Web-surfing behavior: stuck in the 1990’s? � Online Journalism Blog

Web-surfing behavior: stuck in the 1990’s? � Online Journalism Blog: "A new research from Indiana University showed that 54% of URL requests had no referrals. That means that most of the time, people do not click on links. They merely pick a site in their favorites or type in an URL in the address bar. A mere 5% of URL requests came from search engines.

The figures can hardly be doubted. The study monitored 100,000 users over 9 months – the largest yet. What is more, the number of URL requests without referrals actually increased over the course of the study.

Users seem less Google-prone than what is often claimed. They spend little time surfing and prefer to go directly to destinations they know."

How to Sync Google Calendar with Outlook and Smartphones Automatically

How to Sync Google Calendar with Outlook and Smartphones Automatically: "My big complaint about Google Calendar was lack of support for easily syncing calendar data with my smartphone. I use Outlook for my personal information management because it's still the only thing that puts all my data in one place the way I want it. Google Calendar's iCal export made manual syncing with Outlook possible, but I want to get all my calendar data from my computer to my phone automatically. There have been several third party solutions that attempt to address this with varying levels of success. Just recently, Google released Google Calendar Sync, completely addressing the automatic sync between Outlook and Google Calendar.

Here's how you can sync Outlook with Google Calendar"

Transfer calendars between Outlook and Google Calendar - Outlook - Microsoft Office Online

Transfer calendars between Outlook and Google Calendar - Outlook - Microsoft Office Online: "By using Microsoft Office Outlook 2007, you can import and export calendars from Google Calendar as Calendar Snapshots in the iCalendar format. This functionality enables you to transfer calendars between Outlook and Google Calendar. You can also subscribe to a Google Calendar in Office Outlook 2007 or use a Google-provided application to synchronize items on your Outlook calendar and Google Calendar."

Beyond Blogs

Beyond Blogs
Three years ago our cover story showcased the phenomenon. A lot has changed since then

Official Google Website Optimizer Blog

Official Google Website Optimizer Blog
"Now let's look at how we do website redesigns today. We typically invite local agencies to razzle and dazzle us with their portfolios. We choose things that look nice and make us feel good about spending tens of thousands of dollars (if not more) on a redesign. We get enchanted by talk of Web 2.0, widgets, gadgets, video, surveys and interactive movies. If we're using a really good agency, they'll ask for or already know our current web-analytics metrics so there's a baseline against which to measure. And after months of brainstorming and discussions, we see initial concept mocks, and the new site is unveiled—perhaps a press release is issued.

The irony is, that launch day should really be the first day of a test, to see if the new site really does perform better than the old one. Sure, you think it looks better and your gut tells you it must perform better (especially since you've become emotionally invested in it). But the reality is you don't know. Even if you compare baseline web stats, you won't know if improvements are seasonal (almost any redesign in the fall outperforms a summer predecessor) or due to another external factor (like a new ad campaign)."

civilization at okanogan1.com � Drupal versus everybody. A CMS Software review

civilization at okanogan1.com --- Drupal versus everybody. A CMS Software review

The Ultranet System Re-tender

$60m school software plan faces costly delays - Education News - theage.com.au

"Ultranet will link all government schools, allowing students to submit work and communicate with teachers and classmates, as well as being used by teachers to plan and create lessons."

Man Babies

Photo-fiddling site is both creepy and quirky - web - Technology - theage.com.au: "what some would say is the last thing the world needs - another photo-fiddling website"

Gmail S/MIME for Firefox

Gmail S/MIME for Firefox: "Gmail S/MIME provides Firefox users with S/MIME support for Gmail. S/MIME support is integrated directly into Google's Gmail web interface. Reading and sending of encrypted mail is supported. Signing of messages is supported as of version 0.2.0. Verification of signatures is not supported in the current version."

James Gosling and Tor Norbye Javascript / YUI / Netbeans demo

2008 JavaOne Conference
"In a general session with James Gosling at JavaOne last week, Tor “NetBeans Guy” Norbye demoed the really nice JavaScript support that was just added to NetBeans (code completion, browser-compatibility warnings, syntax highlighting, refactoring, etc). He did so using YUI, and NetBeans did a very nice job with the code complete, etc. Really slick demo…"


skip over the first 8'30 minutes to get to the YUI/Netbeans demo

Hard Drive Recovery Service

DriveSavers Hard Drive Recovery Service: How a Dead Maxtor External Drive is Repaired
This is a cautionary tale - moral - never keep digital data in just one place.

UPDATE by JH: of course it might have been a lot worse.

Amazon.com: Learning the Yahoo! User Interface library: Dan Wellman: Books

Amazon.com: Learning the Yahoo! User Interface library: Dan Wellman: Books
The Yahoo! User Interface (YUI) Library is a set of utilities and controls, written in JavaScript, for building richly interactive web applications using techniques such as DOM scripting, DHTML, and AJAX. The YUI Library also includes several core CSS resources. All components in the YUI Library have been released as open source under a BSD license and are free for all uses. This book covers all released components whether utility, control, core file, or CSS tool. Methods of the YAHOO Global Object are used and discussed throughout the book. The basics of each control will be presented, along with a detailed example showing its use to create complex, fully featured, cross-browser, Web 2.0 user interfaces. Besides giving you a deep understand of the YUI library, this book will expand your knowledge of object-oriented JavaScript programming, as well as strengthen your understanding of the DOM and CSS. You will learn to create a number of powerful JavaScript controls that can be used straight away in your own applications.

Tilt-Shift Lens

Nikon 24 mm f/3.5 PC-E Nikkor ED: "A lens like the Nikon 24 PC-E does two fundamental things that no other type of lens can do.
– it allows you to change the plane of focus, from near to far to any other axis.
– it provides a very large image circle, much larger than the image area needs, and then allows you to move the image area anywhere within that circle."

No Clean Feed - Home

No Clean Feed - Home
"Although the final details of the filtering plans have been kept secret up to now, the Minister is on record as being firmly committed to a mandatory clean-feed internet to Australian homes, schools and public computers."

Psi - Home

Psi - Home: "Psi is a free instant messaging application designed for the Jabber IM network (including Google Talk). Fast and lightweight, Psi is fully open-source and compatible with Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X.

With Psi's full Unicode support and localizations, easy file transfers, customizable iconsets, and many other great features, you'll learn why users around the world are making the switch to free, open instant messaging."

Kyle Hayes: YUI Makes Animating the DOM Easy

Kyle Hayes: YUI Makes Animating the DOM Easy: "Despite being an Adobe fanboy, I never cared much for how the Spry framework handles things like animations. Seemed complex at the time for basic operations. At work, they have standardized on using the YUI framework. This has been great for me because I have always wanted to dive deeper into it and learn about its ins and outs. With that, I needed to do some basic fade animations for a User Interface I am working on.

I looked up the docs for the the animation package. After reading for a few minutes, I was blown away at how the YUI developers were able to execute such a powerful, customizable feature in a very simple way."

More on the Canterbury Art Show

Those are great comments by Michelle Giacobello, I'm sorry I'm just going to have to quote one of them at length here:

I love this art show. It’s my second year there, and I was completely blown away last time by the talent and work there. It’s fantastic that it pops up and is gone in a few days, and the online component is quite exciting to view and be a part of. Over the course of the weekend, works that are sold are noted on the online catalogue and it is quite a thrill to pop by in the evening and see that something has gone - or is still there.

And they do online tours - breaking works up into smaller categories. It’s beautifully done. If you can make it - pop by the show. It’s beautiful. If not, have a look through the works online, and imagine them in your space. I do - I’ve bought 10 in my head already. :)

For more information about Lagado's involvement in the technology behind the Canterbury Art Show go here.

Canterbury Art Exhibition

Canterbury Art Exhibition
Just completed the 2008 exhibition, with over 600 new artworks on show.

Here is an artist's perspective during and after the show.

Get Satisfaction - People-Powered Customer Service

Get Satisfaction - People-Powered Customer Service: "What is Get Satisfaction?

Get Satisfaction is a place where people can get the most from the products they use, and where companies are encouraged to get real with their customers.

Questions Answered

Ask a question, report a problem, share an idea, or join in conversations already in progress. The most useful replies rise to the top. We’ll notify you via email when people respond.

Everyone Is Invited

Customers, employees, and companies are all welcome here. Nothing is hidden, and no one is censored. Join the conversation!"

YouTube - Google's Eric Schmidt on Cloud Computing

YouTube - Eric Schmidt at IBM Business Partners Leadership Conference

Here's a video of Google CEO Eric Schmidt's presentation at the event in which he spoke about cloud computing. "We're on the edge of a truly great breakthrough," said Schmidt. "It's the story of our lifetime." The video runs about 49 minutes.

WorldWide Telescope takes you to infinity and beyond - web - Technology

WorldWide Telescope takes you to infinity and beyond - web - Technology

Stevey's Blog Rants: Dynamic Languages Strike Back

Stevey's Blog Rants: Dynamic Languages Strike Back
So when we talk about performance, it's all crap. The most important thing is that you have a small system. And then the performance will just fall out of it naturally.

Free Chapter from Douglas Crockford’s “JavaScript: The Good Parts” � Yahoo! User Interface Blog

Free Chapter from Douglas Crockford’s “JavaScript: The Good Parts” � Yahoo! User Interface Blog: "The #2 book on Amazon’s JavaScript shelf this morning is Douglas Crockford’s forthcoming Javascript: The Good Parts (currently available for preorder and due for release later this month). In this volume, Douglas articulates a philosophy of coding in JavaScript that builds up on and extends the content of his popular video series and articles. The premise, as Douglas puts it: 'Most programming languages contain good parts and bad parts. I discovered that I could be a better programmer by using only the good parts and avoiding the bad parts.'"

Google Confirms Plans To Put Display Ads On Google.com - Silicon Alley Insider

Google Confirms Plans To Put Display Ads On Google.com - Silicon Alley Insider: "The most pressing question for Google (GOOG) shareholders is what product will drive the company's next growth boom as the search product cycle ends. Most likely candidate? Not sexy mobile or video. Just boring old display ads.

Google has been serving display ads on other sites for years, and the DoubleClick acquisition will accelerate that effort. Third-party display ads will only make a small contribution to the bottom line, however (10-20 cents on the dollar). So the key question here has been whether Google would deign to put display ads on its own sites.

We've argued that a full load of display ads on Google.com could add $3-$4 billion in annual revenue. Many SAI readers considered this estimate too optimistic, and it might be, at least over the next couple of years. But $1-$2 billion seems easily achievable."

The Stats Are In: You're Just Skimming This Article - ReadWriteWeb

The Stats Are In: You're Just Skimming This Article - ReadWriteWeb: "Earlier this this year, we commented on the infamous Steve Jobs quote '...the fact is people don't read anymore,' arguing that, people do read, they just prefer to do it online. However, in this transition from page to screen, a question has risen: are people really reading online content or just scanning page? Apparently, it's the latter."

Membership Software | Wild Apricot - Easy Membership Management

Membership Software | Wild Apricot - Easy Membership Management: "Wild Apricot brings together all the organizing and communication tools to run an association, group, club or community:

* Easy-to-Manage Website
* Email Newsletter tool, Blogs and Discussion Forums
* Online Application and Event Registration Forms
* Secure Web Pages for Members, Board and Volunteers
* Member Database with Automated Renewals

Everything is integrated in one elegant program to save you money and hours of tedious copy-pasting from one program to another."

The day the music died [dive into mark]

The day the music died [dive into mark]

So what happens on August 31, 2008? On that day, Microsoft will turn off the servers that they maintain for the sole purpose of validating that the songs that people have already “purchased” through MSN Music are still theirs to play. Those people (hereafter “the victims”) will not notice the change right away. The victims will only notice it when they purchase a new computer, or when they upgrade the operating system on their current computer, or when the hard drive in their computer dies and needs to be rebuilt/reinstalled. At that point — transferring the music files they have “purchased” to another drive or a new computer — the Microsoft music player running on the victim’s PC (like iTunes, but all Microsoft-y instead of Apple-y) will make a call to Microsoft’s validation servers to verify that the music files were legitimately purchased. This call will fail, since the servers are not responding, since Microsoft has intentionally turned them off. The Microsoft music player will then conclude, incorrectly but steadfastly, that the music files were downloaded illegally and that the victim is a filthy pirate, and it will refuse to play them. In this case, the left hand knows exactly what the right hand is doing: they’re both giving you the finger.

Yahoo! User Interface Library (YUI): Index of Library Examples

Yahoo! User Interface Library (YUI): Index of Library Examples: "Every YUI Library component ships with a series of 275 examples that illustrate its implementation. These examples can serve as starting points for your exploration of YUI, as code snippets to get you started in your own programming, or simply as an inspiration as to how various interaction patterns can be enabled in the web browser via YUI.

The navigation controls on the left side of this page allow you to explore these examples component-by-component; on this page you'll find the full index of library examples with a link to and short description of each one."

• Animation
• AutoComplete
• Browser History Manager
• Button
• Calendar
• Charts (experimental)
• Color Picker
• Connection Manager
• Cookie
• Container
• DataSource
• DataTable
• Dom
• Drag & Drop
• Element
• Event
• Get
• ImageCropper
• ImageLoader
• JSON
• Layout Manager
• Logger
• Menu
• Profiler
• ProfilerViewer
• Resize
• Rich Text Editor
• Selector
• Slider
• TabView
• TreeView
• Uploader (experimental)
• Yahoo Global Object
• YUI Loader
• YUI Test
• Reset CSS
• Base CSS
• Fonts CSS
• Grids CSS

Yahoo! UI Library: Rich Text Editor

Yahoo! UI Library: Rich Text Editor

The Rich Text Editor is a UI control that replaces a standard HTML textarea; it allows for the rich formatting of text content, including common structural treatments like lists, formatting treatments like bold and italic text, and drag-and-drop inclusion and sizing of images. The Rich Text Editor's toolbar is extensible via a plugin architecture so that advanced implementations can achieve a high degree of customization.

Joining Dots: Blog: Rethinking Office

Joining Dots: Blog: Rethinking Office

You may or may not have noticed, Google has been rolling out some online services that challenge one of Microsoft's key territories - Office. Google's online version is Google Docs. You can use it to create documents, spreadsheets and presentations using nothing more than a web browser with an Internet connection...

Here's the interesting part. I've been playing with spreadsheets for a couple of ideas and one feature required me to delve into Google Docs for the first time. Whilst Excel 2007 was best for one solution, Google Docs was best for the other. That, I didn't expect to happen.

OpenSolaris on Amazon EC2

OpenSolaris on Amazon EC2: "Sun and Amazon Web Services are opening a private beta program starting on May 5, 2008. Approved beta users get access to OpenSolaris on Amazon EC2."

JavaOne: Sun rolls out JavaFX | Outside the Lines - CNET News.com

JavaOne: Sun rolls out JavaFX | Outside the Lines - CNET News.com

As part of Sun's effort to enable consumers to innovate, Green introduced JavaFX, a rich Internet application environment set to compete with Adobe Systems' AIR and Microsoft's Silverlight.

Sun is hoping to tap into 2.2 billion mobile devices and the vast majority of desktop PCs that are Java-enabled. JavaFX was shown running on Google's Android mobile platform. Green noted that 85 percent of cell phones, 91 percent of desktops, and 100 percent of all Blu-ray Disc players will run JavaFX.

Hans Rosling: New insights on poverty and life around the world

This is quite simply an astonishing presentation. Must see.

Direct link to TED talk if it doesn't display above

The Convergence of Still Photography & Video

The Convergence of Still Photography & Video
"I believe that we are at a point in time where a profound change is about to take place in the photographic industry. It is being driven not by user demand, but by the inevitable convergence of a number of required technologies."

New Blogger Tag Cloud / Label Cloud

New Blogger Tag Cloud / Label Cloud: "Here is the code and setup information to use the Label Cloud in New Blogger."

Bring on the tables | 456 Berea Street

Bring on the tables | 456 Berea Street

"When tables are used to mark up actual data, they aren’t just a layout grid. Sighted people can get a feel for the relationship between header and data cells by looking at the layout and visual presentation of the table. Blind or severly vision impaired people can’t do that. For a table to be accessible to people using a screen reader or some other non-visual user agent, it needs to tell the user agent how the information it contains is related.

Fortunately, HTML provides plenty of elements and attributes for that. Less fortunate is the fact that it can be pretty difficult to understand how to use some of these accessibility features. In this article, I’ll try to explain how most of them can be used."

Other useful bookmarks

Other useful bookmarks to drag into a toolbar:

Lagado Notebook

Create Post

Manage Posts

Blog This!

The Blog This! bookmarklet makes posting to blogger blogs very simple

Just drag this link: BlogThis! to your toolbar.

When you want to blog something, just press the bookmarklet which will open an editor and create a post with the title of the page you are looking at and a hyperlink. If you select text this text will also be included.

This is a good alternative to using bookmarks.

Note 1: some selected html can cause an error, if so select less of the text and paste the rest into the edit window.

Note 2: the selected text will be stripped of markup, if you want to preserve mark up suck as hyper links in the text, you need paste the text into the edit window.

Class Focus : Products

Class Focus : Products: "'Easy To Edit' Web Sites: Product Info"

Does your school not have the time, expertise or financial resources to build and maintain a professionally designed website?

Our 'Easy To Edit' school websites allow you to add, edit and delete your web site content from any computer with internet access, and without needing any programming skills.

• New pages can be added in seconds.

• No software to install, so no 'per user' license fees.

• As many usernames and passwords as you like.

• 'Editing Rights' so users can only edit 'their' pages.

• Feature upgrades are FREE.

• Upload pictures & videos, PDFs and word documents.

• Searchable calendar.

• Expiry dates, no need to remove out-of-date content.

• Professional graphic design.

From $150 initial design & development, then $350 per year for primary schools.