September 29, 2004

What the Bubble got right.... by Paul Graham. (thanks John Batelle). Something to really sink your teeth into ... which I haven't had a chance to do yet.

September 15, 2004

September 08, 2004

Poynter released their latest eye tracking study with interesting results for advertisers and architects.

Shut Up and Talk

Listening has been trumpeted as one of the skills that makes a great leader or manager. I think listening makes one a good blogger too. Stowe Boyd quotes James Surowiecki's "The Wisdom of Crowds," in a section which argues that those who are more talkative in small groups are perceived as being more influential. Stowe sees a correlation to this and blogging.

September 07, 2004

Curious Search

Just about to pick up The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night, a story that is told through the voice of a young autistic boy, and noticed my new favorite blogger, John Battelle, has a great look into the allegory between the novel and search:

I'm not entirely sure why, but this really hit home with me, after a year or so of interacting with the engineers and mathematicians who drive innovation in search. It's not that, as a group or even as individuals, the geniuses behind search are autistic. But as a culture, and in particular, as a product, search certainly can be understood to be face blind in the very least - unaware and/or unable to discern the cues we as users give it.

And there is a certain...coldness to search, an aloof, detached, and passionless side to it, where all things which can be indexed, are indexed, and a certain arrogance with regard to those things or people who don't understand how to retrieve that which is in the index.

I can't put my finger on it in this passage, nor will I try any more than I have, but, in the end, this is why we read novels, to feel that which otherwise we might not even notice.