Andrew Wirtanen is a usability specialist in Cary, NC More »

Goofy in “How to Hook Up Your Home Theater”

Here’s a funny Disney mock-instructional video about how to set up a home theater system:

As silly as the video is, tech companies could actually learn a lot from it. Goofy encounters a wide variety of usability issues. Many companies (e.g. Dell) conduct out-of-the-box studies to ensure a good user experience. Some companies (like Bose) attempt [...]

The Onion: Yankees Building Vacation Stadium In The Hamptons

The Onion News Network, one of my favorite video podcasts, has just released a parody video of the New York Yankees and their thick wallet. It’s probably one of my favorite episodes they have ever done.

The Evil Empire closed the doors to Yankee Stadium on September 21, 2008. The Yanks failed to make the playoffs [...]

Jogging Through Tokyo with a Wii

This is the best Wiimote hack that I have ever seen. A Japanese programmer has created a Nintendo Wii and Google Maps (Street View) proof of concept. Wii Fit was a giant step forward for exercising with video games. However, some things are a little clunky. For example, to run in place, you run around [...]

Politics and the Internet

The latest Barack Obama ad focuses on how McCain is out of touch with technology. What does that matter? Well, with bills floating around for issues like net neutrality and open spectrum, it’s essential for politicians to have a handle on basic tech skills. While these issues affect everyone, they are most important to those [...]

Google Reader in Plain English

If you don’t use Google Reader or don’t know what it is, then you should watch this video:

This video is by the people at Common Craft, who are experts at explaining technology. One of their best and most popular videos is Twitter in Plain English. I actually think that video helped increase Twitter usage!