BlogDay was created in 2005 by Nir Ofir to dedicate one day each year to getting to know other bloggers of interest. Participant authors recommend five other blogs to their readers, leading to new discoveries and connections. The annual event, which takes place on August 31 each year, also has a Twitter account to help track activity.

Want to participate today? Take the survey, and do the following:

1. Find 5 new Blogs that you find interesting
2. Notify the 5 bloggers that you are recommending them as part of BlogDay 2008
3. Write a short description of the Blogs and place a link to the recommended Blogs
4. Post the BlogDay Post (on August 31st)
5. Add the BlogDay tag using these links:
   http://technorati.com/tag/BlogDay2008
   http://www.blogday.org

Also, bloggers should be aware that Blog Action Day is coming on October 15. On that day, the blogosphere will be writing about the same topic—poverty.

Recommended Reading
My list this year features three IU School of Informatics connections and a couple of humorous sites.

1. Interaction Culture
   Started as a course blog for the HCI/d graduate program last year, Assistant Professor Jeffrey Bardzell‘s continuation of this channel has been a pleasant surprise. Jeff’s academic work includes amateur multimedia and virtual fashion, but his core interest in developing a theory of “interaction criticism” that draws from his literary background. He’s a bright guy with an unhealthy love of hockey, a topic I hope will crop up in his blog posting at some point.
2. Notta Blog
   Josh Evnin is one of my favorite peers from the fourth graduate HCI/d class at SOI. As I was planning to ruin my family’s finances for the rest of this decade, I was jealous of his search for an industry job. He found a good one with Thoughtworks and has used the experience to feed his blog.
3. Drewidia
   The newest class of HCI/d students includes Drew McKinney, a consultant-turned-academic who is bringing some startup expertise to Bloomington for a couple years (at least). His latest project, Craigsmonitor, became an Apple iPhone Staff Pick last week. I imagine he will have some interesting insights to share on design and business as he works on his Masters degree.
4. Areas of My Expertise
   Dry comedian John Hodgman is one of my favorite reporters from The Daily Show. He also blogs, SOMETIMES IN CAPS. That is all.
5. Garfield Minus Garfield
   Dan Walsh removed the main character, the fat cat Garfield, from his own comic strip and revealed “the existential angst of a certain young Mr. Jon Arbuckle.” Even original creator Jim Davis likes the idea.

What is your 3|0g Day list?

Google added a recommender engine this week, making it easy to find new blogs based on the stuff you already read. I’ve dabbled conservatively in the new feature, but I think it is a great idea. Three recs I did add to my feed were:

• Brainsparks by Jared Spool
• peterme by Peter Merholz
• Web Strategy by Jeremiah Owyang

Maybe I’ll just post that and call it a night.

The top 20: What the panel prescribes

1. Dramatically improve the energy efficiency of electrical goods
2. Religious leaders to make the environment a priority for their followers
3. Encourage the widespread use of solar power throughout the world
4. Secure a meaningful post-Kyoto treaty on reducing the emissions that contribute to global warming
5. Encourage households to generate much more of their own power
6. Introduce tax incentives to “buy green”
7. Tackle the rapid growth in aviation emissions
8. Wean ourselves off dependency on petroleum
9. Encourage individuals to buy less non-essential “stuff “
10. Dramatically improve public transport
11. Aim for a “zero waste” culture
12. Install “smart energy” meters in all homes
13. Introduce a measure of economic success that includes the environment
14. Fully harness Britain’s huge potential for generating renewable energy
15. Seek alternative, less damaging sources for biofuels
16. Bury carbon dioxide from power stations underground
17. Encourage hydrogen fuel cell technology in cars
18. Implement government policies to control global population growth
19. Reach international agreement on preserving rainforests
20. Create better incentives to improve energy efficiency in the home

Columnist Leo Hickman critiqued the full list, noting omissions of nuclear energy and meat consumption.

What is interesting about this Top 20 list is how it breaks down into categories of action. Technology and implementation is key to items 1, 7, 10, 12, 14, 15 and 16. Politics is central to items 4, 6, 13, 18 and 19. The remainder are tied to behavioral changes that must be incentivized or evangelized. More importantly, three of the top five suggestions fall into this last category: (2) Religious leaders to make the environment a priority for their followers; (3) Encourage the widespread use of solar power throughout the world; and (5) Encourage households to generate much more of their own power.

Design plays a huge role in this catastrophe aversion plan. Technological improvements are largely the work of engineers, and legislative mandates belong to the realm of the elected official and lobbyists. Both are influenced, however, by the needs and behaviors exhibited by people using the devices and systems designers create. Every one of the priority items are areas awaiting deep inquiry by designers.