May, 13, 2002 archives

i'm really tired of articles like this one about aol's plans for its set-top box with pvr features that refer to replaytv's 30-second skip as some sort of high-falutin' ad-skipping technology. it's a 30-second skip. want to defeat it? start showing 45 second ads. (don't get wrong, the recent statements by media executives about how people are obligated to watch advertising is laughable, but the 30-second skip isn't a huge step over the mute button. i'm also perfectly happy to see every single major broadcaster go out of business if they are too stupid to figure out a way to make money in a world when the “consumer” can skip bad commercials easily.)

i rearranged my office/bedroom, and now i've got my back against the wall so none of you jerks can sneak up on me.

jakob nielsen's top-10 guidelines for homepage usability aren't particularly groundbreaking, but they are good stuff. i'm a little surprised that more sites don't have a front page that is more distinct from all of the other pages. obviously you want the site design to be coherent, but i think too many sites fall into the trap of making the front page use the exact same template as inner pages.

stupid internet. for no apparent reason, i can't seem to reach some significant parts of the net. (but not very consistent parts—i can reach some hosts at pair networks, but not others.) needless to say, the system status page of my internet service provider reports no problems.

david reed says it's time for tax on silicon. i'm tempted to print it out and send it to my congressman and senators to find out where they stand.