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Friday, May 4, 2001

Cats and Fishes

OPENING THANG

Well, I don't know about you, but it has been a crazy week for me. Very busy at IQHQ. Which, in these tumultuous times is not something I'm going to complain about. I snuck in a couple of hours to get greymatter running for gleanings, and I think you'll like the results.

{{you are already here, so link removed}}

Also in a strange mood around 1 am I suddenly changed the look of the front page. If I could decide I liked it, I might propagate it through the site. But I'm puzzled-- I just broke my own process Tell me what you think about that, if you have a minute.

http://www.eleganthack.com/redesign/archives/00000020.html

Oh, and anyone got an extra ticket to the webbys?

http://www.eleganthack.com/blog/archives/00000036.html

DESIGN MATTERS

Interesting article about back-biting on ALA

http://www.alistapart.com/stories/circlejerk/

Happily misspent some time downloading fonts from the lovely büro destruct . Be sure to check out the book pages.

http://www.bermuda.ch/bureaudestruct/

A recent post on chi web set off a great exchange of sites with innovative
navigation (and unfortunately some rather snide commentary. everyone is so cranky
these days)

http://www.acm.org/archives/wa.cgi?A1=ind0105a&L=chi-web#24

USABILITY MATTERS

Noel deconstructs an online bank on the CLog

http://www.carboniq.com/log/archives/00000038.html

and Peter attacks Style

http://www.internetworld.com/050101/05.01.01decon.jsp

NEWS

My sister (stylewithsubstance.com) sent me this article proclaiming the web is the best thing since sliced bread for small business.

Three e-business myths debunked

http://msn.zdnet.com/msn/zdnet/story/0,12461,2714021-hud00025hm3,00.html

Dylan Tweney: Open secrets. (via tomalak.org)

These technical and market forces combine on the Internet to create an environment where information of the most private nature can quickly be disseminated worldwide, in seconds. In other words, "Information wants to be public."

http://www.tweney.com/2001/0502privacy.htm

and even if it doesn't want to be...

3 Charged With Giving Lucent Secrets to China

http://www.nyt.com/2001/05/04/business/04LUCE.html


(Registration required.)

ebay is following Yahoo's lead in banning all hate-related memorabilia

Ebay to Ban All Hate-Related Items

"The online auction site extends its policy as it makes an aggressive
push into international markets."

http://www.thestandard.com/article/0,1902,24214,00.html?nl=mg

Razorfish Founders Quit Top Management Positions

"Mr. Maheu, who once oversaw North American operations and corporate development at Razorfish, called Mr. Dachis and Mr. Kanarick "industry pioneers and visionaries" and said the company's goal was to "return to profitable operations and positive cash flow while successfully serving the expectations of our clients, shareholders and employees."

http://www.nyt.com/2001/05/04/technology/04RAZO.html


my commentary

http://www.eleganthack.com/blog/archives/00000038.html

Why I'll never use Blogger (via webword.com)

"For those unfamiliar with security, the FTP protocol transmits usernames and passwords in clear text modes which, means anyone on the Blogger network can easily sniff out a username and password to log into your webserver, plain and simple. I'm not saying anyone at Blogger would do so, at least I would hope not, but who's to say that someone won't compromise Blogger's network in the future? Are you willing to take that chance?"

http://www.antioffline.com/blogger.html

I've heard similar things about greymatter....

APROPOS OF NOTHING

I've decided I don't care if this is an urban legend or not.

"Oh my !!! Nice Kitty!!"

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Posted by christina on Friday, 05/04/01 09:08 AM CST

Wednesday, May 2, 2001

From: Gleanings
To: thinkers
Subject: Gleanings: a buzzing bee....

been busy. very busy.

recent projects:
keeping http://www.carboniq.com/log entertaining (along with clever noel)
getting http://www.carboniq.com/events/cocktailhour/april live
making http://www.tracystroder.com for a friend's upcoming art show
Oh, and that billable work thing....

but I haven't forgotten you, dear gleanees. here is a nibble to keep you
going until I can emerge again...

IA MATTERS

Don Norman points to this as a potential innovation in navigation. Worth playing with, for sure.
http://www.primavera2001.org

~~~

Researching web sites - paul nattress
Describes a technique on researching your competitors web sites to help you design your own.
http://www.ia-uk.co.uk/~byavczzbrzte/articles/researching_web_sites_pn.htm

~~~

Scents and sensibility (via giantant.com/antenna/)
IF WEBSITES are built without bricks or mortar, why does navigating around them so often feel like bashing your head against a wall?
http://www.economist.com/science/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=587294
and the original xerox parc scent study
http://www.parc.xerox.com/istl/projects/uir/pubs/pdf/UIR-R-2000-01-Chi-CHI2000-WebVisualization.pdf

~~~

big hairy pile of cog-psi papers, (via peterme.com). yum-o.
http://pima.ucsd.edu/pashler/default/pashler_manuscript.htm

DESIGN MATTERS

Have you had your superbad today?
http://www.superbad.com/

~~~

reboot
http://www.threeoh.com/may1/index.php

USABILITY MATTERS

Internet World: Is Usability Really Worth Anything? (via tomalak.org)
Jakob Nielsen. Is usability really that bad for business? Basically, all
usability does is generate more sales, more traffic, and more loyal users. If
you lose money on every order you ship or every page view you serve, then
increasing the volume will indeed result in a flood of red ink.
http://www.internetworld.com/news/archive/05012001c.jsp

~~~

IBM developerWorks: The usability world according to Tog.

"Effective interfaces are visually apparent and forgiving, instilling in their users a sense of control. Users quickly see the breadth of their options, grasp how to achieve their goals, and do their work."

"Effective interfaces do not concern the user with the inner workings of the system. Work is carefully and continuously saved, with full option for the user to undo any activity at any time."

"Effective applications and services perform a maximum of work, while requiring a minimum of information from users."
http://www-106.ibm.com/developerworks/usability/library/us-tog/index.html

~~~

New AskTog!

Is the Internet Really Collapsing?
"Fear is in the air. A lot of us have lost a lot of money in the past year. It seems like the downward spiral will never end, but it will, and then things are going to get a whole lot better. "
http://www.asktog.com/columns/046InternetPerspective.html

NEWS & COMMENTARY

The Web Grows Up
A dip in Net surfing last December raises the question of whether the Web, like other media, is showing signs of seasonality.
http://www.thestandard.com/article/0,1902,24015,00.html

~~~

Napster Tones Down the Downloads
The number of songs traded on the service dips by more than a third during its first month of blocking copyrighted music, a report says.
http://www.thestandard.com/article/1,1902,24127,00.html?nl=met
I think it's true-- despite attempts at misspelling, I couldn't find a single live soul coughing song (I've bought all the albums, and I need more!!!)

APROPOS OF NOTHING

H4x0r Economist
(via captaincursor.com)
http://www.rdwarf.com/%7Ekioh/

~~~

Okay you have to be a web geek *and* a car geek *and* read a little french:
click several times on the car.
http://le.goff.com/gaelleweb/Att1.htm

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Posted by Alice on Wednesday, 05/02/01 08:58 AM CST