(…)
Read the rest of IronClad PC on a Stick Available from Lockheed Martin [Lockheed Introduces Secure Computing on A USB Flash Drive]

© TFTS – Technology, Gadgets & Curiosities, 2010. |
Permalink |
No comment |
Add to
del.icio.us

Go to Source

Social Media is “media designed to be disseminated through social interaction, created using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques” (Wikipedia), and if that doesn’t make sense I don’t blame you.

Basically everyone these days is interacting through online groups on Facebook, real-time feeds on Twitter, real-time searching with One-Riot and getting their website-of-the-day from automatically generated lists such as Newsified. A web article that was hot one day probably isn’t going to be hot the day after because there will be another one in its place. Social Media changes shape every day, in fact it’s changing the web every second!
Your website needs to utilize Social Media effectively in order to get a leg-up and be recognized in this constantly-shifting web cosmos. As a follow up to my previous article, I wanted to share a few tips that might help your website or web application grow. Since launching Project Bubble I have seen massive growth which I attribute mostly to the use of social media and I’m sure your website too can benefit from this.
A good place to start is to learn to understand Social Media by subscribing to blogs like Mashable and staying on top of the latest trends by following key people on Twitter. Once you get inside the world of Social Media and begin to understand it the following tips will make a lot more sense to you and you will be able to apply them to your website.

Build Community

A lot of websites are static, with a few simple pages and a contact form. The owner of the website only knows if someone has visited based on the tracking statistics (such as Analytics) and they can only communicate with their visitors if the person visiting fills in a contact form. Also anyone else visiting the website won’t be able to interact with other visitors, let alone find out if anyone else is interested in the products or services offered by this website.

Building social community features in to a website will spark life in to your online presence and make it change a lot more often. A site that you might have only updated every six months will suddenly get updated by your community every day, providing you can get the traffic. Your site will look a lot more active, but also by capturing your visitors’ information (such as email, name, country, likes, dislikes etc) you can collect a lot of data on your audience which will be really useful to you (make sure you have permission to capture your visitors’ information with a clear privacy policy).

Community features such as allowing comments on a blog will let your visitors say what they think about your products and services. A forum feature will allow users to network with each other, as well as being able to discuss a recent event in your business. Building a sign up feature to your site will let users be able to return to your website and have their preferences saved, and you will be able to store the contact information and data of those who regularly visit your site. Most of these features are fairly easy to implement and can make a world of difference.

Get Feedback

It’s important to get feedback from your users, especially if your web business is new. Don’t be ashamed of any bugs or small issues that might happen on your new website because if you can prove that you are listening to your users, and that you can fix these issues quickly – that will outweigh any problems or bugs people find.

A feedback system will let you know about issues that you might not have otherwise found through your usual testing methods, for example a recent one that came up in Project Bubble is Japanese and Russian characters. Someone reported the issue (and I would never have known about this) then straight away provided a fix. I learnt a lot about UTF-8 that day! Finally, providing a channel for feedback shows that you care about your customers and you are willing to change things based on what people report. This builds loyalty to your brand and will help with user retention. Tools for getting Feedback could be: UserVoice and GetSatisfaction.

Offer Interaction

Not only do you want to capture the users who visit your site and build a community, you want to offer them the facility to interact with you and vice-versa. Interacting with your website users will build brand loyalty and people will see that you’re not just a big corporate identity but are actually real people behind all the PR gloss. Get your users to talk to you, and when they do make sure you talk back to them straight away.

Tools such as simple web forms are absolutely essential in providing your users with quick, clear and targeted contact methods. Studies have shown that the more work you have to make your user do on your website, the less likely they will do what you want them to do. So, for example in the case of web forms – if you don’t use them and you rely on “mailto:” email links it means that people have to do much more work, whereas with a contact form all they need to do is quickly fill in their name,  email, select a subject from a drop down and then type out a simple message there and then. Also web forms allow you to find out data such as where they came from (based on the I.P. address), what page they were looking at when they visited the web form and so on.

Other tools you should look at to enhance user interaction are blog comments as mentioned before but most importantly Twitter. There are other articles on Woork that you can read which describe the power of Twitter so I won’t go in to detail here, but I’ll just say that it is absolutely essential for any web based business. You can not only find out who is following the developments of your business, but you can talk directly to them and involve everyone as you do so.

For example, you have just launched a new home page design and you announce it on Twitter, then somebody replies saying they can’t view it properly on their browser. You can fix the issue, reply back to them and then not only will they be informed of this fixed but so will all of your followers. The person who reported the issue will likely be very pleased that you fixed their problem so quickly they will praise you on Twitter, then you can re-tweet this feedback to all of your followers. So you have an issue reporting tool, but also a testimonial tool – all for free! A Facebook page is a great way of providing real-time interaction with your user base. Set up a Facebook page and publicize it just as you would a Twitter link.
People use Facebook every day (in some cases all day!), so the minute you post a status update you will likely get comments back straight away. Also because of the real-time feed system people will see your new update pop up just as they look at their other feeds. You can also allow users to upload photos, join in a discussion through forums and install loads of different modules such as a Poll system with just a few clicks.

Offer the Best Customer Service

As mentioned earlier, customer service is crucial to the success of your business. Your customers will want to see that you are active and in-touch with them. They will want solutions to their problems as soon as possible. The quicker you can turn-around with these solutions, the better people will rate your customer service. This will in turn create buzz about your company throughout the social sphere (Twitter, Facebook etc).

Let Your Users Create the Buzz

Make it easy for your users to create this buzz. As mentioned before you need to make it really easy for your users to do the things that you want them to do. With regards to creating buzz, you can add buttons and ‘widgets’ to your web pages that allow them to do this easily.
Such as TweetMeme or Topsy (offer a retweet service so your page will get easily posted on Twitter), Add to Delicious (allows users to add your page to their Delicious favorites), Digg This (allows users to add to their Digg bookmarks), Add This (allows users to add the page to every social website out there). The more times people add your web page to a social media site such as Digg, Mixx and so on the more likely your site will get featured on their home page. So it’s important to have these facilities in place if you are expecting a surge in traffic at any time, for example after doing a television, radio or magazine advert.

Good luck!

I hope these tips help. I personally think that social media is a lot of fun, and because there’s always something new to read every day it makes the web so exciting. Maybe your website will be in my RSS aggregator tomorrow as I read the Delicious most-popular list?

Go to Source

I read A LOT of web design posts during a week and thought that the very best articles deserved to be shared with you, my wonderful readers. So be sure to check back here every Saturday to find some great web design links.

Whitespace The Underutilized Design Element

In Defense Of Vertical Navigation

Process Of Redesigning N.Design

24 UX Articles To Start 2010

The Web Designers Guide To User Experience

Charles Elena Design Review

12 Killer Tips For Designing In The Browser

4 Rules For Pitching To Offline Clients

If you like this post you may also want to look at:

Blue Website Showcase

Guerrilla Advertising – Creative Attention Seeking #4

Why not follow me on twitter: @atikusdesign
or to ensure you are updated with every D-Lists posts follow: @d_lists

Did you enjoy this post? If so please share and allow others to enjoy it:

Go to Source

(…)
Read the rest of Google Grants Nexus One New Upgrade Subsidy [Google Nexus One Available for $279 from T-Mobile]

© TFTS – Technology, Gadgets & Curiosities, 2010. |
Permalink |
No comment |
Add to
del.icio.us

Go to Source

As it turns out, there is a lot more to Seattle than meets the eye. Aside from the beautiful mountains and scenery, there is an underlying culture of free living that I have not seen before. The attitude is all about, “Do what you want, do what makes you happy.” That explains why people like Quincy Jones and the Bill Gates live there. And, everyone knows that Jimi Hendrix, Nirvana and Pearl Jam all began their musical careers in Seattle. Duff McKagan, who was part of my favorite band of all time, Guns N’ Roses, and now writes for Playboy.com is also from Seattle.

So what exactly is the magic formula that gives a small town of 600,000 people such a creative edge? I’m not sure what it is, but for the first time ever, I’m finding myself wanting to visit Seattle and experience it for myself. I’ve gone onto Flickr and pulled some amazing photos that were all taken in and inspired by Seattle. I’ve given credit to the photographers below. The stories associated with these photos all paint a picture of Seattle that is happy and beautiful. Click on the links below to learn more. Also, you can read the original Fast Company article by clicking here: http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine

Thank you for sharing your Seattle pictures with us, you are so talented!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/theta444/16800827/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/surrealize/3628340618/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bryanswan/3085338823/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/adelmann/3302583508/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/adelmann/3320573029/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/suomynona/3756172346/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/adelmann/3339203467/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/adelmann/3332283820/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/piero/23712191/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/surrealize/3605986857/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/moog55/4173956236/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fiveminutebreak/2267760768/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/uncle_buddha/2993571961/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/qwkdtsn/2364634400/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thepressure/2583476903/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/vincos/158512082/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pleeker/151015066/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/apexrally/4059260046/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bala_/2792159590/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/21654792@N03/3424904314/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/americanvirus/4024845201/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/robgmsft/174254157/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/papalars/3634344633/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lindes/100015540/

Go to Source

Go to Source

There are a lot of new features, and as usual performance gains are showcased.

• Easy Setter Functions: For a while now, you’ve been able to pass a function into .attr() and the return value of that function is set into the appropriate attribute. This functionalilty has now been extended into all setter methods
• Ajax: A lot of enhancements to the various remoting functions including support for native JSON parsing, etags, request context, and more
• .css and .attr have been improved
• Per property easing on effects
• If you want to ensure that “this” inside a function will be permanently bound to a particular value, you can use jQuery.proxy to return a new function with that scope
• New events: focusin and focusout

And Joe Walker will be really excited to see that dojo.create has made it in!

Congrats to the jQuery team. I look forward to seeing posts over the next 2 weeks that go into more detail on the new coolness.

Go to Source

Avatar may be one of the biggest grossing movies of all time, but it’s got a lot of fans feeling super blue (pun wholly intended).

CNN just came out with an extremely detailed report on the intense depression that Avatar is causing among a certain segment of fans, fans who psychotherapist Stacy Kaiser describes as “lonely to begin with. They’re seeing Avatar, they’re lonely people, a lot of them don’t have a lot going on in their lives right now… The movie opened up a portal for them to express their depression.”

These fans are turning to online forums — some of which have thousands of posts on how to deal with the cinema-induced sadness — to express their distress. Here’s a few excerpts from the CNN report:

“Ever since I went to see ‘Avatar’ I have been depressed. Watching the wonderful world of Pandora and all the Na’vi made me want to be one of them. I can’t stop thinking about all the things that happened in the film and all of the tears and shivers I got from it.. I even contemplate suicide thinking that if I do it I will be rebirthed in a world similar to Pandora and the everything is the same as in ‘Avatar.’ ”
– Mike

“When I woke up this morning after watching Avatar for the first time yesterday, the world seemed … gray. It was like my whole life, everything I’ve done and worked for, lost its meaning…It just seems so … meaningless. I still don’t really see any reason to keep … doing things at all. I live in a dying world.”
– Ivar Hill, 17, Sweden

In short, people are depressed because their own lives don’t measure up to the fantasy, a phenomenon Kaiser likens to the ennui one feels after seeing a romance movie if one happens to be unattached and dissatisfied.

CNN goes on to examine how the 3D technology only served to deepen the depression, as the realistic landscape of the film seems almost within reach, even though it doesn’t actually exist.

Well, if that’s the case, entertainment buffs better start popping the Prozacs as mainstream TV stations go 3D, and holograms are incorporated into standard award show fare.

Has anyone out there experienced post-Avatar depression?

Tags: avatar, Film, trending, video

Go to Source

Katheryn’s style is one that I love–pictures that compositionally don’t have a lot going on but somehow capture your attention anyway. There’s this hazy feel in her shots, usually accompanied by this distinct air of mystery, that really makes you wonder about the story behind the picture. I appreciate photographers who make people think with their work more than those who just leave viewers in admiration of a pretty subject and composition.

Swing by Katheryn’s portfolio for more, and feel free to send me other photographer recommendations via twitter.

Go to Source

I took my sweet time trying to figure out whether or not I wanted to switch from PC to Mac and during that time I was able to do quite a bit of research on whether or not it was possible to transfer my Windows license to Mac. To be honest, I didn’t find a whole lot of information regarding this topic except for 1 inaccurate blog post on Adobe’s website that claimed that a transfer would be free – which was not the case.

Leading up to this I called Adobe to confirm some of this information. What I learned was this: I COULD NOT transfer my Windows version of CS3 to Mac CS3 but I COULD transfer my CS3 license to a CS4 license. All I would have to do is sign a document stating that I would destroy my Windows copy and never use it again, send that document to the people at Adobe, and pay them the regular upgrade price of $599. Seems easy right? Well, it was, sort of.

Once you’ve come to the realization that you are going to have to pay a lot of money to do this, your first step should be to call Adobe Sales and ask them to process your order. If you’re in the US or Canada call:

1-800-585-0774
Monday-Friday
from 5:00am to 7:00pm
Pacific Time.

Once you’ve got them on the phone. Tell them what you want to do. They will want your serial number. If you registered it, they should have it on file. Once that is done they will ask for your credit card number to place the order. Then, they will place your order on hold until you have submitted their LOD Form. To do that you will have to print it, sign it, scan it, and then email it to them by logging onto their site. At that point they will be able to process your order but in order for that to happen it will have to be approved by some one in customer service.

I don’t like to wait, so after I submitted my form, I called them to see if it was received.  They said that it was but the sales office could no longer help me so they transferred me to customer service (make sure you get the number) then you will have to speak to some one from there. They will tell you that a Senior Customer Service agent will need to approve the request and that it will take a few days to do. Don’t take their word for it. Do your best to push the order along. Remember, you’re paying them $599. They should be in a hurry to do this.

Eventually my order went through. I received an email telling me my order had been processed and another email telling me that my order had been shipped. Once that happened, I received my copy within 2 days. To make your version of Adobe CS4 for Mac work they will send you a full-version of the software, not an upgrade. That is why they make you jump through so many hoops.

In all, I was pretty happy with the process. It did take a while to make the calls and fill out the forms but it was worth the $1200 I saved by upgrading instead of buying a new copy. Anyhow, I hope this article has helped put any of you potential Mac users at ease. Good luck and have fun with your new computer and software!

Go to Source

Gavin Elliot is the creative mind behind DIBI conference. What exactly is this magical DIBI conference? We will get to that in a minute along with a promo code for the conference and a wicked competition to win a free ticket. But, first we are going behind the scenes with Gavin Elliot- you can also follow him on twitter.

The Skinny on Gavin

Gavin has some notable facts to bring him into the role that he is in today. He worked as a civil servant, a soldier in the Royal Corps of Engineers & ran his own business.

He now works at Codeworks as the Marketing & Creative Executive where he primarily works on looking after the Thinking Digital Conference and other projects within Codeworks.

What is your typical daily routine?

Typical doesn’t happen for me that often. Every day is usually different. I’ll generally get up at approximately 6.30am get things sorted and make myself a coffee (Starbucks ground coffee FTW) for the trip into the office. I’ll arrive around 7:40am and look over Twitter, I still don’t use an RSS feed and Twitter seems to work well for me. I like to get my emails sorted as soon as I sit down, so the music goes on and before 9am and I can usually have all of my replies done. I’ll check my diary to see if I have any meetings but my work pretty much is around the creative and ‘social’ side of Thinking Digital, DIBI then working with the other teams within Codeworks. I get up to alsorts whether it’s designing or writing. I’m pretty much busy all day. Head back home approximately 5pm before getting in to other projects or more writing. I love what I do so I probably seem like a workaholic.

What are the three things you could not live without?

1. My macbook and macbook pro (we’ll count those as one)

2. Basecamp (For managing my daily life and all the project I’m involved with).

3. My notebook where I draw or make notes. (I carry this pretty much everywhere these days.)

Do you find time to devote to all of your creative endeavors?

I do, I often think of ideas on the fly and quickly have to tell someone. I’ve set up various blogs over the years but am starting to tailor these back. I write quite often about design on my personal blog and have just had an article published in .net (Practical Web Design in the US). I enjoy writing and joining the Project 52 I’ll be publishing a specific post every week. Working out the time between design and writing can be somewhat cumbersome. I’ll be working on a small personal project over the next few months which the design community can use which I’m definitely looking forward to getting started on.

What do you think we will see in the design community in 2010?

I’m hoping there will be a lot more collaboration between designers. I think we’re now finally starting to see the community coming together and learning from each other. In past years there have been a select few who’ve been fortunate to build strong bonds with others but now with all of the social apps we’re seeing more communication with the community as a whole. I would say that the financial climate doesn’t seem to have hit the design/development community so bad over the past year or so however a lot of companies and freelancers have upped their game to hone their skills and decide what is exactly for them and then price themselves accordingly for being a professional in that particular field. 2010 could bring some very specialised designers in to the public spotlight. On top of that we’ll definitely see a surge in mobile design.

What drove DIBI conference to become a reality instead of just a dream in someones head?

We have a lot of web conferences in the UK including the likes of dConstruct, FOWA, FOWD, UX London and Build. Generally though, the conferences never reach further than Leeds/Manchester. Build took place in Northern Ireland last year so when you look at it, conferences have never been taken further North to the likes of Newcastle upon Tyne/Gateshead where DIBI will be taking place. We have a vibrant web community in the North East of England and it is an ideal place for people to travel to. With an international airport, train and ferry links it is an ideal location.

DIBI has a unique cast of characters speaking. Most of which are very prevalent in the web design community, how is it important to make sure you get people to present who are on top of their game?

We thought long and hard about what we wanted to achieve with the conference. It’s highly prevalent that you must reach out to speakers which are either doing something new or leading various areas of the industry to new places. It’s all well and good saying that you want to set a conference up but when looking at the finer details you want to create longevity and a good sense of hype and communication with the people who will be attending. Codeworks have a long standing commitment with the digital agencies in the North East of England and regularly hold ‘Think and a Drink’ evening events on a monthly basis.

What are you trying to make your audience aware of? Is it more of a conference where you talk about current trends and happenings or something that will educate them as a whole?

Definitely education. Whilst we’re expecting lots of attendees who are on top of their game, there is always the opportunity for people to learn more. Making sure that the topics are correct for the audience is paramount, attendees expect something different which is what we’re hoping to achieve with DIBI.

Will the success of DIBI determine the if the conference will be around next year or do you already have ideas of doing another?

Codeworks have had major success with other conferences such as Thinking Digital and GameHorizon and we’ll be looking to achieve the same with DIBI. Definitely look out for DIBI being around again next year.

How does DIBI set itself apart from other conferences? It seems the age of the speakers at DIBI is less than others. What else?

DIBI is one of the first two-track web conferences that we know of. The tickets are limited to 350 and we’re hoping for an equal amount of designers and developers attending. They will then form the DIBI 350, a unique set of professionals taking part in the first North East of England Web Conference. It’s unusual to bring both designers and developers together at the same time, we hope that whilst they’re in the same place as each other, relationships can be made and collaborations can happen. With regards to the speakers, we looked around to see who was available so that we could provide a good amount of variation from other conferences. The DIBI Conference itself will be running from 9am till approx 5pm then we’ll be moving on to a Think and a Drink/After Party in Newcastle upon Tyne.

THE GIVEAWAY

Here’s where you get a chance to win a free ticket to DIBI! Now, all you need to do is put the most creative reason why you want to go to DIBI (and a valid email in the comment box) and we will handle the rest. Do you want to go to learn? Network? See long lost friends? Tell us and you have a chance to get a free ticket!

Need More DIBI?

Site: dibiconference.com

Twitter: twitter.com/dibiconf

Discount for being a reader: Promo Code: “DIBI_hohoho”

Sponsored by

Advertise on Fuel Your Creativity.
Fuel Your Creativity 2009 cc (creative commons license)

The Creative Mind Behind the DIBI Conference

Go to Source

You got TweetDeck, Seesmic, Twurl and a lot more.  Now there is TDash. The developers of TDash designed it to look similar to that of the  Google Reader interface.

The key features of such an interface are:

• the ability to mark tweets as read, and thus to narrow down the user’s attention to tweets that are as yet unread.
• sort incoming tweets into nice folders automatically
• Inline expansion of conversations!
• Support for Twitter lists
• Automatic URL shortening via Bit.ly
• Ability to upload images.

Plus it has Keyboard shortcuts to make it fun and easy to use and is safe because it allows you to sign in using the OAuth.  No need to give out your password.  It is great too that you will not be required to install any software it is web based.

So if you are looking for a new tool to use, try it out and let us know what you think.

Main Image Source

Go to Source

So, DELL’s much anticipated Android phone has been talked about for a long time now. Few pictures or hands on have been put up on the Internet. But, finally there was someone putting up and leaked some video of it in action. First thing that strikes me the most is that it is HUGE! I keep wondering if they are trying to break in to the market of Apple’s much anticipated “Tablet” or “iSlate” as some have called it…even some sources from Apple.

The second thing that strikes me is that Asian people are not only genius when it comes to technology but they alsy have more fingers than the rest of us. LOL, I was a little freaked at first before I saw that the extra finger the guy sports actually looks like a female finger. There’s no telling who’s it is or if the guy sports an extra finger which he decided to keep looking female.

In any case, check out this really cool “little” piece of technology. Seems like it has a lot of potential. Or what do you think? Do you think it can rival the iPhone anytime soon?

Go to Source

Using Brushes are the one of most common techniques in Photoshop tutorial. You can save a lot of time and produce high quality art work, when you are able to manage to use the brushes wisely. And, this tutorial will teach you how to setup and apply the brushes to paint the cartoon scene.

(View This Tutorial)

Go to Source

I have found a lot of amazing Flash design recently and felt it was about time to showcase the glory of them all for you today. There is a great array of really great web design to be found in this showcase.

Bioshock 2

Walkman

Sweetfancy

Jim Carrey

Kenneth Elgaard

IDFA

Rider

Harajuku

Stadium

Playstation

Creative With A K

Million Baby Crawl

Box Jocks

Adhemas Batista

IKEA

Nation Of Go

PS3

Nokia

Journey To Zero

Rabbids Go Home

If you like this post you may also want to look at:

Flash Design Showcase #6

Flash Design Showcase #5

Why not follow me on twitter: @atikusdesign
or to ensure you are updated with every D-Lists posts follow: @d_lists

Did you enjoy this post? If so please share and allow others to enjoy it:

Go to Source

Is Twitter Necessary? Tell us what you think.

In a recent interview with WebPronews, SiteLogic‘s Matt Bailey said what a lot of people are probably thinking. You don’t have to use Twitter.

Frankly, it’s pretty astonishing how loyal Twitter users are considering the service’s frequent downtime and over-capacity errors. There are plenty of other ways that you could go. In this day and age there are so many marketing opportunities online, it’s ridiculous. However, they require time, and if you’re going to focus a significant amount of your time on one, you better make sure it’s a legitimate way of getting results.

This of course depends on the goals you have and the strategies you implement. As Matt says in the interview, "you need to have a consistent marketing strategy," and you should slow down and look at your marketing plan.

I’ve written before about 8 reasons you need to stop ignoring Twitter, but perhaps that title could’ve been toned down a bit. Think of these things as reasons that Twitter could be a good tool to consider using, because Matt’s right. You don’t HAVE to use Twitter. People are still running successful businesses without it. That said, it does have some advantages. The 8 reasons I discussed in that article were:

1. Twitter Lists
2. The Openness of Twitter
3. Building Valuable Relationships
4. Traffic That Cares
5. Staying Current
6. Connecting with Local Customers
7. Going International and Multi-lingual
8. It’s Still Young

Matt makes a valid point. Twitter may not be the "it" thing this time next year. It may still be as relevant as ever, but times change. I’m sure you remember when MySpace was the king of the social networks. MySpace is still around and heavily used, but it is often overshadowed in discussion by Facebook and Twitter.

Consider your goals (here are some possible ones). If Twitter fits into them, use it. If not, maybe it’s not worth the time. If you want to use MySpace to meet your goals, you might be able to do that.

Twitter is showing a lot of potential though. The company kicked off the new year with a bunch of new hires (including some former Googlers), and is really looking toward monetization and becoming more useful for businesses. With the opening of the firehose, a lot of new and existing apps are going to make it possible to do a lot of new and cool things with Twitter. Twitter Co-founder Biz Stone expects Twitter to reach a level of billions of tweets per second.

Do you think Twitter is mandatory for businesses? Share your thoughts.

Related Articles:

> Twitter Starts the Year with Some New Faces

> Stone Makes "Several Billion Tweets Per Hour" Prediction

> 20 Goals for Business Social Media Use

Go to Source

Originally posted at Technically Incorrect

Go to Source

Korea’s Viliv has a lot of goodies planned for 2010, and their four new products have been leaked before their impending CES official reveal. The company has something for the whole family including a new tablet, an ultraportable computer, and a pair of PMP devices.

(…)
Read the rest of Viliv’s Four New Products Leaked [Tablets, Ultraportable Notebook, PMPs From Korean Company]

© TFTS – Technology, Gadgets & Curiosities, 2010. |
Permalink |
No comment |
Add to
del.icio.us

Go to Source

Look for a lot of new innovations in mobile, television, cars, and apps. There will no doubt be a lot of cool things unveiled.

As usual, there will be quite a few celebrities in attendance at the event. This year, a guest might bump into Stan Lee, Drew Carey, James Worthy, Chris Mullin, or Methods of Mayhem’s Tommy Lee. A full list is here.

Keynotes will be delivered by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, CEA President and CEO Gary Shapiro, Ford President and CEO Alan Mulally, Intel President and CEO Paul Otellini, Nokia President and CEO  Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, Qualcomm Chairman and CEO Dr. Paul E. Jacobs, and Hisense Chairman Zhou Houjian.

There will be many, many exhibitors such as Adobe, AMD, Cisco, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), Ford Motor Company, Garmin, Intel, Kia Motors, Kodak, LG Electronics, Marvel, Microsoft, Monster, MOtorola, Opera, Panasonic, Sony, Samsung, Sanyo, Sprint, Taser, and lots more.

The nearly 400-page directory for the event gives you a pretty good idea about the breadth of information and technology that will be covered at this enormous event.  

You can find some of our past CES coverage here (articles). Our video coverage can be found here.

Related Articles:

> Scoble on TV Experience and CES

> The Truth About CES

> Looking Back on CES

Go to Source

Originally posted at Web Crawler

Go to Source

This post was a challenge for all designers to design something daily for the entire 2010. The post actually generated a lot of great response from the design community and there are a lot of people who have decided to make it part of their New Year’s resolution.

Action Speaks Louder than Words

"Your walk talks and your talk walks, but your walk talks louder than your talk talks."

In case you don’t understand what that means, it simply is a quote saying that what we practice speaks more to people than what we preach. I knew that when I started this challenge, there were people who were going to be a little skeptical and they were going to see if I participated in my own challenge. Well, I wanted to put my money where my mouth is so on December 31st, I decided to jump in and take on the challenge as well.

Design Informer’s Daily365

I have already started and so far, I have three designs that I have posted. I also decided that it would be a lot easier to have a theme for the blog, so for January, this is my theme: I will design a typography based design based on a quote using one of my favorite fonts. By the way, please feel free to leave a comment and subscribe to the Design Informer Daily365 feed.

Here are the three designs that I have done so far:

A Few More Pointers

I just wanted to give everyone a few words of advice regarding the daily designs.

1. Use the #daily365 hashtag so people can see your design.
2. Please don’t spam the hashtag with you designs. Please only post your design once. I guess retweeting other people’s designs is okay.
3. It would be good if you had some type of comment system where you post your work. That way, if someone wanted to compliment your work or leave some constructive feedback, they can do so.
4. If you have some free time, check out the other people’s designs as well and leave feedback. No bashing please! I understand that a lot of beginners are taking the challenge so their design skills might not yet be up to par with yours. As a design community, we should all support each other.

Smashing Ideas and Designs

Just two days into the challenge and I have already seen some terrific designs. Here are a few that have already caught my eye and are worth checking out.

Oddmotion – a daily video

Face Meets Wall – Getting Up After Hitting the Creative Wall

Design It Daily

Briansaar – Make Something Every Day

Subject to Change

365 Logo Project

Foomandoonian Daily365

Did You Accept the Challenge?

The above designs are just some designs that I collected in a short time. I’m sure there are a lot more awesome designs out there that I haven’t seen, so if you weren’t included, please don’t get discouraged or offended.

Have you participated in the challenge? Please leave a comment below and leave a link to your blog or where you have your daily design. Try to leave a full comment. If you just attach the link, Akismet might automatically classify you as spam and we might not be able to see your designs.

Remember, we will do a giant round-up of the top designs over at Smashing Magazine so don’t forget to add your link below. This will be an easy way for us to keep track of the daily designs.

Thank you for reading this post and participating in the challenge. If you enjoyed this post, please retweet it and give it a bump below. You can also subscribe to Design Informer and follow us on Twitter.

No related posts.

Go to Source

HP’s CES plans have been spoiled early. Reports and pictures for some 14 new HP models have hit the internet, ranging from lowly netbooks to the high-end gaming machines. HP certainly is going to have a lot of nice offerings in 2010. Although we don’t have formal, full specs for each computer, pricing and some basic tech overviews for each model have been released.

(…)
Read the rest of HP Planning Lots Of New Laptops, Desktops For 2010 [Leak Reveals 14 New HP Models Before Their CES Announcement]

© TFTS – Technology, Gadgets & Curiosities, 2010. |
Permalink |
No comment |
Add to
del.icio.us

Go to Source

There are a million ways to stylize your text into typography and using simple fonts is one way. However it may come across lame and ordinary if you’re just creating it by buying or downloading a font. It will be way more appreciated and eye catching if you really get into the spirit and create a font from scratch and truly spend time organizing it from the bottom up.

I found a really interesting tutorial on YouTube that I’d like to share with you all. It’s about stylizing a font like an architect would do it. It teaches you how to organize and draw, by hand, a truly good looking font in just a matter of seconds. If you have some skills and just 10 minutes this will truly change the way your designs or presentations look. Be patient and draw the lines correctly. The end result will even impress your closest friends.

Go to Source

Happy New Year to all PSDFAN readers. On behalf of myself and all of the PSDFAN team I would like to thank you all for your tremendous support during 2009. It’s been a fantastic year, seeing our once fledgling community thrive into a fantastic centre of design discussion. None of PSDFAN’s progress would be possible without your ongoing support, so thankyou!

Best of all, we have some HUGE things planned for 2010! I will personally have a lot more time to devote to the site, and so things will be shaken up in a big way in the coming months. Here’s some of the things that you can look forward to:

- We will be completely relaunching our members area, which will be packed full of exciting new features and great content. Hopefully this relaunch should be happening around the end of January/start of February.

- We’ll be sticking to a much improved posting schedule. I’m bringing several new authors on board, as well as posting more myself, so you can expect to see a higher quality of post, happening on a daily basis in 2010!

- With more posting comes more of your favorite kinds of posts! Inspiration posts are great, but we’ll be pouring a lot more time back into publishing the high quality tutorials that made PSDFAN what it is today! Additionally we’ll be offering several contests to help reward our readers.

- New websites! Whilst January will be used to refine our new posting schedule and relaunch the members area, we will launching a sister site to PSDFAN that we’re very excited about. Stay tuned for more news on this one!

I’ll leave you on that note, but be sure to enjoy your evenings, and I look forward to talking with you all in the New Year!

Most Popular PSDFAN Posts of 2009

To remind ourselves of the great progress that PSDFAN made this year I’ve decided to roundup our most popular posts of 2009. These posts hopefully gave the design community a lot of inspiration and so I hope that you enjoyed them. If you haven’t read any of these posts yet be sure to check them out!

Tutorials

From web designs to advertisements, we published a lot of creative tutorials in 09. If you haven’t tried any of these tutorials out yet, then I hope you’ll do so, and come up with something really creative.

Making the ‘Clean Grunge’ Blog Design

Create a Mock-Retro Poster Concept

Design a Stunning Sneaker Advert

Create a Professional Portfolio Design in 17 Easy Steps

Create Smokey Typography in 12 Steps

Become a Master of the Pen Tool in Under 30 Minutes

Create a Simple, Professional Typographical Design

Advanced Tutorial: Creating ‘Broken Link’

Articles

From logos, to websites, to wallpapers, we posted a lot of useful resources for designers this year. I hope that you’ll review some of these posts as they still help me in my daily work!

30 Creative Google Doodles

20+ Super Professional Photoshop Light Effects Tutorials

50 Superb Photo-Manips You Probably Haven’t Seen Before

35 High Def Wallpapers to Calm and Inspire You

30 Awesome Twitter Inspired Logo Designs

25 Abstract and Beautiful IPhone Wallpapers

30 Clean and Bright Website Designs

25 Inspiring Examples of Abstract Vector Design

20 Super Creative Website Menus

The Website Evolution of 6 Monster Design Blogs

15 Examples of Well Designed Contact Pages

Go to Source

I have a friend that eats her peanuts with the shells on them. That’s right; she puts the whole thing in her mouth, like an elephant. She loves peanuts. I would never do that.

Is it possible that the kind of nut we like can give us a glimpse into our personality type? The answer to this question is absolutely not. However, that did not stop me from letting my imagination run wild to come up with these nut personality types. Which nut is your favorite? This is based on, well, nothing.

If your favorite nut is…

Macadamia – You are living a high end lifestyle and you have champagne taste. Your friends may accuse you of being a snob, but deep down, you have a heart of gold.

Peanut – You are a little bit boring, and you know it, but you are ok with that. Your motto is, “I’m just trying to get through the day.” You love animals and are very loyal to your friends.

Honey Roasted Peanut – You like to get dressed up and go out on the town! You are the life of the party and appearance is very important to you. All your friends come to you for advice on fashion and image.

Coconut – You speak in disjointed sentences, you use the word “dude” a lot, your favorite shirts are tie-dyed and you like to smoke the ganja, whatever that is.

Pistachio – You have a strong work ethic. You know what you want and you don’t stop until you get it! Although you may think you don’t have much patience, you have more than you realize.

Walnut – You are stuffy, conservative, and probably really old. Your career is most likely that of a judge or attorney, and you only wear plaid flannel to bed.

Almond – You are sleek, smooth and sexy. You are on top of your game and enjoying life. Other people are naturally drawn to you. You love to flirt and have a good time.

Hazelnut – You are creative and have innovative ideas. You like to stay up all night and you drink a lot of tea or coffee. You march to the beat of a different drum, and people look up to you for it.

Chestnut – You love the holidays and winter is your favorite season. You love to roast.. err.. sit by an open fire. You are very friendly and all your friends love you and support you.

Pine Nuts – You are a world traveler and you like to eat exotic food. You prefer a warm climate and family is the most important thing in the world to you.

The next time I have a bowl of pistachios for dinner, maybe I’ll open the shells like this dominatrix. Not!

I would like to thank http://www.flickr.com/photos/sadrith/327339336 and http://www.flickr.com/photos/elb_the_prof/3859782343 for the great nut photos!

Go to Source

The Miami-based company says it hopes to distinguish itself with an academic and systematic approach to learning a language. Rosetta Stone is known for being highly immersive, pairing foreign words with images without translation. Fluenz’s Web site states such approaches work well for children, but adults work better by being taught key concepts of a new language in English.

“If you speak English and you want to learn Chinese, that path is different for you than it is for someone who already knows Japanese,” says Carlos Lizarralde, Fluenz’s co-founder.

“For example, our competitors show you sentences in the present tense–’This is a bowl; this is a table; this is a boy,’” he says. “But we’re going to start showing you how to ask questions first, and we’ll show it in a way that is easiest for a native English speaker, rather than overwhelm you.”

Rosetta Stone offers instruction in more than 30 languages. Fluenz only currently offers Spanish, French, Italian and Mandarin. Its software costs a bit less than Rosetta Stone’s, but the programs still aren’t exactly cheap. Fluenz’s introductory French program, for example, is listed on its site at $177; Rosetta Stone’s is listed for $229.

A month after Fluenz’s official launch, the company says its software is selling well through online retailers and in Borders stores, and is on track for higher sales this month. “Selling well” equates to “several thousand” units sold, Lizarralde says.

Mr. Lizarralde says he’d like to grow Fluenz “slowly and organically” in the new year, hoping to do things a bit differently than his first startup. He launched that company, called Loquesea/TantoFaz Network, in 1998.

“It became the largest network of sites for youths in Latin America, Lizarralde says. “We had 19 sites running in 4 languages.” Despite raising $25 million in venture capital, he adds, “we couldn’t match the scope of the audience we developed to the advertising market.”

When that startup went under in 2001, Lizarralde took a few years off before planting the seeds for his second. (Fluenz has been in the R&D phase since 2004, he says.) The new company was not funded by venture capitalists; Mr. Lizarralde says he reached into his own pockets and sought the help of friends. “It took a lot of time, but that’s the trade off: if you don’t want to borrow or raise a lot of money for a startup, you have to have patience,” says.

His co-founder, Cornell grad Sonia Gil, provided not only brain power but became the public face of the product, as the foreign language tutor in the interactive sofware. So she quickly fine-tuned her French and picked up Italian and Mandarin, becoming “obsessive about learning it, eight hours a day for six months, staying in a remote part of China so people wouldn’t speak English to me,” Gil says.

Lizarralde insists that Fluenz is not modeling its business after anyone else. Perhaps that’s a good thing; after an impressive debut, Rosetta Stone’s shares suffered some dramatic drops later in 2009. “I’ve seen a lot of IPOs com and go,” he says. “They make a lot of noise the first day, but at the end of the day it comes down to whether they connect with customers.”

Go to Source

So, what can you do? Well, I found this really cool hack that will enable you to create a couple of LED lights lighting up your keyboard. As a matter of fact ANY keyboard. It’s quite simple and only require some minor skills and a few cords and LED’s. Then it’s just to get to work and put it all together.

When done you will be able to use the “Scroll Lock” key or whatever key you desire to use to toggle the LED’s on and off depending on when you want them lit. The solution may not be the most visually stunning but it sure looks cool and could really be used in a lot of other ways. How about hooking up a keyboard full of light switches. Then you could just sit at your keyboard and turn lights off and on around the house. Well, this might take a huge amount of work and probably not possible using the small power run through the keyboard but the thought is tickling.

Now, toggle that brain on and get to work. Your days typing on darkness is forever over. The time of no sleep is here and you have no more excuses why you can’t work during the night. The darknes is now your friend while working. Enjoy!

Go to Source

A 136-character tweet from the Hitwise_US account announced the big news this morning: "Facebook was the most visited site in the US on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. 1st time the site has been the #1 visited US site ever."

Of course, the shift to Facebook doesn’t signal the end of civilization; the site just provides a way for people to connect with friends and relatives who aren’t located under the same roof.  And there’s no evidence that folks didn’t actually get together whenever possible and then just visit Facebook in their spare time.

The real story is more that Facebook beat every retail site that was experiencing a seasonal high, along with traditional leaders in the most-visited-site competition like Yahoo, Yahoo Mail, and Google.

This would be a huge deal under any circumstances, and gains additional importance given that Facebook scored its win so soon after a somewhat controversial overhaul of the site’s privacy settings.  It looks like members weren’t exactly scared off.

Moving forward, it’ll be interesting to see whether Facebook can sustain this unprecedented level of traffic, or if things will quiet down a lot as students and professionals go back to school and work.

Related Articles:

> What’s Happened In Social Media Over The Year

> Facebook Publishes 2009′s Top Status Trends

> Privacy Group Files FTC Complaint About Facebook

Go to Source

The benchmark for mobile social networking was raised to new levels with Facebook 3.0 for iPhone. With a customizable home interface, multimedia upload and management capabilities, and dozens of new improvements and features, it got a lot of attention.

It looks like Facebook’s business counterpart, LinkedIn, has taken some lessons from Facebook 3.0. Earlier today, the company released the LinkedIn 3.0 update for iPhone. And like its Facebook counterpart, it boasts a lot of improvements.

An Overview of LinkedIn 3.0

If you’ve used the previous version of LinkedIn for iPhone, you’ll immediately notice the difference. The new interface is very similar to Facebook 3.0 in that it displays 12 icons on the homepage that provide shortcuts to features like the inbox, invitations, status updates, and profiles.

The update also improves LinkedIn 3.0’s search interface. The goal is to make it easy for you to find information on anybody you meet by bringing up profile information and mutual connections. There’s also a favorites feature to save profiles you may want to bring up again later.

Perhaps the coolest addition to LinkedIn 3.0 is the “In Person” feature. It’s a lot like the Bump iPhone app: using a bluetooth connection, you can transfer contact information and automatically connect with someone else almost instantly.

This upgrade is worthy of your download: it has a bunch of UI upgrades, added functionality, and some really innovative additions. Try it out, and let us know what you think of it in the comments.

Tags: business, iphone, iphone app, iphone apps, linkedin, Mobile 2.0, social media

Go to Source

As with the list of popular status updates that Facebook released yesterday, we’ll trust that you’re able to read the information for yourself.  There’s not a whole lot of useful analysis we can provide, either.

Perhaps the one thing worth mentioning is that Bing conducted an "End of Year" quiz on Facebook before releasing its lists, demonstrating that Microsoft’s interest in the social network remains fairly strong.

Otherwise, here’s what Bing found to be the top search terms of 2009:

Related Articles:

> Microsoft Launches Bing iPhone App, Addresses Issues

> Nielsen Also Puts Bing Up In  November

> Yahoo, Bing Trade Market Share Again

Go to Source

Go to Source

Are you ready for Apple’s tablet? It looks like the device will be unveiled a lot sooner than expected. Cupertino hasn’t officially confirmed it but according to latest rumors the company is getting ready for a January 2010 launch.
(…)
Read the rest of Apple to Unveil Tablet in January 2010 [Developers Cooking “Full Screen” Apps for January]

© TFTS – Technology, Gadgets & Curiosities, 2009. |
Permalink |
No comment |
Add to
del.icio.us

Go to Source

Dramatic Text on Fire Effect

Adding Flames and Effects to Make an Image with Impact

Create a Spectacular Flaming Meteor Effect on Text

Text on Fire with Glossy Reflection

Fire effect 1

Fire effect 2

Fire effect 3

Fire effect 4

Fire effect 5

Fire effect 6

Fire effect 7

Fire effect 8

Fire effect 9

Fire effect 10

Fire effect 11

Go to Source

Originally posted at The Social

Go to Source

The release of Firefox 4.0 may still be nearly a year away, but the excitement for the new version is already growing. In July, we revealed the first images of Firefox 4.0. Now one of the designers behind Firefox has shared updated mock-ups of the new design.

While a lot of the original concepts from the July images are still intact (e.g. a combo stop/refresh/go button, color changes based on your actions), there are some new details revealed by designer and Mozilla contributor Stephen Horlander.

Here are the new mock-ups of Firefox 4.0, along with an explanation of what’s new in this iteration:

The New Design Changes

As we’ve previously noted, the Menu Bar has changed from version 3.5 to 4.0. The biggest change was that the stop, refresh, and go buttons have been combined into one color-changing button. But in these new mockups, there is a new button: the App Button.

According to Stephen, the app button works a lot like the Windows 7 and Office 2010 menu button, which condenses a lot of those options into a single location. Instead of having File, Edit, and all of those options take up space at the time, there would only be a single “Firefox” button at the top of the browser.

The look of this button, though, is still up for debate. In fact, there are multiple proposals for how it should look. See for yourself:

While the App Button may be the biggest change, it’s not the only one : the toolbar button is getting touched up to be more visible on multiple backgrounds, and the location bar is now recessed (rather than floating). Finally, the bookmarks toolbar is getting some new functionality – if it hasn’t been modified by the user, it will not appear by default.

Here are some more images for you to gawk at. Let us know what you think of the new changes in the comments:

Firefox 4.0: Even More Images

Firefox 4.0 with bookmarks toolbar:

Firefox 4.0 with tabs under the navigation bar:

Firefox 4.0 with bookmark bar between tabs and navigation bar:

Comparison of Firefox 4.0 and Firefox 3.5

Tags: Firefox, Firefox 4.0, mozilla

Go to Source

Since I spend so much time on Twitter, almost all of these lessons I learned right there, in front of everyone. Whether it was through tweets with a friend or a valuable article, I learn so much from everyone on Twitter everyday. I hope you enjoy this list and I hope you add some of your own lessons that you’ve learned in the comments below.

Before I get started, I want to thank you for visiting and reading our blog. Our readers are so special to us and I really feel like I have a bond with everyone that reads my articles. I see every comment and try to respond to as many as I can. Please know how much I appreciate your support in 2009 and I’m looking forward to another year of us sharing and learning together in 2010. I love you dearly!

Okay, here goes… This is my list of 10 lessons I’ve learned -

1. Ignoring Online Bullies Is Better Than Engaging Them – I’m new to social media. I’ve only been on Twitter since March 2009 and I’m not on Facebook or any other social media site. I didn’t learn until this year that it is much easier to ignore an Internet troll than to engage her. Trust me on this one; negative people and their negative energy just simply aren’t worth the effort.

2. Have Lots of Empathy for Online Friends – I learned that no matter how good a Twitter friend is, they still may hurt you sometimes, and you have to forgive them. If you don’t, you are only hurting yourself. It sounds silly, but if you want to be filled with joy, forgive everyone for everything. Period.

3. Be Open Minded and Happy – Make sure to be open minded and non-judgmental. This is easier said than done sometimes. Question your beliefs, are they really worth fighting for? I learned from a very special Twitter friend the importance of feeling free. He taught me to follow my heart because it will never steer me wrong. I’ve learned that it’s the best road map in the world.

4. Pursue Your Passion Every Single Day – If you can find your passion and make a living doing it, you’ll never work a day in your life. I don’t know who said that, but I love that quote. My passions are writing and assisting the homeless. When I’m doing one of those two things, I’m in a state of joy. I want you to feel that too, find your passion and go for it!

5. Get Your Attitude in Check – There is always one of two things happening: Either you are in control of your attitude or your attitude is in control of you. Happiness comes from the inside out, not the other way around. Fake a smile if you have to, you’ll actually feel happier. I promise.



6. When You Think You Cannot Go Farther, Take a Few More Steps, You Can Do It – You can always go farther in pursuing your dreams than you realize. I won’t go into detail here with my personal experience, but I will say that when you think you cannot go even one step farther, you can. You really can. Most people give up. You aren’t like most people. When you feel like you’ve reached the end, give it a little bit more. That little extra will carry you farther than your wildest dreams!

7. Be Love-able – I’ve learned that no matter how hard you try, you cannot force someone to love you or want to be with you. All you can do is love yourself and be a love-able person. The rest is up to the universe to figure out. Don’t bother yourself with the details, just be happy and all will work out as it should. Trust the process.

8. Appreciate the Miracles – This year, more than any other time, I’ve learned that there are a million miracles happening outside, in nature. Just open your front door and you can see a lot of them! It’s the most awe-inspiring realization. Just get in the moment and appreciate it. It’s the beauty of life that is right under our eyes, yet a lot of us miss it because we aren’t paying attention.

9. Reach Out and Touch Someone – Okay, this one might sound strange, but this year I’ve learned how to finally understand the importance of human contact. We all spend so much time online, which is great, but touching another person’s skin is very important. We are all made of flesh and blood and we crave contact with other people that are special to us, and that is a good thing.

10. When it comes to chocolate, a child’s smile, or someone that makes you feel really, really special… resistance is futile. – I don’t think there is any explanation needed here. When any one of these three things comes along in life, don’t even bother resisting, just embrace it, enjoy and feel good!



I found a very cool site that allows you to instantly create your very own Life Lessons Poem http://ettcweb.lr.k12.nj.us/forms/lifelesson.htm . Here is mine –

I’m learning to be more patient
And I’m learning to look up in the sky at night so I don’t miss the stars
And I’m learning to be as nice to myself as I am to others
Not beating myself up, when I make mistakes
And I’m learning not to pour so much tea into my mug that it spills when I add the cream
And I’m learning not to get mad at my dogs when they wake me up early, after all, the sunrise is beautiful.
And I’m learning (though it sometimes really hurts me)
Not to wait until the moment is gone to tell someone that I love them
And I’m learning to stay away from bees
When I am outside because it’s not worth getting stung
And I’m learning that it’s much
Much easier to be adventurous and free than rigid and inflexible

Happy New Year Everyone!

I would like to thank you all for the wonderful photos in this article:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/29185106@N02/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sjany/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/angelo-gr/

Go to Source

]]> http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/facebook-web-design/web-resources/10-lessons-i%e2%80%99ve-learned-on-twitter/feed/ 4 http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/facebook-web-design/gadgets/asus-eee-pc-1005ppe-pinetrail-netbooks-eeepc-1005p-1005pe-netbooks-to-feature-atom-n450-cpus-12-5hr-battery/ http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/facebook-web-design/gadgets/asus-eee-pc-1005ppe-pinetrail-netbooks-eeepc-1005p-1005pe-netbooks-to-feature-atom-n450-cpus-12-5hr-battery/#comments Sun, 20 Dec 2009 04:08:06 +0000 Facebook-Web-Design http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/facebook-web-design/gadgets/asus-eee-pc-1005ppe-pinetrail-netbooks-eeepc-1005p-1005pe-netbooks-to-feature-atom-n450-cpus-12-5hr-battery/

A lot of netbooks are coming out this holiday season, making for one of the most sought-after gadgets this year. However, if you’re in the market for one these days (maybe as a Christmas gift), there is a high chance to end up kicking yourself, maybe a month later. Why? Well, in January a whole range of new netbooks based on Intel’s new Atom PineTrail platform will be coming out, bringing more performance at a lesser price.

(…)
Read the rest of ASUS Eee PC 1005P/PE PineTrail Netbooks [EeePC 1005P & 1005PE Netbooks to Feature Atom N450 CPUs & 12.5hr Battery]

---

© TFTS – Technology, Gadgets & Curiosities, 2009. |
Permalink |
No comment |
Add to
del.icio.us




Go to Source

]]> http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/facebook-web-design/gadgets/asus-eee-pc-1005ppe-pinetrail-netbooks-eeepc-1005p-1005pe-netbooks-to-feature-atom-n450-cpus-12-5hr-battery/feed/ 3 http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/facebook-web-design/web-design/7-questions-7-designers-%e2%80%93-day-2/ http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/facebook-web-design/web-design/7-questions-7-designers-%e2%80%93-day-2/#comments Sat, 19 Dec 2009 17:36:35 +0000 Facebook-Web-Design http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/facebook-web-design/web-design/7-questions-7-designers-%e2%80%93-day-2/

Welcome the second of a seven day series that I am doing called “7 Questions, 7 Designers,” in which I throw out a different question each day and compile the answers from seven different designers. There are participants from all over the world, each offering a different and unique perspective on the realm of design.

Today’s question is about the design community, and is something that I always like to ask whenever I conduct and interview. I think you will find that the answers are all very interesting!

Personally, I’ve had nothing but great experiences with the design community so far. What about you guys? What’s your overall view or feeling about the current design community and the state of the industry at large? It can be positive, negative, observational or all of the above! I’m really interested in hearing different perspectives on this.


Sneh Roy
Follow Sneh on Twitter


Although I have been freelancing and working in the design industry for almost 12 years, my brush with the design community has been very recent. Twitter was how I started socially interacting with other creatives. Let me begin by saying that there are a lot of designers and creatives out there who have achieved a lot and who have obviously worked very hard to achieve it, yet they are totally approachable and such awesome people. When I started out in the community a year ago, I was so intimidated by it all, but as I have connected with people [designers and otherwise] over the course of the year, I feel very much a part of the community. There is plenty of room in here for anyone who wants to be here and the design community is very accommodating.

About the state of the industry at large, like with everything else in this world, there are positives and negatives. Now since I am “the glass is half full” kind of a person, I overlook the chance crusader who is single-handedly trying to abolish crowd-sourcing or the amazing rate at which design blogs [including my own] come up every single day and a lot of them become graveyards of hastily hatched lists and the soundless echoes of their once enthusiastic creators. I overlook the occasional rant and the twitter-bashing and the sucking up to the big guys that goes on. Instead I think “to each their own!” and work on my role as a miniscule gear in this great big giant machinistic robot that is the design industry. If I keep my act well oiled and updated, the gear will turn smoothly and that would be my contribution to the industry. In doing so, I might reach out and touch one single soul or help several, but I would’ve done my bit.

In retrospect, the reason why I overlook the negatives is because the design industry needs them. The negatives like the positives are part of the food chain, the eco-system. No one likes poverty and disease in the real world, but take them away and see what happens. In the same manner, the negatives are necessary. So people can rave on and on about the dire state of the industry, how bad economy is going to crush it and how too many people crowding this business is bad for everyone, the bottom line is if you are good, you will succeed [with a lot of perseverance of course], there is plenty for everyone and you just have to play nice and most importantly nature culls the weak links.


Mike Smith
Follow Mike on Twitter


I think the design community is great. I’d be lying if I said that there weren’t cliques and groups like there were in high school – but an overall feel of the design community is warm and inviting. It’s a great space to be in and there are a TON of great people in the design community. As long as you’re doing something positive and building a name for yourself without copying others, you’ll be accepted with open arms (I think anyways lol).


Jeff Finley
Follow Jeff on Twitter


Go Media has carved a niche in the design community by sharing resources and tutorials and advice on our blog GoMediaZine and our design Arsenal. We back it all up with our design services side on our main site. So as a result we’ve found a lot of other designers and bloggers that share the same audience. Sites like Smashing Magazine and the Envato network are two of the major players in the community.

As far as my opinion of the current state, it’s kind of on the edge honestly. I’ve noticed a few bloggers already making it public that they’re tired of the “Smashing Magazine” trending of copycat design blogs, list posts, and arguabley shitty content that sparks no conversation. For example, Learn About Design, Not Making Things Pretty and Smashing Magazine Killed The Community (Or Maybe It Was Me).

I think these two posts (I’m sure there are more) are a sign of times to come. While I respect my fellow bloggers and especially Smashing (they set the trends and spawned many copycats), I do think there are reasons for why content “is sucking” right now.

My first thought is that most designers are working, not blogging. Marketers and bloggers who dabble in design are the ones who are putting the most content and articles out there. When the design community is led by social media marketers who care more about RSS readers, twitter followers, ad revenue, and Facebook fans, you’re going to get sensationally titled articles that post 50 examples of other people’s content. As evidence has shown, those posts are extremely popular and profitable. But they’re making designers annoyed because suddenly their feed reader is overflowing with list posts and articles that crosslink each other and don’t provide any substance or insight into what we’re interested in. Or it’s a tutorial on how to get some trite effect in Photoshop. (obviously, this is not the case for the entire community, but the ground is trembling).

The design community is looking for more genuine honest insight and conversation. They want to hear what a particular designer has to say about a subject. And there’s no need to post every day. It might take designers a week or two to get new content up, but generally it’s worth it.


Brad Colbow
Follow Brad on Twitter


I don’t know what it is specifically about the visual design community online that makes people so nice but I sure am glad they are. I get a totally different vibe from every other community I have ever dipped my toe into. I also owe most of my success to the design community, they are the folks who promote me and give me great feedback good and bad.


Grace Smith
Follow Grace on Twitter


[Editor's Note: Grace has very kindly declined to comment on this one, but that's not a reflection on the community itself. She's been so inundated with projects, we're just lucky that she was able to participate at all! Don't worry, though. We'll be seeing the rest of her answers throughout the rest of this series!]


Nick La
Follow Nick on Twitter


I think the current design community is great. People in the community are very helpful and love to share. However, it seems like all bloggers are writing the "list style" articles like Smashing Magazine (ie. 50 best of this, 100 best of that). Did Smashing Magazine kill the community?


Chris Spooner
Follow Chris on Twitter


I love the design community, it seems like it’s the only industry where people are open to helping each other out. It has been great to network with like minded people online via Twitter, blogging and social media.

I still think however, that there’s a big gap between the online community and the rest of the design industry. It will be interesting to see if more and more companies catch on to the online wave.

There are some really interesting answers here, and lots of different things to think about regarding the community. Thanks to Jeff and Nick for including the links! What do you the rest of you think? What are your experiences with the design community? Be sure to check back over the next five days for more awesome insights from these seven great minds!

Related Posts:

• 7 Questions, 7 Designers – Day 1
• Featured Designer: Jon Phillips of SpyreStudios
• The 100-100-100 Mark
• Featured Designer: Steven Snell of Vandelay Design and DesignM.ag
• Giveaway: Custom Vector Pack from Echo Enduring Media

Exclusive Content

To thank you for subscribing to my feed, I am including exclusive, feed-only content for you at the bottom of each post!

Current Freebie Code – 0rx655ws


Go to Source

]]> http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/facebook-web-design/web-design/7-questions-7-designers-%e2%80%93-day-2/feed/ 2 http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/facebook-web-design/web-resources/you%e2%80%99ve-never-seen-a-shower-scene-like-this-before/ http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/facebook-web-design/web-resources/you%e2%80%99ve-never-seen-a-shower-scene-like-this-before/#comments Sat, 19 Dec 2009 12:15:48 +0000 Facebook-Web-Design http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/facebook-web-design/web-resources/you%e2%80%99ve-never-seen-a-shower-scene-like-this-before/ Since I’m insanely inspired by unique artwork, I feature a lot of very talented artists on this blog. This one is no different. You will understand why the work of Alyssa Monks deserves to be featured once you see these paintings below.

I thought these were intimate photos taken by a talented photographer, showcasing the beauty of the human body. Then, to my surprise, I realized these are paintings, not photographs. Yes, I know, it is surreal to think someone painted these.

According to Alyssa, “The paintings are very intricate and they take a lot of work to get right. It is all about the desire to try and create an image of a person that is realer than real, beyond what even a photograph can portray.”

It is the attention to detail in her work that blows my mind. She says, “I look for the “imperfect” details, and try to display how beautiful the real is, rather than the ideal.”

This 31 year old New York based artist is in high demand, and I’m not surprised. I am completely seduced by her art, and I plan to follow her career for a long time.



















Go to Source

]]> http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/facebook-web-design/web-resources/you%e2%80%99ve-never-seen-a-shower-scene-like-this-before/feed/ 1 http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/facebook-web-design/web-resources/ftc-asked-to-investigate-facebook%e2%80%99s-new-privacy-changes/ http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/facebook-web-design/web-resources/ftc-asked-to-investigate-facebook%e2%80%99s-new-privacy-changes/#comments Thu, 17 Dec 2009 23:46:27 +0000 Facebook-Web-Design http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/facebook-web-design/web-resources/ftc-asked-to-investigate-facebook%e2%80%99s-new-privacy-changes/

We know that Facebook considers Twitter a threat to its web supremacy. We also know that the company’s been taking a lot of action to squash its upstart rival with an array of new features and changes that make it more like Twitter.

The world’s largest social network took its biggest step yet towards its Twitterification when it asked its 350 million users to change their privacy settings. What concerned a lot of experts about the change was that the default privacy settings made some information and your status updates public information.

There’s been a lot of ruckus about Facebook being deceptive about the changes, but until now it’s just been ruckus. That changed today when a group of ten Internet privacy groups, led by the Electronic Privacy Information Center, filed a complaint with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), requesting an investigation into Facebook’s actions.

The complaint is rather simple: Facebook didn’t provide adequate safeguards to protect privacy in last week’s update, changes that these privacy groups believe was illegal. The document has over 100 different points of arguments and contention to prove its assertions. Most of all, it argues that Facebook has made it more difficult, if not impossible, to have the same amount of privacy as before the changes.

We don’t really know how this FTC complaint will play out, we do understand why users are upset and why Facebook made these changes. The new privacy changes could prove to be huge for its business, especially for advertising, but it won’t do much good if the FTC starts making some noise.

Below is the full FTC complaint:

EPIC-FacebookComplaint –

[via MarketWatch and MediaMemo]

---

Reviews: Facebook

Tags: facebook, FTC







Go to Source

]]> http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/facebook-web-design/web-resources/ftc-asked-to-investigate-facebook%e2%80%99s-new-privacy-changes/feed/ 1 http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/facebook-web-design/web-resources/blackberry-e-mail-not-working-for-some-users/ http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/facebook-web-design/web-resources/blackberry-e-mail-not-working-for-some-users/#comments Thu, 17 Dec 2009 18:15:48 +0000 Facebook-Web-Design http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/facebook-web-design/web-resources/blackberry-e-mail-not-working-for-some-users/

I woke up this morning thinking I’d either become a lot less popular overnight or that something was once again wrong with BlackBerry e-mail. As it turns out, it’s the latter, as Research In Motion confirms that BlackBerry e-mail is not working for some of its customers across North America.

On my end, not a single e-mail has arrived since around 2 a.m. ET, though Gmail tells a much different story. According to RIM, phone e-mail, and texting should still be working though. I voiced my BlackBerry frustration a little bit earlier this morning on Twitter, but, most of you probably didn’t see it as the microblogging service is having its own problems.

No BlackBerry? No Twitter? Welcome to perhaps the most productive Thursday of the year.

---

Reviews: Gmail, Twitter

Tags: Mobile 2.0







Go to Source

]]> http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/facebook-web-design/web-resources/blackberry-e-mail-not-working-for-some-users/feed/ 1 http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/facebook-web-design/web-resources/the-seohosting-top-100-internet-marketing-posts-of-2009/ http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/facebook-web-design/web-resources/the-seohosting-top-100-internet-marketing-posts-of-2009/#comments Wed, 16 Dec 2009 07:23:31 +0000 Facebook-Web-Design http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/facebook-web-design/web-resources/the-seohosting-top-100-internet-marketing-posts-of-2009/ Although there is still a little bit of time before 2009 is officially over, since many of you are going to be spending a lot of time traveling and attempting to hide from you in-laws over the next couple of weeks, I thought it would be useful to provide this great reading material now.







Go to Source

]]> http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/facebook-web-design/web-resources/the-seohosting-top-100-internet-marketing-posts-of-2009/feed/ 1 http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/facebook-web-design/web-resources/how-to-handle-meetings-efficiently/ http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/facebook-web-design/web-resources/how-to-handle-meetings-efficiently/#comments Tue, 15 Dec 2009 10:06:47 +0000 Facebook-Web-Design http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/facebook-web-design/web-resources/how-to-handle-meetings-efficiently/ I really hate long meetings, it usually eats up a lot of my time, there are times of course that you need to do long meetings, but more often than not, the reason why it tends to be so long is that the people organizing the said meeting is not prepared.  Majority of the companies now prefer online teleconferencing instead of actually flying in, allowing a lot of savings for the said company. Here are some tips that I hope can

1. Find the Right Tools for Collaboration - There are a lot of tools now that one can use for collaboration and file sharing.  Look for one that everyone can join in.  Here are some possible tools you can use:

• Almost Meet – A tool that allows you to do group meetings, almost as if you are meeting in person.
• Google Wave - Maybe tricky,  but we have been using it for quiet some time and has been effective
• 6Rounds – Live Meeting point (although can be used as another means of communicating and having fun with friends).
• Ubidesk - provides a nified workspace for file sharing, document collaboration and project management.
• MeetSee - Your virtual office

2.  Be Prepared – Write an agenda, make sure that you have it written down so that you have some sort of structure while meeting and won’t forget the important details.

3.  Send out Presentation or materials ahead of time – If you have materials prepared, try to send them ahead of time via email.  Gives the people you meet with time to read them ahead and give points and feed backs when you meet. This step would really save a lot of time.

4.  Give a Time Frame for your meetings – Yes if you are prepared with an agenda, you can give a time frame for your meetings, you can of course determine the length depending on the work that you need to discuss.

5.  Be on Time - If you guys agreed on a certain date and time, be there at least 5 minutes ahead, this allows you to get settled in and ready for the meeting.  Punctuality is really important when talking about efficiency.

Most probably most of you are already practicing the above tips, this article is just a reminder and hopefully useful.  Included a video on how a magazine hold their online meeting.

Main Image Source

Go to Source

]]> http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/facebook-web-design/web-resources/how-to-handle-meetings-efficiently/feed/ 1 http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/facebook-web-design/web-resources/an-alternative-to-google-wave/ http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/facebook-web-design/web-resources/an-alternative-to-google-wave/#comments Sun, 13 Dec 2009 12:46:12 +0000 Facebook-Web-Design http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/facebook-web-design/web-resources/an-alternative-to-google-wave/ There are a lot of people now using the wave, mostly for collaboration purposes, sharing of ideas and files within a group. We at Bit Rebels have done this a lot of times already when we need to huddle for new ideas, and inputs on up coming features etc. But if you are not into waving, and still want a secure, easy sharing and collaboration tool to use for your small to medium size business then you might want to check out GlassCubes.

GlassCubes allows the user to share files, communicate and collaborate online.

Here are some of the things that you can do on GlassCubes:

1.  Assign TASKS – You can assign tasks to your team members, manage the work flow of each individual team member.

2.  Create open DISCUSSIONS -  You can do a discussion, debate, discuss issues with team members without the need for long email chains.

3.  MANAGE CONTACTS -  You can easily import your contacts, manage your sales opportunities and customer issues fast and easy.

4.  Saves DOCUMENT VERSIONS -   No more hassle of losing document versions when you edit a document along with your team members.  Here the most recent version is saved.

Glasscubes was formed because the developers saw that more and more companies want a fast and easy way to manage projects and communicate in a safe environment.  They have  made it easy and simpler to work from any location with colleagues and clients.  Included a video to demonstrate how GlassCubes Work.

Here are the  pricing options as well as a Free Account that you can choose from.  You can check out more information HERE.  Is this a good alternative to Google Wave? What do you think?

MAIN IMAGE SOURCE

Go to Source

]]> http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/facebook-web-design/web-resources/an-alternative-to-google-wave/feed/ 2 http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/facebook-web-design/web-resources/%c2%a1viva-mexico-showcase-of-web-design-in-mexico/ http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/facebook-web-design/web-resources/%c2%a1viva-mexico-showcase-of-web-design-in-mexico/#comments Sat, 12 Dec 2009 17:11:20 +0000 Facebook-Web-Design http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/facebook-web-design/web-resources/%c2%a1viva-mexico-showcase-of-web-design-in-mexico/

  



This post is the third article of our new series “Global Web Design“. Over the next months we’ll be covering various continents, featuring web developers and web designs from different countries of the world and taking a close look of what is happening in the web design scene worldwide. We started week with Russian web design and Web Design in Ireland. We continue now with Mexico and next week with Israel. If you want to prepare an article for this series, please contact us and we’ll discuss the details.

Land of tequila and mariachi, home of Chichén Itza (one of the new seven wonders of the world), amazing beaches, cheerful people, beautiful women… and last but not least, inspirational and creative Web designs for the entire world. Ours is a great country, with more than 110 million inhabitants, over 30% of which to date are connected to the Web.

Design has always been integral to our culture: the majestic pyramids built by the Aztecs; the numeric symbol “zero” created by the Mayans (who, by the way, were the architects of the great Chichén Itza); the colonial buildings influenced by the Spaniards and French; beautiful paintings by well-known artists such as Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo; and now today’s great architects and artists, design firms, interactive agencies and software engineers.


The portfolio of Roberto Avila, a designer from Mexico.

To gain greater insight into Web design happening in Mexico today, we interviewed many people in the industry: freelancers, digital marketing managers, creative interactive agency reps and a few bloggers.

State Of Affairs

A lot is going on in our country, and many companies and brands in Mexico are definitely noticing the impact of great Web design. Digital marketing is growing fast. People working in this industry have not had to face a crisis. Mexico grew 20% in the first quarter of 2009. Why? Because everyone recognizes the importance of shifting to digital.

According to the Interactive Advertising Bureau of Mexico (IAB), in 2008 only 4% of budgets were designated for digital marketing. If we compare this to countries like the UK, where digital marketing budgets were bigger than TV budgets, then we have a good reason to be optimistic about the future of digital marketing and Web design in Mexico. Bianca Loew, Managing Director of IAB Mexico, states, “The Internet is the ideal platform for companies to interact with consumers.”


DesignWeek Monterrey 2009, an original design from Mexico.

Most companies understand the value and power of good design. We have seen different brands try out a lot of digital marketing strategies, but still much work is to be done on coding standards, usability and persuasion. Few websites are truly prepared for the social media revolution. But great agencies are willing to provide quality information to help everyone get ready!

“Near-shoring” has become a must for many US and Canadian companies. A lot of work is being outsourced to Mexico for digital marketing and Web design and development. We have seen a lot of Argentinean agencies in our market, which has been a very good push for competition, and this will surely drive innovation and creativity.

Voices of People In The Industry

To gain some insights from the people working in the web design industry in Mexico, we asked Miguel Calderon (founder of Group W), Gustavo Ross (founder of Activamente) and Rodrigo Gama (founder of Publicidadenlinea.com) to share with us some insights about the current state of web design in Mexico.

Q: What is your perception of the Web design environment in Mexico?

Miguel: It’s improving, perhaps slowly, but there are interesting developments. What happened with traditional design years ago is happening with Web design today: we are following international trends instead of creating new and better proposals. We’ve missed our identity as a country. Therefore, there is a big opportunity to create proposals that will be followed abroad in the near future. However, the incursion of big designers and illustrators from traditional media to digital media will trigger great websites.


Trost

Gustavo: With the introduction of pre-fabricated and self-service platforms, such as WordPress and Joomla, designers must become more specialized. Whether they start by creating professional templates aimed at the Mexican public or with professional design interfaces for business applications and portals, deeper knowledge is needed to improve usability and front-end technologies such as AJAX.

Some time ago, we left behind websites for which only graphic design mattered. Today, designers have to be much more comprehensive and knowledgeable about technology and the needs and habits of the common consumer.

Rodrigo: The market for Web design in Mexico is growing significantly every year. The quality in design is improving fast, but the larger companies are the ones willing to invest in and pay for experts who develop attractive Web designs. Websites for small companies and independent projects are usually made by students, independent designers and freelancers, and their owners do not yet have a comprehensive understanding of attractive Web design: usability, programming, social networking, search engine optimization, etc.


Carrera Bonafont

A lot of effort needs to be made by organizations such as AMIPCI (Mexican Association of Internet) and IAB Mexico (Interactive Advertising Bureau Mexico) to publicize the benefits of digital marketing. This causes the market to mature, and developers are taking advantage of this knowledge. I strongly believe that in a couple of years, the quality of many Mexican websites will have a greater impact in Latin America.

I would like to stress that many of the Web design projects in Mexico are done by traditional advertising agencies. Most of the time, such agencies have neither the knowledge nor experience of the Web to develop effective websites, and they work only on what they have committed to their customers. Most of the time, they don’t introduce best practices or standards or even do usability testing.


Monterrey Fashion

Q: What makes an outstanding design agency in Mexico?

Miguel: Fortunately, designers and illustrators are already becoming vital for Web design environments. Every day, traditional and digital design become more integrated. It is a broad topic, but I encourage you to look deeper into Alberto Cerriteño & Zoveck. They do very few Web projects, but their websites could not be understood if it wasn’t for their extraordinary work and creativity.

Rodrigo: In my personal opinion, the best agencies are the ones whose core business is the Internet. They usually have a team of experts in different areas, such as design, programming, usability, marketing and online advertising.


Nrmal

Gustavo: I am thrilled to see that website producers have become more professional, leaving behind the Flash and intros in favor of functional pages designed for the user rather than the designer.

Outstanding design agencies… Those with a more holistic view of the needs of their clients, notwithstanding conflicts of interest, and who focus on generating good business results. The best designers are those who think of the end user, not of the prize.

Enough! Show Me The Good Stuff

Tequila can really fuel creativity, as you’ll see! Web designers and interactive agencies here have done a great job. Here is a taste of what we Mexicans are capable of.

GOAL by Gonzalo Alonso, a Mexican in Argentina. What’s really cool about his blog is that he has two skins: one of Asterix and another of Star Wars.





Tu Deseo Bon O Bon



Alberto Cerriteño



Modena



Detective Stripes



Tixinda



Face Face Face



Movistar



Ed Fladung



Banamex



Campus Vida



Catalina Estrada Paralevis



Vtbic



Bicentenario Nuevo Leon



Danup



8reclutas



Nextel Rock



Poster Media



Showdown Interactive



Energy Lab



Rexona Clinical



Oscar Carnicero



Ivana Breu



Mandalah



Interactive Agencies In Mexico

High-quality interactive agencies can be found all over Mexico. Some have won prestigious international prizes, including the acclaimed Cannes Lions. Here are some of our most renowned agencies, listed in alphabetical order.

Abargon



Activamente



Códice



Crossmedia



D10 Studio



Element Studios



Gamol



GrupoW



Gelattina



IA Interactive



Interalia



Kansei Lab



Latin3



Media Agency



Design Bloggers in Mexico

Blog Vecindad



Dementez



Bioxd



Therror



Infected FX



Yolisto



Asfalto Tecnicolor



Related posts

You may be interested in the following related posts:

• Global Web Design: Russia
• Global Web Design: Ireland

---

© Pablo Hernández O’Hagan for Smashing Magazine, 2009. | Permalink | 9 comments | Add to del.icio.us | Digg this | Stumble on StumbleUpon! | Tweet it! | Submit to Reddit | Forum Smashing Magazine
Post tags: showcases

Go to Source

]]> http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/facebook-web-design/web-resources/%c2%a1viva-mexico-showcase-of-web-design-in-mexico/feed/ 1 http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/facebook-web-design/web-resources/bedroom-secrets-revealed/ http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/facebook-web-design/web-resources/bedroom-secrets-revealed/#comments Sat, 12 Dec 2009 16:20:05 +0000 Facebook-Web-Design http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/facebook-web-design/web-resources/bedroom-secrets-revealed/ Today I learned that there are a lot of women that cry during sex. Of course, since I’m a big time crier, I had to learn more about this and share it with you.

I cry a lot. It isn’t always a bad kind of cry, many times it’s a good cry, but I cry about once a day. Sometimes more. It feels good to me, like I’m overflowing with emotions and have to let it out. I should buy stock in waterproof mascara.

When I was researching crying during sex, if found a few reputable websites that said, “Consult a doctor about this just like you would any other problem.” and I also found some other just as reputable websites that basically said, “This is just a release of emotion. It’s not a problem.” Since I am a very experienced crier, I’d like to weigh in on this, and I agree with the latter.

Of course, there are exceptions to the rule when a woman could be getting hurt or be reminded of a bad memory during sex, and I would never ever want to downplay the sadness or seriousness of that situation.

However, most of the time, I think it is just an extension of the intense emotions she is feeling (tears of joy).

No, it’s not because we saw a glimpse of God or anything like that, it is much simpler. It just feels really good, and if we are deeply in love with you, it is just going to intensify that emotion.

If you are the man in this situation, I can see it could be very confusing. This could be yet another reason why you think women are impossible to understand. What should you do in this situation? Don’t roll over and say, “I love you” if you don’t mean it, just because you are confused. Haha! It’s ok. Some of us are just emotional, and in most cases, you should take it as a compliment.

Oh, and ladies, just so we don’t feel alone, there are men out there who also cry during sex. Just read this short paragraph entitled, “Weeping Willy” on http://www.askmen.com

This video explains it perfectly, and you will understand more after you watch this. Thank you TMIweekly, for making this clip and explaining it in such a light hearted and funny way!

I would like to give credit to http://www.flickr.com/photos/29440446@N08/ for the great main image in this article.

Go to Source

]]> http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/facebook-web-design/web-resources/bedroom-secrets-revealed/feed/ 0 http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/facebook-web-design/web-resources/vocifer8-com/ http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/facebook-web-design/web-resources/vocifer8-com/#comments Sat, 12 Dec 2009 10:55:21 +0000 Facebook-Web-Design http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/facebook-web-design/web-resources/vocifer8-com/ There is blogging and micro blogging, what vocifer8 offers is ad-hoc instant blogging. If you have something to say occasionally you may not want to maintain a blog in order to get your words out. If you have something to say that means a lot to you, it may take more than 140 characters. This is the gap that vocifer8 fills.
Go to Source
]]> http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/facebook-web-design/web-resources/vocifer8-com/feed/ 0 http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/facebook-web-design/web-resources/u2%e2%80%99s-360%c2%b0-awesome-time-lapse-preview/ http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/facebook-web-design/web-resources/u2%e2%80%99s-360%c2%b0-awesome-time-lapse-preview/#comments Sat, 12 Dec 2009 04:05:02 +0000 Facebook-Web-Design http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/facebook-web-design/web-resources/u2%e2%80%99s-360%c2%b0-awesome-time-lapse-preview/ For 5 years, my life evolved around creating and implementing events. Small and big ones, from mall tours, booths, parties and concerts. Engaging from 300 minimum to 3,500 maximum people in attendance. It would take us around 2 months planning and about 3 weeks preparation time for the actual event. For the massive events, it would take me about 16 days to ingress (bring in and set up equipments- This was in 2006). It takes a lot of time and preparation and a lot of calculations to make sure that everything runs smoothly on the day of the event. I love creating a visual show, I would usually incorporate 16 to 20 video screens in various sizes and configuration, to stimulate the audience’s senses.

Here is a pretty good example of an event preparation but of course on time lapse for your appreciation.

MAIN IMAGE SOURCE

Go to Source

]]> http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/facebook-web-design/web-resources/u2%e2%80%99s-360%c2%b0-awesome-time-lapse-preview/feed/ 1 http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/facebook-web-design/web-resources/facebook-connect-has-impressive-first-year/ http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/facebook-web-design/web-resources/facebook-connect-has-impressive-first-year/#comments Thu, 10 Dec 2009 23:46:35 +0000 Facebook-Web-Design http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/facebook-web-design/web-resources/facebook-connect-has-impressive-first-year/ Facebook Connect has now been around for a year. In that time it has accomplished quite a lot, and perhaps allowed developers and webmasters to accomplish even more.

"From social widgets like the Comments Box, Share button and Live Stream Box to deeper integrations including log in, Facebook Connect is helping developers drive more traffic to their site, ease the registration process, and provide a more engaging experience for users," says Ethan Beard, who leads the Facebook Developer Network. "By adding social elements through Facebook Connect, websites in a variety of verticals are revolutionizing industries."



Facebook shares the following stats for Facebook Connect:

- More than 80,000 websites and other services have implemented Facebook Connect since its general availability in December 2008

- More than 60 million Facebook users engage with Facebook Connect on external services every month (not including mobile use of Facebook)

- Two-thirds of comScore’s US Top 100 websites and half of comScore’s Global Top 100 websites have implemented Facebook Connect

A lot of people on the web have probably used Facebook Connect and have no idea what Facebook Connect even is. Sometimes it’s just as simple as logging on to a website with your Facebook information. As more sites integrate it, it’s just starting to become part of the routine.

Integration will likely continue to grow significantly around the web, because Facebook isn’t showing too many signs of losing users. The company just recently surpassed the 350 million users mark. Facebook is going to be even more in people’s faces than ever too, now that Google is showing real-time search results for many queries.
 

Related Articles:

> Facebook Connect Adds New Features To Service

> Facebook Connect Made Easier for Site Owners

> Facebook Translates Websites and Apps

Go to Source

]]> http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/facebook-web-design/web-resources/facebook-connect-has-impressive-first-year/feed/ 2 http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/facebook-web-design/web-resources/study-youll-wolf-down-34gb-of-data-today/ http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/facebook-web-design/web-resources/study-youll-wolf-down-34gb-of-data-today/#comments Thu, 10 Dec 2009 20:06:13 +0000 Facebook-Web-Design http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/facebook-web-design/web-resources/study-youll-wolf-down-34gb-of-data-today/ Researchers at UC San Diego say Americans have a voracious, and growing, appetite for information. And yes, you still watch a lot of TV.

Originally posted at The Digital Home




Go to Source

]]> http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/facebook-web-design/web-resources/study-youll-wolf-down-34gb-of-data-today/feed/ 0