IBM "gets" Web2.0, that's pretty obvious.

And their new creation, QEDwiki looks like a very interesting and quick way to build intranets (or bigger) without a heavy-duty development team.

IBM Web2.0 wikis

Ok, my loathing of Internet Explorer is fairly well-known.

But the guys over at Explorer Destroyer make me seem sane.

Internet Explorer, Mozilla, Browser Wars

I like Sketchup. A lot. I used to mockup our backyard renovation plans, and found it to be fairly easy to use, powerful and flexible.

I wondered why Google bought them a while ago, and now we know. Behold, the Google 3D Warehouse.

Empower passionate users to build content for you, then let them share it, making your site more useful to everyone. Web2.0 at it's finest.

web2.0, google, sketchup

Via Lifehacker is this great essay on how to price design jobs, but it really applies to any contract for creative work.

"I find it funny... in a sad sort of way, that we often start out our partnership with bluffing, no one saying what they are really thinking... how much they are willing to pay and how much it should cost."

Well-said.

Technorati Tags: Design, pricing, business

Looks like the writing's on the wall for Macromedia Freehand.

I'm in the Illustrator camp, myself, but I know people who might suffer catatonic shock if Freehand goes away.

Freehand, Adobe, Macromedia, Obselete

Attention Microsoft and Apple : Yahoo! wants to play with your toys, too.

What they'll do with this and Konfabulator Yahoo! Widgets could get interesting...

Technorati Tags: Yahoo Go, Yahoo, DVR, web2.0, widgets

Is there a business or personal activity that can't be turned into a Web 2.0 app?

Apparently not.

Blinksale : Send Invoices online, easily.

Technorati Tags: Web2.0, useful, internet

Another Windows coder looks at the oncoming trainwreck that is Windows Vista, and asks a very, very good question: "Who is really in control here: me, or my operating system?"

Technorati Tags: Windows, Vista, security, ui

I hate it when a good website dies. I've enjoyed As the Apple Turns for years, but with 6 months past since it's last update, let's pronounce it DOA and move on.

Damn shame, though.

Technorati Tags: Appleturns, websites, humor

you wouldn't understand.

Technorati Tags: jazz, design, presentations

Ever since Modern English became hip again for the first time (look, I was there in the 80's. Sorry, that song was only marginally popular back then, and for good reason) due to their song "Melt" being on a Burger King ad, we've lacked a quick way to buy the popular music heard on TV spots.

Wait no longer (iTunes link).

A win-win-win situation for all involved. The advertiser gets the brand recognition, the artist gets some more $, and the iTunes Music Store becomes even more useful.

Nice. Now if they'd only get that snappy piano-driven techno track I heard recently on a Toyota TV spot into this list...

Technorati Tags: itms, music, advertising

A great article on how higher-res screens are affecting web design. A must-read for all the pixel-pushers out there.

Via Daring Fireball.

Technorati Tags: web design, css, internet, graphics

While I'm not a subscriber yet, I *love* NetFlix's business model. How do you solve the problems of bandwidth in a video on demand business?
The post office, of course.

Brilliant.

And they're not a company to let the little details go unnoticed, either, as evidenced by this fascinating look at the evolution of their DVD-delivery envelope.

Design matters.

Via Slashdot.

Technorati Tags: Netflix, design, packaging

In a brief burst of sanity, the recording industry has agreed that iTunes pricing should remain at $0.99 a song.

"...record companies had argued for more flexible pricing, with newer songs going for a higher price, and catalog material selling for less. The record companies had also pushed for a subscription option similar to that followed by most other online music stores."

The fact that those other services haven't made a dent in iTune's marketshare may have strengthened Apple arguments a bit...

Technorati Tags: Apple, iTunes, music, RIAA, iTMS

Mamiya may be leaving the camera business soon.

Wow.

With Bronica and Rollei out of business, that narrows the field in medium format down to Hasseblad.

Wow.

Technorati Tags: Mamiya, cameras, photography, film, obselete

who needs enemies?

Paul Thurrott rips Microsoft a new one for the ongoing Charlie-Foxtrot that is Windows Vista.

With a music player UI like this, I can see why.

Technorati Tags: Microsoft, Windows, Vista, disasters

a little surrealism must fall,

Las Vegas has not one, but TWO all-little-people KISS tribute bands?

Only in Vegas.

Technorati Tags: weird, fun, surreal

Presentation Zen is rapidly becoming a daily read for me, even though I rarely make presentations, and it's because of posts like this:

"Show more passion
If you want us to care, you better show that you care about your subject...deeply. You think business or science or technology are not passionate subjects? Nonsense. I saw the great Dr. Linus Pauling speak once at OSU in the '80s (he was an Oregon State alum). He was a very engaging and inspiring figure (and in his 70s I think). Dr. Richard Feyman, whom I've only seen on video, was also a passionate, and extremely engaging, articulate speaker. It's no wonder he was such a popular teacher."

Read the whole thing.

Technorati Tags: presentation, passionate users, marketing

I've been wanting to use Technorati tags on this blog for a while now, but hand-coding each tag seemed more than a little arduous.

Behold, the tag creator for multiple word Technorati tags (Firefox only).

Cool.

Technorati Tags: technorati, lifehacks, neat

to leave film behind.

Kodak announces film price hikes.

Technorati Tags: digital cameras, film, photography

Using the power of the internet, what can you get in return for one red paper clip?

How about a year's free rent in one of the nicest sections of Phoenix?

Disintermediation at it's finest.

Bibbety-bobitty boo.

Hilarious.

But oh so wonderful.

Putting a MacMini inside an original Mac.

Regretably so.

I am a HUGE Paul Rand fan. So this definitely got my attention, even if it's not one of his better logos.

Yet.

Right, honey?

Right?

are soon parted.

The sad thing is, they'll probably get a few subscribers.

Can this be right?

In France not a single enterprise founded in the past 40 years has managed to break into the ranks of the nation's 25 biggest companies.

Not one company founded since the post-WWII reconstruction has made it into the top 25?

No Walmart. No Berkshire Hathaway. No Home Depot.

I'd like to join Jeff Jarvis in welcoming AdAge to the list of print magazines that have realized that hiding content behind registration and subscriptions is a fast-track to irrelevancy.

Good for them, and good for us.

...toss a football, even toss your cookies,

so why not toss your camera for the ultimate in (hopefully) happy accidents?

Thanks for link, Jon!
(p.s. Start blogging again, soon, please?)

Coinstar turns loose change into iTunes songs.

Nice.

Even though I've been using Photoshop since version 2.5 (Ooooh, layers!), that doesn't mean I know everything about it.
And these ten tips were really useful.

Absolutely the ultimate online resource for designers.

This one's going to take me weeks to sort thru, but it's all there.

Don's redone his site, including this nice little link to free photos and templates he's giving out.

Great idea, and a great-looking site.

Now that I've ran out of excuses, I gotta get off my ever-spreading tookus and redo my site.

Why stop at running Windows and/or Linux on your Mac, when you can run System 7 or even Apple 2 software?

Hilarious.

Today is Tartan Day .

I wonder if I can get away with this at the workplace...

I'll make sure I pick some Kiltlifter Ale on the way home, though. Just in case.

First, there came Boot Camp, allowing dual-booting of Windows on Intel Macs.

Now we have a virtual OS that runs Windows within OS X, without the slowness of Virtual PC.

If you need me, I'll be down at the sporting goods store, stocking up on firearms and dehydrated foods. Clearly, the world is about to end. :-)

"Joining the conversation means losing control."

When Jeff Jarvis is right, he's really, really right.

And his thoughts on this, and GM's new "Create Your Own Tahoe Ad" are fascinating.

Genius. Sheer Genius.

I haven't subscribed to a newspaper in almost 8 years. With a wireless network at home and a small laptop computer, all the convenience of a newspaper is there at my fingertips, and I don't have to share the comics section with anyone.

And it seems I'm not alone, either.

While I haven't looked at a bridal magazine in 10 years, (the Mrs. had some while she was preparing to become the Mrs.), Jeff Jarvis has some interesting thoughts as to how bridal magazines can forecast audience behaviour.

"It’s no longer about just printing pretty pictures. It’s about creating the functionality to help people do what they want to do. If you do that, you might survive and succeed."

There's an old saying about newspapers that went "Never pick a fight with someone who buys ink by the barrel."

But now, we have people who don't need to buy ink, and don't have to worry about showing a profit.

If only they could keep their conversations about the 8th grade level...

A Javascript/DHTML/CSS first person shooter walker.

No Flash, no Shockwave, no Java.

Cool.