Semantic markup. So what? – this is the clearest case for semantic markup I’ve seen in a while. The gist is, write your HTML to reflect the structure of your content. Let’s say your page is viewed without stylesheets (i.e. a mobile browser). It should be just as clear and user-friendly in that environment as it would be in any modern browser. Easy peasy.

Social Network Exhaustion – asks the question, what’s the point of social networking social if you’re not socializing? Maybe networking, socially is a better moniker.

Virtual friendship and the New Narcissim – aka more Facebook navel-gazing. It’s a long term paper-ish read — if you’ve ever seen or used a social networking site, you can skip the first half — but the article raises some interesting points.

The age of the slide show – there are so many good ways to get your ideas out into the world these days… what are you waiting for? ~ via Zeus Jones

The Meaning of Service Design – excerpts of my favorite thought:

…the push to define “service design” seemed increasingly meaningless. …Defining disciplines lacks value. Instead, we should ask ourselves, ‘What is the RESULT of service design? What industries does it touch? What is its deeper purpose?”

— swap “service design” with graphic design, web design, marketing, etc. and you have something to ponder for a while. ~ via Adaptive Path

Some good advice from Paul Arden, an ex-creative director from Saatchi ~ via AP (again)

If you use CSS in any capacity and want to make your life infinitely easier, do your bad self a favor and check out BlueprintCSS. There’s even a grid generator that makes it hard not to love… assuming you’re the type who can comfortably use “CSS” and “love” in a single sentence.