Stop Global Warming : StopGlobalWarming.org is my personal impact page on the Stop Global Warming site. The organizers are calling this a virtual march on Washington. Just in case you haven’t noticed, the times they are a changin’. I was pretty impressed by moveon.org’s influence a few years ago, but now it seem such technology is the norm. Bloggers are influencing politicial decisions, web sites such as the Stop Global Warming site are changing policy from a grass roots level. I’ve always been drawn to the notion of the Internet as a tool of democracy and equality. As the Internet matures, it becomes an even more pure expression of that freedom. Why not sign up for the virtual march as a friend of mine?
Category: News-Politics
The Great Silent Grandmother Gathering
Dori Smith contacted me recently about appearing in a panel she is putting together for the SXSW Interactive Conference in March, 2006. The panel topic is about the issue of the comparative invisibility of women in the web design field.
If it didn’t take 15 minutes to read aloud, I’d like to read The Great Silent Grandmother Gathering to the people attending the panel. Not because the book has anything at all to do with web design. It doesn’t. Because the book has a lot to do with the way women think and accomplish things. In this children’s story, a couple of grandmothers standing silently in a park say they are saving the world. Soon other women are standing silently in parks to save the world. Their silence creates change that leads to hope and a better world.
I think a lot of women who run web design companies, write web design books, and host helpful web sites are like these silent grandmothers. They are doing what they are doing without any ado or noise, but the result is change for the better.
Alas, I won’t be reading it aloud at SXSW. But I urge you to check it out anyway and see what it has to say about women’s ways of doing.
Macromedia news
Macromedia drops FreeHand from bundle | CNET News.com: “Macromedia executives cited ‘extensive research with our customers’ as the reason behind the decision, and not its impending acquisition by Adobe Systems–which current sells a competing product called Illustrator. Adobe announced in April that it would buy Macromedia for $3.4 billion.
A Macromedia representative said FreeHand will be sold and supported as a standalone product for the time being.”
The other big news regarding Macromedia’s release of Studio 8 is that CSS/accessibility is improved in Dreamweaver, and Contribute and FlashPaper are bundled with DW, Fireworks and Flash Professional in this suite.
Time Magazine picks best websites 2005
50 Coolest Websites 2005 – TIME.com Here are some interesting choices from Time Magazine as to what is interesting, informative, fascinating, or worthwhile on the web. These kinds of lists of top sites can lead to some interesting class discussions about what keeps people coming back and what makes a site appealing.
Well golly, gee whiz and wow
About Adobe – Adobe to acquire Macromedia This is one corporate merger than I am really interested in and surprised to hear about. I hope the new lack of competition between the two giants will bring more emphasis on standards.
Interview with Steve Krug
Steve Krug Interview – Don’t Make Me Think – Web Usability: Steve Krug, the author of Don’t Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability, is a highly respected usability consultant, and he has worked with companies like Apple, Netscape, AOL, BarnesandNoble.com, Excite@Home, and Circle.com. Krug’s book is packed with practical techniques for developing a highly usable web site. Before you create or redesign your web site, make sure your designer has read Krug’s book.
MCNews asked Krug to answer some questions about designing web sites that communicate effectively and are easy to use.
If you blinked, you missed it
The short life of the Lycos screen saver intended to reduce spam has come to an end. Lycos pulls antispam screen saver from site – Computerworld Nice try, Lycos. Someone please solve the spam problem.