Jono writes on his blog:

My thesis as to why is pretty simple: people learn by exploration. Let’s do a quick exercise. Write down on a piece of paper the last three devices that you purchased. They might televisions, cell phones, kitchen appliances, games consoles, or whatever else. Every one of these devices comes with it’s own interface to operate it. Now, how many of those devices did you sit down and read the instructions for? I am willing to bet it was close to none.

You learned those devices by poking around, trying things out, clicking, pressing, pushing, and otherwise playing with and exploring it. Many of these devices will have had entirely new interfaces to you which you had not used before, yet you figured them out. Some elements of the interfaces will have been obvious (e.g. buttons protruded to indicate that they can be pressed) and some elements less-so.

Now, I don't disagree with Jono, but I can see how confusing it could be for a new user to not have the close, minimize and maximize buttons up on the top where they are visible.  I was not taken by surprise when I upgraded the netbook, since I new the change was coming.  I can see that if someone wasn't expecting the change, they'd have a problem, but the new interface isn't really that different from the old interface.

I got to know Ubuntu by playing with it.  Matter-of-fact, I just installed Ubuntu to a friend's laptop; I'm hoping she will play with it and learn how things are done.  I think the interface is pretty easy to use, and I hope she will as well.

This experiment would prove to me that anyone can use Ubuntu.  She's not a computer whiz at all, but I think trying a different OS will help her overcome her fear of "breaking" something.  Seriously; I've set up her laptop wtih all the programs she needs, and she can easily find other programs in the software center... Updates won't be a problem, since I've set up her password and automatic updates.

We'll see.  This project just came into my hands because she hated Vista and I can't see making her drop $200 for Win7, especially if she just uses email and browsing and some light games.  This way she won't be stuck with a virus or something.

Yay for spreading the open-source love.

Yesterday we grilled.  This is not unusual.

Here's the grill.  The fire caught quickly and burned pretty hot.  We put steak, burgers, hot dogs, and sweet corn on.  It was all delicious.

I had two beers.  Well, not at the same time, as they were different.  This is odd for me, because I usually only have one beer.  Very rarely do I have two unless I'm at a party or something and it's offered to me.  But I digress.

This beer is called Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy.  It's a wheat beer mixed with lemonade.  It's kind of an acquired taste, but I loved it when it first passed my tongue.  It pours out cloudy and yellow into a beer glass, with a short foamy head that dissipates quickly.  It smells like lemonade with a bit of hoppy, beer-like goodness.  This beer is very drinkable and satisfying with a refreshing flavor.  It's smooth, with no bite.  I prefer beer with no bite, hence why I don't like IPAs.

Beer number two was Bell's Oberon.  This is a wheat beer with hints of orange.  I think it's brewed with orange peels.  Anyway, this pours out fizzy into a glass, and has a small head.  The taste is smooth and slightly sweet with those hints of orange.  This is a local Michigan beer, and it's incredible.  This is a filtered wheat.  I generally prefer my wheats to be unfiltered, but this is an exception.

These two beers are probably my favorite beers in the world.  I could drink them every day if I wanted.  Both taste like summer, both are refreshing and taste and smell good.

I guess that's my thing... beer has to not only taste good, but smell good for me.

Don't get me wrong, I like German-style lagers and stouts and all of that stuff (except for IPA, please don't serve it to me; there will be a rant about IPA on a future date).  But these two (and by association Blue Moon) say summer and early fall.  They're delicious.  If you like beer, and can get these two, please try them.