May 15, 2009 by Aaron Rubman
Unless you are one of the lucky few with a relatively distinctive name, you have encountered a situation where you have signed up for an e-mail address, only to be told that your own name has already been taken, but would you be interested in one of half a dozen variations on that name? Or perhaps your name with a few extra numbers thrown on at the end so that it’ll be distinguishable from all the other people who’ve set up e-mail accounts using the same name.
The same thing is true of Social Media sites. They require visitors and members …
May 14, 2009 by Aaron Rubman
Depending on who you ask, some people will tell you that metadata keywords are essential to a website, and no design is complete without proper use. Other web developers make it sound like metadata is an outdated concept, and that using metadata is a waste of time.
But what is metadata, and why is the debate over its use so contentious?
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, metadata is a set of data that describes and gives information about other data.
That’s a very powerful and broad definition, but because it’s so encompassing, it’s not very helpful when trying to wrap …
May 13, 2009 by Aaron Rubman
Let’s face it. Times are tough, and even though you may want the services of a professional photographer or copywriter, you may not have the budget to commission one.
So, where can you turn if you need to cheaply, legally, and ethically obtain images, videos, and other content for your website?
One answer is the Creative Commons
The Creative Commons was founded in 2001 by Lawrence Lessig in an effort to make information more accessible while preserving the rights of the creator.
To do this the Creative Commons has developed a number of standard licenses with some rights reserved.
Material produced under …
May 12, 2009 by Lindsay Gower
Watching baseball teaches me about business.
I love running my own business and being my own boss. I also love baseball. Oh, I hate to play it (“Don’t hit it to me, please don’t hit it to me…”) but I truly love to watch the game.
From baseball, I’ve learned some excellent business practices:
Barry Zito taught me to consider one batter at a time. Barry’s doing well this year: I read that he’s taking a batter-by-batter approach, rather than letting his mind wander to how badly the game is going, …
May 8, 2009 by Aaron Rubman
Messages for all
The savvy like the clever
Say it in haiku
Shorter than a sonnet, more elegant than a limerick, the haiku has become a very popular for of online poetry. And several Social Media sites have sprouted groups dedicated to creating such poems. Sometimes even going so far as to hold discussions and debates within the style.
The haiku itself is Japanese in origin. A typical poem had a floral or seasonal theme, started with a three character line, continued with a five character line, and ended with another three character line.
The modern western version is a bit more free form, and …
May 7, 2009 by Aaron Rubman
Unless you are one of the lucky few with a relatively distinctive name, you have encountered a situation where you have signed up for an e-mail address, only to be told that your own name has already been taken, but would you be interested in one of half a dozen variations on that name? Or perhaps your name with a few extra numbers thrown on at the end so that it’ll be distinguishable from all the other people who’ve set up e-mail accounts using the same name.
The same thing is true of Social Media sites. They require visitors and members …
May 6, 2009 by Aaron Rubman
Wolfram|Alpha is the newest brainchild of Steven Wolfram. If you are unfamiliar with his work, he is the man responsible for Mathematica, the most common mathematical programming language to find its way into high schools and colleges.
Wolfram|Alpha, which is scheduled to launch in about a week, is a new kind of search engine designed to find and formulate answers to any sort of factual question. In short, it’s supposed to act as a computerized subject area expert.
Always eager to build on his previous work, Steven Wolfram constructed Wolfram|Alpha inside Mathematica, utilizing some five to six million lines of code. By …
May 5, 2009 by Lindsay Gower
Let’s get physical with web content.
Whatever you post on your site, the reader sees. Sure, we all know that. But consider—your reader’s eyes do the work: Find the data, register the data, shoot the data to the brain.
What if the eyes can’t find the message? What if tracking that elusive message fatigues the reader? They’ll click and they’ll be gone.
Make your web content literally easy for your readers’ eyes!
- Line length matters. On a long line, it’s difficult for our eyes to swing back and find the beginning of the next line. On a short line, when the end arrives …
May 4, 2009 by Aaron Rubman
The Devil’s Dictionary was begun in a weekly paper in 1881, and was continued in a desultory way at long intervals until 1906. - Abrose Bierce, Author’s Preface
In the century since Ambrose Bierce came out with his humorous dictionary, a number of new terms and phrases have entered the English lexicon. No doubt the cynic would have tried his hand at some of them as well, but as he is no longer available, I have taken a shot at it.
Here are a trio of other definitions that might be useful.
Framing: frame, v.
The act of displaying information in order to achieve …
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