Read All About It

Starting today, visitors to NYTimes.com have the option of seeing an enhanced version of our home page that we call Times Extra. This alternate view of the same editorial slate adds links to related coverage from third-party news sources and blogs — right there beneath our main news stories.

Now, I haven’t been posting much about what we’ve been up to at the Times because there’s been so much good stuff (like our voter mood gauge from election night, our holiday shopping guide from David Pogue and our overhauled video library, among many others) that I didn’t want to overrun this blog with press releases.

False modesty aside, I’m making an exception for Times Extra because, well first I think it’s a quiet breakthrough that’s pretty neat, and second, because it’s a concept that I personally hatched on the side with my Times colleague Philippe Lourier, the brains behind our Blogrunner aggregation engine. It was originally something of a lark so we’re pretty happy that it’s finally seeing the light of day (as a beta experiment). Of course, it would still be nothing more than an intriguing idea without the many, many hours of additional dedication from the designers, editors, technologists, the ace project manager and the hard-driving product manager that joined our campaign to make this happen. For their long hours, patience and dedication, I’m incredibly grateful.

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The Grid System

Ratings

3 of 5 stars
What’s this?

New resource that aims to be “a one stop shop for all designers to learn about grid systems, how to design them and how to use them. The site features links to articles, tools, books as well as templates and other goodies.” Impeccably designed, as is to be expected from Antonio Carusone, who is also the proprietor of AisleOne.

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Screen-printed, Information-graphical Interpretation of “Destroyer’s Rubies”

Ratings

2 of 5 stars
What’s this?

“The Modern Listener’s Guide brings together the previously disparate worlds of indie-rock and information graphics… The first print in the series is a lyrical and statistical undressing of Destroyer’s 2006 album ‘Destroyer’s Rubies.’” To be honest I’m tiring of info-graphics as a short-cut to credibility for client-less graphic design, but this poster looks attractive enough. What’s more, it doesn’t hurt to call some attention to this really phenomenal album.

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NPR: Brian Eno, “This I Believe”

Ratings

4 of 5 stars
What’s this?

In general I’m not a fan of the ongoing public radio series “This I Believe,” finding it too precious. And the transcript for this installment from Brian Eno, which extolls the virtues of singing as a socially valuable activity, reads a little more stuffy than suits my taste. But the spoken version of the essay, not to mention the idea, is disarmingly profound:

“When you sing with a group of people, you learn how to subsume yourself into a group consciousness because a capella singing is all about the immersion of the self into the community. That’s one of the great feelings — to stop being me for a little while and to become us. That way lies empathy, the great social virtue…

“So I believe in singing to such an extent that if I were asked to redesign the British educational system, I would start by insisting that group singing become a central part of the daily routine. I believe it builds character and, more than anything else, encourages a taste for co-operation with others. This seems to be about the most important thing a school could do for you.”

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