By @edent · electricity HowTo · 48 comments · 200 words · read ~14,485 times.
I can't find these instructions anywhere online - so I hope these notes help! The AS302P SMETS2 has two buttons. I've labelled the top button A and the bottom button B. Press the A button once to bring up the menu. The display should light up. It should show "General". Press the B button. This […]
Continue reading →By @edent · google usability · 6 comments · 450 words · read ~848 times.
My colleague was understandably ticked off with me. A week previously, they'd asked me to get something fairly urgent done. I hadn't done it - and all hell was breaking loose. I wasn't being truculent or disobedient. I simply hadn't seen their message. And it was all Google's fault. At work, we use Google's G-Suite. […]
Continue reading →By @edent · design equality gender HTML5 · 12 comments · 550 words · read ~458 times.
I was signing up to a website the other day, and it wanted to know my title. Here are the options it offered me: Look, I get it. If I'm ever daft enough to undertake a PhD and masochistic enough to complete it - I am going to demand that everyone addresses me as Doctor […]
Continue reading →By @edent · camera gadgets IoT ip cameras review · 550 words · read ~408 times.
The good folk at Nooie have sent me their 360 WiFi camera to review. Cost is usually £50 - but check the bottom of this post for a discount code. The design is gorgeous - and award winning. It's a sleek unit and, surprisingly, feels nice in the hand. It can store videos on an […]
Continue reading →By @edent · Apple linux mac rant · 35 comments · 450 words · read ~28,449 times.
I've never "got" the appeal of a Mac. But I have to use one for work. Here's a partial list of everything I cannot do on a Mac, but I can do on Ubuntu. These are all objective facts. These are things which either are impossible, or require adding unsupported 3rd party software - sometimes […]
Continue reading →By @edent · accessibility HTML5 usability · 3 comments · 350 words · read ~629 times.
HTML is magic. It comes with all sorts of great usability and accessibility features. But people often ignore them or misuse them. Take a look at these checkboxen: If you click on this label, nothing happens. If you click on this label, the checkbox will toggle This is important. Tapping on tiny squares is hard […]
Continue reading →By @edent · audio metadata ogg opus · 1 comment · 1,650 words · read ~511 times.
I'm trying to create some ridiculously tiny audio files. The sort where every single byte matters. I've encoded a small sample. But the opusenc tool automatically adds metadata - even if you don't specify any. Using the amazing Mutagen Python library I was able to completely strip out all the metadata! import mutagen mutagen.File("example.opus").delete() It […]
Continue reading →By @edent · a11y accessibility Apple mac usability · 3 comments · 250 words · read ~774 times.
Apple's attitude to usability is... complex. The general attitude of "you're holding it wrong" seems to be prevalent across all their products. I like having a large mouse cursor. I find it easier to see on my large monitor, especially when sat at a safe distance. But, if I use a large cursor - I […]
Continue reading →By @edent · dell laptop linux ubuntu · 16 comments · 250 words · read ~338 times.
I need a new laptop. My old one is dying a long, slow death. My requirements are modest - runs Ubuntu and charges via USB-C. Cheap would be a bonus - as would a num-pad - but I'll take what I can get! Loads of people have recommended the Dell XPS13 series. I'm looking at […]
Continue reading →By @edent · birthday family mum · 150 words · read ~314 times.
Mums, eh? One minute they're teaching you how to read and write, the next minute you're teaching them how to video call casting directors during quarantine. You see, my mum is an actress. When people ask "what sort" - I could tell them about the award winning short films she has been in. Or the […]
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