Tulane University in New Orleans lost their servers and website in Katrina, and on their new temporary site they’re using free, open source software to keep people updated. Note: If you’re trying to contact someone, it’s best to go to Tulane’s official website.
Feng Shui Office
Lifehacker tells us how to set up a Feng Shui office space, I think I break all of these.
Google 767
Larry and Sergey say: “We’re still indy, we share our jet!”
Web Service Finder
Web Service Finder, a cool idea.
.Blog
It’s now public that Automattic is the company behind Knock Knock Whois There LLC, the registry for the new .blog TLD. (And a great pun.) We wanted to stay stealth while in the bidding process and afterward in order not to draw too much attention, but nonetheless the cost of the .blog auction got up there (people are estimating around $20M). I’m excited we won and think that it will be both an amazing business going forward and give lots of folks an opportunity to have a fantastic domain name in a new namespace and with an easy-to-say TLD. You can sign up to be first in line to reserve a domain here. If you have a trademark you can get in August, and then October for the “land rush.”
Yahoo! Shortcuts
Yahoo! Shortcuts is a new service from Yahoo that puts links and rich “stuff” on your page. It has launched exclusively as a plugin for WordPress. Most aren’t something I would use myself, except the Flickr one, but still cool.
Hidden Gem
Some of the funniest original content on WordPress.com has been coming from Mike of Because the World is Round, it’s worth checking it out and reading through the archives.
I travel back and forth between Japan and the United States, mostly Tokyo and New York and a few other American cities, several times a year. The contrast is jarring. Arriving in the US can feel like rolling back a decade or more, returning to a time when information was scarce, infrastructure was creaky and basic services such as ground transportation were chaotic and unreliable.
Roland Kelts on What the west can learn from Japan’s “lost decades.” This echoes a lot of my experience there recently, and I had the good fortune of meeting Roland as well.
Last Pictures
I just added the last of my SxSW pictures. As many of you know Monday was my last day, so I don’t have any from Tuesday. Also for those that asked it actually turned out the Ethics mid-term wasn’t today, but is on Thursday, which was actually a big relief. Coming back I was utterly exhausted—physically, emontionally, and intellectually—and I crashed for about 6 hours in a very satisfying nap. There’s no bed like home.
My Day in Photos
My day in photos: Alfred Hitchcock would cringe. Mmmm, texture. New do. I love the arrow. Flowers for my Mother’s birthday. Blue steel.
Not pictured: my mid-term being delayed until Saturday, birthday dinner, evil Starbucks, rude and ageist salespeople, how wonderful this day was despite the occasional annoyance, and my funny elated look from being happiness-hungover from SxSW.
Nikolai Does SxSW
Nikolai seems to have a knack for novel designs, and his summary of SxSW 2003 is no exception.
How to Get Yourself to Do Things. Hat tip: Alex.
Sunny
It seems for blogs.sun.com WordPress was considered at one point, but they decided to go with the Java product Roller instead. Too bad, because their feeds seem strange, they have terrible URIs, and I have no idea what’s the permalink for a page. Anyway.
Staticize Plugin
Staticize Plugin for WordPress. Drop in your plugins directory, create a directory for it to put stuff, and activate. Instant on-demand caching. I’m going to try this out here as soon as I finish the server move. (The photolog may be broken for a few hours.)
Harris County Jury
Interview with John Battelle Video
Changing America’s Mind
Bloomberg has a cool look at societal changes, called This Is How Fast America Changes Its Mind.
Music Photo
I just put up this old photo of some Charlie Parker music.
Via Om, I wanted to share this poem Away by James Whitcomb Riley:
I cannot say, and I will not say
That he is dead. He is just away.
With a cheery smile, and a wave of the hand,
He has wandered into an unknown land
And left us dreaming how very fair
It needs must be, since he lingers there.
And you—oh you, who the wildest yearn
For an old-time step, and the glad return,
Think of him faring on, as dear
In the love of There as the love of Here.
Think of him still as the same. I say,
He is not dead—he is just away.
Open Source Usability
Open Source Usability: The birth of a movement. Mentions the usability review in the comments. At the next FLOSS Sprint Eugene has asked for WordPress to be one of the main projects.