For Fans of The Hotline's "Last Call"

For those of you who religiously read the "Last Call" like I do...here's a good one:
Jakob Nielsen and Dick Cheney.

Say It Loud, "I'm a Miss Piggy Fan and I'm Proud!"

Ever since The Muppets Took Manhattan, I've been a Miss Piggy fan. She was the epitome of the modern woman I dreamt of being. She was strong, assertive, smart, funny, and not afraid to flaunt her femininity. The Muppets taught me lessons about honesty, following my dreams, friendship and true love.

It's good to see that the Muppets are at it again teaching valuable lessons every day. The latest being Instant Runoff Voting, or IRV. It saddens me that Miss Piggy didn't even make it past the first round of voting for CEO of Henson Production Company. The demonstration showed me the benefits of IRV and I think IRV is the right tool to choose the best class blogs. I'm excited to see who wins! See you all in class.

Side note: I'd like to point out that Oscar the Grouch, Ernie and Elmo aren't technically Muppets. They're characters on Sesame Street. There's a difference. I personally would have liked to see Kermit, Gonzo and Fozzie thrown in the mix for CEO. (Wocka, Wocka!)

The Eminent Usability Guru Strikes Again!

I don't think micropayments will ever work. (emphasis on the period)

I completely disagree with Nielsen's comments in The Case for Micropayments. If we've learned anything from reading his usability papers, we've learned the best way to determine usability is to look at our own online habits, frustrations and usage.

His point that, "Annoying ads are ultimately self-defeating since people will avoid sites that do not give them a positive user experience," is downright wrong. We all visit websites with ads all over the place. It doesn't hinder my usability. I've downloaded a pop-up blocker and tend to ignore ads in the margins of websites. I've never once avoided a website because of the ads.

Secondly, it seems that even if sites charged micropayments to users, wouldn't they want to continue to sell advertising space to generate more revenue? I think so. This would completely defeat Nielsen's theory.

Third, I'm not willing to pay $10-$30 more a month to surf the web just to avoid advertising and pop-ups. I'll gladly put up with annoying ads if it means I don't have to shell out more money to use the Internet. I agree with one of the comments made about work. Does anyone really think their company is willing to pay an average of $50 or more a month (per employee) to allow them to surf the net? I don't think so....

Lastly, if Nielsen is so convinced micropayments are the wave of the future, why doesn't he charge to view WebPages on his site?