Textorizer
This is a cool tool that takes any image and converts it to SVG outlining it with words that you input. An example using my logo is here.
February 17th, 2006
Posts filed under 'Technology'
Social Bookmarking Newbie Does "Research"
Though we at Design Delineations have been doing Web site design and even blog theme design long enough to feel quite expert in this area, I have been relatively ignorant regarding social bookmarking. Today I set out to find out exactly what goes on in the world of social bookmarking.
Here are some things I learned. First, there are several Web sites that allow users to subscribe to RSS feeds, store their bookmarks online and share them with friends. These are del.icio.us, Furl, Simpy and many more. I tested all of the ones mentioned above and liked each of them about equally.
What I found when I tested both Digg and Reddit though really surprised me. These are sophisticated content filtration systems that allow peers to critique and promote articles. What rises to the top is likely to be heavily reviewed and therefore, hopefully, worth reading.
On Reddit.com and Digg.com I posted similar content and received similar response. However, friendly fact checkers at Digg corrected some errors in my post while at Reddit, all I received were negative votes. Which community will serve me better?
Edit: Another social bookmarking Web site that I found extremely fun to use and not super combative was BlinkList.
Edit2: I submitted other content to Reddit - better researched and written - and have not received the strongly negative response.
Edit3: Steve Rubel says, “Yahoo won when they bought del.icio.us. Game over. Move along. Nothing to see here. The bookmarks have left the building.” I need to pick one service and stick to it to avoid hassles managing mulitple lists. It will likely be del.icio.us. Not because of Rubel, but because it is easy to use, the standard tool by which all others are measured, and well supported by plugin developers for many Web applications.
2 comments February 15th, 2006
IE7 ClearType Rocks (Or More Accurately, Win XP ClearType Rocks)!
I downloaded IE7 primarily to see what problems it would cause with my existing clients’ Web sites. I must say, I was surprised at how little trouble this upgrade will cause! Microsoft seems to be listening well and learning about what designers and end users want in a browser.
IE7 adds tabbed browsing, RSS subscription, and best of all - ClearType. After a couple of weeks of regularly using IE7, I have to say that this enhancement is by far the most significant change for the better in Web browsing history in the last few years.
IE7 is easy on my eyes! For someone who spends most of every day in front of a computer, that’s a compliment indeed. Edit 2/18/2005: Still easy on my eyes when reading sans-serif type, but I’m beginning to see the blurriness on serif type as a real problem with cleartype.
Of course, not everyone agrees!
There’s an interesting article about ClearType over at Designorati.
Edit: As pointed out over on Digg by Rob, ClearType is a Windows XP feature that has been integrated into IE7. It is not technically an IE feature. Until now, it had to be enabled for every application at a system level. IE7 allows you to apply it to the browser only.
February 15th, 2006
Browser Toolbars Help Catch Scams
Paypal and eBay phishing scams have been on the rise recently.
This type of crime usually consists of two main components: a branded email message that looks like it comes from the company (in most cases eBay or Paypal) and a web based form used to steal information. The email message contains a link to the Web based form, and in some cases a form is embedded in the actual email message.
A news brief in Practical eCommerce pointed me towards some resources that might help increase your security as you read email and browse. Several companies have released toolbar plugins for Internet Explorer that claim to block these scams.
The toolbars are:
- Netcraft Anit-Phishing Toolbar
- GeoTrust TrustWatch Anti-Fraud Toolbar: According to the Register though, GeoTrust has had some accuracy problems.
- Microsoft Anti-Phishing Toolbar
Some excellent information on phishing and pharming can be found at the Anti-Phishing Working Group Web site. Also, Core Compenence has an excellent page on Anti-Fraud Resources.
February 10th, 2006
Adobe, Macromedia Merger Marries Flash and PDF Technologies
According to a recent Business Week article, the new Adobe is using its newly acquired Macromedia expertise to meld PDF, HTML, and Flash into a new engagement platform.
While I’m not clear exactly what an engagement platform is, it is clear that the future of Adobe’s PDF technology will begin to look more like Flash, with increased interactivity. It seems that Flash will also increase its print capabilities (though Macromedia Flash Paper was a pre-exisiting print technology).
The result? Perhaps a more interactive Web that handles print capability more smoothly without the long wait as an external plugin loads. Along with a host of innovative applications that take advantage of the increased speed and interactivity offered.
Does this mean that Adobe/Macromedia will be creating a new defacto standard in Web development that will look not submit to the direction of governing bodies such as the Web Standards Project and W3C? I doubt it, but with near monopoly power, the new Adobe is poised to influence the future of Web development profoundly.
February 10th, 2006
IE7 Beta Internet Connection Problem
I installed IE7 Beta and started to browse the internet. As I did, IE repeatedly dialed to connect to the internet for each item on the page. My LAN was already connected.
I told IE7 not to dial and it worked fine. Now other applications that rely in IE’s connection think they are offline. Windows Media Player will not stream because it thinks it’s offline.
It appears this is IE7’s problem because I have never experienced it before. Does anyone have a solution?
I also reported this to the good folks at the IE blog but thought I would seek an answer here as well.
Edit: A possible fix for the problem is here.
Edit: This connection problem is still preventing my error reporting agent from sending the needed reports to Microsoft. I also still have to tell IE to ignore the fact it thinks it is offline on occasion. It could be something is wrong with my connection settings, but I’m unable to find anything that should be corrected.
1 comment February 9th, 2006
How To Integrate Online and Retail Outlet Sales
A while back I was contacted by a successful retailer about the potential of eCommerce to increase their revenues and strenghten customer loyalty. Since I have a bent towards looking at things as systems rather than as components, I immediately asked questions about the store’s systems for POS and inventory management … ok, maybe I make things too complex …
Here’s where you come in. Are any of my readers using multi-channel eCommerce and bricks and morter retail outlets? What solutions have you discovered to inventory management and eCommerce that have made your job easier?
1 comment February 9th, 2006
Choosing a Good Web Host
This post was sparked by a thread on Jim Boykin’s blog where I’ve also posted a comment or two.
I resell Web services from site5.com and have found that they work quite well for many of my clients. There are always trade-offs in Web hosting, especially for those with limited budgets. Another hosting company I use is United Hosting from the UK.
My take on what to ask a Web hosting company is this: Ask them for features that you really must have (PHP/Mysql, Stats Reporting if needed). Then, of the companies that have those features, ask for uptime statistics and some referrals from hosting clients.
Usually, at the low end you either can get fairly decent stability with very few features (Hostasaurus) or many features with occasional stability problems and excellent customer support (Site5). Another notable hosting provider that has occasional stability problems but does everything they can to minimize them is 5 Dollar Hosting.
A word of caution about using returned phone calls as a barometer of reliability: Most hosing companies use email for support requests and handle them swiftly. For anything other than high-dollar hosting such as Rackspace, you will be hard pressed to speak to anyone on the telephone for support issues and really don’t need to anyway since email works so well. Of course during the inquiry phase, you are also judging the responsiveness of the sales department and not the support department.
Another way to go is with a hosting middleman like myself who handles phone calls and gets the tech support taken care of. In addition, someone like myself adds value by actively watching the servers for outages and submitting support tickets even before my clients call (though not always!).
Other recommended hosting providers are Dreamhost and Media Temple.
1 comment February 8th, 2006
Internet Explorer 7 Beta Public Release
I’m sure many people are blogging about IE7 Beta, but perhaps some of you have not yet heard about it.
You can download the install file here: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/ie7/
There are some useful install instructions here: http://www.quirksmode.org/blog/archives/2006/02/installing_and.html
Of course, the IE Blog is also a great source of information about everything Internet Explorer.
Of special interest to Web designers is this post on planning for the new CSS implementation included in IE7. http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2005/10/12/480242.aspx
February 4th, 2006
Yahoo! Moves into VOIP
According to O’Reilly’s Emerging Telephony blog yesterday, Yahoo! is challenging Skype for computer to phone and phone to computer voice calling. I’ll be watching this over the next few months. The world of telephony is being remade!
December 14th, 2005
