Author: Vince Kimball

InfoWorld: Compaq rethinks Java support in PCs. The computer maker said it now plans to bundle a Java virtual machine with every Windows XP computer it sells, meaning users will be able to run Java programs without having to install the software on their own. [Tomalak's Realm]

Amazon Adds More Bricks to its Clicks. The e-commerce giant signs a pickup and return deal with the nationwide Circuit City chain of electronics stores. [Meerkat: An Open Wire Service]

Useit.Com: Did Poor Usability Kill E-Commerce? Did poor usability kill e-commerce? No. First off, despite the closure or dramatic downscaling of many sites, e-commerce is not dead. Second, sites have gone under because expenses were greater than revenues, and usability impacts only the second of these parameters. [Tomalak's Realm]

Xslerator – Yesterday I was working on an article I want to put together for MSDN; something like “How to build a web-based discussion board in less than ten minutes.” I am trying to make this really simple; no code required. When I got to the part where I show how to make it actually… Continue reading “Xselerator”

OnLAMP.com: Introduction to LDAP. OnLAMP.com: Introduction to LDAP—Well-written overview of advantages of LDAP and why would you even use it. [Eugene Pervago Web Log]

Dynamic Web Sites with XML, XSLT and JSP. Your programmers and designers needn't be enemies just because your site uses dynamic data. One way to keep both camps happy is to use an XML based data structure delivered via Java Server Pages. Michael Classen shows you how. 0820 [WebReference News]

InfoWorld – Passport 2.0 ready for a stamp. The Redmond, Wash.-based software maker will release this month Passport 2.0, the follow-up to the single sign-on authentication service that is at the fore of Microsoft's set of Web services called Hailstorm, Microsoft said Thursday. Microsoft's version may also continue to be bugged with problems, said DevelopMentor's… Continue reading InfoWorld

Typically when the software industry goes into a tailspin, huge amounts of technology get flushed. The software industry was in terrible shape before the Web happened. Yes, the Web is wonderful, but… We flushed a lot of user interface know-how in the move to the Web. My fear is that the same will happen again.… Continue reading Typically when the software industry goes into a tailspin, huge amounts of technology get flushed. The software industry was in terrible shape before the Web happened. Yes, the Web is wonderful, but… We flushed a lot of user interface know-how in the move to the Web. My fear is that the same will happen again. Preserving technology now is a high priority. When the industry comes back (it will) there will be a new twist — patents. If we don't at least archive what we know, it will be a lawyer-dominated wasteland, even more lunatic than the dotcom boom. Without good archives we'll be defenseless.

I wonder if the owners of the Standard would allow their website to be archived and the domain mapped to another server? When MacWEEK shut down we lost a lot of data as all the links went bad. Maybe it seems insensitive to worry about that now, but it would be a final act of kindness to the Web to keep the URLs live even after the magazine has ceased to publish.
[Scripting News

PythonCard. A prototype of a Hypercard-like GUI builder for Python. [diveintomark]

Webstuff – Today I was happy to stumble across some real innovation in software. Something that's been a passion of mine for sometime — a personal search-engine. Have you ever thought to yourself, “I know I saw a web page about that subject a few weeks ago; I wish I could remember what it was”?… Continue reading lightning-fast fulltext search over all the web pages that you have visited