HCI::="Human Computer Interface". Answer: the time is not
flashing because somebody had a compulsion to program it. But,
the time is wrong... they didn't have time and energy to debug
it. [ http://xkcd.com/970/ ] (XKCD web comic). Whether we are
talking about filling out a form to register for class or
printing out a PAWS report, or using CMS -- we are interfacing
with the system. The Discipline of "Human Computer Interfaces"
can help make even useless things attractive (games and example)
and useful things popular. Apple is famous for putting new
products on the market with innovative human-computer-
interfaces. It has proved to be an good survival strategy. Of
course, you also have to provides the functions and data that
your stakeholders need. But a bad interface can make them unused
and useless. Further -- user interfaces tend to evolve... A wise
designer separates the look-and-feel of the user interface from
the functions and data that make up the heart of the system. All
input/output data is starting to