vanderwal.net

Short Quiet

I will have limited e-mail and instant message access until Monday. My e-mail on my cell works for those that have that and need to get in touch. Monday I return to some what normal life.

Until then, peace

I am Reading Comics Again

In the past week I have found two new comic strips to follow. I have not had a daily comic strip I liked since Calvin and Hobbes went away. Thanks to Anil and an excellent article in the New Yorker, I now am a fan of The Boondocks.

The second comic strip is Frazz, which has some frighteningly similar traits to Calvin. Eric Meyer has the Calvin and Frazz conspiracy theory posted on his site. There are some great links and theories. I am not so sure they Mallett and Waterson are two different people, but none-the-less I have a new comic strip to follow.

Brands and the Bambino

It has been a big few days for Will. He started crawling today. He learned to mimic tapping on the floor. He will jump up and down like a mad man (boy). He learned to clap his hands. He can grab a filled spoon and put it in his own mouth (cleanly I might add). He can pick up put Cheerios in his own mouth (not with the first finger and thumb just yet). He can crawl backwards and sit himself up and stay balanced for long stretches. He knows the TV, Satellite, and On button row and the proper time to press them (hit that row first) on his own dummy remote.

But yesterday's trip to Whole Foods market it all sunk in. It was our first family outing to the market. He was very attentive to all the people and all the items. He was fascinated with the light fixtures, as he is everywhere. But, in the dairy aisle I stopped the cart and tried to help Joy find the item she wanted. When I looked down Will was had his arms stretched out of the cart toward a large display of Cheerios. He knows brands. He knows HIS brand. This really amazed me. He has really been paying attention, it sinks in, and he remembers.

Definition Lists Defined

Definition lists explained and examples by Max Design. Definition lists are often used incorrectly, but these examples are done to show how to use definition lists when it is semantically correct to use them. Definition lists are used for presentation purposes then the information is actually a list, ordered or not. Using the proper structure for information is critical for those that can not see the presentation (visually impaired, mobile devices, text readers for those driving, etc.).
[hat tip Mike]

Wiggles Rocks Zen Garden

I am a huge fan of CSS Zen Garden and have been impressed for many months by the contributions, but Wiggles the Wonder Worm just floored me. I was and still am in awe. Joseph Pearson did a fantastic job and explains Wiggles and CSS on his site.

Amazon Offers Alexa Augmented Search

Adam pointed out that Amazon is offering a Web search engine A9, which uses ancillary information from Alexa. I offer vanderwal.net/random/ as your jumping off point to explore (leave a review if you wish). I am please with the related sites that are offered as similar sites, not that I am trying for anything in particular.

I agree with Adam that Amazon is offering intriguing integration of information and services, which is the position Google is working to fill. Some of the personal portal sites, like Yahoo, more so than MSN or AOL, have done a good job at innovating in this space.

SeatGuru -- An Airline Seat Guide

You know that all seats on commercial airplanes are not created equal. But, you do not know which is best. SeatGuru is where you should go to find your answer.
[Hat tip Doc]

Be Kind to Kind Kids

I am in line to get my salad at lunch. A little girl about four is standing in front of me. I am intently reading news on my Treo. We start to chat:

Her: I accidentally got my fingers nails painted today.
Me: They do look nice.
Her: Are your nails painted?
Me: Excuse me? What did you say? (I really did not hear)
Her: Take your hand out of your pocket. Why is your hand in your pocket?
I take my hand out of my pocket.
Her: Your nails are also painted
Me: [abruptly] My nails are not painted!
Her: Let me see them. Sure they are painted. Mom, his nails are painted.
Salad chef: Your usual?
Me: I do not paint my nails
Her: But they look nice.
Me: [Thinking help her with manners and politeness] Why thank you. That is very kind. ... Yes, my regular salad.

Easter Bunny?

Lots going on, so a visit from the Easter Bunny is what I needed to get my laughs back.

Stitching our Lives Together

Not long ago Jeffrey Veen posted about Will you be my friend, which brought up some needs to better stitch together our own disperse information. An excellent example is:

For example, when I plan a trip, I try to find out who else will be around so I have people to hang out with. So my calendar should ask Upcoming.org, "Hey, Jeff says he's friends with Tim. Will he be in New York for GEL?"

This example would allow up to interact with our shared information in a manner that keeps it within our extended Personal InfoCloud (the Personal InfoCloud is the information we keep with us, is self-organized, and we have easy access to). Too many of the Web's resources where we store our information and that information's correlation to ourselves (Upcoming.org, LinkedIn, etc.) do not allow interactivity between online services. Some, like Upcoming and Hilton Hotels do provide standard calendaring downloads of the events and reservations you would like to track.

Some of this could be done with Web Services, were their standards for the interaction. Others require a common API, like a weblogging interface such as Flickr seems to use. The advent of wide usage of RSS feeds and RSS aggregators is really putting the user back in control of the information they would like to track. Too many sites have moved toward the portal model and failed (there are large volumes of accounts of failed portal attempts, where the sites should provide a feed of their information as it is a limited quantity). When users get asked about their lack of interest in a company's new portal they nearly always state, "I already have a portal where I aggregate my information". Most often these portals are ones like My Yahoo, MSN, or AOL. Many users state they have tried keeping more than one portal, but find they loose information very quickly and they can not remember, which portal holds what information.

It seems the companies that sell portal tools should rather focus on integration with existing portals. Currently Yahoo offers the an RSS feed aggregator. Yahoo is moving toward a one stop shopping for information for individuals. Yahoo also synchs with PDA, which is how many people keep their needed information close to themselves.

There are also those of us that prefer to be our own aggregators to information. We choose to structure our large volumes of information and the means to access that information. The down side of the person controlling the information is the lack of common APIs and accessible Web Services to permit the connecting of Upcoming to our calendar (it can already do this), with lists of known or stated friends and their interests.

This has been the dream of many of us for many years, but it always seems just around the corner. Now seems to be a good time to just make it happen. Now is good because there is growing adoption of standards and information that can be personally aggregated. Now is good because there are more and more services allowing us to categorize various bits of information about our lives. Now is good because we have the technology. Now is good because we are smart enough to make it happen.

Using Section 508 to Improve Access to Information for Everybody

I will be speaking at STC in Baltimore (STC conference listed in Upcoming.org) on the subject of Using Section 508 to Improve Internet Access to Information for Everybody. It has been wild to watch people spend far more time and energy trying to shirk accessibility requirements than do what is needed. Meeting Section 508 (accessibility) requirements is rather easy, well for those that are even partially competent. One great benefit of accessible sites is the breadth of users that benefit from the steps taken to meet accessiblility requirements.

Oddly, there are those that are against meeting accessibility requirement. The only logical explanation is these people are not interested in getting their information into the hands of those that can use the information. Or another possible explaination is the producers of the information love irony.

Ironically, the FCC posts nearly all of its documents in PDF. Most of these documents are not even remotely accessible (accessibility is not fungible for 508 complient, as an item can be defined as accessible but still not meet Section 508 compliance, as accessibility is a very widely defined term). The irony is the organization that is behind pushing for mobile connectivity provides document that 95 percent of mobile users can not use on a mobile device. It seems the FCC just does not care (I would certainly hope they know better).

Missing the Bay Area

It is a sad state of affairs these days. They say, "home is where the heart is". Well I have a few homes. One home is San Francisco and The Bay Area. I have not been to the Bay Area since September 2001, when I was granted a slightly longer stay than I had originally planned.

I will be back later this month to refresh my feelings for my old home and the area where I was born. I have still spent more of my life in Northern California than any other area, but my roots are growing weak and that bothers me.

Today I came across San Francisco magazine on the bookstore shelf. I thumbed through it and recognized very little. This is the first time I have had this feeling. I do not get this feeling with New York, as New York is ever fresh in my mind. I really want to get my familiarity back with my beloved Bay Area. Currently I fear I will feign recognition, like a childhood friend you meet at an airport and have to quizzically ask if it really them.

I have a lot of catching up to do with the Bay Area. I want the soil under my nails, foggy breeze in my hair, soft bright light in my eyes, and cacophony of creative sounds in my ears. I miss the drives from San Francisco to Moraga or Palo Alto in the summertime to get warm sunshine on my face to break the foggy evenings. I miss the wondrous food at every turn. I miss the creative can do spirt with just enough irreverence to pulse the blood as if everything were a new experience. I miss the sharing of passion of life and work among friends and acquaintances. I desire to travel the shelves of Green Apple Books, breakfast at the Pork Store in the Haight (and peer out their bathroom window into my old backyard), grab a deep dish pizza from Zachary's in Berkeley, and see great friends.

Why Content Managment Fails

Adaptive Path's Jeff Veen explains Why Content Management Fails. It comes down to a people problem in his book, which I agree with.

It also comes down to poor initial analysis, poor product choice based on the initial analysis, poor implementation, and trying to solve a people and process problem with technology, which often just compounds the problem.

Also take a look at Peter's comments on Enterprise Content Management. Peter is Jeff's partner and has some great insights that I have experienced also. The framing the issue as a technology problem is one of the common failures and difficulties I have run into in the past seven years dealing with CMS. It did not take me long to figure out it is an information problem, process, and mostly a people problem. I seem to continually deal with people that do not understand the variables in the equation.

In my current role I am always witnessing managers on the client side wanting the glitzy and having little and&047;or poor quality content. Just as a content management technology will not solve content generation problems or turn your ragged tabby cat into a beautiful tiger, having a beautiful site will not solve the lack of good content. Hiring technologists to solve information and people problems is pouring money down a hole. The approach to the problems will not discover the problems as the right questions have not been asked, the right discovery methods have not been used, the right analysis has not been done, the right deliverables are not produced, which does not lead to success.

Join the March for Web Standards

Get your umbrella and head to the Mall in Washington, DC today for the March for Web Standards (M4WeSt). It is a great cause and a couple hundred thousand are expected even in the rain.

Pardon the pauses

Yes, things have been slow in the main content section of Off the Top, as time has been usurped by a (now) six month old. By the time we get Will to bed and I get dinner cooked and cleaned up it is 8:30 and I am just sitting down to get to e-mail, then 145 (or so) RSS feeds, and finally crafting a note for OtT. I have been finding the Quick Links to be easier for me to dump items in for me to come back to later. I have also received thanks for the Quick Links RSS feed, as others can also get easier access to the links. My plan has been to flesh out comments for the Quick Links at later dates, but that time has not been made available.

Time will be a little shorter this month as I am trying to knock out some longer writing pieces and prepare for a speaking gig on accessibility.

I used to watch time fly by in minute and hour increments, now it flies by in days and weeks.