Well it looks like I’m going to be a Happy Webby! Thanks to Josh for the nomination and the ngen works crew for such a cool gift. Man I hope they have some super-slim down mojo for my mug or we’ll all be getting a dose of the post-holidays Jabba-the-Webby that I have become.
Thanks to Jake for the inspiration and resources, I’ve added the iWPhone plugin for Wordpress to the site. If you’re an iPhone owner this site is now iPhone-friendlier. I did hack the template code to accommodate my preference for ma.gnolia over del.icio.us and whacked the technorati links.
So I’ve begun to migrate some of my desktop-based apps to the web in recent weeks, primarily to adapt to PC work-life - Mac home-life. The most recent ‘victim’ has been NNW. I love the app, and really like Brent and the work he’s done. However, I’m seeing less value in a desktop app for feed reading when there’s a viable web-alternative. I’ve started to stray from ‘flagging’ items and instead, if I deem a post worthy of archival, it get’s marked in ma.gnolia. This way I have a tagged/social record of the posts I like that’s easily retrievable and contextual (via posts/marked date/etc). It’s cross-platform, portable and clean. I hate the Google Reader look & feel, and the ajax lag for onClick kills me, but those issues don’t diminish the overall value. And as a result my love for Ma.gnolia continues to bloom…
“The term “Shotgun” refers to the front passenger seat of an automobile. “Calling Shotgun” is the act of claiming the position of Shotgun for one’s self. As this position is the most coveted of all positions when riding in a car, the following list of rules has been created to ensure that Shotgun can be acquired in a fair and equitable manner by any passenger of an automobile.”
Opening paragraph from The Official Shotgun Rules website.
Wired let’s the workd know…Futurama is Back. In case you don’t recall, That Guy had bone-itis.
Nope.
This is why A Brief Message works so well. Liz and Khoi deserve the praise they’ve gotten about this project, it’s a winner.
I’m a WordPress guy. I’ve been working in WP for over 2 years, theming and scheming my merry way. In many cases the theme designs go hand-in-hand with some level of customization, plug-ins or CMS-y PHP work. Strike that, in every project I’ve been a part of this has been the case. Which is one of the things that concerns me about WordPress’ announcement regarding a Theme Marketplace. The emphasis seems to be on theme visual designs, not the site design, not plugins, not customization, not CMS. I’m concerned that this marketplace will be a clearing house for low-budget, low value visual skins rather than giving users resources and tools to build compelling sites. The 50/50 split seems steep to me as well, a further step in devaluing design ala design contests and spec work but making the ‘agent’ rich in the meantime.
I’ll happily wait it out before I get snippy, WordPress (Matt et al) haven’t let me down in the past, and I assume their model can benefit the community. I just hope users are satisfied in getting what they pay for. Something funny happens when money is exchanged, the expectations are quite different than running to a WordPress free theme site and downloading a cool design. We’ll have to wait and see how this ‘marketplace’ handles cranky clients and designers, they will be accountable whether they want to be or not; considering they are getting 50% of the client’s cash.
Normalized data tables of the A List Apart Web Designer Survey are now available. Go forth and geek out data wizards.
I’m pitching in a prize for Jake’s series of online contests. I’ll be doing some custom WordPress theme work for some lucky winner, others will get goodies from Picnik, Microsoft and other. I’m honored to be included in the group, hopefully my prize will make someone’s day. He’s started the competition, you should check it out. The first contest is surprisingly simple, take minute and learn to share.
Even just a quick gaze through the most god-awful discussion thread I’ve ever seen is enough to make me lose faith in humanity (or at least the kind of humanity that trolls slashdot). If this is the ’social’ part of social media I don’t know that I want to be part of it, these people scare me.
