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Month: September 2005

Identity 2.0

Identity2.0 – OSCON Presentation

Superb presentation on “Identity 2.0” – how to move beyond the user/pword paradigm currently on the web, as well as getting ownership of “your” identity (rather than having it bound up with the site – eg Amazon ‘owns’ your purchasing history and you can’t ‘take’ that to Barnes&Noble for their view on recommendations for you!).

The presentation style is very slick, humourous and impressive. I was going to say that it reminded me of a presentation that Lawrence Lessig gave at the RSA back in 2004, but the last slide credits the presentation style of Mr Lessig, so it’s clearly not only me that was impressed.

There’s an O’Reilly conference on Web2.0 in october with a session on Identity2.0, and Dick Hardt’s weblog is at identity20.com.

The Guardian: a blog in print?

I rather like The Guardian’s new format (between the tabloid and broadsheet sizes: “berliner”, apparently). Good use of colour, clear type, size is fine. However it seems to lack “density” – a whole pile of stuff on the front page. Is it me, or does it look like (ahem) a blog? The main bit, right nav (linking to sections within, with a leading quote), and a ‘bot bar’ (category headlings along the bottom)?? [see Typepad‘s “2 columns right” suggestion…]

The Guardian
is famous in its use and support of blogs, contributions and a ‘living’ online version, but this adoption of a weblike interface makes it like no other.

You can see the design here on their site.

Vin Crosbie also likes the design and you can see his comments here:
Digital Deliverance Archive: The New Guardian: Intelligent Design in Newspaper

The only other UK paper that approaches the ‘Grauniad’ (so-called in tribute to the infamous speeling erosr that used to plague the paper – before spellchecking?) is the Independent, but their design is more “picture banner at the top and look how much space we’re boldly giving the main story”. The could take a leaf from the Graun and make their comments on the design at least readable without a subscription… Pay for content? Moi?

Brazilian Bush

From Mr Worley:

Donald Rumsfeld is giving the President his daily briefing. He concludes
by saying: “Yesterday, 3 Brazilian soldiers were killed in an accident’

“OH NO!” the President exclaims. “That’s terrible!”

His staff sits stunned at this display of emotion, nervously watching as
the president sits, head in hands. Finally, the President looks up and
asks……….

”How many is a Brazillion ?’

Classic: “ceo-types” leave date on airport computers


Airport PCs stuffed with meaty goodness | The Register

A rather forgiving article on El Reg today, noting how users of airport internet lounges leave passwords, cached info, emails and goodness knows what else on shared machines in ‘internet lounges’. The message as ever is that ‘security’ isn’t something your IT department do on your behalf, it’s an attitude of mind and a habit of paranoid behaviour!

The only two big questions to ponder are:
1) what’s a “CEO-type”? Are they those people in mobile phone ads? Airport ads, even?
2) Do the beancounters, processing the “essential internet usage on the executive move” expense reclaims, assume that everyone is browsing porn, mailing the mistress or leaving business plans on the desktop? God help my next expenses claim!

Mickey Mao?

BBC NEWS | Business | Dogs’ fate gnaws at HK Disneyland

Jeff Randall on Radio 4 did a great piece on the opening of the HK Disneyland. Sounded like an overwhelming day in terms of humidity, queuing and desultory protests, accompanied by the clang of cultures realigning without synchromesh.

ISTR that he avoided saying either ‘chairman mouse’ or ‘mickey mao’so I thought I’d fill the punning void 😉

The doggy title made me think it was on the menu (after all, it was only in June that Sharks’ Fins came off the menu) but the story’s about a clear-up around the area… One sighting of a giant Goofy
should’ve been enough to clear the area.