So the New York Times launched their new Web site design recently, and it looks great: I like the way they pack a lot of content into a small space: you can get to a huge number of articles from the front page. I also like the way they are breaking one of the rules of Web design, creating pages with a width of over 800 pixels (they actually go up to 975) over 5 columns.  But it's not perfect, and many of the problems seem to come from advertising. Take, for instance, what I got when reading an article (at right); the advert was misplaced, obscuring the article itself with no way to get rid of it. Granted, the article itself was perhaps not the most earth-shattering thing to miss, but it is pretty irritating and has happened more than once.

Posted by baggers at 03:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

So everybody seems to be getting all nostalgic about the 30th anniversary of Apple: I'm just listening to the Mac World Podcast where Jason Snell and Rick LePage are discussing their Mac history. 30 years ago I was a snotty-nosed 10-year old in the UK who though that computers were boring: I was more interested in poking things with sticks. But just a few years later I got a BBC Micro (A model B for you accuracy freaks; I had originally ordered a ZX Spectrum, but they were back-ordered ) and it's been downhill ever since. My first experience with a Mac would have been when I was at university in the late '80s and early '90s; they had a Mac system that was used for design work with PageMaker that I'd sneak in and use occasionally. 

There's a great timeline of the 30 years of Apple from Mac World here: It's amazing how many of the events I can link with things in my life. Hell, I even owned a Newton for a time; I sold it in the end because it couldn't handle my handwriting.

Posted by baggers at 11:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Okay, so I'm just installing an update to the software for the ATI HDTV Wonder for a PVR system I am building. And for some reason, the upgrade software insists that I have to provide the original CD that came with the device. WHY!?!

I can't see any reason for this except to make my life difficult. I mean, why would I be installing the upgrade if I didn't already have the device itself? Surely the software could check if the damn device itself is present, not the CD?

(Please note that this rant has nothing to do with the fact that my office is a total mess, meaning that the CD itself is probably lost under a pile of rubbish in the corner, or has been used as a hockey puck by the cats. Honest.)

Posted by baggers at 03:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

As a professional writer, I've been attacked on numerous occasions. In the days before blogs, I'd occasionally get emails or letters from irate readers who had disliked or disagreed about something I had written. And I noticed a general rule to this: the more vitriolic the attack, the less likely they were to respond. People who accused me of being in the pay of Microsoft/Dell/Intel/Whoever I had been writing about wouldn't bother replying to me, while people who just disagreed with my conclusions in a review would usually respond after I replied.  I try and respond to emails or comments about my work when I get them--if someone has taken the time to email me, it only seems polite.

The new world of blogging makes this process more complex, though. These days, people don't email and complain; they post snarky comments about things in their blog or on sites like Digg and Slashdot. So how do you deal with this? Darren Rowse at ProBlogger has some good tips on how to deal with criticism in the new age of interactive mediums like blogs. The bottom line of his article is to do the same thing I've been trying to do all along: respond reasonably. "All it really involves is joining the conversation in the place where you're being critiqued." Good advice, indeed, but it does require some moderation: sites like Slashdot can quickly become a timesink when you leap on every comment about something that you have written.

Posted by baggers at 11:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)