I’ve decided to start a new series here on PG—commenting on one graphical symbol a week. My goal in adding this feature is to begin a stronger push for the better design and use of […]
Author: Peter Sheerin
Peter Sheerin is best known for the decade he spent as the Technical Editor of CADENCE magazine, where he was the acknowledged expert in Computer-Aided Design hardware and software. He has a long-standing passion for improving usability of software, hardware, and everyday objects that is always interwoven in his articles.
Peter is available for freelance technical writing and product reviews, and is exploring career opportunities in interaction design. His pet personal project is exploring the best ways to harmonize visual, tactile, and audible symbols for improving the effectiveness of alerting systems.
Tutorial: Making Better PowerPoint Templates
I recently needed to make a couple of presentations at a local the Red Cross preparedness exercise, and like the persnickety guy I am, thought it would be best to use one of the the […]
Adjusting Site for iPhone Browser
I should have done this long ago, but just got the bee stuck in my bonnet. When I first decided to attempt to support desktop and handheld browsers without duplicating content or using browser sniffing, […]
The Trouble With USB Universal Charging
The recent announcement by the GSMA of broad support behind a USB-based universal mobile phone charging system raises hope of a universal charging solution, but also raises many problems that few have discussed. The first […]
W3C mobileOK hurts interoperability
I guess this is what happens when I stop involving myself in the development of Web standards. Am I the only one on the planet that understands content negotiation and how important it is to […]
RCA Vaporware DTV Box
I need to buy a handful of DTV converters. Forget, for the moment, that my FCC coupons expired before I finished my research into the best models for my needs. Let’s just deal with the […]
Self-Documentation 001
It’s Monday, so I spent the usual 4:30 pm to 11:30 pm at the Red Cross—working on the comm van before and after the monthly disaster services meeting, discovering yet another reason why it needs […]
Laird Destroys Cushcraft
I’m trying to save Fridays for writing about Fabulous things, instead of Frustrating things, but an experience I just had necessitates postponing my daily themes a bit. At the Burlingame Red Cross office I’ve been […]
Illustrator Rant: Filled Up
I’ve spent another miserable couple of hours trying to figure out how to get Illustrator to do something simple–fill a region with a color. Something I’ve been able to do with AutoCAD since last century. […]
Illustrator Deserves Zero Stars
It started with a simple goal–to add another symbol to the family of radio repeater symbols I’m designing. But it ended in a wild goose chase through Wikipedia, geometry, and Excel’s function library. My current […]