Microsoft's strange new ads for Internet Explorer
The thing is, I’d be happy if these actually got people to upgrade from IE7, IE6, or even IE5. Everyone seems to be responding to these as though Microsoft is desperate to go after Firefox and Chrome (and maybe Safari). But if you watch “G.R.I.P.E.S.” it’s pretty clear that these are at least partially an effort to get people using older versions of their own browser to get with the program.
I never said this, but these ads are actually a good showing from Microsoft.
Liev Schreiber Trivia
Along with David Arquette, Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox and Jamie Kennedy, he is one of only five actors to appear in all three Scream films.
What an elite group.
Why are There 60 Minutes in an Hour?
Gary Wallace:
To understand the units of time we need to investigate the number systems of ancient civilizations. How did the Sumerians count to 12 on one hand and to 60 on two? What advances did the Babylonians make and how did they use this number system for measurement? And what refinements did the Egyptians make to time measurement to give us the system we still use today?
Fascinating.
The Joy of Less
My dad would like this. Pico Iyer lives in a “two-room apartment in nowhere Japan:”
When the phone does ring — once a week — I’m thrilled, as I never was when the phone rang in my overcrowded office in Rockefeller Center. And when I return to the United States every three months or so and pick up a newspaper, I find I haven’t missed much at all.
George Everet defends "Web Design is 95% Typography"
I hadn’t come across this companion to Oliver Reichenstein’s 2006 article about the importance of typography in web design. Everet takes it much further:
So when someone says graphic design or web design is mostly about type, they’re right. Our world is mostly about typography.
Lingering
Benjamin Kunkel:
So I am glad, honestly, to have the old world of print and film supplemented by the new world of text and video. And I’m eager to stick up for casual and often vulgar online writing and culture as long as I’m not forced to defend them in grandiose terms. The internet often gratifies my curiosity and sense of humor, no small thing but nothing to confuse with whatever it is in me—something far more deeply interfused—that is gratified by poetry, philosophy, history, modes of writing that hardly exist online. What are the native species of internet prose? Op-eds, diary entries, aperçus, allusions, screeds, and scrawls of graffiti—worthy forms but marginal and perishable like little nodding flowers along a river.
Cheney for President
Ross Douthat’s much-anticipated first turn at the NYT:
At the very least, a Cheney-Obama contest would have clarified conservatism’s present political predicament. In the wake of two straight drubbings at the polls, much of the American right has comforted itself with the idea that conservatives lost the country primarily because the Bush-era Republican Party spent too much money on social programs. And John McCain’s defeat has been taken as the vindication of this premise.
Substantively, I think he brings a needed reasonable voice to the current conservative din – without the ego of David Frum or the questionable alignment of Andrew Sullivan. However, I hope his future columns will be more focused. This one covers too much ground for 800 words.
Arlen, You Let Me Down
Meghan McCain:
And I understand how he’s been made to feel like an outcast by a small, vocal group. Still, this was an opportunity for Specter to hold his ground and set an example for progressive-minded Republicans trying to overcome one of their biggest obstacles: winning the party primaries.
Of course, this speaks to much larger problem in the GOP. We need to attract more centrist and progressive conservative voters at the primary level, so that level-headed candidates stand a chance. We need courageous Republicans more than ever. And this week, Sen. Specter turned his back.
100 Days of Obama
Charlie Rose hosts one of the most intelligent conversations I’ve heard in a long time, with Mike Allen, Jim Ellis, Jeff Greenfield, Al Hunt, Katty Kay and John Heilemann.
Pardon the Dust
Things are gonna look kinda stupid and be kinda unusable around here for a little while. I’m lazily implementing some changes. Sorry for the inconvenience.
The WaPo's High Horse
Andrew Sullivan:
Memo to WaPo: your days of thinking like this are over. If you don’t want to go the way of the Rocky Mountain News, wake up and smell the competition.
The Big Cal
A small side project I’ve been working on the past couple of days: a calendar view of headline news culled from Wikipedia.
Midnight Breakfast
I think I’m going to take a little bit of a break from nscott.net to focus on Midnight Breakfast for a little while. If you haven’t seen it already, MB is a fun tumblog run by a few friends and yours truly. Check us out sometime.
Automatic Kottke.org
I should consider doing one of these for nscott.net. It would include checking kottke.org for random posts every now and then.
Ze Frank’s Voice Drawing
This is absolutely amazing! (And for those who don’t know me, I don’t use that word lightly.)
Mr. Tweet
Billed as “Your Personal Networking Assistant for Twitter!” Looks interesting, I’m currently giving it a try.
Andy Baio is impressed.
Back Issues
Jill Lepore for The New Yorker:
The newspaper is dead. You can read all about it online, blog by blog, where the digital gloom over the death of an industry often veils, if thinly, a pallid glee. The Newspaper Death Watch, a Web site, even has a column titled “R.I.P.” Or, hold on, maybe the newspaper isn’t quite dead yet. At its funeral, wild-eyed mourners spy signs of life. The newspaper stirs!
Mirror, Mirror on the Wall
Errol Morris:
During the last week of the Bush administration, I asked the head photo editors of these news services — Vincent Amalvy (AFP), Santiago Lyon (AP) and Jim Bourg (Reuters) — to pick the photographs of the president that they believe captured the character of the man and of his administration.
Textpattern CMS 4.0.8 released
Not as big a release as 4.0.7, but it can’t hurt to stay up-to-date.
I’ve said it before, Textpattern is a great piece of software. If you’re planning a content-heavy site, it should be one of your top contenders for CMS choice.
Obama Signs Executive Order on Gitmo
Four executive orders regarding Gitmo and torture. This is fantastic news.
Charlie Rose interviews David Foster Wallace
I think this 1997 piece is one of the most amazing Charlie Rose interviews I’ve ever seen.
Greatness
Nicholas Lemann on what it takes to make a great presidency:
If you’re running the American government, change based on governance and politics matters a whole lot more than change based on intelligence and charisma.
Government communications should be helpful and clear
A submission from AIGA’s design and public policy group to the Change.gov Citizen’s Briefing Book, the goal of which is to compile the most popular idea submissions for the new administration. “Government must invest in quality graphic design and clear language for all its public communications. We need simple forms, easy-to-use Web sites, quality telephone support, and good signs and communications at public buildings.” It’s also worth browsing through the briefing book’s list of most popular ideas.
My favorite bit from the submission:
America has an extraordinary pool of design talent that is respected worldwide. For the benefit of citizens, to support American jobs, and to invest in the information infrastructure that will improve productivity over time, government should be committed to improving the way it communicates.
This is a great idea and a good cause in general. I’d love to see more action being taken like this on behalf of clear and effective communication.
Oblivious, Eh?
Gruber responds to Brian X. Chen’s Wired piece regarding Apple’s quarterly conference call titled “Apple Still Oblivious to Netbook Opportunity”:
Sounds to me like Apple’s about as oblivious to the netbook opportunity as they were to the smartphone opportunity around, say, 2006.
I, for one, hope (nay, suspect) Gruber’s right on this one.
@whitehouse_gov
WhiteHouse.gov even has a Twitter account.
In related news, Twitter activity hit a major spike during Obama’s swearing in on Tuesday.
McCain: Obama’s newest advisor?
I agree with Jason Kottke on this. The fact that Obama is maintaining open lines of communication with McCain is great news.
McCain, though it was his own fault (or that of his handlers), didn’t represent himself well during the presidential campaign and it’s nice to see that the very able Senator isn’t being sidelined because of it. Also, it’s quite savvy of Obama to seek out his support. He’s essentially buying McCain stock at a low point and will presumably leverage that purchase when that stock inevitably rises.
If you haven’t already, now might be a good time to go read David Foster Wallace’s 2000 essay on McCain.
Meetings Are a Matter of Precious Time
Professor of Behavioral Science Reid Hastie:
Part of the problem at such meetings is that the leader has not set clear objectives or an agenda, and didn’t assign pre-meeting preparation tasks. Instead, the leader seems to hope that magic will occur, producing a serendipitous solution to some of the problems addressed. Of course, that doesn’t happen. As a general rule, meetings make individuals perform below their capacity and skill levels.
I agree with this to some extent, but would warn not to take Hastie’s advice to the extreme. There is such a thing as too much organization, just as there is such a thing as not enough. The trick is to find the right balance between the two so that creative sparks can fly but no one feels like they’re simply wasting their time.
On Day One, Obama Sets a New Tone
Off to a great start:
President Obama moved swiftly on Wednesday to impose new rules on government transparency and ethics, using his first full day in office to freeze the salaries of his senior aides, mandate new limits on lobbyists and demand that the government disclose more information.
I intend to watch this presidency very closely.
Pages of Ages
May 28, 1999
As I look down upon the
pages of ages, I see my
life spread from decision
to decision, ranging from
a million years ago to only
last week. I am the oldest
man alive. My mistakes have
been repeated a thousand
times or more. But I keep
looking back, on these pages
of ages, and hoping these
mistakes do not come again.
Analyzing Obama’s Inaugural Speech
This is a great interactive transcript from the NY Times following the video of Obama’s stately speech this morning.
A Good Start
From the new White House Blog:
Just like your new government, WhiteHouse.gov and the rest of the Administration’s online programs will put citizens first.
The New Gothams
H&FJ have released 46 new styles of their popular Gotham font. For those not following, Gotham was the typeface used by the Obama campaign.
Welcome to the White House
The White House, in addition to having a new occupant, has a new website. With a blog. Here’s to an era of more open government.
MyFonts.com’s Top 10 fonts of 2008
They gave Museo and Museo Sans the “award for the year’s best marketing strategy.” Many of the weights are offered for free through the MyFonts website.
Gridr Buildrrr
I find myself using this more and more. Funny name. Useful site. Definitely worth a link.
A List Apart on Writing
Pretty much the best writing on writing on the web on the web. Er, the best writing on the web about writing on the web. Oh, you know what I mean.
Obama Inauguration, Lego Style
Wow. Or, as Rebecca puts it:
My feelings on this are best represented by punctuation: !!!!
The Impossible Project
From the homepage:
We aim to re-start production of analog INTEGRAL FILM for vintage Polaroid cameras in 2010. We have acquired Polaroid’s old equipment, factory and seek your support.
Godspeed.