Webword Statistics - Recent Comments

last updated:16 Aug 2002 13: 32 Webword time, or 16 Aug 2002 18:32 UK time

Webword Statistics - Recent Comments
(Comments added for week ending Sun 20 Jan 2002) | View Other Weeks

Highly skilled leader with strong executive management experience in a user-centered design environment. Built and led operations department for information architecture consulting firm providing services to Fortune 500 clients including AT&T, Microsoft, Vanguard, Procter & Gamble. Excellent public speaker with workshop development and conference presentation experience.

Thu 17 Jan 20:09 | Jack Schonchin | Yes, very nice. Why is a resume linked? Paid advertisement? Personal friend? Something about it catch your eye?

Thu 17 Jan 20:39 | John S. Rhodes | Random act of linking. When people post comments, I notice. I like to link to folks that participate on WebWord. 'Nuff said.

Thu 17 Jan 23:01 | Jack Schonchin | Well why didn't you say so John? I'll put my vacation photos back online. ;-) One question for Ms. Bailey: I read on your resume that you are 'joining First Union' in mid-July 2001. So, uh, how did that gig work out? Bodhi Beau-bo must be getting absent minded. (Read her whole site to understand that one)

Fri 18 Jan 06:44 | MadMan | BTW, have you got a personal/business site somewhere, Jack? Would love to visit :)

Fri 18 Jan 12:43 | Jack Schonchin | Your seeing my web site(s) would alter my identity. They would change how you think about me, about what I have to say. I want to be judged purely by my words, not my designs, not by the number or stature of my clients, or by my job title. (Uh oh, sounds like I must be someone really important or a pissant nobody.) Check out these articles... Step by step: creating a fake online ID Protect your Internet privacy by lying The Turing Game

Fri 18 Jan 17:21 | The Chimp | Fleener? Is that you? We miss you over here. Come back!

Fri 18 Jan 18:26 | Jack Schonchin | Hey man, whatever name floats your boat.

Sat 19 Jan 07:15 | MadMan | Incidentally, found an interesting thread with you in it by searching the evolt.org list archives ;) MadMan (evolt.org admin)

Sat 19 Jan 13:13 | Jack Schonchin | Ya, evolt's not for me. They spend more time complaining about off-topic posts and fussing about censoring people than is worth anyone's time. If that's how people feel, evolt should be moderated.

Steve Jobs And The Oh-So-Cool iMac | Fri 18 Jan

(Slashdot) The truly successful technologies and technology companies are utilitarian and dull decidedly non-hip. You will never seen a Microsoft or AOL exec talking about how cool the their companies or products are, only how useful and easy to use. They dont really care how much heavy breathing they generate in the media or among excitable teenagers and college students. Those two companies have, in fact, dominated their environments by pointedly focusing on the non-technologically adventurous middle-class and busy business executives and workers and by presenting themselves not as cool but as reliable and accessible. And for this sin they get jeered at all the way to the bank.

Fri 18 Jan 08:57 | Richard Lehoux | First, sorry for my english. I'm french-canadian. I think Apple, for the industrial design aspect of computer, are on the right track. Most computer still look to much high tech. The new design offer something more playfull and less impressive. It's look easy to use. So on this level, I dont agree with slash,dot But I agree in thinking not many people want to edit movie on computer. We live in a society of instant gratification. People will think the idea is cool but find the learning curve to long. Richard

Sat 19 Jan 07:52 | (the other) JS | Apple lost, not the ease-of-use lead, but the large gap between Win and Mac. Design for a cool look, and you'll get some customers. Design for cool user results and you'll get more. Win doesn't do this, but then neither does the Mac.

The Myth of "Seven, Plus or Minus 2" | Thu 17 Jan

(Web Review) While Millers research was well executed, it is simply not current enough to be applied to web design. More recent studies have shown Millers conclusion to be inaccurate and oversimplified. Also, in the 50 years since Millers study, our ability and willingness to sift through information has probably increased, particularly with the rise of the Internet.

Fri 18 Jan 15:19 | Ron Zeno | Nice to see people (still) doing their best to inform people about the 7+-2 myth. Kalbach's description of Miller's research is inaccurate, but he does correctly state that 7+-2 does not apply to web design. For those interested, Miller's paper is online at http://www.well.com/user/smalin/miller.html

Information Architecture for the Rest of Us | Tue 15 Jan

(WebWord) The purpose of this article is to explain information architecture in a very simple and clear manner. If you have been confused about information architecture and what it is all about, this is exactly the article you should read. An analogy is used to get at the core concepts and several useful examples are provided.

Wed 16 Jan 14:46 | David Tallan | I tend to think of information architecture and navigation design as separate but related fields. Information architecture is deciding what goes where on the site. Navigation design is how to help people navigate your information architecture. The way I use the terms, this article is a lot more about navigation design than information architecture. There wasn't much in it on how to structure the information or content of a site. The information is still useful and valid. But one of the 'good usability' items for me is having what I find when I click on a link correspond to my expectations. In this case, that didn't happen. Am I alone in using the terms this way?

Thu 17 Jan 13:57 | samantha bailey | I disagree that information architecture and navigation design are two separate disciplines; I think that IA encompasses both organization *and* navigation. The way I practice IA, it covers: organization (how the information is grouped/classified), navigation (global, local, contextual, supplementary--the various paths through that content), labeling (the system for naming the structures and the navigation elements) and search (a supplementary navigation aid that warrants its own consideration because over half of users are 'search dominant'). I think that there is overlap between information architecture and interaction design when it comes to designing local navigation--determining the paths/page flows for deep content areas/to the page level of the site. And of course, wherever there is overlap, there is room for contention.

Usability Search Engine | Sun 13 Jan

This experimental engine only searches selected usability, HCI (Human Computer Interaction) sites.

Mon 14 Jan 16:40 | Jack Schonchin | This engine would be 100 times more useful if it provided a list of sites it indexes.

Tue 15 Jan 15:58 | Ken Mohnkern | It would be infinitely more usable if it showed up as anything more than a blank page in Netscape on my Mac.

Thu 17 Jan 08:38 | Jack Schonchin | Such is life when you're using a browser and platform web developers don't factor into their design. Sucks to be in the minority.

An Open Letter to Borland/Inprise Concerning Licensing | Mon 14 Jan

There will never be a circumstance under which I will allow Borland or any other greedy software company to invade my home without a warrant authorized by a court of law. In my opinion, you have no right to even ask for such a thing.

Thu 17 Jan 00:11 | MadMan | Well, Borland seems to have taken steps to rectify the situation. So says The Register.

Why do weblogs need to follow a formula? | Mon 14 Jan

Whos Dave to dictate what formula to follow for someones personal site? I visit Joels site religiously because he writes damn good stuff. There are other sites I visit because they have pointers to good resources. Why should everyones web site be the same?

Tue 15 Jan 12:23 | Jack Schonchin | The issue seems to be over the definition of 'blog.' I have always considered a blog to be a site that frequently adds links to off-site URLS, accompanied by descriptions and personal commentary. If a site is mostly personal commentary than it isn't a blog; it's a 'web journal.' And if the site lacks significant commentary, then it's probably just a 'personal site.' These distinctions are important if you're trying to classify genres.

Tue 15 Jan 14:06 | MadMan | No two people can agree on what a weblog is ;) However, it is certainly personal. And that's my argument. Here's the official definition from Whatis.com, here's Rebecca Blood's essay on the topic, and I'm sure you can find plenty of other definitions on the Web. Call it what you will. My argument wasn't about nomenclature. It was about setting standards and requirements for the content on these sites.

Tue 15 Jan 14:29 | Jack Schonchin | Fair enough, but I don't follow your argument. If I understand correctly, Dave thinks Joel should link to him because Dave has linked to Joel many times. How do you reach the conclusion that Dave is trying to dictate a formula for Joel's site (or blogs in general)? It's a simple case of one guy feeling slighted because he has promoted a guy (via links), but not received a reciprocal response. This has nothing to do with personal sites or blogging. Granted, I haven't read the poll because it requires a login.

Tue 15 Jan 15:10 | MadMan | Jack, here's a related discussion on Joel's site. I quote Winer from there: -- I also wrote the foreword to his book. I will continue to point to Joel because he's a great writer and a smart man, but he's gotten a rep for being cheap with the links, and he deserves it and if he wants to be part of the Web, he should get with the flow and do it the Web way. I'm doing him a favor by making a small fun issue of this. -- What does '...if he wants to be part of the Web, he should get with the flow and do it the Web way.' suggest to you, Jack? (btw, I typed a ton in here and a stupid GreyMatter error screwed it all up.)

Tue 15 Jan 15:59 | Jack Schonchin | I interpret 'doing it the web way' to be a reference to giving back to the community. We all take more than we give... whether it's getting a web design idea from a site and adapting it for your own, or receiving answers to a question you post on a listserv, or getting traffic from links that other sites have pointed at you. So it just sounds like Dave has given to Joel and Dave would appreciate some reciprocation. In other words, that Joel should give back more. I wouldn't knock Dave if he gets a little snippy about it because it's easy to take the situation personally and we all get snipping sometimes. I have to fight myself to delete snippiness from a lot of my posts on WebWord.

Tue 15 Jan 19:48 | Jack Schonchin | I swear I revised that message 3 times and each time meant to correct that typo. I __really__ wish the 'Preview' button would send me to a page that lets me continue editing my post. I preview messages while still composing them because you just can't see the big picture when your message begins to scroll in the form's entry box. Because of how my browser is configured, when I hit the 'back' button, the form contents are lost. That puts me in a habit of pasting my in-progress message into notepad so I don't lose it. Blarrrrgh. Anyhow, surely there are more interpretations of 'the web way.' Let's hear them.

Wed 16 Jan 05:25 | Matt Round | Noone should ever expect to get a link back from someone they link to. If anything many weblogs are over-linked, with little content or commentary and ludicrous long lists of 'well-known' weblogs down the side of the page. I'm sure some are simply grovelling for a precious 'A-list' return link, others feel some 'fame' rubs off just by linking. It's all rather unhealthily incestuous at times.

Wed 16 Jan 07:02 | Anonymous | Weblog cross linking ? Isn't it a way to cheat Google to get a better PageRank ?

Wed 16 Jan 12:41 | Jack Schonchin | Google should allow us to toggle ranking critera. You know, in the 'advanced search' menu, toggle off ranking because of 1) how many other sites link to a site, 2) how many off-site links a site has, 3) how often other Google users have previously clicked a link. I would be *really* interested to see how the results change, and I bet they would still produce good results. Sometimes I try another engine because Google has a one-track-mind.

Wed 16 Jan 20:33 | Lyle | Although Google is still my search work horse, I'm now using Vivisimo more and more, primarily in those situations where Google feels too one-track. If it was easier to spell in a hurry I would probably use it even more. I have also found it near impossible to tell people about through literal word of mouth. 'VeeVeeSahMo? How do you spell that?'

WebWord Comment | Mon 14 Jan

Dave Winer just launched Radio UserLand. It is a weblog tool that runs on your desktop. I tried an early (beta) version of it. The technology was cool, but it didnt work very well for me. I was generous and actually spent several hours playing around with it but I had to gave up on it. It wasnt easy enough for me. In any event, I decided to check out the Radio Userland site. I decided to look at some of the screenshots to see if Dave made any significant changes. I had to chuckle when I saw the very first screenshot. Can you spot the problem? Impress your fellow WebWordians with the answer! The second question is, how long do you think it will take for Dave to fix the image now that I have pointed it out here?

Mon 14 Jan 23:12 | Adam Kalsey | There's a script error. I never noticed that before.

Tue 15 Jan 02:42 | MadMan | Just save the image to your PC John. ;)

Tue 15 Jan 05:03 | Matt Round | As a picky Web developer those Font.. Size.. and Color.. pulldowns worry me. It indicates the source'll be littered with FONT tags and encourages visual rather than structural formatting (goes against modern Web standards, means content isn't as future-proofed, etc.). But then none of Dave Winer's sites have every got anywhere near validating, so I shouldn't expect his products to make that a priority!

Tue 15 Jan 10:46 | Dave Winer | OK, I give up, where is the script error? BTW, you're over-reacting to the question I asked my readers about Joel. It's not such a big deal. I have delivered a lot of flow to him without recprocation. So what. Life goes on. Sorry you didn't like Radio 7, I hope you'll try Radio 8.

Tue 15 Jan 12:09 | Jack Schonchin | The status bar at the bottom of the page reports 'error on page.' Other things that bother me... I don't care for the loopback IP in the address window. Show me a real URL. For consistency, clear your history and cache before taking the screen shots so that followed links aren't purple. Also disable your 'Links' toolbar so we don't have to see all of *your* favorite sites. This is a screen shot for me to imagine using your product. (You might also consider making the browser buttons display with 'icons and text' instead of just the icons.) Yes Virginia, there is a methodology for taking screen shots

Microwhoring | Mon 14 Jan

(NUblog) We have the same attitude to online advertising we have to potato chips: Spare us your twee little efforts to be all classy and discreet. None of these free-range organic olive-oil chips, please. Just hook us up to the trough, and be sure to brush up on your Heimlich man�uvre beforehand.

Tue 15 Jan 11:29 | Jack Schonchin | What is missed in the debate over web advertising is that all other forms of advertising (print, broadcast, etc.) are just as nebulous, just as ignored. It's hit and miss, mostly miss. So then we fall back on concepts like branding to make us feel better. The TV rating systems aren't exactly accurate, but they are used because they are 'the best measure we have available.' Huh. So along comes the web and it allows us to track click-throughs. Suddenly we're disappointed that advertising doesn't work the way we thought it did. Get realisitic expectations. Five cents per click-through is a steal for the guarantee that the user at least loaded your page. Also see these MetaFilter comments about NUblog's article.

Please Lick This iMac | Mon 14 Jan

Maybe you hate Apple. Maybe youre generally disgruntled and its all a bunch of soulless electronic consumer crap anyway and you wish everyone would shut up and log off and read a friggin book for a change. And youd be absolutely right. A little angry, but absolutely right.

Tue 15 Jan 11:18 | MadMan | I think Ken Layne echoes my sentiments at: http://kenlayne.com/2000/2002_01_13_logarc.html#8707959 I quote: -- I like good design as much as the next guy/gal, but am troubled by the big deal made over this new Apple machine. I've got a 15-inch flat display and a 1 GHz Pentium III-M and a 20 GB hard drive and 256 MB RAM and a combo DVD/CD-RW drive and stereo speakers and infrared network deals along with a built-in V90 modem and an Ethernet plug and a half-dozen things for USB stuff like digital cameras and video and mice and all that. Why isn't my notebook on the cover of Time? Because it doesn't look like a freakin' 1970s' desk lamp? The only thing I can figure the new iMac has that I don't have is a DVD writer ... but that machine costs a lot more than the one on my desk, and I can take my machine on a plane. What do you do with that lamp thing? --

WebWord Reader Comment | Sun 13 Jan

Just a couple of comments on your installing NAV 2002 article, which I bumped into. I agree with you that the information you are given by the install process isnt up to scratch, but I hope I can explain at least why you had to restart 3 times...

Tue 15 Jan 10:18 | David Tallan | What strikes me about this email is the number of times that your computer is rebooted just to shut down a program. For example, the second reboot when you replace the old NAV with the new one ('antivirus software is generally running when you try to uninstall it, so it needs to restart'). What this implies is that the program cannot stop without a complete system shutdown. Can you imagine if all programs were like that!? I can see the need for your third reboot (where the NAV needs to be running during a fresh start to ensure your system is clean), but all of the other re-boots were just to temporarily shut down active software. It seems to me that should be able to be done without going through a five minute reboot.

Why Gnutella, Napster, Peer-2-Peer LimeWire etc Suck | Sun 13 Jan

What I want the software to do is track down the files, download them and if they fail try again from somewhere else. I want the software to be able to undestand what my goal is, i.e Listen to Lord of the Rings rather than what the method is i.e spend hours attempting to download complete files and piece them together.

Mon 14 Jan 16:38 | Jack Schonchin | OK, P2P software sucks, but how much can we expect from companies when they're developing in such a perilous and precarious legal environment? There must be features which are not being pursued because they would be easy game for Big Brother and his legal henchmen. I'd love to tell my P2P that I want Weird Al's latest album, have the software track and download all of the songs, sort them into the proper order, give them their proper original names, burn the CD, and print a color CD cover identical to the commercial product. Many of these steps have to be disjointed, handled separately for more overt legal reasons. The entertainment industry perpetuates the myth that P2P makes stealing easy. Baloney. You have to be computer savvy, have the right hardware, have a fast Internet connection and have a TON of time on your hands to do the searching, downloading, organizing, burning and printing. I'd prefer that the record companies make it easy for me to search and preview their song libraries... and let me pay $1 per song for my personal use (on any device). Offer to burn and ship the CD to me, or let me download it in MP3. I have time for that. I don't have time for P2P. Unfortunately, if the entertainment industry continues its vilification of P2P and its excessive profits at the expense of the artists, they can expect more and more people to jump the hurdles for P2P.

Who Built eTradeshowGirls? | Fri 11 Jan

My name is Brent Jagodnik, I am the web designer for eTradeshowgirls.com. I developed this site for the eTradeshowgirls.com group with much thought.

Mon 14 Jan 12:53 | Morris Cox | I noticed that the BIO links under each photo don't have links.