SIGNAL VS. NOISE

DISPATCH 3: Platforms.

What Kerry Stands For:
Ben Affleck
John Mellencamp
P Diddy and his "Poverty" music
Whoopi Goldberg

What Bush Stands For:
Bo Derek
Stephen Baldwin
Various Country Music Artists
WWF Superstar Ivory

Conclusions:
Democrat: The ever changing tides in the ocean of pop culture.
Republican: The consistency of country music, pro wrestling, and one Baldwin brother or another.

The new iMac G5

Apple has wisely turned the new G5 iMac into a giant widescreen iPod (and don't they look good together?).

How to Stand and Deliver

OK, no bullet points....but then what? The Scholarly Lecture: How to Stand and Deliver offers survival tips for speakers. A summary (yes, bullet pointed) after the jump...

• Remember that people who show up to hear you want to believe that you're smart, interesting, and a good speaker.
• Before you get up to speak, be sure you're well hydrated (you need that for your vocal cords) and have made a stop.
• Technology is a tool, but a tool is not a friend and is often a rival.
• PowerPoint is for sissies.
• A lecture isn't a casual conversation.
• Look at your audience frequently.
• Don't hook the air with your fingers to indicate that you're quoting someone.
• Don't read aloud subheads or part numbers that may divide up bits of your lecture.
• Never, ever, ever interrupt your lecture to say, "I'm going to skip some pages here in the interest of time," or, "In the longer version of this paper, I will explain..."
• Don't apologize for your lapses as a speaker, for the paucity of your research, or for the fact that you couldn't get your hair cut that month.
• Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse. Then stop.
• Prepare yourself in advance for questions.
• If you're not the only speaker, listen to the others.

Volvo 1800: In the market

I think I'm in the market for a Volvo 1800 (another and another and another). Anyone have any experience with buying and maintaining one of these beauties? Besides rust, what are the other key points to look out for? And, anyone know the best resource for these in or around Chicago? Thanks.

SOLD OUT: Building of Basecamp Workshop

The Building of Basecamp Workshop on September 17th just sold out. I think we'll bring the next one to San Francisco in November. If you are interested in attending, please send a note to workshop at 37signals.com so we can gauge interest. Thanks again.

Dave Matthews Crap

The Dave Matthews Band is being sued by the state of Illinois for allegedly dumping up to 800 pounds of liquid human waste from its bus into the Chicago River (and onto a group of people taking a boat tour).

The suit, filed Tuesday, claims that a boat with more than 100 people on an architecture tour was soaked with sewage when the driver emptied the bus' septic tank through the Kinzie Street bridge's metal grating into the river.

While we're at it, can we also sue them for dumping crap onto the radio airwaves of America for the past decade?

A little Tufte recap

So, 37signals took a field trip to see Edward Tufte's Presenting Data and Information workshop. I think I speak for the other guys when I say we're really glad we attended. Here are someone else's detailed notes.

At his worst, Tufte is a passionate presenter with a clear cause (although slightly out of touch when it comes to talking web design). At his very best, Tufte has some real knowledge and insight to share about data density, the resolution of paper, clarity, simplicity, sparklines, and a near religious fanaticism targeted at the reduction of ornament in favor of making the content shine. He clearly believes that content is king. And, oh yeah, he likes to show off his original, first print/edition copies of Euclid's The Elements of Geometry and Galileo's The Starry Messenger.

He mentioned one thing that I never really thought about in this way before: When most of us think about bad design metaphors, we think of horrible screen interfaces that look like books, or look like desks, or look like television sets. But, the most common metaphor that leads to bad design is mimicking org charts or corporate structure. A design that follows corporate structure "just because" is just as bad as an interface that mimicks a book or a work desk or a television set. But, since the org chart or corporate structure is hidden in the design (unlike a book-like UI where you can see the physical representation of a book), we often don't think of this type of design as design based on a metaphor.

Some other key takeaways:

• Don't use bulletpoints
• 1+1=3... Two elements in close proximity can create a third "ghost image" from the negative space between the two elements
• Put your name on things -- it shows that you care about the content and take responsibility for its validity
• "It's better to be approximately right than exactly wrong"
• The resolution of good old paper is higher than the most advanced computer monitors
• Never harm the content -- the design should be based on the content, not the other way around
• There's hidden power and credibility in small multiples
• If a chart or table or object needs a label, label it inline -- don't use legends/keys that require "back-and-forths"
• Don't use footnotes, use sidenotes -- they'll be closer to the content you're referencing
• When presenting, show up early and finish early
• The interface is the software (which we talk about extensively in our Building of Basecamp Workshop)
• The way you reduce clutter is to clarify the design and then add information
• The power of the Smallest Effective Difference -- make all visual distinctions as subtle as possible, but still clear and effective
• Frame your presentations: What's the problem; who cares; and what's your solution
• Good design is clear thinking made visible, bad design is stupidity made visible

Tufte comes to town

If you're in Chicago this Tuesday or Wednesday, consider attending the full-day Tufte: Presenting Data and Information course. $320 gets you in the door, plus you get three of his books and the famous Napoleon's March poster.

Comedians Against Bush

Will Ferrell brings back his Bush impersonation in this online movie for the liberal political group America Coming Together. He also recently did a fundraiser that seems like it was pretty damn funny:

Mr. Ferrell's Bush, who was wearing a flight suit, boasted of his plan to replace logged ancient redwoods with "substitute trees" made out of red-painted plywood. He then told the crowd: "Will I be able to do everything you people want? No. Frankly a lot of endangered species are going to be extincted. But this is part of evolution and natural selection. Which, by the way, I don't believe in."

That's taken from The State of the George W. Bush Joke (NY Times) which also features this great bit:

Jon Stewart, the host of "The Daily Show," has repeatedly insisted that he's nonpartisan ("I'm a Whig," he recently told Fox News). But lately his Bush jokes have started to seem like a sustained argument with the president, as when Mr. Bush recently made a speech in which he declared, eight times, that as a result of the war in Iraq "America is safer." Speaking directly to a videotaped image of the president, Mr. Stewart demanded: "What criteria are you using to prove this? What evidence is there other than you saying it?" But thanks to a montage, the president only repeated the claim. "So that's what it comes down to," Mr. Stewart intoned. "The Bush administration's strategy to fight terrorism is repetition."

Sorta bizarre when fake newsanchors are asking better questions than real ones.

Some random links

Minimum cash required to start franchises
Pills and water in the same package (solid idea)
The new Mercedes SLK
How lock-picking works
World's lightest flying robot
Free ConEd tattoo

Need advice: Portable projector

We're looking to purchase a portable digital projector for giving presentations to a room of about 50 people. I'm paralyzed by the plethora of options. We're probably looking to spend around $2000 or so. VGA or DVI is fine. Any recommendations? Thanks in advance.

Need advice: Check writing, mass-pay service

We're hard at work on our next "tool" (Basecamp was the first), and this one will require us to send people money. We're considered sending money via ACH/EFT (electronically via direct deposit), but we're also interested in exploring the paper-check model. Does anyone have recommendations for services that will handle this for us? For example, we'd love to send a data feed (XML, comma-separated, or whatever) to a service and have them send out paper checks for us. We'd probably do this every 30 days or so. Any suggestions or feedback would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

An exercise in clarity: The Presidential Candidates

In 10 words or less (for each), define President Bush, John Kerry, and Ralph Nader.

IKEA.com: Making Shopping Difficult

If you're in the market for furniture and you don't have a ton of spare cash, IKEA is probably on your radar. For those who happen to live near an actual IKEA store, you're in luck. For the rest of us in the hinterlands of America, you're only option is to shop via catalog or on-line. And in this age of internet shopping, I figured I'd give IKEA's "newly redesigned" store a shot. I was less than impressed:

No Search Box: IKEA.com allows you to search for items online, but you have to click a text link in the upper right of each page to load a separate Search page. 99% of other retailers have long since realized the utility of having search on demand -- IKEA doesn't seem to get it.

Haphazard Integration with Inventory Systems: When you do find a product you'd like to order and add it to your cart, there's a chance it might not be available. And while some items are marked "only available in stores in bold red lettering," items that you could order on-line but which are out of stock have nothing to indicate this issue -- nothing prevents you from adding it to your cart and checking out.

7-day E-mail Notification: When you order, say, a camera from a site like Amazon.com or Buydig.com, you can rightly expect a summary e-mail to hit your inbox within 24 hours. Not so with IKEA -- you can wait up to 7 days for a shipping confirmation. And when you do get that confirmation, the only way to complete your order is to call IKEA directly and finalize certain details. It's often only at this stage that you are told half of the items in your shopping cart are not available.

Don't get me wrong -- I think IKEA is a great company when it comes to balancing price with environmental responsibility -- but their online customer experience seems stuck in 1995.

Trusting Fear

"People who do not feel easily threatened are generally less threatening." That's the view of Gordon Marino, a former boxer and professor of philosophy, in this essay on the philosophy of boxing [via MSNBC]. Along the way, he offers one possible reason why voters are so enamored of candidates with wartime service records: It's easier to trust someone who has truly experienced fear.

According to Aristotle, courage is a mean between fearlessness and excessive fearfulness. The capacity to tolerate fear is essential to leading a moral life, but it is hard to learn how to keep your moral compass under pressure when you are cosseted from every fear. Boxing gives people practice in being afraid. There are, of course, plenty of brave thugs. Physical courage by no means guarantees the imagination that standing up for a principle might entail. However, in a tight moral spot I would be more inclined to trust someone who has felt like he or she was going under than someone who has experienced danger only vicariously, on the couch watching videos.

ESPN.com: Font Choice Really Needed?

Among commercial sites, ESPN.com has been a pioneer at implementing CSS-driven layouts. This new "choose your font" option in the sidebar of stories seems like overkill though. Clogging up the page with yet another feature which, in truth, only a miniscule percentage of people will actually use seems closer to let's-do-it-because-we-can than let's-do-it-because-we-should.

Dan Cederholm's "Web Standard Solutions"

Among books about XHTML and CSS, Dan Cederholm's "Web Standard Solutions" really stands out. Instead of a lot of "this is why you should use CSS here" or "here's how you can do this in CSS" (understandably the common approaches used in most first generation books on the topic), this book gives you "these are the three possible ways to do this in CSS and the advantages/disadvantages to each."

There are in-depth analyses on a wide range of coding issues, including topics like 1) using various image replacement techniques -- FIR, LIR, or Phark method? -- to replace plain hypertext with graphical text, 2) providing alternate style sheets so people control the styles they see, 3) using tags like tabindex, fieldset, and legend to code forms wisely, and plenty more. And even the simple topics provide an enlightening contrast/comparison approach.

For a taste of Dan's approach, check out the SimpleQuiz at Simplebits.com.

Returned

I was having lunch at an outdoor cafe yesterday with a friend, when I overheard the guy on the next table telling his friend that he needed to go to a wedding but didn't have a camera. So the other guy says "Just go to Best Buy, buy the camera, and when you get back, just RETURN IT!" This is wrong in so many ways.

Still Not Getting It

The NY Times reports that Warner recently became the first major record label to ask MP3 blogs to play its music (the push is for Secret Machines). When Music For Robots did post a SM track, a few of the comments stood out for their over-the-topness. Backfire ensues.

"I never heard these guys before, but theyre awesome," read a posting last Thursday under the name Ron. "I went to their website and you can listen to a lot of ther other stuff, very cool and very good!" Another post, sprinkled with casual profanity, asserted that big corporations could still release good music, and cited the Beatles as an example.

A check of site records by [Music For Robot's Mark] Willett revealed that all four of the suspect comments had been posted from the same Internet Protocol address, indicating that they came from the same computer or from a computer within the same company. That address was also the source of two e-mail messages that [Vice president for new media at Warner Brothers Robin] Bechtel sent to a reporter, as well as the original messages sent to the bloggers.

Randomize a DVD

Here's an idea: DVD players should be able to play the chapters on your DVD in random order. Could be a refreshing way to watch a movie that you've already seen (or a trippy way to watch one you haven't seen). Might also be nice for TV shows on DVD. Potential or insanity? (Note: if you can already do this, please tell me I'm an idiot and I'll just delete this post)

Tagged

I am so sick of seeing books about how great and artistic graffiti (otherwise known as vandalism) is. Books like this...

...are what contributes to the view that it's acceptable. It's becoming part of the "landscape" of approved opinion. It's bullshit. Period. My building gets tagged ALL THE TIME and I am sick of it. It's vandalism, plain and simple. Check out the picture of this car parked down the street from my office:

I bet the owner doesn't think this is ART.

Angus Diet

Am I the only one who thinks Burger King's new Angus Diet campaign is out of whack? Yeah, it's stupid as all get out but that's not the point. What irks me is how many people out there aren't going to get the joke. Let's face it, a lot of BK customers aren't the best at deconstructing pop culture.

Think about it from the POV of a not-so-savvy consumer (or kid) who turns on the tv and sees an ad with a "doctor" telling him/her to go to BK and eat hamburgers as part of a new "diet" that sounds an awful lot like the Atkins diet. These televised spots don't ever mention that eating Angus burgers is actually pretty damn unhealthy.

The weasels behind it do offer a weak justification for their use of the term diet, but bury it in a PDF at the site that no one will actually read:

Now youre probably saying to yourself Hang on, if The Angus Diet is not a real diet, then where does this quack get off calling this book Eating The Angus Diet? Easy, Cheetah. Allow me to explain. I call it a diet because if you look in most any dictionary (under D) youll find the following. Take it away, Mr. Definition: Diet (diet) n. 1. a) What a person or animal usually eats and drinks; daily fare. See that? Technically, a diet is what you eat. So if you eat The Angus Steak Burger, youre on The Angus Diet.

Ugh. Maybe if this was even in the least bit funny I'd have less of a problem with it. But it all strikes me as predatory and creepy since a lot of naive folks will probably just eat it up. If you think I'm overreacting, I suggest a read of "Fast Food Nation" to get some insight into the true mentality of this industry.

Inside Al Qaeda's Hard Drive

An absolutely fascinating look at Al Qaeda by way of seized computers, letters, emails, and other communications. This 17-page Atlantic article reminds us that anytime a few people get together there are going to be disagreements -- no matter how unified that front may appear to outsiders -- and that these disagreements are universal in their genesis: money, power, and ego. No matter how different we are, we all share one thing: human nature.

As an aside, I found this letter from Bin Laden to Mullah Omar on April 11, 2001 enlightening:

...Among the most important such false gods in our time is the United Nations, which has become a new religion that is worshipped to the exclusion of God. The prophets of this religion are present in the UN General Assembly... The UN imposes all sorts of penalties on all those who contradict its religion. It issues documents and statements that openly contradict Islamic belief, such as the International Declaration for Human Rights, considering all religions are equal, and considering that the destruction of the statues constitutes a crime...

And from a letter from Bin Laden to the American People on October 3, 2001:

Our current battle is against the Jews. Our faith tells us we shall defeat them, God willing. However, Muslims find that the Americans stand as a protective shield and strong supporter, both financially and morally. The desert storm that blew over New York and Washington should, in our view, have blown over Tel Aviv. The American position obliged Muslims to force the Americans out of the arena first to enable them to focus on their Jewish enemy. Why are the Americans fighting a battle on behalf of the Jews? Why do they sacrifice their sons and interests for them?

And from a letter from Bin Laden to Omar, also dated October 3, 2001:

Keep in mind that America is currently facing two contradictory problems:

a) If it refrains from responding to jihad operations, its prestige will collapse, thus forcing it to withdraw its troops abroad and restrict itself to U.S. internal affairs. This will transform it from a major power to a third-rate power, similar to Russia.

b) On the other hand, a campaign against Afghanistan will impose great long-term economic burdens, leading to further economic collapse, which will force America, God willing, to resort to the former Soviet Union's only option: withdrawal from Afghanistan, disintegration, and contraction.

Print this article out and give it a read when you get a chance. It's worth whatever time it demands.

iPod vs. The Cassette

No Name No Slogan labs "tests this years must-have device against one of the all time great audio formats."

Localize This

Care to share your experiences localizing and translating a web site or web-based application? What major obstacles did you encounter? What was harder and easier than expected? How did you handle adding new features to the site/app -- did you work with the same translator you used the first time? If you worked with a team of translators, how did you ensure that the translation was consistent across the entire site? Did you run into any unanticipated cultural issues or clashes? How much does having a site/app in multiple languages slow down development and impede progress? Finally, any fundamental words of advice?

Music to design (or code) to

What music helps you design? What puts you in the zone? What helps you focus? What keeps you moving forward and inspired?

I'll start... Lately it's been the Softa Surfers new record, See The Light. I've also had the "Spiders (Kidsmoke)" track from Wilco's A Ghost is Born on repeat. And then of course there's the fabulous DubLab streaming station that's full of good "design music."

You?

When 37 costs 85

Who would pay 85 cents for a 37 cent postage stamp? Someone who wants their own face (or logo, or...) on it. PhotoStamps is a brilliant idea. Anything with a 129% markup is a brilliant idea, actually.

Woot's interesting one-a-day model

Woot, a new online electronics store, has an interesting business model: they just sell one product a day. And they've wisely jumped on the bandwagon: you can subscribe to the store via RSS so you'll always know what today's item is. Smart use of RSS, fellas.

Interesting lighting ideas

You've already got a TV, why not use it to throw some color when you're not "using" it? Talk about a simple idea. And then, there's the resourceful "why didn't I think of that" balloon lamp. [Thanks Carlos]

For every new feature you need to...

1. Come up with the concept.
2. Say no.
3. Force the feature to prove its value.
4. If "no" again, end here. If "yes," continue...
5. Sketch the screen(s)/UI.
6. Design the screen(s)/UI.
7. Code it.
8-16. Test, tweak, test, tweak, test, tweak, test, tweak...
17. Check to see if help text needs to be modified.
18. Update the product tour (if necessary).
19. Update the marketing copy (if necessary).
20. Update the terms of service (if necessary).
21. Check to see if any promises were broken.
22. Check to see if pricing structure is affected.
23. Launch.
24. Hold breath.

Ali G Harvard Commencement Speech

Continuing down the temporary path of more Noise than Signal on SvN, enjoy Ali G's 2004 Harvard Commencement Speech. Highlights include:

"As I stand here today lookin at all of you, on this, your first day of university... To fink dat so many great people has been educated ere like Lyndon Banes Johnson, or as he is better known - JFK... A lot of you is probably feminists, or as we call them in england 'lezzies'... iz also well clever - me was so brainy dat me finished me education 6 years before any of u... what did Lincoln give America, apart from the Towncar?... Let's rap dis up now, coz I fink me feels somethin movin down below... Anyways I digest... it is important never to forget where u all came from - becoz black, white, brown or pakistani we all come from de same place - de punani... bigupyaself Princeton...and keep it real... wesside."

So, how does this compare to the others we've featured on SvN in the past?

What'll ya have?

I'm favoring the Gin Buck. What's your poison?

Good Company Plug: Meeting Tomorrow

So, every few months we hold these free 1-hour training workshops for Basecamp. And, since we don't own a projector, we have to rent one each time. Yeah, it would probably make sense for us to buy one, but that's another story for another day. Anyhow, we've been renting from Meeting Tomorrow and they've been great. However, this morning we had a problem.

FedEx said they attempted a delivery, but we don't remember them knocking. Anyhow, we didn't get our projector by 10:30 as was promised. So, instead of me calling Meeting Tomorrow to find out what was up, Meeting Tomorrow called us to confirm that we didn't receive our projector by 10:30 (they had been checking the FedEx tracking info). Then they immediately went to work to find out what happened with FedEx, etc.

A few back and forth calls later, Meeting Tomorrow had had enough with FedEx and decided to personally deliver the projector themselves. Sure, we're in Chicago and they are in Chicago so it wasn't that much of a stretch, but let me tell you -- it was hugely appreciated. And, sure enough, even though Meeting Tomorrow had delivered the projector, FedEx came knocking with their delivery 5 minutes before the session was supposed to start so we had two projectors on hand.

So, if you need a projector tomorrow, definitely give Meeting Tomorrow a call. Their projectors even come with a couple of breath mints just in case. Nice touch, guys.

Ron Reagan on G.W. Bush

Ron Reagan doesn't hold back in this Esquire article: The Case Against George W. Bush (via TMN). Some excerpts:

It's one thing to get trashed by Michael Moore. But when Nobel laureates, a vast majority of the scientific community, and a host of current and former diplomats, intelligence operatives, and military officials line up against you, it becomes increasingly difficult to characterize the opposition as fringe wackos.

… The Bush administration no doubt had its real reasons for invading and occupying Iraq. They've simply chosen not to share them with the American public. . . . They may have ideas worth discussing, but they don't welcome the rest of us in the conversation. They don't trust us because they don't dare expose their true agendas to the light of day. There is a surreal quality to all this: Occupation is liberation; Iraq is sovereign, but we're in control; Saddam is in Iraqi custody, but we've got him; we'll get out as soon as an elected Iraqi government asks us, but we'll be there for years to come.

… When Mr. Bush talks about the economy, he is not talking about your economy. His economy is filled with pals called Kenny-boy who fly around in their own airplanes. In Bush's economy, his world, friends relocate offshore to avoid paying taxes. Taxes are for chumps like you. You are not a friend. You're the help. When the party Mr. Bush is hosting in his world ends, you'll be left picking shrimp toast out of the carpet.

Ziing.

The New BMW 3

BMW, what have you done to the new 3-series? I mean, come on. Lots more pictures at GermanCarFans.com.

The Obsessed Readers

Mark Edmundson has written a new book entitled "Why Read?" Here's part of his theory:

Yet for many people, the process of socialization doesn't quite work. The values they acquire from all the well-meaning authorities don't fit them. And it is these people who often become obsessed readers. They don't read for information, and they don't read for beautiful escape. No, they read to remake themselves. They read to be socialized again, not into the ways of their city or village this time but into another world with different values. Such people want to revise, or even to displace, the influence their parents have had on them. They want to adopt values they perceive to be higher or perhaps just better suited to their natures.

Couloir.org: Altitude Slickness

Although it may still be a bit rough around the edges, I'd like to announce the re-launch of Couloir.org.

Many of the design changes reflect the more streamlimed workflow behind it (Step 1: Create Folder, Step 2: Drop Photos into Folder, Step 3: Upload) as well as my desire to get closer to the original look of the 2001 site. So have a look around (shots from Tuolumne Meadows and Slovakia are among my favorites) and look for more updates in the future.

Headed to DC

So... I'm headed out to Washington DC for a few days in a couple of weeks (for User Experience Week). I've never been and will certainly check out all the major attractions, but what about the stuff that isn't as popular? Got any secret DC spots? Any places off the beaten path that I should check out? Any hidden gems? Where do you pick up the classy hookers (when in DC do as the politicians do)? Any suggestions would be great, thanks.

Wouldn't it be nice...

...if you could right-click a selection in Safari and choose "Google", "Dictionary", or "Wikipedia" from the contextual menu to launch your query in a new tab?

"An Explosive, Gripping Post!"

Folks like Sixty Second Preview's Jeff Craig probably think taking out the garbage represents "a fascinating and exotic adventure." But even mainstream publications are starting to churn out reviews that seem more like PR than critical analyses. Jim Derogatis, Sun-Times music critic, talks about the dearth of thoughtful criticism in today's culture.

I think criticism has been subservient or nonexistent for about 10 or 15 years now. We've been living in a world of two thumbs up, smiley happy blurbs of 100 to 150 words. I'm sorry, but in 150 words you can't say anything but, "Buy this product." And that has become the norm. Entertainment Weekly, the Maxim-ization of every magazine on the newsstand, even freaking Rolling Stone. Literally, when I was an editor at Rolling Stone, there was a sign in the copy department that said, "Three stars means never having to say you're sorry." It was one thing when, in the late '70s, criticism shifted to become this quote unquote consumer guide. But it's not even that any more. It's really just a cataloging of new product.

Whatever, I get all my artistic recommendations from "Kickin' It with Byron Allen" anyway.

An idea for the checkout lane...

How about having padded checkout counters so I don't end up with bruises all over my apples, nectarines, pears. It's always annoyed me when the checkout person weighs the fruit and then basically chucks/bounces it to the end of the hard, solid counter to be bagged. Pads, people, slippery pads (cause I know there's no hope of the checkout people just being gentle). Filed under: Customer Experience.

Defensive Design for the Web Book Review

Digital Web Magazine just published Karen Morrill-McClure's review of our book Defensive Design for the Web.

This book wont teach you any new coding tricks, but it may change how you think about Web sites and Web design... Reading Defensive Design for the Web was like surfing to hundreds of different Web sites with a usability expert whispering in my ear, explaining the site, showing me not only what was bad about the site (which is generally easy to point out), but also what was good.

Read the full review at Digital Web's site. Thanks Karen (and Digital Web) -- we're glad you enjoyed it.

DISPATCH 2: Want some bullshit with your handshake?

John Kerry and George Bush have taken America by storm! They're both hot on the campaign trail seeking out the votes of John Q.Public, and today they both took to the great state of Iowa mere blocks from each other, each shucking and shoving ears of corn in their mouths in desperate attempts to win the hearts of middle America. It's obvious that eating corn comes a bit more naturally to Bush than it does to Kerry, but we all have our strengths and weaknesses, no?

Both candidates are making it clear that they'll do anything to identify with whatever demographic they're currently schlepping their campaign to, even if it means for Kerry traveling on - GASP! - a bus! And while he husked corn with the best of the midwest, running mate John Edwards took to Little Rock, AR, where he knocked out three of his teeth and impregnated his second cousin, all in the name of their "grassroots" campaign.

And the cultural saturation doesn't stop there! Tomorrow, Bush will be in Columbus, OH, where he plans to commemorate the discovery of America by reenacting the first Thanksgiving, and a few days later he'll be in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin where he'll spend the hour attempting to pronounce the words Oconomowoc," Wisconsin," and Gouda." After that he'll head down to Alamogordo, New Mexico where he plans to thank his constituents for supporting his campaign, and then remind them that new Mexicans can't vote -you gotta be 18, people.

Kerry's team isn't revealing as much about their next campaign stops as the Bush campaign, but we've learned enough about him over the past few weeks to estimate which cities they might visit soon. After having to spend *6 entire days* in cities full of poor, average people, you can bet Kerry will retreat to a town certain to make him a little more comfortable where he can rest and regain his bearings. And while Kerry's tossing back some Merlot and trying to figure out what a "Camry" is, you can be sure Edwards will be safe in the suburbs having his teeth bleached and his bangs trimmed. Once they've recuperated from shaking the dirty hands of the middle class, the duo will return to the bowels of America for more "identifying" with the voters. There's even rumors that they'll talk to unemployed people.

Bush has plans for another trip through the midwest in the upcoming weeks as well, especially Iowa so he can stock up some more corn.

A Look at Letterpress

This Quicktime micro-documentary from TypeCulture is a great look at how letterpress works and why it's special. Beautiful type examples abound, but you have to suffer through some pretensious arrhythmic narration (in a William Shatner-meets-your-English-professor kinda way).

The interviewed press proprietor has a great perspective on the impending death of letterpress: "It's OK -- I'm only responsible for my watch. I'm thankful every day that I get to do this."

Jante's Law: Anti-Ambition

Jante's Law is an unspoken code of ethics in Scandinavian-American culture.

Equality is an important part of Danish culture, so much so that, 'success' or what may be seen as a deliberate attempt to distinguish oneself from others may be viewed with hostility. This characteristic is called Janteloven or Jante's Law by Danes.

Pretty interesting compared to the typical American view. Another explanation:

In our culture, there is an inherent antipathy toward such qualities as extravagance, luxury, glamour and self-glorification. The more a person is like all other people, the better. In fact, one of the finest compliments a Swede can receive is that he or she is so "ordinary" - regardless of whether this person happens to be the queen, a Nobel laureate or a rock star.

Big Ups to Dave Chappelle

Dave Chappelle, a bona fide laugh factory, finally gets his due. $50,000,000 of it. He even gets a chunk of the DVD sales (including a retroactive cut from the first season):

Chappelle's original deal reaped barely a fraction of DVD revenues -- a source of frustration to the comedian as his second one-year deal with Comedy expired. The new deal cuts Chappelle not only a larger portion of DVD sales -- including retroactively to the first and second seasons -- but revenue from merchandising and events as well.

The deal also includes this nugget:

Another component sets up Chappelle with a multimillion-dollar deal at Paramount Pictures to star in an adaptation of the autobiography of Rick James, the funk veteran whom Chappelle has lampooned on "Chappelle's Show."

Good humor on the way.

Icerocket.com says don't change that channel

Icerocket, a Google-like Google competitor, brings an interesting new feature into the search results fold. Check out these results (or any other results) and click on the "Quick View" link. Bam! A frame opens up and lets you visit the page without leaving the results themselves. I'm not sure how often I'd use it, but it's new thinking and certainly an interesting approach. What do you think?

EmoteMail

EmoteMail is an augmented email client that inserts webcam snapshots of the author beside each text block as it's entered and, perhaps more interestingly, shades each block to show how much time was spent typing it.

Is it valuable to see how much time the author spent on paragraph one versus paragraph three? Or to see that the message was banged out in a flash?

Those questions aside, this Media Lab baby neatly demonstrates how visual design in next-generation apps can go beyond "presentation" and contribute to the semantics of the interface.

Speaking Announcement: User Experience Week

August 16th-19th is Adaptive Path's annual User Expeience Week in Washington DC. I'll be speaking along with the entire Adaptive Path team, Doug Bowman, and Christina Wodtke on all things "user experience." I've been told that there will be some after-hours events planned that shouldn't be missed.

Find out more about the event (session schedule, topic overviews, etc.) and sign up today. Friends of 37signals get a 15% discount when they use promotional code AFT49.

If you're attending, please come up and say hi.

Captain Apple

Steve Jobs' cancer surgery went well but it begs the question: What would a Jobs-less Apple be like? It's tough to think of any other large company that is so dependent on one individual. Could the Apple ship keep sailing straight without its captain? Previous attempts aren't very encouraging.

They won't advertise it unless they buy it

How's this for a cool policy: Coudal won't accept advertisements on their site unless they've paid for and used the product first. Here's what they say:

We are customers of all of our advertisers. We won't take an ad unless we've paid for and used the product or service.

I wonder what they're using to automate the process of running those ads? Jim?