Show off your N.A.D.D. / Win a Prize
So, you think you’ve got a pretty bad case of N.A.D.D.? Prove it. I want desktop screen shots showing the multitude of open windows which best demonstrate your pathology.
The best (worst?) example of N.A.D.D. will received a signed Jerkcity book as well boat loads of well intended public humiliation. Winner(s) will be decided by yours truly.
Please send your submissions to rands@jerkcity.com — I’ll post noteworthy submissions to the entry as I receive them.
[7/18/03 Update]:
Our first NADD finalist, a Windows user, is displaying all the right symptoms. Multiple lines of communication open in the form of email and instant messaging. Combined with edit windows for both Python and HTML as well as tidy WinAMP window, you’ve got a got simmering case of NADD.
Finalist does lose points for, apparently, editing HTML within notepad? Please. A true NADD is the master of their respective editor whether it’s EMACS, VI, Codewright, BBEdit whatever.
Finalist #2, a Mac OS X user, displays some mighty NADD symptoms. First off, where’s the Dock? THE DOCK IS HIDING BECAUSE IT TAKES VALUABLE SCREEN REAL ESTATE — HELLO. Other blissful clutter includes edit windows, stickies, a news reader, and other unrecognizable apps stacked behind Safari.
Two minor deductions. First, the use of stickies. Clearly this is being used as an organizational method here, but stickies are neither structured nor do they scale - give me Excel with sortable columns… aaaaaaahhhhh. As for iChat, it appears Finalist #2 has seven folks on their buddy list. Seven? You call this NADD? A full blown case of NADD would mean you’d be FORCED to turn off buddy pictures because YOU’VE GOT TOO MANY DAMNED BUDDIES.
Finalist #3, another Mac OS X user, does display the Dock, but they still got flippin’ apps open all over the place… Net News Wire, Camino, iChat, Mail.. and more… Looking carefully, one can see Slashdot hiding behind iTunes… Slashdot… news for NADD.
One major deduction for this Finalist is the presence of an old version of iTunes. Part of the NADD pathology is a deep desire to stay on the bleeding edge. Information is power and using old bits means you’re missing out on something AND SUDDENLY YOU’RE AN AOL USER. Aiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiie.
Keep those submissions coming…
[7/20/03 Update]:
In our second set of three finalist, we start with Finalist #1 who is clearly playing to judge with the Emacs editor sitting in front in all of it’s color syntaxing glory. Additional points are awarded for the discarding of the Internet Explorer for the bleeding edgeness of Mozilla Firebird plus a generous dosage of XWindows in the Windows XP environment.
Lastly, Finalist #1 has the balls to leave the default Tinker Toy theme of Windows XP on… I’d dock points here, but I left it on, as well. The older themes look, well, old.
Finalist #2 is a study in N.A.D.D. nirvana. Clearly a Unix fan, this finalist demonstrates virtual desktops. If your N.A.D.D. needs pixels, virtual desktops are the way to go… if you’re OS doesn’t support it out of the box, there’s always add ons which will give your respective OS everything that it needs.
As we’ll see from our next entry, Finalist #2 appears to have a solid system for their affliction, but they are missing one thing…
Folks, virtual desktops are for those of us without the cash money to do this… multiple live desktops. Yes, it takes a lot of desktop. Yes, it can be costly, but when it comes to N.A.D.D., YOU WANT TO SEE WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON WITH YOUR DESKTOP… ALWAYS.
Finalist #3, a Mac OS X fan, sports an amazing clutter of applications. As with all the entries, it is difficult to detect the system by which the user controls their desktop from a static screenshot. To really understand the depth of their N.A.D.D., you’d need to be looking over their shoulder as they traipsed around their desktop.
This entry shows all the classic N.A.D.D. symptoms… look at that dock… look at that toolbar… packed full of N.A.D.D. related applications. The last straw must be the shunning of iChat for Adium… why? It’s be the tabbed instant messaging. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.
