Scientific Ink

Author: Dunrie

  • Usability Professionals’ Association

    Here’s my statement of interest for becoming an officer of the local chapter of the Usability Professionals’ Association.

    I am ready to volunteer as an officer of the Michigan UPA. I have enjoyed the UPA events I have attended over the years – they often provide me some nugget I can go back and apply. And, I believe we really do need to pay attention to how we make things (software, websites, alarm clocks, projects, teams) so that they reflect and enhance our experience, rather than bother us. UPA has been a source of inspiration for me in this regard. Recently, I’ve been able to apply ideas from Lou Rosenfeld’s search analytics talk in January and many of the February Internet User Experience talks (schedule, photos). Additionally, I enjoy the other folks in the group and want to help support the local chapter.

    My background includes project management, technical writing, and project work where I always maintained a focus on the needs of the end user of the product, application, web site, or device. I’m good at seeing things that need to be done and figuring out the what, who, and how to get them accomplished. So, logistics, communication, organization, and team building. I also have some rusty PR skills I could dust off and put into service.

  • The way to travel

    My husband and I just returned from a one-week trip to Austria. My husband works for an Austrian firm, he travels to the head office several times a year, and we have often spoke about me coming along for a visit, maybe to the wine country south of Graz, maybe to the Alps to ski…

    The Wilder Kaiser from the Chapel

    Now, I’m not a downhill skier, and, in 1991, when deciding whether to have surgery to repair my blown-out left knee, whether or not I skied was a decision criterion (no downhill ski? maybe don’t need to cut into knee). The list of vacation destinations on my bulletin board is:

    1. Quebec City,
    2. Cape Breton,
    3. Iceland,
    4. Trieste, Italy (largely because of Trieste and the Meaning of Nowhere),
    5. return to Alaska,
    6. return to Hawaii, and
    7. Austria.

    So, how come Austria jumped to the top of the list and we elected to go to the Alps to ski?

    Friends.

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  • Eagle in Flight

    We took to the air around lunchtime today. There was a bit of wind, so the plane wanted to fly, pulling up in response to the gusts as soon as we rolled it from the hangar. The wind also created somewhat nauseating turbulence in flight, but the combination of wind and the thermals off of unevenly warming ground and frozen lakes brought out soaring birds. We saw more birds on this trip than I’ve ever seen, including a bald eagle.

    eagle in flight

    The eagle was below us, at maybe 2000 feet, its black wings and white tail fan outstretched and immobile – in full soar. It was big, even from far away. No, it isn’t my photograph, but the words of the post seemed insufficient without the image. Imagine inverting the photo and seeing the eagle from above, it was farther away than this, but the wings seemed just as wide and even darker.

    (photo credit: Eagles 2 050, originally uploaded to Flickr by FadderUri.)

  • Reunions anyone?

    So, anyone considering going to our 15th reunion? Cheesy themes and ugly websites aside, I’m potentially interested in attending, to see long-lost friends and to get into NYC to visit my terrific aunt Christie. But, before I commit myself and my very reluctant husband, I wanted to check to see who was thinking of coming. Drop a note!

  • The Morikami Museum & Japanese Gardens

    I have spent a fair bit of time in south Florida, my family purchased a condo there in the late 70s. When I was a kid, we’d visit go to Parrot Jungle, Monkey Jungle, the snake place (Serpentarium?), Lion Country Safari, all the crazy kid places. We also spent a fair bit of time in the Everglades, admiring the egrets, herons, and anhingas and watching for crocs. We used to go to a seafood restaurant (Joe Muer’s) that was located on or near Yamato Road. I was always intrigued with the exit off I-95 for Yamato – a Japanese name among the more standard streetnames Atlantic Blvd, Sample Road, Gateway Blvd, Boynton Beach Blvd.

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  • Another “War Book”

    Naples '44: A World War II Diary of Occupied Italy

    Continuing in the vein of the Art of War, I read Naples ’44: A World War II Diary of Occupied Italy on the plane today. I brought it along with me to Florida because it was a thin volume, eminently packable, and because my sister, who gave it to me for Christmas off my Amazon wish list, asked to borrow it.

    The book chronicles Norman Lewis’ year as a British intelligence officer (field service officer) in occupied Italy. I can’t quite tell the backstory, but it seems he was pressed into service there because he knew Spanish, which was deemed close enough to Italian. He must have learned enough to get by because, among other things, he negotiates the finer details of an arrangement between an English officer and his Italian mistress. He tells fantastic stories, such as about his informant/friend who makes a meagre living posing as an uncle in from Rome at local funerals, making the deceased appear more important than he is.

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