From YourTotalSite.com / Basecamp Milestone Date Entry you’ll see that when designing date and time related interfaces adding dhtml to the mix that sets common time spans is a good design choice. I’m involved with several date related applications and this sort of implementation will help users of those applications to get things done more efficiently. I’m also a big fan of DHTML widgets like date pickers if they can be done in an efficient manner such as fast and light code.

In fact, I’ve been working on one project as a post release audit to see where we can lighten up the amount of bandwidth required to use the web-based application. However, the bandwidth issue would be minimal in the situation Garrett is addressing here. I hope 37Signals is listening because that’d be a handy application of the usability they are so loudly proclaiming in other areas.

Yesterday morning while checking in at the DIA I was greeted by an amazing self-checkin process by Frontier Airlines. This checkin was brilliant because it was so simple. That’s right I hardly had to do anything to check myself in. This is not typical for most ‘self’ anything programs. Checking out at the store at the ‘self checkout’ lanes is usually a hassle for most users. This was easy… I recommend you fly Frontier and try this. It is yet another way they have outdone the competition. Alternatively you might consider asking a complete stranger who’s flying Frontier if they’d like to let you look over their shoulder. This is must see User Interface design.

I just discovered that Windows XP wants to install several updates. What is the description for three of the four?

A security issue has been identified that could allow an attacker to compromise your Windows-based system and gain control over it. You can help protect your computer by installing this update from Microsoft. After you install this item, you may have to restart your computer.

Really helpful, huh? Makes it easy to know what is being changed. Nice to know that my machine may be vulnerable to an outside attack, but I don’t know what software or part of the OS renders me defenseless.