Tech Info For All

Correction: I've Moved!

2011-02-07T13:10:00.002-05:00

You can now find me at http://www.jodistoudenmire.com

I've Moved!

2011-02-02T10:43:00.000-05:00

You can now find me at http://jodistoudenmire.wordpress.com/

The Internet, It isn't just for your computer anymore

2010-11-11T18:43:00.001-05:00

The Internet isn't just for your computer anymore. Web connected devices are being found in more and more devices each day. Today you can find the Internet in cars, appliances and even in medical devices! According to a study done by IMS Research it is estimated that there will be 22 billion web-connected devices in the world by 2020. Another interesting fact is that machines are outnumbering humans in new subscribers for AT&T and Verizon.

Uses for web connected devices in your home

There are several uses for Internet enabled devices in your home. Imagine if you could be notified that your refrigerator was using more energy than normal? This could help you recognize an issue with your refrigerator before it costs you a small fortune! The can also be technology to allow you to know when you ran out of milk. The Internet, combined with electronic scales can let you know when the place you keep your milk is too light, signaling that you need some more milk. In your car, you can have the Internet help you not only with navigation but with things such as communication.

Web connected devices are also making their way into the healthcare industry. A new concept that is arising is the Body Area Network. This BAN is a network of computer devices that are “wearable” and can provide information on a patients vitals. This could be especially helpful for patients who may be in a high risk category or who have a medical condition which requires constant monitoring, such as diabetes.

Will the Internet ever go too far? Are there some places that the Internet just shouldn't go?

Innovating the User Experience on the Web

2010-11-04T15:00:00.000-04:00

In the SpoolCast from UIE (User Interface Engineering) on October 7th, 2010, Jared Spool interviews Luke Wroblewski. In this SpoolCast, Jared and Luke discuss Google’s new instant search feature. While Luke was working with Yahoo, he had a chance to work with the same concept called “Live Search”. For Yahoo, this ultimately never made it to market.

The Google Instant has brings up the question if forms in general will begin to change due to these types of concepts. If you stop and think about it though, a lot of forms on the web offer this instant gratification. Sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn both offer a way for you to search that provides instant results.

Well that’s all great but what’s the catch?

Not everybody who implements these instant searches has the ability to take out the distracting results. For example, when you type something into the Google Instant, after the first letter is entered search results are returned, however, Google has no way of knowing what my entire search string is going to be. Google appears to use my recent and common searches and puts those at the top of the list. As Luke and Jared discuss though, not every company will have the resources to implement something quite this well.

Inline Processes

Another topic that Jared and Luke discuss is an in line approach to input. I know your probably thinking, input is already inline in a form, I don’t have to go somewhere else to fill out the form. But stop and think about that. Many times you actually DO have to go somewhere else to fill out a form. Luke brings up the example of Quora for a site that makes good use of inline input. On this site much of the interaction actually occurs through quick popup windows instead of taking you to a whole new page. Luke also discusses the Comcast site where he encountered a sign up process that was done entirely in a popup window. Inline input is good, but sometimes it just isn’t appropriate. In the case of Comcast, Luke felt it was inappropriate for the sign up process to be in line, rather than in its own page.

This has just been a very brief recap and explanation of the topics discussed by Jared and Luke. Beyonf what I have discussed here, Jared and Luke go on to discuss topics such as Apple’s Ping network and reusing information you have already loaded onto another site such as Facebook.

Navigating the Maze that is the Web

2010-11-03T21:48:00.000-04:00

Even the most experienced users of the web come across difficult web sites from time to time. Navigating the web can quite literally be a maze. Check out this mouse maze to experience the frustration that comes from inconsistent navigation. Navigation schemes differ from site to site, and even some times within the same site! Why do we encounter sites such as those? Quite simply because the people who create them probably never knew much about web usability. Now, I'm not trying to knock anyone's website but let's face it, not every site on the web is usable.

Tips for increasing web usability....

The following tips come from (http://www.humanfactors.com/downloads/10tips.asp)

Motivate users - you need to draw in your users to your site
Define user task flow - your site design needs to match what the users expect
Architecture – it's 80% of usability. Navigation needs to be intuitive and obvious to the user. Remember – if they can't find it in 3 clicks, they're gone.
Affordance means obvious - leave no doubt as to what you mean with everything in your design
Replicate - learn from others and use the resources available to you
Usability test along the way - test early and test often to avoid headaches later in the process
Know the technology limitations - Identify and optimize for target browsers and user hardware.Test HTML, JavaScript, etc for compatibility.
Know user tolerances - Users are impatient. Design for a 2-10 second maximum download. Reuse header graphics so they can load from cache. Avoid excessive scrolling.
Multimedia – be discriminating - animation can be great for drawing attention but don't overdo it
Use a stats package - monitor traffic through your site. Which pages pique user interest? Which pages make users leave? Adjust your site accordingly.

As you can see there is a lot that goes into designing a usable web site. What may be usable to you, may not be usable to someone else. I know from experience that what I find to be usable is many times not usable to others. I have a tendency to look at web sites from the perspective of the developer of the site and I have to make a conscious effort to place myself in the role of a user of the site I am building. This is not an easy task to accomplish so I rely on the opinions of others to make sure I am on the right track with a site design. Hopefully these tips can help you create a more usable site.

Web Accessibility - If something is accessible does that mean it is usable?

2010-10-21T15:25:00.000-04:00

Imagine for a moment that you are a disabled and are no longer able to walk on your own. You must use a wheelchair to go about your everyday life. Sure, it would be a big change and some activities would be significantly more difficult to accomplish. However, you would still be able to get around and do the things you needed to do. There are ramps to help you up a curb, public transportation is able to accommodate you, and there are handicap parking spaces to allow you the extra room you need.

Now imagine that all of those accommodations I listed are no longer available. It suddenly is much more difficult to accomplish daily tasks isn’t it? This is what happens for some people when viewing and interacting with websites. Notall websites on the Internet were designed with impaired users in mind.

So what exactly is web accessibility?

According to Derek Featherstone, author of chapters 22-24 in the InterACT with Web Standard book, web accessibility
“refers to the practice of making websites usable by people of all abilities anddisabilities”

So how can I begin to make my website more accessible?

The first step is to better understand accessibilityissues. There are several different types of impairments that affect a user experience. They can be lumped into four main categories.Visual ImpairmentThis includes many disabilities including:

Total blindness
Reduced vision
Colorblindness
Obstructed vision

For users who are blind, it is important that a website makes good use of text. This is important not only for the main content on a site, but for all of the images as well. Dealing with colorblindness may be even more difficult than dealing with someone who is blind. There are different types of color blindness and this is what makes it difficult to design a website that won’t have problems with colors being unreadable.

Mobility or Dexterity Impairment

Not all forms of mobility impairment impact a web experience. Some of the impairments which do affect it are:

Someone with limited movement in arms
Someone who may only have one hand
Someone with difficulty controlling fine movements
Someone who experiences trouble holding on to a mouse
Someone with a tremor or shake in their hand

These individuals will have specialized hardware and software to help them interact with the website and with the computer itself. It is important that the websitebe able to interact seamlessly with this assistive hardware and software.

Auditory Impairment

While it may seem that users with physical and/or visual impairments may be the primary concerns when it come to web accessibility, auditory impairment is just as important. There is more to the web than visuals. Try watching some YouTube videos without any sound. They aren’t very useful are they? This can be remedied with solutions such as closed captioning.

Cognitive Impairment

This type of impairment can be further broken down into different types. These types are:

Memory-related
Problem-solving
Attention deficits
Reading, linguistic, and verbal comprehension
Math comprehension
Visual comprehension

It can be a very daunting task to try and meet the needs of each type of cognitive impairment, but a good website will find the right balance to be accessible to the greatest number of people.

Whew! That was a lot!

Web accessibility is a large and complicated part of website design. There is a lot to keep up with and it isn’t always an easy task to do. Actually to be quite honest, it is quite a difficult task to do! I hope that I have helped you in your understanding of web accessibility and how to help your website become more accessible. Below I have provided a list of resources to provide further knowledge on the subject. This is by no means an exhaustive list so please add any resources you have found to be helpful!

Resources

The Web Accessibility Initiative - http://www.w3.org/WAI/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_accessibility
Web AIM - http://webaim.org/
Section 508 - http://www.section508.gov/

Web Typography

2010-09-27T20:01:00.000-04:00

When you visit a website what is the most important thing? Normally it is the content and many times, text is an important part of the content. The typography on a site communicates the tone an impact of the content. Web typography is the art of arrangement, style, appearance, and printing of type. Web typography has come along way since the web's inception when we were limited to a handful of fonts which could be used.

Understanding the basics

Web typography is anything but easy. There is a lot more that goes into it other than choosing a font. The image below, originally found here, shows various typographic definitions.

Confusing isn't it? As you can imagine, it can be quite frustrating to keep up with all of that.

And that's not all!

There is also, typographic scale, CSS, vertical rhythm, browser design, the list goes on and on! Web typography is important to remember when designing a site and not every one will have a natural ability for it. It can be easy to just focus on the content of the site and over look the text itself but you need to make sure you pay some much needed attention to the text itself.
I would by no means consider myself to be an expert in web typography. However, I can recognize its importance. How a website looks on a first impression can make or break your site. Whether you realize it or not typography can have a significant impact on the look and feel of the site. Being that I work in web development I understand what it means for a site to "feel good" to the users but I'm not always good at making it that way and I will be the first to admit it, I many times will overlook the typography in sites I design.

There's always room for improvement

There is always something you can learn when it comes to web design. My advice is to make sure you know when to ask for help and don't be ashamed to ask for help. We all have our strengths and weakness and we should lean on each other and make the Internet a better place for us all. Below I have listed some resources I have found to be useful on web typography. Please feel free to make your own additions to my list.

Typography for the Web
6 Ways to Improve Your Web Typography
The Elements of Typographical Style Applied to the Web
50 Useful Design Tools for Beautiful Web Typography
10 Web Typography Rules Every Designer Should Know

Web Standards and Why You Should Use Them

2010-09-08T15:19:00.000-04:00

Web Standards...Just what exactly does that mean?

It is generally thought of as guidelines and specifications to follow when developing for the World Wide Web. These guidelines are issued by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and will help to create websites which will be consistently available on most any browser or internet-enabled device. Web standards help to improve the maintainability of a site and the overall development process as a whole.

So why doesn’t everybody follow web standards?

The obvious answer is that some people simply aren’t aware of web standards. There is no qualification criterion that must be met before someone can create a web site. Unfortunately, because of that fact, there are a lot of bad web sites created by people who just don’t know any better.

However, from my personal experience, I have found that some people are aware of web standards but just don’t care to take the time to learn about them and implement them. And I’m not talking strictly about personal web sites; I’m talking about large web sites that are created to be the face of an organization. Getting this particular group to see the importance of web standards is a tall order to fill.

Well if they don’t do it, why should I?

Because you are better than them. Plain and simple, a good developer will use web standards and will encourage others to do the same. I’m not saying that a site can’t be created without web standards, but if you want a site that will be accessible, web standards have to have their place. Even if your are 100% standards compliant there will still be some minor differences between browsers and devices but your site will be accessible in the largest number of browsers and devices possible. Unless your goal is to annoy users and drive traffic to competitors, you want your site to work in a variety of environments and web standards will help to get you there.

Still not convinced?

Check out these resources for some compelling reasons to use web standards:
http://www.webstandards.org/
http://www.w3.org/standards/about.html
http://webstandardsgroup.org/standards/

Information Architecture

2010-09-02T15:24:00.000-04:00

Information architecture can sometimes be a difficult topic to explain to other people. According to the Information Architecture Institute it is defined as:

The structural design of shared information environments.

The art and science of organizing and labeling web sites, intranets, online communities and software to support usability and findability.

An emerging community of practice focused on bringing principles of design and architecture to the digital landscape.

So what exactly does that mean?
Since IA can sometimes be difficult to explain, the Information Architecture Institute has a section of their website for "elevator pitches." These are essentially a way of defining IA in a way that more people can grasp the concept of it and are worth checking out if you are unsure of what IA really is.

Examples of IA

Content Inventory
User Profile
Use Case
Sitemap
Wireframes
Paper Prototype
Story Board
Style Guide

From this list, I found the user profile (persona) to be interesting. The user profile will help you to understand the target audience. It will have information such as name, occupation, gender, education, computing and web experience among others.

So how does a user profile fit in with information architecture?
At first it may seem like it doesn't. However, you have to understand your users to be able to structure the information to meet their needs. Having user profiles created can help the information architect to stay focused on the user and their needs. These profiles are also important for helping make other decisions related to information architecture. For example, using the profiles the information architect could get an idea of how high a level of Internet skills that most of the users have. If most of the uses are not very technically skilled then the information architect can design the structure for the site to be easy to use for a non-skilled user. In this case, complex navigation would not be a best fit for users less technically inclined.

Writing Material for the Hurried Web User

2010-08-24T11:30:00.007-04:00

There are many people who feel like they are a good writer. You, reading this blog, are quite possibly one of those people. In school we all learned how to write an essay or do a research paper. Writing for the web is a bit different. Erin Anderson provides some insight into this topic in Chapter 5 of Interact With Web Standards: A holistic approach to web design.

What's different about web writing compared to print?
The main difference is the content. Web writing goes beyond what is just on the page. Web writers must understand the website inside and out before they can create quality content. Web writers must also consider the audience. People read online material different than print material. Online readers frequently scan material looking for only what they need. Websites are also harder to read for long periods of time when compared to print.

So what does this mean for me, a web writer?
It means you have a lot to think about before you even begin to write content. You need to understand the website you are writing for. You also need to consider ways to keep the website accessible to impaired users. A good web writer will also find the right balance between user goals and business objectives. There are certain skills and traits a good web writer possesses. They are:

Solid organizational skills and a knack for understanding information taxonomy techniques
An ability to adjust the voice and tone of your writing
An interest in making the Web more usable
A desire to work with a team
A thick skin
Ability to spin client feedback into great web content
A sense of humor
A sense of adventure

What is good Web writing?
Good web writing needs to be useful, usable, engaging and findable. Having content which is findable and readable can be a challenge. Having a findable page means a lot of keywords being used multiple times. If too many of the keywords are repeated this can make the content less readable. Just remember that your goal is not to write for search engines but to write for your users. Some tips for doing this are:

Give the user what they want and how they want it
Help the user accomplish something
Be consistent
Anticipate questions and answer them before being asked
Write clear navigation
Avoid unnecessary text
Be descriptive with headings
Make your users feel smart
Be personable
Be authentic
Avoid "marketing speak"
Place keywords early
Use synonyms to avoid overusing a word
Never sacrifice readability

So I hope I leave you with a better understanding of writing for the Web and its challenges. Writing for the Web is not an easy task and requires a high level of dedication by you to your users, team members and to your overall goals or writing good web content and making the web more usable and accessible for all.

Communication and Collaboration in Real Time

2009-11-18T19:35:00.002-05:00

So, you may be thinking based on the title that this is nothing new. We already have the capability through instant message and collaboration tools such as Google Docs so what else could this be about? Well the new part to this post is about Google Wave is currently only available on an invitation only basis. You can receive an invitation from someone already on Google Wave or you can request an invitation from Google.

What exactly is Google Wave?
Google Wave is simply a tool for online communication and collaboration. You could think of it as combining instant messaging and Google Docs together into one tool...and it's better than that. The collaboration part of Google Wave offers much more than is available in Google Docs.

How does it work?
Google Wave operates through what is called a wave. A wave is a means of both communication and collaboration. Users on a wave can discuss and work together in real time through the use of rich text, photos, videos, maps and many more. The wave is both shared and live. What this means is that as soon as someone makes a comment in within a wave, any of the other users in the wave can see the comment right away. Although the wave does allow for real time collaboration, it does not require that a user be online at the same time as other users to be able to participate. When you are offline the updates made to the wave are saved and you will see them next time you log in, just like you haven't missed a thing!

Some possible uses for Google Wave could be, organizing events, group projects, brainstorming, or even games. The possibilities could be endless with Google Wave!

Net Neutrality

2009-11-10T20:02:00.006-05:00

Net Neutrality is a proposed principal which will aid in preserving the free and open Internet. In short, this would prevent Internet providers from controlling the content that is available on the Internet through their connection. It will prevent the providers from being able to speed up/slow down, or block content. Therefore making Internet providers simply a pathway with no control over the content which travels through it.

Who doesn't want it?
The answer to this one is the obvious...cable and telephone companies want to have control over the Internet content to be sure that it caters to their search engines and products and limits or even blocks content from other providers. The opponents of Net Neutrality see Net Neutrality as "a solution in search of a problem." They also argue that restriction on content which is aimed to increase quality of service is desirable.

Who will it benefit?
Having Net Neutrality will largely benefit benefit everyone (except for the Internet providers that is). It will allow for innovation and for further development regarding the Internet. Supporters of Net Neutrality include leading technology companies such as Amazon.com, Ebay, Google, Intel, Microsoft and many others. The FCC and Obama have also voiced their support of Net Neutrality.

Findability

2009-11-04T18:38:00.003-05:00

"Findability precedes usability. In the alphabet and on the web. You can't use what you can't find."
- Peter Morville

Findability and SEO
On Peter Morville's blog, there can be found a lot of useful information regarding the term findability. He defines findability as the quality of being locatable or navigable. Based on this definition it can easily be seen how this term can relate to search engine optimization (SEO). If a web site has a high level of findability then the search engines can locate it much easier making it search engine friendly. A findability/SEO cheat sheet can be found on Aaron Walter's blog. This checklist goes through several items that should be addressed in a web site that will increase the level of findability.

Findability vs. Usability
These two terms differ in the meaning. Just as the quote by Peter Morville mentioned above, "you can't use something you can't find." Usability is defined as a quality attribute which assesses how easy an interface is to use. Usability has five components:

Learnability
Efficiency
Memorability
Errors
Satisfaction

Information Architecture and Findability
Information architecture is the structural design of shared information environments. Having a good information architecture allows a web site to have a higher level of findability.

Findability and Accessibility
Accessibility on the web addresses the ability of individuals with restrictions to perceive, understand, navigate and interact with the web. Web accessibility can also benefit individuals without disabilities as well as organizations. Accessibility and findability go hand in hand with one another. If a web site is findable but not accessible then it is no good to the user. The opposite is true as well, if a web site is accessible but can't be found then it is no good either.

Best Practices in Devloping for the iPhone

2009-11-04T14:23:00.007-05:00

General iPhone Web page best practices

http://webdesign.about.com/od/pdas/a/aa070207.htm

Working with the viewport

CSS for good iPhone Web pages

http://edr.euro.apple.com/safari/library/documentation/AppleApplications/Reference/SafariCSSRef/Introduction.html

The WebKit and using it's features for iPhone Web apps

the iUI

http://code.google.com/p/iui/

Being Search Engine Friendly

2009-11-03T13:28:00.001-05:00

We have all heard the saying “a picture is worth a thousand words.” However, with web design the opposite can sometimes be true. When designing a web site, let us assume this is for an online book store, being a ‘pretty’ web site will not help to gain traffic and consequently income and profits. So for this scenario, having the right words in the right places can mean significantly more to success than to have a great looking web site. There are several important factors to keep in mind when creating a good web site that will be search engine friendly. First, the title tag should be short and to the point. The body of the page should contain a high density of keywords, especially in the beginning. Another point is to use the <strong> tags in HTML. Keywords should also be used in the URL, filenames, images and links. These are only a few of the factors to keep in mind when creating a web site that will be search engine friendly. A good quality web site cannot be created quickly. It takes time and patience to be able to create a web site that can be successful and meet your needs or the needs of your client, but by taking the time to do it right both you and your client will be happy in the end and have a great web site to show for it (and hopefully some profits too!).

Web 3.0

2009-10-29T10:20:00.002-04:00

Web experts think that Web 3.0 will be akin to having a personal assistant who knows just about everything about you. With web 3.0 searches would no longer be based solely on the finding of keywords but will rather evaluate the context of the search terms to find the best answer. You could put in complex sentences for search criteria and be able to get the answer you are looking for much quicker than with current web searching capabilities. Although this is still very much a developing technology and there is no set definition yet, there are certain traits that experts are agreeing on. The main traits are that Web 3.0 will provide users with a richer and more relevant experiences. Also, with Web 3.0 every user will have a unique Internet profile based on that user's browsing history.

So this all sounds great right? No longer having to perform multiple searches and spend hours at a time researching something on the Internet sounds great but there are some concerns that people have regarding this. If a Web 3.0 browser is retrieving information based on how you are searching the Internet then does that allow easy access for someone else to access information about you that you would rather them not know? Some people are worried that activities on the Internet will become too public through having this capability and as of yet there are no answers to these questions.

Creating Viedo for Use on the Web

2009-10-21T21:40:00.002-04:00

There are several things to keep in mind when creating and distributing video on the web. Some questions that you should ask yourself before deciding to use or create a video are:

What is the value the video adds to the website?
Who are your primary visitors or users?
Do your users have the browsers and bandwidth necessary for the multimedia you wish to add?
What is the primary purpose of your page or site?
Will sound and video add to, or detract from what you are communicating?

These questions will help to ensure that the video is relevant and carries a meaning for the targeted users. If the content is completely irrelevant and has no application with the primary audience than the creation of the video was essentially a waste of time. To help keep a video on track and on topic the use of a script is important. Addressing the capabilities of the user’s browsers and bandwidth is also important to ensure that the target audience can view the great video content that has been created. The use of good quality equipment will also be important to having a good quality video produced.

Why use audio or video?
Sometimes the use of audio and/or video may be the best way to get your point across. Also video may be a good supplemental source, such as a how to video to supplement written out instructions. Audio and video can also be used to stand apart from the competition by adding a “wow factor” or by adding a personal touch which may appeal to the target audience.

It isn’t always easy to create a video with meaningful content and a high level of quality but by following the simple guidelines outlined here you should be well on your way to creating a great online video.

Midterm

2009-10-15T17:51:00.001-04:00

MIST 7500 Midterm

Rich Internet Applications

2009-10-01T10:36:00.003-04:00

Rich Internet Applications (RIAs) offer an experience that is engaging and well...rich. These applications can function like a traditional desktop application but don't require an entire installation. Most of the time there will be a browser plug-in that would need to be installed but that is all that would be needed. When developing RIAs there are choices in what technologies to use. Some of the more popular and widely known choices are:

Adobe Flash
The technologies that are a part of the Adobe suite are widely used today. Companies such as eBay, Mini, FedEx, Nick.com, AOL and many others, utilize Flash technology to give their customers a better and more engaging experience.

JavaFX
With JavaFX you can create applications on mobile devices, desktops, televisions and other products. Some key features include: broad market reach, broad access to mobile devices, lower implementation cost, operation outside of the browser and many more. There are also choices in tools to use with JavaFX. There is the developer bundle, designer bundle and the Stand-alone. Each of these can be explained in more detail on the website.

Silverlight
Some of the main features of Silverlight include, cross-browser and cross-device functionality, smooth streaming, out of browser functionality, pixel shading effects and many others. Silverlight also takes advantage of Microsoft's .Net framework. Many .Net applications today utilize the Silverlight technology.

Google Webkit/Gears
Google Gears lets your web browser interact with your desktop, allows data to be stored locally as well as JavaScript can be run in the background to help improve performance. Gears is a free download available from Google. The Google web toolkit is also a useful tool from Google for developers to use. This toolkit allows developers to create complex JavaScript applications through the Java language. The toolkit will take the Java code and transform it into a high performing JavaScript application.

This is by no means and exhaustive list of technologies used in creating rich internet applications. There are many other technologies available to help developers create a highly interactive website. There are many benefits to creating a RIA. They can boost productivity by displaying information in a more meaningful format, they can boost performance and they can also help to keep your users coming back to your website by engaging the user.

Hulu vs. Television Industry

2009-10-01T08:44:00.005-04:00

It seems today that more and more the web is becoming an integral part of our daily lives. Hulu is one example of how this is happening. In short Hulu is an online video service. From their website you can watch TV shows, movies and clips.

What does this mean for the television industry?
An article posted July 16, 2009 on pressthebuttons.com sheds some light on this from an interesting standpoint. This article discusses the recent change which prevents people from using the PS3 web browser to use Hulu. Until recently anyone who had a PS3 could use the web browser to watch video on Hulu on the television through their console. However the networks who have content on Hulu did not like people viewing content this way. One interesting point the article brings up is that even though you one can no longer watch their TV shows on their television using a PS3, one could still connect a computer directly to their TV and watch content on Hulu that way. So by blocking content through the PS3 networks with content haven't really done much to control how content is viewed.

Just how big of a threat is Hulu?
Hulu and other web sites like it have a potential to pose a great threat to the television industry.
An article found here gives a visual comparison of hulu to paid TV viewership. To give some numbers, the number of viewers in the month of July was:
Hulu: 38 million
Time Warner: 34 million
DirecTV: 47 million
Comcast: 62 million

Could the Internet really replace TV?

Some people just don't see the trend in video broadcasting going very far. A few years ago I might not have seen much in that thought either but today it doesn't seem out of the realm of possibility. Speaking from a personal standpoint, I have used Hulu on many occasions. I no longer bother with trying to remember to record TV shows that I watch since I know that I can watch them all shortly after being aired if I miss them. Recently, I watched Dr. Horrible's Sing-along Blog. This show helps to explain how online video broadcasting is making its mark. Dr. Horrible's Sing-along Blog won an Emmy and was never shown on TV!

Microsoft vs. Google

2009-09-30T19:12:00.004-04:00

The latest talk from Microsoft is about the new Microsoft Office 2010. This version of office is said to be able to work on the phone, browser and desktop. This release of Office will be Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, Publisher, Access, InfoPath, Office Communicator 2007 R2, SharePoint Workspace, Visio, Office Web Apps, and Office Mobile. With the addition of the Web Apps, Microsoft will be creating a direct challenge to the current Google docs. Below is a brief comparison of Google Docs to the Office Web Apps.

Price
For personal use the Microsoft Web Apps will be free. With a Windows Live ID you will be able to use Excel, OneNote, PowerPoint and Word for free. These will of course be scaled down versions of the desktop software but will still prove to be quite useful for the portability aspect. So in this area Google and Microsoft Web Apps are equal.

Look and Feel
Google maintains a simple and easy to use interface for the Google docs. This is one area where Microsoft will differ from Google. The Microsoft Web Apps will have a similar look and feel to their desktop counterparts, including the ribbon feature. Microsoft is also promising that the formatting of the documents on the web will render correctly in IE, Firefox and Safari browsers.

Collaboration
This feature is what could set Google apart from the web version of Microsoft Office. With Google docs it is very easy to have multiple users work on the same document. With Office not enough has been said as to how this will be done. They are introducing a co-authoring feature which claims it will allow users to simultaneously share and work on documents.

So which one is better?
That answer will vary depending on what you are looking for. If you want a very simple easy to interact with tool then Google docs is the choice for you. If you want to stay with the more familiar Microsoft Office and don't mind a little complication then you of course would want the Office Web Apps. Personally I think I will prefer the Office Web Apps. I do currently use Google docs but I do see many downfalls and limitations to the Google docs. If Microsoft can provide at least some of the missing features in Google docs then I think they could take a large audience away from Google docs and into Microsoft Office Web Apps.

For more information about these tools you can visit the following web sites:
http://www.microsoft.com/office/2010/http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9135485/Microsoft_Office_vs._Google_Docs_A_Web_apps_showdown
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9135485/Microsoft_Office_vs._Google_Docs_A_Web_apps_showdown
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/13/AR2009071300661_2.html
http://docs.google.com/support/?hl=en

Twitter Tools

2009-09-24T07:38:00.012-04:00

There are several tools for Twitter out on the web for all different purposes. Today I am going to discuss a handful of the tools that I found to be interesting and useful.

Twitter Grader
I found this tool to be quite interesting and could be useful to users of Twitter. This tool is designed to give you a ranking of your Twitter page or of the Twitter account for anyone else. From the home page you simply need to enter the username of the Twitter account you would like to rank. Once you enter this information, Twitter Grader will create a report for you. This report will show the number of followers, number of users being followed and the number of updates. There is also a ranking assigned to the username. For example H&R Block on Twitter is ranked 51,477 out of 4,625,713. H&R Block has 3,552 followers, and they follow 3,421 users and have 1,233 updates. A combination of these figures gives them a grade of 98.9 out of 100. In addition to this information, you can also view a graph of the user history. This tool could be useful in creating or modifying your list of people you follow on Twitter. Over time you may find you are following a lot of people and you may not really be interested in all of them since some of them are no longer updating. Grading the people you follow can help you determine if someone is worth following or not.

Twinfluence
This is another interesting tool that could have similar uses to the Twitter Grader. What this tool does is measure the influence of a given Twitter user. For example Good Morning America (Twitter id gma) has an influence rank of #2 at 100%. This is based on a measurement of reach, velocity and social capital. The use of this tool is also similar to the Twitter Grader in that all that you must do is enter the Twitter username for the user you would like to evaluate. On the Twinfluence web site you can also view top 50 lists for each of the three evaluation categories.

Tweet Cube
This is a tool that will allow you to share files on Twitter. From the home page for this tool you will sign in to your Twitter account. Once you have logged in you will then upload the file you wish to share and type a message to accompany the file. You can upload a .zip, .rar, .pdf, .jpg, .png, .gif, .mp3 or .txt files. This tool would be useful for users who would like to share pictures with their friends or for companies who would like to offer users information that could be downloaded and stored locally so that it could be accesses outside the web.

SnapTweet
What this tool does is to post your latest picture on Flickr to your Twitter account. From the website for SnapTweet you simply need to provide your Twitter credentials as well as your Flickr URL to get started. You can tweet your latest photo by sending SnapTweet a direct message on twitter. You can also set up fully automated and tag-based posting. This post would be useful for users of Flickr who would like their photos to be easily viewable from multiple sources without having to do a lot of extra work.

TwInbox
This is a tool that could prove quite useful for Microsoft Outlook users. What this tool does is to essentially allow users to treat their tweets as e-mail messages. You can send updates from Outlook as well as receive updates in Outlook. When receiving updates, if the message is a reply or a direct message to you it will be marked as important in Outlook so that you can view it at a glance without having to go through messages to find the replies and direct messages. This tool can be used to help sort and organize your updates and fully integrate them with Outlook. To send replies, all you have to do is use Outlook's built in reply or reply all features to send a reply or direct message. There are many other features of this tool that can be found on the main website for the tool. This tool I believe can be very useful for people who are already regular users of Outlook and are looking for a little more organization with their social networking.

The tools that I have discussed above barely scratch the surface of the number and types of tools available for Twitter. Mashable provides a much longer list of tools available for Twitter, but again this would not be an exhaustive list of tools available. The many tools available can cover just about and need you would have to expand and help your usage of Twitter.

How Businesses and Organizations Use Twitter

2009-09-23T13:29:00.002-04:00

There is no denying the fact that Twitter has become a popular tool for sharing information. Although a lot of the information shared may appear to be completely useless information for most people, business professionals are also using this tool as part of their business strategy. Several companies are already using Twitter for a range of uses. Some examples of these companies are:

Comcast
H&R Block
Mzinga
Evernote
GM
EMC Software
Baskin Robbins
and many others!

These companies are using Twitter for different uses. Comcast is using Twitter to announce to its followers what the new onDemand listings are. This helps Comcast to be able to directly connect to customers about their product. H&R Block is using Twitter to connect with customers as well as to offer advice. Mzinga uses Twitter as a means for offering customer support as well as announcement about the company. Evernote uses Twitter as a means of communicating with customers as well as to offer advice and information about podcasts. GM is also using Twitter as a means of communication with its customers. EMC Software is using Twitter to communicate information about their products to their followers. Baskin Robbins in uses Twitter as a means of Marketing as well as providing information about the company to customers.

What are the top business uses for Twitter?
The answer to this question boils down to three main things. First, demonstrate knowledge and add value. by doing this you will be creating a sense of trust in your potential customers since they can get a sort of "test drive" of your services or product before they invest their hard earned dollars in you. Use Twitter to set yourself up as a source of information. Use this tool to become the go-to person for an area. Third, use Twitter to drive people to your main website or blog. These main business uses of Twitter can be found in more detail on Michelle Baca's blog.

How can companies begin using Twitter?
Chris Brogan does a good job of providing the answer to that question in his blog. In his post, Chris describes 50 ideas for using Twitter. The ideas range from as basic as using Twitter to listen for talk about your company to using Twitter to market your business or organization.

Sources:
http://www.businessweek.com
http://blog.convergencecoaching.com

Getting Started with Twitter

2009-09-20T20:05:00.002-04:00

Getting started with Twitter is an easy process. Once you have created your account (which only takes a few minutes) you are ready to go! If you do happen to have a problem or need to know how to do something, Twitter has a good help page. The Getting Started section gives a good overview of the basic workings of Twitter. There are a few features I have found through reading the help section that I found to be interesting/important.

Public vs. Private Accounts
You don't have to allow everyone to be able to view your updates. When you protect your account, anytime someone wants to follow you a request will be sent that you can then either accept or deny. When you protect your account you are limiting your interaction with the Twitter community. When your account is public you do not have to verify everyone who follows you. With a public account you can interact with others in the Twitter community even if they aren't following you or you are following them.

Various Types of Limits
There are some limits existing for all user accounts. Currently Twitter limits the length of updates as well as the amount in a given time period. There is also a limit on how many people you can follow. The length of updates is limited to 140 characters per updates with no more than 1,000 total updates per day. For the limit on the number of followers, that will vary for each user. It is based on a ratio of followers to people you follow. It restricts you from being able to follow significantly more users than users who follow you. For most users these limits do not cause a problem. These limits are designed to help protect the system from errors.

@replies and Mentions
Sometimes on Twitter you may want to send a reply specific to a user. To do this you would use @reply. This works by starting your Tweet with @username for the person you would like to respond to. So, to give an example, if someone were to send a reply to me they would start their Tweet as @jlstoudenmire (message goes here). This message would then show up in my list of replies. A mention is very similar to a reply. You use the same format as the reply; the only difference is that a mention is in the body of a Tweet and not in the beginning. With a mention you can also have more than one username as a mention in the body of the Tweet.

Direct Messages
A direct message is a private reply to a user. If someone is following you, then you can send them a private (direct) message. A direct message can be thought of as something between a Tweet and an e-mail. It is still formatted like a Tweet and follows the same rules as a Tweet but it is private like an e-mail is.

Twitter Widgets
A Twitter widget allows you to add a mini version of Twitter to your website, Facebook or MySpace page. This widget can be customized so that you can show what you want to display. You can also add a Twitter Search widget (note: the search widget will not work on Facebook and MySpace pages). You can also add JavaScript to personalize your widget even farther.

Opera

2009-09-16T20:39:00.007-04:00

Opera Software is a Norwegian based company founded by Jon Stephenson von Tetzchner(CEO) and Geir Ivarsoey. Opera is a leader in development of web browsers for desktops and mobile devices. Opera claims to be "Simply the Best Internet Experience on Any Device." They are known for providing high performance levels, standards compliance and a small size.

Opera Software's Products

Opera Browser
The Opera Browser has much to offer when it comes to features. Overall the Browser offers a fast and easy to use piece of software. Opera Browser is known for being innovative and the many unique features offered proves that. Some of these features are Opera Turbo Compression, Tabs in thumbnails, customized 'Speed Dial', Web Integration, Resizable search field and many others. Overall the Opera browser offers a fast, safe and customizable Internet Experience.

Opera Link
Opera Link is a useful tool to help keep you organized. The tool will synchronize your browsers so that you always have your bookmarks and other browser data wherever you are. It can be used synchronize multiple computers or mobile devices. You can also log in to a web version so that you can still have what you need even when you aren't using an Opera browser. Opera Link will synchronize you bookmarks, Speed Dial, Personal Bar, Notes, Typed Browser History, and Custom Searches.

Opera Mobile
In 2000 Opera Mobile was the first mobile web browser to use the full web on a small mobile screen. It has been installed on over 125 million phones.

Opera Devices
Opera software is used in both the Nintendo DSi and in the Nintendo Wii. On the Wii the Internet Channel is powered by Opera. The channel can allow you to browse the web on your TV through your Wii device.

Opera Mail
This tool is an e-mail client built into your browser. With Opera Mail you can access your mail even when you are offline and when you are back online your e-mails with be synchronized again. You can also use it in a low-bandwidth mode so that when you are using a slow connection you can fetch only the necessary information. Opera Mail will work with all of your different e-mail accounts.

Opera Unite
Unite can allow you to have the power of a Web server in your browser. You can easily share your data or run a chat room and host all of it within Opera Unite. You can also share with other web browsers.

Opera Dragonfly
Dragonfly is a tool for developers that can allow you debug JavaScript, CSS, the DOM, and HTTP from the browser. This tool can also handle mobile debugging in addition to the browser on your computer. Dragonfly is released on an open source BSD license.

Opera Mini
Opera Mini is "The world's most popular mobile Web Browser with over 30 million users." Mini is a complete, fast, and free solution to your mobile web browsing needs.

Sources:
http://www.opera.com/
http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2006/05/10-features-youll-find-only-in-opera.html

iPhone Applications...Paid vs. Free

2009-09-16T19:24:00.005-04:00

Today my focus will be on development for the Apple iPhone. This has become a growing field along with the growing popularity of the iPhone device. One important question for anyone developing an app for the iPhone is going to be, 'Should I give my app away free, or should it be a paid app?'

In short, the answer to that is that it depends. According to adMob there are significantly more free app downloads than there are paid app downloads. So this bit of information may lead you to think that with a paid app you won't have many downloads thus making it difficult to make money. However, the number of free apps downloaded should be promising to you. Even free apps for the iPhone and iPod Touch can make money for you.

How can a free app make money?

There are several ways that a free application for the iPhone or iPod Touch can make money. These applications can generate money thorough advertising, commissions, use of licenses, or by offering a paid version with more features. This is also not an exhaustive list of ways that free applications can make money. As a developer you simply have to be creative about how to make money off of a free application. According to AdWhirl applications that make it to the top 100 Free Applications list can make anywhere from $400 - $5000 a day (even at the low end that is $146,000 a year!).

So to go back to the original question I posed of should you sell your app or give it away for free. Both ways can provide a good amount of money...if it is a popular application. You just have to remember that even paid applications can end up not making any money for you if no one downloads the application.

Wikipedia

2009-09-15T19:39:00.002-04:00

Almost everyone has probably used Wikipedia at one time or another to find information. How many of us have ever bothered to make a contribution of our own? Until today I had never made a contribution to a page on Wikipedia, even though I have used the site countless times. The process of making a change to a Wikipedia page was very easy. First, I had to create an account. Once my account was created I had to decide where to make my change (this was the hardest part). I do not consider myself to be a real expert in a particular field so I decided to choose a hobby of mine. I chose to edit the crochet page in Wikipedia. On this page I made my contribution by expanding the list of basic stitches. The list I added by no means exhausts the list of possible stitches but I do believe it covers the basics. Previously there were only 5 stitches listed and I expanded the list to cover a total of 10 stitches. Once I made my changes in the editing page I was able to preview my changes prior to submitting them. Once I saved and submitted my changes they were immediately posted to the page for all to see. Now that I have experienced the ease of editing in Wikipedia I am now more inclined to make changes as I see necessary while I continue to use the site as a source of information.

Blue Ocean Strategy

2009-09-09T14:56:00.004-04:00

Most business schools today teach Porter’s Five forces model to their students. This model is certainly not the only model out there, but is it the best one? Some would argue that the model is lacking a sixth force – complementary products. Some would also argue that the Blue Ocean Strategy is more accurate strategy to use. In the Blue Ocean strategy the market universe is divided into two groups – Red and Blue Oceans. The Red Ocean represents the existing industries while the Blue Oceans represent the potential for new industries. A main difference between Porter’s model and the Blue Ocean Strategy is that Porter’s model is competition based while Blue Ocean focuses on creating a new industry where competition is not a factor. What this all boils down to is that it will depend on what your business intentions are as to which model you should apply.

For example let’s consider the situation of an existing company in the digital media industry. This company currently produces digital cameras. If this company wants to expand their product line into Blu-ray players they would most likely want to apply a competition based strategy to their business plan since that is an existing industry with several products available. Now, on the other hand, consider the same company wants to expand their product line to include a completely new product that has no other similar product on the market. In this situation the company would be creating a Blue Ocean. The authors of the Blue Ocean Strategy would refer to this as a “reconstructionist view” since they have now shifted their focus from creating supply to creating demand.

Some additional examples of companies taking a Blue Ocean Strategy would be:

Wii game console
Cirque du Soleil
Pet Airways
and many others

Sources:

http://blueoceanstrategy.typepad.com/creatingblueoceans/j_blue_ocean_strategy_pop_song/
http://www.blueoceanstrategy.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Ocean_Strategy

Proxy Servers and FoxyProxy

2009-09-02T18:55:00.005-04:00

My topic this week is about what happens behind the scenes in the Internet. This is a topic that I find interesting because many of us interact with the Internet everyday yet may not know about what is really happening. The video found on www.warriorsofthe.net does a good job of explaining this topic on an easy to understand level.

I would like to expand a little on what the video covers. In the video the topic is discussed of firewalls and filters. These filters are used many times by companies to block certain web content from being accessed. Now place yourself in the following situation. You are a consultant working on-site for a client. Being on-site you are reliant upon using the internet connection of your client’s company. Now, in this situation it may prove to be quite difficult, as well as annoying, to not be able to access certain websites. Blocking of certain information may hinder you from being able to complete your job. In this situation a proxy server can be used to get around the firewall.

What is a proxy server and how can it help me?

A proxy server is many times used to get around something in your way on the internet. The above situation works as a good example for explaining a proxy server. For the consultant in the above situation he or she could use a proxy server to gain unhindered access to the internet. The proxy server exists outside of the network you are currently in and then forwards the data to you. Another example would be that if you are outside of the United States and want to watch something on hulu. Outside of the United States you cannot watch anything from hulu. In this situation you can use a proxy server that is located in the United States and then that server will forward the content to you. So I can now get around restrictions on my internet, great! Not so fast though. Working over a proxy server can prove to be painfully slow. So how can you speed it up? FoxyProxy is an open source extension to Firefox that can help with this process. In short FoxyProxy will route blocked content through the proxy and all other content will come through your normal connection. For a more detailed explanation of FoxyProxy you can visit FoxyProxy's website. As well as FLOSS Weekly 84 Podcast which can be found on iTunes and http://twit.tv/FLOSS.

HTML 5.0

2009-08-26T13:43:00.004-04:00

HTML 5 will be the next major revision to the Hypertext Markup Language. The current version used in web development is HTML 4.01. Work began on this revision in June of 2004 and was adopted by the W3C in May of 2007 for review. Although the W3C has adopted HTML 5 it is important to note that at this point it is only for revision and is not a recommendation of the W3C yet. HTML 5 will improve interoperability and reduce development costs by making precise rules for how to handle elements. This revision of HTML is proposed as the next standard for both HTML 4.01 and XHTML 1.0.

HTML 5 will offer a number of new elements that are unavailable through HTML 4.01. Some of these new elements will be replacements for common uses of generic tags and some will provide new functionality. An example of a replacement will be the introduction of nav and footer

OSI vs. TCP/IP

2009-08-26T12:43:00.004-04:00

OSI Model

The Open System Interconnection Reference (OSI) Model is used by IT professionals as a reference to describe networks and network applications. This model was started in 1977 with a goal of providing a complete set of production network protocols. There are seven layers involved in this model. The seven layers are: Application, Presentation, Session, Transport, Network, Data Link, and Physical. The layers can be remembered by using the phrase All People Seem To Need Data Processing. These seven layers help to address five main issues.

How a network device sends and maps data
How a network device receives data
How devices using different languages communicate with one another
How network devices are physically connected
How protocols work on a network to organize data

TCP/IP

The TCP/IP protocols (Transmission Control Protocol and the Internet Protocol) began in the early 1970s as a result of work done by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Then, in 1982 the US Department of Defense declared that TCP/IP would be the standard for all military computer networking. The TCP/IP suite provides abstraction of protocols and services through encapsulation. This is broken down into four layers: Application Layer, Transport Layer, Internet Layer, and the Data Link Layer. The basic requirements of TCP/IP are:

A common set of applications
Dynamic routing
Connectionless protocols
Universal connectivity
Packet-switching

OSI compared to TCP/IP

There are many obvious similarities between the OSI model and TCP/IP but there are also differences between the two. The main differences between the two relate to the layers above the OSI’s Transport Layer and the Network Layer. In TCP/IP the Session Layer and Presentation Layers are combined into a single Application Layer. Due to a requirement of TCP/IP for a connectionless protocol, the OSI model’s Physical and Data Link Layers had to be combined. When looking at the OSI model it can be hard to determine which protocols should be mapped to which layer. TCP/IP, on the other hand, does not have this problem since it is broken down into much less specific layers. The reason for OSI not being used as widely as TCP/IP is because of the associated cost. Due to the complexity and cost associated with the creation of the OSI model the government deemed the project to be unviable and in the time it took for the model to be developed TCP/IP had taken over.

Sources:
http://www.tech-faq.com/osi-model.shtml
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OSI_model
http://www.wdsd.org/strut/OSI/osimodel.html
http://www.cellsoft.de/telecom/tcpiposi.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Protocol_Suite

Welcome

2009-08-25T13:52:00.001-04:00

Welcome to my blog! The main topic I will be discussing in this blog is Internet Technology. In addition to discussing the individual technologies there will also be room to discuss the tools, theories, interfaces and other aspects which are intimately related with the technologies themselves.

Internet Technology is a vast and continuously growing and changing field, which can be hard to keep up with. A goal for this blog will be to provide useful information to readers regarding the topic of Internet Technology. A second goal which I hope to achieve through this blog is to expand my own knowledge on this expansive topic. Each of these goals can, hopefully, be achieved through weekly postings I will have on new topics.

As previously mentioned, Internet Technology is a very broad topic which is continuously growing and changing so I will not attempt to exhaust the list of possible discussions but I will aim to hit on main subjects and current issues related to the field of Internet Technology. Possible topics for discussion here could be HTML, Mobile Web Technologies, Web 2.0, E-Commerce, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) or development languages and frameworks, to name a few. So as you can see this blog will discuss not only new technologies but I will also discuss existing technologies which we may interface with on a day-to-day basis.

Enjoy!