My sister was doing some research and came accross the “Computer Hassles Scale: A Measure of Computer Stress.”, a stress evaluation tool put together by Richard A. Hudiburg, who researches “technostress”. As someone who spends the majority of his waking hours interacting with a computer, I find the existence of such research to be comforting. Also, some of the criteria on this list are just hilarious (but totally valid). I emailed Dr. Hudiburg for permission to reproduce the scale on my blog, and he quickly responded saying it was fine, and attached rtf versions of the scale so I wouldn’t have to scan it.
I love the two introductory paragraphs. Yes, sometimes I do feel hassled by computers.
COMPUTER HASSLES SCALE
Directions: Computer technology hassles are irritants related to
experiences with computers and computer technology. These
irritants can range from minor annoyances to fairly major
problems. They can occur infrequently or fairly often.
Listed below are a number of ways in which a person can feel
hassled by computers and computer technology. Respond to each
hassle by circling a 0, 1, 2, or 3 to indicate how SEVERE the
hassle has been for you during the past TWO MONTHS.
------------------------------------------------------------------
SEVERITY
0 - not at all
1 - somewhat severe
2 - moderately severe
3 - extremely severe
HASSLES
1. computer system is down
2. lost in the computer
3. poorly documented software
4. computer hardware failure
5. computer keyboard lockup
6. programming error
7. illegal input message
8. updated software requirements
9. poor user/computer interface
10. slow program speed
11. slow computer speed
12. poorly written computer documentation
13. incompatible software program
14. incomprehensible computer instructions
15. outdated computer skills
16. increased time demands
17. electrical surges - data are lost
18. lost data
19. lost program
20. crashed program
21. crashed system/ lockup
22. damaged storage media - disks, tapes
23. need to update skills
24. keyboard typing errors
25. need to learn new software
26. forgot to save work
27. keyboard paralysis
28. uninformative computer conversations
29. violent language of computers
30. too much computer information
31. too little computer information
32. software confusion
33. lack of help with a computer problem
34. lack of computer expertise
35. increased computer use expectations
36. lack of computer application software
37. obsolete computers
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Selected from reviews for this blender:
This blender is louder than some others, but that is the price of power.
Powerful, though a sound baffle wasn’t part of the production budget. Be prepared to wake the neighbors, but at least you can hand them a perfectly blended smoothie when they bang on your door.
But, the drawback is, it is REALLY loud - probably due to the all metal drive. If you have young children in the house please take note, they will be frightened.
The ice turned to sluce before I could blink. I could not believe how fast it blended the ice. It is absolutely amazing.
It’s squat, ugly, industrial gray and utilitatian in design and as loud as a mig at takeoff when going full blend, but underneath this blender lies the heart of a beast that will surely never die.
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Here is a site that pairs random The Family Circus comics with random Nietzsche quotes: The Nietzsche Family Circus. The results are simply amazing.
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From: John Joseph Bachir
Sent: Monday, September 18, 2006 11:43 PM
To: Danby Customer support
Subject: differences between countertop dishwashers
Hello. I have a question: what is the difference between the DDW396W and the DDW496W? The difference between energy and water usage is huge, but it seems like the capabilities and features are exactly the same.
Thanks,
John
Good Afternoon,
Thank you for your e-mail. The only difference, is they are manufactured by different companies, and the size from front to back is larger on the DDW496W. Please let me know if you have any further questions or concerns. Thank you.
Aimee
Customer Service Representative
Danby Products Inc.
Web:WWW.Danby.com
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A few weeks ago Paul got me on the invite list to the launch party for Chris Anderson’s new book about The Long Tail. If you don’t know much about the long tail check out the free pedf here. One thing that was in Anderson’s presentation at the party but I haven’t seen anywhere else, including that pdf, is a graph showing album sales for #1 albums over the past few years (or maybe decades). The point is, the opening-week highest-selling album of all time is Justin Timberlake’s solo album in 2002 i believe, and no album has come close since then, and the volume for hit albums has seen a steady decline. Anyone know if this graph is available elsewhere on the web?
In general the party was a blast, free food and drink, nice people, great music. A couple days before the party I just happened to be corresponding with Ben Hammersley and I mentioned to him that I had just moved to NYC, and if he was ever in town we should get a drink. He replied back and said that he was in fact in NYC and we should get a drink the next night! I told him I was pretty booked the rest of the week, but that he should try to score a ticket to the Wired party if he knew anyone. A few hours later he replied back and said that he had done just that.
Why am I telling you all this? Because as fate would have it, Ben and I were the only two folks quoted in the article about the party on CNET’s media blog! And boy is my quote a dandy. I won’t ruin it for you, go read it.
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This really freaked me out:
Until I realized there were missing periods in each price. Or maybe boldnotbold is the new punctuation?
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Wow. Wow. Stephen Colbert somehow landed the final spot at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, and he absolutely SKEWERED the Bush administration, while standing 15 feet from Bush! You have to see it to believe it.
See the video at crooks and liars here (i think this isn’t a complete video, if anyone finds a better one let me know), and more coverage here.
UPDATE: a torrent of the full video here (thank you, helpful anonymous commenter!)
UPDATE: full length easy to watch version here.
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80 how to make sizzurp
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26 purple drank recipe
25 jjb
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do not rub eyes after having Texas barbeque.
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