Maunderings of a Digital Self
Your App Makes Me Fat: a neat essay over at Serious Pony discussing research into cognitive load and why it makes sense to avoid branding noise in your user experience.
But if it’s “content” designed solely to suck people in (“7 ways to be OMG awesome!!”) for the chance to “convert”, we’re hurting people. If we’re pumping out “content” because frequency, we’re hurting people.
As a follow-up to last week’s post about the XOXO Festival, it’s worth noting that a few days later, they officially announced the next one. Tickets are not yet on sale — it’s more of a “Save the Date” card at the moment — but do keep an eye out. Wicked good event, well worth attending.
Why Does Problem Hiding Occur? Worthwhile post for those involved in QA or project management.
John Scalzi pretty much summing up my thoughts on not drinking alcohol. I’ve chosen a slightly stricter path — I’ve not even tried the stuff — but otherwise completely spot on in sentiment and rationale.
Warren Ellis discussing The Broadcast of Comics. Worth the read.
On Being an Introvert at Big Conferences (Aaron Hockley)
I completely agree with his summation: as an introvert, I still enjoy and appreciate the conferences I attend, still find the social element rewarding and valuable. But I have to pace myself, and make room for needing to withdraw and recharge from time to time.
In an excellent example of corporate social-transparency, Intel just posted their social media guidelines, which they expect their employees to follow when engaging the public. I think this is fantastic, and a great example of a major company “walking the walk” when it comes to social media and community interaction. For anyone engaging in online communities and social media interaction, they’re an excellent guide to go by.
Neil Gaiman expounds quite clearly on why even “icky” speech needs to be protected. This is in response to a comment regarding the Handley case, where a Manga collector is being prosecuted for owning obscene materials. Something I would add to the dialogue personally is a favorite H.L. Mencken quote:
The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of oneâs time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all. (H.L. Mencken)