CivicActions

Many folk don't know that the ACLU has a TV series called "The Freedom Files". Season 2 can be seen on PBS stations throughout the country. Episodes can also be viewed online at aclu.tv which we re-launched for the new season recently.

Usability testing (hereafter "UT") is getting a lot of attention in Drupal -- and rightly so IMHO. If we aim to have "100%" test coverage on Drupal's code and functionality for Drupal 7, it stands to reason we also need test "coverage" on Drupal's usability. If not, it's far too easy for bad interfaces to be developed that pass all the functional and unit tests, but fail miserably in the real world!

Jimmy Berry (aka boombatower) of GHOP fame plans to take the initial (but giant) steps in this direction in the Google Summer of code 2008.

I had the joy of attending Linuxfest Northwest on April 26 in Bellingham, WA. The weather was great (just like last year), and the atmosphere relaxed and fun.

Linuxfest is a 2-day community event, run by volunteers and free to the public. It is such a cozy atmosphere, and it is easy to interact with the speakers and the exhibitors.

Introduction

Amnesty International has been advocating for and protecting human rights and human rights legislation internationally for the past 46 years. Its reputation and the foundation of Amnesty sections in most countries also has made it one of the most recognizable names in the world.

What originally began as one man’s blog showcasing his personal collection of non-profit ads, has in three years developed into a clearinghouse for social marketing campaigns from around the globe. I was first brought to this site through another rad source of socially conscious designers I’ve been affiliated with over the years, the Graphic Alliance.

The one trick elephant, aka the GOP, wants wants to CUT taxes to provide "economic relief" to American families as a "pre-growth" strategy. I'm still waiting for my $300 "relief" check, but I have a feeling that's not going to amount to a whole lot of economic growth...

We went to Bagdhad and blew a trillion dollars we don't have. Meanwhile, the dollar is in a coma and the only way Republicans seem to respond to the economic crisis is to continue to print and spend money.

Larry Lessig, founder and CEO of the Creative Commons and a board member of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and of the Software Freedom Law Center has launched a great site with a powerful message... He's concidering IF he is going to run. It's the first announcement to run for Congress done in Powerpoint that I'm familiar with!

A List Apart's Issue 253 continues discussing and debating the controversial IE version targeting that ALA announced a month ago. CivicActions blogged about this topic then too.

Jeremy Keith and Jeffrey Zeldman provide very realistic and down-to-earth points of view and arguments both for and against version targeting. Although they each reach different conclusions, neither tries to persuade the reader one way or the other. Rather they leave you more enlightened so that you can make your own decision.

'They Shoot Browsers' by Jeremy Keith was better written in my opinion and has more convincing arguments, including this gem;

"The proposed default behavior for version targeting in Internet Explorer solves the problem of “breaking the web” in much the same way that decapitation solves the problem of headaches."

I'm still not 100% decided, but I'm pretty heavily swaying to the side against version targeting. Having said that, I can understand how and why Microsoft, even with mostly good intentions, came to this solution. I can see and appreciate the short term benefits, however I don't believe that Microsoft can pull this off in the long term. As web developers, we have no reason to believe that Microsoft is capable or even intends to follow through with it's promises

I just found the following interesting facts compiled by Women Who Tech, which incidentally is hosting a Tele-Summit on Women in Technology on March 31st, 2008.

Top 5 Cities Where Women Work in IT

• Washington, DC Metro area - women account for 32.3% of the IT workforce.
• Detroit - women account for 31.5% of the IT workforce.
• Baltimore - women account for 28.6% of the IT workforce.
• Philadelphia - women account for 28.2% of the IT workforce.
• Atlanta - women account for 28.2% of the IT workforce.
  

Just a reminder that the deadline of the GoPHP5 campaign is upon us. There are less than 19 hours to go (at time of writing): http://gophp5.org/

If you listed your website, project, host or service on GoPHP5.org, then you should have finished migrating by now.

Go PHP 5!