IT projects usually fail -- KPMG

Gulp. A KPMG survey of 134 companies worldwide found that 56 per cent have had to write off as a failure at least one IT project in the past year. The average loss incurreed: 12.5 million euros. Sixty-seven per cent reckoned that their project management function was in need of improvement. A principal reason for failure: poor communication.
(From The Register)

BBC still by far the most popular UK news website

Latest Nielsen NetRatings stats for online news sites here. In October the BBC copped 2.8 million unique viewers; the Guardian 1.3 million, CNN 0.65 million; Ananova 0.5 million; the Telegraph 0.48 million; the FT 0.47 million, and the Sun 0.46 million. The BBC has by far the longest average time per month at 55 minutes.

El Pais now a paid site

El Pais began charging for most of its content Monday November 19. There are two payment options: an annual fee of €80 or a biannual fee of €50. There is also a micropayment option of 0.5 euros for a PDF or 0.2 euros for an html article.
(From E-Media Tidbits)

Clarín produces electronic edition

The Argentinian daily Clarín is running a free digital edition using the facsimile page pane, HTML-optimised story pane model. It's pretty impressive, and includes an "other stories" list at the end of each story, No PDFs so far as I can see. See also discussion on Metafilter.
(From Metafilter)

FT, Slate doing trials with tablet PC

The Financial Times, Forbes, the New Yorker, Slate, Les Echoes and Wirtschafts Woche have signed deals with Microsoft to develop tools to publish trial tablet PC magazines. They are hoping to have something usable some time in 2003. Despite the limited take-up of ebooks, the publishers hope to appeal to advertisers for similar reasons: the familiarity and acceptance of print display ads plus the interactivity and personalisation opportunities of electronic publishing. Meanwhile digital edition software company has announced a reader application for tablet PC.
(From CNet News.Com)

When good interfaces go crufty

Interesting essay on "cruft" -- interface conventions that harken back to redundant necessities -- by one Matthew Thomas on his weblog, plus some discussion on Slashdot. Lots of nods to Isys Information Architect's Interface Hall of Shame, home of our favourite Lotus Notes review.
(From Slashdot)

Link farm front pages need to consider Google page design

I've got to agree with Steve Outing on this. News websites just haven't learnt enough from print or TV as regards what to do with their front pages. The headlines before a news programme, or the items on a broadsheet newspaper front page, will rarely stretch beyond 10 items (generic indexes excluded). Even with all the other furniture counted on a newspaper front page, you'll never be taken in more than about 20 different directions. Same goes for Google. Compare that to the Washington Post: 217 links on its front page. Does anyone really scroll down on front pages? I'm not against bundling stories in drop-down menus and leaving the very best editorial picks on the front. Show the quality -- everyone knows there's quantity online.
(From Editor & Publisher)