Thin Slicing: Ed Batista interprets Malcom Gladwell

<p>I just read [l:http://www.edbatista.com/2005/05/think_blink_mal.html|Ed Batista's blog entry about Malcom Gladwell's "Blink"] (well the first isntallment anyway) and it is enought to make me go buy the book. It seems really interesting. This struck me in Ed's entry</p> <p><cite>It's clear that the online environment is one in which our adaptive unconscious can play a significant role. When users arrive at your website–especially, but not only, first time users–they're thin slicing. They're going to make relatively fast decisions on the basis of relatively little information, to determine how–or even whether–they should proceed. To be effective, your site must anticipate your users' snap judgments and meet with their approval immediately. You probably won't have many chances, so your site has to make the most of every opportunity.</cite></p> <p>As web designers, or people advising folks on web design we really must think about this more than anything else, and must advise our clients that all the flash in the world won't get a visitor to come back as quickly as good design and good content.</p> <p>Unfortunately, it starts to make websites very formulaic, particularly websites of the candidate variety, there is not much room for innovation: bio, positions, endorsements, volunteer, donate, news, blog.</p> <p>But present it in a visually appealing and sensible manner and you will have a leg up over your...

New Applications for Audio Blogging

<p>[l:http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/28/arts/design/28podc.html|Saturday's New York Times] ran an interesting story about alternative museum audio guides released as audio blogs, or podcasts–mp3 files dowloadable from the web. It is really better to think of them as such, than as "podcasts" because generally, I don't see why a user wo uld "subscribe". Rather you would go looking for it before you go to a museum.</p> <p>On the other hand, the Times piece talks about sound seeing, or guided walking tours, these are the true audio blogs. Ellen and I used to talk about doing this kind of thing, walking tours of NYC neighborhoods, then I found something like that at a local gift store.</p> <p>I look forward to finding (and making) some of these audio...

Gregory Heller to Join CivicActions

<p>via <a href="http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/5/prweb245620.htm">PRWeb: Gregory Heller to Join CivicActions:<br /> <cite><br /> Gregory Heller will join CivicActions, LLC this June after more than two years with the New York State Senate Democratic Conference. Heller's role at CivicActions will include new business development, project management, and client relations.</cite></a></p> <p>It's official, on the wire and...

"As Mayor, I will put an end to this scourge on our quality of life…"

<p>Street Fairs!</p> <p>Here is an issue for any daring city political hopeful, [l:http://www.ocdblogger.net/blog/2005/05/30/street-fairs-the-bane-of-summer-in-the-city|END STREET FAIRS]. Sure, everyone likes the convenience of shopping for cheap socks while enjoying some spicy Italian sausage with onions and peppers that you can wash down with fresh lemonade and top off with a Nutella Crepe, but come on, think about the economic cost of all the traffic, the air polution for idling cars and humming 2 stroke generators powering the funnel cake fryers and smoothy blenders, what about the lost revenue of the stores that seemingly get baricaded in by the chatchke vendors? And the hapless New Yorkers who live upstairs from these blocks-long open air extravaganzas? The smell of roasting sausage and BBQ corn wafting into their apartments…</p> <p>So listen up Anthony, and Andrew, Giff and Betsy, Norman and Virginia: Ban Street Fairs. Lets create a few "Parade Grounds" around the city on underused vacant lots and let those be magnets for these festivals, create a few open air markets, the revenues of which would be made available to non profits and community groups who applied for them as grants, rather than applying for street fair permits that they simply flip to big street fair event producers.</p> <p>I would venture a guess that if you asked New yorkewrs if they were willing to contribute $5 a year to end all street fairs, they would do...

Coney Island Weekend at the NYT

<p>The New York Times ran at least 3 articles on Coney Island this weekend. Yesterday they wrote about the New Stillwell Avenue Subway Station (covered in PhotoVoltaic Glass Panels), today's city section dealt with Gregory & Paul's (a food concession on the Boardwalk at West 9ths street that I have always been fond of because my name is Gregory Paul Heller), and another story about the plans for a new Shopping and Visitor's center underneath the Parachute jump (the designer of which was determined through a contenst with [l:http://www.vanalen.org/competitions/ConeyIsland/exhibit/gallery/main.swf|The Van Alen Institute].</p> <p>Coney Island is a cool place and all, and the Parachute Jump and the Stillwell Ave subway station are cool, and I like Gregory and Paul's, but all in one week? In separate articles? I know that Memorial day is the opening of the season and all, but come one, isn't there some other news? I mean this all follows on last weeks articles about the Bania's of Brighton and Manhattan Beaches (And Midwood) and the aireplane crash fiasco last weekend, and there was another article in the Times this weekend about Surfers at Rockaway, and Sharks in NYC waters. The Times is <i>Beach Crazy</i></p> <p>Next week: Orchard Beach and New Brighton on Staten island i...