TECHNOLOGY: Long life mobile battery 'vital'

Modern technology users want more power from their mobile products.
As mobile phones, PDAs and music players become more widely used, users are demanding higher specifications, more memory and longer battery life.
Read: BBC NEWS | Technology | Long life mobile battery 'vital'

Effective writing for page titles

Page titles should be such a simple aspect of Web page production. Yet a bit of thought, and broad understanding of a potential audience will go a long way to getting content more widely read.

Short, clean, meaningful and relevant. A title of the actual page your are on is what your are striving for. Not the name of the site, that can come afterwards, but when people are reading links, RSS feeds, and search engine results, the first half dozen words need to convey the purpose and benefits of the user visiting a page.

Don't try to be too clever, cryptic or pretend the content is something better than it actually is (visitors might be enticed once, but probably never again, and they might tell their friends, or the Web community!)

Nothing too long, but a brief and succint description of what the page is about. This may seem like more hard work than at first sight, but it will benefit the sites popularity among users and search engines alike.

DVD: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)

I just watched the The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005) DVD, and really enjoyed it. Frankly it was always going to be tough turning Douglas Adams' fantastic story into a movie, but that's what he always wanted, so now at least it's here.

It stays fairly true to the original story despite being a Hollywood funded flick, the cast dow ell to fill out the crazy scenes and showing off Adams' clever wit, sarcasm and irony.

And in the UK, there's a bonus disc with a making of, that starts from the day the Director gets the green light to start making it. It was a fascinating hour, a literal behind-the-scenes documentary giving a real feel of how the crew of animatronics experts, set-designers, etc. and cast put it all together.

FUN: Home of the video flick book

Get your mobile phone (and other) movies turned into flick books. Flick off you say, no it's true, and a genius idea. Visit: FlickFilms - Home of the video flick book

WEB DESIGN: 10 Reasons Clients Don't Care About Accessibility

Accessibility is a divisive issue in the workplace. Companies have varying degrees of interest/understanding in the issue.

Basically, it's about making Web pages accessible and usable for all, regardless of ability, device (e.g. computer or mobile), browser, or operating system. It makes production quicker, cheaper, simpler.

What more do you people want?

"It'’s the Law But There'’s None to Follow". Read: Digital Web Magazine - 10 Reasons Clients Don't Care About Accessibility

CRICKET: In praise of ... Richie Benaud

He always knew what to say, Richie Benaud was a great in, and broadcasting on the great game. And what a series to bow out on English soil. Possibly the greatest series ever, at least in the modern game. England have come through against the best team in the world.

The [replica] Ashes are coming home! Read: Guardian Unlimited Sport | Special reports | In praise of ... Richie Benaud

CRICKET: Players lambast incompetent Zimbabwe board

The maddeningly depressing situation for Zimbabwean cricketers shows no sign of letting up. Read: Cricinfo - Players lambast incompetent Zimbabwe board

FLIGHTS OFFER: British Airways/Ashes offer

Briish Airways are running an Ashes promotion, and it could be a real bargain.

"The Price of the fare, including taxes, will be equal to the number of runs scored by Australia (in their first innings).

The number of flights available for sale will be equal to the number of runs scored by England (in their first innings)."

Go here now: British Airways - Your questions

CRICKET: Zimbabwe players call for Chingoka and Bvute to quit

The key for the Zimbabwe players is sticking together. If they all sign the petition, they leave the board little option but to do something about the contract situation. They can't very continue with no players.
It is so frustrating that the ICC have remained on the fence, and that the wortld continues to sit by why the black racist elite of Zimbabwe misguidedly ravage anything that was good within the country. Read: Cricinfo - Players call for Chingoka and Bvute to quit

CRICKET: The Ashes comes down to the fifth and final Test at The Oval

From Wisden/Cricinfo: The Oval
"This is where it all began. The first-ever Test on English soil was played here in September 1880, resulting in an England win over Australia by five wickets, with WG Grace scoring a hundred on debut, and this is where a Test series in England traditionally ends.

More pertinently, this is the historic venue where the legend of the Ashes was born a couple of years after the inaugural Test, in August 1882. England, chasing only 85 to win, slumped from 51 for 2 to 78 all out. The next morning The Sporting Times published its famous mock obituary and the legend was born.

The Oval has witnessed many historic matches. England's dramatic one-wicket win in 1902 inspired by Gilbert Jessop's sensational hundred; Australia's 701 in 1934 as Don Bradman (244) and Bill Ponsford (266) put on 451 for the second wicket; England's 903 for 7 as they beat Australia by an innings and 579 runs in 1938; Bradman's farewell duck in 1948; Denis Compton scoring the boundary which meant England regained the Ashes in 1953; Michael Holding's 14 wickets on a featherbed in 1976; Devon Malcolm's 9 for 57 against South Africa in 1994.

Owned by the Duchy of Cornwall (who is the Prince of Wales, hence his feathers have appeared on Surrey's badge since 1915), The Oval came about in the 1790s when an oval road was laid round what was then a cabbage patch. When a subsequent market garden failed, the land was opened as a cricket ground in 1845 after 10,000 turfs were brought in from Tooting Common. It has been Surrey headquarters ever since, even though it has been well outside the county boundary for many years.

It has hosted many other important sporting occasions and can claim to be the most important general sports ground in the world. It staged the first FA Cup final in 1872 (won by Wanderers in front of 2000 spectators) and the following year the first England international (against Scotland). It was the home of the FA Cup final between 1874 and 1892. In 1876 it staged to the first England v Wales and England v Scotland rugby internationals, and in 1877 to rugby's Varsity match. In addition, it has witnessed rock concerts (The Who and The Faces in 1971), ice skating and the now traditional end-of-season Aussie Rules match. It was also a POW camp during the Second World War."

Sorry to copy verbatim, but Bring it on!!!

NATURE: Animated guide: Hurricanes

The Beeb shows how hurricanes start and what damage they can do. See: BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Animated guide: Hurricanes

NEW ORLEANS: Katrina's damage around New Orleans

See the Before/after pics of Katrina damage around New Orleans from satellite images.

NEWSPAPERS: Buy one, get all this free

The future of newspapers, on and offline is clear. Added value to the readers. More magazines, freebies, Websites, you tell them what you want, and if there's enough of an audience, you might get it. Read: MediaGuardian.co.uk | Media | Buy one, get all this free

LONDON ATTACKS: Video of 7/7 ringleader blames foreign policy

"He [Mohammad Sidique Khan] mocked British Muslims who condemned the attacks. 'We tell them treatment in kind is just,' he said." Murder is never just, innocent victims, his own countrymen, killed unjustly.

When has killing, taking an eye for an eye ever been right, fair, moral? Never. Whatever religion you may follow or whatever background you are from, no one has the right to take the life of another, whatever wrongs that person may have had done to him, or those he has links with. Read: Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Video of 7/7 ringleader blames foreign policy

CRICKET: World’s apart, but arm in arm

Cricinfo reports "as five of India's cricketing stars took time away from their busy tour schedule to meet more than 100 orphans at a UNICEF-supported education project on the outskirts of Harare." Read: Cricinfo - World’s apart, but arm in arm

WEB DEV: Google Maps Mania

So how are New Media types around the world using the Google Maps API? Read the blog and see the ideas: Google Maps Mania

WEB DEV: How to make Google Maps™

From Sitepoint - "SFSurvey.com, a restaurant review site, has put together a video
tutorial and sample ASP script [1] that lets you get the Google
Maps API up and running on your website as quickly as possible." See: How to make Google Maps™ using ASP Classic when you don't have the longitude or Latitude

WEB DESIGN: Web journeys

Read Webcredible's article, "looking at how we interact with the world in our everyday life, we can learn some of the techniques we use and begin to understand why they work so well. We can then employ the same methods in web design to create a similarly easy experience.": Web journeys

CAN YOU SEE IT?: Google Maps

A face in the dunes? See: Google Maps

CRICKET: 'It's the beginning of an era for England'

Morning everyone... Richie Benaud speaks to Cricinfo. Read: Cricinfo - 'It's the beginning of an era for England'

GOT THE BOOT? Simply Fired

Might come in handy for us all at some point. Share horror stories, or just laugh at others misfortune. For now at least! See: Simply Fired | If You Don't Laugh, You'll Cry

WORK: Designers Inhouse — The inhouse webdesigners survival guide

"Sometimes you wish there was somebody else who actually understood what it was you do all day." In a nutshell. Yes.

ENVIRONMENT: Warming hits 'tipping point'

What's the hurry with all this global warming talk. Everything's fine, just ask George Bush and his crack team of money-hungry business buddies, er, I mean environmental analysts. Well, here's some more real evidence for you to ignore George $$$ Bush, to give you your full name: "Researchers who have recently returned from the region [western Sibera] found that an area of permafrost spanning a million square kilometres - the size of France and Germany combined - has started to melt for the first time since it formed 11,000 years ago at the end of the last ice age." Read: Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Warming hits 'tipping point'

CRICKET: Zimbabwe embarassed, again

Zimbabwean journalist Lawrence Moyo surveys the Test status of his home nation after they subside meekly to New Zealand inside 2 days. Read: The Herald - Zimbabwe News Online

FUNNY BOOKS: Modern Toss

Damn funny books, good for idling away spare, or not so spare time. Especially if your job is no laughing matter. See: shitflap cartoons | mr tourette & uncle peter

INTERNET: Giving New Meaning to 'Spyware'

Wired reports on the continuing battle against Spyware, messing with our computers minds! Read: Wired News: Giving New Meaning to 'Spyware'

WEB SITE CONSTRUCTION: Easy-peasy PHP 2

I shall be getting stuck into this later, as a good primer for utilising PHP in building a medium-sized Website, using includes and templates to control the layout and structure. Read: Digital Web Magazine - Easy-peasy PHP 2

Live 8, Hyde Park, London, July 2, 2005

Live 8, Hyde Park, London, July 2, 2005

Originally uploaded by richardk.

A view from the vast crowd at Live 8, as the evening arrived and the top name artists kept coming. An amazing and surreal event.

Barring some aching legs and back, we didn't notice the time go by as one impressive musical act after another came on for their cameo.

Interspersed with the important message that we were all here to understand the suffering going on across the world, particularly in Africa.

The images of starving children, sick and dying Africans was as powerful as any of the artists on show, and there were plenty of very impressive performances. Bob Geldof showed his face once or twice, along with other well-known faces, Bill Gates, Brad Pitt, Kofi Anan.

This was no ordinary event. Not only a once in a lifetime gig, but a chance to educate people and give them the opportunity to go away and make a difference, however small, for fellow humans who are not as fortunate.

Make Poverty History

THE WEB: The world at your fingertips

Google presents you with another nifty tool - Google Earth. Search anywhere in the world, and zoom in from space. I'm sure Microsoft are working on copying it for Longoverduehorn 7.8.5.1 as we speak, those crazy 'innovators'. Right I'm off to bed, as me and Becky are off to Hyde Park tomorrow, Live 8 awaits...

RANDOM: How to detect lies

I always thought body language and psychology was interesting, here are some tips to spot little fibbers. Read: How to detect lies - body language, reactions, speech patterns

WEB SITES: 50 Coolest Websites 2005

Time magazine picks 50 sites worth visiting online. Read: 50 Coolest Websites 2005 - TIME.com

PHOTOS: Glastonbury 2005 - It's Pilton down

Glastonbury as it should be, wet and muddy. Not funny if you're there of course, hopefully everyone will have survive unscathed, and let the music and culture play on. See: Glastonbury 2005: day one | It's Pilton down

WEB STANDARDS: Websites alienate Firefox users

BBC news bigs-up the Web Standards ideal. Read: BBC NEWS | Technology | Websites alienate Firefox users

REM @ Old Trafford, Manchester, June 17, 2005

REM, Old Trafford

Originally uploaded by richardk.

That's Michael Stipe in the corner, on the big screens, singing his religion.

Sorry, but REM were damn good on Friday in Manchester, a mixture of old and new tracks, that frankly all sounded good live.

IMAGES: sonar 2005 on Flickr

The 12th Barcelona International Festival of Advanced Music and Multimedia Art aka danhodgett's 'sonar 2005' slideshow on Flickr as seen by my good friend Dan Hodgett.

CRICKET: Australia crash to humbling defeat

The Ashes - Surely the site of Australia crash to humbling defeat, again, is too good to be true.

I mean there are plenty of reasons not to take the Twenty20 result along with this beating at the hands of a mid-table county side too seriously, but surely England, if they can stay fit, confident and focussed have their best chance of coming out on top this side of 1986?!

WEB DESIGN: Screen Grab Confab, vol. IV

Cameron Moll collects and shows a collection of what Web designers are producing in 2005... for some inspiration see: Screen Grab Confab, vol. IV ~ Authentic Boredom

BARGAINS: Apple Refurbished Store

Get your second-hand Apple products, like, say an iPod, for nearly half price. But they're from Apple, all shiny and almost new, and it's only open Wednesdays... Visit: Apple Refurbished Store

HUMOUR: John Moe's Pop-Song Correspondences.

After winning a Webby Award, this site is worth a read, and a chuckle or two. e.g. "Attention, Mr. Axl Rose: We Did Not Feel Welcome in the Jungle" Visit the world of: McSweeney's Internet Tendency: John Moe's Pop-Song Correspondences.

ENVIRONMENT: Revealed: how oil giant influenced Bush

So it's true, we all knew George Bush's presidency was run by big business, and now the cat is out of the bag. Climate change is a great idea, but not if it means making big oil businesses unhappy. Read: Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Revealed: how oil giant influenced Bush: "In briefing papers given before meetings to the US under-secretary of state, Paula Dobriansky, between 2001 and 2004, the administration is found thanking Exxon executives for the company's 'active involvement' in helping to determine climate change policy, and also seeking its advice on what climate change policies the company might find acceptable."

WEB DESIGN: Multiple CSS Background Images

Anyone for Multiple CSS Background Images? The HTML Dog shows us how.

WEB GRAPHICS: ‘Giving To Hiram’ masthead

Cameron Moll talks us through a Photoshop masthead design. Read: How-to: ‘Giving To Hiram’ masthead ~ Authentic Boredom

WEB DESIGN: Ten Questions for Russ Weakley

The man behind the Floatutorials, Listuorials, et al, gets a Web Standards grilling. Read: Web Standards Group - Ten Questions for Russ Weakley

WORK: 'Dull work a heart attack risk'

This is not good news. Read: BBC NEWS | Health | 'Dull work a heart attack risk'

MUSIC: How do you decode the new Coldplay album cover?

Guardian Unlimited | Life | How do you decode the new Coldplay album cover?

ONLINE DESIGN: So much time. So little to do.

Confessions of a Pixel Perfectionist - The software tools of a graphic designer. Read: Yellowlane | So much time. So little to do.

CRICKET: The little genius in the corner

Wisden interviews Graham Thorpe. Read: Cricinfo - The little genius in the corner. ""I would say a lot of the mental strength in cricket is to make the right decisions as many times as possible and not to be intimidated," he says. "The only time I can remember falling down was in my third Test when I was facing Shane Warne and Ian Healy said I was going to play for a red-inker [a not out]. My pride took over and I thought, `Sod you, I'll show you I'm not playing for a red-inker.' I bolted down the wicket and got stumped. [He had made 60]. That's the one time I've really been done by sledging. So you learn from that. You start with something, a basic kind of inner strength, and then you grow. You grow as a person and as a player.""

Glass Sculpture

Glass Sculpture

Originally uploaded by richardk.

An interesting sculpture in glass and stone at Burghley House, Stamford, where I visited in April 2005.

WEB DESIGN: CSS flick animation

Is there nothing CSS can't do? Well, obviously it isn't much use at doin the washing up or hoovering, but it can create some very neat flick-book style animations. And not a hint of Flash in sight. See: stu nicholls | the CSS playground | CSS flick animation

WEB DESIGN: A Few Tips On Estimating Web Projects

Because money makes the world go round. Read Asterisk's A Few Tips On Estimating Web Projects

IMAGES: A Flickr gallery of doom & gloom

Evening Standard Headline Crisis - a photoset on Flickr

SHOPPING ONLINE: UK's only money saving expert

Using debit/credit card's online is a risky business, but no more risky than handing it over in a random shop, but there are ways to keep yourself safe from fiscal harm. Read: UK's only money saving expert's guide to safer online shopping.

PHOTOGRAPHY: Enter corbis comp.

Like taking photos? Any good at it? Then enter the Corbis photography competition

POLITICS: Zimbabwe police destroy shanties

What is wrong with Mugabe. He has no compassion for his fellow Zimbabweans. No sense of duty to his people, making thousands of people homeless. Where is the sense? Read: BBC NEWS | Africa | Zimbabwe police destroy shanties

ENVIRONMENT: Appetite for Amazon destruction

Progress is not always good. The Amazon rainforest is gradually disappearing, tree by tree, year after year, all to fee our greedy western appetites. Read:BBC NEWS | Programmes | From Our Own Correspondent | Appetite for Amazon destruction: "It makes no sense at all to let market forces destroy a precious ecosystem that we all need for our survival and yet somehow we are letting it happen."

TV AD: Firefox promoted

A well put together ad promoting the virtues of Firefox. Vive le browser revolution. Watch the Quicktime video: firefox

DIGITAL MUSIC: IPod Plug-In Sets Music Free

The battle for control of music we own and/or purchase (!) continues as software and hardware devices are pitted against each other, bypassing controls and copyright issues, as the consumer drives demand. Read: Wired News: IPod Plug-In Sets Music Free

WEB ACCESSIBILITY: Ten Questions for Joe Clark

Mr Web Accessibility himself, and yes he did write a book! Read: Web Standards Group - Ten Questions for Joe Clark, including: skip links, title tags, PDFs, data tables, maybe not so 'fun fun fun', but relevant.

MUSIC: Arcade Fire - Funeral

On second listen I understood the passion and energy and melodies within this powerful album. Plenty of strong, memorable songs; a little Franz Ferdianand in its energy, but something of Talking Heads in there as well for me, and some melancholy and sadness thrown in. Well worth a listen, he said in a cliched reviewer style. CD WOW! - Arcade Fire - Funeral

HANDWRITING: Tips for improving your handwriting

Strained my right hand playing cricket at the weekend, so writing is a little painful, came across this via the Guardian Newsblog: www.paperpenalia - handwriting tips

WEB DESIGN: Image Attributes

mezzoblue § Image Attributes: "Questioning width and height values for images."

MUSIC: We Are Little Barrie

Get this 'perfect summer soundtrack'. All funky, soulful, rock and roll. See: Amazon.co.uk: Music: We Are Little Barrie

MUSIC: Police, nudity, furious punters and taking out U2

Miranda Sawyer follows Chris Martin around. Read: Guardian Unlimited | Arts Friday Review | Police, nudity, furious punters and taking out U2

GENERAL ELECTION 2005: The result in Peterborough

Where I'm living its Labour out, Conservative in. I voted Lib Dem, not a Tory fan, and not impressed with Labour's Helen Clark. See: Guardian Unlimited Politics | Aristotle | Peterborough. Oh and best of luck Tony B. you may have been a fool before, but just don't let the poeple down again!

WEB DESIGN: Content is king

Asterisk talks about the importance of content in relation to design. Read: Content vs. Design

WEB DESIGN: Usability testing without a budget

An often forgotten or ignored part of the production process, that can go along way to making a site work or fail. Read: Usability testing without a budget | 456 Berea Street: "It doesn’t really matter how much you know about usability – after working on a project for a couple of weeks you’ve become blind to many of the problems."

CULTURE: Why Pop Culture Is Good For You

Protein° Feed reports on whether Pop Culture is good for you or just mindless entertainment. I hope not, or I've been wasting a lot of time...

THE ELECTION, T-MINUS 3 DAYS: The war on Iraq was a sham, it wasn't even much of a war, we invaded, booted out Saddam, because George said so, then realised that's where the plan ended. Now the fallout from the episode is continuing to haunt Tony Blair, Guardian Unlimited Politics | Election 2005 | New British death returns war to election spotlight. Yes he was a fool for trusting a fool, but what's done is done, and if it's proven that he has broken laws, then he's got to go, but if not, and all the other MPs backed him up, then the other parties should stop putting up this smoke-screen and start telling the public what the future holds for Britain, rather than continuing to rake up the past.

It's mostly ifs and buts now, and we the people, NEED to know what will happen about education, crime, the environment - although by the sounds of it, someone had better remind the Conservatives about that. These are the things that will make a difference to the lives of the majority of the British public over the next five years. Unless of course George has more crazy taking-over-the-world-because-we-need-more-oil ideas.

INTERNET: The way things are. Sorry to rip a huge chunk of comment from Kottke's comments in A whole new internet? (kottke.org), but it's all true, after the dot com bust, companies panicked and only gave out money to develop sure-fire ways of getting a return on investment, while developing ideas and creative staff was not on many lists.

Read more: "When the dot com economy was crumbling in 2000 and 2001, I remember thinking at the time that although everyone I knew was out of work (myself included), that is was a good thing for the long term. One of the more pleasant side effects of the dot com boom was that billions of dollars were spent training indivduals how to design web sites, program, write, etc. In the years following the bust, when all those people were suddenly unemployed or stuck in high-paying jobs that they didn't care for very much but needed to pay the bills, they responded by starting to tinker around with all sorts of neat things, just for the hell of it. Because they could, because they wanted to, not because they had an artificial deadline to reach or some arbitrary client requests to satisfy."

WEB DESIGN: MBoffin.com - Designline - A Design Timeline

Guardian Unlimited | Online | Emails 'pose threat to IQ'

ENVIRONMENT: Not even George 'King Canute' Bush can stand in the way of the 'terrorist' known as nature. Read: BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Antarctic glaciers show retreat: "The glaciers of the Antarctic Peninsula are in rapid retreat."

WEB ACCESSIBILITY: Web designer? Then you must read this: Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) & web accessibility - webcredible

WEB DESIGN ACCESSIBILITY: Ever arrived at a site and felt unsure exactly what it's about? Page titles, taglines, headings, show yourselves!! Read: Tell me what you do!

WEB DESIGN: Get rounded corners with no images! Read and try: More Nifty Corners | Web Design | PRO.HTML.IT

STAYING ORGANISED: with Douglas Bowman. Read: Stopdesign | Staying organized

"MR MEN": This made me laugh, but then it's late and I've got work in the morning, which will be less fun than eating an ironing board: See: b3ta.com

SCHOOL DAYS: See this: Uêba !! -> Na Falta Do Professor

BIZARRE FORUM: No this ain't porn, it's just a bizarre hypothetical question?! Got the link from www.ntk.net. Read: The 2+2 Forums: How many 5 year-olds could you take on at once?: "Are you allowed to use one the kids to wield at other kids ala a sword?"

ZIMABAWE: BBC reports on the election. BBC NEWS | World | Africa | Observers back Mugabe party's win: "'These were the most free and fair elections in the world,' Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa told the BBC." What an utterly ridiculous comment, how can he possibly begin to believe that this is anywhere near the truth, why would so many people and governments be critical of Mugabe if there wasn't something wrong in the country?

How can so many people be suffering under Mugabe's regime, and yet he still believes he is doing the right thing, continuing his racist policies and repression of anyone, black or white, who does not agree with his tyrannical, paranoid rule?

BLOGGING AND RSS: RSS/Syndication/feeds, whatever your call it, Molly Holzschlag looks into the approaches taken when adding RSS to a site. Read: molly.com » Where is YOUR Feed?

ENTERTAINMENT: Take a tour of the Pixar studios. Incredible! (Sorry)

LIFE: If someone is brain-damaged/unconscious, and is never going to get any better, why would Bush/pro-life Conservatives want to force that person's loved ones to see them in a vegetative state being kept alive by machines for months, even years with no hope of ever seeing them recover? Why make everyone suffer?

It's not about the money it costs, or saving a hospital bed, etc, It's about reality, if someone is in a hopeless state, never to recover from their current state, what sense is their prolonging and compounding the pain for those still here? Read: Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Bush intervenes in right-to-die case

COMEDY: Peter Kay, comedy legend at 31. Read: The Observer | Comment | Special Kay

HEALTH: Good for you Naked Chef! Read: The Observer | Politics | Blair acts on Jamie's plan for schools

Future of Web Design - sxsw2005

WEB DESIGN: What's the talk of SXSW town. Read: mezzoblue § SxSW Panel Notes

WEB DESIGN: The Right Way to Link To Pages On Your Site from peachpit.com/articles

BEST IN BLOG: Blogs win awards. Blogs ahoy. Bloggin all over the world. Etc. I apologise, but you get the message. Read: BBC NEWS | Technology | 'Best blogs on the web' honoured

DA VINCI CODE: Fact or fiction, or a little of both? Read: Guardian Unlimited Books | News | Vatican appoints official Da Vinci Code debunker: "'There is a lesson for the church in the success of The Da Vinci Code and the lesson is that the church needs to use modern media much more effectively to present the Christian message to the new generation.'"

DESIGN: Icon magazine reveals the most influential companies. Read: Protein° Feed - The 21 Most Influential

PHOTOGRAPHY: The light, shadow, clouds, it'll never be the same again. Great image of Toronto. See: [daily dose of imagery] beaches reflection

CRICKET: The ICC discuss the current state of the international game. Plenty to keep them occupied. Read: Key issues on ICC agenda from cricinfo.com.

CSS FOR THE MASSES: For those of us not lucky enough to attend the pretty cool SXSW Web/culture festival. Read/see: How to bluff your way in CSS from andybudd.com.

ACCESSIBILITY: Great article on CSS/DOM based usable image maps. Read/see: CSS Image Maps - Flickr-like Technique?

CSS: Compress your css file sizes for larger projects, just add PHP. Read: Compressing your CSS with PHP

CRICKET: Australia's Michael Bevan gone but not finished yet, eight centuries in nine state games turns a few selectors heads. Read: Bevan sets sights on World Cup recall

COMEDY: The Two Ronnies return for one last hurrah, genius. Read: MediaGuardian.co.uk | Media | Two Ronnies back on TV: "And finally, the public are warned to be on the lookout for Joseph Gomez, a Spaniard, last heard of living in Tooting, whose mother was a nun in Barcelona. A one-time flautist with a symphony orchestra, he is wanted for looting in Haifa, where he worked on a farm. The police urge people to look out for a Haifa-looting fluting Tooting son of a nun from Barcelona, part-time ploughboy Joe"

MUSIC: Why do annoying songs nag away inside your brain all day? Read: BBC NEWS | Health | How tunes get stuck in your head

COMEDY: Dave Allen R.I.P. Read: BBC NEWS | Entertainment | TV and Radio | Comedian Dave Allen dies aged 68: "'That extraordinary relaxed style with a cigarette in one hand and a glass of whiskey in the other as he buttonholed us with wonderful jokes and stories is the image that we shall remember,'".

PHP DEVELOPMENT: As I'm trying to get into PHP, this, frankly is gold. Read: Digital Web Magazine - Easy-peasy PHP

PEOPLE ARE MEAN: As my girlfriend so rightly put it. This blog about saving the life of a cute bunny is funny but not funny at the same time. Visit: Savetoby.com | Only YOU have the power to Save Toby!

ACCESSIBILITY: Why 'display:none' is out. Read: Screenreader Visibility - css-discuss

ACCESSBILITY: Why 'display:none' is out. Read: Screenreader Visibility - css-discuss

SLEEP: Veerle's blog reveals the perils of getting enough sleep in the 21st Century: "A recent British research project concluded that British people on average sleep 90 minutes less then in the previous century." I hear you, but to be honest, I don't help myself. As Veerle rightly mentions, the Web is a such a huge place, there's always some temptation to occupy your time only a click away.

WEB DESIGN: Kim Goodwin at conference in San Francisco talks about the Web design process. Read: Getting Your Design Built - Wednesday, February 23, 2005: BayDUX (BayCHI)

Review: New York City

WEB SEMANTICS: Molly Holschlag explains The Meaning of Semantics: "

. The biggest HTML hack of all time."time."

Saturday 5 March 2005

ADVERTISING: Adverts are here to stay across media outlets, but their methods and dominance is ever-changing. Read: Boxes and Arrows: What I Learned From Television: "Today, a typical hour-long program that in the 1960s had 51 minutes of programming is down to 43 minutes. On average now, a “half-hour” program, is actually just 23 minutes of content."

LEARNING: Handy for all those highbrow pub quizzes and a marathon winner-takes-all game of Trivial Pursuit... Read: Squashed Philosophers- Condensed Plato Aristotle Augustine Descartes Hume Marx Freud Copernicus Hobbes Sartre Ayer Sade Wittgenstein Einstein

Friday 4 March 2005

Local authorities failing on e-accessibility - ZDNet UK News

IMAGES: Free access to hundreds of thousands of images from the New York Public Library's digital image catalogue, you'll never leave. See: NYPL Digital Gallery

iPOD:I'm not too mad, well ok, how can I not be, but that's the nature of 21st Century technology, it evolves and upgrades so fast, you have to ignore the faster, better, stronger versions that come out months after you made the purchase. Read: Next iPod to get a big boost in battery life? - Engadget - www.engadget.com

Thursday 3 March 2005

WEB DESIGN: A very nice looking and well constructed site. Visit: Thought Media: Journal

Wednesday 16 February 2005

CAREERS: Employers reveal what turns them off an applicant at interview - www.JobServe.com. Valuable for those wading into the stormy seas of the job market...like me!

Saturday 12 February 2005

INTERVIEW: Jason Kottke asks one of the dancers in theGolf GTI commercial, Elsewhere (from kottke.org) video about his experience of recreating Gene Kelly's famous 'Singin' in the Rain' number.

PHOTOS: Great collection/blog of impressive landscapes and images, many of Chicago - WHATEVERLAND by Archie FlorCruz

COLOUR: Print colour for screen designers or - mezzoblue - CMYK (for Those Who Do RGB)

Wednesday 9 February 2005

ACCESSIBILITY: US case gets the ball rolling - alt tags � Businesses Agree to Make Websites Accessible: Accessibility, Usability and Web Standards: "[t]he Attorney General opined that the Americans With Disabilities Act requires that private web sites be accessible to blind and visually impaired Internet users."

INTERNET: Content management systems advice. For instance: Don't... "Leave the CMS implementation to your IT department." alt tags » CMS Do’s and Don’ts: Accessibility, Usability and Web Standards:

Monday 7 February 2005

ACHIEVEMENT: You go girl! BBC SPORT | Other Sport | Sailing | MacArthur sails into record books

WEB ACCESSIBILITY: If I had the money, or someone paid for me to go, I'd be there: Web accessibility training from Webcredible

WEB DESIGN: Target="blank", we've all been there, but opening Web links in a new window is not user friendly, forcing the user to open a new browser window. This Sitepoint article tackles the options: Beware of Opening Links in a New Window [Usability and Information Architecture]

WEB DESIGN: OK, Information Architecture isn't the most fun aspect of Web site production, but it has its merits, and in the current climate where you have to be merciless with your production strategy, a bit of IA astuteness helps you get through the planning phase. Now O'Reilly's first edition of Information Architecture for the World Wide Web is available online. Does life get any sweeter?!

Sunday 6 February 2005

MUSIC: New Order's Peter Hook meets 3/4 of Bloc Party for some tips on being in a band. Interesting banter. Guardian Unlimited | Arts Friday Review | 'You will become bitter enemies': Peter Hook: "Now your friends will be forever asking you for tickets, drink all your beer and be going, "What was Peter Hook really like?" Just say he was a c**t."

Thursday 3 February 2005

WEB AWARDS: See the 2005 Web Awards Finalists for the south by southwest festivals + conferences

TEES: Get John Peel or Bill Hicks on your tee, and ooze coolnesss. Teemarto

Wednesday 2 February 2005

iPOD RULES: For now at least.
"'About 80 percent of Microsoft employees who have a portable music player have an iPod,' said one source, a high-level manager who asked to remain anonymous. 'It's pretty staggering.'" Wired News: Hide Your IPod, Here Comes Bill

INTERVIEW: Interview with a link spammer | The Register Via mezzoblue.com

Sunday 30 January 2005

TRAVEL: Not exactly a late deal idea for a quick weekend break from the monotony of the workplace, but something for everyone, somewhere across the world. The Observer | Travel | 20 journeys to change your life

MUSIC VIDEOS: Johnny Cash beats Thriller in poll for best music video. Hats off I say, with Aphex Twin's 'Come to Daddy' at three and Radiohead's 'Just' at fourth, another great song. The Observer | UK News | Cash tops Thriller with best video ever: "REM singer-songwriter Michael Stipe, who was a member of the judging panel, said it was 'just heartbreaking. Kudos to Mark Romanek for having the audacity and courage to do a video like that. The moment I saw it I thought, 'Please don't let this be the last thing we know Johnny Cash for'. Yet he made the song his own and the video is just devastating. And beautiful. It touched me in a really big way.'"

HEALTH: BBC journalist Ivan Noble's last diary entry discussing his battle with cancer. I have read several entries over the last couple of years, and his bravery, optimism and wit have shone through. His diary has helped countless whose lives have been touched by the illness. BBC NEWS | Health | Tumour diary: The time has come

Thursday 27 January 2005

WEB STANDARDS: The longer they are ignored, the more time and effort and MONEY will be needed when businesses do fully embrace the ideas of professional CSS layouts and semantic coding of sites.

This sometimes means having to go 'out of house' to bring in people who know how its done, a worthwhile step in the long term. Vivabit - Web Standards: A Business Perspective

Monday 24 January 2005

TECHNOLOGY: Mke Davidson delves into the past, present and future of mobile multimedia technology, in particular where Apple goes next, with the iPod revolution possibly peaking, where will Steve Jobs move next as Microsoft awakens to join the mulitmedia party. Mike Davidson: The iPod End Game

Saturday 22 January 2005

PEOPLE & THOUGHT: Get a camera and a microphone, stop people in the street, ask what what they were just thinking, and make a website out of the results, et voila: THE THOUGHT PROJECT // BY SIMON HOEGSBERG

Thursday 20 January 2005

Review: New York City

With all the images and references in popular culture, you almost feel like you know New York City’s Manhattan island like the back of your hand. So when my girlfriend and I saw a British Airways sale for flights to New York we decided to jet off to the Big Apple and see for ourselves. It did not disappoint.

After recovering from the seven and a half hour flight, which can take it out of you, we decided to explore midtown (where we were staying), which turned out to be the best area for first time tourists.

Our photos from New York

The epic Grand Central Station was only four blocks away, and our first journey out of the hotel led us to its hidden gem downstairs, the dining concourse. Endless delis and restaurants to refuel while busy New Yorkers file out of train and metro tunnels.

Fact. You will never go hungry in New York, there are endless delis, and not as many fast food outlets as you would expect. They offer a huge variety of fresh and very reasonably priced food, in generous portions. There are some English style bar/restaurants, again serving good value meals, look out for Connolly’s across the city.

We walked 10 blocks north to Central Park, where New Yorkers go to escape the hustle and bustle. When we visited a mist hung across the city for the first few days, creating unforgettable scenes as skyscrapers soared above the clouds.

Moving downtown we passed Times Square, all neon lights, huge billboards, and busy tourists taking pictures and queuing for cheap theatre tickets. This can get you a bargain, but we went direct to the theatre to get tickets to see Chicago, guaranteeing us a show (which was very good) and saving us any extra costs that our hotel concierge quoted us (they are good sources of advice and information).

Not far south was the Empire State Building, which we saw at night, a mere 86 floors up, a city of famous landmarks shimmering against the black night sky. Continuing south on Broadway we pass the Flatiron Building, on our way to Brooklyn Bridge and the financial district, home of Wall Street and the site of World Trade Center, which was eerie and barren, if somewhat lost on those who had not seen the Twin Towers before their brutal demise.

At the tip of Manhattan we boarded a ferry tour across the harbour to Liberty and Ellis Island’s (there are various trips available), home of the famous 305ft copper statue, holding her torch aloft at the gateway of the city. Ellis Island was the arrival point for immigrants entering the country in the early 1900’s.

We took in some culture at the MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) which houses famous art and contemporary design, and the stunning Guggenheim Museum, famous for its Fifth Avenue façade of curves and lights.

Our final half day was spent scouring the department stores. All the big names, Macy’s, Bloomingdales and Saks were not too far from our hotel.

It took a little while to adjust to life in such a bustling, diverse land of endless skyscrapers, yellow cabs and delis, a cultural melting-pot of post-modernism. But there is so much to take in and walking the streets is the best way to orientate your self with New York life. We would definitely go back.

Early in the year is off peak, but it is always tourist season in New York. If you want to get a real feel of the city, you need more than a couple of days. We were up early every day, and still missed out Chinatown, Greenwich Village and the mandatory ice skate in Central Park.

Top tips for the first time traveller:

Manhattan is set up along Avenue’s that stretch north to south, and streets that go east to west, thus our hotel was situated on 48th (street) and Lexington (Avenue). You’ll need to get to grips with that if you want to get around or a taxi!

The Subway is a little daunting, but vital for when tired feet have had enough. You will have to bear in mind the tipping policy in the city, adding around 10% to the bill in restaurants and bars, and for taxi fares, just keep some change handy.

The weather is generally more extreme than Britain’s, with colder winters and sweltering summers.

Before you go, study the travel guides and street maps, or you’ll be overwhelmed.

The favourable exchange rate and generally good value makes shopping a worthwhile distraction.

Fact file - 5 night New York trip

Approximate GBR£ prices per person, including taxes:

• Flight: Heathrow to New York with British Airways - £220


• Hotel: Radisson Lexington in Midtown Manhattan for 5 nights - £220 (room only)


• Adult admissions: Guggenheim Museum - £11


• Mid-price tickets to see Chicago on Broadway - £40


• Empire State Building - £7


• Museum of Modern Art - £12


• Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island boat trip and tour - £11


• City pass is a good deal if visiting a number of sights - £30


• DK Eyewitness Travel Guide to New York - £14.99

Useful web links:

• Hotels rated and reviewed - Trip Advisor - http://www.tripadvisor.com


• City pass - http://citypass.com


• Expedia holiday deals":http://www.expedia.co.uk


• British Airways - http://www.ba.com (We bought our tickets in a sale)


• The New York Times - New York City Guide - http://www.nytimes.com/pages/travel/


• Connolly’s Restaurant - http://www.connollyspubandrestaurant.com

Tuesday 18 January 2005

MOBILE TECHNOLOGY: Annoying people on the bus/train on the mobile? Rining volume at full volume? Designers give us hope... Wired News: Cell-Phone Shushing Gets Creative

Thursday 6 January 2005

TSUNAMI: Muttiah Muralitharan does his bit. Murali leads from the front - cricinfo

Wednesday 5 January 2005

USABILITY: A navigation discussion. Worth a read, the ever important subject of interaction, how do people navigate? Tips on how to approach a web project. GUUUI - Navigation blindness

Monday 3 January 2005

WEB DESIGN: Adam Polselli's 2005 Color Forecast. That's right, what the well-dressed website will be wearing this year...

Sunday 2 January 2005

WEB: Meta tags - Do not forsake them oh my web designers... appalling I know, but the BBC columnist's point here, is that simple methods of web production (adding description and keyword meta tags for instance) can help people to find and thus use the information created for the purpose it was intended. BBC NEWS | Technology | Why the web is often woeful

ASIAN EARTHQUAKE: Why would you do this? Obviously it seemeed funny (its not, at all) or the person who did it is mentally unstable. BBC NEWS | UK | Hoaxer sends 'quake dead' e-mails

BUILDINGS: Probably the tallest building in the world. All right, it is the tallest building in the world. BBC NEWS | World | Asia-Pacific | Taipei 101: A view from the top

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