15.07.02, 16:17
Back from holiday
Back from Italy as of around 1-ish yesterday, so I'm still getting used to being back here. Its good to be back in one way... everything in Florence was overpriced (bar the wine =), and the heat was killing me. But, the weather here sucks as always, and my grass is in desparate need of cutting. That in itself is a reason to never return.
Florence was, surprise surprise, beautiful. The sites, the sounds, the food, the drink, and the natives - all absolutely stunning. However, this city really knows how to milk the tourists. According to my girlfriend's brother (who lives there), prices jump 40% on May 1s and don't drop until September/October. The most important price gotcha to look out for though is the infamous service charge, and what can be best described as a 'decent seat charge'. We went to a nice little restaurant to get a light lunch for three and a few cokes on Thursday. On top of the (very reasonably priced) food, we had to pay ?2 for each person to sit outside (in an empty restaurant) and a 12% service charge (for rude service). Christ! Stillwe learnt the lesson and didn't get caught so easily for the rest of the holiday.
My girlfriend's brother's wedding (our reason for going) was a nice small affair with a few close friends and family who'd jetted in from about six different countries. The meal afterwards, all seven courses of it, was fantastic - with a delivious variety of food ranging from wild boar, to beef, to piglet.
I've come to the conclusion that there are two necessities on holiday: a VISA card and a Laser/Maestro card. The Euro is so handy, and shows up Ireland for just how expensive many common goods are; it also solves the problem of being screwed because your can't get used to the native currency. I found that all ATM machine there support a good range of aroun seven langauges; but the localisation was less than perfect. Take for example using the ATM in English (because its the only language I used, surprisingly enough):
The main screen of the ATM was in Italian, with two choices presented on screen. Guessing that the first menu option would be an option to choose langauge, I pressed the associated button and was landed on a screen presenting a series of different langauge options. Native-language language titles (eg 'Deutsche' rather than 'German') were used, with the added redundancy of national flags being associated with each language. There are problems with using flags of course - both Americans and Irish people speak English, but the Union Jack was used. There's been much discussion and research over the years on the topic so I won't go into the pros and cons. However, the use of an English flag was inconsistent with the text when using the system. When asked to remove your money from the machine, the Americanised term 'bills' is used. Had the English term 'notes' been used, there at least would have been consistency with the flag of choice. Even better would have been the use of the word 'money'. Additionally, the on-screen 'next' and 'cancel' buttons remained in Italian, and thus required on screen instruction in English to explain what action each button would have.
Ideally::
- an ATM should determine the nationality of the user from their card (I do not know if this is presently technically possible as cards are configured today, but surely this could be derived from the bank which the transaction needs to be confirmed with?)
- should the language automatically chosen not suit the user, there should be the option to change language on the first screen reached after inserting the card. Labelling this button could perhaps be done through a pictoral series of flags representing all of the languages supported but the system. I haven't seen research on how this is interpretted by users; if you know of any, please let me know.
- the initial screen should have a visual (preferably animated) depiction of a card being inserted into the machine
- to convey to the user that the machine can function in multiple languages, there should be a combination of on-screen visual elements on the initial screen (again, perhaps flags), and elements incorporated into the industrial design of the unit
- once a language has been selected, all labelling and dialogue should be done in that language
Hmm.. there's a lot more 'ideal' design choices I could add to this list, so maybe I'll leave it for the topic of a short article at a later date.
Despite the problems with Italian ATMs, I realised that Ireland is worse off. Off-hand I don't recall ever seeing multi-lingual options on Irish ATMs. I'll check up on this some day when the weather isn't too bad for me to be trapsing around town for a few hours checking out various machines.
Right now, I don't have much other news. I'm plainly too tired to write much more. Also, progress on the site won't be as pronounced today as I'd hope. While fiddling with OS X, seeing what did what in the various 'Library' folders, I messed up some stuff to a point where I can't get it quite back to how it used to be, and now 'root' user refuses to enable, blocking me from editing Apache httpd.conf files except from within OS 9). Thus, I'm currently in the middle of reinstalling my entire home computer set up. Again.
I've always said, the best way to learn an OS/program is to break it enough times that you understand what does what; some months ago I heard the brilliantly succint saying:
"An expert is someone who has made all the mistakes one can in a narrow area"
(and yes, I am just trying to make myself feel better)
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