next two shipped.
04/02/2008 (W) - Received next two movies, and watched The Animatrix (2003), which I'll drop off at the post office tomorrow.
04/04/2008 (F) - Movie received by Netflix and next one shipped. Watched It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, which I'll drop off at the post office tomorrow, probably, but maybe not until Sunday. (Dropped it off Saturday morning.)
04/05/2008 (Sa) - Received and watched Zatoichi #8: Fight, Zatoichi, Fight (1964). I'll drop off at the post office Sunday or Monday morning.
04/07/2008 (M) - Movie received by Netflix and next one shipped.
04/08/2008 (T) - Received next movie. Movie received by Netflix, but next one will ship from Baton Rouge LA.
04/09/2008 (W) - Watched Closer (2004), which I'll drop off tomorrow. 4 1/2 stars, but 5 by default. Next movie shipped (from Baton Rouge LA).
04/11/2008 (F) - Movie received by Netflix and next one shipped.
04/12/2008 (Sa) - Received and watched Porco Rosso (1992), with the French track (Jean Reno voicing the main character). I'll drop off Sunday or Monday morning. (Ended up being the latter.)
04/15/2008 (T) - Movie received by Netflix and next one shipped. Reported Zatoichi 9 (sent from LA) missing, and asked for a replacement, which they'll ship tomorrow, hopefully.
04/16/2008 (W) - Received next movie, but it was cracked. Grrr ... Reported damaged, and I'll drop it off tomorrow (probably in the afternoon, since I have a conference I'm going to in the morning). Watched I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) online.
04/17/2008 (R) - Next two movies shipped by Netflix (to cover the damaged one and the one that I reported missing), one of which I should get tomorrow, and the other is for the 21st. Received and watched Zatoichi: Vol. 9: Adventures of Zatoichi (1964), which I'll drop off at some point. This seems to be the one from LA, since the mailer is for LA. However, I'll just toss it and use one of my spare Madison ones, unless I hold off and throw two in one again.
04/18/2008 (F) - Received and watched High and Low (1963). While it's initially rather slow, it gets rather good through to the end. I'm tempted to give it a full 5 stars, but gave it 4 instead (4.5). Watched Brainscan (1994) online. It was painful, but the ending made up for it, I suppose.
04/19/2008 (Sa) - Watched Undead or Alive (2007) online. Actually, not that bad. The 'twist' ending was easy enough to see (remember).
04/20/2008 (Su) - Watched Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) online.
04/21/2008 (M) - Received second copy of Zatoichi 9, which I'll drop in the mail tomorrow. (It'll be shipped to PO Box 548008, Flushing NY 11354-8008.)
04/22/2008 (T) - Movie received by Netflix and next one shipped.
04/23/2008 (W) - Movie received by Netflix and next one to ship Thursday. Received and watched Zatoichi: Vol. 10: Zatoichi's Revenge (1965). This is the last Zatoichi I'll be receiving for a while, even though I've enjoyed the series it was getting to be a bit much. I'll drop it off tomorrow for Madison.
04/24/2008 (R) - Next movie shipped.
04/25/2008 (F) - Watched first three episodes of The Wire: Season 1 (2003), thanks to Rob Lumley. Movie received by Netflix and next one shipped. Received and watched Waxwork / Waxwork II: Double Feature (1988/1991), which I'll drop in the mail Saturday or Monday morning. I liked the first one more (especially the actress who played Sarah, more than the other).
04/26/2008 (Sa) - Received next movie. Watched two more episodes of The Wire: Season 1 (2003).
04/27/2008 (Su) - Watched Catch-22 (1970), which I'll drop off today or tomorrow morning. Watched three more episodes of The Wire: Season 1 (2003). Damn good show.
04/29/2008 (T) - Movies received by Netflix and next two shipped, for Wednesday.
04/30/2008 (W) - Received next two movies. Watched The Crow (1994); I missed more of this the first time that I watched it than I thought. I'll drop it off tomorrow.
05/01/2008 (R) - Watched Thank You for Smoking (2005). It ended on a high note, where it began. I'll drop this off tomorrow.
05/02/2008 (F) - Movie received by Netflix and next one shipped. Watched Shooter (2007). Very Bourne like, which is a good thing.
05/03/2008 (Sa) - Watched The Kingdom (2007). Received and watched Hellboy (2004), of which I was expecting more. I'll drop off Sunday or Monday morning. Watched two episodes of The Wire: Season 1 (2004).
05/04/2008 (Su) - Watched an episode of The Wire: Season 1 (2003). Watched Iron Man (2008) in theatres. Watched the last two episodes of The Wire: Season 1 (2003).
05/05/2008 (M) - Movie received by Netflix, and next one to ship from Nashville TN.
05/06/2008 (T) - Movie received by Netflix, and next two shipped (the one from yesterday shipped today too, expected Friday).
05/07/2008 (W) - Received and watched The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976), which I'll drop off tomorrow.
05/08/2008 (R) - Thanks again to Rob Lumley, two more seasons of The Wire. Watched first two episodes of The Wire: Season 2 (2003).
05/09/2008 (F) - Movie received by Netflix and next one, surprisingly, shipped. Watched five more episodes of The Wire: Season 2 (2003) and received next movie.
05/10/2008 (Sa) - Watched three more episodes of The Wire: Season 2 (2003). Received next movie. Watched Neon Genesis Evangelion Platinum Collection: Volume 1 (1995). I had heard this was a philosophical series, but it seems utterly boring (which I had also heard some people 'complain' about). I'll be tossing the Nashville TN envelope and mailing this, along with the other, early Monday morning (once I watch the other).
05/11/2008 (Su) - Watched most of Melies the Magician: The Magic of Melies / Melies Magic Show (1997). Unique, but dry. Watched the last two episodes of The Wire: Season 2 (2003).
05/13/2008 (T) - Movies received by Netflix and next one shipped.
05/14/2008 (W) - Received next movie.
05/15/2008 (R) - Watched Shoot 'Em Up (2007). Using the Nashville TN mailer I previously received, since getting the movie Tuesday is fine. Watched True Stories (1986). Eh. Watched the first two episodes of The Wire: Season 3 (2004).
05/16/2008 (F) - Movie received by Netflix and next one shipped. Watched two more episodes of The Wire: Season 3 (2004).
05/17/2008 (Sa) - Watched three more episodes of The Wire: Season 3 (2004) and received next movie from Netflix.
05/18/2008 (Su) - Watched The Man Who Wasn't There (2001). Good, but somewhat weird as well ... I'll put in the mail for tomorrow. Watched one more episode of The Wire: Season 3 (2004).
05/20/2008 (T) - Movie received by Netflix and next one shipped. Watched two more episodes from The Wire: Season 3 (2004).
05/21/2008 (W) - Received and watched War (2007). Eh, it was okay I guess. I'll drop off in the mail tomorrow.
05/22/2008 (R) - Watched the last two episodes of The Wire: Season 3 (2004). Long live Omar.
05/23/2008 (F) - Movie received by Netflix and next one shipped. Watched I Am Legend (2007). A pretty good version, overall.
05/24/2008 (Sa) - Received and watched Death Wish (1974). No matter what I do, won't be picked up until Tuesday, so ... I'll drop off before then, or that morning.
05/25/2008 (Su) - Watched Appleseed: Ex Machina (2007) online. Watched the first four episodes of The Office: Series 1 (2001) online.
05/26/2008 (M) - Watched the last two episodes of The Office: Series 1 (2001). Watched Cocaine Cowboys (2006) online. Watched Fido (2006) online.
05/27/2008 (T) - Movie received by Netflix and next one shipped.
05/28/2008 (W) - Received and watched The Bad Sleep Well (1960). Depressing, but very good. Dropping off in the mail tomorrow.
05/30/2008 (F) - Movie received by Netflix and next one shipped.
05/31/2008 (Sa) - Received and watched This Film Is Not Yet Rated (2006). More about the NC-17 rating, than about the other ratings, but, pretty good. Watched one episode of The Wire: Season 4 (2005).
06/01/2008 (Su) - Watched two episodes of The Wire: Season 4 (2005).
06/02/2008 (M) - Watched one episode of The Wire: Season 4 (2005).
06/03/2008 (T) - Movie received by Netflix and next one shipped.
06/04/2008 (W) - Received and watched Kingdom of Heaven (2005). I'll drop off tomorrow.
06/05/2008 (R) - Watched three more episodes of The Wire: Season 4 (2005).
06/06/2008 (F) - Watched two episodes of The Wire: Season 4 (2005). Movie received by Netflix and next one shipped. Watched two more episodes of The Wire: Season 4 (2005).
06/07/2008 (Sa) - Watched the last two episodes of The Wire: Season 4 (2005). Received and watched I Live in Fear: Record of a Living Being (1955). This is truly the record of a single living being, and those around him, coping with his fear of man's insanity (in an insane world).
06/10/2008 (T) - Movie received by Netflix and next one shipped.
06/11/2008 (W) - Received and watched Man on Fire (2004). I'll drop off tomorrow.
06/13/2008 (F) - Movie received by Netflix and next one shipped.
06/14/2008 (Sa) - Received next movie.
06/15/2008 (Su) - Watched Solty Rei: Vol. 1 (2005). I'll drop it off today or tomorrow.
06/16/2008 (M) - Watched Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey (1991) online.
06/17/2008 (T) - Movie received by Netflix and next one shipped.
06/18/2008 (W) - Received and watched Re-Animator: Millenium Edition (1985). I'll save the Milwaukee envelope for later and us a Madison envelope tomorrow.
06/19/2008 (R) - Watched The Incredible Hulk: Season 1 Pilot (1978) online.
06/20/2008 (F) - Movie received by Netflix and next one shipped.
06/21/2008 (Sa) - Received next movie.
06/22/2008 (Su) - Watched Cleaner (2007). Watched The Last Waltz (1978), which I'll drop off today or tomorrow morning.
06/23/2008 (M) - Watched episodes 1 and 2 of The Wire: Season 5 (2007), thanks to Daniel Conderman.
06/24/2008 (T) - Movie received by Netflix and next one shipped. Watched episodes 3 and 4 of The Wire: Season 5 (2007).
06/25/2008 (W) - An early morning. Watched episode 5 of The Wire: Season 5 (2007). Received and watched Dead Man: Special Edition (1995). Interesting. I'll drop off tomorrow.
06/27/2008 (F) - Movie received by Netflix and next one shipped. Watched episodes 6, 7, and 8 of The Wire: Season 5 (2007).
06/28/2008 (Sa) - Watched the last two episodes of The Wire: Season 5 (2007). Received next movie. Watched Duck, You Sucker (1971), courtesy of Rob Lumley.
06/29/2008 (Su) - Watched Once Upon a Time in the West (1968), which I'll drop in the mail tomorrow. Watched Dark City (1998) again. Although, I suppose it has been a while ...
07/01/2008 (T) - Movie received by Netflix and next one shipped.
07/02/2008 (W) - Received and watched From Dusk Till Dawn (1996). Not too shabby. I'll use an old Milwaukee envelope, since they won't be open Friday (July 4th) anyways.
07/06/2008 (Su) - Watched episode one of Six Feet Under: Season 1 (2001), thanks to Rob Lumley.
07/07/2008 (M) - Movie received by Netflix and next one shipped. Watched episode two of Six Feet Under: Season 1 (2001).
07/08/2008 (T) - Received and watched Marathon Man (1976), which I'll drop off tomorrow. Watched episode three of Six Feet Under: Season 1 (2001).
07/09/2008 (W) - Watched episode 4 of Six Feet Under: Season 1 (2001).
07/10/2008 (R) - Movie received by Netflix and next one shipped. Watched episode 5 of Six Feet Under: Season 1 (2001).
07/11/2008 (F) - Watched Hancock (2008) in the theatre. Received and watched Them! (1954), which I'll try to drop off early tomorrow morning. I love a good B-movie :)
07/12/2008 (Sa) - Watched episodes 6 and 7 of Six Feet Under: Season 1 (2001).
07/13/2008 (Su) - Watched episodes 8, 9, and 10, of Six Feet Under: Season 1 (2001).
07/14/2008 (M) - Movie received by Netflix and next one shipped. Watched two more episodes of Six Feet Under: Season 1 (2001).
07/15/2008 (T) - Received and watched Resident Evil (2002), which I rather liked. I'll drop it off tomorrow.
07/16/2008 (W) - Watched the last episode of Six Feet Under: Season 1 (2001).|
07/17/2008 (R) - Movie received by Netflix and next one shipped.
07/18/2008 (F) - Received and watched The Day of the Triffids (1963), which I'll drop off tomorrow, using the Milwaukee mailer I received.
07/19/2008 (Sa) - Watched Passenger 57 (1992) online. I guess all I missed the first time I watched it was the very beginning ... Watched Our Man Flint (1966) online. Watched Soldier (1998) online. Watched Hellboy: Animated: Blood & Iron (2007) because of del Toro's direction. Good, but one watch is enough.
07/20/2008 (Su) - Watched Batman Begins (2005) again, because ... Watched The Dark Knight (2008). Good, but maybe another watching would make it truly great. Watched In Like Flint (1967), which I've seen the ending of before, but not the beginning.
07/21/2008 (M) - Movie received by Netflix and next one shipped. Watched Bullitt (1968) online.
07/22/2008 (T) - Watched most of Cloverfield (2007) until I started getting nauseous from the camera and was forced to play at 1.5x to 10x speed. Mailing to Madison tomorrow.
07/24/2008 (R) - Movie received by Netflix and next one shipped. Watched Gridlock'd (1997) online. Very interesting/good movie. Love the girl's accent and singing ...

 

Tags:
Categories: dvd / movie | review | StrivingLife

Review of Steve Krug's Don't Make Me Think: 2nd Edition (with notes)

by James Skemp, September 28, 2007 14:00

(All original content on this site is licensed under the Creative Commons License Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0.)

As it promises, Steve Krug's Don't Make Me Think: 2nd Edition, is a quick, but extremely usable, guide to Web usability and design. The book took me less than a day to read (less than 3 hours total over the days of September 26 and 27, of 2007), but has become, in my mind, a requirement for even beginners (like myself) of Web design. Since everyone who develops for the Web should have some idea of design and usability, this book should really be a mandatory requirement for said work.

In short, there's no reason not to read this book if you're developing for the Web (writing content, programming, etcetera), or working with a team that does so.

Notes on the book

The following are notes that I took while reading the book. They are broken up by chapter. These notes will not replace a reading of the book.

Chapter 1

  • Eliminate question marks - "what does this do?" ...
  • use common language
  • keep things obvious

Chapter 2

  • satisficing - first, best, option
    • guessing
    • back button most used browser feature

Chapter 3

  • billboard design
  • clear visual hierarchy
    • size, grouping, nesting
  • use conventions
  • clearly define page areas
  • make clickable areas obvious
  • minimize noise
    • busyness
    • background noise
    • everything is noise until proven otherwise
  • replace text with a foreign language - does it still make sense (where things are)?

Chapter 5

  • get rid of happy-talk - they're not going to read it, but they may think they have to ... (but they still won't read it)
  • kill instructions 

Chapter 6

  • navigation = getting from one place to another = figuring out where you are
  • navigation reveals content
  • presistent navigation - comfort for user; it'll be here, but it may change
  • simpler navigation for forms and the like (where they need to perform a specific action)
  • common elements; home, search, sections (nav), utilities (help use site: about us, contact, help, site map), site id/logo, title, indication of where you are
  • home page != sub pages
  • let people filter results (simple search) - more useful at that point (instead of before you even search)
  • you need to know navigation from top-level to bottom-most level (id est, don't stop mocking up at the second or third level, keep going as necessary)
  • every page needs aname - largest text
  • visual cues of where you are can't be subtle; maybe two things, not just one
  • breadcrumbs were an oddity - not a substitute for two levels of main nav
    • move them out of page - don't let them conflict with primary nav
  • tabs are self-evident, like the Recycle Bin on computes to delete files
    • connect w/ secondary nav (like real life)
      • have one tab selected by default
  • don't rely on color as the only cue
  • 'trunk' test: look at a page from a distance, or with nonsense text
    • what site am I on?
    • what page?
    • what/where are the major sections?
    • options at this level?
    • where am I in scheme of things?
    • search/find?

Chapter 7 (home pages)

  • common elements
    • site identity/mission
    • site hierarchy
    • search
    • teaser
    • timely content
    • deals
    • shortcuts
    • registration
  • show me what I'm looking for (and what I'm not looking for)
  • show me where to start
  • establish credibility and trust
  • must appeal to all visitors
  • ?s: what is this?, what can I do here? what do they have here? why should I be here and not elsewhere? where do I start?
  • tagline and brief, blocked, welcome blurb
    • tagline = value proposition (like 'the single best source for facts on the net')
  • max of four features (to point out)
  • should be able to answer where to start to search, browse, sample (the best)
  • nav layout changes are oaky, but don't change the order (home page vs. sub-pages)

Chapter 8

  • there is no average user
  • there is no average user :D
  • Web teams don't argue about big things (usually), just the minor issues (and these may not have right answers)
  • testing is a good thing - get people to use proposed idea(s) and see how it really functions 

Chapter 9

  • focus groups vs. usability testing
    • focus groups = group; wants, needs, likes > marketing; do it early, not late in the game (do it before you start designing)
    • usability testing = individual, task based; whether site works
  • if people are getting lost, don't add more text - remove (distractions/noise) 

Chapter 10

  • keep photos/figures in print-friendly pages, but don't include nav, ...

Chapter 11

  • easy accessibility (first steps)
    • add alt tags to images
    • use labels in forms
    • skip to main content link (before any other content)
    • make all content accessible by keyboard
    • don't use JS without a good reason 

 

Tags:
Categories: general programming | Internet | review | software