Happy Holidays Everybody

At this time, I am placing the Blog on a temporary Hiatus for Seasonal Holidays, but before I do, I would like to take a moment to thank everyone who has taken the time to read this blog and wish you and your families a very festive Holiday Season, no matter how you celebrate.

Have a Wonderful remainder of 2013, Be safe when welcoming in the new year and see you all in 2014

Sincerely 

David

Make a List, Check it Twice, is your Website Naughty or Nice?

One would think, with the time of year and the title of this Blog posting, that this is a tongue-in-cheek holiday posting, and if One thinks that, then someone has Another Think Coming !

Making a list, prior to seeking out a Designer for your Website, can be all the difference between having a Website that users find “Nice” or one that they avoid because it’s “Naughty”

The best way to start is to create categories for your Website, besides the Homepage or “Index” file, what other areas do you want your Website to Cover.  What information do you want it to convey to your visitors?  The usual result of asking yourself this question is you come up with something much like this (we’ll use page in place of each category after Home )

Home<—>Page 1<—>Page 2<—>Page 3<—>Page 4

So now that we have each category mapped out, the next question to ask yourself is “What Content do I want in each category?”  This is where you can make bullet points for each category and the information you want, much like this

Home<—>Page 1<—>Page 2<—>Page 3<—>Page 4

|_Intro |_point 1   |_point 1  |_point 1    |_point 1

|_point 2   |_point 2  |_point 2    |_point 2

And so forth, so now lets say you want to include specific images with each point (we’ll use Home and Page 1 for this example to save some space)

HomeHome<—>Page 1

|_Intro           |_point 1

      |_img 1

      |_img 2

  |_point 2

As you an see the process becomes fairly straight forward, as you get everything flowing how you want it to lay out.  A Site map project like this, actually helps your Designer see your vision more clearly and allows you to focus your thoughts on what you want to see listed content wise

Speed, Size and Bandwidth: the importance of image PPI in the Mobile Web World

Images, it’s said a Picture is worth a Thousand words, the problem in the Web Connected Modern world, is that a picture is also worth Megabytes of data to download when it comes to Websites.  An unoptimized image (or 10 or 50, pick a number) can make or break the success your Website has with the Client base. to slow to load on a WiFi connected machine and users will go else where, too many to download on Mobile Data and you have pretty much sunk yourself as far as getting that client to follow up when they are back at a Laptop, Desktop or Tablet connected to the internet via Wifi or cable.

The current format for almost every image online is to have it encoded at 72 PPI, or pixels Per Inch, with some sites claiming that it does not matter the PPI of an image but more the Width and Height resolution of the image.

Apples Retina Display, states that Per inch it displays 326 Pixels, contrasting that with the industry standard of 72 Pixels Per Inch, that actually creates a ratio of 1:4.5 pixels difference.  lets break this down a bit further, we will use the example of a 3 inch square image (so 9 Square inches of Screen) for our calculations here.

	Traditional	Retina
Format	Jpeg	Jpeg
File Size	137 KB	2.74 MB
Height	3 Inch	3 Inch
Width	3 Inch	3 Inch
PPI	648 Pixels	2,934 Pixels
Download Time 512kbits/s	00:00:02	00:00:44
speed	Highspeed	Highspeed

As you can see, the same picture can be quite effected, As Retina like displays and faster internet connections both improve, this is a detail that Web Designers will eventually have to learn to adjust and code for.

Answering a Major Question Asked of Web Designers

One of the questions most asked of Web Designers by potential clients, and the general public, is Why do we charge what we do for our services?  The simple, and cocky, answer would be because we’re worth it.

Fact is there is a lot more that goes into figuring out what to charge.  The going rate for a good Web Designer can be anywhere on average from $40-$65 per hour.  out of that hourly rate, a Web Designer has to cover the costs of many things, including

Computers: Your Designs have to be able to look right on everything, Apple, Google, Microsoft, Linux, you name it, if your customers use it they expect your Website to display on it, and while there are ways to do basic design testing with simulators, not every design will display correctly on those simulations as they will in the actual product.  That means that a Web Designer needs to be able to deploy Your design throughout the design process on all types of Modern and Legacy platforms.

Software: Web Designers edit images, we format video and audio files for quick access over a number of different bandwidth delivery processes.  A suite of programs, like Adobe Creative Suite, costs around $1500 to purchase a copy of. and to keep up with Technology can tend to require upgrades on a routine basis.

Internet: We’re Web Designers, the Internet is what we do, that means that most likely we tend to communicate via Email, deliver mock-ups of your projects via attachments, and need that upload pipe to get your site to your Web Server so that your site can go live on time.

Office Supplies / Office Rental: Lets face it, every business needs a place to work out of, and like other businesses, Web Designers need to be able to keep their Client Files organized and up to date.  There are invoices to go out, Business Cards to print out, and the ever important task of making sure that the information for “Frank’s Hot Dog Shop” does not get coded into “Freddy’s Dog Kennel’s” Website, which means things like File Folders and USB Drives are very important to the day to day operation of a successful Business.

Promotional: How did you first come to discover your Web Designer? Chances are it was through an Advertisement, be it Online, Print, Television or Radio, Advertising costs funds for us Web Designers, After all that's how we extend the bridge to our potential Clients

Transportation: You like the idea of meeting face to face with those you are working with, so do Designers, but that means getting to a mutually agreed upon location for said meeting, that could be Your office or the corner Coffee Shop.  No matter the location, your designer needs to be able to get from their point A to your point B.  That means We’re looking at gas if we Drive (and upkeep on our car) or Public Transportation, and those costs have to also be factored into operating budgets.

Wages / Benefits: Once everything else listed above is taken care of , We Designers kind of like to still be able to eat, and to know that if we are sick, we can go see a Doctor.  That means Wages so we can look after things like this, and so you have a Designer that can actually do the job you need.

There is many a set of reasons why Us Designers tend to take a mentality much like the one depicted in the below image, and I hope this Blog Entry explains some of them

The Joy of [Digital] Painting

Before We go to much further into this blog entry,  yes the title is indeed an homage to the long running PBS series The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross. Now with that said, just what is digital painting and how does it happen to apply to the world of Web Design anyway?

Much like its analog counterpart, digital painting is the art of applying ink to canvas in order to create an image which is pleasing to the human eye. The techniques involved actually share many of the same details as well as an artist works with layers to build up the perfect image for a given project, be it an icon, header graphics or photo touch ups.

A differing area in the two, for the longest time has been with how the artist works on the images in question.  Digital Painters for many years worked primarily with a mouse, over time switching to drawing tablets, and for the creative, like myself,  even using things like Griffin's A-Frame iPad stand to create an easel, thus replicating the painter style, however, even this technique I believe will eventually evolve as more computers ship with touch screen displays and the digital stylus becomes more precise in its on screen tracking.

What is an “Internet Spider” anyway?

The website  netlingo.com described Spider as

Synonymous with a crawler, this is a program that searches the Internet and attempts to locate new, publicly accessible resources, such as WWW documents, files available in public FTP archives, and Gopher documents. 

Also called wanderers or bots, spiders contribute their discoveries to a database that Internet users can search by using a search engine. Spider technology is necessary because the rate at which people are creating new Internet documents greatly exceeds any manual indexing capacity (although search directories prefer the manual approach).

But what does a “Spider” actually do and what part of a Website is it crawling around on anyway? The answer to the first part of this question is that a “Spider” looks over the code and content of a Webpage so that when a user goes to Google, Bing or any other Search Engine, results can be returned for the search term enquired.

The Second part, needs to go into a bit more detail of something called Meta Data (found in a tag) to partly understand.  Meta data is information that tells the Spider what the Website covers, where it’s information is aimed (after all you would not want to be sent to a service in Vancouver WA if you were looking for it in Vancouver BC) 

So you see, while this is a very basic explanation of Spiders, in the case of the World Wide Web, Spiders are your friends 

What should a Professional Promotional Website include and Look Like Anyway?

A few blogs back, we discussed the idea of creating a Website to showcase yourself to potential employers.  Well In this edition, I thought I would take and create a basic Mock up image to show just how simple a Website like this could be and still effectively get your message across.

First, lets look at the sections we will use for this example, they include the following:

Your Index Page: This is where you create a very basic introduction and thank those who are coming to your site for taking enough interest in you to visit

Education: As simple as it sounds, this is where you showcase your High School and Post Secondary Educational accomplishments. Broken into the two sections, take a bit to explain your areas of interest in your studies and at the same time any awards / honours that you received.

Work Experience: Again, fairly straight forward here. List your past jobs in reverse chronological order, so that your Newest job is posted at the top.  Much like education you can list any awards / honours (like safety awards, perfect Job Attendance ) in this section

Social Projects / Contact Page: This is a good place to show off anything that you do to give back to the community. Are you a member of a Social Club like the Shriners or Lions, Do you give back by mentoring students in your spare time, or maybe spend your weekends helping at a soup kitchen.  

All this information is great to put in here as many companies love the idea of having an employee that they can show off in the public eye as a representative of their company

With the general sections covered, lets take a look at a basic layout example for your Website.

An example of a Professional Promotional Layout

While you will notice that our example image is lacking actual content, I hope you have noticed something else.  Take a look at our subject’s image and then look at the Website itself. Notice how we have actually matched the colours from the subject’s picture to our site’s navigation and header bar. 

By doing this we extend the subject’s picture through the Website and creates a visual impression of pride being taken in the presentation.  When coupled with well written copy, and a professional domain name, a digital impression can be made even after you have left the office, extra points if you extend the same colour choices to your print resume as it will showcase a even higher level of personal pride and professionalism.

“Hey, How do I do [insert enquiry here]?” The Answer, in 6 letters LMGTFY

I’m sure this has happened to many of us out there, friends or family members come to you with a question about how to do something.  It can be something fairly straight forward, but usually is worded in a way much like this

“Hey, Buddy, I’ve looked everywhere and I can’t figure out how to do [whatever it is they can’t work out], can you Help me out?

And, if you are like Myself, these usually come in any time of the day, but a good time for them to arrive is around 2 or 3 in the morning.  So, armed with the very question they asked, especially if it’s asked by Text or Instant Message as many tend to be, you manage to look like you know everything simply by doing what they could have done themselves (unless of course their Internet is the problem they are asking about), Go to Google (or Bing, or your search engine of choice) and have them the answer in 5 minutes or less.  

Your Friends and Family, as you hand them the answer respond with “Oh Thank You, I owe you one” or, my personal favourite to hear, “Wow, how did you know where to find the answer, and so Quickly?”

Honestly, the answer is simple LMGTFY, or Let Me Google That For You!  Do any of you have your own stories of troubleshooting things for others that they could have troubleshooted for themselves with a short search online? If so leave them in the comments

Is This Ad Campaign Really a Wise Move?

Let me preface this by saying that honestly I’m not the biggest fan of some aspects of the software and hardware offered by Google, but with the latest ads being deployed by Microsoft, the question crosses my mind often

Is Microsoft setting themselves up for potential legal action?

By now, I would presume that most people who follow Technology have heard of Microsoft’s “Don’t Get Scroogled” Campaign, the latest entry being this advertisement , linked here 

In the Ad, Microsoft presents a customer bringing a Chromebook into the guys from Pawn Stars, who refuse to buy the Chromebook due to the fact that since it does not run Windows and can not use iTunes it is NOT a Laptop and she may get enough to get from Los Vegas to Reno instead of the desired funds she wants to get from Vegas to Hollywood.

This Ad, the newest part of a multi-directional campaign that includes a Website which compares Windows laptops and Google Chromebooks and even a collection of items that can be purchased which showcases the Chrome logo and sayings like “Keep Calm and Don’t Get Scroogled” and “Keep Calm while We Steal Your Data” (as Pictured below)

This actually, leads back to my originally posted question of is Microsoft setting themselves up for potential legal action? Technically Microsoft is using a logo that is Copyrighted to Google and requires clearance from Google to use it.

What’s your thoughts on Microsoft using Google’s Chrome logo on products they are making money from the sale of. Do you use, or have you considered the idea of getting a Chromebook and what do you see happening with the future of Microsoft’s “Don’t Get Scroogled” campaign?

A story of Technology doing good in the World

One of the wonderful things about the modern technology world is the ability for it to get your message to the world, even if you traditionally would have been isolated to a specific delivery method.

A wonderful example of this use of technology is The British Columbia Lions Society For Children With Disabilities,  and their annual Timmy's Christmas Telethon event.

The Telethon, was a annual event held on the first weekend of December from 1976 to 2000, broadcast on the CBC Television Network. In 2011, The Telethon was revived, moving from its old home on the CBC to SHAW Multicultural Channel.

The move, however, resulted in the Telecast not having the same broadcast range as the new station as SHAW's channel was a. Regional and b. Only carried on SHAW's cable network.

Come 2012 the Telethon, which raises money to see to the day to day operations of the Society's two Easter Seal House Medical Hospices, three Summer Camps for Disabled Children, and a fleet of wheelchair accessible vans, moved to a duel band simulcast,  on both the TV and the World Wide Web.

If you would like to view an example of how this works for the Lions Society, Their 2013 edition of the Timmy's Christmas Telethon brodcasts on Sunday December 8th at timmys.org

An Example Of Successful Deployment of Live Online Video

One of the wonderful things about the modern technology world is the ability for it to get your message to the world, even if you traditionally would have been isolated to a specific delivery method.

A wonderful example of this use of technology is The British Columbia Lions Society For Children With Disabilities,  and their annual Timmy's Christmas Telethon event.

The Telethon, was a annual event held on the first weekend of December from 1976 to 2000, broadcast on the CBC Television Network. In 2011, The Telethon was revived, moving from its old home on the CBC to SHAW Multicultural Channel. The move, however, resulted in the Telecast not having the same broadcast range as the new station as SHAW's channel was a. Regional and b. Only carried on SHAW's cable network.

Come 2012 the Telethon, which raises money to see to the day to day operations of the Society's two Easter Seal House Medical Hospices, three Summer Camps for Disabled Children, and a fleet of wheelchair accessible vans, moved to a duel band simulcast,  on both the TV and the World Wide Web.

If you would like to view an example of how this works for the Lions Society, Their 2013 edition of the Timmy's Christmas Telethon broadcasts on Sunday December 8th at timmys.org

Things NOT to put on your Personal Website / Social Media Profile

In Yesterday’s blog, We addressed the concept of having a Personal Website to help in promoting your talents to potential employers, So I figured today might be a good time to address what NOT to post on your Personal Website or Social Media Profile when it comes to searching for work.

The first wise move, is to go through those photos from Yesteryear and untag yourself from any that could present an image you don’t want an employer to associate you with, this includes things like Friday Night Stunts and Saturday Night Parties.

Secondly, if you are currently employed, or looking to get one with a specific company, never EVER leave any comments, by yourself or your friends (you can explain to them the reason why so they understand) on your Wall that would paint a negative perspective of your current or future employer. While you are at it review your Apps and privacy settings.

With your Social Media cleaned up, Now lets turn our attention to that personal Website, Since this Website is a presention of the Professional You that you are selling to Potential Employers, lets try to keep it fairly clean and professional. Sure, as part of your personality profile on the Website you can mention that you happen to like specific bands, but keep it as a passing reference  instead of gushing on and on about just how much you happen to be a fan of lets say Insane Clown Posse or Metallica.  Remember what you LIKE to listen to off hours may not be quite the sound that works in the office.

While you are looking for additional tips on this topic, I would suggest starting with an article like this one here 

Oh You’re an Artist, Why Haven’t You Created a Personal Website to Promote Yourself Yet?

We hear it all over the place, suggestions like “Use Facebook To Network” or “Are you on Linkedin yet? And while both of these, and many other services have their benefits, there might be one that you are missing out on when it comes to enhancing your Job Searching toolkit,

A PERSONAL WEBSITE!

This is especially a wise move if you happen to be entering into a career in digital trades. By having a Website, you allow potential employers to be able to view a collection of your work in one place. A simple QR Code, or HTTP address added to your Resume can link a potential employer to an online Portfolio of your work.  

Have skills in Video editing? A page of Youtube embedded videos in one place can showcase your best work.  Graphics Designer? Why not use a simple CSS slide show to showcase what you feel is your top designs. Musician? An embedded Soundcloud page will let the employer preview your tracks to see if you have the sound they are looking for.

Even Web Designers, like myself, can benefit from these type of sites. in fact I have one separate of the Website for Inertial Zen Designs, located here, that shows off everything I’ve listed above. 

By having a Personal Website, you allow your potential employers to get to know your personality a bit better, in a one stop shop of curated information.  Something for you to consider in this modern age.

Living Rooms: The Next Battle Field for Technology?

Video Game Systems (Playstation, Xbox, Wii U ), Media “Pucks” (Roku, Apple TV), Smart TV’s. Technology is moving from seeing users sitting at a desk with a full computer, or having a laptop on their knees to access information in the modern day and age.

The Living room is quickly becoming the Next Battle Ground for Technological advancement.  Microsoft wants their new Xbox One to become a core part of a user’s life, including features that allow a user to answer Skype video calls, watch TV AND Video game all at the same time.  

Apple TV, Roku , Google’s Chromecast,  the Playstation 3 / 4 Nintendo’s Wii U and even Ouya  allows a user to stream services like Netflix, Hulu and Youtube, while also letting users recast their videos from other devices.

But what if you want to do all this without the use of an additional device attached to your TV? That is where the Smart TV comes in, with companies like Samsung, LG, Sony and Panasonic shipping TV’s with their own stand alone WIFI and pre-installed apps for the above mentioned services, like Netflix

I know, as a Web Designer, I have taken to testing My designs on Video Game Systems, due to the fact that it’s going to become easier, and quicker, for users to just pull up a browser on their Web enabled Systems, But what about you, the Users, Have you found yourself doing something like having a conversation about where to order pizza and instead of running for a Phone Book or Laptop, or even your Smartphone, just turn to the TV / Entertainment system and search for a online Menu without leaving what you are otherwise doing. Leave your comments below

Which is More Important, Design or Content?

This past week the question was asked on Google Plus, which is more important Design or Content when it comes to Web Design?

As a Web Designer, I though I would weigh in on this question. Frankly the two share a 50-50 partnership in the creation of an effective Website.  Lets take a look at why each of them is important in the creation of a successful Website.

First, Design. Design is the elements that create the layout for a Website, it makes everything work together and flow together, allowing the user an easy, well set up way to access the information, to get to the sections they need and allow things to flow so you can go from your Home page to any sub-domain pages the user may need to access.

A good example of this is when you have a website where you start off on the home page, move to an about us page and follow a link to a contact us page.  The quick way for the user to navigate back is for somewhere near the top menu having a small site map, as simple as reading 

Home > About Us > Contact Us

And while a simple link system like this, a design element, allows the user to know where they are and how to get back, it does not cover why the person is accessing the Website.

Content, is the information your clients are looking for, but it needs to be accessible and presented in a readable way to be of any use to customers.

Think of the Content Vs Design debate in this way. You walk into a shopping mall and there are 3 new stores, all selling the same thing. You check out store one, and they have product (a strictly content store) but it’s just dropped anywhere on a concrete floor, no organization or presentation at all. Going to Store two, you find that they have a place for everything, in an organized and inviting layout, but no product on the shelfs (this is the strictly Design Store)

About to give up, you go to the third Store, here you find a well laid out shop, with product on the shelves all well laid out and easy to access with good customer service.  When you think about it, which Store as a customer do you go to, better question, which do you want to be YOUR Store / Website?

When 1 Million Units for two companies really is not the same thing.

Sony and Microsoft are both claiming successful launches of their Playstation 4 and Xbox One systems respectfully, with each company saying they sold around One Million units in their launch weekend.  Impressive numbers for each company, but once one looks  deeper than just the numbers it's not quite as impressive for Microsoft as one would think.

The reason is due to a very Major detail, Launch Region.  When Sony launched the Playstation 4, they launched in 2 countries, Canada and the Untied States of America, for a total of over 900,000 units at launch.

Microsoft, who launched a week later, is also claiming close to 100 Million Units sold on launch weekend, but their numbers are spread over 13 Countries, having launched in Canada and the United States of America as well as the following countries
 Australia, Austria, Brazil, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Spain, the United Kingdom . and New ZealandWhat this actually causes is questions that can be asked as to how the Xbox One will do in any given specific market. How do you think this generation of Video Games will go for Microsoft, Leave your comments below

AOL announces the end of Winamp, Rumour says Microsoft might Purchase, does Winamp have a future?

AOL made the announcement that the long used Winamp MP3 Player and Streaming Audio Service will be being discontinued on December 20th, 

However, rumour has it that Winamp and it’s Shout Cast service may not be as dead as one would expect, with reports coming out last last week that Microsoft may be looking at purchasing the rights to both, at least according to a TechCrunch story reported by TWiT’s TechNews Today podcast last friday.

According to TechCrunch’s Article neither AOL or Microsoft has opted to comment on the story, but claims are that the deal is not yet finalized as the two parties work on settling on a price.

Considering Winamp really has not seen many updates over the past few years, what do you readers think about this, do you still use Winamp ? Would you be OK with Microsoft owning it?

Coin Card: First Thought to come to mind is “Don’t Put All Your [Digital] Eggs in One Basket”

So, last week the announcement was made that a new Digital “One” Card called Coin is going to be released on the market.  The promise of the Coin card is that a user can program in their Debit, Credit and Loyalty / Club Cards into this one piece of plastic and ,through the use of a small on screen display /button system, be able to pull up just the card they need without having to carry a full wallet of different cards where ever they go.

While the concept, which will cost customers $100 per card to get in on using, may sound useful and very interesting at first, I actually had instant flashbacks to a piece of device given to me when I was growing up, one I’m sure many of you also have heard (Say it along with me)

DON’T PUT ALL YOUR EGGS IN ONE BASKET!

Even though the card is promised to be secured with 128-bit Encryption, the idea of a “One Card to Rule them All” card, much like this  (Image is a replica of the Plaz Card from William Shatner’s TekWar TV Series)

Actually worries me because, it is well known that Hacker’s are getter better and faster with their ability to break encryption in the modern age, now ask yourself, how safe do you feel your personal data is with something like this?

Feel free to leave comments below.

An Open Letter to the Video Game Masses, From a Fellow Gamer.

Dear Gaming Universe,

OK I get it, we all have our preferences, Game Systems, Titles, and Features available, but all this “Mine’s Better than Your’s” back and forth is creating something that I never, in over 25 years of playing Nintendo, Sega, Sony and Microsoft Systems, thought would happen

I HAVE BECOME EMBARRASSED TO ADMIT THAT I AM A GAMER!

Yes you read that right, I, someone who believes in the rights of gamers to choose, I someone who has in the past even suggested the use of Video Games to help with overcoming mobility related disabilities, I the guy who would be willing to sit and discuss Games and Systems for hours and like so many others in the world even can say I have a Photo of myself with Video Games Live creator, and Game Music Composer Tommy Tallarico am so disappointed with the way fans of both sides Xbox and Playstation 4 are behaving that I want to hide away and not even admit to things like having been a beta Tester for Jak X Combat Racing

The Video game communities, especially on a site like Google Plus, are filled with people who by age are supposed to be “Adults” yet are doing childish stuff along the lines of things like this

and this

It is childish actions like these that have left me in a mindset where rather than looking forward to the New Generation of BOTH Systems, new version of Uncharted on the PS4 and Halo on the Xbox One, unique ways to test my skills and entertain myself for hours, I would rather not even admit to being a Gamer, thank you all for that and enjoy your toys.

Production of iPhone 5c Suspended, Cries of Apple's failing ring out, but is it really a failure?

If one were go look at the Reports hitting the news the past couple days, you would think that Foxxcon suspending production of Apple's iPhone 5c spells impending doom for Apple.

Yet, when one truly inspects the details the questions pertaining to failure become more a statement of a risky businesses decision having been made.  The first thing that one has to take into account when looking at the situation is that the 5c was in fact a replacement for the scheduled to be phased out original iPhone 5, as evident by this side by side comparison of the two models.

The fact that the real only changes between the two are Battery life and the Camera's Aperture instantly put the 5c behind the 8 ball with users as the 5c was not really all that much of a improvement over the iPhone 5 it was replacing on the market.

Couple this detail with the features of the 5s, including a 64 bit processor and Apple's touch ID system, all for a very minimal price difference over the 5c and a picture very quickly develops that shows that the users want the newer technology, a detail Apple was not originally able to keep up with, as they banked on the market being able to support both the 5c and 5s models.

Unlike the step from the iPhone 4s to the 5, which saw major price drops to the 4s when the 5 launched, there was not the same difference between the 5 and 5c prices, the result being a undervalued product.

What many may see as failure, may better to be viewed as a company learning from a mistake and shifting production to the product that's selling.

Tools for a More Productive Designer

Like all well organised and prepared professionals,  sometimes we Web Design Experts have to refer to manuals in order to deploy an perfectly encoded website.  This may seem like an easy task to accomplish, but in fact, many times it means shifting windows around on screen or worse yet a desktop full of books and printouts to work around.

Then there is the additional loss of valuable time to researching this information instead of being able to focus on writing code.

So what is the solution for a Web Designer actually? Well, at least for myself it involves the use of a tablet and a reference Site like caniuse.com

Caniuse.com, much like the name would imply,  is a reference tool that breaks down the code by section and browser's support to help designers quickly reference quality information about the code to best use for cross platform browsing support,  and when displayed on a quickly accessible "P.A.D.D" (Star Trek fans will get the reference ) can allow for fast verification of how code is written and deployed. And should be in the Online tool kit of any Web Design Expert.

Bitcoin, what is it Anyway?

First, lets address just what Bitcoin is.  Wikipedia defines Bitcoin as being a distributed, peer to peer digital currency that functions without the intermediation of any central authority and was originally created by a developer going under the online name of " Satoshi Nakamoto" in 2008

Bitcoin has been linked to services like online sales of illegal drugs, including Website Silk Road, which was shut down bu the FBI in 2013, but it does have many legal applications, being accepted some online venders such as Wordpress and Reddit.

So how does one go about getting into trading and spending Bitcoin?  The answer is to "mine" them or to outright buy them, an article on Techcrunch actually says that the currency was valued at $188 USD to every 1 Bitcoin.

The main concern that is appearing is that since  there is currently no official governing body overseeing, governments world wide are rushing to catch up with this new online currency as there are around 12 Million coins in circulation (based off the number from Tech Crunch's article that amounts to a currency with a world wide value currently valued around $2,256,000,000.00 USD). Without question, a currency to keep an eye on.

Playstation 4’s Launch issues, What Story Does the Consumer Really Believe?

In case you were living under a rock and missed it, last Friday marked the launch of the 4th generation of Sony’s Playstation Video Game System, and boy, did the Internet world light up over it.

Stories, over the weekend were coming in fast and furious, as users complained about their units showing up DOA, getting the “Blue Light of Death”, Display issues and a collection of other problems.

Part of the blame has been aimed at Amazon, with the user base pointing out poor packaging and delivery breaking units in transit.  Others are pointing the Blame at Sony, citing a half baked Operating system that requires a 300 MB patch to be downloaded on Day 1 and still will see the PS 4 not having everything the PS3 did available to customers.

Perhaps the most interesting part of this, and something that has become a concern for Xbox One users awaiting their launch this Friday, is reports from IGN stating that a worker with Foxxcon (the company contracted to assemble almost every piece of technology out there from Apple, Sony, Microsoft and others) has laid claim that the assembly line this person was assigned to actually sabotaged The Playstation 4, citing the following quote

“The ps4 console we assemble can be turned on at best.”

The original post has been locked by IGN, but many sites have picked up on this story, including Neowin.net

Sony’s stance on it is that with any counsel release there is an expected number of failures and that the reports, a rough estimate would put it at 3,600 units of 90,000 units pre-ordered, is within acceptable operating standards.

The Question for Users world wide, is what is the truth of the Matter, has the launch of the PS4 been used as a tool to protest unfair work conditions, Did Sony rush the unit to Market to meet the Pre Black-Friday sales window, is the Playstation 4 really a Lemon, or is this really just a case of standard failure rate? Feel free to leave your comments below.

Samsung is working on their own Operating system, How risky a move is it really?

If Samsung has anything to say about it, the world of Mobile Computing software could be shaken up, as they are currently working on the Linux based Tizen Operating System, in fact it was just reported on Tuesday that Samsung has 36 supporters on side for this OS including Anti-Virus company Macafee and video game company Konami.

The question that has to be asked though is this “Is Samsung really making a smart, calculated move and how will this effect Android deployment / Market Share? ”

According to Market research group Localytics, Samsung devices make up 63% of the Global market of hardware running Android software.  This CBC article states that

“About nine in every 10 smartphone users are tied to either Google’s Android or Apple’s iPhone ecosystems, generating profit for Google and Apple every time they purchase a game or application on their smartphone”

The implied path that Samsung, and their partners, could be looking at with releasing a 3rd Major Operating system to the Mobile market, is to shake up the ecosystem created by Google and Apple, thus getting a piece of the action.  This may be confirmed by the following quote from the article, attributed to Kang Yenn-Kyu, an associate research fellow at state-run Korea Information Society Development Institute.

“"With only hardware, its influence is limited,…Samsung's goal is to establish an ecosystem centred on Samsung."

As someone who follows, and develops Websites that run on this Technology, I personally can see two potential ways moving in this direction could effect the market.

1. Samsung Successfully deploys the Tizen OS, taking their hardware share of Android’s users (that being potentially 63% of 1 Billion Activated Android Devices)away from Google and creating a Market that offers users Windows, Android, iOS and the Tizen Operating system choices

2. Samsung owners jump to other Android running Devices as they want the Operating system rather than staying loyal to Samsung’s hardware.  This potentially could damage Samsung long term revenue, as articles state that Samsung makes 17% of their revenue off systems running Android.

This potentially could impact google. as the Android software system delivers to them very valuable, resalable user data.  What are your thoughts on the potential this has on the market?

The Race to get it to Market Results in Waits for the Consumers

CNET UK announced the news this week that both the upcoming Xbox One and Playstation 4, for lack of better terms, Home Entertainment Systems. will be requiring a Firmware Update OUT OF THE BOX on their respective launch dates.

The Update for the Playstation 4 is being reported as a 300 MB download that will cover the system launching without protocols DVD and Blu-Ray Playback as well as Wi-Fi Streaming of Playstation 4 games to the Playstation Vita hand held system. The article for the Playstation 4 reports that the Suspend/Resume mode will also not make the launch window's software, with no given date as to when users can expect that.

On the Xbox One side, it is being reported that the System will not be able to play Blu-Ray Disks on launch day, The latest in a long string of negative press for Microsoft's 3rd Generation of the Xbox system, which has seen its share of Microsoft having to back track on policies,  Users facing things like being told the system must  always be turned on and wont run without the Kinect Camera (Both Reversed by Microsoft) and "Resolution Gate" in which the Xbox One's games will ship in 720p format

How does this NEWS really effect the world of Web Design you may ask, the answer is simply this. Much like these setbacks users will be facing on day one of the release of their respective system of choice are leaving disgruntled Customers, so too can having your Website both "Live" and "In Development".

Be it a Video Game System, like the Playstation 4 and Xbox One, a physical Store Front (think a Walmart or Best Buy) or a Web Site, if your customer has to work their way around things being "Under Construction" or are told "We'll have that ready for you tomorrow even though we originally promised to have it today" they are going to walk away and find business else where.

The Economics of Technology

Over the weekend, iMore.com's Rene Ritchie shared up a wonderful article posted on the Garden's Website where Charles Arthur broke down the Market Share of Smartphones and how Market Share only really comes into the equation when we reach Market Saturation.

Rather than going into my own break down on this topic, I have elected to post a link to the article here. Good piece to read, not just for Smartphones, but Technology in general

Why an 80% market share might only represent half of smartphone users

Evolution of Shop Class: Could 3D Printing become a part of school courses?

When I was growing up, my High School considered Trades courses to be Mechanics, Metal and Wood Shop and Drafting, all quality skills for students to learn, in fact I enjoyed many a hour in the Wood Shop and the skills from Drafting have been quite useful when it comes to being able to do Site layouts for Web Design (Seriously, Storyboarding a Website Really is nothing more than designing a plan of where everything goes)

So when some artistic verses to a poem woke me from a sound sleep early Saturday, my brain went into over drive and asked the question “Could 3D Printing actually become a course we see offered in Schools?”

When you think about it, the answer is  a resounding YES potentially. Many schools already offer Drafting courses, which use programs like Autocad to help students learn how to map the vectors of new designs, and the cost of materials could be worked back into the system by having Students figure out the cost up front (Project Management) and paid for by Parents (this is the way my High School actually handled Wood Shop projects).

At this point, the major cost that would be brought into question involves the price of the Printers and proper venting systems for Printer Lab modifications to existing Visual Arts / Drafting labs, with the Printers still costing Thousands each. but who is to say that in the next 5 years, maybe 10 years, we could actually see this new skill and trade being offered into schools all around the world.

Running a Company, it's best to keep your main computers hard wired

While troubleshooting my home WiFi connection the other day (My computer has been suffering from occasional dropping of connection), out of desperation, I pulled up an app called iStumbler that gave me the sub channel and location data of other broadcasting wireless access points in the area around my house. 4 points including my own

The result of the scan actually provided some rather interesting results.  Having previously established a known "geo-locational" zone for my WiFi using my iPhone I was able to create a diameter of signal.

With this approximation of the fence I then took to google maps to figure from the longitude and latitude data iStumbler provided where the one un identified access point was in relation to my location.

The result of this bit of digital detective work? The church across the street from my location AND a residence two houses over the other direction have me sandwiched between two access points broadcasting on the same 802.11 sub-frequency.

You might be asking how this effects keeping a business' main computers cable networked, as opposed to wireless.  The answer is this. The 802.11 frequency currently has only 4 sub frequencies and 12 sub frequencies in active use, the risk of being knocked offline by "digital noise" is something that could cost your company that all important contract or sale.

Where do You get your NEWS, or has Twitter really became a Newspaper?

In a lot of ways, this entry dates back to a prediction article by PC Mag.com's  Tim Bajarin in July of 2004. In the article the author stated

“…as I watched tweeted news alerts and tweets from friends, telling me that Osama bin Laden had been killed, I began to realize that there is another medium emerging that, in some ways, could evolve into the newspaper of the future.”


On Nov 4th CNET ran an article showcasing information from Pew research Study group, which  say 16% of Adults use Twitter, 8% get news from it and most of the users tend to be “Young, Educated and Wealthy”.

It should be pointed out that the sample for the survey was listed as “More than 5,000 US Adults” in the CNET article, which means the sample field is very small, but it leads to this question for you readers

Where do you get your daily news, TV, Websites, Newspapers or Social Media? Please leave your comments below

Awesome Idea, but I think this is likely going to be shut down fast

Streamnation, a service that is designed (much like many others) to allow users to share Photo and Video with their friends have, according to reports including this article from  The Verge, have  announced Streamnation 2.0, with some new features

Now normally a new version of a service, really would not be all that NEWS or blog worthy, but the company behind this service is offering a very unique service.  They are promoting the service as a way for users to upload their Ripped DVD files for sharing with their friends via Cloud based streaming, highlighting a type of DRM that would allow the video file to only be accessible by one person on a user’s friend list at a time.

Service founder Jonathan Benassaya was quoted in the Verge article as saying

“The concept of borrowing inside of fair use is restricted to friends and family, and since there is no copy involved, you are not distributing multiple copies of the same content to your friends." So it works like Kindle book lending, except with streaming movies.”

and

 "Ten years ago, you could buy a DVD, rip it, and put it on computer, but now, you buy something on iTunes, and if tomorrow you have a Surface tablet, you can't watch it… Why spend the same amount of money for content that has more restrictions?"

Where things become really questionable about the future of this service and if it could be facing legal actions from the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) is that the service is a pay to access service, with users having to pay a monthly subscription fee ($9.99 for 500GB of storage on one pricing tier), with no mention what so ever if the industry gets any cut of the pricing.

This can potentially be viewed as encouraging users to ignore copyright and share their ripped commercial content with the public (not to forget mentioning that should the MPAA take this service down, it could legally also gain access to the service’s user list, which means potential lawsuits of the users for uploading copyrighted materials to the Internet) , the concept is from my viewpoint on unsteady ground.

Lets not even get into the whole issue about how the service would go about blocking streaming video download plugins, like Flashgot in Firefox, from allowing a user to make a offline copy on their end of the stream.

What do you think about this concept, Chance of it surviving or dead in the water before it’s out of the docks? leave your comments below

Digital Muscle Memory, or why we complain every time Facebook Changes

The other night, I got explaining to a friend of mine the concept of Muscle Memory, which in basic terms is the effect of doing something the same way often enough that it becomes a consistent “auto pilot” action.

This action, is not something that is isolated to just physical movement in the offline realm though, It can, and does, effect users when it comes to Technology as well.  In the title I used Facebook as an example of this phenomenon, but the Global technology community actually has seen this happen even more recently with the change by Apple from iOS 6 to iOS 7.

All it takes is for someone to ask a user about their iOS 7 experience  to find comments along the lines of 

“They moved everything, I want it back the way it was”

and

“Why did they have to go and screw everything up? i knew exactly how to use it, then they did this to me!”

The fact is, I have heard these same comments in many different places, from how Google searches, to how Microsoft changed things as they transitioned from Windows 7 to Windows 8, or moved Hotmail to Outlook, merged MSN Messenger into Skype. The list could go on and on.  

It all comes down to one very basic concept, We, the end users, becoming conditioned to things working a specific way, and not wanting to have relearn when things are changes, in many cases (I wont include the Tiled Start Menu vs Task Bar Start Menu detail, because, even I feel that  feel was  a mistake). Usually give it anywhere from two to 6 weeks, our bodies and minds become adjusted to the new way things work and we realize in many ways that it is indeed for the better. That’s just the way Digital Muscle Memory works

Multiple Platforms: The argument in favour of Web Designers arriving with Multiple "PADD's"

First, yes the title of this blog does indeed reference the technology from Star Trek: The Next Generation, as PADD stands for "Personal Access Display Device".

Now, with that out of the way, lets look at just why should a Web Designer actually arrive at a presentation with multiple platforms,each on their own tablet, and all tablets running around the same sized screen.

Currently available to the general public, tablets come running any of the following operating systems.

• Apple's iOS
• Google's Android (current version being KitKat)
• Microsoft's Windows 8 / RT
• Blackberry's QNX

And as addressed in prior articles, each of these platforms have different browsers available to their installed user base.  This, of course, means that any design created for cross platform browsing HAS to display properly on all platforms.

But how do you, as a Web Designer, show this to your client? Mock ups show off the concept, but falls short when it comes to interactive testing. Simulators for Android and iOS might not display the site correctly when emulated on a Windows laptop or Macbook, and the client wants to play around with the designs in each platform's environment anyway.

The solution comes in the form of the 7" - 8" screen Tablet market.  Think about it, for about the cost of one Apple Macbook Pro, a designer can equip themselves with less than 4 pounds of machines, which can be stacked into a secure area of a backpack or briefcase, deployed quickly at a meeting (say at Starbucks and the virtual office) and allow for quick access and evaluation of a design over multiple platforms. A good entry level selection for a Web Designer's "Field Kit" might look something like this

• Apple's iPad Mini with Retina Display ($399)
• Lenovo's Miix 2 Tablet running Windows 8.1($299)
• Google's Nexus 7 by Asus running Android KitKat ($229) and
• Blackberry's Playbook running QNX (price and stock questionable, good if you have or can find one)

Combine these 4 devices with a portfolio to take down notes as your Client looks over your designs, and you will find that you can quickly make tweaks to the design code in an efficient manor pleasing to your Client's eye and potentially building a strong future proof professional relationship for years to come

Ticket issues to Woman who was Driving with Google Glass on, The Debate Starts

An article posted by the  The Huffington Post and may other sites on October 30th has reported that California Driver Cecilia Abadie was pulled over in San Diego on a Speeding offence, and actually left with two citations, the second being for Driving with a monitor visible to the driver, and in brackets the Officer cited Goggle Glass specifically.

The driver took to Google Plus later with the following comment: (spelling errors not corrected from the original posting)

A cop just stopped me and gave me a ticket for wearing Google Glass while driving! The exact line says: Driving with Monitor visible to Driver (Google Glass). Is #GoogleGlass ilegal [sic] while driving or is this cop wrong???

While the debate as to if Driving with Google Glass is volleyed like a Tennis Ball at the US Open, the Driver’s comment brings up a very interesting question to consider.

Here, in Canada, we have many Provinces that have instilled laws making the use of Technology, like Mobile Phones, illegal while behind the wheel of a Motor Vehicle, as displayed in the image below of the Ban in British Columbia

(Full Document available here)

Further more, in the same document (again this is based on the laws here in British Columbia), when it comes to Television Screens (Monitors) it is stated that

A person may not have a television image displayed within view of 

that driver unless the image displays pictures, information or data 

solely designed to assist the driver in the safe operation of the 

vehicle or the safety and security of its load or its passengers. 

The device must be installed so that it is securely fixed to the motor 

vehicle and in a manner that does not obstruct the driver’s view of 

the front or sides of the motor vehicle or interfere with the safety or 

operating equipment of the motor vehicle.

The Fine for violation of said Law is $167 and up to 3 Penalty Points on ones license.  What is your opinion on the topic, Should Google Glass be treated like a Mobile Device and fall under the ban, Technically it is a hands free Device, but also Technically it is a mobile communications device, Leave your comments below

How to ruin credibility and drive consumers away with just a headline

Headlines, they can either make or break the drive to your Website.  Usually, in this digital age they are that topic line that is placed in a Facebook or Google Plus posting or email message, and is intended to drive users to your Website to read the Article.

But did you know that it’s quite possible to actually ruin a Website’s credibility by picking the wrong wording?  This actually happened with one of the daily email newsletters that I’m subscribed to, just earlier this week.

On October 29th, I opened my email inbox to find this headline from CNET’s Insider newsletter

Breaking: CNET’s review of Apple’s iPad Air

Clicking on the story, returned a pretty standard technological review of Apple’s new tablet, leaving me to ask one major question?

HOW THE HECK IS A BASIC REVIEW OF A NEW TABLET BREAKING NEWS?

Had the new device seen a very critical issue with it, then it’s quite possible that their headline for the email Newsletter would have been fitting, but because this was not the case then their choice of subject line actually qualifies as something we have discussed in this Blog before “Click-bait”

And the problem with Click-Bait? Well lets just put it this way, Do you buy the National Enquirer at the checkout of your local store and then wonder why you wasted your money on the purchase? Online time is the currency and a user can be left with that same feeling, leaving them choosing to bypass your Website in the future.

Privacy settings, Who’s Responsibility is it anyway?

Lately, there has been a lot in the NEWS, in Blogs and on different Websites about Privacy Settings. People complaining about how this site or that site needs to do a better job with how THEY Manage Your Privacy settings.

after reading post after post about this, and even seeing some users announce that they were turning off specific features because it’s easier to not allow followers than it is to learn to practice due-diligence in making sure your settings are what  YOU want them to be, I felt that this was a topic I wanted to address.

The fact is, there is no gun being held to our heads to use any of these services, and yes there could be improvements made on the side of the services being provided, but it has to be kept in mind that these services are being coded for the majority of users who frequent them.  If YOU want to keep specific parts of your life private YOU have options, such as:

Keep a stand alone page for public interaction, separated from your Personal page on any site.

Take the time to make sure that little drop down indicator for your post is set the way you want BEFORE you hit the send button

Rethink just what information you are even posting up onto a site, and ask yourself “Does this need to be posted up anyway, or can I get it to just the people who need the information in another method?”

We hear it all the time, “It Takes a Community….” well yes it does, but every person in that community needs to take responsibility for the choices and actions they choose to take.  Keep that in mind when creating YOUR future postings

Apple Goes Free, My Thoughts

When Apple released their OS X Mavericks release last week, they also announced that things were changing with Pricing.  First they released this version of the Operating System itself for Free (previously a $20 upgrade), they then followed this up by releasing the Apps which make up iLife (Garageband, iMovie and iPhoto) and iWork (Pages, Numbers and Keynote) as Free upgrades for existing customers and bundled Free Apps for new Mac owners.

Many have seen this as a shot at both Microsoft and Google, who at least with Office suites, offer options to the Customers (Google’s free Google Docs option and Microsoft’s Subscription based Office 365 option).  But as I pointed out on my personal Google Plus account, the changing to a Free system makes sense due to Apple’s own iCloud service.

Months ago, during their WWDC (World Wide Developer’s Conference) Apple announced “iWork for iCloud” which brought the Pages, Numbers and Keynote apps accessible to anyone who had access to Apple’s iCloud service (a standard accessible option for anyone who owns either a Mac Desktop / Laptop, iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad device, and can be accessed even on Windows machines via the icloud.com website) 

When you figure, based off numbers reported in this CNET article, Apple has over 400 Million devices in the wild that runs the iOS operating system (iPhones, iPod touch and iPad), and every one of those owners have access to iWork via the iWork in the Cloud access option, the ability to actually sell these Apps to consumers have been diminished , after all, would you pay $60 for access to iWork on a Mac, plus an additional $30 to access the same programs on your iOS device, totalling $90 combined, when you can access the same tools as part of your basic iCloud account for Free? I know I for one would not, and I suspect I would not be alone on that detail. Going free was really the wise move on Apple’s part

Pre-Design worksheets and knowing your content Before seeking out a Designer

If you are  a regular reader of this blog, then you saw my post about explaining what a Web Designer does to someone who does not understand Technology. While there are many aspects of Web Design that can be explained in manors that explain more traditional publishing concepts, like Page Layout, there is a common thread in the two worlds that can leave both dead in the water if not addressed, CONTENT!

Content, is THE most important part of any Website Design project! Without content, the people accessing your Website are left with what amounts to nothing more than a blank page.  So, how do you, as the party commissioning the creation of a Website, make sure that the user has something to read?  The answer to that is simple, PLAN AHEAD!

A good Web Designer, will be able to provide you with tools to pre plan your Website, a Pre-Design Interview or Worksheet that includes information about your Desired budget, launch date, Domain name and the concept for your Website.

This document will also allow for finding out the type of content you want including in your Website.  Will it include Images? What about Sound Files? Flash ? Video? What Keywords are you looking to focus on (Important for Search Engine Optimization)? 

The Details covered in a good Pre-Design Worksheet, will allow you, the client, to get your thoughts in order.  From a Design standpoint, it helps your Designer get a grasp on what you want from Your Website, and hopefully will help you get the focus needed to compose the content you wish to spotlight.

If you wish to look at a sample Pre-Design Worksheet, Inertial Zen Designs hosts one on our Website Inertial Zen Designs under the Pre-Design section

OS X 10.9 Mavericks, Hands on Opinions

This past tuesday, Apple released the newest version of their Desktop / Laptop Operating system OS X 10.9 aka Mavericks, and right out of the launch pad (pun intended) they opened with a pleasent surprise.  Unlike OS x 10.8, which cost users $20 to upgrade, Mavericks was released for FREE!

With that welcome sigh of relief from the wallet, we moved on to Downloading (a process that took about 90 minutes, even with the large number of pings to Apples’s server, this really was not a bad time to download a 5.3 GB install file). Moving to  the install stage (Another 45 minutes process) was, as expected a smooth process.

So, we’re downloaded AND installed, now comes the important part. How does Mavericks run? Well first let Me say that I am not running the top of the line machine. Working with a Late 2009 Mac Mini and 2 GB’s of Ram, things have, so far, ran fairly smoothly. 

In fact as I’m writing this Blog, I also have an update to Garageband downloading/installing , 3 Tabs in Google Chrome, Have the Mail app open, running a couple messengers and watching an episode of Twit’s Tech News Today in iTunes (also updated, as iTunes, the iLife and iWorks suites have all been upgraded and for new Mac owners, or those that have used it in the past-though it seems this has to have been App Store purchased and not the disk versions, iLife and iWorks are now also Free).  The test will be when I fire up Photoshop, and get working with graphics work, but keep in mind so far this is all on a 2.26 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor and 2 Gigs of ram.

Apple has promoted that there is over 200 new features to Mavericks, including bringing Apple Maps and iBooks to the user’s screen.  Apple has also extended the hardware range that this new version can run, effectively making it able to be run on any Apple machine that has been released in the last 6 years.  

Initial impressions, I’m very pleased with this, with the exception of things for those who picked up iLife / iWork appearing to be excluded from the Free upgrades, at least on launch day, hopefully Apple will be able to catch up with this detail in the near future.

Tablet Typing: Could we use a re-evaluation of how to teach this?

It's been a standard for the ages, and I'm sure we have all heard it "Home row, ASDF JKL; " but maybe it's time to re-evaluate teaching Typing a bit.

No I'm not talking changing the basics here, just more how they are applied as we shift from the days of having physical keys under our fingers to virtual keyboards.  Think about it, Not even 5 years ago, there was no such thing as the iPad, Microsoft had no such thing as the Surface and Android, well…

gone are the days where we keep our eyes off the keyboard and on the screen, modern devices have seen to it that our screen IS Our keyboard, so why should the way typing is taught not change along with it

Tablets have required the user to change how they think about typing. In a hand held, portrait position, Many users are taking to working around their virtual keyboard by holding the tablet in one hand and using three to four fingers of their other hand to navigate the keys.  This is especially true when working with 5 inch to 7inch tablets and phones.

Some users prefer, as an option, the use of a Stylus when working with the keyboard on a tablet or phone. The other thing that has to be looked at over time is the possibility of the virtual keyboard eventually being replaced with voice dictation, rendering excessive typing a thing of the past.

What are your thoughts on the future of typing as we move from traditional computers into the tablet and wearable computer era? Leave your comments below.

Article Comments, the battle zone carries some valuable information…no really it's true

I've let my feelings about the combat zone of Technology fandom be known in the past, Others I have talked to and articles I've read have all made the statement that they cant be bothered to read the comments sections of posted articles now a days because it is just too much back and forth between respective camps (XBOX is better than Playstation, Apple users are Sheep and Android is better…and back and forth both ways)

I say some of the best information you can get, valuable information that might just help your company present better products and services, is actually to dive in there (with protection and a strong backbone) and READ IT!

Why, you might ask?  While a lot of these type of articles are commented on by people who have their own preferences, and perhaps a "My way or nothing" mentality. every so often, you can actually get comments left by people who have valuable input, or questions pertaining to your Products / Services.  Maybe you can find that there is a new way for your product to be used, like what happened with one company I interacted with, let me tell you a brief story

Here in Canada, it's a known fact that Hockey is a major part of our world, and with the change from Wooden to Composite Hockey sticks a company called Blade Tape created a new product that replaced traditional Hockey tape.  Since the Leg Brace I wear is made of the same material as modern Hockey Sticks, I keep an eye on these worlds to  think outside the box when it comes to repairs and wearability.  

Blade Tape, through their Website and Social Media wanted to know how people were putting their product to use. So I commented my use of it.  It was not 24 hours later that the company was contacting Me for more detail, detail that potentially gave them a new market for their product, and all because they read the comments on a posting.

Keep this in mind with your Social Networking setup, You never know, through all that "My side is better than your side" back and forth of the Technology Fanatic battles, you just might find the nugget of information that lets you improve your business.

First Unlimited Text, Then Unlimited Voice, What's charged for when Data goes Unlimited?

So far, there has been a trend I've been noticing in Mobile plan offerings.  First companies charged for Both Minutes and Text Messaging. Overtime Text Messaging because something that they eventually offered in a Free Unlimited Bucket.

Then, as phones really became pocket carried Computers, Text Messages and Voice minute buckets both became part of your Base Rate Package, with the charging item not being Data, but that lead me to wonder about something.

What's left for Mobile Carrier's to charge for? With Both SMS and Voice Minutes pretty much only having the cost of System Access being charged, and phones having the ability to access more and more Wifi based services. What do you, the users, think will be the next thing Carriers can charge for, Please leave your comments.

Prince George Hacks-Hackathon: A unique Experience

So what do you get when you bring about 20 of a city's Most Technical minds together in one place for a 6 hour day?

The Answer, Four new projects that can bring to the public information about Environmental info, compare City Spending Habits, collect data from Park visits and hooks fans up with info for the Canada 2015 Games.

Four teams, members of each team ranging from Web Designers to even one Rocket Scientist , started the day out with brainstorming. From there a group vote took a collection of around 12 ideas was narrowed down to four and work began. Pulling out the MacBooks, the Window's machines, and even a small platoon  of Blackberry Playbook's, the Teams accessed things like the BC Government's Environmental data, Google Maps API's and other tools all in the name of creating a marriage of Technological knowledge and presentation.

By 4pm the results were known, and the teams collective efforts produced presentable proofs of concept that can be expanded on, all in the name of bringing Data to the Masses.

Saturday Oct. 19th goes down as a first for the City of Prince George, and proved just what a Technological Think Tank can produce when working for a common goal.  It was my honour to be able to be a part of this first ever event and look forward to future events.

if you happen to be around Prince George BC and want to sign up with a future event check out the Startup Prince George Website and join us for the next one

Passwords

A little something different today as I'm sharing up a Vlog from the lovely and talented Nixie Pixel explaining a bit about creating a strong password

Nixie Pixel on Passwords

Social Media and job searching.

(This I wrote up a couple years ago, and share with you readers, please feel free to share )

We all know how addictive sites like Facebook can be, what with the games, applications and ability to catch up with family, former classmates and friends.

Social Media has give the public ways to interact personally, be it via web browser, Iphone or any number of devices. We can tell our friends with the push of a button “Hey I'm a Starbucks come join me for a coffee” just as easy as we can share photos from that House party at “Jason's” over the weekend.

However there is a side to Social Media many forget to take into account, and that can be the impact it can have on a persons search into finding work.

When someone who is searching for employment decides to start with a Social Media Networking site they should ask themselves the following questions:

1. Do I trust my friends to not post anything that could paint me in a negative light in the eyes of a potential employer?
2. Is it wise to use the same email account for accessing a social media site that I publish on my resume?
3. Can I be diligent enough to routinely log into my account on a daily basis and make sure that I have not been tagged in a photo that would give the an impression of being unreliable in the eyes of a Human Resources department?

If you can honestly ask yourself these questions and feel confident with answering yes, then its time to move on to your next step, deciding which Social Media websites websites will benefit your job searching best. For blanket networking a site like Facebook is a good starting point, but remember, your trying to target your skills to the marketplace your looking to get into.

providing you are ready to take into account a few basic protocols.

1. Language can kill you in the eyes of an employer.
   This not only means your personal use of wording but how others post to your profile's wall . Employers are looking at your social media page as an extension of yourself, but they want to be able to also see that you have the poise and diplomatic skills to be viewed as part of the public face of their company. Items like slang phrases picked up from shows like Jersey shore, or fowl language can instantly turn the opinion of an employer from one of interest to disgust

one way to make sure your profile page passes muster, is to get a list of terms that you know would be frowned upon by broadcast standards (Comedian George Carlin would have referred to them as the 7 words you cant say on TV) . Now with that list in hand bring up your profile page in a internet browser and then on a PC press your CTRL key and tap the letter F. This will bring up the find feature and allow you to scan your page for each of the words on your list. From there its a matter of self censorship for the betterment of your chances career wise.

Try to use the same judgment you would with inappropriate words as with photos, especially your profile photos, while there is noting wrong with a humorous profile photo, ask yourself , would this risk offending someone if this picture was being passed around a group that included all age ranges?

Think of photos in this manor. Does the image your uploading rate as G, PG, PG-13, M, or NC-17. While anything up to PG-13 may be allowed depending on how formal the office is, its best to not push your profile past PG, and preferable to try to keep it G rated as you never know when the company your applying to is looking for someone who they can feel confident will represent them with any age range.

2. Be aware of the groups pages and forms you decide to follow on your page.
   1. This becomes important when you realize that Human Resource managers are not going to stop their social media research of you at your personal front page. If your applying with a company like Telus, don't forget the fact that as a company Telus is going to most likely monitor all groups and pages related to telecommunications.
      In other words, it doesn't matter if you accept that “I hate Telus” invite your friend Betty sent you or you comment on the Rogers page that their “a million times better that that (Explicative deleted) customer service provided by Telus. The odds are that Human resources is going to direct your resume to the “not the right fit for our company” file.

3. Consistency
   1. Nothing is more harmful than a lack of consistency in between your social media page and the information on your resume. Basics can be covered making sure that the segments related to past job history and education match up. In other words try to make sure that if you worked at ABC sprockets as an entry level customer service agent that the information for both your social media page, your resume and your references all show consistent details.

4. Promotable Skills
   1. This is where you have the change to truly shine with a social media page. Do not hesitate to link to skill related projects. If your a Website Designer, put links to the sites you have worked on in your About Me section. For those who work Graphics design, video editing or music creation a social media page becomes your portable portfolio. With things like QR codes.
      
      
      
      
      interested Human Resource managers can quickly be linked to different aspects of your creative talents, and if your talents fall more towards hands on projects like woodcraft, welding, carpentry etc. The social media page still can benefit you immensely as it gives you a place where you can display images of projects in their different stages of development through to completion
5. Networking!
   1. This is MAJOR when it comes to putting social media sites to play in the quest for career advancement. A good example when it comes to myself is the fact I design and sell my own line of clothing, as such it helps to have an ear to the ground of the market trends and practices of different companies. Social media and networking sites like Linkedin allow me to connect with companies like Affliction Clothing, giving me a insight into the general size of their company, business practices and policies. It also permits someone with the creative talent to have a line of communication where they can sell a company on a design should it be something that doesn't fit with your own creative spark.

In the case of using social media and networking to your job search advantage, Google (or Bing or Yahoo etc) becomes your best friend, search for social networking and media sites that match what you are looking to get into. Find the Twitter feeds for companies you know are in your field and follow them, don't hesitate to make it an interactive usage of these services. For example, if your looking into wanting to work at a sawmill search out a company like West Fraser , follow them and if they post being awarded a kudos for attention to staff safety do not be afraid to click “re-tweet” to share the news with others, or even respond and offer a quick (140 characters or less) note of congratulations. It'll be remembered should an interview comes up and the response to “how did you hear about us” is Via Twitter

The suggestions in this document are only the tip of the iceberg, but as more and more companies branch out into the digital world, sites like Facebook, Linkedin and others are going to become factors that influence the decisions of human resource managers, who are on the look out to right fit a successful candidate into their company's day to day operations.