The webdesign firm, 37signals redesigned FedEx's current shipping form keeping in mind simplicity, how people look at information, and what you need to know and do when you're shipping packages.
The redesign provides an interesting compare and contrast, a look at what works, what doesn't and how sometimes simple changes make a world of difference.
37signals is also the home of the 37signals Manifesto.
Empty Pringles cans are being used as directional antennas for finding unprotected wireless networks.
According to a recent article at BBC New's Sci/Tech site, security company i-sec managed to find 60 wireless networks in one 30 minute drive using a Pringles can and a laptop computer.
The new version of Movable Type (version 2.0) is now available. We upgraded this site from 1.2 to 2.0 yesterrday. Among the new features (some were available in the pregvious version 1.4) are new style sheets, searching capabilities, support for multiple categories, and a number of other new features.
Snazzy, eh?
Social Network Analysis
How do we learn? How do we know what we want to learn right now? Under what circumstances, formal and informal, do we share what we've learned with others?
Social network analysis involves the mapping and measuring of the relationships between people that are usually invisible. No matter how hierarchical the organization work and information actually flow through a web of informal channels. The reason this is important is that we use content to find people and we use people to find content.
Lighthouse on the Web says: Broadband Internet is Dead
Not, author David Walker, hastens to add, the technology of Broadband--cable and DSL, etc.--but the idea that broadband capability will make the Internet into something different.
A Jupiter Media Metrix study found that what's popular with broadband users is same old boring email, instant messaging and Web browsing that dial-up users use - plus security programs to block outside infiltration of users' PCs through those always-on broadband connections.
Essentially, says, Walker, broadband Internet users like the Internet as it is. They just want to use it anytime and faster.
An article at the 13th Parallel website, discusses ways to set up your content, use style sheets, and add behavior controls for different browsers to maximize the usability and accessibility of a site.
The basic steps:
One goal is to have the pages degrade gracefully when someone visits using an older or non-compliant browser. For a good example of this in practice, visit the 13th parallel article in IE5 and in Netscape 4.7.
...it's a useful article, BTW, even if they can't manage to spell 'separate' correctly.
What are people doing these days with electronic collaboration tools?
Here's a quick overview.
According to an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education, the State University of New York at Buffalo has dropped its 18-month-old online MBA program.
Although they had planned for upwards of 1,000 students they only actually signed up 35.
Each course has to have an instructor, a graduate assistant, technical people to be there in case the connection breaks down, as well as someone to design the course," said Howard G. Foster, associate dean for academic programs at the business school. "We've found these courses to be very labor-intensive."
In addition, there was resistance from faculty members who aren't convinced about the effectiveness of online learning and an outside partner that failed to live up to its promises.
Look what won the SXSW Web Competition.
That's right...it's Deep, Fried, Live!
As part of the Arteplage Yverdon-les-Bains for Swiss EXPO 02, a group of architects called team extasia have designed a building made out of fog.
The building is a media pavilion on Lake Neuchatel in Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland. The building itself is created from filtered lake water shot through 13,000 fog nozzles.
Visitors will approach via a 400 foot long ramp. Each visitor will answer a questionnaire/profile and receive a 'braincoat.' The coat protects visitors from the damp environment, but it also changes color depending on whether nearby people are compatible (red) or incompatible (green).
According to an article at ANANOVA, a recent poll discovered that many people hit their computer or their desk in frustration when they have trouble with the Internet. But 2% of the people polled said they actually hit the person sitting next to them.
What provokes Internet users to violence? Waiting too long for pages to load, help buttons that don't help, and excessive requests for personal details.
A clock created with pictures and Flash.
It's oddly addictive....
A recent article published in PC Magazine, lists 100 web sites that are useful or entertaining and that most people don't know about. They include:
Netcraft.com which provides information about any web site's operating system, type of service and netblock owner.
Surprise.com which helps visitors pick out gifts by choosing occasions and/or personality traits.
Airsafe.com a database detailing every fatal aviation even for the last 31 years.
UselessKnowledge.com, a massive compendium of information, including quizzes and a random trivia generator
Visual Elements Periodic Table displays the periodic table graphically with information about each element. The graphics are fantastic!
What features do the top ten sites on the Web have in common?
According to an article called, Top Ten Web Sites Compared, at the Web Developers Virtual Library, Verdana is the most popular font, white is the most popular background color, and blue is the most common color scheme. The main page is on average 35 to 45K, plus graphcs, external Javascript, and CSS files.
Sites considered:
The Iceberg Secret, Revisited is an article by Joel Spolsky on why developers and users sometimes seem to be speaking different languages.
So, what's the secret? This:
You know how an iceberg is 90% underwater? Well, most software is like that too -- there's a pretty user interface that takes about 10% of the work, and then 90% of the programming work is under the covers. And if you take into account the fact that about half of your time is spent fixing bugs, the UI only takes 5% of the work. And if you limit yourself to the visual part of the UI, the pixels, what you would see in PowerPoint, now we're talking less than 1%.That's not the secret. The secret is that People Who Aren't Programmers Do Not Understand This.
If the product is unfinished, says Joel, make sure it looks unfinished to the users. If you show them a user interface that's 90% finished when the underlying mechanisms are only 20% finished, they'll be unhappy at how long it takes to get the final product.
This web page provides an information architect's attempt to define the terms of discussion in breaking down the user's experience when visiting web sites.
Items listed include such things as: Visual design, interface design, information design, user needs, content requrirements, and information archtecture.
A list of features to look for when evaluating Content Management systems.
Categories include:
From USA Today, an article in Tech news:
A new report from the federal government says that the digital divide is disappearing. The basis for this conclusion is that Internet use is growing at a faster rate among the poor and minorities and in rural areas.
Critics of the report say that a faster rate of growth doesn't mean there isn't a problem. If the poor, minority and rural users are very small in number then anything that increases that number, even if the total remains small will lead to a larger rate of change.
Additional information can be found in a news release at the Benton Foundation web site.
The New Scientist is experimenting by publishing an article under 'copyleft' rather than copyright.
Copyleft, or General Public License, as used in this case, is the print equivalent of open source. For New Scientist what this means is:
. . .you can copy it, redistribute it, reprint it in whole or in part, and generally play around with it as long as you, too, release your version under a copyleft and abide by the other terms and conditions in the licence. We also ask that you inform us of any use you make of the article, by e-mailing copyleft@newscientist.com.
One purpose of open source is to continue to explore the ground between complete free use, including the ability to change a document and claim authorship and pay-per-use and other restricitive license arrangements. Copyleft does not mean giving up copyright to an article. It does allow for the lifting of some restrictions for how the article is used.