Technology

Why the gdgt+AOL union is a rallying cry for the WordPress community

In my latest article on WP Daily, I talk about why the recent acquisition of tech site gdgt by AOL’s tech publishing arm might be bad news for WordPress in the enterprise: I’m suggesting that old, tired, and unfair “WordPress is for traditionally-formatted blogs” trope may still be a factor when online media properties choose their technology…
Local banks should hire a “startup advocate”

A recent crowdsource-driven funding contest promoted by a local bank in my area got me thinking about how banks in particular can find themselves on the sidelines of the entrepreneurship/startup movement as the costs to starting a business drop and as new and creative fundraising options become available. One way that banks can become more active participants…
New article on ideas for WordPress themes

Thank you to WP Daily for publishing my article on the scope of WordPress themes: Should we think about new and better ways to make themes fit into the larger site development process? Here’s a snippet: Traditionally, themes don’t have opinions about the admin area; don’t acknowledge the presence of frequently-used tools (such as default…
From browse to search – and back

A conversation over lunch at work today got me thinking more about “browse” vs. “search”. These are our two most used paradigms for navigating around the web, but they’re obviously quite different. Ultimately, I wanted to try and distill the differences down to something essential if possible. I think it’s curiosity. On the desktop web, when…
A WP plugin I’d love: Finding Creative Commons photos on Flickr

We know how adding great images can make a positive impact on every type of blog post. Images – especially the perfect one – add context, break up blocks of text, and supplement the main point or occasionally add humor. Seeing the impact of images is the easy part – but what do you do…
Wilson’s Miner’s “When We Build”

If you make anything – websites, cars, fasteners, jewlery, anything – I think you’ll really love watching designer Wilson Miner’s talk on the art and process of building. It’s been a great source of inspiration for me. Wilson Miner – When We Build from Build on Vimeo.
Mike Daisey and this American denial

Two things are really bothering me about today’s news that monolougist Mike Daisey fabricated portions of his hit performance piece “The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs.” Let me get something out of the way out front: I’ve known Mike since about 1996. He was an advisor/supporter of my high school’s speech & debate…
Let’s see more context-aware design touches

I hope, and I predict, that we’ll start to see more of a trend in web and software development in the coming months and years that probably already has a great name, but since I don’t know it, for now I’m giving it my own name: context-aware design. Loosely, I define context-aware design as a principle…
Why the Bangor Daily News “ad frame” is bad for you, and what to do about it

Links should be free- and users are worth more than a few cents each. Why “ad frames” are bad business for news. My local newspaper, the Bangor Daily News, has made some admirable improvements to its otherwise lackluster website over the past few months. To their credit, they’ve slowly integrated topic and people-based cross-links throughout their…
MaineOpenGov.org is a revolutionary new website which creates some amazing opportunities for enterprising journalists, bloggers, and citizens to ask questions in public and among friends about our state government and back them up with facts. How and why? The how is simple: Sponsored by the Maine Heritage Policy Center, the MaineOpenGov.org website provides a powerful,…