31 Jan 2010

Happy Birthday To MD

Today marks the 15th anniversary of setting up my own business. How time flies, it seems like only yesterday (or perhaps the day before) that I applied for Enterprise Allowance to create a job for myself.

I’ve decided against holding a glitzy, celeb-laden party, but it’s a milestone worth mentioning, if only to give me a kick up the arse to achieve more in the next 15 years.

28 Jan 2010

Late January Link Dump

Some SEO Advice For Bill Gates

This is all really basic stuff that I’d expect any reasonably competent web developer to know. Bill needs to start hiring some better people.

Space 1999: An isometric action adventure game for your Oric

Cult 1970s sci-fi + obscure 1980s 8-bit computer = something beautifully obscure.

data.gov.uk

There’s a long, long way to go, but it’s good to see information gradually being opened up.

Rocket Surgery Made Easy

Steve Krug’s follow-up to the excellent Don’t Make Me Think.

Axe Cop

A 29 year old comic book artist draws stories devised by his 5 year old brother.

Pure CSS Coke Can

Pretty clever.

Verbatim Championship

Slick 3D Flash work depicting battling robots made from storage media.

The 4 Big Myths of Profile Pictures

Sometimes I wonder if they only founded OkCupid in order to be able to do this kind of analysis.

MagicPrefs

Add extra gestures to the Magic Mouse.

michaelv.org

Oh dear, this is giving me flashbacks to my first PC and the insane amount of money I spent on it.

Charles Bukowski, William Burroughs, and the Computer

Their very different reactions to new technology.

The International Jurassic Park Erotic Fan-Fiction Writer’s Association

Not Safe For Work. And those allergic to intentionally-bad web sites.

26 Jan 2010

Revolting Listeners

Recently, thesixtyone launched a redesigned site, and the reaction has been interesting, showing some of the pitfalls of running a community site.

I’ve seen several favourable reactions praising the look and overall bravery. The old site has a pretty conventional layout, so they’ve clearly tried to go for something more distinctive to try to stand out in the crowd of music discovery services.

On the other hand, many previously-devoted users hate the redesign. Really, really hate it. They’re complaining on Twitter, on Facebook, on blogs, on Ning, in music and on dedicated sites. The word ‘shitstorm’ comes to mind.

Now, as a designer or site owner you have to bear in mind that some people will always resist change, and some are loudly misguided, so a bit of shaking things up is inevitable and beneficial. But when a web site becomes a community you need to be so much more careful in your approach, considering things like:

• A sense of community is delicate; you have to carry most users along with you to preserve it.
• You don’t own that sense of community, you’re just providing the venue.
• Give adequate warning of changes; some people simply don’t like surprises.
• When you add a feature, make sure it’s one that you want to stick around, because…
• When you remove a feature, even those who never used it will kick and scream.
• Be firm in resisting pressure from vocal minorities, but reassure them that you’re listening.
• Ensure the user interface works well for both dedicated regular users and new arrivals.
• Try to change gradually, keeping some branding/design/interface elements, so that there’s a sense of evolution and continuity.

I think thesixtyone probably screwed up on a couple of those points, but I’m sure they’ll address the obvious user interface problems and we’ll see what impact the controversy has on the site in the long run.

25 Jan 2010

A New Look for ZenMagick

ZenMagick has proven useful for restyling Zen Cart with far less wailing and gnashing of teeth, and DerManoMann/Martin is always very helpful with clarifying things and fixing bugs. So to give something back I spent a little time creating a logo for the project, to hopefully improve its presentation and encourage others to use it and contribute towards code/documentation/design.

I’ve also produced a simple web page template to act as a starting point for revamping the web site. It does not feature a woman pushing a tiny trolley containing a globe.

20 Jan 2010

Point and Shoot

Having played Modern Warfare: Reflex (seemingly no official/authoritative pages out there to link to?!) and been impressed with what Treyarch’s squeezed out of the underpowered Wii, I was surprised by some of the reviews. Several grumble about aiming at things with the Wiimote, claiming it’s ‘jumpy’ or awkward and wishing they could use a stick, which I think is more indicative of what they’re used to than of any problem with the game (it actually works well and is an intuitive/accessible way to play an FPS).

Anyway, we have to accept that dual-analogue-stick controllers are what avid gamers expect and prefer, and so I’m seeking funding from the Ministry of Defence for a new gun. FPS-loving youngsters heading into the armed forces will be able to strap it to their bodies and use a game controller to aim precisely instead of having to awkwardly wave the gun around to point at things.

18 Jan 2010

Mid-January Link Dump

Prisoner in Portmeirion

The other day I was thinking that Portmeirion would make a superb multiplayer level for an FPS; turns out someone did it years ago.

sc140

Music tracks generated from 140 characters of code. Oddly, Twitter doesn’t seem to be involved.

CSS Background Transparency Without Affecting Child Elements, Through RGBa And Filters

A clever workaround, but unfortunately IE filters are slow and screw up text rendering.

Matthew Lyons Illustration Blog

Some really nice faux-retro work.

Internet Advertising Ready To Take More Money Away From Newspapers

Many ad agencies and their clients haven’t yet adjusted to changes in media habits; internet advertising is still often treated as a last-minute bolt-on.

gordon (demos)

A Flash player written in JavaScript. The world’s gone mad, I tell you.

The Third & The Seventh (site; making of)

A slickly-rendered bit of CGI (with a few non-CGI elements) featuring music (and some inspiration) from Gattaca.

dompdf

Generate PDFs from web pages (including CSS) via PHP. I haven’t used it yet but might need to for a client project.

French Anti-Piracy Organisation Hadopi Uses Pirated Font In Own Logo

Ah, the sweet, sweet irony.

App warms your hands by overheating your iPhone

I don’t know whether to admire the ingenuity or just marvel at the sheer stupidity.

Newspaper Club

An imminent service allowing anyone to create their own printed newspapers. I’ve got something in mind that this might be useful for…