10 Feb 2010

We all know that the vast majority of email is spam or UCE (unsolicited commercial email) and that there are people out there whose sole aim in life is to harvest your email address.

I'm sure that you are very careful about placing your email address online, ensuring that it is protected by javascript, or using contact forms with hidden email addresses.

But when you add your email address to a newsletter or service do you consider the security of that list?

08 Feb 2010

There are certainly benefits to both social networking and networking in person. Is one really better than the other? Well, I guess my answer is that in order to really develop quality relationships, face-to-face is the best way. Is that always possible in today’s technological age of communicating online all over the world? Not always.

Social networking makes it very convenient for the non-socialites to stay cocooned in their own little world. Sure, they talk to people on the phone, over Skype, they Twitter and blog, but I would argue that the bulk of that interaction with the outside world only creates a “surface relationship.” Whereas an interpersonal relationship requires getting to know the other person more deeply.

01 Feb 2010

The other day I was conducting a review of a new web site and came across my favourite usability failure.

Drop Down menus suck!!

Not the whole menu of course just the bad habit of site builders who add functionality to the top level link.

26 Jan 2010

For the last few months I've been working hard with a team of amazing developers, designers and user interface gurus on a top secret project, protected by stacks of Non Disclosure Agreements, contracts and other legal protections.

I'm excited that at last I can reveal that Apple's new pad/tablet/slate (sorry still can't reveal the name for another 24 hours) ships by default with an application management and help system written using the Joomla framework.

26 Jan 2010

With every web browser on the planet rendering differently it's a constant battle ensuring that your beautifully and painstakingly designed web site looks just as gorgeous on all browsers.

Personally I build a site entirely using Firefox and only at the end of the build process do I look at it in other browsers, curse and swear and then start to fix issues.

But what is the best way to check your site on multiple browsers?

25 Jan 2010

If there is one thing I am fairly confident of this year is that touch will become an even hotter topic.

The recent CES saw a plethora of new touch enabled computers, Apple is still promising to release the iSlate (maybe even this week) and more people are browsing the web every day on their mobile phone.

So have you checked to see if your web site is touchable?

12 Jan 2010

Yesterday I was answering a user question on the joomla forums.

It doesn't matter what it was about but the upshot was that the problem was a known issue in the latest release and that a patch had been written and approved and was ready and waiting to be included in the next release.

But it was 24 hours and a lot of testing before I realised that it was a known issue.

It's not practical for regular users to search the bug tracker for "known issues" and fixes as the tracker is less than friendly.

30 Dec 2009

As the year ends rather than look backwards at what has happened in the past it's time to look forward to what will happen in the coming year.

I made such a hash of last years predictions that I hope this year I will do a lot better by stating the obvious instead of stating what I dreamed of whilst recovering from days of indulging myself on beer, food and cookies.

Here are my Top 10 Predictions for 2010 (in no particular order).