(long) Transparent IDE elements and other problems

[j]

> FWIW- I don't really want to argue for either method here, but it's 
> not really a hokey hack. Most modern list managers, spreadsheets, and 
> anything else that wants to display a lot of data pages the data 
> through a fixed number of elements in some fashion: you'd be in a lot 
> of trouble if your database manager loaded 2 millions rows to be 
> prepared for your scrolling... so while it may work for your 
> application, paging data and "faking out" the user is actually more 
> like standard memory-saving practice.

And with respect to interface design, what is the limit of information 
to be presented to the user?  Sooner or later, the number of images is 
going to reach a point that interferes with usability, on several 
fronts: the thumbnails will be too small to be recognizable, the number 
of images will confuse and overwhelm the user, etc.  The development 
and design questions we ask ourselves (or should ask ourselves, anyway) 
every day address these issues.  How do we balance the power of the 
application with the usability of the interface?

J.