Site Promotion: How Does Google Use Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI)?
From: www.wilsonweb.com

"Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) helps Google and others maintain relevancy by distinguishing in search results between polynyms, words with multiple meanings, and provide relevant results in cases of synonyms. Date: Jan 12, 2005, 13:45 PST"

Site Promotion: Are Google Rankings Influenced by Click-Throughs?
From: www.wilsonweb.com

"Google and other search engines certainly monitor click through ratios from their search results pages. However, this probably only effects ranking when searchers constantly use their back key to return from a particular result, showing lack of relevancy. Date: Jan 5, 2005, 13:40 PST"

Site Promotion: How Do Subdirectories Affect Search Engine Rankings?
From: www.wilsonweb.com

"If you put your articles several levels down in subdirectories, you may risk (1) search engine spiders not seeing your content and (2) a slightly lower ranking for your webpages. Date: Dec 15, 2004, 13:34 PST"

Miscellaneous: Buying or Selling an Online Business
From: www.wilsonweb.com

"Discusses what to look for when you buy an Internet business -- reasons for the sale, value of site software, traffic, income, competitors, and potential for revenue in the future. Date: Dec 15, 2004, 10:53 PST"

Site Design: Identifying the Footprints of Web Analytics Software
From: www.wilsonweb.com

"Describes the two approaches to web analytics -- log file analysis and page tags. When a site is using JavaScript page tags, you'll be able to see them when you View Source. Date: Dec 8, 2004, 15:42 PST"


Blinkx To Be Available For Mac
From: www.webpronews.com

"Next week, Blinkx will introduce their acclaimed desktop search utility for the Macintosh environment."

Revived Spyware Bill Could Crunch Cookies
From: www.webpronews.com

"ClickZ reports on a new anti-spyware bill that, while a good idea in principle, could cause havoc in its current written state."

Howard Stern Is a Fan of Yahoo
From: www.webpronews.com

"Gary points to a transcript of a Howard Stern show, where he talks about search ... Well I never ..."

New Wireless Kodak Camera Is Email Capable
From: www.webpronews.com

"The hits from CES keep on coming. With a slew of tech toy announcements upon us stemming from the Consumer Electronics Show, Kodak was not one to stay silent."

Holy Saturn, GM Exec Bob Lutz is Blogging!
From: www.webpronews.com

"Holy Saturn, Batman. GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz is blogging over at GM's new FastLane Blog."


Blogging Pioneers Unite
From: www.wired.com

"Six Apart and LiveJournal combine to boast 6.5 million users and a growing business. Also: Microsoft unveils antivirus software.... Canada may stop internet drug sales to America.... and more."

Traditional Radio Fights Back
From: www.wired.com

"AM and FM radio broadcasters are set to convert to HD, their reply to satellite. Also: Sirius plans with Microsoft to make video channels for backseat passengers & hellip;. HP jumps on the home-entertainment bandwagon & hellip;. and more."

Tech Gives It Up for Asia
From: www.wired.com

"Websites and tech companies get customers and employees to pitch in and help victims of the Southeast Asian tsunami. By Rachel Metz."

Delayed Flights Known By All
From: www.wired.com

"Fresno's airport is first to use a web-based wireless radar system to update flight information. Also: Ford announces just how strong a boost it will give Sirius & hellip;. Motorola gears up with a snowboarding jacket that does it all. & hellip;. and more."

Hospital Care by Video Camera
From: www.wired.com

"Intensive-care doctors monitor patients from miles away. Also: Vioxx might be responsible for more deaths than thought.... New network in southern India gives government a big boost.... and more."


"This Works!" Conference
From: webword.com

" I've been having this fantasty of setting up a "This Works!" conference. Here is how it would work.

1. At the conference, everyone is forced to present something. I believe that every person has something to share that is unique and wonderful. Everyone is capable of talking about something: tools, tips, techniques, etc.

2. At the conference, everyone is forced to network. You get face time with at least 50% of all the people at the conference. That is, you exchange business cards, explain your business, talk about your greatest needs, and so on. Maybe there is a requirement to exchange resumes with every person you meet. Maybe there is a resume table where you pick up and drop off resumes.

3. The groups are small, the presentations are concise, and only 1-2 main points are made. No lectures, no big crowds, no keynotes, and limited formality. The idea is to maximize human interaction. There are no wizards or gurus.

4. Most importantly, the purpose of the conference is to help people find out what works. One person might talk about how they organize their email folders and manage insane amounts of email. Another person might talk about the best business book they ever read and summarize the main points. Another person might talk about how their company made the decision to switch from Microsoft Exchange to Lotus Notes.

5. Before the conference, a blog or wiki would be set up. People could post their questions. Presentation materials could be added. They could float ideas before the conference. Perhaps voting could take place for certain presentations. There would be structure, but there would also be more chaos at the conference than other conferences.

6. A very strong central theme would be established to guide people to decrease conference chaos. For the "This Works!" conference, I'd want people to talk about usability, human factors, information architecture, customer experience, user-centered design, HCI, ergonomics, and all that jazz.

I guess the summary is that the "This Works!" conference is all about people talking to each other and sharing great ideas. It would be a festival of sharing. Obviously some types of people would not want to be involved, such as shy people. You'd need some guts for the conference because of the conversations and presentations.

I believe that most good ideas are small ideas and most improvement is enabled through tweaks and enhancements. Continuous improvement! I also believe that the greatest value of a conference is talking with other people and learning what they do to solve problems. This happens at training classes and conferences all the time. That is, the classes and main conference presentations are less important than the side conversations. The concept here is to organize a conference around the small, side conversations.

I'm sure there are holes in the "This Works!" conference idea. Still, I thought that I would pass it by you. Let me know what you think here, or contact me directly at john@webword.com when you have a chance."

Saturn: Product Will Reign
From: webword.com

" Bob Lutz (GM Vice Chairman) -- "Rest assured, in Detroit, the media will tell me what they think of the new Saturns and the new design direction they always do. But I d like to hear what you think. So please feel free to provide your input to this blog."

Here's what I posted as a comment on the Fast Lane blog:

"I really like Saturn products. I know several happy customers. Great service, as you mention, and fair prices. However, I've heard (and read) that Saturn has never turned a profit. Is this true? If it is true that Saturn is unprofitable, what is going to be done to make it profitable? How will those actions impact quaility, service, usability, and so forth? Great products don't always generate great profits. Unfortunately."

They review the postings. We'll see if they have the guts to post what I wrote. I think it is very fair, but maybe they don't feel that way.

Read more..."

Toilet Brush Warning Wins Consumer Award
From: webword.com

" Third place and $100 went to Ann Marie Taylor of Camden, South Carolina who found the following warning on a digital thermometer that can be used to take a person s temperature several different ways: "Once used rectally, the thermometer should not be used orally."

What are some good examples of warning labels?

Read more..."

Pointsmart Mouse Software Helps Younger And Older
From: webword.com

" "PointSmart, developed by Infogrip of Ventura, Calif., with assistance from the University at Buffalo Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Technology Transfer (T2RERC), helps stabilize erratic mouse movements by allowing users to adjust the sensitivity of those movements beyond standard speed and acceleration adjustments found on most personal computers."

Read more...

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What Makes People Happy? TV, Study Says
From: webword.com

" New York Times -- "The study also marks the debut of a novel questionnaire that probes the subtle, moment-to-moment emotions that constitute an ordinary day. In the new approach, called the Day Reconstruction Method, people keep a diary of everything they did during the day, from reading the paper in the morning to arguing with children or coworkers over lunch, from running to catch the 6 p.m. bus home to falling asleep with their socks on. The next day, consulting the diary, they relive each activity and, using 12 scales, rate how they felt at the time, whether hassled, criticized, worried or warm, friendly and happy."

Can the Day Reconstruction Method be used as a new usability research tool? Actually, doesn't it seem like the DRM is just a fancy name for a usability diary? They aren't the same, especially since the DRM is focused on emotions, but still they are quite similar. Same car, different paint job?

Read more...

(Found via Steve Portigal's Discovery -- User Research Discussion)

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