CNN has posted a new interactive tool that allows the reader to get more from the story and the history by combining photos, maps, and video to demonstrate the facts and progress of the crimes

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2009/news/grim.sleeper/index.html

CNN also allowed readers to comment and it was fascinating to see how many folks are trying to solve the crime and offering up new perspectives and interesting correlations.

“In his IA Summit 2009 closing plenary, Jesse James Garrett sounded the overdue death knell of division by job title. The information architect and the interaction designer are no more: we are all user experience designers, and we always have been. Amen.”

Sign the petition…I did :)
http://itsjustux.org

I’m compiling a list of card and board games that fun and skill-building for UX professionals. The list so far includes:

• Apples to Apples
• Fluxx
• Set

Suggest others in the comments and they may make a debut at the 2009 IA Summit board game night!

I had the pleasure of listening to a talk with George Lakoff, introducing the concepts of his new book, The Political Mind. He argues that the political divide in the United States is not just about the usual arguments of money, power, social structure and history, but that that the ultimate source is in the brains of its citizens.

He goes on to explain the amazing new research has shown that much of our reasoning is unconscious. We all use frames, prototypes and metaphors to rationalize our ideas and decisions on a subconscious level. Previously it was thought that emotion stood in the way of reason, but it is quite the opposite. Emotion is required in order to be rational.

I was so inspired by Lakoff’s 60-minute talk that I immediately bought the book and began reading it as I waited in line for a personalized autograph. I hope to be able to use this book to gain a better understanding of how people make decisions and how we can use empathy, understanding and language to bring about new ideas and new perspectives. I look forward to finding interesting symmetries between his work with linguistics, cognitive science and political theory to the world of information architecture and user experience.

Be one of the first to get a sneak peek at the new Morae scheduled to release in Summer 2008. TechSmith will be demonstrating the interesting new capabilities that bring this usability testing software beyond just website testing. Come and check out Morae and UserVue and ask TechSmith all the questions you like.

For more information about the event: http://phillychi.acm.org/?p=69

To register for this FREE event:
http://upadelawarevalley.org/events/event_register.php?id=9