Web Designer Ramblings - Photo of The Day

Taos, New Mexico

Wanderlust and the Working Web Designer

As a web designer with an incurable case of wanderlust, it is my dream to be able to have instant (and hopefully, free) wireless connectivity anywhere in the world. Simply pop open a laptop at a busy cafe in either New York or Paris and be instantly online! Well, that is not yet reality . . .

However, I am delighted by the easy availability of wireless connections in hotels and across the US. I recently drove cross-country (east to west coast, USA) and wireless access was often a free feature in most hotel chains. Now, it is about to get sweeter for busy, connected, travelers. Hotels chains are now adding desk-side multimedia panels to plug in digital cameras, PCs, Apple iPods, wireless high-speed Internet access, DVD and CD players, wireless keyboards to turn televisions into monitors and Bose docking stations to amplify MP3 players. Sweet! What better way to combine my two passions, travel and web design . . . Read about it here . . .

Whatever Happened To . . . ?

If you're an "old-school" web designer like me, you're likely to remember when the Web had a handful of popular search engines. It was hard to imagine that any one of them would dominate the market. Why, I can recall when Google was just an infant, taking on the big boys like excite.com. By the way, whatever happened to the founders of excite.com?

An article on bbc.com provides an interesting glimpse into the wild and wacky dotcom "boom and bust" years by looking at the fortunes (and misfortunes) of Joe Kraus, one of the inventors of the excite.com search engine. It is a fascinating glimpse into how the "Web was won" . . . check it out!

Web Designer Ramblings - Photo of The Day

Architectural detail, Chicago, Illinois.

Historic Graphic Design

Need a bit of design trivia? I found an online treasure trove of poster design from cold war era Russia, Czech republic, Poland and Cuba. The posters range from war propaganda themes to movies. It provides a fascinating glimpse into the use of graphic design behind the "Iron Curtain" during the cold war years. My personal favorites are the old Czech movie posters. Check it out!

Web Designer Ramblings - Photo of the Day

Old Town, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Web Designer Ramblings - Photo of The Day

Chama, New Mexico

Prostores - Ebay's New Killer App?

Ebay launched a new online e-commerce service that looks to be a sweet deal for small businesses seeking a low-cost online e-commerce presence. Prostores.com was introduced by Ebay.com this week. Not only does it offer sophisticated and easy-to-use e-commerce tools, but it offers additional benefits that may greatly enhance online traffic to your store, including synchronization with ebay.com--tapping into a potential source of new customers. Read more about this service here.

This looks to be a great e-commerce service for web designers to offer e-commerce clients.

Picasa, Digital Image Editor Extraordinare!

Web design and digital image editing are inseparable functions. Here is a digital image editing tool that simply must be a part of your toolkit: Picasa by Google. For a free download, Picasa is an incredibly useful piece of software! In fact, I have edited and uploaded all the images in this blog (including the ones below) using this free software from Google. Give it a try!

Web Designer Ramblings - Photo of the Day

Architectural detail, Millenum Park, Chicago, Illinois.

Web Designer Ramblings - Photo of the Day

Millennium Park, Chicago, Illinois.

CD Quality FM Radio On The Horizon?

Aaaah . . . Music soothes the savage web designer! My personal listening favorites are streaming music stations on the web . . . However, it appears that a higher quality FM signal will soon greatly enhance the sound of your favorite FM radio stations! Will it mark a rebirth of FM's popularity? Read more about it here.

My biggest complaint with FM radio has never been signal quality. It is, rather, the "Top 40" mentality that has every FM station sounding the same. I have migrated to the Web to hear music that is ignored on FM radio stations. Any technical improvements in the sound quality of FM will do little to resolve that issue (in my humble opinion).

Web Designer Ramblings - Photo of the Day

Denver, Colorado.

Will Intel based Macs Run Windows?

Imagine the potental of a single Intel-based computer that will run Windows, Mac OS, and Unix without software emulators . . . will it soon become a reality? An article on eweek.com discusses the pros, cons, and potential of just such a beast. Read it here . . .

When Creating Web Content, Titles Matter Most!

Savvy web designers keenly understand the need to create search engine friendly websites. However, skillful web design is only part of the strategy. Articles and content written for the Web must meet a need that is non-existent in print media: They must be search engine friendly. The title of an article can help or hinder its chances of being found in keyword and keyphrase searches in Google and other search engines. Here is an article providing excellent tips to help writers of website content maximize its chances of being found in online searches.

Web Designer Ramblings - Photo of the Day

Rio Grande Botanic Garden, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Run, Don't Walk to Google Sitemaps!

Web designers, start your engines . . . The Google Sitemaps service introduced on June 2, 2005 appears to be a way to insure that Google "crawls" and indexes all of your web pages, and, improves the chances of Google finding new content and updates quickly. As Martha Stewart would say, "It's a good thing!"

The way Google Sitemaps works is pretty simple. You place a XML formatted file on your webserver which instructs Google to find out what pages are present and which have recently changed. Whenever you make changes to your website, you accordingly update your sitemap. And Google will also help you create this file using a script called Sitemap Generator - It can be configured to automatically create Sitemaps and submit them to Google. Sitemap Generator can create these Sitemaps from a URL list, access logs, or a directory path hosting static files corresponding to URLs.

Whle it is in beta testing at present, any web designer or developer concerned about search engine optimization should head straight to Google and join this groundbreaking program!

Google Launches New Service for Web Designers!

Web designers understand the importance of making web site content search engine accessible. Here is a revolutionary new tool that may make the process easier. Google Sitemaps. Google explains the benefit of this new tool:

"Help people discover more of your web pages.

Google Sitemaps is an easy way for you to help improve your coverage in the Google index. It's a collaborative crawling system that enables you to communicate directly with Google to keep us informed of all your web pages, and when you make changes to these pages."

Get more information here!

Web Designer Ramblings - Photo of the Day

Storefront, Taos, New Mexico

Web Designer Ramblings - Photo of the Day

Window display, Santa Fe, New Mexico

Web Designer Ramblings - Photo of the Day

View from the bandstand area, Millennium Park, Chicago, Illinois.

Firefox Security Alert!

There is no question that Firefox is the overwhelming favorite browser in the web design community. However, it also has its problems, as this recent article on internetweek.com will attest to: "Mozilla's current browsers, including the popular stand-alone Firefox, are susceptible, again, to a seven-year-old vulnerability that could let attackers spoof Web sites, a security company said Monday."

This vulnerability exists in the current version of Firefox (1.0.4) and could allow spoofing websites to collect your passwords to websites with sensitive financial information unknowingly. Read this article for full details and suggestions on how to work around this flaw.

How to Work With Web Designers

Actually, how to work with designers (of all types) . . . FastCompany.com has an excellent article advising businesses how to work with design consultants. It has excellent tips that can be applied to the working relationship between web designers and their clients.

The Truth about Online Employment Web Sites

Up to 96% of people in the US use online employment websites in their job search. However, statistics show that it is not the most effective way to find a new job! In one survey conducted by recruitersnetwork.com, 78% of respondents said they found a job by networking and personal contact. However, only 48% said they found a job through Internet Job Postings. Other surveys I have seen place the percentage of jobs found online to be much lower. The point is this: Do not rely on the Internet alone when searching for your next position!

Another matter to consider is the security risks of posting a resume online. It can make one an easy target for identity theft. Read more about this danger here.

Web Designer Ramblings - Photo of the Day

Missouri Botanical Gardens, St. Louis Missouri.

Apple - Intel & Software Developers . . . Perfect Together?

As a web designer, I have always preferred the Apple / Mac platform. I am already drooling over the prospects of a slickly designed 17' Powerbook that is competitively priced with the gray slabs produced by IBM, Dell and other PC laptop brands! The big question I have is regarding the possibility of running current Windows operating systems and software on these machines.

In the short term, the big issue is migrating current Apple software over to the Intel based platform. How difficult will the migration be for software developers? Wired.com has an interesting article from the developers perspective. "For the most part, developers here at Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference 2005 appeared willing to give Apple and CEO Steve Jobs the benefit of the doubt. Some of this goodwill stems from the company's track record with previous transitions, first from 680x0 processors to PowerPC chips, and then from Mac OS 9 to OS X." Read the full article here.

If you want to see the original speech by Steve jobs at Apple's Worldwide developer Conference 2005, visit Apple's website here.

Can't you just feel the excitement?

Web Blogs . . . The Ultimate Resume?

Are web blogs becoming the powerful new secret weapon in career advancement? Bizreport.com has an interesting article regarding the use of blogs as resume enhancers. "Having an online presence is an important part of managing your career. Career consultants are recommending that people build online identities through Web portfolios, blogs and other forms of online publishing." Read more here.

This trend may create a new source of revenue for web designers as "fast tracking" executives create a demand for skillfully designed web blogs!.

Apple / Macs to Use Intel Chips!

SAN FRANCISCO -- Steve Jobs confirmed weeks of hard-to-believe rumors Monday, saying that Apple Computer will end its 11-year partnership with IBM and adopt a new generation of microprocessors from Intel.
Click to learn more...

Evidently, what makes the transition feasible is a emulation chip that allows current Apple compatible programs to run on an Intel powered machine without any modifications or performance hits. And that will mean, Jobs argued, that developers will not need to rewrite the many thousands of Mac applications in order to get them to run on machines with the new Intel chips.

Will this mean cheaper Powerbooks? Will it mean a larger market share due to better pricing? What will it mean?

Create Easy Flash Slideshows!

Here is a tool Flash challenged web designers will love: SlideShowPro gives you the power to create beautiful image slideshows within Flash MX 2004. However, it has done all the hard work for you. Using this tool is much easier and faster than creating Flash slide shows from "scratch". Plus, the final product is a flexible and polished presentation. The price is also right: $20.00! Click here to learn more.

Web Designer Ramblings - Photo of the Day

Denver Botanic Gardens, Denver Colorado

The Next Generation of Internet Security Threats

It appears that security threats on the Web are becoming more dangerous because of the collaboration of virus, spyware, and trojan code writers. Internetweek.com has a rather alarming article on this disturbing new trend. Read it here.

Did You Say It Was Free?

What word holds more value to web designers than "free?" We love free stuff! Free graphics and photos are our favorite freebies. Here is an article that gives a nice synopsis of the best free photos / graphics resources online: Where To Find Great Free Photographs And Visuals For Your Own Online Articles

Read and indulge!

Web Designer Ramblings - Photo of the Day

Missouri Botanical Gardens, St. Louis Missouri.

Phony Spyware Protection Software

It is bad enough that our computers are at risk of spyware, viruses, trojans, and other software with ill intent. The newest threat is a spyware protection software that issues false warnings that can only be stopped by purchasing an "upgraded" version of the software. Here is a quote from an article on this new risk from internetweek.com:

"Surreptitiously downloaded when users visit certain porn or pirate Web sites, SpywareNo exploits vulnerabilities in Microsoft's Internet Explorer to get onto a PC. Once it installs itself, it creates an icon on the desktop and displays a bogus warning that the system's infected with spyware, Corrons said. (It also modifies the Windows Registry to guarantee it runs every time the PC is started, even after the user thinks he's managed to manually delete the program.)

The warnings are as fake as a $3 bill.

The on-screen alert invites users to purchase the full version ($20 for a month's subscription, $60 for an annual plan); only those who pay the ransom see the "threats" disappear."

Learn more about this risk at http://internetweek.com