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- Pegs, an experiment in page layout and interaction.December 9 2008
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Now that I'm thinking harder about page consumption again, I wanted to surface an old experiment from when I was working on Reader. I'm wondering if a better-executed version of this concept could be useful in an era where site navigation and ads are too easily scrolled off-page? (e.g. IMDB, especially)
It seems worth reconsidering ways to optimize content, nowadays.Demo
The experiment looks like a normal page until the scrollbar is used. Content areas scroll only as high or low as their content.
Try out "pegs" by visiting the demo and scrolling up and down.
ex. Screenshot of demo and concept. Two columns, left column doesn't scroll if small enough.
It's a little...odd. Can't tell if I like using it yet. Needs a trial with real content.How this began
All of us working on Google Reader were looking into ways of making navigation and selection state more visually appealing. At one point we were looking at a demo I threw together where site navigation scrolled, but its scrollbar was on the left side.
It felt weird and alien to use. S - Santas! (A "shibboleth" service.)December 3 2008
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Since I needed to crack my knuckles and have a warm-up, programming-wise, I made a small service for creating a Secret Santa list.
I've been thinking of web services like these as "shibboleth" services. In my head these are applications where a password is required but identity is de-emphasized, usually meaning users don't need to choose or manage a username or profile.
There's already a better name for this, right? Headless? Non-playered? Assisted authentication? I should know the term by now but I'm a little behind - nevertheless, it seems like they're easy and suitable for lightweight, fun usages.
- Are You Experienced? Palin and Obama. A Comparison.September 4 2008
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Y’all, circumstances have induced me to put my hand in the toilet. Now I'm posting about politics.
I'm so disappointed in myself. :( So...
Recently (and especially tonight) there'll be a lot of voices saying the Republican Vice-Presidential nominee has more relevant experience than the Democratic Presidential nominee regarding the executive offices they seek. Is this true? I wouldn't have thought so, but I've been very wrong about so many things that I realized I should spend some time trying to diminish my ignorance.
(I know it might seem that discussing Obama's experience in the context of Palin's is false equivalency. But a lot of people out there really think their qualifications for executive office are nearly equal. They're not crazy, they're putting forth some effort here, so it seems worth a second to see what this is about.)
The debate about who has more experience has included checklists. I started to cobble one together. It definitely could use some improvement...it's just a start.
Barack ObamaSarah Palin
Age4744ReligionChristianity.
(left Trinity United Church of Christ after condeming his pastor's inflammatory rhetoric, migh - Leaving GoogleJune 18 2008
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How can I accurately summarize such a cardinal set of events? It may take me years.
An intense era of personal sacrifice and accomplishment is about to give way to something new. After about four and a half years at Google working with amazing people and ground-breaking products, I've decided that this Friday, June 20th, will be my last day at Google.
Describing the decision as difficult would be weak understatement. Google has been the most fun and fulfilling work experience I've ever had. I'm grateful for the opportunity I have been given. I have loved being at Google and I'm lucky to have helped build things that seem to be useful and fun.
Mostly, I will miss working with people whose skills I'll only achieve as aspirations. People like the Google Reader team members (and I'm including those volunteering their help) who are each incredibly, jaw-droppingly talented. They deserve all of Google's support and help. They take considerable risks personally and professionally and without their leadership and effort, Reader wouldn't exist.
My Dad and I have been talking about posts like these as part of the obsequies of leaving a job and about how to talk about the obvious bits often un-spoken e.g. difficult personal decisions or financial windfalls or wanderlust and desire. Yes, all of those apply here, too. Mainly though, I've often been frustratingly more curious than careful and this decision is made in the hope that I find a bet - Four Firsts for FeedsJune 12 2008
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For the last few years or so, I've been fortunate enough to have my day job involve thinking critically about reading feeds. As a result, I've been musing about first principles.
When Google Reader was first pitched, we had only one guiding principle for building software that would deal with feed reading and that's mostly worked well. But after years of development I think it'd be nice to have a more developed set of principles to help understand feed reading. I've had some in my head and while they're not perfect (not even close) our live experiment gathers a lot of supporting data so I've become more comfortable with sharing these thoughts. Maybe they're correct? Maybe they'll even be useful to someone? Dunno.
So here's my current Four Firsts for Feeds...- Feed reading is inherently polymorphic.
- Attention data changes attention.
- Reading styles for feeds are pre-established and generally inflexible.
- Content that is perceived to be most valuable is not currently available in feeds.
1. Feed reading is inherently polymorphic.
This is the half-baked line I used in the first meeting about Reader. I believed a feed reader's interface might have to be athletically flexible to match a wide