From: Gleanings
To: Nostradamus
Subject: Gleanings: is it the age of aquarius yet?

OPENING THANG

Reading my Nua newsletter this morning, I realized that I've seen remarkably few prediction stories for January. This was also the year I saw very few "year in review" stories as well. Perhaps everyone's so happy the world didn't come to an end, they're just laying low.

Here are my predictions

The layoff merry-go-round: A lot of people are going to get fired, or leave, and most of them are going to get hired again. However with so many people on the market they are actually going to have to work to find a job. People who should think twice about quitting: those with very little experience. Better to stick it out for another six months or so before throw your hat in the job hunt ring.

The market downturn: Is a downturn. It's going to be good again, but not as great as before. Don't be greedy folks. One thing is sure; recruiters are not going to be able to use stock-options to get people to work for less then market value (which is going to be less than it was). They will move to offering better benefits, like more vacation, as people are going to be less willing to spend their life at the office.

Micropayments: hah, like I'm going to predict anything about micropayments.

Europe: is going to continue to get more and more wired, and web workers with savvy and courage will move there to ride the wave of excitement that is similar to san Francisco in 93. And to get four weeks of vacation and great food.

Wireless: is going to continue to be a confusing mess for another year, and this will be fun for folks who like messing around in the unknown. Users however, will continue to use their cellphones for *gasp* telephone calls. My dream is they will be outlawed from doing so while driving.

The Web: will continue to show itself to be one of the most flexible delivery mechanisms ever. However, companies pressed for cash will change their attitudes and stop shoving proof-of-concept unusable sites out the door and start crafting carefully structured user experiences to improve brand loyalty and customer retention. and they'll hire to help them do it.

Well, I hope so.

>>>Send me your predictions, and I'll put them in the feedback section of the next newsletter.

EDITORIAL: 2001: THE YEAR AHEAD
By Kathy Foley

It's January again and time to adopt a wise countenance, stick the
neck out, and make a few predictions for the year ahead. It's not
the easiest of tasks and certainly has the potential to expose
would-be seers to plenty of ridicule but, bolstered by the relative
success of last year's predictions, I'm going to give it a go once
more.
For the full story, go to:
http://www.nua.ie/surveys/analysis/weekly_editorial.html

IA MATTERS

How to evaluate IA (thanks vincent!)
http://argus-acia.com/white_papers/evaluating_ia.pdf

DESIGN MATTERS

Tog on Fitts
http://www.asktog.com/columns/022DesignedToGiveFitts.html

USABILITY MATTERS

Usability test that Sun did on the StartOffice package
http://whiteboard.openoffice.org/Usability/index.html

ART MATTERS

well, I think art matters, anyhow

Web Site Includes Commissioned Artworks, in-depth Background and Special
Events http://www.sfmoma.org/010101

NEWS

http://www.tomalak.org> passes on a fairly shocking misuse of customers trust. is it really a surprise that Americans are growing more and more suspicious when filling out forms?
http://63.210.24.35/reports/pdfs/PIP_Trust_Privacy_Report.pdf

Wired News: EBay E-mail Makes Users 'Bidder'.
Auction site eBay has apparently decided that users of its service who said no
really meant yes. So, in an attempt to "help" its users, the company has
informed many of them, by e-mail, that their marketing preferences were
automatically being changed.
http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,41086,00.html

Interactive Week: From November 29, 1999; AOL To Users: Opt Out Again
http://www.zdnet.com/intweek/stories/news/0,4164,2400502,00.html

ZDNN: Privacy snafu enrages eBay customers.
Online privacy group TRUSTe said the eBay changes raise privacy concerns and
it plans to grill execs about it in the next few days. This is a change of
mind for TRUSTe, one of several groups that eBay briefed on the details before
changing people's preferences. TRUSTe at first gave its okay.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2673052,00.html

from http://www.nua.ie

ZDNet: Search engines cause ire among Net users

According to a new survey, poor search engines and information
overload are causing web-rage among Internet users.

http://www.nua.ie/surveys/index.cgi?f=VS&art_id=905356304&rel=true

NielsenNetRatings: Amazon, Toys 'R' Us top holiday etailer list

Amazon.com's alliance with Toys 'R' Us paid off handsomely during the
holiday season--the online retailer clocked up a record-breaking 123
million shopping visits between the start of November and December
24.

http://www.nua.ie/surveys/index.cgi?f=VS&art_id=905356308&rel=true

posted by Christina Wodtke 1/11/2001 08:20:32 AM

From: Gleanings
To: jazzhounds
Subject: Gleanings: Jazzed

OPENING THANG

I put my husband on a plane last night, went home, poured a large whiskey and watched Jazz. There are trumpets that can sing your heart out of your chest. Louis Armstrong and Wynton Marsalis. Oof.

This morning drinking my coffee and nursing my delicate head, I tried to type in a url half-remembered from the show, which I thought was jazzmusic.org. Nope. Luckily there is http://www.pbs.org/ providing this fine collection of links for the jazz hungry. http://www.pbs.org/jazz/links/ (nope, don't have the wherewithal this a.m. to point out the futility of expecting consumers to remember URLs)

DESIGN MATTERS

A new book is out from the nicest guy in web design, Jeff Veen...

The Art & Science of Web Design
http://www.veen.com/artsci/
Web Reference: Interview with Jeffrey Veen.
http://www.webreference.com/interviews/veen/

Conceptual Foundations
--> http://www.Stars.com/Authoring/Design/Conceptual.html
"One of the commonest mistakes of web designers is to not take the
conceptual foundations very seriously, e.g. What purpose is the web site
supposed to serve? Who is the target audience and what do they want? How
are the HTML pages clustered and inter-related?"
from http://xplane.com/xblog

USABILITY MATTERS

A couple of pointers on www.tomalak.org suggest that high tech product design could take some pointers from the usability mania that's recently hit the web.

US News: Overwhelmed by Tech.
So with the technology industry enduring its first bear market since gadgets
became the hot new thing, many companies are scrambling to find out why
consumers aren't falling in love with the latest stuff. The answer? Most folks
are still trying to figure out how to work the devices they already have.
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/010115/gadgets.htm

US News: Words to live by from an apostle of simplicity.
Jeff Hawkins, chairman of Handspring. The first time I used a WAP phone was a
couple of years ago. I decided right then and there that it was never going to
succeed. There's no way they can make it good. Someone once told me it took
them 27 steps to get on the Internet.
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/010115/gadgets.b.htm

NEWS

Southern Comfort's Internet Hangover
A parody gets mistaken as the real thing...
http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/jan2001/nf2001019_870.htm

dave points out this article,saying "it's about real
networks plug in and how they hide the free plugin when you land on their
site." they do charge for a subscriptions, so this is only good if you have a subscription to wall street journal already.
DODGE'S E-CONOMY
On Christmas Eve, guest columnist Lewis Perdue wasn't cursing RealNetworks'
low share price, but rather its hard-sell marketing efforts.
http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/DodgesEconomy.htm

Dot-coms unionizing? maybe.
Union Vote at Dot-Com Company Postponed
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1007-200-4406520.html
Dot-Com Is Set for a Union Vote
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/09/technology/09ETOW.html
(free Registration required.)

Okay, I'm reaching here:
Killer shrimp
http://www.infobeat.com/fullArticle?article=405684722

APROPOS OF NOTHING

What time is it??
http://www.time.gov/

a very pretty site-- but this guy has got to bite the bullet and get off tripod. the pop-up ads are annoying. it gets ugly once you have a half dozen open the designer launched, plus a new one from tripod every time you follow a link.
http://www.devx.com/devxpress/gurl.asp?i=1X2955862X5716

I love star wars fan films and I'm not ashamed to say so
http://www.atomfilms.com/default.asp?spot_id=143&sl=0109h
(I'm not even a star wars fan)

Tremendously amusing site of home brewed internet broadcasting.
Jeff @ The House, www.jath.com

Alfred W. Bush:
http://www.thenation.com/special/alfredw.mhtml
from: http://www.thenation.com/
posted by Christina Wodtke 1/10/2001 08:19:58 AM

From: Gleanings
To: Jazzheads
Subject: Gleanings: All that jazz

OPENING THANG

I missed the first night of Jazz on PBS, and I'm sad. However today is another day, you and I should be hunkered down in front of our respective TV sets tonight to watch part two... unless you can't stand jazz.
Amazon, ever resourceful, has created a page devoted to the show
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/browse/-/496934/ref%3Dkbj%5F6/107-3336896-2240510

IA & DESIGN MATTERS
Yum! Tufte!
http://www.ercb.com/feature/feature.0008.2.html

Design Usability: Information Strategy
http://www.internetworld.com/121500/12.15.00Feature3long.asp
"Until recently, few people had heard of information architecture, which I
define as the process of structuring and organizing information so that
it's easier for users to find and for owners to maintain."

USABILITY MATTERS
from xplane.com/xblog

• Are you ready for usability?
http://www.othermedia.com/knowledge/know_0000000011.html
“I am a big fan of usability testing as a way to help make web sites easier to use because it gets straight to the point of looking at what real people actually do with your carefully crafted web site. Unfortunately, I think that there is a reluctance with many people to give usability testing a whirl...”

• Creating Usable Websites
http://www.tekdok.com/usablewebsites/
“The purpose of this site is to share some of the information I've acquired on website design. The emphasis is on overall design and usability, as opposed to the mechanics of creating a website.”

NEWS

Newsweek: Sony's Digital Dilemma.
But now Sony has become the first top-tier consumer electronics company to
make mainstream devices that play MP3s. It's an about-face as abrupt as record
label BMG's recent embrace of Napster. When asked to describe Sony Music's
reaction, one person at Sony Electronics said sheepishly, "They were
pissed."
http://www.msnbc.com/news/512640.asp
from www.tomalak.org

Hollywood Is Ready for Action
http://www.thestandard.com/article/display/0,1151,21262,00.html
By Laura Rich Fearing 'Napsterization,' the studios focus on taking control of digital distribution.

APROPOS OF NOTHING

http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/
I've long loved looking at different tarot decks (I tend to like reinterpretations of the same thing; and do things like place three different covers of "Straighten up and fly right" in a row on a mixtape) This site indulges that urge.

posted by Christina Wodtke 1/9/2001 08:29:05 AM

From: Gleanings
To: Blogaholics
Subject: Gleanings: One Man Shows

OPENING THANG

Lessons, lessons. Everyday I learn I don't live in Jakob Nielsen's black and white world of ultimate pronouncements. Jeff Lash, from my new favorite site xblog, wrote to tell me that even though they own xblog.com, it's not the right URL for their content. Their content is at xplane.com/xblog. I replied flippantly why don't you slap a redirect on that puppy so xblog.com points at xplane.com/xblog. To which he sighed, and said... "Yes, you're right. I'll add it to the list of things to do. It's list item
#257, right after "Finish reading 'Unleashing the IdeaVirus'" and "Save
world.""

Xblog, like my own gleanings and eleganthack, are free personal crusades published by an individual on his/her own time. The blogger community has created a world of self-publishing that is producing (at least in my mind) some of the best content the web has seen since the heyday of the zines. Only too often self-publishers sigh like Jeff did, and say, yeah, I really been meaning to get around to redesigning, or yeah, I should register that domain (or in my case, gosh I only wish I had an editor). But what is important is that they keep publishing-- Their packaging may not be slick, but it really is what's inside that counts. Go to yahoo.com and look up any soft drink site
(http://dir.yahoo.com/Business_and_Economy/Shopping_and_Services/Food_and_Drink/Drinks/Soft_Drinks/Brand_Names/ ),
and you'll see quickly what no-content-pretty-packaging looks like. Then go visit these guys:

http://www.mersault.com/thinking/
http://www.jjg.net
http://www.peterme.com
http://www.tildeworks.com/design/
http://www.37signals.com/svn/
http://www.xplane.com/xblog/
http://a.jaundicedeye.com/weblog/
http://www.scottmccloud.com/
http://www.giantant.com/antenna/
http://www.hannahodge.com/blog/br_blog.html
http://www.tpodd.com
http://www.captaincursor.com/
http://www.sippey.com/
http://www.glassdog.com
http://www.powazek.com
http://www.fury.com/
http://www.metafilter.com/
posted by Christina Wodtke 1/8/2001 08:28:25 AM

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