Posted in Still-coding on April 14, 2009| Leave a Comment »
Kier Thomas took a good shot at Firefox in his blog last month. I agree with him. Firefox has turned into bloatware and Google Chrome has taken over as the browser I reach for if I want results fast.
The main problem I have with chrome is that the view-source actually reloads the page. This may be fine, but sometimes you want to see the real source code not the code you get when you do a reload (which might be different).
Other than that it is lightning fast and clutter-free.
Posted in Still-coding on March 13, 2009| Leave a Comment »
From my latest newsletter.
I have commented before about the impact of netbooks, these small cheap laptops that you can buy in Robert Dyas for £167. This type of device is new and the technology is changing fast. It is worth keeping an eye on it.
They are about the size of a Filofax and generally come with a 7-10 inch screen that gives about 800×480 resolution plus a proper keyboard – albeit small. They have an Intel Atom chip, a low power processor aimed at small computers and PDAs. They often come with flash memory (the kind you find in a camera) rather than a hard disk. They run Windows XP or Unix (Linux inevitably) but not Vista. The also come with built-in wi-fi. Expect mobile internet connectivity to be built in when more upmarket devices become available.
Posted in Still-coding on March 13, 2009| Leave a Comment »
Nothing. And I can prove it.
But that doesn’t mean I don’t have an opinion about the main technical errors that print designers make when designing for the web. These are all real and I have seen them repeatedly.
Posted in Still-coding on March 10, 2009| Leave a Comment »
I just received two newsletters in the last two minutes:
The Dark Side of Twitter: What Businesses Need to Know
Driving Traffic with Twitter
OK so twitter is hot.
I have been tweeting, but frankly is anyone really interested that I just scratched myself? If I had the time and talent to generate witty and interesting tweets on an hourly basis (i.e. if I were called Stephen Fry) I can see that it would work. But for the average punter it is just more spam into the ether.
So with all due regard to those who are trying to generate business with twitter, I tweet my last.
Posted in Still-coding on March 4, 2009| Leave a Comment »
I have been twittering but is anyone really interested.
Stare here and check out Doonsbury this week (keep pressing next) .
Posted in Still-coding on February 25, 2009| 5 Comments »
We had a website developed by a web designer some years ago. I just received a bill from Getty Images for £1,700 for the use of one of the images on it. It came via a debt collection agency Morenton Smith. Their notification looked very much like a Phishing message and it is by chance that I opened it.
It seems that Getty Images have software trawling the web for images, and have been doing this since 2005.
I don’t condone Intellectual property Theft in any way but the tactics of these guys looks pretty dubious to me.
If this happens to you check out this posting for the full SP:
Posted in Still-coding on February 20, 2009| 1 Comment »
Once netbooks take off (they will), we have a problem with the typical 800 x 480 screen and websites designed for desktop screens. One option is to vary the style sheet depending on screen size. An example here.
However a designer needs to design for both sizes of screen.
Posted in Still-coding on February 20, 2009| Leave a Comment »
Netbooks are small cheap laptops with built-in wifi (Around £150-200). They are about the size of a Filofax and perfect for whipping out in your local Starbucks and checking your mail or surfing the web. They have been based on the Intel Atom chip, and run Windows XP. They won’t run Vista but will run the next version of Windows.
Later this year however you can expect netbooks with the ARM chip that normally powers mobile phones. These have big advantages. The chip has been designed to use less power and the batteries will last up to four times longer than the Intel chip. Because it uses less power it generates less heat so the case can be thinner. The chip is also significantly cheaper.
The downside is that they will not run Windows, but these devices will run Linux which is going to give it a big boost as a consumer operating system.
These are going to be A BIG DEAL. Watch this space.
Posted in Still-coding on February 18, 2009| Leave a Comment »
We have been using our tracking system more and more to manage our work. This uses an online form to request fixes/changes to the website, and as we work on it the ‘ticket’ is updated and finally closed by the client.
We just released a complex ecommerce site for user testing, and we gave the end user access to the tracking site. This meant that changes went directly from the tester to the developer, bypassing the agency project manager. It significantly reduced the load on the project manager, without losing control. In fact the development was much more under control than earlier projects.
We have another client who we do time and materials maintenance. Every month they now get an invoice with a list of tickets closed (by them) that month, and timings to the nearest minute for each. It makes it very hard for them to argue with the billing. It also gives them control over their budget as they have access to a real-time cost analysis during the month.
Now, at the suggestion of a partner, we are using the system to control all quotes. Each quote is a ticket with the brief and every version of our proposal attached. It keeps a record which we all have access to.
Posted in Still-coding on February 13, 2009| Leave a Comment »
Answer. It is a gadget that appears on your TV screen that allows you to show internet content on your TV. You control it with your remote.
Which your TV will do both pretty soon. More here: http://connectedtv.yahoo.com including a demo which makes it all much clearer. Yahoo is the leader in this and it has deals with Samsung, Sony and LG.
Is this the end of the rented DVD, when you can download and watch direct from the rental company? Share photos from Flickr directly on your TV.
However as Mary Lojkine points out in regard to the Sony Internet Video Link (which is a sort of preliminary version of this):
“So it’s the Internet, on your TV, with no need for a PC. Except it’s not the Internet, it’s just on-demand video from selected providers. And it’s not on your current TV, because it only works with the new models. And let’s be honest, you do have a computer, and it isn’t hard to connect a PC to a modern LCD or plasma, so you could quite easily have the actual Internet on your actual TV.”
I take her point, but Idon’t know about you but when I am in couch-potatoe mode it is as much as I can do to lift the remote, let alone start messing with my PC. Personally I think the future is a set-top box that is a real computer, but which doubles as a Blu ray player, PVR and Internet access device. It will have an advanced controller that includes a small qwerty keypad – the size and shape of a blackberry. That way you can do all this from your sofa without having to find a place for the keyboard and mouse along with your six-pack.
Bob Browning's blog 