Linkspam for 7-5-2008

[matgb]

• Independent dubs El Reg lesbian | The Register
  Why I rarely buy the IndyTab anymore: The final para begins: "So the trial of lower-case lesbian vs upper-case Lesbian is going ahead. Now, a lesbian on-line magazine called The Register has put forward a solution..."
  (tags: newspapers the+register the+independent)
• Johann Hari: BNP votes are a cry of white working-class anguish - The Independent
  Hari is one of those people that I either agree with strongly or disagree with vehemently. This analysis of WHY people voted BNP is better than many I've read, and accentuates the futility of the No Platform posturing.
  (tags: politics Racism bnp voter+behaviour)
• How Little Do Users Read? (Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox)
  Nielsen is awesome, again, and proves why formatting matters: On the average Web page, users have time to read at most 28% of the words during an average visit; 20% is more likely.
  (tags: web+design usability nielsen)
• Passive Voice Is Redeemed For Web Headings (Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox)
  Mostly agree with this one to: Active voice is best for most Web content, but using passive voice can let you front-load important keywords in headings - This enhances scannability and effectiveness.
  (tags: blogging usability writing)
• Alertbox: Jakob Nielsen's Newsletter on Web Usability
  Started reading Alertbox before I learnt the basics of HTML, it's definitely helped in my approach, especially for blogging - I break the rules more often than I follow them, but when I really want people to read you'll notice
  (tags: blogging nielsen usability writing web+design)
• Fight for your writes | Comment is free
  Zoe's spot on here - if a newspaper copies your entries wholesale and reprints them then they need your permission and they ought to pay. Exerpts for critique are fine, but substantive content isn't
  (tags: blogging copyright writing)
• Anti-Social Networking - Full Frontal!
  Some good observations on blogging - there's a reason I always write in my name, gives me control: In a Google-Indexed Universe where the lines between online and offline lives are blurred, you don't have to fill in all of the blanks.
  (tags: blogging)
• Marvel's machine in gear
  I grew up on Marvel comics, from the stuff I bought in the store at Butlins aged 5 through to the Transformers when I was 10 to the X Men when I fell for Psylocke. But comics take loads of money. They're doing The Avengers. Properly. Woo Hoo!
  (tags: marvel comics films the+avengers)
• Hancock Trailer
  We saw this before Iron Man and, well, we loved it. I await the actual release as Smith really can act if made to, and he can definitely do comedy. I even laughed at the bit with the whale. Um, sorry bout that.
  (tags: Hancock Humour films Will+Smith)
• Coalition for Choice
  Site campaigning on the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill, going through parliament, because it has widespread implications for ordinary Britons. Next due on May 12th, more to follow when I've time, and a big reason to dislike Mad Nad
  (tags: abortion freedom rights)
• Shakesville: Take My Arm, My Love
  What it's like being part of a gay couple, even in supposedly liberal, civilised areas, still. From Debi, comes with a challenge I doubt I could manage at all: Spend an entire week pretending that you're not a couple.
  (tags: sexuality equality relationships)

Comments

[nadriel.livejournal.com]

I laughed at the whale bit too. the film as a whole looks quite interesting...

[matgb]

Aye, hero movies only really work when they're taking the piss a bit, and this looks like it can work on a number of levels, including the angst subtext while making it work as pastiche.

Admittedly that's from two trailers, but still...

[freddiefraggles.livejournal.com]

The Register is a lesbian online magazine, eh?

rofl

[freddiefraggles.livejournal.com]

Also, the last article really made me think.

My best friend is lesbian and I really don't have any idea what it's like to be her. So maybe I should start trying.

[matgb]

I have a few ideas from reading journals of a fair few openly out friends, but even so that one knocked it home—yes, in many places no one cares, but in others it can still be a serious problem.

SB and I are openly affectionate all the time—I'd hate to have to be careful and cautious about when and why I can get away with it.

[freddiefraggles.livejournal.com]

I'd hate to have to be careful and cautious about when and why I can get away with it.

Couldn't agree more.

[miss-s-b.livejournal.com]

* smooch *

[tyrell.livejournal.com]

Hancock looks fun :)

The last one: Yes. Depends entirely on where you live. Don't assume London or the UK is all that advanced, either.

[rhythmaning.livejournal.com]

Thanks for those links - appreciated! I've been searching for something like Nielsen's articles for a while - it is hard to google for stauff like that!

I dislike Johann Hari - when I read him (in the print edition), he always strikes me as trying so hard to be ocntroversial.

[matgb]

I've been planning a whole series of posts on usability and writing for the web based around Nielsen's stuff for ages.

I realised I'd never get around to it so put up the basic links—little things like getting the headings right and breaking long posts up with bullet points and subheads really do make a huge difference. Number of really well researched blog posts die because of the basic layout is annoying. Plus a decent format deals well with tl;dr.

Maybe, someday, in the distant future, I'll figure out a way of getting everything in my head online without having to actually type it all out and then edit it into shape...

But yeah, Hari is a bit of a controversialist, and there are many out there much better, but when he's right...