OPENING THANG
Hey kiddos– Still in France, and will be until June 6th, after which expect the usual 4 a.m. postings to EH and Gleanings, as jetlag sets in. I’m ensconced deep in French farmcountry, as Noel said earlier, and don’t have much connectivity to speak of, which is pleasent and weird both. I simply hike up to the main house to download my mail. It’s proving to be a productive time, and though I miss my meanders online I’ve replaced them with meanders into the local village.
http://www.nothing-new.com/travel/France/may01/chaumejean
I just wanted to send a petite bonjour to the readers, and thank the guest gleaners– they’ve done a terific job! I really enjoy the world through other’s eyes and voices. Speaking of voices, Noel’s writing up a storm on the Carbon Log; be sure to swing by. http://www.carboniq.com/log
and gleanings is completely built from email, so no guarentees on the
quality of my linkage…
IA MATTERS
Peter Metholtz has written a long “thoughtwander” on the futility of new
interfaces and the map as interface. It’s chock full of tasty links that I only wish I could follow…
Which reminds me to say again if you are an IA, you need to get “Mapping
Websites: Digital Media Design” by Paul Kahn and Krzysztof Lenk. It offers many ways to create “website planning documents” as they call them, and well as some interesting insights
intot he relationship of realworld maps to web maps. I don’t have the link available (working offline), but I’ve got it on my blog
http://eleganthack.wpengine.com/blog
which inspired Paul to post this yummy link to a course on maps!
http://www.dynamicdiagrams.com/seminars/mapping/maptoc.htm
>From the SIGIA list
Navigation resources
http://www.sitenavigation.net/snguide.html
http://usableweb.com/topics/000689-0-0.html
USABILITY MATTERS
Talking to Computers (Scientific America) — “Any notion that we can
replace keyboards with pen-based computing is wildly misguided. The
fastest you can go with a pen is about a third the speed that you can
type. It’s a single channel output compared to multiple channel outputs
when you type, and that’s the same limitation you have with voice as well.
Those technologies just have a basic fundamental human limitation that
usually gets overlooked.” via webword.com
>> http://sciam.com/explorations/2001/052101compu/
NEWS & COMENTARY
As a travel junkie and a web junkie, I can’t help but be intrigued by
orbitz…
Groups Seek To Block Orbitz Launch
http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20010525S0004
Analysts: Orbitz (Kind of) Rocks
http://www.internetnews.com/ec-news/article/0,,4_772531,00.html
NUA’s take on the recent hoaxes
“In the past two weeks, two deaths have shocked parts of the Internet
community. The deaths, both of young women who had a host of online
friends, became all the more shocking when it was discovered in both
cases that neither of the women had ever actually existed in the
‘real’ world.
http://www.nua.ie/surveys/analysis/weekly_editorial.html ”
Cahners In-Stat Group: Web appliances to be hugely popular (via nua.ie)
“Consumer demand for Internet-enabled appliances is set to grow by a
compound rate of 101 percent annually until 2005, according to Cahners
In-Stat.”
http://www.nua.ie/surveys/?f=VS&art_id=905356799&rel=true
The Industry Standard: European firms remain optimistic (via nua.ie)
“A new survey of senior company executives in Europe has found that
93 percent of large European companies intend to maintain or
increase their IT spending in the next year. Sixty percent of those
polled said they were confident about the medium term future of the
European economy.”
http://www.nua.ie/surveys/?f=VS&art_id=905356796&rel=true
How Amazon Is Beating the Costs of Shipping
“The e-retailing giant has quietly established its Worldwide Digital
Group, which offers music, e-book and software downloads.”
http://www.thestandard.com/article/0,1902,26715,00.html?nl=dnt
APROPOS OF NOTHING
>From creativegood.com,
“Interior Desecrators shows the horrors of 1970s interior decorating. One of
the more entertaining sites I’ve seen recently. ”
http://www.lileks.com/institute/interiors/bhg/index.html
Who’s got real problems, and who’s just pissing and moaning?
The Stress Test
http://www.thespark.com/stresstest/
cool FAQ’s
http://www.voght.com/cgi-bin/pywiki?KmFaq
via stylewithsubstance.com
“funny new use for the palm”
http://www.zdnet.com/downloads/stories/info/0,,40964,.html
“A Date Which Will Live in Falsity”
How on earth will Disney market “Pearl Harbor” to Japan’s moviegoers?
With a poster like this one:
http://www.modernhumorist.com/mh/0105/pearl/
this type of humor is always much funnier when I’m abroad…
“The Foreigner’s Guide to America: Chapter Two”
http://www.modernhumorist.com/mh/0105/guide02/
and if you missed the first…
http://www.modernhumorist.com/mh/0105/guide/
Finally thanks Lane, for making me a trusted friend!
Has anyone writen up ettiquette to deal with Amazon’s friends and family
circles yet? Do I write a thank you note, or simply send flowers?
originally sent 6/4/01