The Great Website Debacle

As many of you whom follow Inertial Zen Designs most likely know, things around the office lately have been fairly busy as our Website underwent some redesign work.

In the course of a week, copy was rewritten to improve Search Engine Optimization. Elements reworked to allow for responsive design that makes the code look good and improve mobile consumption was also completed. All of this was done to create a better user experience.

However if you happened to point your browser towards the website on Monday and into Tuesday, you might have noticed that something was missing.

The Website itself was gone.

Now this little detail has not escaped Me and I am currently in a waiting game that is caused by a lack of standards.

You see, My website address is registered with a domain company, My files stored with another company who does the hosting. A move that was done as a security measure.  The problem though is how the domain company was requesting and displaying the files from the hosting server. The result, some features were  not working correctly.

To combat this, changes were made in how one calls for the other. Those changes though have to repopulate over the World wide web, and that can take days as no two connection points update their databases at the same time windows. some taking minutes, some multiple days

And that is why Inertial Zen Designs Website has been unavailable. Sorry for any inconvenience.  

Smart Watches: The Over Priced Accessory

After watching the September 9th announcement from Apple, and focusing on their entry into the Smartwatch market, I actually found myself having a few thoughts on the matter, and keep in mind this is going to be covering what I consider a issue with Smart Watches in general, not just Android or Apple related devices.

The primary issue is Price. For this blog lets look at three models, the Motorola  Moto 360, Samsung Gear Watch and Apple's Watch. Prices for each of these devices, which are, as advertised, accessories and priced as follows (based on MSRP)

Moto 360 ........................ $249.99
Samsung Gear ................ $329.99
Apple Watch ...................$349.99

Some may at this point be saying "so where's the problem, the prices seem reasonable to Me" and if these were stand alone devices there would be no issue what so ever. However these three examples are all classified as Accessories.

ac·ces·so·ry

akˈses(ə)rē/

noun

1. 1.

   a thing that can be added to something else in order to make it more useful, versatile, or attractive.

That's right they are add ons to make a user's mobile device more useful, versatile or attractive.  Each of these devices serve a function of being a go between access point for a Smartphone user. They enhance the use of something, in this case the Phone.

Now using the iPhone for example lets look at this in two situations. First lets say the User decides on wanting the iPhone 5s.  

Depending on the configuation the use picks this option off contract is a $640 minimal cost, and a maximum cost of $700 without a contract.  With a contract that phone goes down to $100, that means that if  you buy the phone straight out, the cost of the Accessory is half that of the phone, but if you pick it up on a 2 year contract, you end up paying three and a half times the cost of the phone's upfront cost just to have a interface which allows you to not take the phone out of the pocket to check details.

With the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus this becomes even more interesting. The breakdown on full price purchase of the Phones are as follows 

                         iPhone 6               iPhone 6 Plus

 16 GB              $ 749.00               $    859.00

 64 GB              $ 859.00               $    969.00

128 GB             $ 969.00               $ 1,079.00

then add the $349 Accessory to things, it can add up quite quickly.

and the same can be said for the contracted prices on these devices.  Now I'll admit I actually like the idea of the Apple Watch. it has plenty of aspects where I could find it convenient.  As I live with a disability the idea of being able to just look at a wrist mounted display could in many ways make life easier when on the go, however and again this is just my opinion, these watches should have been priced in a range of about $60-$125.

After all, the are not a stand alone device, they are what they are marketed as, an Accessory.

Have any thoughts on this, I invite you to leave comments  

Where do you keep your Pencil?

A great design starts with a single simple item, A Pencil.  From the artist who takes the time to sketch that perfect image to their eyes, to the person creating a navigational map, to an  architect designing the next great skyscraper there is one thing in common, in their hand is a simple pencil.

That concept holds true for Web Design as well. A Web page, at its base level is really just the digital answer to a pencil applied to the canvas of the imagination.

Images are placed with text wrapping their way around them, creating a welcoming gateway for the use. From that gateway a path is mapped  that takes the the user through rooms of information.

Each page, its own digital room, guides yours guest through a collection of information that You believe showcases the value of what You represent. Along the way your guest is given the options to embrace knowledge, see the benefits of your vision and be embraced into Your vision of a better future.

Yet with all the code written, all the time spent in software like Photoshop, the testing to see how things look on any possible screen one can imagine, a Website is still at it`s core a piece of art.

Art that tells a story, Art that informs and envisions, but at its core, no matter the lines of code and pixels of graphics, still Art.

A passionate Web Designer understand this, they are tasked to take the vision presented to them and create something that speaks to those who see it

Web Designers are, at our hearts, Artists and before We even sit down to write that first <html> protocol in Our software, many of us go back to the most basic of tools.... The Pencil.

So when selecting a Web Designer for your project, maybe the first question one should ask is

"Where do you keep your pencils?"

oh Here, Let Me Google That For You

"Let Me Google That for you" or lmgtfy.com. to some it may be considered the A-Hole move of the year, pulled by a condescending Technological "fanboy" , and depending on when it is used it very well may be.

But lets look at it another way, shall we. lmgtfy can actually be looked at with the same viewpoint as

";Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime"

Google (or Bing, Yahoo, Duckduckgo and countless others) is the online version of someone fishing for something, that something is information.

Many times I have friends post to their Facebook timelines questions like "Does anyone know anything about [insert the topic here] ?" while being specific to tag Me in their post, hoping I know the answer.  Honestly though, there are many times where I actually do not know the answer and as such go to the process of highlighting their enquiry, right clicking and selecting

"Search Google for `content highlighted here` "

then return the link to the top response to the person as it usually have the information they are looking for (Truth is usually if your answer is not on the first page of results it is not correct anyway)

Now do not get me wrong, I am not saying that there are times when I would flat out refuse to help someone who can not find the answer they need, but with a website like lmgtfy I hopefully can show the user that in the time they took to post up the enquiry, waiting for someone to give them the answer, they actually could have done the following

point your browser to google (Most modern browsers actually let you just search from the address bar anyway)
Enter in the search query you are interested in
research the results

Besides there is always that bit of pride one can have when they can say "Yup, I did all the research Myself and got exactly what I was looking for"

What is your opinion on this topic? Leave your comments below

Handwriting needs to continue to be taught in the digital age

While I was visiting with My family the other week, My sister-in-law actually mentioned how she had heard that there are States in the USA where it has been decided that Handwriting should be removed from the educational system in favour of teaching students how to type their notes on the screens of Technology.

With My interest on the topic peaked, I instantly turned to searching Google, and very quickly found articles that indeed show this to be true. Articles like this one.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/8623605/Indiana-schools-to-teach-children-to-type-instead-of-joined-up-handwriting.html


This, of course, got Me thinking about the pros and cons of discontinuing the practice of teaching this skill. The top pro I could think of on the topic is that a clean, crisp font eliminates the major issue of trying to make out the handwriting style of every person in society.  But then looking at the cons of such a move a realization hit Me.

handwriting needs to be preserved as a tool of digital security!

Every day modern society is ending up hearing stories about credit card data can be replicated, data bases hacked into and Identity Theft happening. Handwriting, in the modern digital age becomes a strong tool in two factor authentication when doing transactions. It is the way contracts are signed. When tracking down the delivery of a package the first question asked is "who signed for it?"

Even delivery via unmanned delivery methods (think Amazon's Drone Delivery) can benefit from the addition of a digitizer screen and cellular enabled camera / transmitter which does not release the delivery until a signature is collected on delivery.

Yes, from My view, one of the worst things to remove from the educational programs of schools is the teaching of the art of handwriting, but what do you think?

Building better Websites through CAD tools

Every Website is, at its core, someone's vision. Every creator has their own vision for how they present their content to the end user and it is the job of a Web Designer to create the client's vision into a workable project for a client.

The question of just how a Designer can make sure they are seeing the same vision their client does can be one a tough one to answer.

In the past I have commented on the use of documents like a Pre-Design worksheet, but with this blog I would like to spotlight the newest tool I have added to My toolkit of Design.

Adobe Line.

Adobe's Line is a new app that runs on iOS devices, making it a portable, easy to deploy tool where I, when meeting with clients, can actually sketch out a working blueprint of the layout My client has in their vision.

Laying out ideas in this manor is actually known as storyboarding, and allows a Designer and client to make sure they are on the same page design wise.

My use of Line actually starts out with a basic wireframe being drafted. From this point, some simple questions about styles , menu layouts and general positions of elements allow for the creation of a image that can be pulled into Graphic Software, like Photoshop, where layers of colors and place holder text / images, a mock up graphic.

More information about Adobe Line can be found at the link below

line.adobe.com

Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation and a option to help protect one's business

So, along with it being Canada's 147th Birthday this July 1st, today also marks the activation of protocol and legislation that have been designed to help protect the Canadian Public from Electronically Delivered Commercial Messages (or as the legislation calls them ECM's, but to the average lay-person in short SPAM)

This new set of protocols actually places some hefty fines on the sending of email that can be considered Commercial in nature, but has been designed with aspects which are meant to keep regular email between family and friends out of hairs of being a problem.

With charges for violations ranging from $1 Million to $10 Million per violation (depending on how your business is set up) the onus has been put on the person sending the communication to prove that they have either explicit or implied consent to email the other party.

This actually brings up a rather interesting question of how does one make sure they have this consent in a way that can be proven should it ever come down to it? Online this is fairly easy as a small business can actually have their clients opt-in to a database structured system which will date the details of when and where authorization for a specific email address is given.

With face to face contact however this becomes a bit tougher to validate, as a contact can give you their business card, and later state that they did not give consent for ECM's, leaving it to the sender to prove otherwise.

So how does a small business protect themselves in this aspect? sure, if the request comes in via your Website and a Newsletter subscription system details like the Email Address, Time, Date and even a computer's Internet Address (their IP) can all be cataloged, but in person that is not quite as easy...not through Technology that is.

The answer for inertial Zen Designs is employing for this situation is that the standing policy for "First Contact" in person will be to carry a small day planner, specifically designed to allow for business cards and notes to be placed on the same planner page, with Me. 

Each page in this day planner will look like the image below and at the time of accepting a potential Business contact's card it will mean asking them to sign their name and approval of consent to the page that also will house their Professional Business card.  Yes this is an inconvenience that will lead to first contact taking a bit longer to complete, but it is something that I think is a rather forward thinking proactive way of managing communications with clients.

Do you have any ideas of how you would protect your business in a situation like this, or thoughts of the new Legislation in general, if so feel free to leave comments.