text:
Best of Week
What are the consequences, if any, if a Jehovah's Witness dates
someone of another religion? I have broken up with a young man who
was kicked out of the group for not following the rule to not have
sex before marriage. He is now trying to get back in and do the right
thing. He and I have had sex, so he was advised to discontinue dating
me and cut off all communacations.
Denise C., Detroit, MI, United States, 22, Female, Baptist,
Black/African American, Straight, 2 Years of College, Mesg ID
I live an area with a large population of people from India, and I
find they will speak to whites and Asians and people from their own
background, but will avoid black people, especially black men. Some
of these people are twice as dark as I am, and they don't see
themselves as black. I don't understand it. Is there a history of
dislike for other people of color, Africans, black Americans, etc.,
among people from India? I am nice to everyone, and I speak to
Tony, Cincinnati, OH, United States, <email@example.com>, 44,
Male, Baptist, Black/African American, Straight, Senior executive,
Over 4 Years of College , Upper middle class, Mesg ID 71499101841
In general, and from the people who write in Y? Forum, certain races
seem to match with certain religions. A lot of black people are
Baptist, while a lot of Hispanic people are Catholic. This might be
understandable historically and culturally, but I want to know if
those of you who violate the cultural-religious stereotypes, for
example the Italian Hindu, Saudi/black Jew, etc., are the objects of
prejudice from others. Are you even out there?
Mr. Dickerson, Tucson, AZ, United States, 31, Male, Non-Religious,
White/Caucasian, Straight, Over 4 Years of College , Upper middle
class, Mesg ID 418200063857
What part does religion play in Irish medicine? Do you have any types
of home remedies you use?
Donna S., Chipley, FL, United States, <firstname.lastname@example.com>,
Female, Mesg ID 4152000110520
I have suffered through the slings and arrows of my various friends
as they've attempted to find dates through Internet matching
services. The reports I'm getting would indicate that virtually all
men, no matter how heavy or balding, have described themselves as
good-looking. My male friends have had the opposite experience,
wherein the women they meet in person have really underplayed their
looks online, generally referring to a 'few extra pounds' or 'just
average,' when in fact they're very attractive. Why do women feel so
negatively about the way they look while men seem able to say 'I'm
hot' with a straight face?
Emma, Los Angeles, CA, United States, Female, White/Caucasian,
Straight, Mesg ID 4152000115739
It is much easier for women to entice men than for men to entice
women. It has been my experience that women, no matter how great they
look, have a problem with some physical feature they have. Their
boobs are either too big or too small, hair too curly or too
straight, body too fat or too thin, etc. These things are issues that
seem to plague women regardless of how nice they may look. Men on the
other hand feel that they need to embellish their looks for women
because they still don't understand clearly that women are not as
visually stimulated as men are. Looks count alot for men and 'us men'
assume that looks count as much for women. Thus, when you have
internet ads, or ads in a paper where people give physical
descriptions of themselves, you are very likely to find the
disparities that you have so accutely pointed out.
Gary, Los Angeles, CA, United States, <email@example.com>, 37,
Male, Jewish, Black/African American, Straight, Professional, Over 4
Years of College, Mesg ID 4192000120032
Women are pressured by the fashion industry to be skinny and
anorexic, so they think that's what men want. As any male will tell
you, they would rather have a full-bodied woman who tells them they
are attractive. If a man says he isn't attractive, he lessens his
chance of pairing with an attractive woman. Would a man take that
Andrew, Livingston, NA, United Kingdom,
<email@example.com>, Male, White/Caucasian, Straight,
Multimedia, Mesg ID 418200081352
Every day we are bombarded with images of how women are supposed
to look. Most women do not look like this narrow standard of beauty,
but we are told that we should. This leads to tremendous
disatisfaction with our bodies. All the women on TV are thin. Most
are rather tall, and many have had cosmetic surgery. The women in
every advertisement and magazine look like this, too. And don't
forget the women in the clothing catalogs. And most of the clothes
are designed with a model body in mind. The women in the plus-sized
catalogs are not even heavy. This is why so many women diet or have
eating disorders. Practically from birth we are told that we must
live up to a certain standard to be beautiful. The thing that many
women do not realize is that this standard of beauty that we measure
ourselves against isn't the same one that men measure us against. So
we end up striving for something that we can't achieve and is
meaningless anyway.
Jacqueline C., San Jose, CA, United States, 26, Female,
White/Caucasian, Engineer, Over 4 Years of College , Middle
class,Mesg ID 418200062549
To Gary and Andrew: Why would an unattractive man feel he deserves
an attractive woman? Most of us work very hard to stay fit, and we do
expect a certain visual appeal from our partners, be they male or
female. Also, why lie on the net, as the truth will be revealed once
the correspondents meet in person? Is it that these guys feel their
charm will outweigh their physical shortcomings?
Emma, Los Angeles, CA, United States, Female, Mesg ID
The responses about women being subtly told they need model's
physiques are probably true and kind of sad. But to be honest, what
women hold as the 'super male' is just as hard for the rest of us
shmoes to deal with as well. I am not at all sure what women consider
attractive in men, but Bill Clinton has women dropping trow on him
left and right. But put him in the office cubicles with the rest of
us, and how many women are going to be showing him their underwear
across the office desk the first time they meet? Would an Internet ad
saying 'I am not all that good-looking but have lots of money and
power' be more honest? I would suggest that either gender holds its
ideals (super models vs. super powerful) at a level unattainable by
most of us. And the effect of this - and media focus on it - is just
as devastating to either sex.
Steve, Houston, TX, United States, 41, Male, White/Caucasian,
Corporate Guy, Over 4 Years of College , Upper middle class,Mesg ID
I was at lunch with friends the other day and ordered beans, collard
greens and cornbread. Although I know my black co-worker loves this
food, she didn't order it. When I asked her later why, she said she
didn't want her friends to consider her to be too 'country.' She also
said she heard I wasn't selected for a job I applied for because the
supervisor considered me too 'country.' I'm only hearing this from
black Americans, specifically black women. Whats up with this? I may
be from the mountains, but my manners are not in the ditch. What in
the hell is wrong with being from the country? As I recall, Abe
Lincoln was raised in a log cabin.
Alma, Kempner, TX, United States, 46, Female, Methodist,
White/Caucasian, Lesbian, federal employee, 4 Years of College ,
Middle class, Mesg ID 4162000122351
I think the prevailing idea is that 'country' doesn't go over too
well with the masses. Country people have the stigma of being
uneducated hicks with no idea how to act civilized. I don't know why
this is the prevailing stereotype when so many people -including
myself - find country comforting. My dad's family is from the country
(South Carolina), and they are the most wonderful people; they are
the epitome of Southern gentleness and hospitality. I would much
rather spend time with them than my mom's somewhat abrasive city-folk
New England family. I think the stereotypical country bumpkin is a
product of the media based on exploitation of character -i.e. the
slower-paced life equals 'dumb'; the lilting accent is portrayed as a
twang; the colloquialisms are exaggerated into ridiculous massacres
of Standard American English. Be proud of your country roots. And by
the way, I've always lived in big cities but think beans, collard
greens and cornbread sounds like a great meal.
S.R., Austin, TX, United States, 22, Female, Agnostic,
White/Caucasian, student, Mesg ID 419200021850
I am a male turning 20 and am curious about why a man would be
attracted to an extremely obese woman. I have many 'larger' friends,
and they are some of the best people I know, but I feel no attraction
to them. My ideal woman does not have a model's body, but to me, too
much weight is debilitating and unattractive.
Chris P., Windsor, Ontario, NA, Canada, <email@example.com>,
19, Male, Christian, White/Caucasian, Straight, student, High School
Diploma , Upper middle class, Mesg ID 418200021637
Different men are attracted to different women. This holds true
for women as well. You may not like larger women, but a lot of men
do. I am an overweight female. I have been told by many people that I
am very pretty. I have no problem getting dates. Fat people have
feelings, too. Most of us are not lazy, messy slobs. I am a
well-educated, successful, sassy Big Beautiful Woman and proud of it.
To each their own.
Kassie, Albany, NY, United States, 28, Female, Agnostic,
White/Caucasian, Straight, Sales, 2 Years of College , Middle
class,Mesg ID 420200093622
In my hometown, it was a commonly held stereotype that
Italian-Americans had a preference for what most consider to be gaudy
possessions. I found this stereotype to be true. Not all Italians
have 'poor taste' when judged from a middle-American standard, but I
knew a disproportionately large amount of Italian-American families
with houses filled with rococo furniture, clear vinyl-covered carpets
and furniture, loud wallpaper, yards covered in statuary and
fountains, initials on the garage door, large Cadillacs with
aftermarket vinyl roofs in the driveway, ornate wrought-iron fences
surrounding the property, elaborate shrines to the Virgin Mary, and
so on. Many Italian-American families also paved or bricked over much
of the front lawn. Why are these tastes so prevalent among
Dave, Denver, CO, United States, Male, White/Caucasian, Straight,
Upper middle class, Mesg ID 46200053028
Most Italian immigrants came from poor backgrounds in southern
Italy, where home ownership was not possible, and a fifth-grade
education was the only legal education requirement. They worked hard
in the United States and wanted to visibly express the joy of home
ownership and its related possessions. Many had a flamboyant nature,
and their homes expressed this trait. Thus their homes had fountains,
brick walks, grottos, etc. as a way of imitating the estates of the
wealthy landowners in their towns. They went through the flashy cars
and clothes phase to show off; it was their way of keeping up with
their compadres. Their homes were their sanctuary, generally very
clean (the plastic covers to keep the furniture clean), where they
welcomed family and friends. I'm second-generation, college grad,
executive type, live in a beautiful house on a two-acre wooded
setting, and have never owned a Caddy. I owe it all to a hardworking
father with a fifth-grade education and a devoted mother who insisted
I go to college. We descendants of those immigrants also joke about
those gaudy things you mentioned. And now we watch others, newly
arrived in this country, do similar things. It's part of this
beautiful thing we have called America. By the way, you forgot to
mention gold chains with horns and diamond pinky rings!
Dave E., Pittsburgh, PA, United States, 47, Male, Over 4 Years of
College , Upper middle class, Mesg ID 417200090634
Maybe the gaudiness comes from the American part of
Italian/American. After all, the Italian side can boast of Raphael,
Leonardo da Vinci, Michaelangelo, Bernini, Pierandello, etc. I'm
Italian-American, and my taste runs to Post-Impressionism and Art
Deco. Go figure.
Laura O., Bel Air, MD, United States, 38, Female, White/Caucasian,
Straight, teacher/editor/writer, Over 4 Years of College , Middle
class, Mesg ID 414200042723
Why is it that sometimes people who help disabled people make them do
the most inappropriate activities in relation to their disability?
For example, I have seen people make blind people jump off a diving
board. Do you think that these disabled people are really missing out
on this activity, or do you see it as them getting over their
R. Sterken, Ontario, NA, Canada, 19, Female, Muslim, White/Caucasian,
Straight, Student, Upper middle class,Mesg ID 412200071538
I used to teach visually challenged kids many years ago. They
longed to be able to do the things they read about but never had the
chance to try, such as jumping off a diving board. It's the kind of
stuff you can't really understand until you experience it. So yes,
the person involved feels that they are missing something, and wants
to try it. No one is making them; they want to. And as long as basic
safety issues have been addressed, why shouldn't they? I don't see
this kind of thing as inappropriate. Performing surgery, now that
would be inappropriate. But not taking part in sports. (And you can't
'get over' something like being blind by jumping off a diving board;
if you could, there would be LONG lines.
Robin W., Westland, MI, United States, 46, Female, White/Caucasian,
Author/Illustrator, Over 4 Years of College , Upper middle class,
Mesg ID 417200064244
I think if the person is free to say whether they want to jump off
a diving board, then that's fine. It's their right to chose how they
live their lives and how much they let their disability rule over
that life. But if a person were unable to answer, and an abled person
forced them to do something like that, that's not fair.
J. Jones, Auckland, NA, New Zealand, 16, Female, Atheist,
White/Caucasian, Bisexual, Student, Upper middle class, Mesg ID
As a black male who has dated white and black girls, I want to know
why black girls are so difficult. I have found that most white girls
are polite and considerate of their partner's feelings, whereas most
black girls tend to be downright rude most of the time. They seem to
want everything to go their way while giving very little in return.
Is this common, or is this just my perception?
Jon, Windsor, Ontario, NA, Canada, <firstname.lastname@example.com>,
20, Male, Black/African American, Straight, Upper class, Mesg ID
Maybe you experience these differences between black and white
women because you approach/treat them differently. I've seen black
males approach black women rudely, in a 'You should be glad I'm
speaking to you' manner, and then turn around and treat white women
with the utmost of respect. I've dated both black and white males,
and the white males treated me considerably better than the black
ones. When talking with the white guys, I had an opinion, and they
actually listened to it; when I had a bad day, they listened and
offered support. When talking with black guys, I'm there only to
listen to them talk - a two-way conversation isn't in the cards. And
if I dare complain about having a bad day to a black male, more often
than not I'm told in a surly tone, 'You make more than I do - what do
YOU have to complain about?' Essentially, you get back what you give
out. Take a look at how you deal with black women, and that will
probably answer your question.
G.E. Long, Chicago, IL, United States, <email@example.com>, 38,
Female, Catholic, Black/African American, Straight, IT Management,
Over 4 Years of College , Middle class, Mesg ID 414200013311
I would have to classify this as a 'new' age-old question. The
perception of black women being difficult and hard to please is
rampant and without merit. It is very possible you are treating these
two groups of women differently and getting the appropriate reaction.
I am fortunate in that I don't feel I've ever been mistreated by a
man with whom I've chosen to have a relationship - all of whom have
been black. If someone insists on taking the relationship to a gutter
level, it is your responsibility to stop it. Ultimately, your
perception is your reality, and that is the question you should be
asking yourself - What is my role in this?
Latoya, Hamilton, NA, Bermuda, 25, Female, Black/African American, 4
Years of College, Mesg ID 414200034155
All people can be difficult, regardless of race, gender or
ethnicity. All white women aren't nice, polite and considerate, and
all black women aren't rude and difficult. It isn't fair to
generalize based on race. Since you are a black male, I'm sure there
are black women in your family, right? Would you consider them rude
and difficult? I feel it is better to look at the individual and not
make judgments of a particular race or gender based on your limited
experiences with them. Doesn't it upset you when women say 'All men
are dogs'? I have dated men of different races and backgrounds, and
although there are some unsavory characters out there, I choose not
to fault men as a whole for my bad choices. Don't let your
misconceptions and bad experiences hinder you from meeting a nice
woman. I've found that when forming relationships, it' better to
start off with an open mind and clean slate and grow from there. It's
only fair to you and the other person.
Thai, Annapolis, MD, United States, <email@example.com>, 24,
Female, African/Latina, Straight, Upper middle class. Mesg ID
Many people perceive black women to have attitudes and wanting to
roll their necks and have their hands on their hips, when this is not
the case. It is probably just the females you are coming into contact
with. However, I do see some of my white female acquaintances being
much more submissive with their men, whereas black women tend to hold
their partners accountable the majority of the time. Still, your
perception is a generalization.
Toni, Largo, MD, United States, 28, Female, Baptist, Black/African
American, Straight, desktop publishing, 4 Years of College , Middle
class, Mesg ID 4172000104415
Maybe black girls and women are difficult because of black men's:
1) Lack of care, respect and concern for our physical, mental and
emotional well-being (physical, verbal and sexual abuse). 2) Lack of
consideration for our communities, urinating in hallways, disposing
of empty 40-ounce bottles of beer on the street, loitering and being
a general nuisance to the rest of the neighbors. 3) Lack of concern
for the lives of black children, fathering children and abandoning
them, selling drugs to our children, allowing others to come into our
neighborhoods and sell alcohol and cigarettes to our children. 4)
Lack of appreciation for our strive for excellence - black men
respond with jealousy and envy when we become educated and
dramatically increase our salaries. 5) Lack of appreciation for our
physical beauty, though this is nothing new - black men have always
preferred white women over us. 6) Lack of appreciation for the way
we've loved and defended black men, fought every struggle with you,
from slavery to the present, and took up the slack financially. We
didn't have the luxury of staying at home with our children; we were
busy taking care of white folks' children so we could earn a living
and keep food on the table.
Rhonda P. O., New York, NY, United States,
<email@example.com>, 38, Female, Lutheran,
Black/African American, Straight, Account Representative, 2 Years of
College , Middle class, Mesg ID 4172000104434
I am a black man who has noticed the same phenomenon, and I must
say that the responses to your question have done nothing but prove
your point. Most of the black women who responded, especially Rhonda,
instead of actually answering the question, were quick to get
defensive, turning the question around and blaming you for your
misfortunes with rude black women. This is typical of the black and
Hispanic women I have dated. White and Asian women seem to not have
their defense mechanisms and paranoia meters set quite as high. I
believe black women who go on preconceptions of how black men are
going to treat them become rude and lash out at all men, even the
innocent ones. Further, historically, black women have endured double
the prejudice in being both black and female, and therefore seem to
have twice the anger. They express their anger irrationally and
maintain a rude facade in a collateral 'affirmative action'-style
effort to regain control for the past.
Winston J., Pasadena, CA, United States, Male, Humanist,
Black/African American, Over 4 Years of College , Upper middle class,
Mesg ID 420200043836
I recently admitted to myself and several close friends that I am
bisexual. Now I am looking for a relationship with another man, but
how do you tell if another guy is interested without offending a
straight guy by mistake? Note: because I am still in high school, I
do not want anyone who is not gay/bi to know about my orientation.
Although I come from a tolerant upper middle class school, I have
seen it hurt others.
Alex, Elkins Park, PA, United States,
<firstname.lastname@example.com>, 16, Male, Jewish, White/Caucasian,
Bisexual, High School Student, Less than High School Diploma , Middle
class, Mesg ID 4122000111409
The first thing I would recommend is to move slowly. Is there a
gay/lesbian community center in your town? If so, they probably have
a youth group. Or, maybe a Metropolitan Community Church? These are
fairly safe options for meeting other guys in your age group in a
controlled environment. You can also hit the gay.com 'youth' chat
rooms and talk to guys in the same situation. Check www.planetout.com
and go to the youth sections to chat with other guys there. The thing
you must be careful of is, and I'm sure you are probably aware of
this, that older guys will be in the youth rooms to see what they can
find, also. Watch your step, and don't give out details about
yourself. If and when you agree to meet someone in person, make sure
it's in a very public place so that you have security. Bottom line:
Be careful. There are good people out there, but there are also some
stinkers. Learning the difference is tough, and sometimes
Mark B., Dallas, TX, United States, <firstname.lastname@example.com>, 39,
Male, Christian, White/Caucasian, Gay, Financial Analyst, 2 Years of
College , Lower middle class, Mesg ID 414200083939
I find the supermarket tabloids (National Enquirer, The Globe, etc.)
abominable. They even sling mud at little kids like JonBenet Ramsey
and Kathie Lee's kid. Even though their only target seems to be
celebreties (willing or unwilling, such as Monica Lewinsky), I still
cringe at the thought of these tabloids ever digging up largely
fabricated dirt about me if I ever became famous. How can anyone
stomach such yellow journalism? If you buy them, why do you?
Obviously they sell like hotcakes, because they're featured
prominently at every checkout stand I've ever stood in.
Dan, Los Angeles area, CA, United States, 21, Male, Pentecostal
Christian, Hispanic/Latino, student, Lower middle class, Mesg ID
I used to read them back in the day when they did stories on Bat
Boy and paper bag collectors. I thought they were so ridiculous that
they were funny.
S.J., San Diego, CA, United States, Male, Mesg ID 414200042516
I have tried really hard most of my life to figure people out. A
very large portion of my 'heroes' - Jules Verne, for example, became
very disenchanted with humanity in later life. Everything I can find
suggests that people are motivated by two basic Freudian urges, Eros
and Thanatos. Like Lions, we wish to rule the pride and will eagerly
eat the children of our rivals. Look at what sells: Fashion and
violence. At some level, our 'achievement' delights at the 'failures'
of others. Sociobiologists suggest that even altruism is calculated
to give advantage for our offspring. When one encounters true
compassion, it should be cherished, for it is rare!
Dan M., Mesquite, NV, United States, 50, Male, counselor, Mesg ID


text:
Wood Badge Bear Medallion Coin$11.494-6 Weeks. Shipped direct from Supplier.Pentagon shaped medallion measures 1 7/8" x 1 3/4"; features the image of a BEAR on the front and the Wood Badge logo on the reverse. Finished in antique bronze with enamel color fill. Learn More
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
- 5 years ago by Jessica P. Ogilvie
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Yesterday, Brandy posted an account of some of the fights that she has with her boyfriend, and I have to hand it to her — she is good at fighting (well played, Brandy!). More
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Okay, I know what you're thinking. "Brandy," you're thinking, "where do you get off telling us not to read ladymags? You write a relationship column in an online ladymag! Where do you get off?"
Guilty. But my columns are usually personal anecdotes you can relate to, or humorous advice that should be taken with a big grain of kosher salt.
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We moved in together, and vowed to each other that we would eat out less.
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One year ago today, we launched an unconventional "how we met" story.
This was a month after our introduction by a mutual friend, followed by an open-bar encounter, a late-night flirtation, a run-in with the cops, and a series of delayed Facebook messages. It was all very New York circa 2010.
Thirteen months ago, I had been dating—if you can call it dating—three, maybe four men.
My last relationship had ended painfully, and I fed my feelings with blind dates, sexy coworkers, and bar-side conversationalists. I gave them all nicknames so my friends could keep them straight. Before those three or four, there had been another set of three or four, and so on, mapped out in advance so that I had perpetual seasonal accompaniment. More
If you're reading this, you've already gone past accidental intoxication. In the grand scheme of party advice, you're beyond what to wear, how to carry a smart conversation and which clutch will hold your iPhone, your lipstick and a few credit cards. If you're reading this, you've passed very drunk and are hurtling straight into a collision course with completely fucking wasted.
This is no ordinary holiday party advice column. This is an Oh my god you forgot to eat dinner, went crazy at the open bar and got shitfaced at your significant other's holiday party but will probably black out on all of this in the morning advice column. It's happened to everyone. More
There's a well-known Rolling Stones lyric that should be rewritten for couples: "You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you just might find you can compromise enough so that you both end up somewhat happy with the situation." More


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Response of pollinators to the tradeoff between resource acquisition and predator avoidance
Version of Record online: 24 OCT 2011
DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0706.2011.19910.x
© 2011 The Authors
Volume 121, Issue 5, pages 687–696, May 2012
Additional Information
How to Cite
Llandres, A. L., De Mas, E. and Rodríguez-Gironés, M. A. (2012), Response of pollinators to the tradeoff between resource acquisition and predator avoidance. Oikos, 121: 687–696. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0706.2011.19910.x
Publication History
- Issue online: 12 APR 2012
- Version of Record online: 24 OCT 2011
- Paper manuscript accepted 25 July 2011
- Abstract
- Article
- References
- Cited By
Although the behaviour of animals facing the conflicting demands of increasing foraging success and decreasing predation risk has been studied in many taxa, the response of pollinators to variations in both factors has only been studied in isolation. We compared visit rates of two pollinator species, hoverflies and honeybees, to 40 Chrysanthemum segetum patches in which we manipulated predation risk (patches with and without crab spiders) and nectar availability (rich and poor patches) using a full factorial design. Pollinators responded differently to the tradeoff between maximising intake rate and minimising predation risk: honeybees preferred rich safe patches and avoided poor risky patches while the number of hoverflies was highest at poor risky patches. Because honeybees were more susceptible to predation than hoverflies, our results suggest that, in the presence of competition for resources, less susceptible pollinators concentrate their foraging effort on riskier resources, where competition is less severe. Crab spiders had a negative effect on the rate at which inflorescences were visited by honeybees. This effect was mediated through changes in the foraging strategy of honeybees, and could, in principle, be reversed by increasing nectar productivity of inflorescences. Our study shows that both pollinator species responded simultaneously and differently to variations in food reward and predation risk, and highlights the importance of studying the foraging strategies of pollinators in order to fully understand how plant–pollinator interactions are established.


text: Parenting < Prior Page Page 2 of 14 Next Page > Our brave little baby By Chelsea BoesPosted Jan. 7, 2016Faith & Inspiration | Our baby was still an unborn mystery of kicks and rolled sonogram images two weeks ago when I wrote her a note right next to the Star Wars ticket stub I taped… [http://www.worldmag.com/2016/01/our_brave_little_baby] Mary and me By Chelsea BoesPosted Dec. 5, 2015Faith & Inspiration | Our little Pennsylvania town really is little . The borough's boundaries contain a pizza place run by genuine Mediterraneans, a Lutheran church with real… [http://www.worldmag.com/2015/12/mary_and_me] Becoming a child again By Chelsea BoesPosted Nov. 19, 2015Media | Every day when my husband Jonathan comes home from work, he asks me what I wrote about that day. I never give the same answer twice. For example: "Today I… [http://www.worldmag.com/2015/11/becoming_a_child_again] Fears of a first-time mom By Chelsea BoesPosted Nov. 12, 2015Parenting | Just one glimpse into the newborn care classroom—a sterile upstairs rectangle in the local hospital—made all the feelings I associate with public… [http://www.worldmag.com/2015/11/fears_of_a_first_time_mom] India moves to ban surrogacy for foreign couples By Courtney CrandellPosted Nov. 5, 2015Family | The Indian government released an official letter to fertility clinics last week that bans them from contracting surrogates to foreigners. Though the Bombay… [http://www.worldmag.com/2015/11/india_moves_to_ban_surrogacy_for_foreign_couples] Combating college student burnout By Anthony BradleyPosted Oct. 23, 2015Higher Education | American society has managed to fail an entire generation of students by micromanaging their lives and not letting them experience failure. The result is that… [http://www.worldmag.com/2015/10/combating_college_student_burnout] The cross before me By Chelsea BoesPosted Oct. 22, 2015Faith & Inspiration | I've reached that part of pregnancy where your feet seem to get farther and farther away, like Lewis Carroll's Alice after she downs the bottle marked… [http://www.worldmag.com/2015/10/the_cross_before_me] Ohio gets $10 million to train men for fatherhood By Wayne StenderPosted Oct. 13, 2015Family | The federal government is trying to rescue low-income dads with multimillion-dollar grants. A $10 million allocation coming to Ohio over the next five years… [http://www.worldmag.com/2015/10/ohio_gets_10_million_to_train_men_for_fatherhood] Battling the biological clock By Emily BelzPosted Oct. 2, 2015Medicine | More young people are turning to fertility treatments like in vitro fertilization, but often without considering the ethical problems, failure rates, or… [http://www.worldmag.com/2015/10/battling_the_biological_clock] Don't let me be a Nabal By Chelsea BoesPosted Sept. 3, 2015Faith & Inspiration | Everyone knows that pregnancy and child-rearing could easily be called "open advice season." Everyone a pregnant woman meets has an opinion or an… [http://www.worldmag.com/2015/09/don_t_let_me_be_a_nabal] Her first story By Chelsea BoesPosted Aug. 27, 2015Faith & Inspiration | "In the beginning, there was nothing. Nothing to hear. Nothing to feel. Nothing to see." These words, part of the opening to Sally Lloyd-Jones' Jesus… [http://www.worldmag.com/2015/08/her_first_story] Boy celebrates surviving Hurricane Katrina as an embryo By Kiley CrosslandPosted Aug. 27, 2015Hurricane Katrina | Noah Benton Markham was born 16 months after Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans. The now-8-year-old likes to say he is "Katrina's youngest survivor." [http://www.worldmag.com/2015/08/boy_celebrates_surviving_hurricane_katrina_as_an_embryo] < Prior Page Page 2 of 14 Next Page >


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2002 — Received All-MPSF Honorable Mention honors... Scored the winning goal in the Bruins' 9-8 victory over then No. 1 USC on April 5th... Finished that game with a total of three goals... Was the Bruins leading scorer on four different occassions... Led the team with three goals in an 11-7 victory over Stanford in the MPSF title game... Ended the MPSF tournament with a total of five goals scored and scored at least one goal in all three of the Bruins' tournament games... Ended the season with 20 goals.
2001 – Scored a season-high four goals against San Diego State…Ended the season with a total of 15 goals.
2000 — Named second-team All-American and received All-MPSF Tournament second-team honors… Earned MPSF honorable mention accolades … Received MPSF Player of the Week honors on Apr. 3 after scoring four goals in the Bruins' upset of top-ranked California and adding another against Pacific … Second-team So. Cal Regional all-tournament team selection … Started all 35 games …Third-leading scorer on the team with 44 goals on 96 attempts, good for 46% … Led the team with 53 steals … Tied for second on the team with six field saves … Scored in 26 out of 35 games … Notched 10 multiple goal games …Led the team in goals scored in eight games … Scored a season-high four goals against UC Santa Barbara on Feb. 5 and matched that high against top-ranked California on Mar. 31 … Scored a goal in the championship game against USC.
High School — Lettered three years in water polo and two in swimming at Bell Gardens HS … Named CIF and team Most Valuable Player in 1999 … Earned all-league honors in 1997, '98 and '99 …?Named TYR Cup MVP in 1999 …?Received all-league accolades in swimming in 1996 and '97 …?Member of the U.S. Junior National Team and Commerce Aquatics club team.
Personal — Full name is Jessica Lopez …?Born August 26, 1981 in Los Angeles … Enjoys water polo because of her "love for the intensity of the game" … History major.
Career Statistics
Year GS Att % 2000 44 96 46 2001 15 42 36 2002 20 56 36 Totals 79 194 41


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Pinellas News
Tarpon boil water notice and reclaimed water suspension
TARPON SPRINGS - The city released two water-related advisories to residents in as many days. A boil water notice was issued this morning for a number of residents in northwest Tarpon Springs after a water line break on Holiday Drive at Pinecrest Circle. Ten homes are affected by the break and subsequent low water pressure. The boil notice is expected to be in effect for two working days. Repairs must be completed and a clear water test must be received before the boil notice is lifted. Yesterday's advisory alerted residents to the brief suspension of reclaimed water services.The city's press release states that storage tanks are currently holding minimal supplies of reclaimed water at a time when demand has been abnormally high due to drought conditions. Reclaimed services shut down on Wednesday at 10 a.m. and last through today. City utility officials are still asking residents to help conserve water once the system goes back on line. For more information on either issue, call the city at (727) 938-3711.
firstname.lastname@example.com or (727) 815-1071
Trending Now


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Abby Cadabby Valentine's Day Card/Valentine's Day Card/Printable Valentine/DIY Printable File
Product Info
Welcome to Noteworthy Printables! I am glad you decided to stop by.
Check out the rest of my designs...
When purchasing this listing, you will receive a digital file of 6 {3.5 inch x 2.5 inch} Valentine's Day Cards (on an 8.5x11 sheet). You will not receive a physical product.
The wording can be changed on this card...as long as space allows.
To order, purchase this listing. At checkout, please include the child's name and any wording changes you would like. Once payment clears, I will begin working on your Valentine's Day Cards. Within 48 hours (usually much sooner), I will email a proof for your review. After you have approved the proof, I will send the final high resolution file for you to print.
After your cards are printed, simply cut out each card, and they are ready for your child to distribute at his/her Valentine's Day party.
Please note: All designs are for PERSONAL use only. They may not be resold or copied under any circumstances.
Please read my shop policies:


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This topic is archived and can not be replied to any more.
|What Aviation Headlines Would You Like To See? posted Thu Nov 20 2003 03:55:55 by Bistro1200
|Which Aviation Magazine Do You Frequently Read? posted Tue Sep 9 2003 18:28:06 by Pe@rson
|What Exotic Airline Do You Want To Fly? posted Mon Dec 23 2002 23:04:37 by Climbout
|What Airline Job Do You Want To Have? posted Sun Nov 25 2001 20:40:47 by DeltaBoy777
|What Aircraft Type(s) Do You Want To Fly On? posted Sat Nov 24 2001 00:09:53 by Ahlfors
|What Exotic Airline Do You Want To Fly On? posted Thu Apr 19 2001 00:05:24 by Climbout
|What Music Do You Listen To While Flying? posted Wed Feb 18 2004 00:48:30 by Airkiwi
|What Airline(s) Do You Want To Fly In 2004 posted Mon Jan 5 2004 17:40:28 by EZYAirbus
|What Songs Do You Like To Listen To On A Plane? posted Fri Oct 3 2003 03:06:46 by Tommy767
|What Song Do You Like To Hear On Takeoff? posted Thu Jul 10 2003 22:47:24 by JAL777


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Disclose Misdemeanor DUI if only asked about specific misdemeanors?
While in college, I made a huge mistake and had a beer and drove. I was pulled over and received an Underage DUI (BAC of .06, however I was only 20). I paid my fines, did community service, etc., and now at 22, I still don't even drink. I continued college on a full paid scholarship and graduated with a B.S. in Management in 3 years rather than 4.
The most recent job I have been offered contingent on my background check and credit check is where I find myself with a question. I have always been honest on applications about my DUI when asked about misdemeanors, or convictions, etc. However, this application was a little different.
It asked:
Have you ever been convicted of a felony? No
Have you ever been convicted of a misdemeanor in regards to bribery, forgery, investment fraud, etc.? No
But there was no where for me to list my misdemeanor DUI, because it wasn't a felony, and it wasn't a misdemeanor like they type they were referring to.
I know that they are going to see it, but I just wanted to see what everyone's take on the situatione was. I don't want to look dishonest by not having mentioned it, however, I wasn't asked a question relating to it. Does this mean any misdemeanors other than the ones described aren't a concern? Will they retract their offer because they think I was being dishonest, even though I didn't have a way to list it?
Only positive posts please – I am aware that I shouldn't have ever gotten the DUI in the first place so I don't require any advice in regards to that…


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Located in Costa Brava, this home and studio belongs to Pepa Poch. It has amazing rustic décor, gorgeous design, and fantastic floors.
The kitchen is so lovely! The black island is phenomenal, bringing a wonderful contrast to the room. The oven is fitted into the island, adding even more of a unique touch to this delightful design. A large window is decorated with white sheer curtains and white and glass cabinets fill the space. Built in shelving sits on one wall, and on the opposite side of the room, a white chair provides seating. An ornate chandelier hangs over the island, completing this outstanding rustic décor.
The studio is beautiful.
The living room is spacious and simple in this inviting home, allowing the floors to really shine. The combination of wood and concrete is simply amazing, decorating the entire home. The white fireplace is lovely, with its lively green plants thoughtfully placed along the mantle, and the wood beams are beautiful. Two chairs sit in front of the fireplace, accompanied by another plant and floor pillows. We love the touch of color brought in through the orange throw. Off to the side, the white and wooden dresser, continues the beautiful theme of the home. The lamp and artwork are just perfect, completing this alluring room.
The bedroom is our favorite space in this rustic décor. It probably has something to do with the humongous window and the jaw-dropping views (actually, we're pretty sure it does), but it's also because of the amazing simplicity in the design. The bed is awesome with its wooden frame and white bedsheets and curtains, and the textured rug is just perfect. The white chair is a beautiful addition, and we are in love with the door: positively stunning.
Text is copyright to ©Adorable Home – interior design and decorating ideas


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Lombard, Illinois Child Custody and Support Lawyers
Experienced Legal Counsel Serving Arlington Heights and DuPage County
At A. Traub & Associates, our attorneys help both fathers and mothers establish fair and equitable parenting plans, and make sure that both parties adhere to the conditions of those agreements. In cases where one or both parents' income has changed significantly, we assist with child support modification.
Child custody and visitation laws have changed as of January 1, 2016. Click here for more information.
We also legally enforce child support payments when the father does not pay the correct amount or is frequently late with his payments. If you have been diligent with your child support payments, only to have access to your child withheld from you, we can help you enforce the terms of your parenting plan. Contact our firm to speak with a qualified and understanding attorney about your paternity issue.
Here are some of the paternity issues we have helped clients resolve in the past:
- Paternity testing
- Child support modification
- Joint custody arrangements
- Enforcing fathers' rights
- Visitation agreements
- Child support enforcement
- And many more
A note to unmarried fathers:
If you are the unmarried father of a child, it is obviously upsetting that you are not immediately granted the legal right to see your child. Instead, you must enforce your rights through the county's family law court. But with these rights come responsibilities: You can take an active part in your child's life, but you also have the duty to support your child. It is important to establish a parenting agreement early to ensure that your rights and duties are clearly defined and legally protected.
Whether you are a father who simply wants to be a part of your child's life, or a mother who is tired of receiving delinquent child support payments, our firm can help. Contact us today for an initial consultation about your child support, custody, or paternity issue.


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Archive: June 24 – July 5, 2011
- NOD editors publish in the leading Informatics journal
The developers and editors of NOD have published a primary article about the mobile internet in the leading medical informatics journal. This article will give medical educators a deeper understanding of how to educate the next generation of students using mobile devices. [Click here for the article]
- Nephrology On-Demand will be presenting at the 6th Annual Internet Congress in Nephrology
The Congress is a unique scientific meeting in the Nephrology community. It is one of last free conferences, and the first to take place entirely on the Internet. The official dates are November 15 – 30, but you can attend anytime, from anywhere.
The editors of NOD will be presenting: Nephrology information on video websites: a survey of YouTube [click here]
- The Editors of Nephrology On-Demand Histopathology need YOUR HELP
We are in the process of upgrading our Histopathology section and need your feedback. Make your voice heard and help shape how we improve NOD Histopathology in the coming months!
- Board Review: Hyponatremia
Nineteen (19) ABIM-exam-related multiple choice questions on hyponatremia. Each question is followed by a detailed explanation of the correct and incorrect answer choices. [Click here]
- Preeclampsia — a review
A comprehensive review article that details the pathophysiologic basis for preeclampsia, as well as the clinical detection of this disease entity. It briefly discusses the molecular targets that may, in the future, hold promise as avenues for prevention. [Click here]
- Preeclampsia — the diagnostic utility of SFLT-1
A comprehensive review article that details the pathophysiologic basis for preeclampsia, as well as the clinical detection of this disease entity. It briefly discusses the molecular targets that may, in the future, hold promise as avenues for prevention. [Click here]
- Three (3) new threads in the Discussion Board
Join the virtual discussion by participating in any one of the 3 new threads:
- How would you treat this lupus nephritis patient? [click here]
- The anti-proteiuric effects of anti-hypertensive medications [click here]
- Lasix + albumin: a diuresis or natriuresis? [click here]
Share your thoughts, questions, and recommendations. The Board is open to all users (registered, unregistered, or anonymous). ECU Faculty will moderate each thread.
- 2011 Guest Lecture Series: The Cardiorenal Syndrome
An in-depth analysis of the Cardiorenal syndrome as well as a discussion of new therapies on the horizon. [Click here]
- 10-minute RoundsBETA — New version available
High-definition teaching resources designed specifically for medical students and internal medicine residents. [view]
- NOD subscribes to the Creative Commons License
All resources on NOD are now available for your use. Whether you're drafting a presentation, abstract, or want to use data on NOD, our Creative Commons license allows you to use any material you see here for didactic purposes.
- Four (4) new nephropathologic diagnoses, including 3 new mystery cases, now available [click here]
- Three (3) new nephropathologic specimens of Lupus Nephritis WHO Class V — coming soon


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Empirical Development of Heuristics for Touch Interfaces
Published: June 2, 2014
Touch mobile interfaces have become commonplace in our daily lives. While touch interfaces were previously in common use only for entertainment and social networking apps, many large software firms are now designing touch interfaces for mobile apps that provide extensions to enterprise software, giving customers access to functionality that had previously required them to be on a Web site or application. Because the functionality of these apps tends to be complex, having a practical, reliable usability evaluation method for touch mobile interfaces is vital.
Remote usability testing is often a corporate mainstay. Getting feedback from an international audience early in the development process reduces costs and ensures a universally usable product design. This is especially true of mobile app development because UX design guidelines are still evolving and the challenges of mobile interactions are not yet well understood.
Unfortunately, remote testing of mobile applications is still impractical and in-person tests are expensive and time consuming. A possible alternative is to adapt accepted discount usability evaluation methods that were developed to evaluate software usability, such as heuristic evaluation. Although heuristic evaluation is a fast and effective method of identifying usability flaws, the widely used heuristics that Molich and Nielsen introduced were originally created for evaluating desktop software. Their language and examples are not always appropriate for other platforms such as mobile devices, because there are fundamental differences between touch interfaces and conventional desktop-computer interfaces.
Over the years, various UX researchers have evolved and expanded Molich and Nielsen's original heuristics to meet their needs. While there have been many noteworthy efforts, nearly all of these heuristics were created before the advent of touch devices. In this article, we'll discuss adapting Nielsen's heuristic evaluation method to the evaluation of applications for touch devices by developing a set of heuristics for identifying usability problems that are specific to touch interactions. Our proposed heuristics augment existing guidelines to ensure that evaluation methods more thoroughly address the distinctive properties of mobile interactions.
Heuristic Evaluation
Heuristic evaluation is a widely accepted discount evaluation method for diagnosing potential usability problems in user interfaces, in which a small number of usability experts systematically inspect a user interface and judge its compliance with a set of heuristics. Heuristics are general rules that describe common properties of usable user interfaces. They help evaluators to focus their attention on specific aspects of user interfaces that are often sources of trouble, making the detection of usability problems easier. Nielsen's heuristics are as follows:
- visibility of system status
- match between the system and the real world
- user control and freedom
- consistency and standards
- error prevention
- recognition rather than recall
- flexibility and efficiency of use
- aesthetic and minimalist design
- help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors
- Help and documentation
Heuristic evaluation is popular because of its low cost in time and resources. A usability expert can complete a heuristic evaluation in a relatively short amount of time—just a few hours—and this evaluation method does not involve users.
Because heuristics are well documented—for example, as in Greenberg and Roseman's Using a Room Metaphor to Ease Transitions in Groupware—they are easy to learn and apply. Even people who are not usability experts can use them with some success. Heuristic evaluations have a low cost-to-benefit ratio: only 3 to 5 experienced evaluators can identify approximately 75 to 80% of all usability problems.
Heuristics for Evaluating Applications for Mobile Devices
Previous studies by the Nielsen/Norman Group have noted three common design issues for touchscreens.
- Inconsistent interaction design, preventing users from transferring their skills from one interaction to the next. When this design flaw exists, users do not know what has happened or how to replicate a certain action to achieve the same result again. In the worst case, users may not know how to revert to the previous state because there is no consistent undo feature or Back button across applications.
- Inaccurate selection, or fat fingers. Screens for touch devices are smaller than typical desktop monitors. Their small target areas create a problem in designing mobile applications. Although touching a screen is simpler, it is less precise than clicking with a mouse.
- Lack of navigational aids such as a visible Home icon or a search box. A Home icon is an important landmark for users. Being easily able to go back to the home page gives a sense of predictability and control to users. Having a visible search box can dramatically improve the success of users looking for a specific piece of information. Unfortunately, designers often sacrifice these common desktop aids to save real estate on mobile interfaces.
Consideration of these design issues provides a foundation for evaluating touchscreen interactions. In addition, some of Nielsen's general heuristics for evaluating desktop applications are still applicable, including error prevention, consistency, and standards. Some existing work that recognizes the differences in design requirements for mobile devices was based on MWBP and the iPhone Human Interface Guidelines. These design recommendations include using a hierarchical arrangement of elements in user interfaces, minimizing scrolling on navigation pages, and displaying basic navigation—a Home icon and Back button—at the top of every page.
In the next section, we'll discuss our experimental approach to developing design heuristics through a lab test using iTouch devices, during which we re-evaluated the traditional usability heuristics that we discussed earlier and identified some new heuristics for touch interfaces.
Our Research Methodology
We initially designed this research to investigate whether there are differences between using real mobile devices and using a mobile-device emulator in detecting usability issues. In this study, we used two different test environments: in-person testing using iTouch and remote testing using an emulator. We reported the complete results of our quantitative analysis of number of errors, number of assists, time to complete each task, and task completion in our paper, "Testing Touch: Emulators vs. Devices." In this article, we'll focus on the process of defining design heuristics using a coding scheme.
Test System
For our study, we chose a product that is currently available through the iTunes app store, but is sufficiently specialized and technical that the majority of test participants would not have seen it. The ProSat app, shown in Figure 1, lets users—primarily satellite watchers and ham-radio operators—track and predict the location of satellites in the sky. An enterprise software designer developed the app. This app was ideal for this experiment because it had some obvious usability issues that the designer had not had the chance to evaluate and correct. We evaluated the product using standard usability heuristics and chose tasks for the test that would highlight the known issues.
Figure 1—Home page of the ProSat app
All participants were employees of an international IT company who had normal or corrected-to-normal vision. We conducted tests with a total of 49 participants—24 remotely and 25 in person. For the in-person tests, all participants were located in either Colorado Springs, Colorado, or Plano, Texas. For remote tests, participants were located in numerous locations around North America.
Table 1 shows the demographic breakdown of participants by gender; Table 2, by age; Table 3, by their frequency of use of touch devices.
Table 1—Gender of participants
On emulator
On device
Table 2—Age of participants
|61 and Up
On emulator
On device
Table 3—Participants' frequency of use of touch devices
|Frequency of Use
|Once or Twice
On emulator
On device
Participant Preparation
When participants arrived, we briefly described to each of them the purpose of the study, the software and its uses, and the format of the test session. We gave them opportunities to ask questions both before and after the session.
In addition, before the test, remote participants received an email message providing instructions and the time and date of their session. We asked them to have the following items ready before the session started:
- a phone with toll-free access and either a speaker or headset—Because the session required the use of a mouse and keyboard, we asked that participants have a way to communicate with us without using their hands.
- a printed copy of the task list—We wanted participants to use the software in full-screen mode, which made it necessary for them to have a printed copy of the tasks.
Test Environment
We presented the same tasks to all participants, in the same order. We conducted in-person test sessions in a team room with standard office seating, a fixed-height table, and overhead fluorescent lights. We conducted remote test sessions at the locations of individual participants, which could vary significantly. Remote participants accessed the software using Microsoft LiveMeeting. The session then proceeded like a traditional usability test.
During test sessions, participants performed a total of eight tasks, covering the main features of the app. In addition, we asked participants to rate the usability of the user interface on a Likert scale, from 1 to 7, then asked open-ended questions about their experience with touch interfaces.
Measures and Analyses
We did a quantitative analysis of the number of assists participants required during the sessions. We based our analysis of assistance types on a coding scheme. We based the codes on prior literature on design heuristics. The categories reflect the different types of usability issues that we identified during the study. Table 4 shows our coding scheme, listing all codes and their definitions.
Table 4—Coding scheme for assistance types
|Code Name
Persistence of screens
Participant became confused or got lost because the screen remained in a drill-down state after the participant had navigated away using the toolbar or another means.
Entry point
Participant could not find the entry point, or starting point, for a task. Participant may have accessed the appropriate screen, but did not recognize that it was the desired starting point.
Response time
Participant moved on to another screen or task prematurely because he did not wait for the system to respond.
Fat finger
Participant could not select an item because he was unable to be sufficiently accurate with his finger.
Inconsistent behavior
Participant could not figure out how to use a widget or screen because it behaved differently than expected, based on use of other similar apps or other screens within this app.
Participant could not navigate back to the original page.
Participant did not know whether an action was successful because he did not receive confirmation or see a familiar completion button such as Done.
Participant did not see a feature that was necessary to perform a task, even though on the correct page.
Participant used Help to try to figure out to perform a task.
Coders' Reliability
Three coders, from the same group in an IT company, completed all coding. All three coders had similar educational and professional backgrounds and had some experience coding the findings of actual research projects. One coder coded all of the transcripts for the emulator group; another two, the transcripts for the device group.
During the training stage, we randomly chose one video recording, including eight test tasks from a remote test session using an emulator. Each coder coded the transcript independently, then went through several iterations of discussion and recoding to come to agreement on the application of the codes, until they attained a satisfactory level of inter-rater reliability. The consistency of the three coders on the eight tasks was 100%, 67%, 67%, 80%, 50%, 80%, 100%, and 100%, respectively, with an average of 80.5%. The Cohen's Kappa reliability statistic for all the task transcripts was .80, which is within the acceptable range.
The coding analysis revealed the types of assistance that participants required while performing the test tasks. This, in turn, reflected the design issues that we identified. Table 4 lists the codes the coders used for analysis. Table 5 shows the frequency of each code across tasks in each test environment.
Table 5—Frequency of codes for each test environment
|Code Name
|Emulator (N=24)
|Device (N=25)
Persistence of screens
Entry point
Response time
Fat finger
Inconsistent behavior
We found significant differences between test environments for response time, fat finger, and inconsistent behavior.
The differences in response time confirmed our quantitative analysis of time spent performing tasks, in which we discovered that it took participants in the emulator group significantly more time to complete tasks. Participants in the emulator group often moved to another screen or task prematurely because they did not wait for the system to respond. The significantly poorer response time for the emulator through Microsoft LiveMeeting explains this behavior.
Only participants in the device group encountered the fat-finger issue. Participants had trouble accurately selecting items on the small screen with their fingers.
In the emulator group, participants requested more assistance in using a particular widget, because it behaved differently than expected based on their experience using touchscreen devices—for example, using a swipe behavior.
In the next step, we calculated the percentages of codes by dividing the frequency of each individual code by the sum of all codes. Table 6 lists the results of this calculation. It confirmed our analysis: participants in the emulator group had more issues with inconsistent behavior and response time; while participants in the device group had more issues with accuracy of selection, or fat finger.
In general, the results show that participants had a high percentage of entry point and visibility issues. This illustrates the main design issues for this particular application:
- Participants had difficulty in discovering how to get started with particular tasks because of the lack of visual aids.
- Participants did not discover features that they needed to perform tasks because they were hidden.
- Participants misused icons and menu items with unclear names.
Table 6—Frequency of codes for the two test environments as percentages
|Code Name
|Emulator (N=24)
|Device (N=25)
Persistence of screens
Entry point
Response time
Fat finger
Inconsistent behavior
Results for Heuristics
In general, we verified that the existing heuristics from previous research efforts are still applicable to many aspects of good interaction design for touch devices, including consistency with standards—that is, persistence of screens and inconsistent behavior; visibility of application status—for example, confirmation; accuracy of selection, or fat finger; use of navigational aids such as a Back button; and Help and documentation.
Additional heuristics that we discovered include the following:
- entry point
- response time
- visibility
Entry Point
The results showed a high percentage of entry-point issues across both test environments. During tests, participants often complained that it was not clear where to start tasks, because of either the lack of visual aids in the user interface, misplaced features, or ambiguous icons. Figure 2 shows a screenshot of the application home page, with ambiguous icons. Most participants commented that the label 2D/3D did not represent a home page to them and many looked for a Home icon when starting a new task or after getting lost during navigation.
Figure 2—Homepage of ProSat app with ambiguous icons
Similarly, participants believed the What's Up menu was the Help documentation and were surprised that it was instead a list of currently available satellites. When asked, participants commented that the menu name was ambiguous and the icon was misleading because it included a question mark, which typically indicates Help.
Response Time
Response time was another issue for many participants. Participants repeatedly expressed their frustration with the app's slow response times. They sometimes moved to another screen or task prematurely because they did not wait for the system to respond. Consequently, they either requested Help or gave up on tasks when they were unable to find the desired screens. When using touch devices, participants often have high expectations for quick response from applications, which is part of what makes these experiences engaging.
Visibility issues were primarily the result of features being displayed in the wrong place or being hidden. Figure 2 shows an example of a visibility issue. In one task, we asked participants to make the Sun Rise/Set menu appear as the second icon on the toolbar at the bottom of the screen. Participants went first to the Settings menu. After becoming frustrated and often asking for Help, they navigated to the More menu screen, shown on the left in Figure 3. Unfortunately, most participants still did not discover how to get to the Configure screen shown on the right in Figure 3. When we told them that they needed to click the Edit button in the upper-right corner of the More menu screen to go to the Configure screen, participants were surprised and commented that the Edit button did not fit their mental model of an entry point to the Configure screen. Plus, the Edit button was not sufficiently visible in the user interface.
Figure 3—More and Configure screens
Our analysis of the code percentages showed a higher percentage of visibility issues for the device group. This indicates that elements' lack of visibility on a physical device may not be obvious when developing applications on an emulator. Designers must pay greater attention to the arrangement of elements to use the limited space in a mobile user interface effectively.
Error Detection: Emulator Limitations
Of additional interest to designers, the results of this experiment showed that participants were more likely to detect errors on the device than on an emulator. Generally, we found that participants in the emulator group were more likely to overlook issues with the arrangement of interface elements, see Figure 4, and the visibility of features.
Figure 4—Satellite configuration screen
In Figure 4, the field Number of orbits to draw is slightly off the bottom of the screen by default. Participants in the device group frequently tried to tap this field to enter a number, but selected the Settings toolbar button by mistake. Participants in the emulator group did not encounter this accuracy issue because they were using a mouse and keyboard rather than their fingers.
Figure 4 also demonstrates the false positives that can occur when using an emulator. When asked to change the satellite color, participants in the device group easily accomplished the task by swiping the wheel and selecting different colors. However, when participants in the emulator group tried to drag and drop the desired color to simulate the swipe behavior, they failed to select a color because the emulator widget required them to click the colors to spin the wheel.
In another task, we asked participants to change the satellite rise time using a similar widget and the emulator used a drag-and-drop behavior. These inconsistencies in the design of the app's screens caused more trouble and required more assistance in completing tasks for the emulator group, resulting in a higher percentage of inconsistent behaviors overall for the emulator group.
Conclusions and Future Work
In this article, we have described our empirical approach to verifying existing design heuristics and developing new heuristics for touchscreen devices. The marked differences between our findings and those of previous studies of desktop design heuristics suggests that we need to re-evaluate traditional heuristics when approaching the evaluation of touch interfaces.
Our next steps will be to validate the ways in which evaluators can use these heuristics to discover usability problems and to validate the use of our touch-device heuristics as a discount usability method. The number of usability problems that we discovered during our study is not indicative of what a typical usability specialist would find, because we're intimately familiar with these design heuristics. We are planning to conduct a formal evaluation of a different iTouch application, with outside evaluators using the heuristics that we developed through our research.
Our objective is to assess the ability of usability specialists to learn and apply these touch heuristics by analyzing the number of problems each evaluator discovers. Ideally, each evaluator would discover a relatively large proportion of all problems that all evaluators have found, but even Nielsen found the average performance of individual evaluators to be modest. Thus, we hope to define the average proportion of usability problems that a usability specialist would find as a function of the number of evaluators performing a heuristic evaluation. As with a conventional heuristic evaluation, we hope that only a small number of evaluators—about three—would be able to find a reasonably high proportion of the usability problems. This would ensure that heuristic evaluation would remain a low-cost technique in terms of resources.
In addition, we want to find out whether we can extend these touch heuristics to other mobile devices such as Android and Blackberry. It would also be beneficial to conduct comparative studies across different mobile platforms running similar applications. Through these follow-up studies, we believe that we can improve the touch heuristics shown in Table 1 to make them easier to learn and apply and to provide better coverage of potential mobile design problems. As Nielsen's heuristics have evolved over time, across different systems, we believe that our heuristics should and will follow the same path.
We would like to thank Craig Vosburgh, for providing the application for this study, and the employees from the authors' company, who generously volunteered their time for this study.
Baker, Kevin, Saul Greenberg, and Carl Gutwin. "Empirical Development of a Heuristic Evaluation Methodology for Shared Workspace Groupware." In CSCW '02 Proceedings of the 2002 ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work. New York: ACM Press, 2002.
—— "Heuristic Evaluation of Groupware Based on the Mechanics of Collaboration." In EHCI 2001 Proceedings of the 8th IFIP Working Conference on Engineering for Human-Computer Interaction. London: Springer-Verlag, 2001.
Baker, Rebecca, Xiaoning Sun, and Bob Hendrich. "Testing Touch: Emulators vs. Devices." In Proceedings of HCI International 2011. Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 2011.
Budiu, Raluca, and Jakob Nielsen. Usability of iPad Apps and Websites. 1st ed. Fremont, CA: Nielsen Norman Group, 2010. Retrieved June 2, 2014.
——. Usability of iPad Apps and Websites. 2nd ed. Fremont, CA: Nielsen Norman Group, 2011. Retrieved June 2, 2014.
Cohen, Jacob. Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, 1988.
Greenberg, Saul, and Mark Roseman. Using a Room Metaphor to Ease Transitions in Groupware. Research report. Calgary, Canada: University of Calgary, Department of Computer Science, 1998.
Griggs, Kim, Laurie M. Bridges, and Hannah Gascho Rempel. "Library/Mobile: Tips on Designing and Developing Mobile Web Sites." code4lib Journal, Issue 8, November 23, 2009. Retrieved June 2, 2014.
Molich, Rolf, and Jakob Nielsen. "Improving a Human-Computer Dialogue: What Designers Know about Traditional Interface Design." Communications of the ACM, Volume 33, Issue 3, March 1990.
Nielsen, Jakob. "Enhancing the Explanatory Power of Usability Heuristics." CHI '94 Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. New York: ACM Press, 1994.
—— "Finding Usability Problems Through Heuristic Evaluation." CHI '92 Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, New York: ACM Press, 1992.
—— Usability Engineering. Cambridge, MA: Academic Press, 1993.
Nielsen, Jakob, and Robert L. Mack, eds. Usability Inspection Methods. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1994.
Nielsen, Jakob, and Rolf Molich. "Heuristic Evaluation of User Interfaces." CHI '90 Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, New York: ACM Press, 1990.
Topic: Usability
2 Comments
Interesting test, but what's the point of testing a phone app in an emulator with a mouse? You get false negatives—no fat fingers with mouse—and false positives—no touch gestures like swipe.
Exactly. Part of the reasoning behind the test was to point out the number of false positives and negatives that you get trying to use an emulator. We have had a number of development groups approach us to do testing on mobile, insisting on using the emulator because that's how they developed for mobile.
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Looks Legit: Craigslist XBox Personal Gaming Chamber
This is 'The Box', a $2,500 personal gaming/playing with yourself chamber for sale on Craigslist in Ohio. Allegedly it has surround sound, air conditioning/heat plus a 'one-of-a-kind military theme'. You might see other terrifying video game boxes with military themes, but not like this one. This is one of a kind. Could you imagine somebody locking you in there? I'd like to think I could kick that door off the hinges, but I don't know. I'm not exactly a physical powerhouse. One time I tried to jump-kick through a patio screen door and bounced off.
Thanks to Maestro, who knows a quality solitary confinement chamber when he sees one and this is not it (needs floor drainage for waste).


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We're thinking of adding a dog to our family (our daughter is almost four) and I'm looking for some first-hand feedback. I've lived with dogs, trained puppies, and know the pros and cons of puppies v grown dogs, purebreds v mixed, and getting your pet as a rescue dogs v from a breeder v from the shelters.
Having thought this through, we're leaning toward a puppy and considering a beagle (I grew up with beagles), a pembroke corgi, or a tibetan terrier. I've done a lot of research on breeds -- I have a sense of the general qualities of each of these three that make them possibly compatible with our family.
My questions are: a) If you have firsthand experience living with these types of dogs and small children can you please say what you found to be great or difficult about that? b) If you know of a reputable beagle, pembroke corgi, or tibetan terrier breeder you'd recommend, can you please give me their contact info? Brenda
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A book about a couple preparing for married life, accompanied by quotes from the greats...
Visual arts thrill me...so to be able to publish both photos and text excites me to no end. Education was my bag, and I guess it still is...in the form of life coaching. Writing, editing and words allow me to share thoughts and feelings with others.
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Family Favourites Published November 10, 2012
Sharon - Memories Published December 06, 2011
ADA TURNS 2 Published November 28, 2011
Italy Published November 25, 2011
Michael and Myoung-Hee: Time Travellers Published November 17, 2009


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Here's how I imagine the next Audi A5 Coupe to look; predictable and some-what boring.
Just saw spy pics at worldcarfans.com about next-generation Audi A4 spied for the first time. And I got to thinking, what if the current A5 Sportback was conceived as a 4-door coupe from the very beginning, like the Mercedes-Benz CLA or Passat CC. In the end, this doesn't make the 4-door A5 any sleaker or […]
Initially I wanted to render a BMW X6- rivaling Audi mammoth. Should I continue with the Ingolstadt Q6? Should I… Give it up, it's ugly. Carry on, it's better than the X6.
Remember the Audi A7 Avant renderings? Well here's the smaller brother. I think it looks sleeker than the A7 Avant, and more true to the shooting brake idea.
This is my entry for Carspyshots.net Photoshop Contest 29. Contestants are to rendering something out of the new facelifted Audi A5.
other then youtube, this is a pretty good site… i hope you bored people out can enjoy this site too 😛 http://www.tom365.com/ things you need … basic knowledge of downloading/installation, patience, qvod player


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On this page you will find information regarding the Sacred Heart University Department of Athletics medical insurance policies. For general information regarding medical insurance, please read this Student-Athlete and Parent Information document.
Below find the links to all required medical forms that must be filled out and returned before practice and competition.
|• 2015-16 Medical Form & Medical Clearance Information
|• 2015-16 Form A
|• 2015-16 Form B
|• 2015-16 Form C
|• 2015-16 Form D
|• 2015-16 Form E
|• 2015-16 Form F


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The English Department seeks to develop in students those skills that will enable them not only to be successful in college and careers, but also to be leaders in the various roles they will have in their lives. To that end, we strive to provide students with the writing skills that will allow them to express complex ideas clearly and the reading skills that will enable them both to comprehend and evaluate the ideas of others. Our readings challenge students to think about settings, people, and questions beyond their own experiences in order to better understand themselves and their world. Furthermore, we work to help our students master these skills not only for practical applications, but also that they may live lives enriched by the love of language.
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Officials estimate that swells from the Neuse River have destroyed 20 to 25 houses in a Craven County neighborhood.
Harlowe Volunteer Fire Chief Jeremy Brown says 10-foot swells from the Neuse River broke on top of houses as Hurricane Irene stayed over North Carolina for hours. Brown says the number may increase since reports of destruction were stilling coming in Sunday. Some of the destroyed homes had been rebuilt after Isabel in 2003.
The fire department rescued people from three or four houses Saturday, getting help from the National Guard and swift water rescue teams from Hendersonville.
He says most people evacuated before the storm, but others stayed because they didn't think they were in danger.


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EVERETT — A poor start and a worse finish by the Seattle Thunderbirds combined with a desperate Everett Silvertips hockey team means there will be a Game 5, at least, before this Western Hockey League playoff series is over.
Everett won 6-1 on Friday, but Seattle still leads the best-of-seven series three games to one. Neither team will have long to dwell on the mismatch, with the next game in the series scheduled in Kent less than 24 hours after this one ended.
Jujhar Khaira had a hat trick for Everett, which overcame its special-team disadvantage in the first three games by scoring two power-play goals and one shorthanded.
"We're just taking it game by game. Survive and advance," Khaira said. "We got through this one, and tomorrow is a new day."
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Khaira, who had 16 goals in the regular season, scored his first three of the playoffs.
"I've been getting a lot of chances, and it's nice when the bounces go in," Khaira said.
Everett led 3-0 before the game was eight minutes old and Seattle had a single shot. By then, Everett had six shots and three had gone into the net.
"They jumped on us and we weren't ready to play," Seattle coach Steve Konowalchuk said. "They had a good start and we had a bad start, and that was the game. We had as many turnovers in that first period as we did in the first three games. Give them credit. They played a good hockey game and we weren't sharp."
Konowalchuk is glad his team won't have long to dwell on the loss and will focus on the fact that Seattle can win the series with a win at home on Saturday.
"It's good to get back at it," he said. "We need to get back to our game. As bad as that game was, as bad as we played and as good as they played, it's only one loss. It's the same as an overtime loss or victory."
If there was a loose puck, a player wearing white and green got to it first. The onslaught began early when Khaira skated out from behind the Seattle net unchecked and floated a backhanded shot over Taran Kozun and into the net only 1:27 into the game.
A shorthanded goal was next, the first of the series by Josh Winquist, who had an Everett franchise record of 47 during the regular season. Brayden Low was next with a score that made it 3-0.
Seattle showed a little life when Jared Hauf scored his first goal of the playoffs on a shot from the point late in the second period, but Everett quickly regained its dominance in the game with a power-play goal by Khaira and one by Carson Stadnyk just after a power play had ended.
"We just have to get back and play our game," Konowalchuk said. "We need to correct our mistakes. They were beating us to the net all game long, and that hasn't happened all series."
Seattle left winger Jaimen Yakubowski sat out the game, serving a one-game suspension for a checking-from-behind penalty on Everett defenseman Noah Juulsen that drew a double minor in Game 3. Juulsen also did not play in Game 4.


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Beers at the U.P. Fall Beer Festival
We're preparing to send one of our production employees and his parents up to Marquette, Michigan, tomorrow for Saturday's U.P. Fall Beer Festival, sponsored by the Michigan Brewers Guild. The festival is held in Mattson Lower Harbor Park, right on Lake Superior'Äîgreat beer and a beautiful setting to kick off fall. We'll be pouring Breakfast…Read More »