1. Why We Have an IMG tag
   http://diveintomark.org/archives/2009/11/02/why-do-we-have-an-img-element
   1993 email thread conversation between Marc Andreessen, Tim Berners-Lee and others about the beginnings of HTML markup
2. Explaining UX Research to Clients
   http://www.alistapart.com/articles/can-you-say-that-in-english-explaining-ux-research-to-clients/
   Translation guide (including cheat-sheet) for speaking clientese
3. Twitter Lists are live
   http://mashable.com/2009/11/03/news-twitter-lists/
   Examples of New York Times, Huffington Post, etc usage.
   RT functionality coming soon
4. Giz Explains: Android, and How It Will Take Over the World
   http://gizmodo.com/5397215/giz-explains-android-and-how-it-will-take-over-the-world
   “And even if it takes Google 10 years to iron out Android’s faults and push this kind of adoption, you can expect Android, or its unofficial pseudonym “Google Phone,” to become a household name.”

1. eBenefits is live!
   http://www.ebenefits.va.gov
   The first release of the VA site that we (Ironworks) have been working on for the past 10 months went live this week! Lots more to come, but this has been an intensive project. I was responsible for the visual identity & branding, the visual design and the front-end development.
2. ADCMW’s Creative Elements Event Article
   http://fullbleed.adcmw.org/articles/creative-elements/
   Check out these handsome folks representing Ironworks and the Art Directors Club of Metropolitan Washington
3. The Myth of Usability Testing
   http://www.alistapart.com/articles/the-myth-of-usability-testing/
   A good usability professional must identify high-priority problems and make appropriate recommendations. But a good designer must also be able to design well in the first place. This is one area in which usability testing has the power to hone designers’ instincts without the cost of formal testing on every project.
4. New CNN design launching on Monday
   http://turner.tekgroup.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=4733
5. Google, Bing include Twitter results in SRP
   http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/10/21/that-didnt-take-long-twitter-is-coming-to-google/

1. 10 Useful Usability Findings and Guidelines
   http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/09/24/10-useful-usability-findings-and-guidelines/
   Form Labels Work Best Above The Field; Users Focus On Faces; Scrolling, etc; 27 char search box
2. Google: Experiments in Digital Creativity
   http://www.idsgn.org/posts/google-experiments-in-digital-creativity/
   interesting usages of the google APIs to create ’sites within’
   http://www.goollery.org/#recent/Google%20Me%20The%20Movie
   http://www.modernista.com/7/index.php
3. FCC introduces OpenInternet.gov
   http://www.openinternet.gov/index.html
4. Yale press drops Rand logo
   http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/art-news/2009/09/30/yale-press-drops-distinctive-logo/
5. Google Wave invites go out today to 100, 000 users
   http://wave.google.com/help/wave/about.html
6. CNN iPhone app puts rivals to shame
   http://www.pcworld.com/article/172780/cnns_new_iphone_app_puts_rivals_to_shame.html

1. TechArts – Oct 31st
   http://techarts.eventbrite.com/
   DC’s Creative and Technology communities – coming together for a first time in mass to meet, find collaborators and show off their skills.
2. Design At Facebook
   http://www.lukew.com/ff/entry.asp?879
   Today at their headquarters in Palo Alto, Facebook’s design team walked through their philosophy and approach to designing for a quarter billion users.

1. Extreme Makeover: Craigslist Edition:
   http://www.wired.com/entertainment/theweb/magazine/17-09/ff_craigslist_makeover
2. Smashing Mag 35 Wireframing Examples:
   http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/09/01/35-excellent-wireframing-resources/
3. Zappos Guerilla Redesign:
   http://metalabdesign.com/zappos/
4. IW sponsors ADCMW Social Event (Oct 21)
5. Accessibility Camp Oct 10th:
   http://accessibilitycampdc.eventbrite.com/
6. 960px Layout grids for Axure and Pencil:
   http://www.userfocus.co.uk/resources/axure_grids.html
7. Googlelabs Fast Flip:
   http://fastflip.googlelabs.com/
8. Bing Visual Search:
   http://www.bing.com/visualsearch

1. The future of wireframes?: http://www.madebymany.co.uk/the-future-of-wireframes-00991
2. Do Not F#@& with Graphic Designers: http://www.idsgn.org/posts/making-sense-of-health-care/
3. SWSWi registration open
4. FullBleed submission request: http://fullbleed.adcmw.org
5. IDXA Interaction 10 – Feb 4-7 – Savannah, GA: http://interaction.ixda.org/program.php
6. Virb.com redesign: http://virb.com/

A week full of major redesigns!

1. http://www.NPR.org redesign & Poynter article: http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=101&aid=167417
2. Network Solutions rebranding & redesign preview: http://preview.networksolutions.com/
3. Twitter homepage redesign & article: http://www.sampletheweb.com/2009/07/29/twitter-positions-itself-as-a-search-product-with-new-homepage/
4. Steve Krug workshop Nov 10th DC: http://www.sensible.com/workshops.html Rocket Surgery Made Easy:The Do-It-Yourself Usability Testing Workshop
5. Article: 10 Ways to Make Twitter a Useful Government Communication Channel: http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Messaging-and-Collaboration/10-Ways-to-Make-Twitter-a-Useful-Government-Communication-Channel-355012/

I’m currently using Facebook and Twitter to connect with people and share the ever-important “what am i doing”. As with many others, my blog has become obsolete for sharing this personal information. I just started doing a weekly “State of the Web” segment at work, where I detail all the big happenings on the internet. I thought I would use this forum to also aggregate this content and to get back into the rhythm of writing.

Just love this photo from a fall festival a few weeks ago.

bedtime conversation with ryder last night:

Reading ‘If You Give a Pig a Pancake’, the pig mentions at one point that she is homesick.

Ryder: “I got homesick once”
Me: “Oh yeah? When do you get homesick?”
Ryder: “On the way back from the beach, I was carsick. Then we came home and I had some crackers and juice and I was homesick”