By John Gruber
WorkOS launches auth.md — an open protocol for agent registration.
Linked List: March 23, 2009
Monday, 23 March 2009
- 50th Anniversary of ‘Strunk and White’ ★
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The best book of writing advice I’ve ever read. I read it cover-to-cover about once a year. I think what makes it special is that it’s so self-exemplifying; it recommends vigorous straightforward prose using vigorous straightforward prose. Here’s a link to the hardcover 50th anniversary edition at Amazon.
- The Three20 Project ★
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Joe Hewitt’s new open source UI library for iPhone developers comprises a slew of useful, reusable classes and looks just great. As for the name, Hewitt writes:
The name of the new project is Three20, after the 320-pixel wide screen of the iPhone.
I’m not sure for how long that name is going to be relevant, but, I suppose, even when we get iPhone OS devices with more pixels than 480x320, there’ll be some retro value to “320”.
- The Makers of Things ★
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Rands:
When Brooklyn and New York’s population was booming at the end of the 19th century, the best way to get to and from Brooklyn was via ferries. As solutions were considered, I’m sure there were those who simply thought, “More boats!” These ardent defenders of the status quo were not engineers — they were the business. Their goal was not to build something great, but to make a profit.
- Kevin Fox on the Google Design Process ★
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Kevin Fox (who, until January 2008, was a senior user experience design lead at Google), on Google’s design process.
- Richard Stallman: ‘The Javascript Trap’ ★
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I waver between rolling my eyes at Stallman’s kookiness and admiring his singleminded determination.
- Regarding the New iPod Shuffle’s Remote Chip ★
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iLounge editor-in-chief Jeremy Horwitz on the implications for third-party headphone manufacturers who want to use Apple’s new remote control chipset. Week-old news, but I missed this while I was at SXSW.
- Measuring the Design Process ★
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Scott Stevenson:
Visual design is often the polar opposite of engineering: trading hard edges for subjective decisions based on gut feelings and personal experiences. It’s messy, unpredictable, and notoriously hard to measure. The apparently erratic behavior of artists drives engineers bananas. Their decisions seem arbitrary and risk everything with no guaranteed benefit.
- So Where’s Dell’s Mobile Phone? ★
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Eric Savitz on Dell’s long-rumored but nowhere-to-be-seen mobile phone:
Shaw Wu, an analyst at Kaufman Bros., asserts in a research note today that the company’s first attempt was basically rejected by the carriers as too, well, Dell-like.
He asserts that Dell showed a prototype to the carriers, but that they weren’t all that impressed. “From our conversation with supply chain and industry sources, it appears that it ultimately came down to lack of carrier interest and small subsidies, making it difficult for Dell to make a profit,” he writes.
Take it with a grain of salt, though — considering that Shaw Wu is nearly always wrong about Apple (see here, for example), I see no reason to think he’s any better-sourced about Dell. But the fact remains that mobile phones are big business right now, and Dell isn’t in the game.
- Jacqui Cheng Reviews the New iPod Shuffle ★
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Side-by-side pictures show just how much smaller it is than the previous model.
- Brad DeLong’s Geithner Plan FAQ ★
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Strongest defense of the Geithner plan I’ve seen. I hope he’s right.