I recently got a new computer with Vista (I'm behind the curve, I know) and I'd like to know if I can make the background of the taskbar transparent. Google produces a number of weird and contradictory answers. [more inside]
posted by Pope Guilty on Sep 12, 2009 - 3 answers

Home recording filter: Hubby has a great new Macbook Pro, purchased per your advice. What type of 8-channel interface should he buy? [more inside]
posted by raisingsand on Aug 30, 2009 - 8 answers

I'm looking for user interface shops or departments within companies that do a particular kind of work, and that hire a particular kind of role (even if they have no jobs open right now). Do you know if they exist, and whether they're common or rare? Or, do you know how I can find out? [more inside]
posted by Other on Aug 17, 2009 - 6 answers

I like small mice and I cannot lie... Help me find the ideal mini mouse for my laptop. (WARNING: Mouse geekery contained within!) [more inside]
posted by agentmunroe on Jul 30, 2009 - 11 answers

Please recommend some sites to me that are focused on art and design and are technology-friendly to boot. [more inside]
posted by Your Time Machine Sucks on Apr 25, 2009 - 9 answers

I'm planning to post photographs to my own website as a travelogue. I'm looking for an eye-catching interface that is easy to use and maintain. What would you recommend? [more inside]
posted by netbros on Apr 14, 2009 - 12 answers

Is there a pared down, simplified version of amazon.com available anywhere? Right now whenever I go there I'm irritated by the fact that 90% of every page is noise. I want to browse, search and generally shop, and I don't mind 'stuff other people who bought this bought' and reviews, but I don't want to see a huge long page with all this other stuff on it.
posted by jcruelty on Mar 23, 2009 - 11 answers

Can you recommend software that will let me use a Linux machine to monitor e-mail, facebook, twitter, RSS feeds etc and see new content at a glance, from halfway across the room (ie. it has to be in BIG letters)? [more inside]
posted by ranglin on Mar 13, 2009 - 9 answers

Help me design a navigation interface for my portfolio that people won't hate. [more inside]
posted by bristolcat on Feb 12, 2009 - 33 answers

I don't like the WordPress 2.5 look and feel. I am not interested in switching CMSes. What are my options for basic postings to my blog with minimal interaction with the WordPress interface? [more inside]
posted by jessamyn on Jun 18, 2008 - 11 answers

Can anyone recommend a simple open source library management system / book database which offers a searchable web front-end / OPAC and which accepts imported data without MARC records (ie CSV or tab-delimited)? [more inside]
posted by Webbreader on May 27, 2008 - 2 answers

I'm looking to buy a MIDI interface, and I'd like your opinion. [more inside]
posted by lekvar on May 20, 2008 - 8 answers

I want to write some Location-based software (eventually on the mobile platform) and be able to test it on my laptop without faking GPS coordinates. What's a good, cheap GPS unit with a public API and/or some documentation/third party libraries for interacting with the device and retrieve information programmatically?
posted by callingshotgun on May 12, 2008 - 9 answers

Are there resources available that provide information about the intuitiveness of various user interface elements to various demographics? [more inside]
posted by OrlandoFurioso on Apr 15, 2008 - 6 answers

I'm looking for a file browsing and HTML- and media-viewing interface that can be set up on a Mac OS X machine locally and accessed through a web browser. Remote access not necessary; I'm just looking for a local interface. [more inside]
posted by WCityMike on Feb 7, 2008 - 6 answers

How do you view podcast metadata on an iPhone? [more inside]
posted by popechunk on Jan 3, 2008 - 2 answers

How do I go about creating a simple interface to update only certain specific nodes in different XML templates? [more inside]
posted by The_Partridge_Family on Jul 23, 2007 - 5 answers

In my quest to find the ideal combination of good interest rates + good online banking interface, my wife and I will likely be opening multiple banking accounts -- that's how we'll kick the tires. Will opening, say, four new accounts at one time damage our credit at all? [more inside]
posted by diastematic on Jul 16, 2007 - 6 answers

How to develop graphical user interface programs via opensource software? [more inside]
posted by jjsonp on Jun 11, 2007 - 14 answers

Is there some format more suitable for quick scanning of image dense feeds than your standard RSS reader? [more inside]
posted by stuart_s on May 28, 2007 - 1 answer

Given that I'm somewhat proficient in website coding (php, CSS, xhtml and so on) how can I constructively educate myself on actual design? What resources exist that will make me a better designer? [more inside]
posted by geodave on Apr 19, 2007 - 17 answers

I need recommendations on a decent camera with a good software interface for a custom rig I may be building. [more inside]
posted by middleclasstool on Jan 13, 2007 - 5 answers

Are Sony Ericsson phones bad news or is it just in my head? [more inside]
posted by trinarian on Nov 25, 2006 - 29 answers

Making Firefox behave like a Mac application... [more inside]
posted by Blazecock Pileon on Nov 13, 2006 - 6 answers

Help me streamline my Mozilla Firefox interface by hiding the menu bar in a small toolbar button. [more inside]
posted by Goblindegook on Oct 23, 2006 - 4 answers

How do I use my TV as a monitor? [more inside]
posted by chitlin on Oct 7, 2006 - 7 answers

I need to collect a list of names and addresses at a trade show on a Windows XP Home Laptop. It needs to be setup in such a fashion that attendees walking past our booth can input thier information themselves. How can I do this? [more inside]
posted by trbrts on Oct 6, 2006 - 12 answers

I'm looking for books dealing with usability for web and software applications. Not so much books that focus on coding or theory, but instead books that primarily relate to usability methods and the execution of usability studies [more inside]
posted by |n$eCur3 on Sep 27, 2006 - 12 answers

What's a good interface to del.icio.us (other than the standard one, of course)? [more inside]
posted by signal on Aug 2, 2006 - 5 answers

Design for Kiosks / Interactive wayfinding systems. What are the unique factors to consider? [more inside]
posted by safetyfork on Jul 22, 2006 - 5 answers

I recently started using "High Contrast White" color scheme in Windows XP. I tweaked it a little bit (changed the fonts, etc.) and am generally happy with it EXCEPT: text which should be greyed out is now bright green. [more inside]
posted by signal on Jul 21, 2006 - 8 answers

Is there a way to make the entirety of the graphical interface of OS X not only look but behave (as much as reasonably possible) like OS 9? (Again: I am not solely interested in the appearance of the window max/min/close widgets.)
posted by Mr. Six on Jun 18, 2006 - 10 answers

Is there any way to reduce the font size used by my Palm OS device? Palm OS provides four font-size options for its system apps, but the smallest of these four is still much bigger than my ideal size. [more inside]
posted by allterrainbrain on May 23, 2006 - 8 answers

Does anyone know how it's possible to produce an interface for checkbox selection like the one in Gmail? Namely, where you can hold down shift and click the first and last items in a list, and it'll automatically select all the ones in between. Is it possible with simple JavaScript without having to use AJAX or other fancy-pants technology...
posted by tommorris on May 20, 2006 - 8 answers

"Windowshades" functionality on Windows XP? Possible? [more inside]
posted by enrevanche on May 13, 2006 - 8 answers

Java question: how to program a toggle-view in a GUI? [more inside]
posted by invitapriore on Apr 10, 2006 - 8 answers

Science-fictionish question here, but I figured if zombies were all right, hypothetical aliens would be too. Specifically, interface design for non-humans... [more inside]
posted by wanderingmind on Mar 18, 2006 - 19 answers

I'm starting a new blog on a wide-ranging and ever-shifting set of topics, and I want to let my readers choose which of those topics to follow via RSS. I could offer tons of separate feeds, but many of these would be ephemeral, so I'd want to make it really easy to unsubscribe. Ideally, each user would get a single custom feed, the content of which they could control from my site (see here and here). Is there any way of doing this? [more inside]
posted by jsbww on Dec 17, 2005 - 10 answers

I'm looking for a simple web FTP interface to allow clients to upload files to my web server. I'm using Dreamhost, so it has to be installable on standard Apache / PHP / MySQL, etc. I'd like to have a simple "upload file" area in the client's section where they choose 1-3 files and click "upload."
posted by letitrain on Dec 15, 2005 - 10 answers

AudioFilter:Looking for a high-quality audio interface to receive two mics in to my Mac. [more inside]
posted by captainscared on Nov 10, 2005 - 9 answers

Home Studio Recording - My friend is looking into building a home studio and basing it around the ProTools LE Digi002 control surface. Should he go PC or Mac? [more inside]
posted by monsta coty scott on Oct 25, 2005 - 13 answers

What's the deal with the Google Video interface? More specifically, how can I grab frames from videos that aren't playable, like this funky site does? [more inside]
posted by tommyc on Aug 24, 2005 - 3 answers

I dislike my alarm clock and I want a new one. I'm tired of sleeping too late because the power went out or I couldn't tell if the alarm was set for AM or PM. I'm tired of jumping out of my bed in the morning because the alarm decided to it's awful impression of "the ocean" instead of beep at me. But mostly, I'm tired of taking 5 minutes to set my alarm an hour earlier. Desired feature list and picky UI concerns inside. [more inside]
posted by ThePants on Mar 31, 2005 - 19 answers

How can I get data from a Flash interface-based web page? e.g. When I click on an item in the interface, is there anyway to get info on what was selected, etc? For example, on http://homestarrunner.com/sbemail.html, how can I get the data on which selection was made from the list? I'd like to take that data into a PHP app and do something with it elsewhere.
posted by noahv on Mar 1, 2005 - 4 answers

I'm trying to understand the OOP concept of an Interface. [More inside.] [more inside]
posted by grumblebee on Jan 14, 2005 - 26 answers

User Interface terminology question. If we are describing the state of a push button (that is, a button that can be toggled between an on and off state), what is the most universally recognized terminology for the two states of the button? We've come up with pressed and non-pressed, depressed and non-depressed, checked and unchecked, etc... (obviously, enabled and disabled doesn't work). Anybody know the official guidelines for this? We're stumped.
posted by jon_kill on Dec 22, 2004 - 20 answers

Windows users: What's your screen resolution? Are you using clear type? Sometimes I find I cant get anything done unless I'm at 800x600 and with clear type off, but when I'm not working, coding, writing, etc I really like the higher resolution and nicer fonts. What gives?
posted by skallas on Nov 20, 2004 - 42 answers

Has anyone ever read any books, etc. about human-computer interaction or user interface design that were particularly worthwhile? [more inside]
posted by jeb on Jul 29, 2004 - 20 answers

MIDI Routing Question. I have: a Performa 6116, Digital Performer 1.6, a K2000R, and a CZ1, and to connect them, an Opcode MIDI Translator II (standard 3 in 1 out interface). I want: (a) signals from the computer to go to the CZ1 and K2000 and (b) signals from the CZ1 to go to the computer and the K2000. [more inside] [more inside]
posted by weston on Jun 28, 2004 - 7 answers

UI design question -- I have a Windows application, basically a frontend to a database, whose interface has mututated over the years, through various "enhancements," to the point that it's almost unusable by the non-technical people for whom it exists. Anyone have any recommendations of firms that do UI makeovers? What could I get for around $5,000?
posted by stupidsexyFlanders on May 3, 2004 - 4 answers