Apple brought FireWire to market back in the mid-1990s, and it was good. I still remember the first time I saw a FireWire-equipped external drive in action. Faaaaast! It became the standard connector for miniDV camcorders because it could move large chunks of digital video footage from camcorder to computer rapidly. But miniDV is being supplanted by super-small, high-capacity disks.

FireWire won’t disappear any time soon, which is good. I plan on using my FireWire external drives as much as possible, until the day comes when something demonstrably better comes along.

WebKit continues to advance, spurred on by the success of Safari on iPhone. Now Google rolls out a WebKit-based browser (ironically for Windows only at the moment). Browser War 2.0 is heating up.

Panic released Coda 1.5 on Tuesday. BareBones released BBEdit 9 today. Meanwhile MacroMates keeps improving TextMate.

Coda 1.5 is, amazingly, a free upgrade. I’ve been getting used to Coda over the last few months and gradually I’ve been doing more of my work in it and less in BBEdit. I’ve also been getting more familiar with TextMate. It’s a slick, well-implemented Swiss Army knife of a text editor. But version 9 of BBEdit looks like a major update. The grizzled veteran is back with a new bag of tricks.

There’s definitely never been a better time to use a Mac for web development.

While I only attended the morning sessions because of family obligations, the general feeling seems to be that Freelance Camp was a success. Held on Saturday, the event brought freelance professionals of all stripes (I met programmers, graphic artists, a sculptor, career coaches, and writers there) and from surprisingly diverse points of origin (is Toronto far enough away for you?). They exchanged ideas, learned from each other, and networked in a fun, relaxed environment.

Several local businesses pitched in to support Freelance Camp, and it was exhilarating to see so many entrepreneurial, creative people together under one roof. Speaking of roofs, the Santa Cruz Art & History Museum was the venue, and it was an inspiring (if somewhat cozy) setting for the small group discussions, which were lively and engaging. If I never have to go to another conference that is held in a sterile, dull, conference center, I’ll be happy. If every conference were held in a museum, I think people would enjoy them much more.

I’ve posted a few photos from the event, and you can look for more photos online with the tag #freelancecamp.

As Boag explains, he is not against content management systems. But knowing their drawbacks is important when determining whether to take the CMS route.

Yahoo acquired the social bookmarking service del.icio.us two and a half years ago, and essentially let it lie dormant. Yesterday the company rolled out a thoroughly overhauled del.icio.us, and the results are marvelous. If you have heard of del.icio.us but were put off by the austere interface and geeky URL, now is the time to give it a try. Check it out at the new and much less offputting delicious.com address.

Batty’s list of User Experience questions is excellent because it helps clearly define the “why” of the project. This makes defining the “how” much easier.

As Merlin puts it:

Want to build a great audience, composed of people you respect? Be picky about who you decide to overserve. Then do it with all the skill and enthusiasm you can muster.

It’s good advice for anyone writing on the Web.

For example, in spite of the fact that I have a Verizon account, I don’t want to handle my interactions with them via my phone. The quality of call center personnel is always hit or miss, and frankly I’d rather just be able to look up my question on line and not waste time speaking with someone.

The other day I tried to find out my contract expiration date. I jumped through several hoops to get signed up with a My Verizon account, which they continually push customers to do. “Great,” I thought. “They’ll certainly have that basic piece of information available in My Verizon.”

Wrong.

I understand the reasoning. Why would they give me access to that information, when the odds are high that I’m only going to use that info to make a decision about whether to switch to another carrier now or at some point in the future? It’s 20th century business thinking at its worst.

Annoyed but determined, I used their email form to ask the question. Lo and behold, it’s actually a commonly asked question! So common, in fact, that it’s a menu selection in the email form. Who would have imagined? Gee, it’s almost like they want to make it more difficult for me to find out this important and rather rudimentary information. 

I’ve heard that other carriers do the same thing, and I’m not surprised. Contempt for customers seems to be a common theme in the telecom industry. Perhaps it is part of their conventional wisdom, which implicitly treats customers as rodents to be caught, caged, and placed in a Habitrail. I assume this approach has worked thus far. But it won’t work forever.

It reminds me of AOL in the 90s (and perhaps now, for all I know). They made you go through countless screens to get to a phone number they made you call in order to terminate your account. At one time AOL was a colossus. Now they’re a limping also-ran, run over by competitors who provided more for less, and listened to their customers.

a: to investigate by reasoning or argument
b: to present in detail for examination or consideration
c: to talk about

We Americans have forgotten how to discuss politics. We live in red communities or blue communities. We listen to Rush or NPR, but not both. We love the smackdowns between Malkin and Olbermann. So politics, the vehicle by which the future of our republic is determined, has become akin to professional wrestling. It is all style and no substance.

Is it any wonder we are so woefully bad at discussing politics with those who don’t share our opinions? My 4th of July Resolution this year is to be a better citizen by engaging in more discussions with people whom I know don’t share my politics. Not to change their minds. Not to bad-mouth them. Just to respectfully share ideas.