Jakob Nielsen’s Alertbox, June 23, 2009: Stop Password Masking

Usability suffers when users type in passwords and the only feedback they get is a row of bullets. Typically, masking passwords doesn’t even increase security, but it does cost you business due to login failures.

This sounds like Nielson kicking up publicity. This is shorter than his normal articles and he hasn’t backed this one up by mentioning his latest rounds of usability tests. He’s often got really good points, but this is one that I have issue with.

Nielson has forgotten that the reason password masking exists is if you type it out but don’t submit the form right away, then it won’t be on the screen for a long length of time for passers-by to ‘shoulder-surf’. The form could be really really long and/or you might be a really slow typist.

Padlocks and deadbolts keep honest people honest. The same goes for password masking.

Not to mention that password masking is visual shorthand reminder for the personal habits of “you should remember what you right in this box, cos even you won’t see it” and “no-one else should see this but you”. If we removed this ‘tell’, what would become of the culture of ‘protect your password’?

Think of where, other than web sites, that password masks get used. ATMs, EFTPOS machines, computer software, the Operating System uses it. Western culture is conditioned to this design pattern, and I speculate that the only people who have trouble remembering passwords are the ones who were born before 1980.

I guess a compromise would be to have the field in plain text when it has focus, switching to a password mask on blur…? Not a difficult solution.

I was previously using Quicksilver, but I never bothered to set it up on my new user, and instead decided to try out Leopard’s new Spotlight – to great effect!

The one thing I detested about Spotlight in Tiger was the fact that the default choice was “Show All”, but now in Leopard it’s the Top Hit, which is usually what I’d want. The other thing was Quicksilver had a calculator function, but the new Spotlight has a calculator feature, which is live, unlike Quicksilver!

And because I managed to score the MacHeist this year, I received a copy of CoverSutra which totally surprised me with its awesomeness; like a sneaky ninja springing out from the ceiling, katana unsheathed, cleaving my mind, but in a totally awesome way, as ninjas are prone to do.

Andy makes a case that because we have ubiquitous free documentation, in the form of text-files, wikis, videos, how-to websites, screencasts and readily available specialist books (from O’Reilly no doubt), information is no longer the problem any more. Expertise is the new scarcity. Mentors and tutors and guides and people who know how to do things is the problem now.

I have a lot of industry contact in my tertiary level tutor role at Natcoll, and I keep an eye out on the jobs available in the web development industry in Wellington that my students can go into. That’s all well and good, but we’ve had organisations like mine are having a hard time finding highly skilled staff to relieve classes and even take on full time roles, and I understand it is the same at our different campuses around New Zealand — there are just not enough people who want to get into upskilling people up. There’s no shortage of people wanting to learn the ins and outs of design and development though, with no sign of slowing.

Teach NZ is always advertising on TV and on the Wellington buses for graduates who might want to take up Secondary School teaching (high school age for you non-kiwis). Now teaching in a secondary school is not for the faint-hearted, guaranteed. But what about universities? You’d probably need to have a Masters before you could get a good job teaching at a university.

There are other ways we learn other than attending institutes too: one-on-one mentoring, attending short courses, night classes, special interest groups (SIGs) including software user groups. And then there’s the communities on line too!

So why is teaching not a popular choice?

Why aren’t many people taking up the challenge of teaching? Do the people who think they want to be a teacher end up going to teacher’s college and having the life force sucked out of them? One friend of mine has a science degree and went to a teacher’s training college here in Wellington to become a teacher, went into a high school to teach physics and science and then after doing that for a year or so, switched careers! The challenges of high school teaching aside, he said he didn’t like it. Why? I don’t know, but I’ve got some ideas.

Teaching is a selfless job. You’re there as a servant. You serve the students concepts and information, challenging their pre-conceptions and assumptions, with the goal of them ‘getting it’; seeing the cogs in their heads suddenly mesh, and switch into gear and take off!

At least, that’s why I do it. And I’m not even formally trained as a teacher. All I have is a few years industry experience and a passion for being the best I can be at what I do. And I teach so that I can change the world I live in.

The internet is sometimes called the largest and most successful collaboration between individuals and organisations in the history of the human race. The internet was created so people could communicate over long distances. So they could share ideas and discuss the implications of what they were working on or what they themselves had discovered.

Specifically, I teach web development so that it can make the internet a better place. If that previous paragraph doesn’t sound like something to spend time understanding and improving, then let me know why you think so.

I could get a career as a web developer out in the industry tomorrow; there are plenty of jobs for the people who can do things out there.

But there aren’t enough people shaping those ‘do’ers.

There aren’t enough ‘teach’ers.

There aren’t enough specialised teachers. Well at least in the web industry there’s not. Not enough people teaching the hard stuff that requires masses of prerequisite knowledge. Even though the Web is just under 15 years old, the amount you need to know to make a successful website, or even a successful online community is tantamount to experience.

If you want to create a website these days, you have to know HTML, CSS, Javascript, a server side language such as PHP, Ruby, Perl or *shudder* ASP or similar. You need to understand the design and implementation of databases and how to use SQL. You need to have an eye for design, usability. You need to have a mind for communication and writing. You need to understand the human-computer interface and it’s strengths and weaknesses and how to wield these things.

Being a web guy is hard work. Still, web developers, even ones who are good at what they do, don’t get the industry recognition they deserve: a web developer or web designer (but not a ‘web decorator‘) will get paid less than a traditional ‘software developer’ who is making applications for Windows or services for the back office. But a web developer or web designer might have to a lot more than a traditional ‘programmer’.

And that prerequisite knowledge stack is only getting larger by the day! The most published thing online (other than cat pictures and pornography) is in my opinion information about the internet itself. There are tons of sites out there detailing the technologies I allude to above.

There’s lots of information online about what we web developers do. Freely available, just waiting for you to read it, if you so desired. But I believe there’s not enough people who are making it their life’s mission to mentoring and teaching and guiding individuals through this jungle of things out there waiting to be discovered.

You can go to Te Papa by yourself and see the Britten motorcycle. But that doesn’t mean you can go to Te Papa by yourself and learn about the fascinating story behind it.

But if you have a guide, they might be able to point you in the right direction.

Space Man Candy Sticks, Redesigned… UGH.
Uploaded to Flickr by Glutnix.

Carousel, the new owners of the kiwiana-status brand “Space Man Candy Sticks” have ruined an iconic New Zealand brand by redesigning the packaging. WTF were they thinking!?

Especially because they put a ginga in the deep vacuum of space without him first putting on his helmet.

“The New Internet: Communicating on Today’s Web” Slides

I had a great time sharing about the exciting new ways to get your audience involved, and the feedback I got from you all was really great — feel free to ask questions in the comments here — cheers!

People, you don’t need to play to Big Media’s rules anymore — the rules are changing, and if your audience is discerning, they’ll follow you as long as you’ve got the goods.  But with great power comes great responsibility: use the tools wisely

The extension for Firefox just went 1.0 final (heh, a Web 2.0 tool coming out of beta), and that’s a big deal. Joe has been working on Firebug for just over a year, and it has become a tool more indispensible than even Chris Pederick’s Web Developer extension!

What? You don’t have either of these?! You call yourself a web developer? Let me guess, you still think IE is the only browser worth developing for, and heck, you probably believe that developing to Web Standards is just elitist acadamia… get with the program. Why leave the interpretation of your code to tag-souped chance?

… Eh-erm. Sorry about that monkey I had to get off my back. I heard a rumor yesterday and my anger has found its vent.

But seriously, all those IE die-hards that are still out there today should be amazed at what tools our industry-standard (as opposed to the de-facto-standard) web browser we call Firefox makes available, let alone makes possible.

Since Mozilla 0.7, I’ve found it’s more time-efficient to develop in a Gecko-based browser, then bug-fix for everything else — because it’s much harder and stressy to start in IE and bugfix to Gecko. I’ve found this true for all the technologies: CSS, JavaScript, XSL, AJAX, and now SVG

Viva la revolución! Viva la web standards!

So we did. And let me tell you, I’m really happy with how it turned out. It’s nothing revolutionary or taxing, but it was heaps of fun to redesign and make the templates as we went, with Michelle right there working with me.

This comment from The Abandonware Blog about Bunny Abandonware 4.0 really made me feel good:

Finally some nice scene news! Bunny from Bunny Abandonware has been mentioning is for quiet some time now but finally managed to get the new version of her website online and I must say (again) that it kicks ass! The unique colors used by only one abandonware site, the wonderfull [sic] navigation, the nice kinda web 2.0 style with all the gradients and big buttons ‘n stuff… damned pretty.

LOL, I did some Web 2.0 :rolleyes: But I’m taking it all as a compliment. I believe that what Michelle does with her abandonware hobby is crucial for the survival, not just of the games, but of the memories. Abandonware, while legally dubious, is less a case of stealing and more the case of paying tribute. I keep telling Michelle she’s not just another retro gamer; she’s an archivist — the curator of her own museum. A museum where the exhibits remind her visitors of the way video games used to be, and where not only games, but ourselves as people have come since then, for better or for worse.

I think the best Christmas present I gave myself was when for Christmas I gave my brother a huge pack of water balloons . I had moved out of home to Wellington and I had come to realise that I missed him. We had fun in that back yard that one day, running around with the sole purpose of cooling off and having a blast. But I did it with the motive of having that memory to look back on — a careless, happier day in my history. It worked, and it’s one of the most cherished memories I have. It didn’t cost a lot.

Memories are worth gold, but the most valuable memories are the ones that cost the least.

On saturday, Glutbook wouldn’t power up. It made loud fan noises, but no apple chime After trying to use the Apple website to self diagnose and repair, I bundled it up in my bag, and took it down to MagnumMac, hoping that the service department would be open.

Nope. Not available till Monday, and I wouldn’t get a verdict till then. Paying for ‘same day’ service and checking Glutbook into what could either be a hospital or a morgue, I left feeling worried about having to shell out to replace it. Talking to my friends, they said it sounded like a fried logic board; that’s basically the motherboard of the laptop — the bit that everything plugs into, except on a laptop, things don’t really plug in so much as are soldered permanently onto it. If it fails, you replace the lot.

Monday rolls around, and I get the call — Glutbook died. Probably from overheating due to a faulty fan. NZD$1500+ to repair it. Crap. Oh well, at least the hard drive, the RAM, and the two batteries I had for it are still good (stay tuned).

I ask to be transferred to sales, and I discuss a replacement over the phone, discuss finance, and end up calling the financiers to get pre-approved, which surprisingly happens over the phone — none of this two-hour waiting crap. I tell my boss the sob story and ask if I can go sort it out and get a replacement.

I really wanted the Black 13″ MacBook 2.0GHZ, but after discussing it with my friends, I was essentially paying $400 for 40gb in a matte black shell, so I asked for the one below it, which comes in white. Oh well, I thought, the HDD is user serviceable on the MacBook, unlike the iBook — if it’s not a big deal, I can put a bigger hard drive in it later. But they were out of stock! Screw it, and as my friend Matthew said on the phone, once you go black, you’ll never go back.

So in order to introduce, here’s my first post on this blog made on GlutBlack. She’s great — class act all the way! I love it’s solid keyboard, the integrated iSight camera, the magsafe power connector, and the immense improvement in speed over Glutbook. I can totally recommend the MacBook range to anyone who thinks it will suit their needs. I mean, I didn’t need an aluminium MacBook Pro, what with me mostly reading and editing text and working on the odd Fireworks PNG file.

1. I sucked at tag. Primary school was pretty hellish for me — I was unfit, I had no friends, and I could never catch anyone. It’s a part of my life that I like to forget. Because I had no-one who liked me or understood me (my parents admit to not really understanding me and my interests when I was young) I turned to reading books and learning. If I had to pick someone who I think understood me when I was young, I’d probably have to say my grandmother on my mother’s side, Lois, who unfortunately passed away while I was at Intermediate, or just starting, I can’t remember. She would buy books for me all the time, and it was her who I credit for getting me into computers and specifically programming. An Osbourne book on Basic for various computers like the Commodore 64 and the TRS-80, and the really simple game listings within it. I would spend hours staring at that code, trying to figure out what the game would do. I wouldn’t get any kind of computer until after she passed away, and then it was a 286 and no-one told me where GW-Basic was.

   Gosh, there’s a bit there. Does that count as only one?

2. I love computer games, but in reality, I’m not a hardcore gamer. I like the games that I can pick up, play for 15 minutes, and then put to one side. To this end, I rarely finish a game. A mild case of ADD? It’s certainly not AD&D I can count on one hand the games I’ve clocked without cheats:
   • Half-Life (PC)
   • Half-Life 2 (PC)
   • Half-Life 2: Episode 1 (PC) (but that barely counts)
   • Phoenix Wright (Nintendo DS) (but it’s mostly trial-and-error. Heh, trial, law game)
   • Doukutsu Monogatari (aka Cave Story) (PC)

   Yet recently I’ve bought so many DS and GBA games for my Nintendo DS Lite, and haven’t clocked any others

3. I’m not allergic to anything, but I have had cancer. I have a giant scar on my back from where they removed a melanoma (skin cancer). Luckily it came back from the labs that it hadn’t spread, but I can’t give blood anymore. If they’d let me, I’d go every six months. So if you’re reading this, and you are able to give blood, you should go do it — it helps so many people out there, and only inconveniences you for a few hours; heck, most workplaces will let you go give blood on work time!
4. When I want to chill out, the forest is my chill out space. I love to just go somewhere and listen, relax. Rivers are also very awesome. I was baby sitting a couple of my mum’s friend’s kids for the weekend one time in the middle of summer, and they had some really large inner tubes, so we took them out on the river out the back of their house, and had a ball and we all got so tired, we walked back, packed stuff away, and we all fell asleep in the lounge where we were sitting, totally unexpectedly. It was probably the quietest they ever were!
5. I like chiptunes. Music made on old retro hardware that sounds like it could have come out of an old GameBoy or C64. I especially like the stuff that comes out of 8bitpeoples
6. Bonus Fact: I don’t like peas. But that said, they are tolerable when mixed with other vegetables. But by themselves, blargh.

Bob Brown (Confessions of a Guru), Hamish MacEwan (self titled), Hillary (Kiwirose in Canada), Dan Milward (Mind of Mufasa) (fix your feeds, they’re broken), and Unbounded (self-titled), even though Unbounded is the kind of guy who would abhor this kinda meme; TAG – You’re it!

Your “Features Consultant”, Mr Deepak Desousa, recently left some advertising for your magazine’s services on a post about my Father’s Day exploits three years ago.

Here are some reasons why I think you, the magazine known as “The Aucklander” done the wrong thing here:

1. I live in Wellington, not Auckland.. I happen to not like Auckland’s ‘culture’ a hang of a lot, for reasons I care not to discuss in this forum. Why would I give a rat’s ass about a local magazine in a city I am loathe to visit under most circumstances? Thanks for further cementing my belief that Auckland is made majorally out of people who only care only about themselves.
2. Your comment is off topic and advertising you haven’t paid for. My blog has a comments facility to enable those who read it to contribute constructive feedback or add their own two cents to the point of view I put forward. It’s not for maverick marketeers to hijack to post their own advertising on, so you can sell advertising yourselves. This is known as Comment Spam, and is the bane of many bloggers’ existance. Thanks for perpeptuating the vicious cycle.
3. If the business deal was for ME, then you should have contacted ME. Leaving a comment was the wrong way to contact me. I have a very visible contact page. If you wanted to pay me for some lucrative advertising deal, then you should have emailed me or even telephoned me personally.
4. No you can’t sip my Google Juice. Just because my father’s day post happens to be the #7 result for fathers day site:nz on Google right now without me even trying, doesn’t mean you can rip the cup from my hands. Google ignores any URLs in my comments — they have rel="nofollow" on them. However, my Google Juice is so strong that this post talking about The Aucklander will probably feature quite highly when people Google for you.

I hope that clears things up.

If I lived in Auckland, I’d probably be available to come to your offices and talk to you personally about this. But I don’t. If you want to talk to me, please feel free to contact me personally, now you know the correct medium to do that within, during business hours.

SubEthaEdit is basically multiplayer notepad – it allows you to collaborate with others across a network, all editing the same file in different places.

I don’t know if I’d use it personally, but hey, commercial software for free is not something I’d balk at

The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There’s also a negative side. Hunter S Thompson

And with that said, go listen to Cory Doctorow’s Digital Rights Management (DRM) talk he gave in Antwerp earlier this year.

Also Relevant: MPAA Logo Goatse

After purchasing what I thought would a BigPond prepaid internet set up pack, and discovering that it was instead a prepaid internet recharge code at a local IGA store. Since that didn’t work, and I wanted to get on the internet that night with my mactop, Mum and Neil signed up temporarily for a 7 hour dialup account. Cheers guys!

I tried taking the code back this morning. I get there around 10am and the IGA manager tried to get it refunded from BigPond, but couldn’t, and said I should try a Telstra store and get it sorted there.

So off on my little feet I went, trekking into the middle of Brisbane to find a Telstra store. They said if I’d have bought the code at their store, they’d be able to refund me easily. They said I should try going to the nearest IGA store and tell them the story.

So I stepped out to the Information Centre in the middle of Queen St, and asked where the nearest IGA was. Brunswick St, about the same distance as home to where I was, but in the opposite direction. Oh well, why not.

Around 12:30, I find this store, and ask them for a refund. No good — they tried talking to BigPond too — but in the end, they couldn’t refund it either, and told me to go back to where I bought it… DAMMIT.

So about a 2 hour trek back to the first IGA store, and about 20 minutes of waiting for the manager to sort it out, and BigPond said they would credit the AUD$9.95 to the post-paid account. Not the most ideal refund, but it would do — I was going to pay Mum and Neil back anyway.

I got home about 2pm.

. . .

It’s 36 degrees out here. I’m using my mactop on the picnic table on mum’s balcony. I’ll be dialing up soon to post this to my blog. My blisters have blisters. I don’t think I want to do any more walking. Going home to New Zealand tomorrow!

But seriously, 3am and I want to go to sleep already, dammit. There are security guards here trying their best to get the sirens turned off. Whats New, our landlords, haven’t exactly been helpful in any of this. Oh, and would they fix our elevator for once and for all? -_-; Incompetent.

I’m listening to the Katamari Damacy soundtrack I nabbed off of Macweeny yesterday. It’s quite relaxing, even though the drone of the beeping is still quite loud, even street-side. But it is quieter down here than in my room. And at least I’ve got Cafenet coverage here

If a guy holding a white iBook is found lying down on the street this morning, it’s me. Please don’t steal my laptop.

Oh, and happy birthday, SmileyChris Hopefully I’ll see you later today, if I’m not freezing my toes off.

I mean, taking Eric Meyer for example, hearing the world expert on CSS talk about his field in the morning, meeting him and having a conversation with him after lunch, getting two books he wrote signed by him that night, hearing him talk again the next day, and then go out drinking with him and our new-found buddies and some of us end up at a nightclub in Kings Cross… THIS STUFF JUST DOESN’T HAPPEN! And it wasn’t just Eric either, it was Molly, Tantek, Doug Bowman, John Allsopp, Jeffrey Veen, Derek Featherstone, and so many more! It was so much more than an honour to meet these people; hanging out was a mindjob.

What’s weird at first is that the “big stars” are approchable and friendly in real life, they want to know who you are, because they know you know who they are. This is in comparison to many people in the lime light in other more fame-focused industries (music, movies, but not microcode) who are less likely to give you time of day than have a conversation with you.

As much as this will sound like I’m blowing my own horn or that I’m kissing up, the most humbling thing to discover at the conference was that some of these “big stars” had heard about “the guy who was fundraising through his blog to get to we05” and that when those individuals and I met, they had a suspicsion that I was that person — I didn’t have to tell them. These people knew kinda who I was!

So when I get home and discover that Molly and Tantek have left such generous comments that I have a grin from ear-to-ear, how am I supposed to react?

Really, it all comes down to respect: I could have an unhealthy respect for them bordering on holding them as idols, but one has to remember that they are just regular people. As the famous Bruce Dickenson once said “Easy, guys… I put my pants on just like the rest of you: one leg at a time. Except, once my pants are on, I make gold records.”

And when I think about it, and as hard as it is for me to get to grips with it right now, in reality, they are my friends and colleagues in this industry. Now to keep those friendships alive! Hey Tantek, I’d be keen to see the photos you took on your Matrix tour…

Mind you, he also said “I got a fever! And the only prescription… is more cowbell!”, so I won’t push that metaphor

UPDATE: I guess the other side of the equation can happen too: molly.com » Moments of Doubt and Glory

CJ and I did the duty free store – there was hardly anything. CJ tells me to wait till I see Sydneyâ€s duty free area – much better a selection. That said, Iâ€ve never seen such a big bottle of Baileys or such a big bar of Toblerone in my life.

Iâ€m listening to the Daily Source Code on my iPod. I really like listening to podcasts – they fill time so well, and there is always something interesting to listen to. IT Conversations especially.

If you canâ€t tell, Iâ€m rambling. I try to blog when I have something interesting to say, but today, Iâ€m blogging for the sake of blogging. An almost-live thought-dump if you like, seeing as Iâ€m not posting this till I get onto some sort of internet connection.

Iâ€ve told a few people that I used to have this recurring dream that Iâ€d be flying to somewhere in the world, and Iâ€d get to the other country, get to customs and Iâ€d forgotten my passport; Iâ€d left it on my desk at home. Of course, thatâ€s not possible, because you need to show your passport before you get into the international departure lounge, but I was pretty scared that Iâ€d forget something pretty important by the time I got to Australia.

Iâ€m pretty excited about getting to Sydney. The flight is just a necessary boredom between here and there, even though Iâ€ve never left New Zealand before; yes, this is the first time in my life.

I hope I can get a bed at wakeup tonight. The place looks pretty trendy from the website, but if I get there about 8pm on a Wednesday night, Iâ€m concerned that they wonâ€t be able to put me up.

. . .

So here I am on the Airbus A320 to Sydney. I don’t know what time it is, because I don’t know what time zone I’m in right now, and I my cellphone is off. (EDIT: When I wrote this, I didn’t think to look at the time on my laptop.) Iâ€m in row 5 behind, the 2nd row from the front of the main cabin, behind Business Class. I canâ€t recommend this seat, because the front row of business is equipped with bassinets for baby travel, and thereâ€s three babies traveling with us today. After 3.25 hours of this I can imagine Iâ€ll be all “Argh! SHUT IT OFF SHUT IT OFF!”

Itâ€s lovely above the clouds. I wish I could tell you how high we are.

OK, on goes the podcasts – damn babies.

11:33
So I got into Sydney about 5:30. I say 5:30 because there was a HUGE line at customs. But once we got into Sydney proper, we drove off to the centre of town to the Mercure where CJ was staying. The bellhop at the Mercure gave me bum directions to Wake Up, and I ended up walking around nearly the entire railway station. Man they have some really long pedestrian subways in Sydney; so long infact that in this particular subway there were two buskers who werenâ€t within earshot of each other.

So eventually after asking some random people where this place was I found it. Itâ€s a really nice place – trendy, and really busy. Iâ€m in a six-share with five other girls.

So I went to wake upâ€s bar “Side Bar” – a fitting name for a guy whoâ€s a web developer. I ordered the special of the day (Steak & Kidney Pie + a pint – WTF, I hate kidney!) and grabbed a seat with some randoms. Backpackers are friendly people, always ready to strike up a conversation – I guess this is of necessity, as people donâ€t know anyone, and are looking for people to hang out with. I met two people from the US, one from Denmark and one from France.

Right now Iâ€m lying on my bed typing on the laptop. Itâ€s hard to keep my head up, especially with all the beer I just consumed. I should save this and go to sleep. BTW, Iâ€m typing all this into Word, as thereâ€s no public wifi available from this room.

Actually, there is, but itâ€s pay wifi, so I went and hunted down a AUD$20 Telstra PhoneAway card. So Iâ€ll post this now and hit the sack.

No photos as yet. Will take photos at the conference tomorrow

Hi. I don’t appreciate it what you’re doing with the blogs that I manage, subverting its intended purposes so that you can make money, by creating comments on my stories for the sole purpose of having a link to a site you are “SEO-ing”.

My blogs are:

• http://www.webfroot.co.nz

You might notice that both of these blogs use the rel="nofollow" attribute on links entered using the comments form. Google openly IGNORES any links with this attribute applied to it by not giving any of that page-rank goodness to the target site that you’re trying to achieve. More information here at the Official Google Blog and Google’s site itself.

While I appreciate your SEO company has hungry employee mouths to feed, I’d appreciate it that you’d take your scum-of-the-earth “optimisation techniques” and retire them.

What I am demanding you do:

1. Continue to use Ethical SEO techniques, but stop using the unethical techniques, like the link spamming you’re doing right now. See Wikipedia’s entry on Search engine optimisation for more info on ethical and unethical SEO techniques.
2. Stop mis-using other people’s blogs to pimp your wares.
3. If you MUST spam peoples blogs, at the very least, don’t waste your time with blogs that use rel="nofollow".
4. Remove my blogs from your un-ethical blog-abusing SEO machine.
5. Stop selling lies to companies that you can improve their ranking on Google.

I’ve posted this communication on my blog for all to see at this URL. And you’ll note that the links to your websites have rel="nofollow" applied to them.

Screw you guys,

Brett Taylor

UPDATE: Zak from The Found Agency just contacted me on my cellphone from Sydney, and after a short friendly chat I have provided him with the comment records from my databases. He was really friendly and deadly serious about looking into it within their organisation, which is a real credit to FoundAgency. I really appreciated the call, Zak

As the email address on the comments entered was the main reason for tying the comment to The Found Agency, it’s true that they could have been framed. I checked their site, and saw they did SEO stuff, and one of their clients was a real-estate website. It could have been entered into the form by anyone — but it got past my spam filter, so it’s unlikely that it was automated.

He also saw that I was coming over to Sydney next week for WE05, and invited me to The Found Agency offices to see what they do and how they are not blog spammers, which I intend to do. If it turns out that I was wrong, I guess I’ll be buying Zak a beer

HAPPY ENDING: Turns out Zak is buying the beer It turns out that a new employee got over-eager to impress at his new job, and that employee has now been put to the task of collating a list of the sites he posted to, and I’ve been told that The Found Agency will be apologising personally to the owners of those sites.

Good has been done here. A problem solved. I’m going to be dropping by The Found Agency while I’m in Sydney, and I’ll report back. I hope that I’ll be able to come away from this meeting and recommend The Found Agency in the future! They certainly took this seriously and are taking excellent steps to rectify this occurance, which is highly commendable.

He would have learnt that Creative Commons is a way to grant everyone permission to use your works in certain ways without giving up your copyright, encouraging a world where you don’t have to hire a pack of rabid lawyers just to clear permissions. “Permission is already granted”.

Creative Commons is about encouraging creativity. Because creativity always builds on the past. But the past is wrapped up in red tape. So we have CC licences that allow those who would build upon your work to cut through that red tape.

It’s not hard to understand. Less Lawyers = Good Thing.

Sure, adding a CC licence to your blog might be ‘trendy’, and I can safely assume very few, people, if any, are going to take my blog posts and build something new and exciting from them. But what’s wrong with saying “I don’t mind if you do”, even if the chances of that happening are slim-to-none?

John C. Dvorak, I thought you were cool, working with Chris Pirillo on that book of yours and all. I do realise this is an opinion piece, but come on, it feels a bit premature. You really should do your damned research.

Design is a mis-used word today, and leads to much confusion in the Web industry today. I consider myself a “Web Developer”, because I’m a developer. But people categorise me as a Web Designer. Yes, I design things, but I don’t do asthetics as well as I do functionality.

According to Web Design From Scratch, Design is a spectrum. Something that is well designed will be an appropriate balance between Asthetic design and Functional design. Designing the Asthetics is the art of creating something visually conveys an emotion or brand. Designing the Function is the art of making something useful.

Even though I’m a programmer and focus on the functional end of the spectrum of design, I rely on the so-called “Web Designer” (who is in charge of asthetics) to make the application look good, and every time in my life I have been sorely disappointed.

Why is this? Web Asthetic Designers too often focus on the “wrapping of the content”; That is to say all they do is the graphics that surround a body of text. They might stipulate a font, colour and point size for the text, but that’ll be it.

What about Bullet points? Blockquotes? Sub-headings? The asthetic design of web forms? Text-boxes? Buttons? Photo positioning and balance? Captions? Source Attribution? Even simple things like link colours are sometimes forgotten.

Too many times I have recieved a “letterhead” — a webpage design that is essentially a blank piece of paper save for an asthetically pleasing header and navigation. Don’t get me wrong, I need someone to do that part, but I also need someone to tell me how to fill that blank space in a manner that doesn’t clash with the template.

As a programmer who appreciates asthetically-pleasing, yet gloriously-functional-design, but as someone who is less capable to create the asthetics (but doing his best), I would appreciate a web designer who can provide a great site presentation and provide a style guideline for laying out content within the template they provide. Is that too much to ask?

—

People say you can tell when a programmer has designed a webpage because it doesn’t look pretty. One web agency I worked for it would call it “Programmer Art”. But I can tell when a designer has half-designed a webpage, because the programmer’s user interface is clashing with the design of the site.

Oh, and don’t think I’ve forgotten that Programmers also have a responsibility to make their applications user friendly. But that’s a whole different rant.

For those who haven’t read the post on Webfroot about this game, , Doukutsu Monogatari (Japanese for “Story of the Cavern”) was developed in 2004 in Japan. It’s probably the most fun freeware game I’ve ever played and finished to some degree (more on that later). Now, I’ve played the english fan-translated version, and thoroughly enjoyed it — it’s got a great start, the gameplay is superb, and the plot is intriguing and fun.

The Hook
You start the game with a cut scene of some dude in a room with what seems to be a broken teleporter trying to chat to someone through a computer who isn’t there. The game starts. You’re in a room, weaponless, and there’s a door, and you know nothing else. You soon find a weapon and then more of this dude chatting away. You eventually figure out what to do next and you’re dropped into a village of cute sentient rabbit-like ‘Mimigas’, or what’s left of them, and the conflict is revealed. The sheer mystery of everything in this game is a fascinating start, and draws you in like a good first chapter of a book, and doesn’t stop.

The Line
Cave Story is a platformer game that looks distinctly like a game you’d expect to see on a NES, except this game is for the PC, and was made in 2004. It’s got instant retro charm. Even though the graphics are all really beautiful, cute 2d sprites, all the characters, monsters and scenery graphics are highly polished, and definitely draw you in.

You start with a simple pistol, and as you kill things, orange triangles drop charging the weapon’s power bar up, with it eventually levelling up into a more powerful variation. Each of the weapons in the game levels up three times, with the different weapons forming a powerful arsenal, which feels out of place with the cutesy retro graphics. Some weapons (like the secret ‘Bubbler’) are crap until you get them to level 3, but I found myself sticking to the machine gun and the missile launcher when I really needed it.

The sheer number of monsters keeps the game fresh the whole way through. Some of the monsters reappear on each new level — initially you think you’re up against the same monsters you faced in the previous level, they’re just a different colour. But no, they either move differently or shoot or fly or something unexpected, which really keeps you on your toes. Some non-boss monsters only appear once or rarely, like the haunted door at the end of the first level and the eye-bricks that crush you, which is adds strangely to the mystery of this game.

There are some good fun puzzles sprinkled through the game that you have to solve to proceed; these help grow the plot and game universe, but are standard adventure-platform fare, ranging from “figure out how to open this door” to “find components for >npc< to build you >plot advancing item<. You have a small inventory which you can use to change weapons while pausing, but it mostly serves little purpose save for activating a few important items.

As you progress in the game, more details are revealed about the character you’re playing, where you are, what is actually happening with all these Mimigas being abducted by an evil doctor and his minions.

The relationship between the powerful #2 Misery and her incompetent sidekick Balrog is entertaining; the conflict between Sue and the other Mimigas is mysterious; the strange presence of a handful of humans who look nothing like you; and the strange qualitys of — the game is one huge mystery! The sheer number of truly interesting and charming characters who you will care about are all interwoven in a great tapestry of a story, which will keep you trying to defeat that next tough boss. The plot, along with the gameplay, are the best parts of this game.

The music is also really neat, with a distinctly chip-tune feel to it. Looking and listening to the game, people will ask if you’re playing an emulator

Oh and the BOSSES! This game has enough bosses to challenge even the mightest of small corporations! They do start out easy, but by the end of the game, you’re wondering if the boss after boss after multiple bosses will ever end, and you’re praying for a savepoint!

The Sinker
According to the translators, the game has three distinct endings, two of which I have found. After reading a walkthrough of what I just did, apparently the third way is the true hero’s ending to the game, which thankfully the walkthrough tells you how to activate the plotline switches, but doesn’t guide you through the true ending. The two endings I have found feel downright disappointing and like finishing a Sonic game without the Chaos Emeralds, respectively, so I’m probably gonna play through the entire game again.

The game has a single save slot, which sucks because I can’t just go back to that plot switchpoint. Also, this means you sholudn’t save the game when showing the start of the game to your friends (not that I got bitten by this one).

The Verdict
Cave Story takes the best parts of the old and now-dying 2d platformer genre, injects a heafty dose of original challenging gameplay into it, showers it in fascinating characters, weaves into it an immensely intriguing story, while still staying true to it’s console inspiration to create an incredibly fun game to play and conquer, one you’ll want to be playing again in a few years time to relive the story.

The game is freeware, but puts many of the modern shareware games I can think of to shame. 10 years earlier and released on the NES or Mega Drive and I believe this would have been a mainstream classic.

I recommend this to anyone who misses the Commander Keens, Metroids and Castlevanias of yesteryear, and enjoys a good story.

Doukutsu Monogatari weaved it’s way into my heart. An underground independant gaming classic. A Must Play.

Vitals:

• Windows 98, 2000, XP
• Requires DirectX 5.0 or better
• Also available for Mac
• 6MB when installed
• Download Windows English 1.0.0.5 from the Doukutsu Monogatari page on Home of the Underdogs

More Information:

• Studio Pixel — authors of the original Japanese game (see Doukutsu Monogatari page)
• Aeon Genesis – the translators of the game (see Doukutsu Monogatari page)
• Doukutsu Monogatari on Webfroot
• Doukutsu Monogatari on 1up.com
• Google Search for “Doukutsu Monogatari”

Monday:
I finally spring into action fixing an old computer for a family — it’s an HP Pavillion 4404 (404 not being a good omen). Try to install Windows 98 SE on there, it works. Download drivers for the HP from their website. When I install them, they don’t take hold, and a driver for the video card is missing That’s not gonna work… Off to MysteryMovieMonday… the world’s most disturbing movie Visitor Q is shown… when it is over, everyone is glad.

Tuesday:
Time for another attempt at this HP. Use the crappy “system restore” CDs which basically factory-fresh the operating system. Try to install Windows 98SE over the top — wrong! I need a Windows 98 SE Update disk… :P. I go to my church cell group (for the uninitiated, bible study group)

Wednesday:
My iPod was being stupid just before I went to work — it didn’t copy the playlists across, probably because it was full. There is lag between docking and windows suddenly recognising it. I was late for work, and got impatient. I removed the iPod from the dock and accidently dropped it on the floor.

DO’H!. I reset the iPod and it went into a perpeptual reset cycle — apple logo, file error icon, reset, apple logo, file error icon, etc. I left it in my dock and went to work iPodless.

I call my Dad and get him to send me my thumb drive. I am getting paid to tutor my friend Bevan in CSS tonight. I get home late and I don’t want to touch the stupid HP.

Thursday:
Tried to get the iPod working before work, No good. Actually, having the iPod in the dock crashes WinXP during boot-up. Weird. Boot up without the iPod, then try to dock the iPod — Windows hard-resets. WTF?

I have lunch with Bevan, and he borrows my Designing with Web Standards book. We pop into Dymocks and I see a copy of The Zen of CSS Design by Dave Shea, mastermind behind CSS Zen Garden. I buy it

That night, I had borrowed the Win98 -> Win98SE upgrade CD from work and start it installing… then it bluescreens… Need to system restore from CD again. SE is no longer an option. I go to Curry. After a restore, I just try to install IE6. It starts installing, but for some reason, it says at the end that it didn’t work properly, and leaves Win98 borked beyond repair, needing another system restore from CD. Something doesn’t want this machine updated Then the computer spontaniously turns off — the power supply overheated… ARGH. I go to bed.

Friday:
I get my USB thumb drive; Dad has posted it to me. Yay! Zen of CSS Design is pretty awesome, and written really well, but in an interesting style. It looks at the different Zen Garden submissions and pulling out tidbits of design and css wisdom from them, in a very logical and well thought out order. Maybe I’ll write more about that later…

Hey Adam,

I heard on the show you were looking to learn how to type better. I used to be just like you, always looking at the keyboard, somewhere between hunt and peck and touchtyping.

A few years ago I had a whole lot of spare time on my hand, and I looked into the Dvorak keyboard layout. It’s a completely different keyboard layout, but it’s got some advantages over the standard QWERTY layout. All the vowels and most common constants are on the ‘home keys’, and more common letters are nearer the home row.

  ` 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 [ ] BACKSPACE
     ' , . p y f g c r l / =
     a o e u i d h t n s - ENTER
      ; q j k x b m w v z

You don’t need a new keyboard to learn Dvorak, because Windows, Linux and MacOSX have the ability to switch to Dvorak in software (instructions later).

Learning Dvorak appealed to me because I could learn keyboarding afresh — my bad habits that I had learned using the QWERTY layout would be useless.

It took me about 6 weeks of typing before I was able to ditch the Qwerty layout. But during that time, if I had something important to do, I would switch back to Qwerty, and when I was done switched back to Dvorak.

However, it has been said that you can learn the Dvorak layout in about a month…

About 2 months after starting the learning process, my friend started learning Dvorak too. We’re both computer programmers working in the Web industry, so typing is an integral part of our day. I now no longer look at the keys, and am touch typing. I average about 45wpm when typing from copy.

Biggest con with the Dvorak layout:
Ctrl-Z : Undo
Ctrl-X : Cut
Ctrl-C : Copy
Ctrl-V : Paste

Those editing key shortcuts are grouped together on the Qwerty keyboard, and are close to the Ctrl key — On Dvorak keyboards they are all over the place. And the worst one is when editing a blog post in a web browser, and on Dvorak you go to press Ctrl-V but by accident you press Ctrl-W, which is the shortcut for Close Window… that’s something that really got me angry when learning.

But four years on, I’m still a Dvorak advocate.

If you do want to learn keyboarding (Q or D) here’s a tip:
Don’t EVER look at the keyboard while learning.
If you’re learning Dvorak for one, your keyboard will have the wrong key labels on them. Instead of buying a new keyboard or putting labels on your keys, print out a copy of the layout and attach it to your monitor somehow. Typing tutor programs display the keyboard on the screen for a reason

A veritable treasure trove of Dvorak information is available at http://www.mwbrooks.com/dvorak/ including a picture of the layout and how get your OS to remap your standard QWERTY keyboard to a Dvorak layout

A really good typing tutor program is Ten Thumbs Typing Tutor, and is available for Windows, Linux and Mac!

Anyway, love the show, keep it real!

Glutnix: back
vic: Welcome.
Glutnix: heh yday in the work kitchen i totally 0wn3d some anonymous person…
Glutnix: for a few weeks now we’ve had this note stuck above the light switch telling us not to turn off the fluroscent lights because turning them on uses too much electricity.
Glutnix: and finally i thought — how many minutes of normal lighting juice does it take to turn the thing on?
vic: Wouldn’t it use less juice to stay off all night?
Glutnix: cos i’m thinking its like 1 minute max, but they make out it’s something like 3 hours or something
Glutnix: (we turned it off at night — it’s just the on and off and on and off of the day they’re concerned about)
vic: That’s ridiculous.
vic: Oh, I see. Maybe they should get one of those key switches.
Glutnix: which it turned out to be — turning on a fluro uses the same power as about 5 seconds of normal lighting
Glutnix: Should I Turn Off Fluorescent Lighting When Leaving A Room?
Short Answer: Turn them off if you will be gone for more than about 15-20 minutes (for details keep reading).
Glutnix: so we found a web page that basically blew that myth out of the water, turned it into a fact sheet and put it above the switch instead
vic: Your writing an article about it?
Glutnix: Article at LightingDesignLab.com
Glutnix: 0wn4g3!
vic: Lol! That’s hillarious. You should blog some of this stuff.

So I did…

And remember: always, always fact-check!

Turns out I was wrong. They hadn’t caught the Interislander, but had caught one of the other, faster ferrys and had been in town for over an hour now. And I didn’t know this because Andrew’s cellphone was flat and he hadn’t been getting my messages.

One taxi ride later, a dash to get my wallet from inside, a dash to the ATM to get some cash for the fare and a dash back to the taxi to pay the bill, I proceeded to idle up Cuba St and finally we meet!

Andrew’s stuff was in his friend’s car who was stuck somewhere deep in the one-way system that is the Cuba Quarter. Told to go meet him at a particular corner, Andrew’s friend was a no-show. Call Andrew’s now charging phone, and get dispatched to some unknown cul-de-sac in Dixon St. A quick jog and I am able to guide the driver to Lower Cuba St.

After unloading some of TmsT’s gears, and me getting drive-by-egged in the process (I actually came out of it unscathed – I took the egg on the shoulder, it ricocheted off me and hit the inside of the open boot door where it released its runny yellow payload), we ride the lift to the roof and chill out there for half an hour, admiring the city scape. Andrew meets his biggest fan in Wellington.

We retire to the apartment, set up Andrew’s computer and get down to animutating. At some point we get the munchies and make a quick raid to the corner BK, and get back into it. About 4:20 we decide it’s Z-time. Glutnix set up TmsT the spare mattress, and we crash about 4:45am, not before setting the alarm clock for 7am, only a little over 2 hours away.

A Klaxon sounds. Rising from our slumbers quicker than a zombie on guarana pills, we pack up Andrew’s computer. We pose for a photo, and when we get the word that Andrew’s ride to Auckland is en route, move his stuff all back downstairs again. He hands me a copy of his graphic novel “The Fisherman” and we bid each other adiau.

That’s when I crawl back into bed and sleep till past noon. We had a grand ol’ time Best wishes for art school in Auckland, Androo

Glutnix: wow i got me a 20Q and I was guessing CD and it guessed DVD ROM
TmsT: o.o layman’s terms?
TmsT: is this on Trademe?
Glutnix: no
Glutnix: 20Q is a toy that plays “20 questions” with you
Glutnix: you press buttons on it
TmsT: aha
TmsT: so it guesses stuff and you teach it new things?
Glutnix: i don’t think the handheld learns
Glutnix: but it has a pretty big database of stuff
Glutnix: it got CD-ROM after 5 more questions
Glutnix: it askes 20 questions, you say yes, no, sometimes or unknown
TmsT: oh yep
Glutnix: after 20 it guesses, if it’s not right, it askes 5 more
TmsT: and if it hits a blank you enter the name of the thing?
Glutnix: no, it’s only got 6 buttons
TmsT: try “Colin Mochrie”
Glutnix: LOL

Read the rest — warning, hilarity about adult related subjects ensues.

Glutnix: it’s only good for generic items
Glutnix: so far it knows:
TmsT: ah. so you can’t add to its database?
Glutnix: tank
Glutnix: not to the toy’s db
TmsT: arg
Glutnix: but it’s based on the most popular items on the 20q.net website
Glutnix: http://20q.net/pocket.html is what i got
TmsT: oh yep
Glutnix: wow – quarter million synaptic connections
Glutnix: 20q knew “elf” and “paper” and “tank” and “pie”
TmsT: try ‘ninja’
Glutnix: ok
Glutnix: ninjas are animals, right?
Glutnix:
Glutnix: not small
Glutnix: not dangerous
Glutnix: oops, yes dangerous
Glutnix: doesn’t have short fur
TmsT: heh
Glutnix: doesn’t have 4 legs
TmsT: is “not animal” automatically not human as well?
Glutnix: doesn’t live water
Glutnix: *in
Glutnix: doesn’t lay eggs
TmsT: lol
Glutnix: does it bring joy?
TmsT: never
Glutnix: ok
Glutnix: LOL
Glutnix: is it a mammal!
TmsT: it destroys joy
TmsT: heheh yes
TmsT: but it could be a dentist, so far…
Glutnix: does it live in groups?
TmsT: ninjas are loners
TmsT: except when fighting mobs of pirates
Glutnix: so sometimes?
TmsT: soemtimes
Glutnix: stands on two legs
Glutnix: it’s a predator
Glutnix: doesn’t have claws
TmsT: hehe
Glutnix: does it help accomplish tasks?
Glutnix: yes…
Glutnix: not comforting
TmsT: haha
TmsT: nope
TmsT: i mean yes
Glutnix: many different sorts? no
Glutnix: multicoloured? no
TmsT: only mutant turtle ones
Glutnix: worth a lot of money?
Glutnix: i say unknown
Glutnix: would you use it in the dark — totally
TmsT: proably worth a bit
TmsT: yes,,,,
Glutnix: is it smooth?
Glutnix: hell yes
Glutnix: IT GOT IT RIGHT!
TmsT: aaaaaaaaaaahahahahaha
Glutnix: “it’s a ninja”
Glutnix: posting that to my blog
TmsT: does it have “R-18” words in its vocab? like “porn star”?
TmsT: haha not even Ninjas can escape the mighty 20Q
Glutnix: i don’t think so
TmsT: try “dildo”.
Glutnix: lol ok
Glutnix: animal, vegetable, mineral, other, or unknown?
TmsT: other
Glutnix: not flat
TmsT: it’s more of a… household object isnt it
Glutnix: use it daily?
Glutnix: … no
TmsT: haha YES
TmsT: ok no
Glutnix: use it in your home?
Glutnix: YES
Glutnix: found in a classroom? NO
TmsT: lol
TmsT: except if you look hard enough
Glutnix: usually colourful?
TmsT: yes
Glutnix: can be used more than once? YES
Glutnix: LOL can it bend without breaking? YES
TmsT: ahaha
Glutnix: comforting? YES
TmsT: lol
Glutnix: LOL does it get wet?
Glutnix: YES
TmsT: XD
Glutnix: do you hold it when you use it? YES
TmsT: oh noes
TmsT: it’s gonna get the answer
Glutnix: can it affect you? YES
TmsT: haha
Glutnix: can you smell it? ~ no
Glutnix: do you clean it regularly? YES
Glutnix: would you use it in the dark? YES
TmsT: HAHAHAHA
Glutnix: do most ppl use this daily NO
Glutnix: LMAO is it hard? YES
TmsT: XDDDD
Glutnix: lol it randomly taunts you — “i can’t believe you are thinking of that”
Glutnix: does it make sound?
Glutnix: i don’t know
TmsT: hmm
TmsT: ideally, no
TmsT: but yes it does
TmsT: just enough sound for grandpa to hear
Glutnix: sometimes then?
TmsT: yeah why not
Glutnix: smaller than a loaf of bread? YES
TmsT: depends on how big the oven is
Glutnix: is it straight?
TmsT: usually….
Glutnix: ok it’s guessing
TmsT: hehe
Glutnix: it guesses ‘ a toy ‘
TmsT: ….:D
Glutnix: LMAO
Glutnix: lets try for 25q
TmsT: hahahaaaa i don’t know if the makers were being subtle or if it has no idea
Glutnix: would you give it as a gift
TmsT: set it on max
TmsT: yes
Glutnix: sometimes
Glutnix: does it come in a box?
Glutnix: LOL
TmsT: ahhhhhahaha
Glutnix: ROFL
TmsT: brilliant!
Glutnix: ‘come’ in a ‘box’
TmsT: it’s making puns! the true sign of intelligence!!!
TmsT: yed
TmsT: yes*
Glutnix: can it be painted?
Glutnix: no
Glutnix: does it break if dropped? no
Glutnix: last q
Glutnix: does it have writing on it? no
Glutnix: thinking
TmsT: >_>
TmsT: <_ <
Glutnix: LMAO “It’s a fetish?”
TmsT: oh come ON
TmsT: close enough.
Glutnix: ROFLMAO
TmsT: see if it gets condom.
Glutnix: oh gee
TmsT: if it does, then it’s a sexist bastard
Glutnix: /wipes forehead
TmsT: lol
TmsT: hours of fun…
Glutnix: flat?
Glutnix: yet
Glutnix: yes
Glutnix: use it at work? no
TmsT: haha depends where ya work
Glutnix: heavier than a pound of butter? no
Glutnix: is it straight?
TmsT: “does it come in a box” teeheheheee
Glutnix: LMAO
Glutnix: no, not straight
Glutnix: used over 100 years ago?
TmsT: maybe
Glutnix: no
TmsT: ok
Glutnix: make sound? no
TmsT: heheh
Glutnix: do you hold it when you use it? yes
Glutnix: used more than once? no
Glutnix: usually colorful? yes
Glutnix: ?
Glutnix: i say yes
Glutnix: soft? yes
TmsT: yes
Glutnix: fit in an envelope? LOL yes
TmsT: (i’m watching Lurchy’s new flash)
TmsT: heheh
Glutnix: smell it?
Glutnix: yeah i guess
Glutnix: flexible? yes
Glutnix: burn? i guess
Glutnix: carry in your pocket? yes
Glutnix: found in classroom?
TmsT: heheh
Glutnix: i say sometimes
TmsT: ok
Glutnix: smaller than golf ball? yes
Glutnix: come in a box? LMAO
Glutnix: yes
TmsT: oh dear
Glutnix: found in an office? no
TmsT: orifice?
Glutnix: LOL LOL LOL is it a gummy bear?
TmsT: hahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahahahha
TmsT: close, but no banana
Glutnix: q21: round?
Glutnix: no
Glutnix: or yes
TmsT: yes
Glutnix: i don’t know
Glutnix: yes ok
TmsT: maybe
Glutnix: use it daily? …
Glutnix: … i say no…
TmsT: did they ask “can you re use it”?
Glutnix: yeah early as
Glutnix: come from something larger?
Glutnix: unknown
TmsT: nope
Glutnix: give as a gift?
TmsT: the gift that keeps on giving, baby!
Glutnix: …probably not
Glutnix: last q
TmsT: o.o
Glutnix: LOL does it get really hot?
TmsT: hopefully.
Glutnix: yes
Glutnix: thinking
TmsT: …
Glutnix: pizza
TmsT: *drumroll*
TmsT: PIZZA?
Glutnix: i know
Glutnix: wtf
TmsT: Gummy bear was closer…
Glutnix: lol gummy bear
TmsT: note to self: electronic toys need to study sex ed.
Glutnix: lol
Glutnix: totally putting this log up
TmsT: “Hey guys! Who wants pizza?” *holds up a condom*
TmsT: I’ll draw a cartoon for that
TmsT: gimme a minute or 3

Thanks to Andrew for the cartoon visible to your left right

Zach,

Just saw Garden State — It only recently came out in New Zealand.
Dude, Garden State is my number one favorite movie of all time. My
previous #1 was The Matrix.

I found Garden State so timely for my life. The journey that Large
takes in the movie was so beautifully random, yet with a sense of
structure and purpose.

I’m a recovering addict and I feel like my journey is similar to
Large’s journey. I won’t say what addiction I’m recovering from here;
if you really want to know, visit my site — /

Let me elaborate a little:

Large seems like he hasn’t really had any feelings since he was put
on the prescription-cocktail by his father. As an addict, I feed my
addiction to dull the pain that lies underneath. Large decides to go
off the prescription and discovers that feeling the pain that we keep
hidden is the only way to really solve the situations and problems that
hurt us.

Unfortunately for many addicts, kicking the habit is much harder than leaving the pills in another state.

Zach, I love your show and I love your movie. Thanks for making it.
Also thanks for being a crazy nut-case of a guy: I find it encouraging.
I don’t quite know how I find it encouraging. Maybe it’s your
down-to-earth attitude and being personal and honest on your blog.

Maybe it’s because you make us laugh and cry on the inside. But I
wanna thank you for being you. I know we’ve never met, and maybe we’ll
never meet, but somehow, at some strange and difficult to describe way,
I’ve connected with who you are, and learnt something about myself in
the process. For that, I commend you on.

Your thankful fan,
Brett

I hope he reads it. Deep down I hope he writes back — I heard he sometimes does. But I won’t be crushed if he doesn’t.

If you dropped by Zach, email me. If you’re ever in New Zealand, let me buy you a beer or something

Or notice crashed ATMs, crazy licence plates, logic in madness, patterns, the things between the lines.

Cos I do. What weird things do you notice that you think others wouldn’t?

States and their average IQ and who they voted for.

The IQ numbers were originally attributed to the book “IQ and the Wealth of Nations”, though they do not appear in the current edition. The tests and data were administered via the Raven’s APT, and the The Test Agency, one of the UK’s leading publishers and distributors of psychometric tests. This data has been published in the Economist and the St. Petersburg Times

(name removed) wrote:

This is so funny and indeed REAL

While indeed funny and a somewhat uplifting prospect, I wanted to be sure…

I couldn’t find any validating proof on www.economist.com or www.sptimes.com for this years election.

However, I did find a similar study done in May 2004 for the 2000 election, here:
http://tinyurl.com/3kreq

After that, I googled for ‘IQ election‘ (sans quotes) and found the original source of the email you posted.

http://chrisevans3d.com/files/iq.htm

It turns out the reason I couldn’t find anything on economist.com is because they retracted the article on the basis of it was ‘unable to be verified and possibly a hoax’.

==

In the future, I ask that if anyone want to send stuff they percieve as true, that they *provide links to trustworthy sources that back it up*.

Linking to the page that provided the article is also a smart idea, because it could be updated with newer, more enlightening information…

This is so funny and indeed REAL

…Especially before claiming it’s REAL. Proof makes it real Do your part to keep it real Be responsible. Thank you

Cheers

People can listen to the MP3 by downloading it themselves, or automatically. An RSS feed is then made available, and using enclosures, special RSS feedreaders can download the MP3 over http or BitTorrent. The feed reader then inserts the MP3 into your iTunes and when you update your iPod in the morning, you have radio to listen to!

But after listening to some podcasts, it seems people are concerned about podcasters talking about podcasting on their podcasts, claiming “it’s all they ever talk about”. David Slusher says “fuck off, too bad, it’s only been around for about 6 weeks!” on his Evil Genius Chronicles audioblog/podcast.

Which brings me to my point (and I’m borrowing some of this from Slusher): People judge new mediums like blogging and podcasting by the content. “Blogs suck because they’re either geeks talking tech or goths whining about their life”. “Podcasts suck because they’re unprofessional and it’s just geeks in their basements”. I could say back at the birth of TV “Television sucks — it mostly has test-patterns on it”.

While yes, the majority of blogs are by geeks and people whining about their life, and the current majority of podcasts have podcasters raving about the new medium, this doesn’t mean that the medium sucks! It’s just you think the people podcasting suck! Which is fine, it’s your opinion — Judge the content, not the medium. These people who have picked up the podcasting stick and are running with it are pushing the medium.

Yes, current podcast content appeals to geeks, but that’s because it’s a new medium invented by geeks! Who invented the TV? Who invented the Internet? Damn right… it was geeks. But just like there are now more non-geek sites on the internet, and there are more non-geek blogs springing up, there will be more non-geek podcasts in the near future.