Friday Link Cop Out

So, since a few personal things came up and I just haven’t had time to sit down and write something (or finish one of the many entries I’ve started), I’m going to take the easy road and just send you off to other places of note.

Regarding the Kindle

I got some good feedback on my one sentence post regarding Amazon’s new “wireless” reading device, and plan on addressing them soon. But until then, here’s some more stuff on the Kindle:

• Doug Kaye’s impressions after five days of actually using the Kindle. “Whoever designed the e-commerce aspects, particularly the deal with Sprint, should get a bonus. Whoever is responsible for the ergonomics of the device needs to find another line of work.“
• The Future of Reading (A Play in Six Acts). Just read it.
• Christopher Fahey trumps my one sentence argument with a collage. “Many of the core lifestyle and business ideas behind Kindle are, frankly, an affront to what I love about books. What is most surprising is seeing Amazon — of all companies! — treating book lovers in this way.“
• Seth Godin on why he’s not on the Kindle “[Amazon is] resorting to acting like a low-paid middleman, once again leaving short-sighted publishers to cripple a new medium.“
• So Book-like, You’d Think It Was a Book (but it’s not) You know what else feels like real paper and doesn’t require cables or monthly bills? Fucking books.

General Web Geekery

• Email Standards Project launches! Yeah old news, but I was pretty stoked when I got the email announcement.
• It’s just sad at how clueless our leadership is in regards to the internets. “So why is it so funny that the octogenarian Stevens, the top Republican senator on the committee that regulates the Web, doesn’t know the difference between the Internet and an e-mail?“
• Failed Redesign: Metrolinx “How many tables for layout can a site launched in December 2007 use? 26. How many spacer GIFs? Seven.“
• Art, The Golden Mean, and The Brain. “…it’s interesting to know that a positive response to specifically proportioned shapes is built into our brains.“
• 5 Ways to Make a User Interface Intuitive. “You can’t go wrong with just trying to keep it as simple as possible.“

Everybody Look at Meeeeeee

Happy Webbies

To be a Happy Webbie, normally you have to have some spectacular web design/development talent to be included.

That is, unless you know Brad Colbow. Check out this awesomeness, my very own Happy Webbie.

Eric Wiley added this in a chat: “It is also funny that a spotlight avoider like yourself has been simultaneously iconned and labeled with an agressive byline.“

So yea, don’t look at my source.

For the Win!

I’m proud to report that this very site passed the rigorous test to be showcased on We Love Textpattern.

To be accepted, your website must adhere to these strict guidelines:

• Be running Textpattern

Which this site completely NAILS. Score.

Redesign?

Yep, because I willfully ignore self-imposed deadlines, I officially tossed my hat into the Design Deadline pool. If I can’t put together something better by February 5th, I’ll probably just pull the plug.