News Archives
Last Post (kinda)
April 14, 2005
Things are a bit strange here at Asterisk as I launch a new blog in the same spot of my old one. This is just to let y’all know that Asterisk is still here, but a few things have moved….Continue reading this entry...
Change Is Coming
April 12, 2005
I just got back to Seattle from a fun and tiring trip to Whistler for the Telus Ski and Snowboard Festival. I’ve got lots of catching up still to do, but I wanted to make y’all aware of some upcoming…Continue reading this entry...
Dreamhost 1-click Install!
April 06, 2005
UPDATE: For more information on why I recommend Dreamhost, read this. The more I use Dreamhost’s Web panel interface, the more impressed I am with it. I’ve been working on a few projects lately and one of them needed me…Continue reading this entry...
Search Engine Optimization in Marketing News
April 06, 2005
So I finally did it. I got an article published for a large, non-geek audience. In this month’s Marketing News, a high circulation publication from the American Marketing Association, you’ll find a very down to earth, very practical article on…Continue reading this entry...
Join the 7nights Network: Round 1
April 01, 2005
Update 4/2/05: For those of you who stumble across this and don’t look at the date posted, this was an April Fool’s Day joke played on my good friends over at the 9rules Network. 7nights is growing. The following is…Continue reading this entry...
Hacking Wikipedia?
March 28, 2005
This is more of a question than a post. I’ve been thinking about the Wikipedia quite a bit lately and I wanted to know if anyone out there knows of any APIs for hooking into or querying it. I realize…Continue reading this entry...
Song of The Week: On Hiatus
March 25, 2005
After almost two years, I’m putting the Song of The Week on indefinite hiatus. Don’t worry, I’ll be back to reviewing and recommending music as soon as I can work a few things out, but in the meantime I need…Continue reading this entry...
Tag Spam
March 23, 2005
‘twas only a matter of time I suppose. It looks like the “bad seeds” have gotten into Flickr. Today I came across this reference of someone using Flickr’s tagging features to spam. It’s not too much of a surprise, but…Continue reading this entry...
Where is Durstan?
March 21, 2005
With the puppies of course! Just in case you’ve not caught on by now, here’s some more information. Oh, and by the way, this photo was pulled from one Dunstan’s wonderful Puppy posts. (I sure hope he doesn’t mind.)…Continue reading this entry...
Design Eye Panel
March 15, 2005
SXSW has been absolutely beautiful so far—as was expected—and The Design Eye For The Idea Guy panel was a resounding success by all accounts I’ve heard. From behind the stage it seemed that it went really well. People were entertained,…Continue reading this entry...
Free Flatscreen and Free Desktop PC
March 10, 2005
I’m at it again. This time I’m going for a Free Flatscreen Monitor and a Free Desktop PC. I’ve already got a free ipod and free Mac mini in the same way, so I know it works. It does take…Continue reading this entry...
Last Minute Prep For SXSW
March 10, 2005
I leave tomorrow morning for SXSW, it’s going to be great. I fully plan on updating (a bit) from Austin, both here and at the brand spankin’ new PBDH Blog — Open House. Posts not relating to SXSW will probably…Continue reading this entry...
Almost Ready For SXSW...Barely
March 08, 2005
Well, fate is making preparations for this year’s trip to SXSW a bit of a pain. I’m working through it and am quite sure it’ll all sort out in the end, but sheesh, could it be any more difficult? First,…Continue reading this entry...
CSS Reboot
March 07, 2005
I’ve been slowly working on the next version of Asterisk, which isn’t exactly a redesign but something new and built from the ground up. Anyway, I got an email from Adam talking about an idea to help get some standards-type…Continue reading this entry...
CSS, Zen and Zen Masters
February 23, 2005
This last week was a busy fun one for Digital Web. Not only are we publishing a review of the eagerly anticipated The Zen of CSS Design but we are also publishing very good interviews with the authors; Dave and…Continue reading this entry...
Free Mini Mac
February 23, 2005
What’s a blog for if you can’t spam people to help them get you a free Mini Mac? Ok, lots of stuff, but I’m going to post about this anyway—worked for me last time when I was trying to get…Continue reading this entry...
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A New Web Site For PBDH
February 17, 2005
So, a week or so ago we launched the new Phinney/Bischoff Design House Web site. While I’ll be the first to say it’s not perfect (what Web site is?) it is definitely a big step forward from the previous site….Continue reading this entry...
IE7
February 15, 2005
Yeah, I heard the news that Microsoft is going to move forward with Internet Explorer 7. My initial reaction? Wow, that’s pretty cool, maybe we can move this whole Web thing a bit farther forward! But then, on a long…Continue reading this entry...
When (If) I Decide to Redesign...
February 09, 2005
…I’m starting over. It won’t actually be a redesign. It’ll be something like “Asterisk, Chapter 2” or something. I don’t plan on erasing Asterisk, I just have this incredible urge to build something new from scratch. New categories, new design,…Continue reading this entry...
SEO and Client Education
February 07, 2005
Roger Johansson recently published a great post about the basics of SEO (Search Engine Optimization). It’s a nice read, but probably nothing too new for most of us, but it got me thinking about client education and how we can…Continue reading this entry...
Teaching, Advertising and How They Can Learn From Each Other
January 28, 2005
[Via What’s Your Brand Mantra] It may seem a bit counter-intuitive at first, but teachers and advertisers have quiet a lot in common. This wonderful post talks about those commonalities, makes some very good points and some honest, heartfelt observations…Continue reading this entry...
Design Eye Panel At SXSW
January 27, 2005
Y’all remember Design Eye for the Usability Guy? Well, we’re talking it live for South by Southwest. Here’s the “official” gist of it: Design Eye for the Idea GuyJoin the Design Fab Five — Andrei Herasimchuk, D. Keith Robinson, Cameron…Continue reading this entry...
Marqui
January 25, 2005
I’m not paid to post about Marqui. In fact, I don’t know much about Marqui at all, ‘cept that I may very well be the first person ever to not get paid to post about Marqui. Well, that is unless…Continue reading this entry...
BBS 05
January 25, 2005
The Blogging Business Summit seemed to be a great success. I wish I could have spent more time there, but yesterday I felt compelled to check in at work. New job and all, I think I might have missed some…Continue reading this entry...
SXSW 2005 Early Music Line Up
January 15, 2005
They’re starting to announce bands for SXSW and it’s shaping up to be another amazing line up. Here are a few of the many artists that have been announced and that I’m excited to check out: The Music Futureheads Dogs…Continue reading this entry...
Explorative Navigation
January 05, 2005
[via Digital Web] I just got through reading Henrik Olsen’s article on navigation blindness. It’s a must read for any UI or Web designer. He’s taken several interesting theories, from several well respected sources, brought them together, added a bit,…Continue reading this entry...
Fantasy Football Champion
January 03, 2005
So, I know it’s geeky, but I’ve got to toot my own horn a bit here. After 17 weeks of crap from Andrei and Scrivs (and yeah I’m just linking you to rub it in, how’s that for smack?), a…Continue reading this entry...
Flickr Rocks
December 31, 2004
So, I finally jumped on the Flickr bandwagon, and what a nice ride it is. Honestly, all the good things I’ve heard about Flickr are true. This has to be, quite simply, the greatest Web service/application to date. It’s amazingly…Continue reading this entry...
Blog Business Summit
December 28, 2004
I’m going to be speaking, along side DL Byron, at the Blog Business Summit, January 24-25 up here in Seattle. It should be a great event and our session covers an exciting topic—good blog design. The full description: Good Blog…Continue reading this entry...
Asian Earthquake Relief
December 27, 2004
Today I’m sitting home nursing what I hope is just the mother of all colds. I’ve got some splitting headache, I-can’t-smell-anything-but-metal, taste-buds-not-working-right, stuffy-but-dry, can’t-hardly-sleep illness. It really sucks, but it could be worse. While many of us have been enjoying…Continue reading this entry...
Santa's Swell (Happy Holidays)
December 24, 2004
http://www.7nights.com/asterisk/sow/santa.mp3Continue reading this entry...
Free Blog Design Update
December 21, 2004
Awhile back I’d planned on donating one of my designs to whomever wanted to make use of it. That was before my life got a bit more complicated and I started to have less and less free time. I get…Continue reading this entry...
Don't Become an Interface Cop
December 06, 2004
I’m not sure how I missed Organization in the Way: How Decentralization Hobbles the User Experience by Peter Merholz. It’s a nice, easy little read that points out a few realities about experience design. In particular, the following bit caught…Continue reading this entry...
The Sweet Spot
December 02, 2004
You may have noticed I’ve been pretty quiet lately. Well, my new job is killing me. Just kidding. It’s actually pretty good so far, but it has been time and energy consuming (as well as somewhat stressful) as I try…Continue reading this entry...
Holiday Gift Guide
November 23, 2004
Gilbert Lee has put together a nifty little gift guide. Just in time for the holidays! Wee! Let’s spend some money! It’s got all sorts of great gift ideas, covering a wide range of prices and items, that you can…Continue reading this entry...
The Power of Simple
November 22, 2004
If there is one thing that’s bothered my professionally it’s over-engineering. I’ve worked with too many products, too many processes and to many designs that are simply too damn much. Today Mike pointed out Adam Bosworth’s ISCOC04 speech which he…Continue reading this entry...
Innovation, Design and The Web
November 18, 2004
We published a follow up to the thought provoking End of Usability Culture over at Digital Web last night. This follow up sheds a bit more light on what is sure to be a hot topic in the months to…Continue reading this entry...
Halo 2's "Ending"
November 15, 2004
Well, I’m pretty hacked off. I picked up Halo 2 on Saturday and after about 5 hours playing it I’ve hit the crap that they try to pass off as an “ending.” Really, I wish I’d have known, I’d have…Continue reading this entry...
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Kano Analysis and Customer Needs
November 15, 2004
Just got through reading Gene’s post, Kano Taxonomy of Customer Needs and another post he refers to on the topic. This is interesting stuff, and a great way to represent visually the needs of your customers (or your users) for…Continue reading this entry...
Knemeyer Ends Usability Culture
November 11, 2004
It seems like we’re putting an end to all sorts of things lately. Branding, usability, what’s next? Internet Explorer? One can only hope. In any case, this week Digital Web has published a great article (which is actually supposed to…Continue reading this entry...
Designing For The Exception
November 08, 2004
Gerry McGovern writes about how designing for the exception is an obvious Web design mistake. In general I tend to agree with him. He points out breadcrumbs, for example, as being a design detail that only serves a few users:…Continue reading this entry...
Vote
November 02, 2004
Words to remember, from a Brit: You can’t change the world But you can change the facts And when you change the facts You change points of view If you change points of view You may change a vote And…Continue reading this entry...
Halloween and A Blast From The Spooky Past
October 30, 2004
I love Halloween, but it seems that as I get older I’ve got less time to celebrate. Luckily it’s been a bit different this year. I’ve been to three, count ‘em, three pumpkin carving events. The latest yesterday at “The…Continue reading this entry...
Easy Comment Spam Fix
October 24, 2004
The other day I noticed that something had gone wrong with my comment form. I removed MT-Blacklist, which has been working well but not catching all the comment spam I get, and did a bit of diagnosis on my comment…Continue reading this entry...
Pimpin' SXSW 2005 Music
October 22, 2004
As many of you know, I’ve got a healthy interest and appetite for music. I’m into all kinds, I love live shows and delight in nothing more than hearing a great new band or seeing an old favorite play a…Continue reading this entry...
What's On Your Bookshelf?
October 20, 2004
Just for fun, I’m curious to know what people have on their bookshelf.Continue reading this entry...
Web Design Class' Blog
October 14, 2004
The other day, via my referrer script, I stumbled across the class blog of Lois Breedlove and her Web design students. I thought, “what a great idea!” A collaborative blog for the class—awesome! I’ve since been following along and have…Continue reading this entry...
Davidson Details ABC News Redesign
October 11, 2004
Mike Davidson has taken the time to write up a post detailing some of the behind the scenes workings of the recent ABC News redesign he worked on. It doesn’t go into great detail, but it is a nice case…Continue reading this entry...
Airport Wi-Fi, Mug o' Beer and Jokes?
October 08, 2004
So I’m stuck at the airport on my way down to Vegas for the weekend. I made the mistake of trying to fly stand-by to Sin City on a Friday. What the hell was I thinking? Oh, yeah, it’s Vegas….Continue reading this entry...
Design In-Flight, Issue Two
October 08, 2004
The latest issue of the fabulous Design In-Flight PDF magazine is out. This issue features articles by Jon Hicks, Eric Meyer, Yasuhisa Hasegawa, Andrew Boardman, Kevin Potts, Tim Brown, Eris Free, Keith O’Brien and yours truly, all wrapped up in…Continue reading this entry...
Nielsen on The Ideologies of Web Design
October 05, 2004
While I don’t agree with everything in Jakob’s latest alertbox article Mastery, Mystery, and Misery: The Ideologies of Web Design he does make a few very good points and in general his tone is much more agreeable than usual. It’s…Continue reading this entry...
Scoble, Zeldman and Full Text RSS
October 03, 2004
[brought to my attention by Nick and Kris] So it looks like Scoble is wondering why Zeldman is linked less and points to lack of full text RSS feeds as the answer. I’m pretty sure it’s simply because he has…Continue reading this entry...
Veen on CMS
September 29, 2004
Do you ever read something that makes you shiver because it’s so close to your own view on something? This is how I felt when reading Christine Perfetti’s interview with Jeff Veen. He says: For many companies, they should probably…Continue reading this entry...
Yahoo Redesigns With CSS
September 28, 2004
[via Digital Web] I think it’s pretty big news when a site like Yahoo! goes through a redesign. Especially when they’re moving towards Web standards. Both the homepage and My Yahoo! got the makeover. There aren’t huge changes for the…