thingoid

There was a time when the HTML <BLINK> tag was the defining feature of one of two particular kinds of web designer: either the raw newbie (intent on using anything and everything in the web design toolbox) or the terminally stupid. Its problems include being one of the uglier design options for highlighting text, being non-standard, and having serious usability/accessibility problems.

But above all else, it just plain pissed people off.

So why (oh why, oh why) are so many bloggers repeating almost exactly the same problems with the Snap Preview Anywhere widget?

I can’t say it any better than Nick Wilson:

Its intrusive, obstructive and unuseful in almost every respect and use case. The fact that so many big blogs are using it, big well respected blogs, does not mean that it’s useful, it just means that they, like most bloggers, have all the self restraint of a magpie in a sparkly things factory.

If I want to see what someone else’s web site looks like I’ll bloody well go there when I’m good and ready. Sheesh, don’t be in so much of a hurry to get rid of me!

For a good laugh, have a look at the testimonials on the Snap Preview Anywhere page. I notice that a number of the testimoners—including one who said “we’d probably pay for the service”—no longer use it on their sites. I wonder how many complaints they received (or how much traffic they lost!) before they woke up and removed it.

Nick Wilson again:

All joking aside, SPA is not helpful, it’s not cool, and it’s not winning you readers — It’s bling, a silly little shiney thing designed specifically to increase awareness of Snap.com — no bad thng, and certainly an shining example of how to use widgets to gain links and attention, but, come on ladies and gentleman, show a little self restraint, show a little consideration for your users.

Now, can you all stop using it please?

According to a report in The Age, Melbourne is the second most lonely city in the world - based on a Google Trends search for the word “lonely”. Talk about drawing a long bow!

A search today shows the following as the top ten searchers for “lonely”:

1. Dublin Ireland
2. Melbourne Australia
3. Auckland New Zealand
4. Sydney Australia
5. Perth Australia
6. London United Kingdom
7. Vancouver Canada
8. Brentford United Kingdom
9. San Francisco United States
10. Manchester United Kingdom

But how about searching for “lonely planet”:

1. Dublin Ireland
2. Melbourne Australia
3. London United Kingdom
4. Auckland New Zealand
5. Sydney Australia
6. Brisbane Australia
7. Adelaide Australia
8. Perth Australia
9. Edinburgh United Kingdom
10. Bletchley United Kingdom

That’s almost identical, isn’t it? I think The Age could just as easily have reported that Melbournians (indeed, Australians in general) are avid consumers of travel guide books.

Even trying some synonyms like alone, loneliness, and isolated don’t show anything conclusive.

Why?

The Google Trends about page explains:

Keep in mind that instead of measuring overall interest in a topic, Google Trends shows users’ propensity to search for that topic on Google on a relative basis. For example, just because a particular region isn’t on the Top Regions list for the term “haircut” doesn’t necessarily mean that people there have decided to stage a mass rebellion against society’s conventions. It could be that people in that region might not use Google to find a barber, use a different term when doing their searches, or simply search for so many other topics unrelated to haircuts that searches for “haircut” make up a very small portion of the search volume from that region when compared to other regions.

One could substitute “lonely” for “haircut” in that explanation and using Google Trends data to conclude that Melbourne is the second most lonely city in the world is shown to be incredibly foolish.

Apparently the story originates from Reuters. Wherever it came from, that’s sloppy, sloppy journalism.

So the Classification Review Board has banned another video game in Australia. This time it’s Marc Ecko’s Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure. And in what way has this game offended the censor? It promotes graffiti.

Yep, that’s right. Graffiti. (more…)

Speaking of what’s in the news, today’s Age features a series of photos of two senior staff from AWB acting like complete dickheads while “doing business” in Iraq. No doubt the Cole Royal Commission will reveal what really went on, and I reckon this is the least of their problems, but these guys could have done well to heed my long-standing view on photography in the digital age (more…)

If I may get diatribal for a moment, there are a few things that have turned up in the last day or so that need comment: IE7 bugs, the ‘Kama Sutra’ worm, and Firefox upgrades. (more…)

Right upfront let me say that I’m a regular Firefox user and have been since before version 1.0. Like any software it’s not perfect but it suits my purposes.

I’m not a big fan of evangelism or hyperbole, so when a page called “Firefox Myths” entered my radar recently, I was very interested.

Then sadly disappointed. Rather than a balanced analysis of some of the folklore surrounding Firefox, it is merely a stream of weak arguments against imaginary “myths” supported by misquoting or deliberate misreading of sources.

I’m not even going to reference the page. If you really want to find it, I’m sure you can. It’s by someone called Andrew K on a site that seems to have a lot of other stuff about Windows 2000 and XP.

Happily in doing some reading for this response I found a balanced view (which is what I was looking for), so instead I suggest you look at the Firefox Myths written by David Hammond (more…)

VicRoads has got some “On-line interactive bicycle maps of Victoria“.

Their web page says:

This mapping system provides up to date information on the location of completed bicycle routes throughout the state. The maps include details of the off-road path network and the on-road lane network in Melbourne and in regional Victoria as well as the Rail Trail network in regional Victoria. (more…)