Version 7.0Elsewhere
Five Star Links
Lessons from OpenDoc
A marketing manager for Apple’s ingenious but ultimately misguided and unsuccessful rethinking of how software should be conceived, developed and marketed, looks back on what can be learned from the effort. Very, very good post. Via Daring Fireball.
Alvin Lustig, Modern American Design Pioneer 1915-1955
“The premier, educational online archive dedicated to the life and work of Alvin Lustig.”
NYT: Ralph Ginzburg, Legendary Publisher, Dies at 76
This visionary publisher of Eros and Avant Garde magazines was a frequent collaborator with the designer and typographer Herb Lubalin.
Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) Explains How the Internet Works
Transcript and audio archive of the Senator’s argument against net neutrality.
ReFrederator: Max Fleischer’s “Superman” Cartoons
Free downloads of these classic, much-admired, now public domain, animated adaptations from the 1940s.
Rick Poynor: The Death of the Critic
A powerful essay on the current, moribund state of design criticism. Highly recommended.
Bronx Banter: A Delicate Balance
A really terrific weblog post about using a soft touch when one is inclined to throw hard. The subject, ostensibly, is baseball and soul music, but it’s got a universal relevance: “Vulnerability is often the greatest sign of strength, the most powerful tool, no matter what art form you are talking about.”
Previews of Sketchfighter 4000
Upcoming game from Ambrosia Software looks like a high school kid’s notebook come to life. Genius.
Herblock’s History
Online companion to an exhibition at the Library of Congress honoring the venerable Washington Post political cartoonist.
Actor John Spencer Dies at 58
The actor, best known for his portrayal of Leo McGarry on “The West Wing” died on Friday in Los Angeles after suffering a heart attack. He’ll be missed.
2005 Mayoral Issue Grid
Perhaps overly simplistic, but exactly what a disinterested public would find useful in trying to evaluate candidates.
Opera for Free in Celebration of 10 Years
Until 6:00p EST, the company is giving away free registration codes for Opera.
Amputator
Movable Type plug-in with a great name re-encodes ampersands into standards-friendly entities.
WSJ Opinion: Karl Rove, Whistleblower
“Rather than calling for Mr. Rove to be fired, they ought to be grateful to him for telling the truth.” Wow. Amazing. They really wrote that.
A Short History of DragThing: Ten Years of Tidying up Your Desktop
Illuminating anecdotal history of how a small shareware product became a career and a widely respected software utility.
Time Traveler Convention, 07 May 2005
“Technically, you would only need one time traveler convention.”
Moon Units Austin
Former colleagues are building these space-age and eco-friendly lofts in Austin, TX.
Dan Gillmor: The Gathering Storms over Speech
“Apple Computer's disgusting attack on three online journalism sites… has taken a nasty turn. Too bad it’s not surprising — and journalists of all kinds should be paying attention.”
More Evil, Mendacity and Loathing Packed Into a Single Photograph Than Ever Before
And the most detestable baseball jersey ever made, to boot.
NYT: 14 Days in Iraq, an Information Graphic
I wish the Times would do this powerful image justice by uploading a properly rasterized version to replace this crappy GIF.
CNN: Poll Shows Nation Split on Bush as Uniter or Divider
The irony of that headline is delicious. Completely delicious.
TypeMover Plug-in for Movable Type
Adds backup, restore and migration features that let you get data in and out of your servers. Worked like a charm when I installed it, and gave me a huge sense of relief once I had performed a backup.
“New York Changing: Revisiting Berenice Abbott’s New York” by Douglas Levere
Hugely engrossing photographic project and book documents how New York has changed in small and large ways.
The Graphing Calculator Story
Ron Avitzur recounts how he snuck into Apple headquarters every day for six months to write software for them for free. An amazing tale.
Exit Polls: What You Should Know
Not so fast, Kerry fans: “Even a perfect mid-day exit poll — and there is no such animal — may not be any better at picking a winner than the half-time scores in any given football game on Sunday.”