Jeffrey Zeldman's Blog, page 98
June 17, 2010
Free CSA images
It won't help your next web design project, but if you're working in print, now you can use incredible images from the CSA library free when you print on French paper.
"This vast selection of rights managed black & white images are perfect for solid-color offset, letterpress, or silkscreen printing. Free CSA High Resolution Tiff Images capture the authenticity and detail of hand-drawn illustration and the beautifully tactile look of ink printed on paper, allowing you to keep...
Improving Comments
In 2008, Derek Powazek, who knows more about community on the web than just about anyone, shared 10 Ways Newspapers Can Improve Comments. It was a great read then, and still is, distilling of 15 years of online community experience into a brief, punchy list. If comments on your site aren't where you want them to be, give it a look.
June 16, 2010
Once Upon a Time in Afghanistan
"A half-century ago, Afghan women pursued careers in medicine; men and women mingled casually at movie theaters and university campuses in Kabul; factories in the suburbs churned out textiles and other goods.
"There was a tradition of law and order, and a government capable of undertaking large national infrastructure projects, like building hydropower stations and roads, albeit with outside help. Ordinary people had a sense of hope, a belief that education could open...
June 15, 2010
Whitney Hess, Ethan Marcotte, and Jason Fried on The Big Web Show
This Thursday 17 June at 1:00 PM EDT, join Dan Benjamin and me live on The Big Web Show as we interview Whitney Hess (bio | blog | Twitter) on on the ins and outs of user experience design—from research to wireframes to testing and beyond. Just what goes into making stuff online easier and more pleasurable to use? What kinds of projects (and clients) enable great user experiences, and which have bad UI written all over them? If a tree falls in the forest, will Whitney tweet...
June 12, 2010
Episode 7: Jared Spool
Episode 7 of The Big Web Show is now online for your listening and viewing pleasure. In this most excellent episode, co-host Dan Benjamin and I talk with special guest Jared Spool about usability testing in the real world, with practical advice for designers, UI engineers, and developers alike.
Jared Spool is the founder of User Interface Engineering, the largest usability research organization of its kind in the world. He's been working in the field of usability and design...
June 11, 2010
iMac dies after Safari update
There is a new Safari update. After I installed it, my home iMac cannot reboot.
For about an hour, the iMac was stuck in the grey Apple screen (sometimes with, and sometimes without, a progress bar). The progress bar would "finish," then the Mac would restart back into the grey Apple screen.
I decided to leave the iMac alone while I worked out.
When I returned two hours later, the iMac had progressed from the grey screen to a blue screen. Zapping PRAM and restarting gets me a...
The Great Salami Caper
In the late 1980s, while making efforts to move to New York City, I came up with the winning ad campaign for Hebrew National Kosher Salami. Only I didn't win.
Hebrew National held a contest to see if people outside Madison Avenue could come up with a great ad idea for their 83% fat free salami. The grand prize was $83,000.
Even in New York, $83,000 would have more than covered a moving van, broker's fee, and first and last month's rent.
But creating the winning ad carried a b...
June 10, 2010
Icon: For Love of Barbie
When I was twenty, Barbie was a symbol of oppression with obvious food issues. No way would a future child of mine identify with that.When I was twenty, "princess" was another word for "child of oppressor." Monarchs went with pogroms and capitalists.
If I ever had a daughter, she would be one of the people. Or a leader of the people. Or an anarchist. Or most probably an artist. Art was problematic because it also went...
It's a process
After finishing her late-night snack, she left the empty bowl beside her in the bed "for Emile's spirit to nibble on."
