bug reports
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Dear Apple: Please reconsider button borders
Dear Apple, I'm somewhat disturbed about the interface changes you shared with us during the keynote and on your website. Specifically, I'm not especially happy about all those borderless buttons. Without affordances, those visual UI elements that suggest or reinforce areas of interaction, buttons have lost a critical user engagement piece. I'm certainly not the only developer who feels this way. You may assume that users are now long-since "trained" on iOS, that they will feel comfortable guessing where UI components are, and will "instinctively know" how to interact with them. I believe the borderless-button has gone one step too far. I don't believe that changing the color, as you would in an email message, is enough of a visual cue for many users -- especially those with borderline visual impairments who do not yet need assisted UIs. Please allow clear differentiation between buttons and labels to support discoverability, clarity and user deference, regardless of user training and background. To conclude, let me offer the following quote from the New York Times write-up of "The Guts of a New Machine": "Most people make the mistake of thinking design is what it looks like. People think it's this veneer -- that the designers are handed this box and told, 'Make it look good!' That's not what we think design is. It's not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works." - Steve Jobs Thank you for considering my bug report. Hat tip to Michael Heilemann.
DevJuice: If you don't report the bug in the beta to Apple, it does not exist
To paraphrase some Apple employees: "Radar or GTFO." As many Apple persons are pointing out this week, unless you report bugs (called "radars") to Apple, you are doing nothing to improve the circumstances of which you complain. As Chris Rawson has pointed out repeatedly over the years, Apple's "beta" releases are what normal people would refer to as alpha. On a good day. If they're feeling generous. Apple offers a simple guide as to whether you should or should not file a bug report: the answer is always Yes. Beta participants are encouraged to file radars even when the issue seems trivial, only happened once, seems "obvious", or may be a dupe. Duplicates are never a bad thing -- they're like casting a vote. Highly duplicated items appear on manager reports, and various versions contain bits of information that add to the whole. I speak from experience. Apple employees posting on the developer forums may swat you with large trouts to encourage you to comply with filing radars. I should also point out that bug titles are editable, you should explain the bug in the field called "description", and if Apple calls you (hint the phone numbers start with 408, specifically 408-996-1010, and will be more likely this week after WWDC if you talked with an evangelist or engineer), you should probably answer the call. Want to learn more? Visit the WWDC videos page (credentials required) and watch Maximizing Apple Developer Resources. Don't forget to check out Open Radar, the developer crowd-sourced site for non-beta bugs.
Dear Aunt TUAW: Why does Siri read smilies as colons?
Dear Aunt TUAW, I love Siri. I'm surprised at how much I actually use it beyond the gimmicky stuff. Texting while driving (through my car's Uconnect system) is so handy. One thing I've noticed is that when I dictate a message, add a smiley face and have her read it back to me, she says, "Have a nice day colon comma." The odd part is that she has written :-), which is colon hyphen right bracket. Is this a glitch or does a hyphen and right bracket together equal a comma? I was never good at grammatical math. Your doting nephew, Damien Dear Damien, Ah, bless Siri. She's such a changeable creature. Auntie used to love when Siri would read out "Brr, it's cold" as "Bee. Arr. Arr. It's Cold". Thanks to Apple's live data center updates, Siri now responds "Burr" instead of "Bee. Arr. Arr." The smiley-face being read back as a colon is similar. It's simply a text-to-speech glitch that Apple may eventually improve. You can report any bugs to Apple directly using their Bug Reporter online website. Hugs, Auntie T.
CCP readying new EVE bug reporting tool
Bug reporting is rarely sexy, but it's one of those necessary evils that comes with the territory when we're talking about complex pieces of software like EVE Online. Bug reporting has also been something of a pain for CCP customers prior to this week, and hopefully that will change with tomorrow's update. CCP Redundancy has the details via the latest EVE dev blog, and the long and short of it is that there's a new crash-reporting tool scheduled to go live on October 18th. The tool has been tested internally and is just now ready for prime time, and Redundancy hums a few bars relating to the whys, the hows, and the privacy concerns. You can read all about it at the official EVE website.
Fantasy Earth Zero beta beginning March 3rd
It's been a long and winding road getting Fantasy Earth Zero over to western markets, but the wait gets shorter every day. The game was announced not too long ago as being due for our shores, and the release is even closer than we might have guessed. Not only is the beta beginning on March 3rd with the client now available for download, players can look forward to a variety of in-game events to celebrate the participants. The most obvious benefit is that testers in the open beta will receive a code for a special weapon, done up in gold and silver with turquoise inlays. A contest is also being held for the "best" bug report, with the top prize worth $30 in the unfortunately-named potcash and a special hat. As if that weren't enough, there will be special GM-hosted battle events and question-and-answer sessions with the GMs, offering assistance in learning how to play and how to get the most from the game. Gamepot is throwing quite a bit behind the launch of the game, so if you're looking for a new free-to-play title you may wish to give Fantasy Earth Zero's beta a go. [ Thanks to Evan for the tip! ]
TUAW Tip: How to submit a bug to Apple
Find something wrong with an Apple app? Know about a problem with the operating system? Want to know what to do about it? Consider submitting a bug report at Apple's bug reporter website. It's the best way to get Apple's attention and generate a trouble ticket for the problem you've discovered. The site is open to any registered Apple developer and it's free to become a registered Apple developer--you don't actually have to be, you know, a real actual coding or programming developer. Just sign up for an account here. Apple has a handy best practices page to help you submit the best bug report possible. (Hat tip to our own Laurie for this great link!) And here are a few more helpful contact points: AppleCare Extended Service and Support (800) 275-2273 AppleCare Support - 90 Day Warranty (800) 275-2273 AppleCare Support - Legacy (800) 767-2775 AppleCare Support - Education (800) 800-2775 Apple Store (Consumer) (800) MY-APPLE (800-692-7753) Apple Store (Education - Individuals) (800) 780-5009 Apple Store (Education - Schools) (800) 800-2775 Canada AppleCare Extended Service and Support (800) 263-3394 Canada AppleCare Support - Education (800) 800-2775 Canada Apple Store (Consumer) (800) MY-APPLE (800-692-7753) How to get a human faster? Press Zero three times. If a virtual rep answers, say "Operator". International Phone Support Main US support Page. Thanks, Chris.
