game, game. repeat.

Many usability professionals focus on, well, usability.  But there’s more to usability than an intuitive interface.  The best stuff in our lives are pleasant, fun, even habit forming.

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If you’re tired of your keychain poking holes in your pockets you may want to consider investing in some protection.

In the ’80s all the cool executive-type people carried around small tape recorders for capturing ideas any time they had them. Today we can record notes in ’00s style and have them sent straight to our email. Turns out its pretty handy to be able to quickly taking notes anytime, anywhere. You know…until you can afford a personal assistant like the really cool ’80s execs.

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WHAT IF you could subscribe to your favorite websites and automatically be sent any new articles they post instead of checking back a couple times a day or week to see if there is anything new? Wouldn’t that be great?  The future is now! Head over to Google Reader, sign up for an account, then click the ‘add subscription’ button.  Type in the URL of the website you want to subscribe to and if it supports subscriptions (aka RSS) you’ll be reading their articles in seconds. Try it on all sorts of sites: works with this blog, newspapers, interesting discussions in forums, and plenty of other webpages.

While you were reading the post about how to ship a used book, you may have found yourself strangely compelled to hover your mouse over the cool, image hotspot mouseover hover caption thingies on the picture of shipping supplies. Perhaps you wondered how you too could harness the power of such hotspots on your own blog. I’ll let you in on the secret.

So you sold your used book on Amazon, you’re basking in the glow of your success, and then it dawns on you that the buyer is expecting you to send them the book. No worries, here’s how you do it: 1) print the packing slip from Amazon; 2) put the book in a padded envelope with the packing slip; 3) address the package to the buyer; 4) weigh the package; 5) look up the postage; 6) put the right postage on there; 7) write ‘media mail’ beneath the stamps on the package; 8) stop by your local post office and drop it off in person. Easy.

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They do look good on your bookshelf, but are you really ever going to read them again? You can free up space in your home, save the environment, and spread knowledge throughout the world by getting that book off your shelf into the hands of an eager reader. One of the easiest ways is through Amazon: do a search for your book, click on the ‘sell yours here’ button, and you’re on your way. If you are feeling philanthropic you can sell your book for as little as $0.01 plus shipping. Or charge what it’s really worth and you’ll earn some dough for something new to read.  Works great for old games too.

Not knowing what to expect, I played Passage and found myself moved (not in the U-Haul sense, the other moved)—something no other video game has accomplished before or since. It doesn’t look like much, but there’s real Art in there.

You had me at hello.  Wait…I mean: you had me at the start up screen.  Braid would make a great screensaver, it’s that neat to look at (and listen to). And for those who like side-scrollers, there’s a fun, innovative game in there too. The (free) demo is worth the price of admission and then some.

They won’t be serving these at the Ritz Carlton any time soon, but don’t let it’s commonplace appearance fool you.  Chavez Supermarket makes a tasty Super Carnitas Burrito packed with lots of pork and other burrito essentials.  But if that’s not fancy enough for you, you can always ask for it ‘Au Jus’.

It’s easy to run out of power outlets with all the must-have gadgets in our lives.  Some self-important power adapters sprawl over 2 or more outlets, luxuriating without a thought for the other devices. Huge, Dubai inspired, power strips are one way to find more space, but these plug extenders leverage your existing power strip to offer each of your diva adapters their own luxury suite.  Just don’t tell them that you only paid $9 for a pack of 3 (before tax+shipping), let them think you splurged.

Made spring rolls this weekend and they were good.  BTW, you only need about 1/4 of the dipping sauce they suggest for the amount of spring roll generated.

Don’t like broccoli?  Me neither.  But hold on to your soup bowls, this is a way to eat it that tastes pretty good.  Read more…

I have never liked brussel sprouts, in fact I was generally vegetable averse growing up. It turns out it wasn’t entirely the vegetables’ fault. Read more…

Sometimes you need mashed potatoes. Could be a holiday, could be you have this huge bag of potatoes you bought and they are starting to grow sprouts. Whatever your reason, when the time comes try these out. They are about the best mashed potatoes I’ve ever tasted and I’ve had quiet a few dolops of potatoes in my day. Read more…

There’s Hagen Daz, Dryers, and a whole lot of other companies making ice cream. Coldstone’s the latest craze and gelato has enjoyed a recent surge in the Berkeley, CA area. But they’re all pretenders to the Double Rainbow throne. Read more…

This is old hat to California natives, but if you haven’t visited in say, the last 15 years, you may not have heard of In-N-Out. It’s a family owned chain that’s known for it’s simple menu, good service, and excellent hamburgers (the fries are really good too). Read more…

I had the good fortune of growing up during a bygone era when an average middle class kid like me had a stay home mom who heaped love and good food on me and my family. This recipe is one of my favorite from my mom’s repertoire. It tastes great, it’s simple, Read more…

It’s not as good as homemade but Michelangelo’s has had the same special for 5 years: linguini with baby clams, shrimp, and mussels; and it’s really good.

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For me there is no better spaghetti sauce that the stuff I grew up with. Period. I grew up on this stuff and maybe that’s got something to do with it, but when I make my friends have no problem polishing off a plateful and coming back for more.

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