Typewriter design we still rely on

What did the SHIFT key really shift and why do computer programmers still have to care about carriages? Learn all about it, and why the original Qwerty layout didn't offer keys for the digits one and zero.

Bluesky and the Power of Your Own Domain Name

With the option of using your own domain name as a username, Bluesky becomes extra appealing.

Fake QR code in a car park

I often warn people about QR codes, but it's easier to understand the seriousness of these warnings when you can clearly see what a scam looks like. Here is a film I was given the okay to use for educational purposes (with my voiceover). In the video a

Back to work

On Monday October 14 it's been eight weeks since my open heart surgery. This means that my sick leave comes to an end and I'm back to work at my regular capacity. "Regular capacity" might be pushing it a bit. I obviously feel a

QR code hijacking can divert donations to criminals

QR codes are immensely popular but also immensely open to fraud when they are used in public spaces and forums. Hijacking donations is one example of how bad actors can take advantage of your reliance on QR codes.

Heart surgery logistics and Therblig moments

On the art of focusing on design as a strategy to avoid thinking about the drama of reconstructive heart surgery and a new mechanical heart valve.

Barbie with a white cane highlights important behind-the-scenes work

When you read the news that Mattel is launching a blind Barbie with a white cane, note that the doll was developed with organizations and people who are experts in, and themselves have, visual impairments. Mattel also organized play sessions for children with visual impairments as part of product development.

My tender heart and I

I'm in the process of preparing for open heart surgery. It's an elaborate procedure where I'll get a new mechanical heart valve and also replace about 6-7 centimeters of the aorta. This is followed by sick leave and rehabilitation with, among other things, breathing

AI Trial and Evaluation Worksheet

Many people are telling me how their companies are running tests of AI tools. This in itself is not strange at all. It's probably difficult as a leader today not to feel stressed by the manufacturers of AI promising revolutionary abilities that will radically change all of business

Generative AI can not generate its way out of prejudice

The concept of "generative" suggests that the tool can produce what it is asked to produce. In a study uncovering how stereotypical global health tropes are embedded in AI image generators, researchers found it challenging to generate images of Black doctors treating white children. They used Midjourney, a

On Nielsen's ideas about generative UI for resolving accessibility

"Accessibility has failed as a way to make computers usable for disabled users." Thus begins a newsletter by Jakob Nielsen. And had it not been written by someone a great many people take seriously in the UX industry I likely would just have dismissed it. But seeing how

ChatGPT 4 fails at solving a Captcha and progress is slow

An image of ChatGPT solving a captcha was spread far and wide recently. The most beautiful thing about the image is of course that it hadn't solved the Captcha. This made it a fantastic stepping stone for talking about the many illusions of technological advancement. 💡If anybody knows

AI

EU AI Act timeline

There are many checkpoints for the EU AI Act to pass through before it becomes legislation and before the law is applicable for all types of AI tools. While we are getting closer to a final vote in the European Parliament, there is some confusion as to when the law

humor

AI Pooper Mode Request

I remember when the newsletter service Mailchimp and its monkey mascot had a tone-of-voice that was full of jokes and whimsiness. Many found this annoying or offensive (either generally or after prolonged exposure). In the end Mailchimp were compelled to implement a setting so that people could switch off the

ChatGPT and Mad Hatter

It is a strange world we live in now, wherein the output of a computer perfectly following its programming can be said to be "hallucinating" simply because its output does not match user expectations or wishes. And across trusted professions, academia and media people are repeating that same

AI

Explaining responsibility, impact and power in AI

I made this diagram as an explanatory model for showing the relationships between different actors when it comes to AI development and use. It gives you something to point at when showing for example who finances the systems, who contributes to the systems and who benefits or suffers from them.

AI

Video summary of the White House executive order on AI

I read the executive order on AI from the White House, wrote a summary and used an AI-powered video generator to create the appearance of me presenting it. In accordance with suggestions in the order, the video is clearly labeled. 🗣️Interested in trying out the HeyGen tool? Sign up using

digital ethics

Benefits and risks of synthetic video and audio

In the one-minute video below I am speaking seven languages. In truth, I can speak two of those. None of the audio is actually me speaking, even if it sounds very much like my voice. And the video? Despite what it looks like, that’s not me moving my mouth.

digital ethics

Diagram: Bias in Machine Learning

Understand the stages of machine learning where bias can, and often will, contribute to harm.

accessibility

Don't fake bold and italic text with Unicode

I see more and more people faking bold and italic text on LinkedIn, and other social media, using Unicode characters. This is detrimental to accessibility, findability as well as predictability. Here is an example that you may or may not see depending on your client for viewing this: * Example of

usability

Jakob Nielsen about IQ and usability

Attempts to classify people into intelligence categories has been going on for many hundreds of years, but none have perhaps proven as prevalent as the intelligence quotient (IQ). The origins of IQ can be traced back to a 1905 test designed by French psychologists Alfred Binet and Théodore Simon to

When Instagram was used for government communication

I'm confident that in the future it will be incomprehensible how elected politicians and governments decided that Instagram was the best place to make official statements about national security. What was Instagram? "Was it like a news channel?" "No, it was a photo sharing site.

digital guidance

Why ”link in comments” is a bad idea for LinkedIn accessibility

When humans adapt to technology they add obstacles to access content.

digital guidance

DuckDuckGo gives you a privacy-first gateway to ALL the search engines – with a bang

DuckDuckGo can transfer your query to many thousands of different, subject-specific online search engines.