I’ve been using del.icio.us for most of my quick links these days, but the various items marinating in my inbox at home seem to deserve a bit more attention, if not full individual posts.
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Magnets keep misbehaving collars in line – I’m still a button collar guy, most of the time, but I’m intrigued.
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The Awesome Power of Data Visualization, from Avinash Kaushik, lets me know about Jesse Bachman’s masterpiece Death and Taxes: A visual look at where your taxes go Kaushik
Indeed the true majesty of Jesse’s visual, and testament to the hard work it took, is that it is really easy to understand it with very little explanation…
Making the hard stuff simple… good job!
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I got a copy of Quinn before the lawyers swooped in. I can understand why the cease-and-desist was sent, but the author of Quinn has a point: why him, and not the dozens (hundreds?) of other Tetris derivatives?
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I knew of the practice, in both magazines and books, but never knew the term: castoff. India Amos explains in Making Castoff:
When I’m designing a book now, the most important thing I have to do is make castoff. This means figuring out a way to fit enough words on a page so that the book comes out to the number of pages that were budgeted for.
The continuing description of the process is fascinating, as so many specific trades are when you hear from an eloquent expert.
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I started reading JP Rangaswami a few weeks ago, and I’ve found various posts interesting. Now I have a new book to seek out: Why You Lose at Bridge by S.J. “Skid” Simon, thanks to Four Pillars: On Skid Simon and information
A bridge game is a small market. With conversations underpinned by open standards and conventions. Balancing a mix of collaboration and conversation. Rich in diversity, scaling across cultures, with low barriers to entry. Allowing a serendipitous view of mathematics and luck. Populated by experts and palookas and kibitzers.
Yes, I play bridge (very occasionally, not well), but no, I’ve never heard of Skid Simon either.
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Slashdot thread on What Brings Users to Blogs? makes me wonder if I’ll learn anything new. I haven’t gone through it, but if I saved it this long…
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Michael Hirsh, in Newsweek, on How Bush Makes Enemies. I share a print subscription to Newsweek, but never read it anymore… and it turns out this was a “web-exclusive” anyway!
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This article is behind a registration wall at MediaPost now. The headline was “To Engage An Audience, Sing From The Chorus,” by Mike May on July 27, 2006. I was glad to read that Mike spoke to Dennis Smith (AVP, membership and loyalty at CNET Networks) on the topic.
I got the sense from talking to him that ‘Engagement Czar’ may be a better title for him, as his job is to increase both the quantity of CNET Network members, and the quality of their experience with the sites. He is paying particular attention to user reviews on the sites, and how they contribute to engagement.
One way to do this might be to ensure that as many members as possible read the columns and reviews of as many of CNET’s editors as possible. After all, these are paid professionals whose job it is to hold and articulate opinions on the topics of greatest interest to the site’s visitors. But Dennis is more interested in metrics such as page-turns per visit–and especially return visits–than he is in determining the popularity of individual editors, or even the pull of editors compared to that of community features.
In fact, when asked if it’s more important that members return principally for editor opinions or peer reviews of products, he replied with conviction, “Not. One. Bit.”
Amen, Dennis.
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Hating America, a long, at times rambling, essay about exactly the opposite, from someone who’s spent a lot of time in Guatamela, among other places.
…the willing assumption of the trappings of poverty doesn’t constitute an understanding of poverty any more than dipping your toe in the pool constitutes swimming. This isn’t to say that the experience lacks merit, but it’s important to eventually figure out that you ain’t even looking to take a swim so much as stare at your reflection in the water.
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Leaving me with four emails, representing three tasks… that’s manageable.