October 1999

Warning: 0 is not a MySQL result index in /webspace1/web3158/public_html/library.php3 on line 808 I saw the above trying to read an article on the New Statesmen site, looks like their PHP/MySQL combo bit the dust. Sometimes I wonder if putting a database beind a web site is like trying to fit a supermarket in your…

I’ll probably be mostly blogless for the next few days while I attend ac4d’s Living Surfaces conference in Chicago. I’m so psyched to see S. Joy Mountford speak again. Her talk with Brenda Laurel circa 1993 at NYU blew my mind and was the original influence on my information design career (along with Tog on…

I read Building Dynamic HTML GUIs recently and was disappointed. I bought it for the three chapters on information design, but those are mostly of survey of existing works, including an overly fundamental introduction to the field. The intention was great, but so much time is spent talking about command lines and ancient user interface…

Funny, I go for days barely updating this blog and wonder where I ever had the time, and then there’s weeks like now where I find something relevant in everything I see. Since time stamps accompany each of these posts, let’s hope my manager considers blogging a productive creative outlet.

eaton thinks my blog “…has a nice mix of design, opinion, and personality.” I’m blushing.

Just “met” Jen via email, with a common link that we both practice Unitarian Universalism in New Jersey. Reading through her blog I thought it’s a shame UUs have to qualify ourselves (“No, no, really, it’s not like other religions…”). I feel the same way. I wonder if this is the effect of the religious…

Comments on eMatter at eMatter. ev also likes it. I just tried downloading my published eMatter (Sleeping with The Enemy: Learning Windows for Mac Users ) and have these nit-pickings: They still show a Ship To: address even when no shipping is going on. The download link isn’t very prominent – I’m sure some people…

I just discovered eatonweb and thought how I’d like to come back here on a regular basis, but my current method of bookmarking – an HTML page, doesn’t allow for easy updates. “Just use yer darn Bookmarks/Favorites!” my readers (aka my alter ego) berate me, but I like having all that idea/navigation stuff in one…

Ouch. Tufte is such a respected figure in the information design world, this review of his book almost hurts. But I’ve been thinking the same thing for a while, prompted by a colleague at work. Here’s some juicy bits: “Tufte is a showman—a magician. He puts on a performance and we applaud it. What we…

Train’s Meet Virginia – currently on infinite headphone rotation. They’re compared a lot to REM, but to me they’re much more Spin Doctor-ish. It’s rare when REM is not depressing (not necessarily a bad thing) and when they’re fun it’s with this inside-joke thing happening (e.g. Shiny Happy People). The Spin Doctors are saying “let’s…

How to Avoid Foolish Consistency – a more reasonable and reasoned point of view on consistency in UI design than Jakob Nielsen’s do-what-other-sites-are-doing-even-though-they-suck-ass-too approach. Here’s the bottom line: Begin by reusing existing controls or UI concepts in your sketches and prototypes—start with as much consistency as you can. Style guides, like the Windows Interface guidelines,…

Astounding! I just heard Geoffrey Canada at the First Unitarian Society of Plainfield, NJ (FUSP). Geoffrey’s the president and CEO of the Rheedlen Centers in NYC. His talk was about youth violence in America, tapping into his personal counseling experience. Besides being a great speaker, he is able to succeed in and bridge the gap…

Amazing! The MetaFlash: 3D system is very cool – what I wish QuickTime VR had become. They use a photographic technique to create a 3D image of real-life objects. It’s actually worth downloading the 500K plug-in just to check it out, and I normally have a low threshold for plug-ins.

bike.com’s new site. It’ll be interesting to see how this works, especially as I may be working on a similar project soon. This is another site, like boo.com, that started advertising way ahead of launch. That may work well to generate hype for movies, but for web sites you expect it to be working when…

Just modified my nav bar there on the right so my favorite links are on top so I can get at them more easily. In general there are lots of ways we can organize our frequently accessed information so we can get at it easier and encourage us to take advantage of this gorgeous resource…