Random findings…
So I’m thinking of incorporating a “bloglet”/daily-or-somewhat-irregular-links-list thingamajig into the new design of the site (it’s almost done, I swear! I’m hoping to roll it out this weekend - ideally before NYE, but probably after) as I come across these weird (yet marginally interesting!) pieces of random internet effluvia that I want to point people to, but don’t really have much to say about them - which results in these random one-size-fits-all pile of links posts that are rather, um, unclassifiable.
I’m thinking that with my limited free time combined with the fact that I’ve done zero research on WP solutions to add this sort of functionality, it will have to wait. Considering that another feature I want to add is written in perl which my service provider doesn’t make available (and I have no idea if there’s an alternate method that I can use is available), it’s looking more likely that the re-design launch is going to be a LTFP affair.
That said, here’s some effluvia for your enjoyment:
- Apparently, lemmings aren’t suicidal - I wonder if this makes Apple’s “Lemmings” commercial any more of a screw-up?
- In all the web browser fever percolating as of late, Opera gets in the game (Download). Haven’t tried it yet.
- Wired has a really interesting article on Apple’s original Graphing Calculator, which happens to be one of the most skunkworkiest skunkworks projects I’ve ever heard of.
- Apple’s applying for a patent for a drop-sensing technology for the iPod, according to C|Net. iPod lovers rejoice!
- Also in iPod news, the Wall Street Journal has an opinion piece about potential OS X conversion from PC-using iPod enthusiasts. What some might acknowledge as a “gateway drug”, I suppose. There’s also a “readers respond” follow-up. Makes a whole lot of sense to me - I’d be curious to see if Apple has actually accumulated any sort of data on this…
Cool Brian! Do you think you’ll list them in the sidebar? Or incorporate them into the main area of your site, like Kottke.org and DaringFireball.net?
Comment by Sean — 12/28/2004 @ 3:55 pm
Actually I got the idea from Matt Mullenweg from WordPress fame (who got the idea from Jason Kotke) for an “in-post” format. But now that you mention it, having a sidebar listing is an interesting idea. While I’d be concerned about a sidebar-implementation in terms of visibility and consequently its effectiveness (nevermind trying to find a way to easily implement it in a dynamic fashion), I do like the fact that it would be an area unto itself, tucked neatly off to the side.
What do you think?
Comment by Brian — 12/28/2004 @ 4:36 pm
i kinda like the sidebar kinda thing, though i think having them in-post forces you to keep things current, which is always a good thing. i’m toying with another redesign myself and have a whole list of links that i want to throw in there, but i haven’t figured out what to do with that myself… or maybe i’ll just wait for a new imac to get the job done.
Comment by basil — 12/29/2004 @ 8:04 am
I think it depends on how you incorporate it. You want it to be readily visible for people to see updates, but not in the way of your personal posts. If you want to go the sidebar route, I like how Airbag deals with it (the Longboard). And SimpleBits’ QuickBits is kinda cool too — keeping things uniform by sticking with 1 line for each link, and hyperlinking all the text.
Comment by Sean — 12/29/2004 @ 8:21 am
Hey Brain - I posted a comment in reply to your question the other day. I think you said you’re filtering your comments manually to avoid comment spam, but I’m not sure if my comment went through.
(Snip)
[Yeah, I did get it - thanks for being thorough! Sorry about the delay in approving the comments - I was away from my Powerbook all day yesterday and I’ve stupidly not committed my WP password to memory yet. I’m rolling in a few more things to combat spam which will allow me to relax the moderation requirements on comments again with the redesign, so this shouldn’t happen again. And thanks for the tips - I haven’t had a chance to check them out yet. I should this weekend, so I’ll be able to get a better idea of what I’ll be able to roll into a 1.x design update. - Brian 12/30/04]
Comment by Sean — 12/30/2004 @ 9:43 am