Some Information Card Goodness

As I am covering CardSpace for various customers, I am asked frequently how to build a Secure Token Issuing Service or a Relying Party website using non-Microsoft technology.  We have examples of how to create a Relying Party using ASP.NET, and now several Open Source Information Card Relying Party Software Projects have been announced as well.  This is huge, since Microsoft is the one sponsoring the projects to show how to build relying parties using Ruby On Rails, how to build relying parties using Java, and upcoming projects that will show how to build relying parties using PHP and C.  Keep watching Mike Jones' blog for more details.

Finally, the "real" Information Card icon has been announced and is available to download.  Yep, it's ugly, and from a usability standpoint I honestly think less non-tech users will click on it than other designs.  Dunno how "real" or "final" this one is.  Heck... seemed like thelold orange XML button () that signified an RSS feed would be around forever, until industry consensus formed around the current RSS icon ().  Will be interesting to see how the Information Card icon evolves over time as adoption increases and designers try to fit a purple hue into a predominantly red, yellow, or orange website, or they see the rigid framing clashing with the visual appearance of other elements on the screen.