afongen

Since I can’t find the time to write anything real, and won’t for the next few weeks:

• Amazing sidewalk chalk art.
• PHP/SWF Charts. Generates charts in Flash with PHP. Ridiculously simple to use.
• Jesse James Garrett: A visual vocabulary for describing information architecture and interaction design.
• Numbered tabs for Firefox.
• SciTE, an impressive little text editor that needn’t weigh more than 360K.
• Gasp! An unfavorable review of Eats, Shoots & Leaves
• Kitsault, a Canadian ghost town.
• Password generator bookmarklet.

I keep losing this link so had better record it here: a crap-free version of RealPlayer, courtesy of the BBC.

Juan Cole: If America were Iraq, What would it be Like?

Haven’t had a chance to carefully explore this yet, but it’s looking good: UI Patterns and Techniques. Jenifer Tidwell seems to have a healthy attitude toward patterns, which is heartening.

We saw a story on PBS a few months ago about how New Orleans will probably be destroyed by flood (part of a great story on the Mississippi River Delta). The very levees built to protect the city are likely to be the cause of its destruction:

When they stopped the river from flooding, they also prevented the wetlands from getting the regular doses of floodwater and mud that they need to survive. Studies show that if the wetlands keep vanishing over the next few decades, then you won’t need a giant storm to devastate New Orleans — a much weaker, more common kind of hurricane could destroy the city too.

What’s more, the way the city’s built, the evacuation routes would flood. Tens of thousands would be trapped. A big storm is all it will take to completely wipe out the city, and sooner or later it will happen.

Here’s a related American RadioWorks story: Hurricane Risk for New Orleans.

A Washington Post article yesterday (registration required) explores the possibility that Hurricane Ivan might be The One: the storm that takes out New Orleans. Ivan is expected to make landfall to the east but keeps shifting closer to the city. It’s not expected to make a direct hit, but nevertheless the threat it represents is terrifyingly real. I pretty much expect New Orleans to be underwater in my lifetime.

Our friends Michael and Shelly are the proud parents of a delightful little boy, Liam Culver Gause. Congratulations to them all.

Well, I assume he’s delightful. I haven’t actually met him yet. I think it best to give new parents a chance to get to hang with the kid before they have to deal with lots and lots of company. But I must say, I am getting anxious to meet young Liam.

Michael Jantze, creator of my favorite comic strip The Norm, ends his relationship with King Features later this week, and the daily appearance of The Norm comes to an end. Details are not entirely clear, but at the very least we know that Mr. Jantze is cutting out the middleman and continuing to make The Norm available directly through his web site and online store. How long and in what form he’s able to do that, time will tell. So if you like the strip, it’s all the more important to subscribe and/or buy something. If you don’t like the strip, consider buying me something. :-) Best of luck to him, I think it’s a great move and hope it works out.

I see, too, that he’ll be at FallCon at the Minnesota State Fair Grounds next month. I just might go…