This came first: Brown University

Then this showed up: The University of Alabama in Huntsville

“The copyright for this material rests with Pentagram Inc and Brown University. You may not alter this information, repost or sell it without prior permission.”

Umm. I don’t think that the University of Alabama in Huntsville got the message. Jump to UWebD and eduStyle for additional commentary. This is definitely more than just a case of borrowed design ideas, colors, grid, etc. Brown’s stylesheet is named “master.css”. UAH’s is named “master2.css.” The HTML looks like a badly synthesized genetic clone.

I’m a huge fan of Brown University’s home page design. It’s too bad that UAH took their fandom a bit too far.

PS: Brown’s site is so hip that it is even prepped and ready for iPhones! I found this little gem in their source code: sets width for iphones.

I remember the first time I closed my eyes, put on a pair of headphones and browsed the web using a screen reader. It was extremely challenging. Images without ALT attributes, Flash objects, and poorly coded websites left me feeling extremely frustrated and gave me even more empathy for web users with visual impairments. I think all website designers/coders should experience what it’s like to browse the web using a screen reader. This video shows Aaron Cannon, blind since birth, browsing a website using a screen reader.

Save the date; WordCamp Portland will be held on September 27th, 2008 at CubeSpace.

WordCamp is a gathering of WordPress folks. Whether you consider yourself an enthusiast, developer, designer, marketer, or writer, WordCamp is for you. The event organizers are currently working out the details of the conference format and schedule; stay tuned to the WordCamp Portland site for more information.

I hope to attend the Portland, Oregon WordCamp. I will proudly post at WordCamp Portland on my WordPress-powered blog while wearing my WordPress t-shirt whilst drinking java out of my WordPress mug

via Silicon Florist

It is moments like this when I contemplate using an RSS client instead of a web-based service like Bloglines. “Bloglines is down temporarily. We will be back shortly.” They have been offline for quite a while now. Bloglines is not yet at the same level of unavailability as Twitter, but my RSS feeds are far more important to me than my tweets. Bloglines’ “Twister on drugs” background image is fun to look at, but only for a couple reloads.

The University of Iowa will be closed for at least a week due to flooding in Iowa City. The U of Iowa’s website has been stripped of almost all images and is providing important updates to university students and personnel. The University of Iowa News Services Department is using a combination of Blogger and Flickr to conserve the university’s bandwidth.

For more information, please consult the University of Iowa Flood Information Site hosted on Blogger. Photographs from the U of Iowa’s New Services Dept can be found on the UI News Flickr site. KSUI 91.7 on Iowa Public Radio is providing extensive regional news, flood and emergency updates for Iowa City, Cedar Rapids and other locations in eastern Iowa that are and will be heavily impacted in the coming days by flood waters.

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Life@Lane is a “student moderated blog” at Lane Community College in Eugene, Oregon. I happened to stumble upon the site while checking out some summer classes at LCC. The blog is prominently advertised on the Lane Community College homepage.

I scrolled down through several posts and was intrigued by a post titled “Would The World Be Better With Women As Leaders?” The post basically says that women are emotional and therefore are not capable of being leaders. Jeffrey, the writer of the post and student at Lane, states in a response to a comment that “i don’t think my gender is superior i just don’t think women would be a good world leader.” Unbelievable. How can Lane Community College support this blog? How can Lane Community College stand behind this overtly sexist post/comment?

Here is the initial blurb about the blog via the LCC Marketing and Public Relations Office:

LIFE@LANE, A STUDENT MODERATED BLOG, launched from Lane’s homepage. Topics are generated by Lane’s Student Service Associates. Student blogs are common at four-year institutions. Lane is among the first community colleges to host a student blog. The purpose is to provide a communication tool primarily for current and prospective students and to increase “community” access.

How in the hell does this blog “increase ‘community’ access”? Student blogs are a common method of providing student insights into the student experience at a college/university. Student blogs are supposed to build community. They are not supposed to perpetuate stereotypes. It seems that Jeffrey, the student blogger at Lane, wanted to generate controversy and not build community. Marketing and Public Relations officials at Lane Community College should post an apology on the Life @ Lane blog, fire Jeffrey, and start moderating the commentary of the Life@Lane blog. I highly doubt that this is how they want life at Lane Community College to be represented.

Download Day is Mozilla’s attempt to set a world record for the most software downloads in 24 hours and will occur on Firefox 3’s launch day occurring sometime in June.

via Crouch Consulting (I can’t believe I’m giving Crouch link juice )

If 5 million people download Firefox 3 on Download Day, Mike Morgan will give every Corvallis resident a free iPhone. That’s the completely fabricated rumor…

It is public knowledge that I am a web stats addict. Web stats are a variable reward system that keep me coming back to check on my referrals, keyword searches, and recent visitor activity. I think Wendy is going to host a web stats intervention soon… Is anyone else hooked on their web stats?

More web stats goodness after the jump.
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An unsuccessful attempt to play DRM’d videos* resulted in some amazing graphic art. Here is a selection of my accidental DRM art:
(click the images to see the full size version on Flickr.)

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The eduStyle Higher-ed Web Awards People’s Choice voting has begun. People’s Choice voting will end on June 1st. Vote now!

The eduStyle Higher-ed Web Awards celebrate the best work in college and university websites. Eighteen categories recognize the most innovative and exciting developments in key areas of higher education web development.

Top-level prizes include best overall website, best redesign and most innovative. There are also awards in areas such as information architecture and video; awards for sub-sites (e.g. a faculty website) and special projects. Awards on blogging in higher-ed will be presented in partnership with CollegeWebEditor.com.

Some of my favorite nominees include: University of Tennessee at Knoxville, Oxford University, Biola University, Brown University, and Vassar College. I am surprised that the MIT Admissions blog didn’t get enough nominations for the People’s Choice award. The design and copy are superb! Unsurprisingly, the University of Tennessee website has been nominated in several different categories. What can I say, it’s awesome.