Andrew Wirtanen is a usability specialist in Cary, NC More »

Google Reader in Plain English

If you don’t use Google Reader or don’t know what it is, then you should watch this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSPZ2Uu_X3Y

This video is by the people at Common Craft, who are experts at explaining technology. One of their best and most popular videos is Twitter in Plain English. I actually think that video helped increase Twitter usage!

Facebook Crosses the Line (Again)

Facebook is notorious for launching features seemingly without any user research. In 2006, Facebook launched the “News Feed”, which led to an unprecedented backlash in social networking. Ironically, two years later it seems that all Facebook users have gotten acclimated to the News Feed and now enjoy the feature. (It was actually the lack of [...]

Firefox 3 Download Day 2008

Firefox is going for the world record for most downloads in one day! Go to SpreadFirefox.com to pledge your download. There’s no set date for the download yet, but if you pledge they will send you an email reminder.
I’ve recommended grabbing a copy of the beta in my Firefox 3 UI Review, but it’s perfectly [...]

Most Popular Social Networks Around the World

This (French) visualization shows what the most popular social networks are around the world. I’ve always found it interesting how some regions will rally around a certain social network, even though others have clear benefits.

(larger image on Le Monde.fr; via Neatorama via Geek Like Me)

Gmail Labels - New Features

Google has rolled out some new features for labels in Gmail. Personally, I am a heavy user of labels, with almost 30 different labels. I have some filters that automatically assign labels (e.g. Newbury Comics weekly deals get assigned the “Shopping” label and skip my inbox) and I assign some labels on-the-fly.
Now, you can [...]