Enabling Reply To All in Microsoft Outlook

Some companies disable the "Reply to All" feature in Microsoft Outlook. Now why they choose to do that is beyond me.

I know that a few users do abuse this feature - I think all of us have gotten annoying mails from someone or the other who chose to do a "Reply All" instead of using his/her common sense.
But having such a drastic solution for this problem creates more problems than it solves. It handicaps users who have to do a legitimate "Reply All" for work related mails. (Or even when you have to reply to say 5 out of the 7 people on the mail thread - doing a Reply to All and then removing the extra 2 folks is much easier than pasting everyone's email ID again).

But, fortunately, there is a workaround. You can't enable the "Reply To All" button. But you can create a new button that does exactly the same thing as that one.

Read the post below. I have tried it myself, and it works!!

Link: Neil Mitchell's Haskell Blog: Enabling Reply To All in Outlook

And the usability award goes to .... Microsoft Outlook Address book!!

And the usability award goes to .... Microsoft Outlook Address book!!

Just thought of letting you know that Microsoft Outlook’s address book is the clear winner in the Usability awards section!!

Sample 1: --> If you want to remove a person from a list/group that you have created, then you have to double-click the list. Then the following UI shows up.

E.g. if I select “User 1” and then press the cross (X) or delete button, "User 1" should get deleted from the “List-Sample” list. Correct?

Wrong!! Guess what happens?

The list “List-Sample” itself gets deleted!! And that too without a confirmation dialog. So you have no way of knowing that you are about to delete a list. There is no Undo function here as well.

Sample 2: --> You can’t copy a list. You have to add the same members all over again in the new one.

Hats off to great innovation at Microsoft!! I guess the user group that they tested the address book with didn’t know any people and hence their address book must have been empty :-).

Earth Hour 2009

More than 1,000 cities in over 80 countries observed Earth Hour 2009 on Saturday March 28th. See the effect it had - just fantastic!! If we make this a regular event, it will go a long way in conserving resources on our planet ...

Link: Earth Hour 2009 - The Big Picture - Boston.com

Why usability training is required for engineers

I am a software engineer myself. But sometimes I think that one of the subjects that should compulsorily be taught in Software Engineering is Usability and User Centric Design. Because this subject is not taught, engineers end up making the end user's life very difficult, thus defeating the very purpose of creating software for that user.


Latest reason: My extremely poor user experience with using Motorola Phone Tools (MPT).


Background: I have a Motorola Razr V3I phone, purchased 2-3 years ago. One day, it suddenly started giving me trouble. Whenever I tried to read my SMS Outbox, the phone would reboot!!


I thought I would try a software upgrade. So I went to the Motorola website and downloaded the latest software for the cell phone.

The upgrade went off well overall, except for the part that it wiped out all my contacts. The upgrade did not prompt me to save my personal data manually in another location (it only had a check box for automatic backup and restore). Otherwise I might have done that to save me further grief. But that is a separate story. At least it brought back a lot of my personal data.


The real fun started now. Fortunately I had taken a backup of my cell's Contacts folder a few months ago. So I had something to fall back on.

The backup was taken by Motorola Phone Tools (MPT). I started MPT, and asked it to restore the data.
Data restored, me happy, right? Wrong!! The software failed to restore a backup that it itself had taken!! Wow!!

Googling revealed that a later version of MPT might solve the problem. So I downloaded MPT ver 4.5 and tried with it.


MPT deleted my SIM card's contents. It deleted my phone's contacts. It restored my SIM's contents. And it .... DID NOT restore my phone's contacts!!

"Failed to restore data" was the extremely verbose and helpful error message given by MPT.


I am a Software Engineer, and we do not give up that easily!! I opened the file that had the contacts list (approx 500). It was a text file (delimited by semi-colons ";" for the tech-savvy people out there).


Instead of all the records, I took 50 at a time. The 1st 50 succeeded!! I had 50 contacts transferred to my phone. Then I took the next 50, and so on.

I had a failure for the 251-300th records case. I then narrowed it down to 1 record. Changing 1 field made that record pass!! Actually it was 1 number that I changed, and presto!! It worked.

To cut a long story short, only 2 records out of 500 had problems!! And for that I got absolutely no help from MPT itself!!

There were many reasonable options that MPT developers could have given:

1. Say that "2 out of 500 records are bad".
   
2. Pointed out which ones were bad.
3. Pointed out which field in the bad records was causing a problem with the import.
   
4. Given tips on how to fix it.
5. Imported the remaining 498!! How difficult is it to ignore failures and move on with the rest of the data?

Seriously, the folks who worked on that piece need a crash course on thinking from the end user's point of view. If I had not been an engineer myself, I would have quit long back on trying to get anything to work.



I still am going to quit - on Motorola cell phones. My next one will definitely NOT be a Motorola.



I have great respect for the Motorola company. This is one company that has extremely high standards for their products. Their hardware products are one of the best.


But if they are taking no pains with the usability of their products, then there is no point in buying from them - especially if the product happens to be a consumer one.

I know that the engineering team that made MPT must be working hard. They probably did not think that in case an error occurs, they should take pains to make life easier for folks that are using the software. But this is no excuse.

God knows how many such engineers in different companies are writing software that is fundamentally good, but lacks in usability. According to me, User centric design is NOT optional. In today's world, it is a must.


Usability design training must be given to each and every engineer working on a software product. Making life easier for the end user must be one of the goals of any software project ...

Awesome photos for 2008!!


The year 2008 in photographs (part 1 of 3)
The year 2008 in photographs (part 2 of 3)
The year 2008 in photographs (part 3 of 3)

La Boîte noire (The Black Box)

La Boîte noire (The Black Box)

Saw this on Star Movies yesterday - French movie with subtitles.

Story: Arthur is driving on a steep road. Suddenly his car skids, and he has a major accident. After he wakes up, he has trouble remembering details of his life.

But there is hope. While he was not conscious, he blurts out a lot of details which the hospital nurse picks up. She writes it all down in a black diary. These notes contain the keys to various parts of his subconscious memory - or the "black box" that is present in everyone's mind.

There is a lingering trauma in Arthur's life that had happened when he was young. He must solve this to have peace. Arthur desperately tries to solve this puzzle with the help of these snippets. The way he goes about doing that and what happens to him along the way forms the basis of the movie.

The movie cuts from reality to fantasy and back so quickly that one is kept guessing as to what is being currently shown - is it a dream or not?

The end was sadly below my expectations. Also after having watched Memento, I would rank this one as much lower than that.

See it for the visual effects (good old camera work, not animation) and slick direction.

Overall: 6/10.

IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0414879/plotsummary

How to Photograph Children

Very nice tips on how to shoot snaps of children.

Link: How to Photograph Children

Video: Time Lapse of Los Angeles

Very nice video - well shot!!

Link: Time Lapse of Los Angeles on Vimeo

Glory in the flower - Wordsworth

Glory in the flower - Wordsworth

Came across this and thought of sharing. From “Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood” by William Wordsworth.

What though the radiance which was once so bright

Be now for ever taken from my sight,

Though nothing can bring back the hour

Of splendour in the grass, of glory in the flower;

We will grieve not, rather find

Strength in what remains behind;

In the primal sympathy

Which having been must ever be;

In the soothing thoughts that spring

Out of human suffering;

In the faith that looks through death,

In years that bring the philosophic mind.

Full ode at http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15926

The new Satyam nursery rhyme

The new Satyam nursery rhyme

Got 2 rhymes in my mail about the Satyam scandal. I got inspired to make a third one.

2 rhymes in the mail:

Raju Raju sat on a wall
Raju Raju had a great fall
Balance sheet died
Shareholders cried
Raju Raju made a fraud



Raju Raju
Yes baba
Cheating us
No baba
Telling Lies
No baba
Open the balance sheet
HA HA HA





My composition (original):

Rock a bye investor

On the Satyam stock top

When the Maytas deal breaks

The exchange will rock

When the fraud breaks

The Satyam will fall

Down will come investor

Raju and all

Common Errors in English

Common Errors in English

Very nice site. Lists common mistakes that we make in English e.g. bullion vs bouillon.

Link: http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/errors.html

The Ugly Indian Tourist

Recently we had gone to Ladghar in Konkan. Stayed at the Pears beach resort. Nice place - I would recommend staying here.

But this isn't about Ladghar, Pears resort, or even the Konkan. This article is about us Indians as tourists. And how we desperately are in need of improvement.


Back to what happened at Ladghar. We had a lovely time there. The only blight on our trip was when a big group landed, nay, rolled in like a pack of cats jumping on empty barrels.

The noise they made was enough to wake the dead (and kill them again). This behavior was consistent across all age groups. It was as if there was a competition going on as to who could shout the loudest. Age 3 to 73, all of them braying to their hearts' content. Now if kids shout, that is understood. But when adults also do the same thing, then it is just not done. When those who are supposed to enforce discipline need disciplining themselves, then it becomes a very sad scene indeed.

I think most of you can guess the state that they came from. But this is not about a particular group of people either. This is about all of us Indians as tourists, and our behavioral pattern while doing so.



This pattern of behavior is repeated not just in India, but overseas as well. I remember an incident when I had gone to London with some colleagues from my erstwhile organization. At the hotel where I stayed, the employees around me used to give us strange glances when we used to pass by. I generally noticed that they were not comfortable when they used to see us. At that point in time, I put it down to simple racism - stories of treatment given to brown Indians in England came to mind.

However, there was more to this than met the eye. I somehow ended up chatting with an elderly white gentleman who also was an employee of the hotel. After exhausting 'normal' topics, I hesitantly brought up the topic of the behavior that I had seen, and asked him what the reason could be. He paused, and then said "I know that you are thinking that it is racism. However, that is not the case. It is due to some other reason."

On prodding further, he revealed that the strange behavior was because previous guests from India or the Indian subcontinent had acted badly while staying there.
Examples were:

1. Dirtying up the place by dropping paper, wrappers, food items, etc. in every place except the waste baskets.
2. Filling up the juice placed on the counter during breakfast into thermos flasks or other containers and taking it with them out of the breakfast hall.
3. Pushing the fire alarm button. This was usually done by kids, which by itself is not that unexpected. But the sad part was that when this was reported to the parents they would shrug their shoulders and say "Oh that's normal behavior for children!"
4. Deliberately giving the wrong room number when the bill is presented after a meal. This means that someone else staying in the hotel is charged for that meal. 
5. Spitting in the hotel premises.
6. Talking loudly even at the dinner table when in the midst of others who were very quiet.
   

He had other examples as well. After hearing them, I was really ashamed of my fellow countrymen. I really could not blame the hotel staff for being apprehensive about all Indian tourists.

After that conversation, I remembered that I myself have seen examples of this during my travels abroad. It starts with the plane journey itself. We Indians shout, demand too much service, follow no table manners, rush for seats instead of waiting patiently in line, stuff all our luggage into the overhead bins without sparing a thought for whether other passengers have space to put even one item, etc. etc. And it continues at places where we jump queues (yes, the great Indian disease of cutting in lines travels with us abroad as well). No wonder we are disliked.


Most of those who can afford to travel abroad are educated people. If education can't teach you manners, then what is the use? Do we need to have common sense, civic sense and etiquette as part of our school curriculum? Is it really so hard for us to follow a simple rule - "Don't do anything that will trouble others"?

Why do people resist good manners so much? Do they fear that if they stand in line patiently they will miss out on something? That if they don't shout while eating they won't digest their food properly? That behaving in a civilized fashion will corrupt their moral values? :-)


Some questions have no answers. I can just hope and pray that we take some of the good things from the West like manners, punctuality, public behavior, etc. instead of copying the wrong ones...

What good are Steve Jobs and Bill Gates without Josh Silver?

Josh Silver, a retired physics professor from Oxford University, has invented glasses with lenses that the wearer can adjust for his or herself. No need to go to an optometrist. This is perfect for poor people!!

He wants to find ways to give these glasses to the world's poor. Hope that someone funds this worthy project ...

Link: What good are Steve Jobs and Bill Gates without Josh Silver?

Creative photos by Chema Madoz

A set of beautiful black and white artistic snaps.

Link: Creative photos by Chema Madoz | haha.nu - the lifestyle blogzine

Restaurant Review – Bagban (Camp), Pune

Review – Bagban (Camp)

Went to this one on Friday, Dec 12, 2008.

The restaurant is on East Street, Camp – in front of the old Victory theatre. The first thing one notices is that the menu is also written on the walls. So that kind of gives an indication that food is the primary focus of the hotel - not ambience, decor, etc.

The seats are very plain. The place is also small but clean. There is an upper AC section but we preferred to sit in the normal one downstairs as there was a nice breeze blowing.

We had a few vegetarians in our group. The number of items for them were very limited. They ordered paneer tikka and promptly declared it delicious.

On the other hand, we non-vegetarians were spoilt for choice. Reshmi kababs, mutton seekh kabab, pahadi kababs, etc. – no fish items though. Only chicken or mutton.

For the main course, we went for

Ø     Veg handi + Bakery Naan

Ø     Mutton kheema + pav

Ø     Tawa gosht

Ø     Mutton biryani

 

The non-veg items were simply delicious! And following the general rule that healthy is inversely proportional to taste, the preparation did not seem at all healthy. But at times like this, you don’t really care!

I would rate the mutton biryani the best of the lot (and that is saying something considering that all the items were very good).

The veggie party declared the handi decent. The Bakery naan is a special item – it is a bread in the shape of a small pizza. Something different from the usual stuff.

All the prices are very reasonable. The total bill came for less than Rs 200/- per head.

Summary:

Ø     It is a great place if you love chicken and mutton dishes.

Ø     Value for money

Ø     Not recommended for vegetarians (too less variety)

Ø     If ambience matters a lot to you, then skip this one.

A few thoughts on the Mumbai attacks of 26 Nov 2008

The past few days' events have filled me with a sense of sadness and gloom. There are so many thoughts going around in my mind that I just decided to "blog them away". So here goes - the list is not ordered, as it mirrors what I am thinking ...

1. When will our government learn?
   
   This is not directed at any particular political party. I am pretty sure that had any other party other than the Congress(I) been in power, the end result would have been the same.
   
   Our "leaders" are very reliable - you can rely on them to do anything other than the right thing. They play the politics of vote banks, communalism, casteism, reservation, etc. etc. - anything to avoid doing the right thing.
   
   We do not have a comprehensive anti-terror policy. We do not have co-ordination amongst security agencies. We do not have proper equipment for our police forces.
   We do not have anything other than the bravery of our armed forces who lay their lives down for our country selflessly. A country that does not even honor them enough.
   
   
   
2. Spend money on anti-terror freely and wisely.
   
   News reports said that 100 policemen responded to the attacks immediately. But out of them only 7 had guns. The rest had lathis!! (canes)
   Only 7% of the policemen had guns? Could there be anything more pathetic than this? In the US, each and every policeman/policewoman has a gun. That is more like it.
   
   In India, most of the gun-toting policemen are sent to guard politicians. These politicians are mostly people who, if killed, would be more a reason for celebration than sadness!! Why can't we reduce the security of such goons-in-political-clothing?
   
   The equipment that the police had was faulty. The bullet proof vests could not stop bullets from AK-47 rifles. Ditto for the helmets.
   Instead of spending more money on foreign tours of our "leaders", it would be better to spend it on such items.
   
   Another article said that the Navy did not get the money needed for effective patrolling of the sea coast. We have outdated radar, and outdated ships / less ships than required. This is disgusting!!
   
   
   
   
3. Choose the right men for the job.
   
   Just now heard the news that the home minister, the "honorable" Mr. Shivraj Patil, has resigned and has been replaced. Too little, too late.
   
   Mr. Patil should not have been made the home minister in the first place. A post that was held by stalwarts like Sardar Patel is now being held by people who change their dress 4 times during the day but don't do what they are supposed to.
   
   Another colossal mistake that happened was that the NSG is situated only in Delhi. This meant that it was a good 9 hours before they could come to Mumbai. 9 hours!! If that had been reduced to 30 minutes, a lot of lives could have been saved ...
   
   To take this to another level, we must choose the right people to man the security agencies. Make them co-ordinate with each other. Make sure that all information is given to all the concerned people.
   
   
   
   
4. Finally, please spare a thought for all the people who died in this dastardly attack. All the army and policemen who lost their lives. All the commandos who fought so bravely. All the innocent civilians who died an unnecessary death.
   
   Rest in peace, my friends. Rest in peace.
   

Insensitivity never dies !!

After the horrific terrorist attacks in Mumbai on 26-Nov-2008, once expects that others would be sensitive to this fact and respect those who lost their lives.

But no. Human nature never ceases to amaze me - both positively and negatively. In this case, it was the negative.

We live on Baner road in Pune. There are 2 marriage halls near our home. This being the marriage season, there were marriages held on Saturday (29 Nov ) and Sunday (30 Nov).

That the marriages were held is perfectly fine - life has to go on and you can't cancel an event that was organized a long time ago. But one did expect them to be sensitive to the fact that terrorists had wreaked havoc in a city that is less than 3 hrs away from Pune.
No such luck. Both times there was a band playing loud music that lasted for one hour!! Not 5 mins, 1 whole hour!! Amazing ...

Footwear designed specifically for diabetics

Footwear designed specifically for diabetics

A Pune, India based doctor – Dr. Manisha Deshmukh - has designed footwear specifically for diabetics as they are prone to suffer from a lot of foot related problems.

The article doesn’t mention where to buy the footwear, but I think she works at K.E.M. hospital --> http://kemhospital.org/diabetes.html

I have put the scanned article at http://www.flickr.com/photos/amitshirodkar/3046942477/sizes/l/

The 9/11 photograph you didn't see

This article is 2 years old, and the snap is 7 years old. But still does it make a comment on the times we live in?

Link: The 9/11 photograph you didn't see. - - Slate Magazine

New garbage collector G1 available in JDK7 / OpenJDK

New garbage collector G1 available in JDK7 / OpenJDK

Ø Snip from http://jeremymanson.blogspot.com/2008/11/g1-garbage-collector-in-latest-openjdk.html

G1 is supposed to provide a dramatic improvement on existing GCs. There was a rather good talk about it at this year's JavaOne. It allows the user to provide pause time goals, both in terms of actual seconds and in terms of percentage of runtime.

The principle is simple: the collector splits the heap up into fixed-size regions and tracks the live data in those regions. It keeps a set of pointers — the "remembered set" — into and out of the region. When a GC is deemed necessary, it collects the regions with less live data first (hence, "garbage first"). Often, this can mean collecting an entire region in one step: if the number of pointers into a region is zero, then it doesn't need to do a mark or sweep of that region.

Ø White paper describing the “Garbage-First Garbage Collection” algorithm: http://research.sun.com/jtech/pubs/04-g1-paper-ismm.pdf