saila.com

Outside

Briefly Noted from November 13, 2007

• Geist on Canada's new copyright plan

  The proposed changes to the Canadian copyright law could make Canada one of the most restrictive regions in the democratic world.

  Nov 29 2007 at 3:55 PM EST

  Topics: Copyright, Canada

• Google can't code

  "The half-assed HTML these guys grew up with between D&D sessions in suburban basements is considered good enough," Joe Clark writes.

  Nov 29 2007 at 3:23 PM EST

  Topics: HTML, Web Standards

• Get rid of text-resizing widgets

  Accessibility expert Joe Clark explains why those tools (and, I'd add, others duplicating browser functions) are pointless.

  Nov 28 2007 at 2:26 PM EST

  Topics: Accessibility, Usability

• The Email Standards Project

  Loath it or love it, HTML email is here to stay and now a group want's to bring support inline with the W3C recommendations.

  Nov 28 2007 at 2:10 PM EST

  Topics: Web Standards, Email

• National Post redesign's site

  The new look is an tremendous improvement over the previous design, and not offers comments and widgets.

  Nov 26 2007 at 9:35 AM EST

  Topics: Online Journalism, Newspapers

• The economics of online news

  Some interesting thoughts about the business of online news from the media owners themselves.

  Nov 25 2007 at 10:30 AM EST

  Topics: Online Journalism, Advertising

• Deconstructing Facebook Beacon

  Jay Goldman dives deep into the code and provides both an summary and an analysis of the new advertising service.

  Nov 25 2007 at 10:22 AM EST

  Topics: Advertising, Social Media

• Globe Docs: Raven and Jason

  Wow, this compelling documentary (and the others available) shows The Globe and Mail doesn't just print words on pulp.

  Nov 23 2007 at 5:48 PM EST

  Topic: Online Journalism

• Optimal site width

  A comprehensive survey of browsing habits suggests more than 80% of people browse at a browser width of 1000 pixels.

  Nov 23 2007 at 10:09 AM EST

  Topics: Web Design, Usability

• Guardian and NYTimes fight for top slot

  Guardian Unlimited squeaked by the nytimes.com to be the top newspaper site in the world.

  Nov 23 2007 at 8:59 AM EST

  Topics: Online Journalism, Newspapers

• Firefox 3 new user interface

  Alex Faaborg, member of the Firefox UI team, goes into great and interesting detail about the thinking for the browsers new interface.

  Nov 23 2007 at 8:59 AM EST

  Topics: Browsers, Usability

• Facebook's advertising model

  An overview of Facebook's Social Ads and Beacon (I've already unexepctedly encountered the latter).

  Nov 22 2007 at 4:28 PM EST

  Topics: Advertising, Social Media

• Text selection improvements in Firefox 3

  Selecting (and copying) separate chunks of text at once.

  Nov 22 2007 at 4:08 PM EST

  Topics: Browsers, Usability

• Introducing the Giant Global Graph

  Tim Berners-Lee sets out his idea on the successor to the Internet and World Wide Web platforms.

  Nov 22 2007 at 3:26 PM EST

  Topics: Social Media, Web Technology

• Canadian online ad growth to slow

  Online ad spending will triple its 2006 value by 2011 in Canada, but year-over-year growth will steadily slow.

  Nov 22 2007 at 11:16 AM EST

  Topic: Advertising

• Digg the Candidates

  Digg applies its unique approach to covering the U.S. presidential candidates.

  Nov 21 2007 at 12:10 PM EST

  Topics: Politics, Online Journalism

• Jeremey Keith on Web design

  Another take on the current tension with the Web design community (of which Zeldman's essay is an antidote).

  Nov 20 2007 at 3:09 PM EST

  Topics: Web Design, CSS

• Breaking news twittered

  Covering big breaking news via Twitter may be more effective than email/SMS blasts.

  Nov 20 2007 at 2:52 PM EST

  Topic: Online Journalism

• Responding to colour profiles

  Apparently Safari is the only non-beta browser (Firefox 3 will) to correctly support a wide gamut of colour profiles online.

  Nov 20 2007 at 2:21 PM EST

  Topics: Browsers, Web Design

• Zeldman on Web design

  In fine form, Mr Z. defines Web design a definition so apt, it will become the new standard.

  Nov 20 2007 at 11:08 AM EST

  Topic: Web Design

• Freelancing calculator

  Struggling to figure out what to charge? This tool may help.

  Nov 19 2007 at 12:35 PM EST

  Topic: Work

• Amazon's Kindle

  The new e-reader tremendously improves on other similar offerings, but the interface and display will still disappoint most people.

  Nov 19 2007 at 12:10 PM EST

  Topics: Technology, Books

• Canadian wireless prices becoming rational

  In less than five months, the 1GB plan for most carriers has dropped in price by more than $2200, but still nearly double U.S. pricing.

  Nov 19 2007 at 10:33 AM EST

  Topics: Phone/VoIP, Canada

• Toronto's light sabre battle

  Two-thousand come out to have a Friday night light sabre fight in front of the Royal Ontario Museum

  Nov 18 2007 at 10:12 AM EST

  Topic: Toronto

• Canada legally recognizes "responsible journalism"

  Essentially, there is a new defense for lawsuits arising from the publication of a well-researched story in the public interest.

  Nov 18 2007 at 10:01 AM EST

  Topics: Journalism, Canada

• RSS readers visit more often

  Fairly obvious conclusion, but worth saving for evidence when needed.

  Nov 16 2007 at 4:23 PM EST

  Topics: Web Technology, Online Journalism

• Top 100 indie rock albums

  As chosen by Blender and commented on by Stereogum

  Nov 16 2007 at 4:15 PM EST

  Topic: Music

• Clark's Law

  Joe Clark: "The more expensive an online system is, the worse its output is."

  Nov 16 2007 at 3:10 PM EST

  Topic: Web Technology

• The science of swarms

  Discovering the selfish rules behind swarm behaviour.

  Nov 16 2007 at 11:50 AM EST

  Topic: Social Media

• Seven rules of unobtrusive JavaScript

  Excellent advice for developing JavaScript in a progressive enhancement way.

  Nov 16 2007 at 11:37 AM EST

  Topic: JavaScript