We reworked the weblog backend to make xBlog easier to maintain — expect more frequent posting around here come 2004. You’ll notice that the category URLs have changed (and every old post we imported now shows a posting date of 12:12 AM). Also, unfortunately, this new system means the old link to xblog.xml is no more. Please update your feeds to point to xplane.com/xblog/b2rss2.php. Thanks, and happy holidays!

“Welcome on my small web site. As you can see, it is mainly about Design Patterns. With these patterns I try to capture every bit of good design that I encounter. I will update the site regularily and add new patterns.”

“When theyíre navigating through a long document, users often are confused or disoriented when they click a link that jumps to another location in that same document. Are they on the same page, or a different page? Should they scroll more from here? What’s going on? The answer to this problem is to scroll the user through the document to the linked location…”

“All the buzz about weblogs is really about one thing: Making publishing to the web as easy as writing an email. A blog is a web page, or a portion of a web page, usually made up of short, frequently updated posts that are arranged chronologically (usually reverse chronologically). The posts can be text, graphics, audio, or any combination of the three.”

“Most people have encountered truly ‘bratty’ Web pages in their Websurfing careers†ó misbehaving pages that cause browser errors ranging from an abrupt termination to a complete system lockup. Almost invariably, these ill-behaved pages contain embedded HTML errors, or else they make extensive use of non-standard, browser-specific, quasi-HTML syntax. Regular and consistent use of HTML validators helps to identify and eliminate the embedded HTML errors that make for a bratty Web page.”

“…type some text (preferably less than 17 characters). Choose a barcode symbology and properties. If you do not submit the proper number and type of characters for the particular barcode symbology, a symbology will be chosen for you. Press ‘Submit’ once you have finished entering all of your choices and we will encode your text.”

Great idea! “Ask MetaFilter is a discussion area for sharing knowledge among members of MetaFilter.”

This applet allows you to progressively type in a Zip Code and see the area narrow down as the code gets more specific. Pretty neat.

“Collection of Widgets and UI elements from various websites, with notation of their sterling or plate metal qualities.” Curated by Christina Wodke.

“Every web developer and designer faces the same issue — how do you create a site that balances the needs of your client while providing a great user experience? As Executive Producer of macromedia.com, I am constantly faced with this issue. I’m responsible for guiding the design, information architecture, and overall user experience on macromedia.com — and ultimately, for finding the balance between business and user goals. Four months ago we set out to rebuild macromedia.com to coincide with the launch of the MX 2004 products. We had six weeks to do it… Not a lot of time given that macromedia.com comprises more than 40K pages.”

“County maps can be deceptive, especially for large states like California. Unless the population of a state is dispersed evenly in proportion to the size of each county, there is no direct relationship between the physical area of a county and the number of people, registered voters, or votes cast within it. Which is why I was surprised to see an analyst from a leading all-news television network point to a map of California and single out San Bernadino county, California’s largest county by area, as a significant reason for Arnold Schwarzenegger’s victory.”

“Welcome to one of [our] most popular attractions, airline logos and info! …Info included with the airline logos are major hubs and callsigns. All airline logos are trademarks of their respective owners. They are presented here for informational and educational purposes.”

“County maps can be deceptive, especially for large states like California. Unless the population of a state is dispersed evenly in proportion to the size of each county, there is no direct relationship between the physical area of a county and the number of people, registered voters, or votes cast within it. Which is why I was surprised to see an analyst from a leading all-news television network point to a map of California and single out San Bernadino county, California’s largest county by area, as a significant reason for Arnold Schwarzenegger’s victory.”

An alphabetical index, by author, of comics without dialogue.

“While we hold fast to the belief that every one of the six steps outlined in our process, from an initial competitive analysis to final company or product name and tagline, is vital to all naming projects, we understand that your marketing people may well have worked through some of them before contacting us.”