Author: John Roberts

Barry Parr brings together a few useful threads to say that site registration is a marketing error. I think he’s right in the long run, in that advertising against demographics rather than context seems both difficult to do (meaning, execute on) and less effective for the marketer. But I think he’s wrong in the short to medium term (1-5 years) because the market (and marketers) don’t move that quickly. Often enough, marketers are choosing between print and online (or buying both at the same time), and through history and comfort, the print statistics (subscribers, etc.) are the metrics. Online publishers have been unable to change the game without turning to Overture/Google tactics (effective, but often coming out of different marketing budgets). So, if you cannot change the game, and your competition (print) has metrics (i.e., demographics) and you don’t, you (the online site) are a riskier buy. In today’s economy, you don’t want to be the riskier buy.

Tim Bray is, as he speculates, forever to be known as the XML guy. (There are worse things to be known for, and he is known.) Whatever kudos accumulate from well-formed markup, I’m finding that I’m more appreciative of his regular essays and posts in ongoing (his blog). His clarity on topics as important — but often glossed over — as Unicode speaks volumes for the work he puts into his writing. It takes time to be clear and concise. I know I rarely take the extra time! I also find that ongoing looks good, visually. The combination of crisp text and reinforcing, unique design is not common. I know my design skills are… lacking… so I was happy to steal a visual theme from the ‘library’ of those already available.

Anyway, here’s a quick quote from the aforementioned Unicode article, in the section “What’s a “Character” Anyhow?”:

All human languages are written using characters; and while philologists can enjoy decades-long arguments about what characters are, as far as Unicode (and computers) care, a character can usefully be defined as the smallest atomic unit of text with semantic value.

Computers usually store characters as small numbers; back in the days of A-to-Z ASCII, you could fit a character into an eight-bit byte, but those days are long gone.

Historically, there have been hundreds of different systems for assigning characters to numbers and then stuffing those numbers into bytes of computer storage. Given that every computer manufacturer in the world tended to cook up their own scheme for every language in the world, this was clearly an interoperability disaster in the making, and led to the ISO and Unicode work.

I wonder why he was exploring this topic at this time… gestating a while, or solving a problem for Antarctica, his software company?

We just got back from seeing Guster at the Warfield. This is the third or fourth time we’ve seen them, and each time, it’s in a bigger venue. Good sign for them. We had seats in the balcony, and I was pleased to have a seat, honestly. Fun performance, as always, but not really music to dance to, with few exceptions. The balcony crowd was indecisive about whether to stand up or sit… but was mostly sitting. The opening band was Maroon5, which I had never heard of, but one of their songs was a recognizable single (Harder to Breathe). Not sure when we’ll get out again for a concert again next… Joe Jackson and Elvis Costello won’t be in the Bay Area anytime soon, and I’m hard-pressed to think who else is worth the effort. You can tell I’m not that on top of the music scene.

I occasionally join some friends as a substitute player in a floor hockey league. The fast twitch muscles are not really up to snuff anymore (if they ever were). I like to start, and keep moving at a reasonable clip. Stopping and starting and stopping and starting and so on… not exactly what a 3 mile run twice a week prepares you for. Lots of interesting stuff to read and (maybe) comment on, but not tonight. Need to get in bed about… now.

Bloomberg.com was redesigned recently. Someone on the online-news mailing list threw it out there today, asking for comment. I took a five minute look around, and was surprised to see such clean, colorful design. US markets were closed, of course, so maybe I’m not seeing the site at its busiest, but I expected more data density. I have never used a Bloomberg terminal, nor the Windows application which is replacing the terminals in some (many?) instances, but the Bloomberg service is famous for the richnes and complexity of its data, and applauded for the contortions through which you can twist said information. Is it all a ruse? I doubt it. Bloomberg has little interest in competing with themselves with their public website, and little incentive. The site is decidedly more consumer-friendly than the reputation.

But if you don’t stay true to the Bloomberg identity (dare I say, brand?), isn’t this a bit shortsighted? I’m kibitzing from the outside, but I manage a news website, so… we’ll see. It will take a couple of years to see whether I’m right or wrong here.

It was ironic, but I threw that line out just now, and my wife has promised to wake me up and make me sing the Bobby McFerrin song with her if the lyrics are running through her head in the middle of the night. Too bad she’s pregnant, or I’d suggest a drink to help her sleep better!

How disappointing that my mother-in-law didn’t continue her tradition of trying to bamboozle my wife. I didn’t try, either — the only ‘surprises’ I thought of were not funny, just scary. And that’s not clever… anyone can think of disasters.

Which is why the annual effort by TidBits is so appreciated. I hope they have as much fun writing their ‘news items’ as I do reading them.

The VPN at work is down. I rarely connect from home, since I can get my email in mobile fashion (thank you, RIM), but the people I work with need to get to the servers to make changes, and tonight, that connection just crapped out. Pointed reminder that despite thinking the network is Shirky’s permanet, at least here in the heart of San Francisco, working for an internet company… Internet Protocol (IP) isn’t a full utility yet.

I finished my mental candy last night, so it’s time to get some intellectual fiber again. I’ll see how a biography of Patrick O’Brian turns out. Author is Dean King, which means nothing to me now. I haven’t read all of the Aubrey and Maturin novels, but I’ve read enough to know they are masterpieces. O’Brian was notorious for avoiding publicity, so a tough one for the biographer. Maybe he wasn’t as invisible as Joseph Heller, but not exactly David Eggers, either.

I was drawn into O’Brian’s novels because I’d devoured (repeatedly) the Hornblower novels by C.S. Forester. I even wrote one of my college essays about Mr. Midshipman Hornblower! What does that say about me? Too late.

I received a notice that my current primary care physician (PCP… what a lovely acronym given the context) is moving to a new city, and therefore I’ll have to choose another doctor within my HMO. I’ve only seen my doctor three times in four years, so I don’t have a deep attachment here, but I realize I don’t have a good idea about how to find a new doctor. Why can I get dozens of reviews for a new digital camera but I cannot get any ratings (that I know of) for the services of a good doctor? Which decision is more important? For which do I have more information? Certainly not a new observation, but I feel like there is lot more to say over time. If this a problem that is worth solving as a business? Anyway, for now, any good doctors in San Francisco looking for healthy (knock on wood) patients? Yes, I’ll ask friends for recommendations… but few good doctors have spots available, especially if you are on an HMO plan.