I would definately use such a plugin if you made one! My situation is much like your own, it goes well for a while until I forget review for some days. Then the huge amount of reviews scares me off. Some day I get myself together and review the large amount of cards and it goes well for a while again..
2010/5/19 Joel Joonatan Kaartinen <[email protected]> > On Wed, 2010-05-19 at 09:06 +0200, Wim Woittiez wrote: > > Regarding Joel's idea... I always disable small boxes in the corner. I > > find it hard enough to stay focused in computing life as it is, I > > definitely don't need more distractions. Likewise, when I decide to > > read mail, I launch my mail program, then when I'm finished, I close > > it again. > > That's the thing about this box (or whatever shape it would end up > taking). It would automatically disable itself without the user needing > to do a thing except ignore it. Most users lack the motivation to figure > out how to disable things in the first place, they just keep being > annoyed by them. > > In your case, it'd most likely end up showing itself to you in the > morning or not at all if you always do the flashcards before it has the > chance to show up. That's the whole idea of this thing, that it adapts > based on cues from the user that happen naturally and unconsciously. > That's the way we adapt to each other (and ourselves) too. > > Another possibility for what it could look like is, for example, if you > make it an applet in the taskbar, it could pulsate slowly enough that > you'd have to be actively looking for distractions to spot it. > > > I spend half an hour every morning reviewing flash cards when my > > energy level is high, so focusing is easiest. In that time, I review > > some 100 cards and learn a couple of new ones. It sometimes takes a > > little longer when I add new cards for example. I figure, since you > > said you'd stopped adding material a long time ago, you'll probably be > > done in much less time, so it will probably be far better to just do > > them quickly in one go in the morning. > > I haven't actually just stopped adding material, I haven't reviewed it > in 2 years... that is, through flashcards. My material was Japanese > characters so I do naturally get some review by reading, which I do > quite a bit. > > > In any case, I don't like the idea of an algorithm guessing my mood. > > In my opinion, man-machine interaction should always be based on > > clarity: the machine should have a button of which the man knows > > exactly what it does. If one such action needs a second action in the > > majority of cases, the second action should automatically happen by > > default, rather than requiring a second button press, but it shouldn't > > have some algorithm to guess whether or not it should happen. That > > would make it unpredictable for the man, and therefore consume more > > human attention than necessary. (I do realise that reality can be a > > bit more complex than this at times, but this illustrates the > > principle.) > > I'm going to throw a guess here and assume your dislike for computer > guessing your mood is because you expect it to guess it mostly wrong. My > own experiences indicate otherwise. I've used immsd > (http://imms.luminal.org/) for years and it works beautifully. It makes > for enough of a difference that I definitely wouldn't like having to > stop using it. > > Computers have long since went past the point where they're simple > enough that most people can understand them. Only a fraction of people > are capable of understanding them to a significant degree. My > grandmother had problems even understanding a simple cellphone. Let > alone a modern smartphone. She could barely read a text message she > received. Finding an older message or writing one was beyond her. > > The only reason to provide a button is if the human is better able to > know when the action will be needed than the computer and even then only > if the difference is actually significant enough to warrant the extra > complexity. This will naturally depend a lot on the human in question. > > That's actually a point here. I want to make the computer more man-like > but without the complexity of having it's own will. Unpredictability of > the algorithm is not a problem. But if it guesses wrong more often than > the user, then it is. Especially if the implications from a wrong guess > are big. > > There are many people who think the computers do have their own stubborn > will because they are unable to figure them out enough to get the > settings suited for themselves. This would allow the computer to be more > useful since it would be able to take on some of it's own management > tasks. For the moment, it's the human who adapts to the computer, not > the other way around. > > > Just my 2 cents' worth... Oh, and another idea! Why don't you add just > > 2 or 3 new cards every day? That way, you're learning new stuff, so > > your brain will be motivated again to launch it every morning. I find > > the progress itself to be extremely rewarding. I can never wait to > > have "unlearned cards" counter to 0, so I can add some new ones, then > > when I do, I can't wait to have the counter to 0 again etc. > > I do appreciate the suggestion but I unfortunately don't get kicks from > having memorized things. My brain actually tends to look at the huge > number of unlearned cards and think "oh my god, it'll be ages until > that's finished" and until then I only just feel bad about not being > there yet. > > Best Regards, > Joel > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "mnemosyne-proj-users" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > . > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]<mnemosyne-proj-users%[email protected]> > . > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/mnemosyne-proj-users?hl=en. > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "mnemosyne-proj-users" group. 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