We’ve talked and blogged before about how it’s not always necessary to have the “latest and greatest” with technology moving so fast as it is. With every new device or piece of software comes a new learning curve, which of course requires yet more time out of your busy schedule.
For your website, keep in MIND that added features and plug-ins are certainly cool and in some cases called for. Problem is, it’s easy to get into “overkill” mode and clutter up your first impression on your website. A good web development and web design team will keep things pretty and easy to read and navigate.
Before you jump on the bandwagon of a new bell or whistle that appears cool and/or indispensable for your website, make sure you’re getting utilizing all the capability and tools of your current website configuration.
Consider these pictures…
They were all done by Don Marco, an Army Air Corps retiree…with Crayola crayons.
Yep.
Remember…time and creativity are your best tools, no matter what you’re working on:)
Did you know that most major video game consoles have a number of Social Media features? Within the last 3 years the video gaming industry has developed social technology alongside with their own new technology to provide users with another way to stay connected. The three largest markets for computer and video games are the United States, Japan and the United Kingdom. 60% of all Americans play electronic games of one kind or another. Currently services like Netflix and Last.fm are available for instant movie and music downloads on consoles like the Wii, Playstation 3 and Xbox360. Social Media sites have also made their way to online gaming with features like Facebook and Twitter being available to update other users about your status in the game world as well as the real world. These features connect to your console like they do for your blog… it’s pretty easy and you don’t even need to get out of your seat!
Along with online gaming comes the individual online communities. XBOX uses an online system called LIVE. On XBOX LIVE you are able to connect with 
friends, listen to streaming music, watch streaming video, get gaming news, download updates and game add-ons as well as play games together with a million other users around the world. How does this relate to Social Media? On XBOX LIVE when you fill out your profile information you are able to choose a “Gamer Zone”. A Gamer Zone is how you choose to use your membership or how you play. Zones include “Pro”, “Recreation”, “Family” and “Underground”. Initially these were set up so players could game with other players in the same Zone… avoiding the overly aggressive pros or finding a gaming syndicate on the underground. The Gamer Zone is the first breakdown on the XBOX LIVE Social Community… by simply checking a players zone you are able to get an idea of how they play, why they play and what kind of games they play while online. This is a big step; knowing and understanding your market.
The more revealing way social media is involved with XBOX LIVE is the Reputation or “Rep System”. Beginning on day-one with the first game you play online you are being ranked. Initially your reputation starts out at 3 out of 5 stars, once you play online and with other people your stars can go up or down. Players are able to view other gamers profiles and depending on the time spent in-game with them, players are able to prefer or avoid them. This then positively or negatively effects your reputation… it’s a full social community at work!
When the system works the way it’s supposed to you’ll be able to avoid players you dislike (either due to skill or over the mic communications) and never have to play with them again. Think of those guys as the SPAM of XBOX LIVE, they’re not really there to help, they just wanna mess stuff up. Equally you will be able to play online with your close friends as well as gamers they have deemed worthy to play with. This opens up a whole new social circle for you online and allows your gamer experience to be even better.
So by using what you know in Social Media and how social communities operate online, how would you market yourself or services in this seemingly untouched resource?
Today the majority of Tweets received were about Twitter becoming the Fastest Growing Search Engine. This piqued our interest so we took a look at the related post and did some “testing” for realistic searching. According to Socialnomics “Twitter Founder Biz Stone at Aspen Ideas Festival announced that Twitter now has over 800 million search queries per day … This roughly equates to 24 billion searches per month which is more than Bing (4.1) and Yahoo (9.4) combined.”
“Adding a search box to your website DOES NOT a search engine make.” - Andrew Mull, Master Internet Developer stated in discussion. You can see that Twitter has a tremendous amount of searches but what you really need to look at is what is being searched. Of course the founder, Biz Stone, would say that they (Twitter) are the next major search engine, it’s free publicity and people really eat it up. So can you blame them for making such a claim? Not really but unfortunately now people are under the impression that Twitter is some kind of search engine. Stone also goes on to say about Twitter, that it is “not a social network,” though many people view it as one. “That’s been a myth since the beginning,” he explained. “We’re much more like an information network or a source of news.” *source
Here is where we disagree. Twitter is a social tool, not a search engine. Any developer who has tried to create a well-oiled search engine knows that this is no easy task. When you look at all the intricacies of code and how search engines operate and then look at Twitter… it’s like comparing a single book to an entire library. The library being Google, it’s algorithms and code base.
There is no doubt that Twitter’s numbers are accurate. We are sure that Twitter gets a great amount of searches but we would surmise that most are looking for individual friends or celebrities …or trying to find specific Tweeters that are in the same industry. These users are NOT using Twitter for search in the traditional sense.
To test our hypothesis we went to Twitter and to Google and typed “Capital of Denmark” in their respective search boxes. All we really wanted to know was how fast and easily we could find “Copenhagen”. Surprise, surprise, Google performed better giving us the necessary information in the first link followed by MORE detailed information in other links. Twitter also gives us the information we’re looking for but further down in the “search results” and among other random postings that may mention any of the search terms. Twitter’s short comings are well known so there is no reason to reiterate the obvious. However, it must be known that Twitter lacks the structure and organization to function as a search engine or to realistically compete with Google and Yahoo! Twitter IS a social network simply for the fact that you use it to be social and NOT to search. When Twitter can search outside of itself (for example) instead of just referencing their own stored content, THEN we’ll talk “Search Engine”. Sorry, Biz, but we think you spoke too soon.
Recently I made the switch to Google’s Chrome Web Browser. I have been hearing a lot of talk about how it is an uber fast browser and generally faster than Firefox and Internet Explorer. Of course the real test was against Safari 5 which sources say was pretty much a toss-up, not the proverbial beating that Apple claims it to be. After installation of Chrome I immediately was looking for my toolbars and extensions from Firefox. Chrome imports your bookmarks and other sections but doesn’t bring over your add-ons. I’m not sure why I expected the add-ons to be there but when I couldn’t even find an area for toolbars I started to search the Chrome site for extensions. I love extensions in my browser, especially when they help the general functionality and increased production of building websites. There are 5 specific add-ons that I always used on Firefox and once I found them in the Chrome extensions a sigh of relief filled the air. So what are these Top Chrome Extensions? Read on to find out!
1. Web Developer by Chris Pederick – The Web Developer extension adds a toolbar button to the browser with various web developer tools. This is the official port of the popular Web Developer extension for Firefox written by the same person. This is my number one because I do use it the most. I primarily use it for it’s excellent CSS options and displaying element information.
2. Firebug Lite for Google Chrome by pedrosimonetti – Firebug Lite is a tool to be used in conjunction with Developer Tools. Firebug Lite provides the rich visual representation we are used to see in Firebug when it comes to HTML elements, DOM elements, and Box Model shading. It provides also some cool features like inspecting HTML elemements with your mouse, and live editing CSS properties.
3. MeasureIt! by nirzoref – MeasureIt! draws a ruler-line that will help you get the pixel width and height of any elements on a webpage. I use this one a lot when tweaking my CSS. Sometimes it’s a matter of only a few pixels. MeasureIt helps me get a precise pixel count so I have to edit my CSS less.
4. Eye Dropper by kepicz – Eye Dropper and Color Picker extension which allows you to pick color from any 
webpage or from the advanced color picker. This extension aids with the comping process. Eye Dropper can pick out specific hex and number codes in order to get the most accurate color. It’s also great for redesigns to get all the correct colors from a previous site.
5. Window Resizer by Ionut Botizan – This extension resizes the browser’s window in order to emulate various resolutions. It is particularly useful for web designers and developers by helping them test their layouts on different browser resolutions. The resolutions list is completely customizable as well.
There you have it! My Top 5 Chrome Extensions for Web Developers and Web Designers. I’d also like to add the Lorem Ipsum Generator by niko.pufal as a very close sixth place for the Top Chrome Extensions. I enjoy this one because I never seem to have my Lorem Ipsum page at hand and now all I need to do is click the extension and a full page of Lorem Ipsum can be displayed for you to copy and use. It’s a nice little tool and beats the hell out of having to type “Lorem ipsum sip dolar” etc. over and over again!
Everyone enjoys well shot photography. From the novice to the professional, photography is an easily accessible hobby as well as a full fledged career. During my time in the creative field I have met tons of photographers. Some did it as a weekend hobby… some went to school for it… while others just had a deep passion for it and it became all they did. With all the great eyes out there taking all these amazing pictures, I have to ask:
WHAT’S UP WITH THE WATERMARKS?!
Don’t misunderstand, I love the photography, but I can’t see it passed your giant logo’d watermark that is annoyingly across the entire picture! I understand security and I get why photographers put watermarks on their work. However, when it ruins the work or makes the photography look bad, it equally makes the photographer look bad. I’m sorry to say it, but it’s true. If you splash your multicolored logo all over my photo with a lame glow or ghosted bar behind it (I don’t care how many years of experience you have) I would consider you an amateur. After all it’s not about YOU, it’s about the photography. If the photography is good, it speaks for itself, people will ask about it and want to know where it came from. This lends to the photographer finding a better watermarking solution as to not turn off potential clients by over-exercising their creative impulses.
Simply put, if you have the eye for a good shot, you know what looks right and what doesn’t. If you still think that the ghost bar and the glowing logo look professional and “right” then you may want to reconsider and check out some other options.
Some easy ways to get around the bad watermark issue is to just use your brain. Keep it short and small and not “all up in the face” of the viewer. Ghosted type (like a company name) or a copyright date in the corner (or running up the side) is a great option because I will see it but my eye won’t be drawn to it when I look at the image. I won’t go directly to the type or date and think, “Wow, that really ruins the picture”. Equally effective are small ghosted logos. Of course you need to have a good logo first; one that works in black and white is of optimum importance. Why? Because ghosting a color logo on a photo is just insane, that’s why. You may even consider framing an option. I have seen this done and I feel it is also an excellent option. Framing is simply adding white space or a border to your image providing a place for your logo or business info. This too can get sketchy if the logo isn’t up-to-par or if it’s using excessive distracting colors but it’s better than sticking it right on the photo.
One of the greatest concerns with photographers is that they don’t want people to steal their images. No one want to have their hard work and dedication taken from them or even worse, passed off as someone else’s work! Sometimes the options above just aren’t enough to fend off the masses of not-so-reputable folks. Many photographers rely on specific types of paper or ink to avoid having their work reproduced or scanned, but for those who also put their work online, here is a nice solution and a welcome change to the big glowing logo and ghost bar watermarking technique: Digimarc!
If you’re a photographer, you’ve seen Digimarc before. It’s listed under filters in most versions of Adobe Photoshop. It’s also one of the best tools for digitally watermarking your work. A digital watermark is basically information written into the pixels of your image that is virtually unrecognizable to the naked eye. Typically this information is added multiple times within a document to insure that it’s covered. The great thing about Digimarc is that you can also read imaged online and find out where they came from. Not so sure if that image on Google belongs to you or not? Check the image with the Digimarc reader and if it is yours the information will be displayed. Successfully find and manage your images online and make sure no one is abusing your property.
While it’s true that Digimarc ships with Adobe Photoshop, it’s only a demo version which will still watermark your image but with a generic watermark that cannot be directly attributed to you. In order to obtain an individual watermark code you would need to pay an annual fee. For individuals it’s as low as $49 and for professionals, $99.
Not only will digitally watermarking your images save your images from being ruined but it’ll also save time! Sure, it cost a few extra bucks but imagine the time you’ll save by not having to add that horrible glowing logo or ghosted bar to all of your images!
