last updated:16 Aug 2002 13: 33 Webword time, or 16 Aug 2002 18:33 UK time

Webword Statistics - Recent Comments (Comments added for week ending Sun 11 Nov 2001) | View Other Weeks

Lies, Damned Lies and Internet Statistics | Sun 11 Nov

(BBC) The internet is not like a consumer technology or a toy. Its use will not level off at 50% or 60% because people dont want to buy PCs. Instead it is like gas or water or electricity - a basic service that all homes and businesses need.

Sun 11 Nov 17:23 | Anonymous | I completly disagree. Unlike water, the internet is only a tool and is not necessary for life to continue. The internet is relativly young, humanity is way older. A better comparison would be with telephone or tv.

WebWord Comment | Fri 09 Nov

This is utterly ridiculous!

Fri 09 Nov 19:58 | Ruzz | OMG! my jaw is on the floor. Do we live in the internet stone ages around here or what?

Fri 09 Nov 20:13 | John S. Rhodes | 1. I actually understand the first part of the request. They want people to know that they are The Vanguard Group, not just any old vanguard. They are protecting their copyrights, branding, and so forth. Silly, but somewhat understandable. 2. Asking me to put a link to the home page first makes no sense. People can find the home page if they want to find it. On second thought, maybe not. Perhaps some sites are so bad that users cannot find their way home. 3. This is the first 'deep linking' issue I have ever been involved with. It is interesting. I never thought I'd have the opportunity to deal with these issues. If you want to know more about deep linking, follow these links: Thinking About Linking (Part I) Thinking About Linking (Part II) Linking Rights Deep Linking (Dave Winer) Don't link or I'll sue! (Salon) The Link Controversy Page Linking and Liability Emerging Legal Guidance on 'Deep Linking'

Fri 09 Nov 21:49 | Rikard Linde | What's really weird is that they spend LOTS of money making a site, marketing it with useless banners trying to get people to go there and then throw that money away by discouraging people who are trying to link to the site. Where's the business logic in that?

Sat 10 Nov 01:47 | Jack Schonchin | Remove the link. See how they like them apples.

Sat 10 Nov 02:59 | Eric P. | Sounds like Lorrie Bayler just learned how to read log files and needed something fairly useless to do!

Sat 10 Nov 06:12 | MadMan | No, f*** it, don't remove the link. I am pretty sure that they have no legal ground to stand on. Yes, I agree that using 'The Vanguad Group' isn't a bad idea, but the rest is crap. I'll let you in on a little secret. Their 'terms and conditions' of use are only for those who 'use' their web site. You are doing no such thing. You are only providing a hyperlink. Hence, you are not bound at all by their terms. Also, since they have put up a website for unrestricted public access, they have no case for restricting you from linking to the site. Their legal department obviously needed to justify the fat dollars paid to them. Screw them. Ask them to send you a legal notice. I'll dig up some precedent for this if you like. Don't worry, John, you're safe. It's scary that this kind of shit goes on even now. Want to be real cute about it? Change the link to something from makeashorterlink.com Then their referrer logs won't even show your site ;)

Sat 10 Nov 07:05 | Matt Round | I agree, the first part is a reasonable request to politely make, but the rest just makes The Vanguard Group look like tiresome jobsworths. I'd remove the link and send them an email explaining their request doesn't comply with the terms and conditions widely known as Common Sense. Then move onto something more worthy of attention (and linking).

Sun 11 Nov 10:22 | Gregg | I would not put too much more effort into it. It is a request that can be denied in part or whole.

Sun 11 Nov 12:31 | Todd Chapin | Actually, does this relate somehow to the TicketMaster court case? Check out: http://www.google.com/search?q=ticketmaster+linking&sourceid=mozilla-search I agree that it is stupid of them to make this request, but perhaps the legal system wouldn't think so. Todd

The PayPal Phenomenon: Lessons from the Leading Edge of Online Payments | Sat 10 Nov

The secret to PayPals success is surprisingly uncomplicated. The company identified a clear customer problem, devised a a simple, cost-effective solution, and then let customers create market demand and drive adoption.

Sat 10 Nov 22:07 | John S. Rhodes | paypalsucks.com

WebWord Comment | Fri 09 Nov

Should aricles expire?

Sat 10 Nov 01:39 | fallguy | Ideally no, but what if the page is just sucking bandwidth, while bringing in no money?

Sat 10 Nov 06:15 | MadMan | There's a valid reason for this. I used to manage CNET India so I know the situation. In the case of wire feeds and syndicated content, there is usally a limit on the time period for which you can display them on your site. Almost nobody allows 'archival rights'. Which means that if your news story is older than, say, seven days, you have to remove it from your web site. The explanation used on the site, however, is cryptic and should've been explained better. Madhu

Don Norman is wrong when he compares pens to software | Wed 07 Nov

The idea of software getting as easy to use as a pen is revolting to me. The only way thatll happen is if you reduce its functionality down to only one or two functions.

Thu 08 Nov 07:17 | Charles Mauro | Don's comments are no suprise. He has a long and clear history of showing a profound lack of understanding for design and the design process. This goes back to his first book which was basically a claim that designers, engineers...etc. are all just plain idiots. I have always been perplexed by the strong following he seems to have gained in the design community.

Thu 08 Nov 10:18 | Francis Wu | Can somebody post a link to Don's actual statements? Perhaps he was talkin' about the pen being an input device (with something similar to Palm's Grafitti technology) and not just a pointing device (such as the mouse).

Thu 08 Nov 12:32 | Neil | Charles Mauro, Are you sure you're in the right business? I took a look at your web site and instead of text, you have everything as a damn GIF. http://www.mauronewmedia.com/user_interface_design_s.htm Oh, that's well-designed! :(

Thu 08 Nov 13:02 | John S. Rhodes | Please try to remain friendly. Do not engage in personal attacks. Thanks. - John

Fri 09 Nov 14:22 | sigpipe | You know, Neil *is* right. You cannot get more inaccessbile than his page.

Fri 09 Nov 18:43 | Jakob's shadow | It has to be said, the Mauro Newmedia site is a fine exampe - of bad usability...

Email: too much of a good thing? | Wed 07 Nov

Email is regarded as a primary tool of the new economy. It has become a critical means of communication for a great many organizations and individuals. Email is used because it makes communication more efficient and cost effective. However, there are signs that email aids unnecessary communication. Is email becoming a productivity drain, rather than a productivity gain?

Thu 08 Nov 11:58 | robert | Yes it can be. That's why companies should consider implementing software like Symantec's Mail-Gear. The administrator can decide what kind of email content to allow into the network (e.g. it can scan for fleshtones in images) thereby preventing users from being distracted. PS I don't even want to begin to address issues as to freedom of expression, communication and censorship here.

Fri 09 Nov 12:33 | Chris | I don't think this article is that great. It's written from a totally business-centric perspective. In the final paragraph, the author writes, 'The world realized that it couldn't sustain 20 billion people and measures were taken to slow population growth. The business world can't sustain 36 billion email messages a day.' First of all, except for China, 'the world' *hasn't* done anything to curb population growth, and we still seem to be headed towards a catastrophe in that area. Secondly, 'the business world' is *not* supporting 36 billion daily emails...a huge percentage of that is person-to-person email, not business. Finally, if business doesn't like email, they can (like Aldi) choose not to use it. I suppose they can also prohibit unnecessary talking around the water cooler...I'm sure that that 'costs' businesses billions per year. But would you want to work at a company like that?

WebWord Comment | Mon 05 Nov

I visit Yahoos most-emailed content page from time to time. Every once in a while, I will find some entertaining news. But other times, I am totally confused because the labels under the images make no sense. If you want to see what I am talking about, and if you want a good laugh, click here.

Wed 07 Nov 16:24 | sigpipe | I think that it is a great feature that Yahoo has put into it. You get an unofficial tally of what people out there find interesting. Kind of a 'voice of the people'. Yes, picture captions are usually keyword-driven, and prone to error, but it is still a pretty good automated process nonetheless.

Thu 08 Nov 00:22 | jjg | The captions aren't complete non sequiturs -- their relationship to the photos just isn't obvious. The guy in the first photo is Jack Black; he's in a new movie with (you guessed it) Gwyneth Paltrow. Likewise, Fidel Castro is the leader of Cuba, which has recently been subjected to some severe weather. This could serve as an entertaining game testing your knowledge of current events: guess the connection between the photo and the caption.

User preferences regarding online applications | Wed 07 Nov

(CHI-WEB) Provide an escape option so that users can opt out after giving minimal info and then have a phone call for people who are confused, frustrated or dont want to give all the info online.

Wed 07 Nov 23:46 | John S. Rhodes | This is an excellent summary posting to CHI-WEB. Here is the summary, as originally posted: 1. Keep the application as short as possible and cut out *anything* extraneous-only request information imperative for completion of the app. 2. Definitely provide the ability to complete the operation online, without requiring interacting with a human and preferably in a single session, as savvy users will be counting on this and any other provision will not really fulfill the expectation set by an 'online application' 3. Provide an 'escape' option so that users can opt out after giving minimal info and then have a phone call for people who are confused, frustrated or don't want to give all the info online. (Be aware that there is the potential to confuse users so make sure that the design avoids creating two options/paths to achieve this.) 3. Provide prominent access to a toll-free number so that all users are reassured that they can speak with a live customer service representative, should they need to. 4. 'remember that registration, or account setup in your case, is an unfortunate side-effect of conducting transactions on the web (from the user's point of view) and unless the experience is painless, quick, and provides a real benefit, many users simply will not bother.' -Jeff Parker

Spanish Usability | Mon 05 Nov

(CHI-WEB) Many many thanks to those who helped me compile this list of Spanish usability related companies/sites...

Wed 07 Nov 16:26 | Anonymous | yo quiero usibilidad.

Wed 07 Nov 17:06 | MadMan | You want usability? You've come to the right place :P

Wed 07 Nov 18:12 | John S. Rhodes | I am not vexed very often. Right now, I am definitely vexed...

WebWord Comment | Mon 05 Nov

These invasive Flash advertisements are really getting outrageous. They are not cute. They are not funny. They do not add value. They are not even exciting. Didier Faucher posted some screenshots of voila.fr homepage that show just how bad these ads are getting. (In case you cant see those screenshots, I grabbed one and posted it.)

Mon 05 Nov 23:06 | John S. Rhodes | I have more to say... I guess these companies think they can blast users with this kind of garbage and survive. Maybe they can, but only in the short run. If you contrasted the simplicity of Yahoo with the simplicity of Google a couple of years ago, they would be about even. Times have changed. Voila.fr are acting as criminals. Fortunately, users will blast them. User will complain. If they don't, that is excellent too. If they simply stop going, the site will die and the company will die. The usability abuses will result in a corporate death penalty. Excellent! Perhaps it will be a slow death, but it will be a death... The funny thing about all this is that Google is making money. That seems to indicate that you can treat people with respect and still make money online. Indeed, I would argue that Google makes a lot more money exactly because they treat people with respect and they care about usability.

Tue 06 Nov 08:50 | Anonymous | If you check the Finance section of Yahoo and look at the stock rates, you have even worse advertisements... as soon as you start moving the mouse, what appears to be a static advertisement increases in size to cover the information you're looking at. I don't get why these companies advertise like this... do they think that we will go and buy the product out of our frustration for them and say 'I'll buy it just shut up?' I don't think so!

Wed 07 Nov 10:59 | Filipe Fortes | They're short-term remedies from flailing companies. Mr. Showbiz used to be my source of movie reviews, starting back in 1998 (along with WallOfSound for music reviews). Both have closed their doors by now. Things started to go downhill when Go networks started trying to brand all over them. Then, they started to go with obnoxious Flash advertisements and popups. Then, they changed their page layout and structure which merely increased the number of pages you had to wade through to get to the information you wanted -- the reviews! These changes always irritated me ... I didn't stop visiting right away, but the frequency of visits slowly withered away as time went on. The same thing happened with Entertainment Weekly ... I used to use that as well, but the popups got to me ... Moral: Short-term ad revenue gains may make some money, but it'll cost you users.

Wed 07 Nov 16:06 | Matt Rhodes | These advertisements were probably targeted towards people who are 'new at the internet'. Some might find it interesting if they don't know about the company who's doing the advertisment, but otherwise the company is losing a lot of respect. Personally, I can't believe eBay would stoop down so low to get new auction users. Aren't they making enough money to satisify their needs and wants already?

WebWord Comment | Sun 04 Nov

I visit MyYahoo.com several times per day. I generally like it and find it very useful. However, today I was assaulted by a Monsters, Inc. Flash advertisement (77K GIF screenshot). I know that Yahoo needs to make money, but this was terrible. Let me explain. First, it interrupted the song I was playing in Winamp. It skipped along for about 5 seconds. Second, after I was forced to wait for the advertisement to download, I scrolled down the page. Moments later, the ad automatically expanded down over the material I was reading. It covered up about 10 links. The advertisement literally covered up 75-80% of the screen. If you dont believe me, look at the screenshot I took! Ive seen other things like this on Yahoo and I am really losing faith in them. Other forms of advertising can work and it pains me to see Yahoo taking this unfriendly approach.

Mon 05 Nov 09:57 | Andy M. | I also have a My Yahoo account, but I rarely use it anymore. Soon I will download my remaining files and info from the service, then close out my account. Why? Because they've gone overboard with the size and frequency of ads in the past several months. I also don't visit (for example)ABCnews.com anymore, because of the annoying pop-under ads. My web surfing habits have actually changed in the past year, due to pop-unders on all the 'big-name' sites. I do have a subscription to Salon.com (which is ad-free) and now I'm getting most of my news from there...

Mon 05 Nov 11:08 | Mark Palmer | I was thinking the exact same thing about being bombarded by Yahoo lately. But, I started to think, like Andy M, what alternatives are out there for the services Yahoo provides? For example, I rarely look at tech news on Yahoo because I love Tomalak's, and I just recently started checking Salon and Slate regularly for news and editorial. I'm wondering what USABLE, high-quality resources people use for: a) Stock Quotes b) Sports Scores, where you can select teams c) General Headline News - is there a good 'Tomalak's' equivalent for headline news that people rely on?

Mon 05 Nov 12:28 | Jack Schonchin | Check out NewsHub.com and bookmark one of their news channels. It's an automated aggregate of several news sites. It's annoying because the same news story will appear multiple times (one from each source), but you do see a variety of news articles you would otherwise miss at CNN or MSNBC.

Mon 05 Nov 14:31 | Sandra | The funny thing is, I just wrote to Yahoo! about the same sort of thing. I am so sick and tired of their pop-up ads everywhere, flash this and flash that, etc. Yeah, they gotta make money but they don't have to do it that way. It took me 1/2 an hour to find a feedback e-mail (would that I had the handy link above!) and I got a reply the next day that was 90% canned response text. Understandable, and I do have to give credit for getting back so quickly, but really. I use Google now, too, unless I'm checking Yahoo! e-mail.

Mon 05 Nov 18:42 | Didier Faucher | I saw the same invaded-type of ad on Voila.fr homepage today, a popular french search engine (operated by France Telecom). It is an ad of eBay.fr. The sequence is 15-20 seconds long. Maybe you can see it in action online at http://www.voila.fr/ as it seems to display at each internet session I open today. You can also see 2 screen shots at: http://www.MondeNature.com/ebay.htm Blurp ! Didier

Tue 06 Nov 23:34 | MadMan | For tech news, check out http://www.10.am Unfortunately, if you customise it and select more than a few categories or sources, the resulting page will drive you crazy with the mass of links. You have been warned.

WebWord Comment | Mon 05 Nov

I often parse sentences in strange ways. When I saw this I just had to laugh. At first, I thought it was saying that British and American troops were beating the crap out of a slideshow. Ha!

Tue 06 Nov 11:56 | Dave | Non-writers (especially) don't get that puntuation can make small pieces of text into a a label and a headline... Slideshow: U.S., British Forces Strike Afghanistan.

Tue 06 Nov 17:39 | David S | This is not unlike many usability problems which arise when the designer/author cannot see the fault because he/she is too close to the problem having created it. Like many usability issues, you could argue that it should not have happened in the first place. There is no substitute for user testing (or proof reading in this case) and questionable standards of workmanship like this seem to be increasingly common. 'I understand it, therefore it is fine'. We find it in writing and product design as well as interactive media design.

Tue 06 Nov 23:31 | MadMan | This is just bad writing. Even a semi-knowledgeable writer should have known that 'Slideshow: U.S., British Forces Strike Afghanistan' or 'U.S., British Forces Strike Afghanistan (Slideshow)' is the proper way to write it. The 'cost cutting' measures are certainly making a difference, eh? ;)

WebWord Comment | Sun 04 Nov

My brother just visited my web site a few minutes ago. He sent me an email explaining that a link on WebWords Hot Sites page now points to a porn site. Yikes! Obviously I removed the link. Has this ever happened to you? How many times have you been fooled by a link? I wonder how often people change their sites from normal content to pornography. I doubt that any research has been done, but does anyone have any data on this?

Mon 05 Nov 00:27 | Adam Kalsey | Porn sites have been running scripts that look for expired domains and automatically register them. Cheap way to get some traffic.

Mon 05 Nov 17:31 | Jack Schonchin | I too have had this happen with links on a client's site. (Links turning into porn links.) This brings up another issue that is annoying... Acquring a previously used domain for legimate purposes and finding extra baggage - spam. There's nothing like setting up your shiny new domain and receiving 20 spams the first day.

Mon 05 Nov 17:33 | Jack Schonchin | Oh my gosh. John, you simply must hook up a spell checker to this message board to protect my professional reputation.

Tue 06 Nov 09:08 | Anonymous | This happened to us once (large software company) but it was the fault of one of our developers. During prototyping on a test server they put in something like xxx as part of the URL as a placeholder, and it was never replaced before going live ... we fixed the link VERY quickly ...

For Andrew Mintner it was all child's play | Mon 05 Nov

Andrew, a fifth-grader at Mary Woodward, writes software simple enough for grown-ups to use. (Comments: Ha!!)

Tue 06 Nov 07:32 | Jed | I think that story needs to be re-subbed, there are just so many errors.