release

Fri Oct 5 16:28:41 UTC 2012

Well, let me lay it all out there since my code is compiling....

The issues are (in increasing severity):
1. You put the adjective after the noun. (This abuse of English syntax is like China making stop lights green and go lights red) 
2. I need to do in-depth study of what Active Plasma(corrected wording, per #1) is.
3. It's "more complicated than loading a Linux distro on a standard laptop" (Why?)
4. And this is where I really have concerns.
Several of the screenshots have windows.
http://plasma-active.org/screenshots/PlasmaActive_ActivitySwitcher.png
What's the title across the top?
Immediately this raises my concerns that we'll have window position and size management usability issues. 
I see wrenches and X everywhere. Trashcans on every image in what I assume is a gallery. It would be far more elegant to only have the active item with wrenched and the trash can. 
The gallery - 
    can I click on any except the active one?
    the current photo is bumped out 
to the left because... I want it occlude the notes app by the 50 px that
 it's not using to the right? These are pixel constrained devices. 
Multiple icon containers. Why don't these have an X as well?

http://plasma-active.org/screenshots/PlasmaActive_AddResource.png
I dread what the Add Items button does. It it open a file browser, FAIL.
Why does this have a "close" button but everything else in the previous snapshot had an X in the top right? This doesn't even have that. 
Search box is way too mall. 

I am looking for something that is not Android because it feels too left-of-center. If you want my advice (doesn't matter here it comes, LOL)
- Ditch the window size thing. Tablet users don't want to manage that stuff. 
- Forget the icon containers as they are. I think I understand what you're trying to do though. Rather it'd be cooler to have application sets and each set is docked to an edge of the screen (like the gallery) and much like the OSX bar. Then attach to it the task killer/switcher thing in a later slide. Also on that, put the apps list so you can drag/drop from the global app pool to the application set for that screen.
- Why are there multiple icon containers per screen?
- How do you get to the icon containers if they are under a window?

One of the things that I think are neesed for tablet input to work is a Swype style keyboard, but rather than making the keys wider and the swypes longer when in landscape, you put up another keyboard (number and/or navigation pad). It is a hereunto unobserved fact that key size does not matter when swyping. It's all about relative positions. So you can put up way more buttons.The only button sized buttons are number and navigation. 

________________________________
 From: Carl Symons <carlsymons at gmail.com>
To: Jason H <scorp1us at yahoo.com> 
Cc: Active mail list <active at kde.org> 
Sent: Friday, October 5, 2012 11:51 AM
Subject: Re: release

On Fri, Oct 5, 2012 at 8:12 AM, Jason H <scorp1us at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>
> I'd like to chime in here, though I am fully out-of-order.

Not a problem. KDE has many people who are fully out of order.

>
> As a KDE user, I am not sure where "Active Plasma" fits. I was introduced to it via Spark/Vivaldi. However it's over 6 months over due. I picked up a ICS tablet of the same specs (LAVA tech 10" Mali-400GPU, etc) for $150. So I thought it was a tablet-ized version of KDE, to compete with Android on tablets. However I have significant usability concerns based off screenshots alone) which makes me think I don't understand the purpose of Active Plasma.
>
> Also, where the heck is Vivaldi? I'd like to D/L the s/w and put it on my tablet and give it a shot since the specs line up so much.

Plasma Active is more complicated than loading a Linux distro on a
standard laptop, which works pretty well these days. It helps to have
some understanding and history of the project's intentions.

Here is a cut&paste from a recent email to the local LUG...
"It is a project that involves people from KDE Plasma Workspaces and
leaders from the Mer Project (merproject.org). Traditionally, these
people have developed software for people to use on a variety of PCs.
Unfortunately the mobile device market is not now and probably will
never be as open as the PC market. More on Plasma Workspaces for
mobile devices at plasma-active.org.

"Some of the people working on Plasma Active decided to put together
the whole package. It started as "Spark" and was renamed "Vivaldi".
For a sense of what Vivaldi is about, please visit
aseigo.blogspot.com. There is a post "make" from Wednesday, January
25, 2012. That was followed by posts "play", "live" and "the reveal"
that speak to the background and motivations of the Vivaldi tablet.
Aaron Seigo (aseigo) is a long time KDE contributor and leader.
You may also be interested in Aaron's presentation at Akademy 2012 (the
annual KDE international get together) at akademy.kde.org > Program."

These references should go a long way towards answering your questions.

Carl

>
>
> Vivaldi
>     * 7 inch multi-touch capacitive screen (800x480)
>     * 1 GHz ARM Cortex A9 processor with Mali 400 GPU
>     * 1GB DDR2 RAM
>     * 8 GB Nand Flash Disk
>     * Wireless Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g (3G via USB External)
>     * 1.3 MP built-in front facing camera
>     * HDMI 1080P Output
>     * 2 USB ports
>     * MicroSD slot
>     * 3.5 mm audio jack
>     * Hardware volume and power buttons
>     * 4 dimensional Gsensor
>     * Battery: 3000mAH @ 7.4v
>     * Weight: 355 grams
>
> LAVA-Tech Series QPad Model C-1010111
>     * CPU Speed
>     * 1.00GHz
>     * 10.1" 1024 x 600
>     * Enhanced 3D GPU Mali 400
>     * 8GB Flash
>     * 1GB RAM
>     * 802.11b/g/n Wireless LAN
>     * Micro SD/USB/HDMI
>     * 3.5mm Earphone jack x 1
>     * Webcam Front (0.3MP)
>     * 1.5 lbs.
>
> ________________________________
> From: Aaron J. Seigo <aseigo at kde.org>
> To: active at kde.org
> Sent: Friday, October 5, 2012 10:52 AM
> Subject: Re: release
>
> On Friday, October 5, 2012 15:41:16 Marco Martin wrote:
>> shouldn't be that big
>
> ok :)
>
> my next question is: based on our marketing wordsmithing (anding othering
> wordings ending withing 'ing'ing ;) what will our "3 important messages" be
> that we flog in our blogs and elsewhere?
>
> shall we start a suggestions list and then pick from them?
>
> here's my first nomination:
>
> * new apps -> reader, file browser, ?
>
> --
> Aaron J. Seigo
> _______________________________________________
> Active mailing list
> Active at kde.org
> https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/active
> _______________________________________________
> Active mailing list
> Active at kde.org
> https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/active
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mail.kde.org/pipermail/active/attachments/20121005/43976672/attachment-0001.html>