Google Tests 'Advertise' Link, Landing Page

"Google is testing a link and landing page combination that lets advertisers click to buy ads on individual AdSense publishers' sites."

U.S. Insists on Keeping Control of Web

washingtonpost.com: "A senior U.S. official rejected calls on Thursday for a U.N. body to take over control of the main computers that direct traffic on the Internet, reiterating U.S. intentions to keep its historical role as the medium's principal overseer..."

Good Experience - Defining "Branding"

"The brand is the customer experience.

And that's all it is. It's not primarily a story, or a logo, or a style, or even a value proposition. Primarily the brand is just what customers tell each other about: their experience..."

More thoughtful stuff from Mark Hurst

ThinkFree Office Online

"Think you can't open Office documents without paying hundreds of dollars for software? Think again. Just visit ThinkFree Office Online and you can open, edit, and create Office documents with this easy and convenient online service, new from ThinkFree..."

This is neat, it's basically a Java version of an Office suite that runs in a browser, paired with an online storage account of 30MB. Hey, and it's free.

Red Cross movement to get new emblem

"For years, military medics and humanitarian aid workers have relied on the protective power of the red cross and red crescent as they braved battle zones to help the wounded. Soon they'll have a third emblem at their disposal to tout their neutrality: the red crystal... The crystal could be a boon for aid workers and medics operating in a war-torn country like Eritrea, equally divided between Christians and Muslims..."

MS and Intel back HD DVD over Blu-ray

"Microsoft and Intel on Monday threw their support towards the next-generation HD DVD format being promoted by the DVD Forum, pitting themselves against Apple and other electronics manufacturers that have so far sided with Sony's competing Blu-ray format."

How to Get a Good Night's Sleep

"The rules are simple: no sugar, no caffeine, and most of all, don't bring work to bed!"

These rules aren't helpful ;-P

How-To: Download music videos from iTunes

UNEASYsilence: "I stumbled upon a very useful PHP script which allows you to download complete music videos from iTunes. You have the option of downloading the smaller or larger .MOV format videos which can be imported into your personal iTunes library."

This used to be a lot easier with earlier versions of iTunes and QuickTime. However, Apple had changed the way videos within iTunes were handled. This is the first tool I've seen that successfully works around it.

War in the Office: Sun to Launch StarOffice 8

"On Tuesday, Sun will announce the availability of StarOffice 8, the latest version of its desktop productivity suite.
StarOffice 8 is based on OpenOffice.org 2.0, a popular open-source office suite, which is now in pre-release... Sun Microsystems Inc. is positioning StarOffice 8 as an affordable alternative to Microsoft Office."

500,000 People Vanish in Washington, DC

"Imagine 500,000 people marching down the meandering thoroughfares of Pennsylvania Avenue and 14th Street and Constitution Avenue in Washington, DC. They are headed for a date with destiny and the promise of peace, conjoined with a challenge for justice. How could they vanish from the headlines?"

As magician Doug Henning used to say 'It's an illuuuusion'...

First Aid Advice Podcasts

"St. John Ambulance believes that everyone should learn at least the basic First Aid techniques. You may need to use them at any time at home, at school or work or even while you're travelling. Knowing what to do can make the difference to a person's recovery, and you could even save their life."

Now here are some useful Podcasts to have with you.

Sometimes a Logo Is Just a Logo

creativepro.com: "Quark's new logo is strikingly similar to several others. Is it theft? A global conspiracy? Or a failure to follow basic design principles? Gene Gable gives you the dirt, including ways you can sidestep the same type of predicament."

Looks like I wasn't the only one who saw some problems with the new Quark logo (see my previous post).

Move over U2, U3 is coming

"USB flash drive market leaders M-Systems and SanDisk envision a transformation for USB flash drives, from simple storage devices into USB smart drives that people can use not only to carry data, but to launch applications on a PC wherever they go - adding personalization and security to existing plug-and-play mobility..."

Dell answers the iPod shuffle with: A cigarette lighter form factor, and a hoodwink on capacity

news.com: "The DJ Ditty weighs 1.29 ounces and has 512MB of storage, which the company claims can hold as many as 220 songs. The device, which has a 1-inch screen for managing playlists, starts at $99. The 512MB version of Apple Computer's iPod Shuffle also costs $99, although Apple rates its storage at 120 songs; a 1GB version sells for $129 and holds 240 songs, according to the company's Web site."

This Dell device has a display and the shuffle doesn't, THAT should've been Dell's big legitimate feature to boast about. So why then, did Dell choose to essentially mislead its customers about a 512MB capacity being able to hold 220 songs? Thier fine print on the site shows that they are basing this capacity on a "64kbps WMA encoding with average song length of 4 min." Most 'Plays for Sure' WMA download services, such as Napster, encode at 128kpbs. Lame move by Dell. They've got the display, a tuner, and a choice of multiple colors for the same $99, this should've come across to potential customers as a nice alternative to the shuffle. But they couldn't resist trying to take it up one more notch by misleading buyers on capacity, and in turn making a bad impression. I'm afraid Dell is going to have to innovate to beat the iPod, lying probably won't do the trick.

(Notes on illustration: not actual size, but correct relative proportions, fictional flame added in order to mock Dell)

FREE Web Accessibility Toolbar

"The Web Accessibility Toolbar is provided by the Accessible Information Solutions (AIS) team at the National Information and Library Service (NILS)...

The Web Accessibility Toolbar has been developed to aid manual examination of web pages for a variety of aspects of accessibility. It consists of a range of functions that: identify components of a web page; facilitate the use of 3rd party online applications; simulate user experiences; provide links to references and additional resources."

Free!, windows only though

Embrace your bottom!

Powazek: Just a Thought: "It's time we designers start thinking about page footers as part of the experience design of a complete site. The bottom of a page is the kiss at the end of the date - and we're making sites that end without even a handshake..."

Great observation! Found via SVN.

EasyEnvelopes represents a full application in the form of a Dashboard Widget

"EasyEnvelopes is a MacOS X Tiger (10.4) widget for Dashboard, so it is instantly available no matter what application you are using... EasyEnvelopes allows you to create picture-perfect envelopes every time... Since EasyEnvelopes integrates with your Address Book, you can quickly and easily address an envelope to a friend or business contact..."

Lots of widgets are recasts of small utilities or simple windows into a larger external application or website. This is a stand alone app. As more little apps like this emerge Dashboard will become a functional environment.

Iconix launches e-mail logo authentication solution

"Iconix eMail ID software enables users to display branding icons in their inboxes, allowing e-mail users to isolate e-mail from trustworthy sources rather than from spammers or phishers."

Interesting solution, however the proprietary nature of having this be an add-on vs. something at the vcard or email client level will likely hinder adoption.

IMBA: Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day

"IMBA will celebrate the second annual Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day on Saturday, Oct. 1, 2005. This is a great opportunity for you to pass your passion for pedaling on to kids!..."

Since moving to OR, I've been enjoying the active bike culture here. (Photo from IMBA site)

PayPal hit by payment problems

"PayPal has been hit by two separate technical problems that are causing transactions to appear more than once on some customers' accounts. Although the money is not actually being removed from accounts this can have the effect of freezing the account if spending limits appear to be breached..."

Eek.

Mozilla Firefox 1.0.7 Released

"Mozilla Firefox 1.0.7, a security and stability update to the flagship Mozilla browser, is now available for download."

Mailinator: Spam Map

"Mailinator is about saving you from spam. But in the process it ends up getting plenty of its own (averaging over a million emails a day!). This map shows (in semi-realtime) ip addresses that are currently sending the most spam to Mailinator."

Web Design Cheat Sheets: Illustrator, Photoshop, etc.

codebymatt.com: "All the cheat sheets you'll ever need as a web designer, graphic designer, web developer, or anything related to it. Including a new Adobe Illustrator Cheat Sheet." All in PDF format. found via digg.

Microsoft Unveils Expression Family of Designer Tools

Microsoft.com: "Professional design tools give you greater flexibility to create sophisticated applications and content. Innovative technologies enable faster and richer interface development for Windows applications or the Web. Compatibility between products increases all levels of your personal productivity."

Interesting to see Microsoft finally release an entire suite aimed at the creative pro community. Now it is clear that the Adobe and Macromedia merger wasn't fuled merely by paranoia.

The suite appears to be broken into three main modules: graphics; interactive; web design (read: Photoshop/Illustrator, Flash, Dreamweaver). This FAQ is helpful and also makes it plain that the web design component does not replace FrontPage.

Firefox and Mac security sanctuaries 'under attack'

"Symantec has attacked the perceived security advantages of Firefox and Apple Macs by drawing unfavourable comparisons with Microsoft's software and describing Mac fans as living in a 'false paradise'. According to the latest edition of Symantec's Internet Security Threat Report, 25 vulnerabilities were disclosed for Mozilla browsers and 13 for Microsoft Internet Explorer in the first half of 2005."

On2 Flix 8 Ships

Flashmagazine: "On2 are the creators of the great new video codec that ships with Flash 8. Now they've released their own tool for producing Flash Video, just like Sorenson did."

Will Microsoft Buy AOL?

"Time Warner has reportedly been in talks with Microsoft to buy a stake in America Online."

I can hear the little voice coming from PCs round the world: 'You have viruses and spyware! oh, and mail too' :-P

Google Blog Search Launched

"Blog Search is Google search technology focused on blogs. Google is a strong believer in the self-publishing phenomenon represented by blogging, and we hope Blog Search will help our users to explore the blogging universe more effectively, and perhaps inspire many to join the revolution themselves... Your results include all blogs, not just those published through Blogger.."

Linotype FontExplorer X - FREE Font Manager

"FontExplorer X sets a new standard for font management software. After several relatively sad years for all font users who were looking for a professional font manager, Linotype is pleased to fill the gap with the new FontExplorer X."

Hey, looks like Suitcase may not get an my upgrade fee... must explore further...

Add 'MINIPRENEURS' to your buzzword cache?

"Increasingly, consumers are participants instead of passive audience members, and this mega-trend manifests itself in a variety of ways. In fact, the more we hear about GENERATION C making money from its creations, and the more we focus on the financial rewards consumers are reaping from participating in CUSTOMER MADE projects, the more the myriad of other entrepreneurial undertakings by ordinary consumers makes sense.

We have dubbed this trend 'MINIPRENEURS': a vast army of consumers turning entrepreneurs..."

With Skype in transition mode, now is the time for Apple to release iChat A/V for Windows

OK so this is an opinion piece covering why I think making iChat for Windows could increase iPod and Mac sales. Quicktime and iTunes have Windows versions, and now that Skype has helped better popularize the audio chat space (something that didn't strike us audio iChatting folks as anything quite new), Apple should capitalize on the Skype buzz and finally get iChat on PCs.

At a minimum, this would make it a viable cross platform option instead of Skype. But more importantly, Apple could then better tie iChat to iTunes & Quicktime on both platforms. Imagine getting 'voicemail' via iChat A/V that is instantly saved to a Voicemail playlist in iTunes - much like sorted Podcasts. Or being able to save your audio chats or video chats as multimedia files, saved and managed within iTunes (now that it supports both). You could pre-record demos or videos and then setup a multi-person demonstration where all participants view the same presentation etc (creeping a bit into Macromedia Breeze territory here).

There are many possibilities for taking the collaborative and multimedia strengths of iChat to the next level by upgrading it and making it cross platform. Of course iChat does not have the phone to client capabilities that Skype has, however iChat has Apple's mark of simplicity and could target that niche described in the previous sentence.

Macromedia Studio 8 Now Available

"Macromedia, Inc. (Nasdaq: MACR) today announced the immediate availability of Macromedia Studio 8"

Oracle to buy Siebel Systems for $3.6 billion

"The acquisition will strengthen Oracle’s customer relationship management applications business, adding 3.4 million CRM users and 4,000 applications customers, Oracle said."

A whole lotta shoppin' goin' on

J.Y. Design's Studio is now Wind Powered

As a Eugene Water & Electric Board (EWEB) customer, we have the option of devoting a portion of our electric bill to support the development and generation of Windpower, which uses no fossil fuels and produces no pollution. 100% of our electricity now comes from EWEB Windpower.

Electricity lost across Los Angeles

"A blackout hit a large portion of the Los Angeles area Monday afternoon, snarling traffic at intersections and trapping people in elevators."

By the time you can read this, it will mean that my web host MediaTemple (mt) is finally back on-line after being hit by this blackout.

eBay to buy Skype for $2.6 billion in cash, stock

"eBay has agreed to buy the fast-growing Internet start-up Skype in a move to add free Web telephone calls to its online auctions and fuel growth, the companies confirmed Monday."

That's an interesting...

Windows Vista Product Editions Revealed

"Here's how the Windows Vista product editions break down..."

1. Windows Vista Starter Edition
2. Windows Vista Home Basic Edition
3. Windows Vista Home Premium Edition
4. Windows Vista Professional Edition
5. Windows Vista Small Business Edition
6. Windows Vista Enterprise Edition
7. Windows Vista Ultimate Edition

Glad to see they kept things simple. Too bad they don't have a 'Windows Vista Fantastic Design Studio Edition', I guess I'll have to stick with Mac OSX. (found thanks to SVN)

Pentagon Revises Nuclear Strike Plan

"The Pentagon has drafted a revised doctrine for the use of nuclear weapons that envisions commanders requesting presidential approval to use them to preempt an attack by a nation or a terrorist group using weapons of mass destruction. The draft also includes the option of using nuclear arms to destroy known enemy stockpiles of nuclear, biological or chemical weapons..."

Pausing to remember on the 'anniversary'... Is this the best course we can consider to express all that we've learned since 9/11?

Quark adopts new logo and identity

"DTP giant Quark has unveiled a dramatic new logo and visual identity that the company says demonstrates that it 'is leaping forward into the future of creative communications'."

Wow, Adobe's logo is a kind of rectangular abstracted red "A" positioned above black text. This is a kind of roundish abstracted green "Q" positioned above black text. I've switched to Adobe InDesign since v1 and hope to keep it that way. Quark's long held arrogance, lack of innovation and historically restrictive pricing / licensing makes me happy to jab at them whenever I can. I think they've leaped a bit too late.

Mozilla / Firefox - offers temporary fix for security flaw

"What Firefox and Mozilla users should know about the IDN bufferoverflow security issue:

There are two methods for resolving this problem. The first method is to install a small download and the second method is to manually change the browser configuration. You only need to do one of the two..."

E-sales tax debate to resume this fall

"State officials plan to revive this fall their push to force Internet and mail-order vendors to collect sales taxes from their out-of-state customers."

Firefox 1.5 Beta 1 now available

"New features of version 1.5 include automated updates, faster browser navigation with improvements to back and forward button performance, drag and drop reordering for browser tabs, improvements to popup blocking, better support for Mac OS X (10.2 and greater) including profile migration from Safari and Mac Internet Explorer, numerous security enhancements, new support for Web Standards including SVG, CSS 2 and CSS 3, and JavaScript 1.6, and more."

Flashforward 2006 to be held in Seattle

"We are thrilled to announce new dates for the west coast edition of the 2006 Flashforward (February 27-March 2), and a new location. For the first time ever, Flashforward will be held in Seattle, Washington..."

Sorenson Squeeze 4.2 beta

Flashmagazine: "Some days ago, Sorenson announced a beta of their upcoming compression tool for Flash, Squeeze 4.2, with full Flash 8 support. Want to test the upcoming software? Now is your chance to test-drive the full software."

Displaced Designer

"A resource for those in the creative industry recently displaced by the on-going situation in New Orleans and the surrounding region... We wish to help by offering these people a space from which to earn a living, to re-establish self-sufficience... to get back on their feet. With this in mind, we have started this resource - a place where displaced individuals can be matched with those of us with some extra studio/office space..."

New technology may increase identity theft-scientist

"Identity cards and chip and pin technology for credit cards will force fraudsters to be more creative and are unlikely to alleviate the problem...

"Studying the way that individuals disclose sensitive information would be far more valuable in preventing identity fraud than the evolution of technologically advanced but ultimately fallible measures to prevent misuse of personal information after it has been obtained,"... "What fraudsters know about is human nature,"

Exactly, it's not safe to assume that behind each new technology is a solid understanding of the various use case scenarios that are leading to vulnerabilities. Many factors could be entirely the result of simple human indescretion in areas where technology alone will never be the answer. Perhaps, like the trend in hiring hackers and virus writers to find network weaknesses, these 'fraudsters' can find legit work as usability experts ;-P

Paparazzi!

"Paparazzi! is a small utility for Mac OSX that makes screenshots of webpages."

Here's the missing rule book for "The Blame Game"

Department of Homeland Security | Emergencies & Disasters: "In the event of a terrorist attack, natural disaster or other large-scale emergency, the Department of Homeland Security will assume primary responsibility on March 1st for ensuring that emergency response professionals are prepared for any situation. This will entail providing a coordinated, comprehensive federal response to any large-scale crisis and mounting a swift and effective recovery effort. The new Department will also prioritize the important issue of citizen preparedness. Educating America's families on how best to prepare their homes for a disaster and tips for citizens on how to respond in a crisis will be given special attention at DHS."

Now, perhaps we'll all be asked to consider exactly what is a "natural disaster" and/or "large scale emergency"...

FYI: U.S. Citizens displaced by natural disasters are NOT "Refugees"

"Refugees are a subgroup of the broader category of displaced persons. They are distinguished from economic migrants who have left their country of origin for economic reasons, and from internally displaced persons who have not crossed an international border. Environmental refugees (people displaced because of environmental problems such as drought) are not included in the definition of 'refugee' under international law. Strictly speaking: a refugee is someone who seeks refuge out of fear of other people as opposed to any other motivational cause."

The term is being thrown a lot, like on CNN etc. So, as you look for ways to help, be on guard to remind people & the media - U.S. Citizens have been impacted by Katrina, there are no refugees, only neighbors in need.

Widgets Preference Pane

Among other things, this freeware utility "Allows you to Change the Dashboard shelf graphic"

dealmac matches your Hurricane Relief donations

"We'll match 100% of your donation until we hit our $5,000 limit or until September 15."

Google sells print advertising

"Google confirmed this week it has begun testing a program to place advertising in print publications. Two publications are involved in the test: PC Magazine and Maximum PC.

“Google is testing a program to place ads from our advertising network into U.S. print publications,” said Mike Mayzel, spokesman for the search engine. “This limited test is part of Google’s continuing effort to develop new ways to provide effective and useful advertising to advertisers, publishers and users.”

Even Mr. Bill Knew the Levees Wouldn't Hold

"In early 2004, lovable, crushable clay animated figure Mr. Bill from Saturday Night Live starred in an ad to alert people to the problems with the wetlands in Louisiana. On Good Morning, America today, President Bush said, 'I don't think anyone could have anticipated the breach of the levees.' He was wrong. Mr. Bill already had. Here's a transcript of the stunningly prescient ad, from CNN on May 27, 2004..."

This is a grand design failure. So, the Whitehouse can imagine flying drone planes somehow making it from Iraq to the US without detection, but they can't "anticipate" the potential negative impacts of having a city built below sea level? This excuse seems too familiar...

UPDATE: This Factcheck.org article has, well, facts.

The Customer Is Always Wrong: A User's Guide to DRM in Online Music

EFF.org: "There is an increasing variety of options for purchasing music online, but also a growing thicket of confusing usage restrictions. You may be getting much less than the services promise."

On the eve of the rumored iPhone, figured I'd give credit to EFF for cataloging the down sides of purchasing DRM media.

Gmail Notifier Beta Released

"Check your Gmail messages without opening your browser. The Gmail Notifier is an application that alerts you when you have new Gmail messages. It displays an icon in your system tray to let you know if you have unread Gmail messages, and shows you their subjects, senders and snippets, all without your having to open a web browser."

For both Mac and Windows