links for 2009-11-10

"And it has to be something of the form, “We help $TYPE_OF_PERSON be awesome at $THING.” Bells went off. Everything we’ve done successfully has one thing in common: It’s all about helping software developers be awesome at making software." How is your company making people be awesome.

"Adobe is pushing hard to get Flash, PDF, and other technologies used to realize recent open government initiatives. The problem is that the technologies fall short of the goal of full accessibility, and cause problems for those seeking to use government-supplied data in any meaningful way."

"Today, version 0.10.0 of CouchDB was released. This new version breaks some backward compatibility and is the first version considered to be ready for public scrutiny. CouchDB has the ability to spread information around systems while maintaining data integrity. That means developers can build desktop and server systems on the same code, and be assured that their online and offline users will be able to sync up with the server-side at will."

"Because, let's face it – if you're going to commit yourself to someone for (presumably) the rest of your life, it's probably best if you know that you're sexually compatible. I don't think this is particularly radical thing to say; in fact, it seems quite logical to me. But somehow, if you suggest that pre-marital sex is a good and maybe even necessary thing (especially if you say those things while being a feminist) you are an evil, evil whoremaker. Do I think that people can have perfectly wonderful satisfying relationships without having had sex before making a commitment? Sure, I'm positive that happens often. But considering what a huge role sexuality plays in our lives and relationships…well, I'd rather be super duper positive."

"For about 10 percent of electricity in the United States, it’s fuel from dismantled nuclear bombs, including Russian ones. “It’s a great, easy source” of fuel, said Marina V. Alekseyenkova, an analyst at Renaissance Bank and an expert in the Russian nuclear industry that has profited from the arrangement since the end of the cold war. But if more diluted weapons-grade uranium isn’t secured soon, the pipeline could run dry, with ramifications for consumers, as well as some American utilities and their Russian suppliers. Already nervous about a supply gap, utilities operating America’s 104 nuclear reactors are paying as much attention to President Obama’s efforts to conclude a new arms treaty as the Nobel Peace Prize committee did."

"With another year coming to a close, it’s time to look toward the near future. The following are my predictions for the web in 2010." Pretty good and fair predictions.

"HESK is free, PHP-Based Help Desk Software that runs with MySQL database, allowing you to quickly and easily set up a Web-based ticket support system (help desk) for your Web site."

"And people have the nerve to argue rape culture doesn't exist…" Indeed.

Web developers and designers across the world should celebrate this day.

Very smart business idea, by these hotel branches to offer tele-presence centers.

Don't offend me by calling me cool.

Why I don't mess with babies.

How did Capt. Picard go so long without professional help.

"Don’t obsess over being first-to-market either. Successful businesses show up to the party late all the time. Google wasn’t the first search engine. VHS toppled Betamax even though it was later to market. There are plenty of things that are more important than being first."

"Defiant and unapologetic, a man accused of shooting a Kansas abortion provider confessed to the slaying Monday, telling The Associated Press that he killed the doctor to protect unborn children. Scott Roeder, 51, of Kansas City, Mo., spoke to the AP in a telephone call from jail, saying he plans to argue at his trial that he was justified in shooting Dr. George Tiller." Let's see how that works out.

"But it doesn’t really work as well as you had hoped because only a tiny percentage of viewers will actually read page two. You know that, but you don’t care, because you won’t give up a chance to make a few extra cents. Who cares if it annoys the crap out of that tiny slice of your audience? Who are they, anyway? The people who actually read your content thoroughly instead of skimming the headline and moving on? That can’t possibly be your most important audience segment — they’re just the most involved and attentive. Repeat customers. You already have their “eyeballs” that you can sell to your real customers. And these dupes get their eyeballs double-counted. What a steal!"

"Rupert Murdoch has suggested that News Corporation is likely to make its content unfindable to users on Google when it launches its paid content strategy." Beyond dumb.

"It’s not the end of the world that a thumb control is misplaced by one pixel. All software ships with bugs, or it doesn’t ship. But here we are, version 11 of the app, and one of the most-used standard controls in the app is broken. And this is only sliders we’re talking about. If this dead horse needed any more beating, I’d put together a gallery of misaligned text labels, inconsistent popup buttons (often in the same window!), badly scaled controls, and nearly impenetrable UI bugs. (I mean, there’s a whole blog for these.) What’s the explanation there – is that innovation? Or is it simply the case that this doesn’t matter enough to Adobe? I love Photoshop. It’s where I spend eight hours five times a week. I just wish that one of these days, instead of piling on more furniture, they’d clean up the place."