It’s not your imagination; the RSS feed icon has not been resurrected on Twitter accounts or search results. But you can roll your own, since it appears Twitter doesn’t plan to reintegrate the feed into its design.
Category Archives: Web/Tech
Who Is FairSearch.org?
I discovered FairSearch.org, an astroturf site, via a random Google search. I was struck by the links between the 16 members. Knowing that there is only the appearance of competition in travel sites is one thing; seeing it in black-and-white, so to speak, is another.
YouTube Politics: Obama To Hold Google+ Hangout Monday
Obama, 2012 SOTU, White House Photo
In 2007, Google and YouTube broke into presidential politics by holding a “debate” in conjunction with CNN. At the time, Google had owned YouTube for less than a year.
Flash forward almost five years. On Monday at 5.30 p.m. Eastern, Google+ (which is also less than a year old), is the stage for a presidential response to last week’s State of the Union address. As in 2007, the questions are generated by us. And as in 2007, which questions get answered is not being left in the hands of the crowd.
Carnival of Journalism: What I Want For Christmas
My entry in theDecember’s Carnival of journalism, hosted by The Guardian Developer blog. This month’s question: If you are a journalist, what would be the best present from programmers and developers that Santa Claus could leave under your Christmas tree?
My wish for the Christmas elves? Put someone other than IT in charge of all CMS purchases. [There's an argument to be made that IT shouldn't be in charge of IT ... but that's another story.]
I make this wish (a not-very-veiled complaint) for the same reason that Don Norman criticized the design of stoves in The Design of Everyday Things. Landlords and housing developers are major purchasers of stoves. Thus, the person making the buying decision is focused primarily on price and reliability. Usability does not enter into the equation.
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A Call For Political Transparency
If you run a political site — such as a PAC or a campaign for a person or issue — then you should not be able to hide who you are in the WhoIs database.
In other words, any political action site — a PAC or a site advocating for or against a person or an issue — should contain information about the organization or person who is running the website in a Whois lookup. [To clarify, I'm not talking about opinion sites but sites that are driving campaigns.]
If you agree with me, please sign this petition. And share it!
A “private domain registration” that shows only the domain registrar, such as GoDaddy, is insufficient for political action transparency. Knowing the provenance of a website is essential information for determining a site’s credibility and veracity. This transparency is essential in an ever-crowded digital space, where setting up an online storefront can be done in five minutes.
The impetus for my soapbox Tweet and Google+ post was this site/comment. A commenter at Google+ suggested the WhiteHouse petition.
What say you? Vote for transparency by signing the petition and sharing it (or this post)! TIA!
