links for 2009-06-14

"RSS is the foundation of the real time web. RSS allows us to track, consume and share our passions. This is what makes the real time web work. Each person contributes a little bit of their universe to the whole. Give a little, take a little. … RSS is not about real time. It is the fuel for real time. RSS is about time shifting your content consumption." I agree.

"One notion is very simple: Open enrollment in the federal Thrift Savings Plan to all workers anywhere. This program has annual costs of only 0.03 percent. It provides workers with simple choices of ultra-low-cost index funds or portfolios of same. Workers could then choose between the plan, if any, offered by their employer and the low-cost plan offered by the federal government." Pretty interesting idea, virtually no cost to the government and nothing for employers/employees.

"Today we're excited remove another key barrier to enterprise adoption of Google Apps with Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook. Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook lets you use Microsoft Outlook seamlessly with Google Apps Premier or Education Editions." Great news for enterprise users of Google Apps.

"A breakthrough could lead to drugs to alleviate the pain experienced by cancer patients. The biology of cancer pain is different to other types of pain, often rendering analgesic drugs ineffective."

"Whenever you have a long page worth of content, you generally want to add a “top” anchor link at the bottom of the page so that your user doesn’t have to scroll forever to get to the top. The only problem with this method is that I may want to get to the top of the page from somewhere in the middle. Using MooTools, we can create a “top” link as a watermark that follows the users down the page." Pretty neat.

"In my two examples, the probability of making the right design decision was vastly improved when given the tiniest amount of empirical data: observing your own parents, or testing 2 users per design. Of course, a bigger study would be better, but any data is better than no data. How many design decisions do you make without any empirical observation of your customers' behavior?" Using even a small amount of data is better than just guessing.

"If you could make one thing come true that would change everything for your project, do you know what the one thing would be?" A software project that's been in the works with very little code written for years.

"Six Flags, the theme park operator, filed for bankruptcy early Saturday in Delaware after failing to reach an agreement with lenders to reorganize its debt."

"Thousands of angry protesters have clashed with police after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared the winner of Iran's presidential poll. Correspondents say the violence is the worst seen in Tehran in a decade."

"The North said it would start enriching uranium and use the plutonium for nuclear weapons hours after a UN vote for tough new sanctions against it."

"Signaling a likely repeat of Apple's iPhone sell-outs of the past two years, AT&T is already warning that those making iPhone 3G S pre-orders that they won't get their handsets on launch." Wow, good job Apple.

"Safari 4.0 notched 11 million downloads in just three days. While significant, this number is almost a rounding error compared with Firefox 3.0.11, which pulled down 150 million downloads in just 24 hours, as Mozilla's Asa Dotzler reports."

Want some cool art, here's a good place for it.

"Despite a temporary lull during the financial crisis, global industry restructuring is driving a dramatic increase in cross-border acquisitions, and some countries are selling a lot more than buying. Between 2000 and 2008, the U.S. lost $220 billion of corporate ownership control. The U.K. lost $187 billion. And Canada lost $158 billion." France is the largest buying company. France is buying the US, that's amusing.

"In England, Heinz has unveiled the world's smallest microwave—and it plugs into a USB port so you can nuke some grub at the desk or on the go. Called the Beanzawave, it's obviously a ploy to increase brand awareness for Heinz baked beans, but you could also warm some coffee, tea, or maybe a meatball or two." Just a prototype, but pretty cool.

"i wasn’t born a programmer. i became one because i was impatient." So true.

"Yeah. I told him he was gay." Haha.