radically simple business cards (via jrgd)

Inventor and tech-philosopher Dave Winer Twittered tonight that federation is the hot thing, pointing to a New York Times article about Facebook Connect. And just like that he touched upon the third rail of our increasingly social web. The big question facing the social web depends on the direction it needs to take. A sharp increase in the number of web services and social networks has many of us yearning for a single sign-on, which has lead to the idea of “federation.” On the flip side, we also want one place to manage our diverse web services in one place — aggregate. These two diametrically opposed views of how we are going to come to grips with our social web are going to face an intense debate until consumers vote with their clicks.

Social Web’s Big Question: Federate or Aggregate? – GigaOM

via Igor Schwarzmann on Friendfeed

A complete overhaul of the way in which people navigate the internet has been given the go-ahead in Paris.

The net’s regulator, Icann, voted unanimously to relax the strict rules on so-called “top-level” domain names, such as .com or .uk.

The decision means that companies could turn brands into web addresses, while individuals could use their names.

A second proposal, to introduce domain names written in Asian, Arabic or other scripts, was also approved.

“We are opening up a new world and I think this cannot be underestimated,” said Roberto Gaetano, a member of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann).

Others believe it could begin to bridge the digital divide.

Electronest

Although it looks very set, I took this picture of Electronest almost by chance, as I was shooting a completely different project for them.

”

(via Cumulus.)

Favicons and Walker typeface trivia: “

For some time, most Walker websites have been without an important branding element: a favicon. Most often, favicons appear in the location bar, next to the URL of the site. They can also appear when a site is saved as a bookmark and in a browser tab. For sites with RSS feeds, favicons also often appear in the RSS reader as an icon next to the feed name.

I find I don’t often notice when a site is missing a favicon, but do notice when it has one. Coming up with a 16×16 pixel icon that somehow encapsulates the identity or brand of an institution is difficult, especially when said institution doesn’t have an official logo. In discussion, we thought about using a W, but thought it looked bland. The Walker typeface has a nifty alternate W, which is what we ended up using:

Side note: I recall Matthew Carter, designer of the Walker Typeface, discussing the typeface and W at an Typecon 2003. I remember him telling a story about the W, so I contacted him to clarify:

I did the disjointed alternative W in the Walker type convinced that I had invented the form. But later when I was at the AIGA conference in New Orleans I saw the same W on manhole covers. Some of my type designs have been inspired by lettering I’ve seen in the everyday environment — Mantinia is partly based on lettering on the Boston Public Library, for example—I use the Walker W as a facetious example of the environment ripping me off.

We’ve made use of Walker’s alternate W for most neighborhoods. However, a few sites that have their own identities or are a bit more unique get their own favicons:

• Most Walker sites
• Walker Blogs
• New Media Initiatives
• Design
• Visual Arts
• Performing Arts
• Film and Video
• Families
• Teen Programs and WACTAC
• Art On Call
• Gallery 9

The simplest way to put a favicon in a page is to simply drop the favicon.ico file in the root folder of your site. Most browsers will automatically see the file and display it. An .ico file has some limitations, most notably it does not support transparency. Most modern browsers (e.g. not Internet Explorer) support using a gif or png file that supports transparency, and will display cleanly when in a bookmark menu or a tab. To satisfy both groups of browsers, we actually use two icon files, a favicon.ico for Internet Explorer and a png for everyone else. Here’s what the code that goes into the head of every page looks like:

<link rel='icon' type='image/png' href='/favicon.png' />
<!--[if IE]>
<link rel='shortcut icon' href='/favicon.ico' type='image/vnd.microsoft.icon' />
<![endif]-->

Curiously, my browser of choice, Camino, ignores the favicon.png file and instead uses the .ico with it’s white background. However, I’m part of a very small minority and the .png with transparency works fine for Safari and Firefox users.

“

(Via New Media Initiatives Blog.)

WineM: “

My favorite contribution to Search Patterns this week is WineM.

Here’s an excerpt from last year’s press release:

The smart wine rack uses radio frequency identification (RFID) to track individual bottles in the rack and identifies ones that fit the users’ wine selection criteria. Collectors and restaurants can use WineM racks to search collections, track specific bottles, update information about wine in real time, and manage inventory visually…the wine in a collection can now be dynamically reorganized by any combination of year, region, price, or any other information axis that interests the collector or sommelier.

A handheld device accepts queries, and full-color LED lights transform the elegant wine rack and the bottles themselves into a search results interface. The system even supports faceted navigation. Very cool!

Strange Connections

I’m happy my disturbing hole has wormed its way into the minds of futurists.

If you’re coming to the IA Summit in Miami, please consider the IA Institute’s Leadership Seminar. An important topic and some great speakers!

“

(Via findability.org (RSS 0.91).)

Social Networks Evil Twin Attacks: ”

What will happen if someone impersonates you on a social network? Will that person be able to fool your friends and as such gain access to resources, which only you are entitled to? Or are social network protected enough to guarantee the credibility of the social participants. I don’t know, but join me in the brainstorming process in the following paragraphs.

Introduction to Social Networks Evil Twin Attacks

Lets have a look at a social network like LinkedIn. For those of you who don’t know what LinkIn is, let me say that it is probably the largest professional social network available today. Once you give information about your place of work and the education centers you used to attend, LinkedIn will try its best to hook you up to everyone else that have been associated with your current company, university, etc. The benefit is obvious: you keep up with people who may help you in the future. However, nothing stops an evil mind to register an account on the name of John Dawson, a reputable IT security expert, currently employed by HSBC, Canary Wharf, London. If the evil twin of John Dawson inhabits LinkedIn, how many people will trust that shady persona and as such be fooled into one of the biggest scams? I find this question very interesting and quite fascinating from the hacker point of view.

The hack here is not technical but rather psychological. Remember, hacking is the action of outsmarting the others and as such it may take any form. Fooling people’s believes is an important craft that have been with us since the dawn of humanity, yet we often fail to acknowledge it effectiveness. These are what Evil Twin attack are all about. From WiFi security prospective the evil twin is the rogue access point that pretends to be a friendly network. From the social networks point of view, the evil twin is a hacker or a bot masking himself as the real person.

Social Networks Evil Twin Attacks work both ways. First, the impersonator will be given the chance to trick the victim’s current friends into a trap. Second, he will trick people, who will try to contact the real person along the way, into a trap as well. Therefore, if the evil John Dawson is approached by someone who is looking for work in his sector, he will be in a very comfortable position to gain internal insights of the company of that person as very often people tend to serve any juicy information on the interviewing process.

Social Networks are huge threat whether you realize it or not. The bad guys are not restricted in terms of types of tools for their malicious activities, like whitehats do as this seams to be part of technical eliteness. The bad guys will break into the targeted network by any means necessary. This includes fooling people, laying and cheating on their way towards their goal.

”

(Via GNUCITIZEN.)

The Husband Who Would Not Die

My wife just pointed out a new article about the disappearance of England’s notorious “missing canoeist,” John Darwin.
Five years ago, Mr. Darwin disappeared after going canoeing in the North Sea. “A paddle was found,” The Guardian reported, “and weeks later the red wreckage of Darwin’s canoe washed up.”
But what happened? Did he drown? Was he abducted? Murdered? Secreted away to a London warehouse and subjected to light and sound torture in a locked room?

[Image: Illustration by Andrew Norfolk for The Times].

No: John Darwin was living in a secret passageway connected to his old master bedroom. That is, before he fled to Panama.
He’d sneak out through a secret door in the back of the closet at night and sleep next to his wife, warm and cuddly. The next day he’d go back into his secret room and read BLDGBLOG.
He had faked his own death, see, to avoid paying bills.
Turns out the unfortunately named Darwins “purchased the adjoining properties [next to their own house], at No 4 and No 3 The Cliff, in Seaton Carew, 15 months before Mr Darwin disappeared.” Thus his disappearing plan could commence: “a 5ft high hole in the wall allowed Mr Darwin to emerge from a room at No 4 The Cliff and slip back into the master bedroom in the couple’s home at No 3. An 18 inch wide connecting passageway was hidden behind a makeshift wardrobe with a false plywood back.”
The new owner of No 3 stumbled upon the secret closet door and said it was “like something from Narnia.”
In any case, John Darwin has now turned himself in: “He had had enough of being dead,” his wife explained to police.

(Thanks, Nicky!)

(Via BLDGBLOG.)

The Internet User’s Bill Of Rights (First Draft)

Way back when, I’d written a brief post about Google’s laser-guided missiles. In short, I’d argued that, as Google’s services become more pervasive, the more of our behavior they could monitor and mine for more targeted advertising. The more they watch, the more accurately they can target us. This all isn’t necessarily a bad thing…except that hardly anyone knows how or where Google is watching them.

Enter Facebook. Of late, Facebook has been taking some slack for the Facebook Beacon. It effectively allows third parties to pass along to Facebook something about your activity on their sites. After, say a Fandango purchase, Fandango pings Facebook back with what you’ve just done. If you subsequently visit Facebook, you’ll find your action for all to see (“all” being anyone that can see your feed).

So now, not only are all our actions being monitored (thanks Google for kicking that one off) our activity is being shared among third parties without our knowledge (thanks Facebook).

All of this isn’t inherently bad on its face. The problem lies in how all this stuff is happening behind our backs. We need to draft some sort of Bill of Rights for web users that services like Google or Facebook can opt into. Something like:

1. [Service] shall, clearly and in plain English, explain to users precisely which of the user’s activity they will be monitoring.
2. [Service] shall, clearly and in plain English, notify users if anything about their activity is shared with other services.
3. [Service] shall provide all users with a simple and clearly visible way to opt out of having any facet of our activity monitored or shared with third parties.
4. [Service] shall provide all users with a simple and clearly accessible way to purge all data about their activity. If a user’s activity data is purged, [service] shall guarantee that all purged data is destroyed and unrecoverable.
5. Should any terms of use change subsequent to joining [service], all users should be notified in a clear manner imediately.

The above is by no means exhaustive but it at least starts the conversation around what we’re unwittingly giving up for all this power and convenience.

In many ways, the Internet is viewed as an extension of existing media (“New Media”). Such a framing fails to recognize how much of a departure the Web really is. Radio and television are passive. I’m not even sure my cable company knows what I record on my DVR box. The Web is a whole other animal. We need some sort of checking mechanism so various services can speak to, market, differentiate and recognize that we understand that there is a cost for all this cool free stuff.

Just as we feel slightly more comfortable when we see a Better Business Bureau seal or a Verisign logo, I’d like to see these services displaying (or paying the price for not displaying) a similar insignia: “We Adhere To…”

Today, these conversations around privacy bubble up and you’ll hear the usual “hmmm…that’s creepy” comments. I don’t think that’s really going to address much. It’s good business for the likes of Google and Facebook to let the chatter die down and just get on with life as usual. What’s needed is a framework and a standard for them to adhere to.

(Via Basement.org.)

San Patrignano

San Patrignano. We help people to get their identity back.

Agency: Armando Testa, Milan, Italy
Creative Director: Raffaele Balducci
Art Director: Edwin Herrera
Copywriter: Andrea Bomentre

(Via AdverBox.)