Seattle.BloggersPub

This will be quick ’cause I’ve got a pizza on the way, but I had to write about some feature addtions the Bloglines team made to their news reader service this week, especially since I know I’ve got a few readers who also use the service.

As noted at their blog, they’ve made it so the left-hand pane with the list of feeds no longer refreshes (and subsequently scrolls back to the top) when you mark items as unread or use the “keep as new” feature. In addition, they’ve made some very minor aesthetic changes that somehow make a world of difference in terms of how the design feels. When you click on a feed title, it gets highlighted in a pleasant but unobtrusive grey so it’s easy to see what you’re currently reading as you scroll down the right-hand reading pane.

In addition to, and somewhat tied-in with their minor aesthetic tweaks, they’ve integrated some Ajax to make the category unread counts update on-the-fly and flash yellow so you notice the change as it occurs. They’ve also shortened the interval between checks for new posts across all your subscriptions, and even flash a little indicator at the bottom-left of the screen to let you know how many new items were picked up. This is a sexy little feature addition that goes a long way in terms of the feel of their application overall. I’ll ignore the fact that it’s a tad stressful to see new items being added as you’re trying to bring the total unread count down

I’ve had my qualms with Bloglines in the past, but the minor changes they made this week have gone a long way in getting them back on my good side. Maybe I’m just a sucker for good design and enhanced usability, but whatever the reason, I have to tip my hat.

I love brown wall tires. This is the best showcase for them I’ve ever seen….

This buble machine resides on 7th & Stewart- and annoys me every day. Today, it malfunctioned and was frothing tons of suds rapidly onto the sidewalk. …

"Those distracted by incoming email and phone calls saw a 10-point fall in their IQ - more than twice that found in studies of the impact of smoking marijuana." Whoah. CodingHorror.metadata:none!

I just saw that Revver, one of the interesting plays within the online video space is finally using Flash. Revver is unique because they give uploaders a way to monetize their videos which is something no one else really does, and especially not the “big guys”.
For a long time, Revver was using the Quicktime […]

Seems like there has been a big ramp up in the amount of Apollo information out there. I was able to talk with Kevin Lynch last week about Apollo, and I published the information on my ZDNet blog.
In addition, Ted Patrick and Mike Chambers will be at Yahoo! Hack Day building Apollo applications “all day […]

After a couple of months off, the wine of the week has returned. My teamates at work bought me a gift certificate to my favorite wine shop this week, for my birthday.  I went right over to Pete’s in Bellevue that afternoon and picked up something new for the occasion.
Medici Pinot Noir 2000 East Vineyard.
I am a sucker […]

Friends of Seattle loves that Dow Constantine loves transit. Seattle’s past failure to invest in rapid transit has left us 30 years behind many similar-sized North American cities, including Portland and Vancouver. It’s time we started catching up.He has a…

The last novel collected in Entities, Sinister Barrier, was less interesting than the others. It’s less humorous and mostly a straightforward adventure story. Our hero is a puckish investigator who begins by making connections between seemingly unrelated suddent deaths of scientists worldwide and ends by saving the human race. The idea that we’re being manipulated by mysterious unseen forces is

Maybe its an accident, but I could help but notice these two headlines right next to each other on the ‘front page’ of their web site.

Many Rights in U.S. Legal System Absent in New Bill link

House Panel Digs Deep in HP Spy Case link

This isn’t a political commentary blog, but I was struck nonetheless.