A handful of stats, according to Nielsen Mobile, about how iPhone owners use their phones. Most interesting bit to me? 33 percent said they use their iPhone for “instant messaging” — despite the fact there is no IM client on the phone. Weird. Or wrong. Visit site »
Big congrats to my old cronies at the Lawrence Journal-World (Best News Web Site with fewer than 1 million unique monthly visitors), as well as my friends at MSNBC.com (Best Community Web Site with over 1 million unique monthly visitors), and The New York Times (Best News Web Site with over 1 million unique monthly visitors and others). Visit site »
Two questions: 1. Steampunk is mainstream, now? Weird. 2. Did the New York Times really just use a numeral “2” in a headline? Wow, maybe txt’ing really is killing the English language. Visit site »
A beautiful New York Times infographic showing the percentage of foreclosures on sub-prime loans in metropolitan areas. Indicates that the crisis isn’t nearly as bad here in the upper left as it is in most places. Visit site »
Really nice narrated slideshow of tilt-shift photography used in the context of sports. Good stuff. Via Sean. Visit site »
Absolutely incredible live/work space built from a run down repair shop in transitional Atlanta. Soooo want. Visit site »
This NYT analysis of the sites of both remaining Democratic presidential candidates is clever and fairly astute, even if it kind of rams the Mac vs. PC angle down your throat. And, designers in our community may recognize one of the guys interviewed for the piece. Visit site »
“In the world of evolutionary biology, the question is not whether God exists but why we believe in him. Is belief a helpful adaptation or an evolutionary accident?” Interesting stuff. Are humans hard-wired to believe in God (or something beyond what we can rationalize)? If so, why? Could it be that evolution is actually responsible for people believing in God? Visit site »
A really glowing and well-written review. I saw the film a few days ago and loved it. Everything in this review echoes how I felt when I was watching it. But, I think the review makes one major omission: it fails to mention what I thought was the creepiest part of the whole production — there was a single note of music in it. The silence was deafening. Visit site »
If I were jobless, I’d apply for this in a heartbeat. NYT is looking for someone to work from anywhere five days per week for four-six months. Incredible opportunity, this. Visit site »
HTML, CSS, and Actionscript guru? Go work at the world’s greatest newspaper. Visit site »
Great interview with Khoi focusing on his gig as the Design Director at nytimes.com. Really interesting insight — I have a little designer crush on Khoi and read just about anything about or by him, but I’ve really not heard much about his day job before. Good stuff. Visit site »
TimesSelect goes the way of the dinosaur. Welcome aboard the cluetrain, NYT. Visit site »
David Pogue of the New York Times turn out a mini-musical for this latest video podcast episode. I personally find Pogue’s cheesy videos to be really charming — yes, they’re hokey, but they’re also fun and informative. It’s also the sort of thing you won’t find in other mediums — a real Internet original. Visit site »
Edward Tufte highlights some really great information graphic work. Visit site »
The Times’ tech columnist answers tons of questions about the iPhone. Most of the answers, though, don’t reveal much we didn’t already know or assume. I was very dissapointed with one answer, though:
Do To Do items show up on the iPhone? No.
Bummer. On the other hand, there’s this:
Are there any secret features? When the screen is off, the glossy black glass becomes a handy makeup mirror. Visit site »
The New York Times’ David Pogue gets his review out first, and it’s generally very positive. He notes that the network is slow as shit (duh, it’s EDGE), and that the keyboard does take some getting used to (but says that it works quite well once you learn to trust it), and it stupidly doesn’t have MMS (which, frankly, is going to be a huge dissapointment to buyers who don’t realize it’s not there, given that every cheap-ass phone on the market has it and a ton of people use it every day), but glows and glows about basically every other aspect of the device.
But even in version 1.0, the iPhone is still the most sophisticated, outlook-changing piece of electronics to come along in years. It does so many things so well, and so pleasurably, that you tend to forgive its foibles. In other words, maybe all the iPhone hype isn’t hype at all. As the ball player Dizzy Dean once said, “It ain’t bragging if you done it.” Visit site »
Really interesting study about types of people and their likelihood to be participating in so-called “Web 2.0 activities”. The long and short of it is that while most Americans have cell phones and computers, very few are actively Web 2.0-ing. Visit site »
I lived in the Flint Hills of Kansas — the subject for this Times feature — for a couple of years (back when I worked at Kansas State University), and I can sincerely say it’s one of the most beautiful area I’ve been to in the entire world. There’s a lot of negativity out there towards Kansas — mostly from people who have never been here — but I’d put parts of this state up against just about anywhere in a beauty contest. Visit site »
Damn cool. I so get off on this kind of data visualization in journalism. Love it, love it, love it. Visit site »
From the New York TImes: Pornographic movie studios have found that the high-definition format is accentuating physical imperfections in actors. “The biggest problem,” actress-writer-director Stormy Daniels said, “is razor burn.” Visit site »
The Times’ David Carr on blogging from the perspective of a traditional journalist. Good stuff. Visit site »
David Pogue has a lot of iPhone questions here — and most of them don’t have the answers you want to hear. And yet, I’ve already set my $500 aside. Sad, but true. Visit site »
Steve Jobs is quoted in this Times article as saying that while Apple will control the availably of software for the iPhone, it won’t necessarily write it. Perhaps even more interesting is this tidbit: “Several Apple insiders said the phone could be upgraded to 3G with software if Apple later decides to do so.” If that’s true, it’s a huge fucking deal. Visit site »
A great article by Garrett Dimon on the realities of doing web design in the real world, using Khoi’s New York Times team as the case study. I am often irritated by people in our industry who seem to be oblivious to the business side of things, getting bent out of shape over imperfections that occur due to timelines and budgets. I wonder: do these people have real jobs with real bosses and real deadlines, or do they just tinker with their blogs all day? Visit site »
Khoi overviews the NY Times election night coverage, which is freaking excellent. Well done, Khoi and team. Visit site »
Interesting comments on the new “most popular” feature at NYTimes.com Visit site »
Truthfully, I haven’t spent a ton of time on the Times’ site, so I can’t speak to what kind of improvement this is, but this “Most Popular” page is really nice, anyway. I presume Khoi will have more on this soon… Visit site »
