Here is your cup of coffee.  Brewed from the finest Colombian lighter fluid.

Xander ,'Chosen'


Buffistechnology 3: "Press Some Buttons, See What Happens."

Got a question about technology? Ask it here. Discussion of hardware, software, TiVos, multi-region DVDs, Windows, Macs, LINUX, hand-helds, iPods, anything tech related. Better than any helpdesk!


Kevin - Apr 14, 2008 8:48:32 am PDT #5678 of 25501
Never fall in love with somebody you actually love.

Office 2007. Word 2007, in particular. It's as if a 4 year old was asked to redesign it.


Jessica - Apr 14, 2008 8:49:54 am PDT #5679 of 25501
And then Ortus came and said "It's Ortin' time" and they all Orted off into the sunset

Offline apps I hate - SAP springs to mind. Online, phpBB.

SoftImage also has a horrible UI, but it's such a fun app to use that I forgive it (most of the time).

[eta:

Office 2007.

Oh HELL yes. My workstation PC hasn't been upgraded yet, but whenever I log onto a computer that has been, my eyes start to bleed a little.]


amych - Apr 14, 2008 8:50:58 am PDT #5680 of 25501
Now let us crush something soft and watch it fountain blood. That is a girlish thing to want to do, yes?

SAP springs to mind.

Eww, yes.

Online, phpBB.

Eww, yes.


Kevin - Apr 14, 2008 8:52:00 am PDT #5681 of 25501
Never fall in love with somebody you actually love.

Oh, SAP! That thing is the most shitty thing I've ever used. (It's also my works main business system). It makes NO NORMAL SENSE. (And some of the error messages are randomly in German).

Vista. Anybody ever tried setting an IP address for a network card in Vista? Try it. Mind boggling.


Jessica - Apr 14, 2008 8:53:37 am PDT #5682 of 25501
And then Ortus came and said "It's Ortin' time" and they all Orted off into the sunset

And some of the error messages are randomly in German

Now that's one I haven't encountered yet, but it doesn't surprise me even a little bit.

My main beef with SAP, apart from it's overall non-worky-ness, is that the icons were designed by blind wombats from Mars. There is no reason in the world that a training session should have to include the phrase "Okay, now see the icon that looks like a little brick with lightning coming out of it? That's your Inbox."


Kevin - Apr 14, 2008 8:55:52 am PDT #5683 of 25501
Never fall in love with somebody you actually love.

Yeah, they are based in Germany. If you ever use the admin interfaces for it, you do something wrong and it flashes YELLOW at you, then gives you an error message in German. As they haven't translated all of it still.

One of the other common messages I see is "CRITICAL ERROR. SYSTEM TERMINATING". But it's just a generic error, so if you've typoed something admin wise it comes up with that. I discovered that after having a heart attack, thinking I'd crashed the system.


Sean K - Apr 14, 2008 9:08:26 am PDT #5684 of 25501
You can't leave me to my own devices; my devices are Nap and Eat. -Zenkitty

UI HATERATION:

Windows ME
Windows Vista (which I have only looked at/heard reports second hand)
ANY entirely Flash-based website (like most "upcoming" movie web sites).

The CSI: 3 Dimensions of Murder video game. I picked up this video game on a whim, being a CSI fan, and wanting to see what the game would be like. The game consists of going to crime scenes, clicking around until you find all the evidence, going back to CSI and clicking on all the various rooms and equipment until you have processed all the evidence, and talking to all the various characters suspects until the crime is solved (and yep, "talking to people" consists of pressing the space bar until all the dialog has been displayed -- you frequently get options of questions to ask, but you have to go through them all to "solve" the crime anyway, so that doesn't really matter).

It is a video game that plays itself. It only requires input from a human(?*) to make mouse clicks in the right places and space bar through the dialog. Add to the fact that the "3 Dimensions" of the title refers to both the number of cases you have to solve in the game (three, yep, only three) and the fact that all the characters (voiced by the actual CSI actors) are given half-assed 3-D computer animation, so you've got a major Uncanny Valley thing going on all game, and this is one of my top contenders for Worst Video Game Evar.

(*Not only do I think a chimp could play and "win" this game as fast as any human, I think a chimp could write a script to randomly send mouse movements, clicks, and space bar hits to the game, thereby removing the need for any living thing to be involved in "playing" the game.)


Glamcookie - Apr 14, 2008 9:09:27 am PDT #5685 of 25501
I know my own heart and understand my fellow man. But I am made unlike anyone I have ever met. I dare to say I am like no one in the whole world. - Anne Lister

Thanks for the ideas! I went with Word 2007. I've only used it a few times (in the lab at school) and it made me feel like an idiot. Notes is also a good (bad) one!


NoiseDesign - Apr 14, 2008 9:10:27 am PDT #5686 of 25501
Our wings are not tired

So Sean, what you are trying to say is that I shouldn't buy that game, right?


Sean K - Apr 14, 2008 9:12:24 am PDT #5687 of 25501
You can't leave me to my own devices; my devices are Nap and Eat. -Zenkitty

Drew, if you really despise yourself that much, I can give you my copy. Free of charge.