links for 2009-07-28

Hang on a second, I'm having one of those 'If I agree with Gilligan and the Evening Standard, one of us must be holding an unnatural belief' moments... ;-)

"We were surprised and disappointed to open the Times newspaper today and find a vitriolic column on Google and our record on privacy, from Conservative Member of Parliament David Davis". I'm surprised that someone at Google claims to have found the column by opening the printed paper rather than some sort of automagic brand mention alert. More interestingly though, were Google surprised and disappointed enough to go to the PCC?

"A five-year-old boy who sparked a major search after going missing this morning has been found safe and well, police say". Which still leaves me none-the-wiser, seriously, as why this was rapid breaking news, yet a thirteen year old girl who went missing for 9 days a fortnight ago made no impression on the national media. The news agenda can be very puzzling sometimes.

My favourite excerpt "[despite not being part of the brand palette] blue seemed to be a color that was genuinely pleasant to look at, and even though it was 'off-brand', everyone could live with it. It provided great contrast to the red Return Card button and the yellow alert boxes. During user testing, we presented participants with our color choices and got the same results: 'It's calming', 'I like the blue sky', ... and so we went with it. Surprisingly, Wells Fargo recently switched the UI to the current tan color scheme. I don't know what prompted that decision, but it does bring it back in line with their brand". *sigh*

"By my reckoning, around 500 documents were processed last week. At this rate, we'll be nearing 2020 before the project is complete".

"The so-called citizen journalism of most blogs is an affront to those of us who believe reporting and attribution must precede publication. Fact-checking is tedious; it often derails juicy rumor and deflates many a story. And no matter how it turns out, every story is attached to our name. That should matter to anyone who cares about accountability". Unless you happen to be in the UK and think it is acceptable standard industry practice to re-purpose wire copy and attribute it to fictional journalists?

"These 'Articles of the Future' are not tools, and they are no more innovative than using a page layout application to alter the appearance of some printed matter. Hyperlinking and the ability to add media files to a page have existed since the web was created, and these articles add nothing more to that basic paradigm of linked data files. There are some nods towards current trends, with a comment feature and social bookmarking links. But overall the feel is clunky, lacking research and distinctly amateur".

Priceless, CogitoErgoSumAtheos picks apart Charlie's example joke by quibbling about the lung capacity of the giraffe.

Interesting post which in part focuses on the BBC's coverage of Orange Order marches being completely devoid of the reality on the ground, due to a slavish adherence to 'objectivity' in reporting rather than providing a 'plurality' of views.