#3: A Few Library Qualms

Furman University's James B. Duke Library is beautiful. Walking out of it at night at seeing the chapel across those reflection pool is a great moment. I have many great things to say about the library. The things I like include: books, DVDs, wide range of study spaces, ability to socialize or study hard, and the whole attractive look of the library. Despite all of the great aspects of this place, I want to briefly address three things that bug me.

The first qualm I have with the library is the lack of an additional door. The library is very close to the Dining Hall and the University Center which are two of the most visited places on campus. People spend many of their days studying in the library and then taking a break by going to the Paladen or DH for a quick meal. Since the library only has a front door, students have to walk out the front of the library and then around the back of the library to reach their destination. A simple entrance and exit from the lower level of the library could be really useful especially during heavy rains and cold winter weather. It makes sense. Every other building on campus has multiple entrances, so that the building can be walked through essentially. Taken from the DH, this picture below shows where and how convenient an additional door could be.

The second qualm I want to address is the chairs in the study rooms. While the lower seat height bothers me, the main problem is how they rock. These chairs are not fully rocking chairs but they are definitely not sturdy either. I asked a friend about them and she said, "Oh my gosh, they scare me all the time as they suddenly rock while I'm focused on studying." I can be sitting in these chairs and it will suddenly start to move and I get this scared feeling like I am falling. These chairs are actually a big reason why I am not a huge fan of the study rooms. A library also is not the best place for these chairs because students love to rock into the wall. I often hear people in the rooms next to me rocking back and forth hitting the wall with the back of their chair. Another thing that bugs me about these chairs is that when I try to push them in, they just rock up instead of sliding forward.

The last quick qualm I want to mention is the inconsistency of outlets throughout the library. The tables and cubicles with the built-in outlets are great for plugging in my laptop. The trouble is that not all cubicles and tables have them. There is one row of tables along the right side of the library that has only a few outlets along the whole wall. As for the cubicles without the built-in chargers, my laptop charger does not reach the wall outlet, so I cannot study in these. I am just confused why the library did not purchase only tables and cubicles with outlets since students would be using their laptops often here.

#2: North Village Bathroom Towel Bars

First things first. The apartments in North Village have two different size bathrooms. Why does one side of the apartment get a bigger bathroom! Last year, I was lucky enough to have the bigger bathroom and did not experience the towel issues I have experienced this year. In the bigger bathroom there is a towel bar that is within easy reach from within the shower stall. That same towel bar is now rendered useless as shown in the picture below. Due to the smaller bathroom, the toilet is now directly underneath this towel bar making it useless for hanging long bath towels. A towel hung from this bar could cover the toilet, knock the things from the top of the toilet, or get tucked behind the toilet which is gross.

                           

Furman does provide the bathroom with another towel bar; however, it is a good distance from the shower stall as shown in the picture below. The options for reaching this towel include stretching for it or stepping out of the shower. If I stretch for it, then I have to stretch far which creates the big risk of slipping in the shower. If I step out of the shower, then I get the tile floor wet. As I found out earlier in the year, this tile floor is extremely slippery when wet. Based on the design of these towel bars, Furman did not seem to take the user into consideration while placing these towel bars.

One possible solution would have been for Furman to move the towel bar that is over the toilet to inside the shower stall opposite the shower head. That is how it is at my home, and the towel surprisingly does not get wet while showering. The solution I resorted to is a 3M hook on the small sliver of wall by the shower. You can see this hook in the picture above. These hooks are not allowed in these apartments, and I am hoping that it does not rip off any paint. This hook has performed well and only fallen a few times from the weight of a towel. One solution that Furman could have employed is nailing a permanent hook into the wall here to hold towels. Regardless of what Furman could have done, my roommate and I took control of this situation and made our own solution. This 3M hook has worked well for the most part and allowed us to safely grab a towel from within the shower stall.

#1: IPhone LifeProof Case

Christmas came and went, but the iPhone I received as a gift is here to stay thanks to the LifeProof case. LifeProof cases are known for the protection they offer phones especially in water. This case waterproofs the phone in water up to two meters deep! The design finds aesthetic beauty in simplicity. This is a good approach, since the simple design conveys the message that the case is here to do business and protect the phone.

Installing the phone in the case is very easy, and the case does a great job of providing feedback by clicking together to let the user know that they have fully secured a connection between parts of the case. One noticeable downfall of the case after installation is the presence of a bubble between the phone's screen and the clear layer of the case that goes over the screen. This makes it looks like it barely fits a little wrong. The main problem with this bubble is that it interferes with the interaction between user and phone. This bubble turns the touch screen into more of a "press" screen as the user has to push the clear layer down in some areas to make contact with the phone's screen. 

The other points of interaction besides the screen are around the side of the phone including the headphone port, charger port, and various buttons. The buttons such as ringer volume and power work great and are easy to use and provide tactile feedback when you have pressed them fully. The headphone jack is very unique. It can be a hassle sometimes because there is a screw-in cap that covers the headphone jack to make it waterproof. The hassle is whenever I want to use my headphones I have to unscrew this cap and screw in a special headphone adapter as shown below. Part of the hassle is keeping track of the small screw cap and headphone adapter. The small screw cap is also hard to operate because it has the small ribs on it which you have to use with your fingernails to screw in and out of the case. This small cap provides no feedback to let you know if you have screwed it in far enough to make the case waterproof. Since there is no feedback, I tighten this cap as much as I can which then leads to the cap being hard to unscrew! The small flap that opens to allow the phone charger to be plugged into the phone works great. It is attached to the phone and clicks shut when you close it. It would have been nicer if the headphone jack worked in a similar manner.

The case has a great design overall though because it accomplishes its main functionality of protecting the phone completely. The screwing headphone adapter makes sense in this aspect because it waterproofs the headphone jack when in use. The screwing headphone jack and bubble in the phone screen can be annoying at times, but this case's design is awesome because it accomplishes its main goal. It is quite amazing that this case can stop all water yet let sound travel clearly through the case, and these little nuances are worth having a phone with that kind of protection. 

Hello World!

Hello World!