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Media non-Metrics. I knew Media Metrix was producing seriously questionable numbers two years ago when I worked at a firm where we got paid for over 40 million page views a month, but they only put us in the 220 range on their volume list (other sites with that volume were in the top 100.) Cnet reports that serious concerns about Media Metrix's traffic accounting have arisen.
Web Monkey A quick snippet about life as a web designer.
On hiatus. No, not us (would it be ironic to post that I'm not posting?) The problem with weblogs is that unlike the New York Times, they tend to stop getting updated for periods as the single authors get exhausted of the daily pace. I was disappointed to read that kottke.org - home of fine hypertext products is now taking a break of at least two weeks, probably longer. Oh well.
They must be using NT. A number of design sites are participating in May 1st Reboot, which is "an international relaunch of web sites by authors and creatives working within the field of Web Design." Err... so let me get this, you're turning off your web site for a week, and we're supposed to get excited, rather than just going to a site that's actually up? Isn't needing to reboot a bad thing? Has Microsoft finally convinced web designers that needing to reboot NT regularly is a feature?
Karlo.org is Linux, so we won't be rebooting. Actually, we pretty much never reboot, since we don't crash -- we're up 50 days at the moment, and I only rebooted last to install Mandrake 7.2 on the server.
Nerd Love. Having lived in and around the MIT community for a number of years, I've seen enough examples of nerd love. But even I was suprised to read in The Register that Nerds are rampant sex machines... According to a non-scientific survey by JustTechJobs.com, American IT men get lucky 108 times a year on average, compared to the normal 79 times.
I would suggest this simply has to do with their average age being 24, instead of the overall average age of say 35. Or perhaps the survey just failed to employ the all important phrase "with a partner" in its question.
Boo hoo. eCompany has compiled a great read, Boo! And the 100 Other Dumbest Moments in e-Business History. Amazing how such a remarkable list of stupidity could be created from just three years or so of the net explosion. I sure hope we've gotten it out of our system; maybe the next three years won't be so ridiculous. Maybe.
Interviewing to be a consultant? If you want to be more accurate when they pose some silly case study asking how many pennies it would take to fill the Sears tower, you'll be ready if you've read The MegaPenny Project
Oh, please The San Francisco Chronicle reports on Dot-Gone Retrospective, an art exhibit that "explores rise and fall of Internet economy". At least now that the bubble has broken, it's easier to tell who the unproductive art-school dropouts are, since we're not hiring them as "Information Architects" any more. (Note: I was an IA, but I actually understand usability, information design and task design, rather than just how to make a web site "happy happy.")
Extra features. Ever feel limited by the functions and keys of your computer programs? Want some extra nifty features? Well here are a few ideas to start your spec proposal to Microsoft.
Microsoft OwnZ j00 It's a few days old, but worth repeating: The register reports on how Microsoft's Passport Terms of Use pretty much gives them the right to take anything you send via their services. Send an email with a business plan, or creative piece, or photograph, via Hotmail or MSN Messenger, and not only can they see it, they claim the right to copy, resell, distribute and modify your content, including using your name alongside it for whatever they want. You have been assimilated. Guess I'm going to stop using Hotmail and MSN Messenger.
A quick snippet: "The foregoing grants shall include the right to exploit any proprietary rights in such communication [via the Passport Web Site and associated services], including but not limited to rights under copyright, trademark, service mark or patent laws under any relevant jurisdiction. No compensation will be paid with respect to Microsoft's use of the materials contained within such communication."
Sanrio meet South Park Who says software like Illustrator doesn't create more artists? Check out this visual masterpiece of a comic, Little Gamers. (Contains profanity, adult dialog and cutesy gen-X/anime cast.)