So today the CNN article on the Whyline was posted on Slashdot. It's funny: one of the first things we say in the paper, on the website, etc., is that it has nothing to do with natural language, English, or any other language. And yet both the AP writer and the Slashdot story poster all picked up on some weird "debugging in English" thing.

I suppose this is a lesson in marketing. Saying that a tool allows you to "ask questions" implies a bit to much. I would have thought that the screenshot of the question menu would have made it obvious that you can't say anything--just the relevant things.

Ah well. I suppose I can't expect this crowd to spend the time to really understand something. They are, afterall, the source of the phrase "RTFA." When I get something that works, that they can use, that they can download, the Whyline and the rest of my research will speak for itself. Its just a matter of time.

Useruser? I use users to enable users to use usable interfaces. In other words, I'm an academic geek who does empirical studies of users, specifically programmers.