Weather out of bounds vs forecast
16 < 24
December 19, 2009
October 19, 2009
I am mayor of the Internet: FourSquare
Other companies, like BrightKite, Loopt and Google Latitude, are also offering services aimed at helping friends find each other on the go. But Foursquare has attracted more attention than the others, in part because it incorporates elements of gaming and social competition.
The system awards points and virtual badges to players depending on how often they go out and which places they visit. Users who frequent a particular place enough times are crowned "mayor" of that particular location.
August 31, 2009
VW for idiots, Part 2
The Jetta platform will provide the basis for VW's new workhorse for the American market, and the company is "pretty much convinced" that Jetta will be the name as well, Mr. Jacoby said. But he promised a retooling that would try to blend European design and allure with Americans' practical needs.
For instance, there will be more and different types of cup holders -- a must-have for American consumers.
A different suspension will yield a smoother ride. Folding mirrors, a necessity in tight European streets, will not be standard. The acceleration and braking pedals will be farther apart in response to American complaints that it is easy to accidentally press both simultaneously.
And some other device will replace the balky dials used to recline seats in European cars. Market research in the United States found that "women break their fingernails or scratch their hands," Mr. Jacoby said.
Volkswagen is also slowly asserting firm control over its dealer network, long a source of irritation among American buyers. They complained about bad after-sales service on top of quality problems, such as electrical systems, with VW cars.
January 13, 2009
Page layout: above the scroll
Basic principle of web design: If it's not on the screen, I can't see it.
Here we see Barry Ritholtz' Big Picture. On a T61 laptop in a high resolution mode, more than 60 percent (5 inches) of the screen is used for static branding graphics, and only 3 inches is available for the actual content.
The Big Picture is a timely survey of economic news and views. In its own words, it tries (and I think succeeds)
to give you a unique combination of original content, as well as referencing the best of what I find elsewhere -- MSM, Wall Street, Video, other blogs. Typically, I post a long, original piece in the early morning. Several additional pieces during the day pull information from elsewhere -- charts, news, other resources. The goal is to provide a steady stream of relevant information -- leavened with my perspectives -- all day.
November 9, 2008
Header teasers: unuseful
The lack of specific content in the cached header teasers of major dictionary sites is very annoying.
Better would be to show some information about the word and dictionary sites would compete on quality of definitions.
October 24, 2008
Seen on the street
May 30, 2008
Subway Maps, overlay, by on ny turf
May 29, 2007
The scourge of unusable golf balls ?
A new study by Katherine A. Burson, a marketing professor at the University
of Michigan, shows that, when we buy things like golf balls and digital
cameras, we generally do a poor job of evaluating our skills, and so
get stuck with unsuitable products.
The scourge of unusable golf balls ?
May 1, 2007
Fortuito.us web evangelism
Fortuito.us webtastic web evangelism by metafilter guy
April 21, 2007
September 10, 2006
Alt text mugshot
Alt text is great for web pages; but for e-mail,
better would be to default to plaintext.
Message from the nice International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) Subaru VIP Program.
April 10, 2006
Hyphen needed
What to think of loudobbs.com, home of financial reporter Lou Dobbs.
LoudObbs ? LouDobbs.
Why not Lou_dobbs.com or Lou-Dobbs.com ?
Like to watch the business commentators, especially during tax filing season.
August 2, 2005
43folders
43folders for power users and alpha geeks.
Today's tactical equivalent to Seven habits of highly effective people.
June 24, 2005
Riander, reDUX
Riander, travails of a user experience and user-centred desisgn
consultant. Who better to run DUX, aka Design for User Experience ?
May 22, 2005
dan bricklin
Dan Bricklin: a graybeard of personal computing annotates
conferences and ponders Open Source.
