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• 05.25.08
  Mars Phoenix on Twitter Writing | (0)

  I'll be the first to admit that Twitter has somehow made its way into my daily browsing routine. The simplicity of it compared to Facebook is what appeals to me, but it's the really cool applications that people are thinking up that I've been really drawn to. Case in point, someone over NASA's Phoenix Mars Mission have started Twittering, reporting the current status and location of the Phoenix scout. It's not automated, which I think is an advantage - the updates are written by a human in a personified voice of the scout, and as a result, readable by humans. Very ...

  Tagged: Science, Web
  
• 05.01.08
  Did You Mean Auspicious? Writing | (0)

  I heard the use of the word tacit today. I hadn't heard it in a while, and wanted to check what it meant by checking up on the definition at Dictionary.com. There it was, "understood without being openly expressed; implied". Then in the sidebar, this Ask.com graphic caught my eye: One of the links there is "How do you use Tacit in a sentence?". I was curious, so I clicked through, landing on an Ask.com page with the same question used as the search term. Here's what I was immediately faced with: Narrow? What does that mean? Narrow down the search result? ...

  Tagged: Usability, Web
  
• 04.27.08
  Newsworthy Writing | (0)

  The National Post thought it fitting to quote my ever-insightful contribution to the discussion about the TTC strike tonight: On the TTC “fan page” on Facebook, posts to the wall were being made late into the night, both in anger and in defence of some transit union members. ... Adam Schwabe put it a little more simply: “NOBODY LIKES YOU.” Glad I could contribute to the intelligent discussions.

  Tagged: News, Web
  
• 04.26.08
  Dear Toronto #11 - Metronauts Video | (0)

  Freshly released mere hours before the TTC suddenly announced that they're striking is Dear Toronto #11 - Metronauts. This one took quite a bit of time to put together, and the raw footage will be available soon at the Metronauts.ca (Creative Commons NC-SA licensed).

  Tagged: Dear Toronto, Web
  
• 04.25.08
  BuzzFeed Re-design Writing | (0)

  BuzzFeed, the social aggregator that takes Internet/News themes and memes and aggregates them into easily browsable categories, has just unveiled a beautiful new design. The new design sports sharp, vibrant colours with very attractive typography and an easily navigable interface. What's most amazing to me is that the site is ad-free and that they aren't compromising the design for the strategic placement of Google Adwords. Well done!

  Tagged: Web
  
• 04.21.08
  Amazon.ca and the Broken Search Box Uncategorized | (2)

  What you see above is the main search box on the landing page at Amazon.ca. What you don't see is that I've actually typed into that box in Firefox, "this is broken" since it is impossible to see what I've typed because of a browser incompatibility. Here's the same search box, this time with Internet Explorer: While I can see why it would make sense to someone upstairs at Amazon why they would design for the majority of the market, it's really inexcusable at this point to have such a prominent feature of your site looking so embarrassingly bad in Firefox. Now let's ...

  Tagged: Usability, User Experience, Web
  
• 04.14.08
  Podshow: How do I subscribe? Uncategorized | (2)

  I was listening to Adam Curry's Daily Source Code today (which, as an aside, was the first podcast I heard way back in 2004. How's that for nostalgia?). Adam talked about a new show he had started with John C. Dvorak called No Agenda, and I checked out the site as soon as he blurted our the URL. Imagine my surprise when I visited the show page for No Agenda, which is part of the Podshow network, started by Curry himself (the co-creator of Podcasting) and I can't even find out how to subscribe to show. Go ahead, take a look ...

  Tagged: Podshow, Usability, Web
  
• 04.11.08
  Blank is like Blank Uncategorized | (1)

  Blank is like Blank is a cute blog that shares "analogies to live by", such as: Starbucks is like that crazy ex-girlfriend you still get together with: You hate yourself for going back, but the familiarity makes it convenient, and until you find something better, it’s all you’ve got. It's also a great creative outlet for its creator, Justin Feinstein, a copywriter. I always find it interesting to see who's behind some of these clever ideas on the Net. This thing seriously needs an RSS feed, though. Justin writes in the comments that he's now added a feed! ...

  Tagged: Blogs, Web
  
• 04.09.08
  Pick a Time Zone, any Time Zone Uncategorized | (0)

  You know I don't want to seem like I'm constantly being negative about the usability and Web issues I discover on my journeys around the Internets, but often the best way to learn what to, is to see what not to do. Take this Web app that shall remain nameless above. In the registration form you're asked to select your time zone, from which there about 100 to choose from (with duplicates no doubt), and as you can see above, shown in at least three different formats. Any idea where I'd find Eastern Americas? (Oh wait, there's three of them ...

  Tagged: Usability, Web
  
• 04.02.08
  Dropclock Uncategorized | (0)

  Dropclock is an amazing screensaver for Mac and Windows that shows big bold numbers (in Helvetica!) for every minute of the day falling into water. The only downside here is an annoying 'register now' screen when it starts up. (Thanks to Adam for the tip)

  Tagged: download, screen saver, Web
  

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