Responding to my post, How to hack the new CBC website, Netvibes sent me an email indicating they’ve created a page full of CBC feed content. Subscribers can personalize it as they wish.
You can do much the same thing with iGoogle.
Reaction to the redesign in the blogosphere has been tepid but illuminating. So far, there is broad consensus about getting rid of promotional blocks on the site. Here’s the roundup:
- Peter Rukavena’s thoughtful explanation why CBC’s cross-promotions won’t work.
- Peter Chng gives a good critique of the website.
- Tod Maffin Inside the CBC blogs about the changes, and a CBC web designer responds in the comments.
- Neil Sanderson points out improvements to the Radio portal.
- Shawn hates scrolling to find tiny news headlines.
- Steve Fagstein dislikes the page structure.
- Blake Crosby’s post to Inside the CBC explains skinning the CBC.ca using CSS stylesheets within Firefox.
- In an older post, Ian Ketcheson gives timeless advice about how the site might be improved.
It hurts, but I’ll mention another failure of CBC.ca that is particularly wounding:
Even though the CBC today launched its new web portal, CBC Aboriginal, it has failed to link to it from either its main page or the news page. You have to drill down via into an In Depth feature on Aboriginal Canadians to find a link to it buried in a sidebar, or discover it (as I did) though an independent media advisory.
Why is this important? Today is National Aboriginal Day in Canada. It’s an obscure official holiday, and most Canadians are probably unaware of it. CBC.ca isn’t helping to change that, and appears to be unaware of its own initiatives.
Bravo.
To end on a happier note, I’ll direct you to the CBC Blogwatch, which links news items to blogger reactions.
Thought Capital 
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