Warmest Greetings,
:: Saturday, August 02, 2003 ::
Net attack warning...A Cre8asiteForums member helps us figure it out. This may help you too >>> Net Attack
If you design and develop web sites and only think in terms of broadband access, think again. July 2003 Bandwidth Report:
Cable Trumps DSL, US Broadband Jumps to 36.7%
(Snip)
"This month in the Bandwidth Report we compare cable and DSL broadband Internet access in the US. Cable has 67% to 105% more users than DSL in the US, according to two recent surveys. Overall, broadband grew by .83% in June, with 36.7% of wired US users enjoying a high-speed connection. The charts and tables below, derived from Nielsen//NetRatings and Ipsos-Insight data, show trends in connection speeds to the Internet in the US.
Home Connectivity in the US:
As of June 2003, most users in the US connect to the Internet using dial-up modems of 56Kbps or less. 51.4% use 56Kbps modems, 9% use 28/33.3Kbps, and 2.9% use 14.4Kbps modems. In total, 63.3% of home users in the US connect to the Internet at 56Kbps or less (see Figure 1). (See the July 2003 Bandwidth Report)"
And for your weekend reading thrill, this gem from Jared Spool >>> Design Patterns: An Evolutionary Step to Managing Complex Sites
The intruder who invaded my property last Tuesday was stupid enough to try again yesterday (Friday). This time he was spotted by my neighbor while he was on their property poking around. While she was on the phone talking to the police dispatcher, they called me as he entered my property and I ID'd him as the guy who entered my house on Tuesday. We watched as he tried to get into my detached garage.
By the time I got my camera, he was spooked (we think he saw my neighbor) and he took off in a dead run. For the few hours five patrol cars zooming around the area, and the police chief examining footprints, interviewing other neighbors and studying finger prints.
Haven't found the guy yet, so next week ought to be interesting!
:: posted by Kimberly Krause on 8/2/2003 10:56:58 AM
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:: Friday, August 01, 2003 ::
If you're one of those persons who think that money grows on usable trees, think again >>> What is the Return on Investment (ROI) for usability?
Thread's Dirk Knemeyer has two new great articles out which are focused on Information Design. One is Communication: Critical to good design and the other is A world to design Read and learn from a Master.
In case you haven't overdosed on forums yet, a new one was launched by my SEO friend and well known outspoken courageous fellow chocoholic, Jill Whalen. You can find her and a crew of search engine optimization advisors at High Rankings Forum. I bet she has an office filled with chocolate by now!
Jared M. Spool of UIE.com (User Interface Engineering), writes a round up article based on observations from a long usability seminar roadshow. He writes,
"The advantage of talking to so many people is that we learn a lot
about what's happening in the design world. Every time we give a
presentation, we learn a tremendous amount about the people in the
audience, through their questions, their sites, and their perspectives
on our research.
This week's article is an outcome of that education. For months now,
we've been hearing over-and-over-again just how frustrating it is to
have hundreds of people contributing content to an intranet or
organizational site, many of whom have little-to-no design experience.
How do you get them started? How do you keep them from doing stupid
things? How do you ensure that they produce high-quality results?"
Read Design Patterns: An Evolutionary Step to Managing Complex Sites And signup for their free newsletter while you're there. It's one of my "must reads" as soon as it arrives.
:: posted by Kimberly Krause on 8/1/2003 12:31:02 PM
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:: Thursday, July 31, 2003 ::
WebsitePublisher.net ran an article by Chris Beasley that caught the eye of a Cre8asite Forums guest, called Truth, Lies, and Search Engines
"I have created a website (http://www.searchenginelabs.com) in which I can run experiments on search engines in a controlled environment. It is a controlled environment because I control every variable, from incoming links, to anchor text, to keyword density. I have used this site to run a series of experiments on search engines which serve as final proof on the issues they address. Well, the results (for Google atleast), are in and I'd like to share them with you."
You can follow the response, both by Forums guests and Chris Beasley himself, here >>> Article Discussion
:: posted by Kimberly Krause on 7/31/2003 11:52:24 AM
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:: Wednesday, July 30, 2003 ::
Do you ever feel like you're living in the Twighlight Zone?
Yesterday I happened to be in my kitchen grabbing something to eat and I noticed a young man standing out across the way between mine and my neighbors' yards. He seemed to looking at our properties. I wasn't sure why but shrugged it off thinking he was looking for the neighbors' kids or maybe the kids who previously lived in my house, which I moved into several weeks ago.
So, later in the afternoon, it was a severe shock to peer out an upstairs window to see the same on my deck directly below, trying to open the gate to my pool. I barricaded myself in a room upstairs and followed his movements around my house as best I could. I could hear him banging on doors. Eventually it got quiet. I never saw him leave but I got the courage to go downstairs. Phone in hand, I was ready to call 911 (the emergency number in the US) but also felt pathetically ill-equipped for danger and defenseless. The phone wouldn't have stopped him from bopping me over the head.
He wasn't in the house, but one door was left in a position that indicated he opened it and either stepped in or simply opened it and left. I filed a police report after talking with my neighbor who verified no boys they know of would be coming to their house to play with their kids and what I saw was highly unusual for the neighborhood. The police feel our properties were "staked out". Now I'm under protective watch by the police department.
This is why I didn't write in my blog yesterday. I'm trying to work today but friends and my mate call me every few hours. I work from home, alone, and usually that's sheer heaven but I now see that I need a dog. A very big dog. Maybe 20 of them. And a course in self defense. And, some brains. The police officer said next time, call 911 and let them decide if it's a "real" emergency or not. (I didn't think I was in bad danger.)
Sometimes nothing makes a damned bit of sense. I'm having those moments it seems. But I'm not alone. Adrian Lee, one of our Cre8asite Moderators, found this and it's raising some eyebrows >>> Saddening Fact About Web Standards
"It is a sad case that a site all about Web Accessibility and the requirements of sites to be accessible to people with disabilities, has not only been designed without many features to make it accessible, but people have actually tried stopping those features being put in!"
For those wanting to know how Andy's date went..."Well i thought i'd let you all know, it went brilliant, everything worked out fine." Of course! When the Cre8asiteForums guests help a fellow guest make dinner for his girlfriend, what did you expect?
May we all have good days (and dates) like Andy's 
:: posted by Kimberly Krause on 7/30/2003 03:38:27 PM
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:: Monday, July 28, 2003 ::
Rumors...
Kids spend more time on computers than watching TV >>>"Teenagers and young adults spend more time on the Internet than watching television, indicating a shift in media consumption for a demographic prized by advertisers, said a new study released on Thursday."
Napster incarnates >>> Napster Service to Be Revived by Year-End
(Warning! Turn on your cookie security and anti-popup machine before clicking this link. Sheesh!)
News...
Pathetic, isn't it? "One-third of CIOs and IT managers surveyed say a week without e-mail is more traumatic than stressful life events such as getting divorced."
I love PDF files. But Jakob Nielsen doesn't and explains why, again, in Part 2 of Gateway Pages Prevent PDF Shock
He lived to be 100 years old and his life was so full! Thanks for the memories Bob Hope!
Free...
Free User Experience & User Interface Heuristics! (PDF)
Useful...
Do you want to get inside you website user's head? Cre8pc offers website usability reviews and now provides them as part of the website testing services offered by Site-Report.com. For user experience, navigation and desirability feedback, click Cre8pc and Site-Report website testing
:: posted by Kimberly Krause on 7/28/2003 02:09:33 PM
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