The Local Wisdom Blog

Testing some more

pkathiari@gmail.com (Pinaki) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 17:11:00 +0000

The Ring > HTTP Mistake

noreply@blogger.com (Tim) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:27:00 +0000

Since i learned about product placement, it has ruined movie-watching experiences for me, i now look at everything in a scene except the characters or what the director expects you to look at.

with that said here are some sweet screen shots of the main-cheese character looking at what seems like a google web page and a crummy fake page. BUT... if you look at the address bar you can see it was a made-for-movie web site that was never pushed live and is all on the local machine they used to shoot the scene.

thought it was interesting to catch that.

Microsoft to sell Razorfish

noreply@blogger.com (Ricky Wisdom) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 14:40:00 +0000

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Microsoft has hired Morgan Stanley to sell Razorfish, its digital agency, and French marketing company Publicis Groupe SA is thought to be a possible bidder, the Financial Times said on its website late Sunday.

Microsoft acquired the agency, formerly called Avenue A Razorfish, as part of its $6 billion takeover of aQuantive in 2007.

The report cited an analyst valuing Razorfish at $600 million to $700 million, based on sales of about $400 million last year and profit margins for similar businesses of 12 to 13 percent.

Publicis and Morgan Stanley were not immediately available for comment.

Microsoft declined comment.

Razorfish is one of the largest interactive advertising and marketing agencies, boasting a client list that includes McDonald's Corp, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, and Carnival Cruise Lines.

Microsoft and VivaKi, the digital arm of Publicis, last week unveiled a broad cooperation deal to develop new content, improve marketing performance and better target digital advertising audiences.

Source>>

Local Wisdom \\Share EP11:Web Development series-Measure it and Screengrab

noreply@blogger.com (Big Latin) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 03:22:00 +0000

Part 2 of our series where we look at tools used in-house to make web development easier and faster. Mike demonstrates Measure it which is a browser pixel measuring tool and Screengrab which takes print screening to a the next level. We show you how simple the tools are to use and the needs they fulfill. Send requests for screencasts to share@localwisdom.com and follow us at twitter.com/localwisdom

Show Notes: Original Blog post with Measure It and Screengrab links

Subscribe to on Itunes:
Large Version
Medium Version
IPod/IPhone Version

Helpful resources on interface design patterns from Smashing Mag

pkathiari@gmail.com (Pinaki) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 16:12:00 +0000

Those rather helpful guys at

Smashing Magazine

have posted 40 useful resources for interface design patterns. I have some of these bookmarked and others where new.

They also just posted 10 design patterns to be paying attention to, talking about some of the recent patterns that are emerging and re-emerging in the websites that we know and love.

Good stuff to snack on and chew.

You're still counting clicks, huh?

pkathiari@gmail.com (Pinaki) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 16:06:00 +0000

UX Booth has a great article on Counting Clicks. The every famous "3 Click Rule", which is something like everyone should get to where they want to go in 3 clicks, is one of those "rules" that we aren't fans of.

Not because we don't like the challenge of making everything on your website available within 3 clicks. There might be times where it is applicable. As a general rule it places unnessary contrains on the architecture that might not really be a benefit to the user.

For example large navigation systems are not helpful for people to make decisions with. In that scenario people might want 4 clicks with smaller navigation items.

The truth is that hard, fast, and specific rules like this don't apply to everything. Just like saying that a glass of wine a day is good for you doesn't apply to everyone.

Some iPhone app stats that we all felt in our hearts

pkathiari@gmail.com (Pinaki) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 01:42:00 +0000

Some iPhone apps usage stats from adlabs.

-- Minutes per use: 9.6 (Greystripe)
-- Uses per user: 19.9 (Greystripe)
-- Only 20% of users return to use the app after the first day (Pinch Media)
-- After a month, this number drops to 5% (Pinch Media)
-- "39% of iPhone users cited weather-related apps as one of the three kinds of applications they use most frequently (Compete via MediaPost, April 2009)

Ordering online from Domino's

noreply@blogger.com (Laur) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 00:02:00 +0000

I just ordered a pizza from Domino's and here it tells me exactly what the status of my pizza is in real time.

Testing DNS SRV Records with NSLookup

noreply@blogger.com (Big Latin) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 23:54:00 +0000

Related to the post just prior to this, I had to figure out how to test or "ping" the newly created SRV record and I found this blog post that showed me how:

" Office Communicator relies on Service Location (SRV) records in DNS for auto-configuration. Frequently you can't create the external DNS record yourself so you need to ask your ISP or DNS provider to do it for you.

So if the service provider is swearing black and blue that the records have been created correctly but your external client is not finding the server checking your DNS configuration is a great place to start."

Original Post here

Enables Outlook 2007 to use DNS Service Location (SRV) records to locate the Exchange Autodiscover service

noreply@blogger.com (Big Latin) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 23:41:00 +0000

Original Error:
Microsoft Exchange offline address book
Not downloading Offline address book files. A server (URL) could not be located.
0X8004010F

We just recently upgraded our DC to Win 2008 and also upgraded to Exchange 2007. With that, we've run into a small issue of the Offline Address Book (OAB) not being able to be found and it's giving a sync error every hour in outlook. We had to figure out a way to get the Autodiscover feature to work correctly and after about 3 hours of searching, here's the article that set us up correctly:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/940881

It worked great for us as we couldn't use the standard DNS solution due to having only 1 IP and only being able to use 1 SSL certificate on that IP (I did try a wildcard SSL, but then the email sync broke while the Offline Address Book error went away), so setting up a SRV record worked great!

Here's a link that shows how to setup the SRV DNS entry in godaddy

Local Wisdom \\Share EP10:Web Development series-Firebug for firefox

noreply@blogger.com (Big Latin) — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 20:57:00 +0000

Part 1 of our series where we look at tools used in-house to make web development easier and faster. Mike demonstrates some of the most commonly used features in firebug which include on the fly css and html manipulation, turning styles on and off, layouts, page sizes and page caching. Probably the most heavily leaned upon tool in the arsenal and we'll show you how to use it! Send requests for screencasts to share@localwisdom.com and follow us at twitter.com/localwisdom

Show Notes: Firebug website

Subscribe to on Itunes:
Large Version
Medium Version
IPod/IPhone Version

Free your phone from AT&T shackles

noreply@blogger.com (Big Latin) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 17:19:00 +0000

"Take Action
Tell Washington: Free My Phone!

New "smart" phones have set the stage for the future of a mobile Internet. But companies like AT&T and Verizon are getting in the way by shackling open and innovative devices to closed networks. The FCC and Congress must step in to protect consumers and foster innovation. We demand:

1. The freedom to choose any phone or network.
2. The freedom to choose among many carriers in a competitive, low-cost marketplace.
3. The freedom to access any Web content, applications or services we want through our phones."

http://www.freepress.net/FreeMyPhone

How to shave your Groin: A lesson from Gillette

noreply@blogger.com (Big Latin) — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 01:53:00 +0000

Couldn't believe it either when I heard about this one, but check it out, I'd say it's pretty accurate :)

Alternatives to paying for cable

noreply@blogger.com (Shawn Venkat) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 13:36:00 +0000

Below is an interesting video I saw on CNET.com regarding not paying for cable. A solution is coming real soon to consumers.

Test to see if your website is optimized for speed

noreply@blogger.com (Big Latin) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 20:10:00 +0000

This site checks your site to see if GZIP Compression is turned on and shows you the results:

http://www.whatsmyip.org/http_compression/

T-Mobile Unlimited Loyalty Plan

noreply@blogger.com (Big Latin) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 04:20:00 +0000

So I logged into my tmobile account today and I see this message about a unlimited voice plan for $50. I've been with them since I left verizon years back and I have to say they are the best! I'm able to use my Iphone on their network and get internet too. They definitely don't get the shine they deserve and this loyalty plan is just one of the many ways they prove that they appreciate their customers unlike the other cell phone carriers...

Here's some details about it:

"Starting March 2nd, customers who have been with T-Mobile for more than 22 months with a reliable payment history are being offered the new plan when they log in to their T-Mobile accounts. The plans, which were piloted in San Francisco a mere 10 days ago, provide unlimited minutes on an individual line for $49.99/month and unlimited minutes on a two-line Family plan for $89.99/month. Additional lines (up to three) can also be added to the Family plan for $39.99 each. Add-on features such as unlimited data ($24.99), unlimited BlackBerry data ($34.99) and unlimited messaging ($9.99) can be added to each line on an a la carte basis. As an added bonus, customers who add a line and port in a new customer from a competitor will receive a $135 credit on their bill. Damn good show, T-Mobile — let’s see how the competition responds, or rather, if the competition responds…" whole story here

More About: iPhone 3G [S]

noreply@blogger.com (Tim) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 18:56:00 +0000

New iPhone to allow Voice Control (Ask what is playing, ask to call a friend, ask to play a song, etc.)

Prices:
AVAILABLE JUNE 19th
$299 3GS 32GB
$199 3GS 16GB
$99 3G 8GB

Some battery specs:
3G
6 on Wi-Fi
7 on Video
24 on Audio
10 on 2G talk
5 on 3G talk

3GS
9 on Wi-Fi
10 on video
30 on audio
12 on 2g talk 5 on 3g talk.

iPhone 3G [S]

noreply@blogger.com (Tim) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 18:48:00 +0000

While iPhone 3.0 will be released officially on June 17th...

Here it is... iPhone 3G S

While it retains the same design as the iPhone 3G, new upgrades include a 3MegaPixel Camera, 30 fps Videorecording AND video cropping in-app.

And more to come....

iPhone WWDC Happening Now!

noreply@blogger.com (Tim) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 18:10:00 +0000

Quick! Watch the WWDC right now. BIG updates and features available on the new iPhone OS 3.0 including landscape typing, lost my iPhone, and other feature we all wish we had!

Tune in!

http://live.gizmodo.com/

From this to THIS

pkathiari@gmail.com (Pinaki) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 14:18:00 +0000

1984

2009

The web without words

pkathiari@gmail.com (Pinaki) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 13:49:00 +0000

Explore the Web Without Words - a visual playground. Every week Paul Armstrong takes a popular and known website and reconstruct it by removing all words and images, replacing them with blocks (what is typical in the "concepting" and "wireframeing" phase of a architecture/ design process).

Can you guess which websites these are:

Website A
Website B

Graduating from usability into delightability

pkathiari@gmail.com (Pinaki) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 02:30:00 +0000

This is exactly what Clearleft's design lead talks about... mixing unexpected delights and unconventional designs, as the arcane art of smoke and mirrors to spread wonder and create buzz.

This is exactly why we have graduated from usability to delightability.

Oooh, that's Clever! (unnatural experiments in web design)

View more Microsoft Word documents from nicepaul.

What's this?

If you said an arrow pointing to the right symbolizing movement and forward progression, you are right.

But if you said the Fed Ex logo, you're also right.

Browser ball, possibly more cool than you think

pkathiari@gmail.com (Pinaki) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 02:26:00 +0000

This is an experiment that I stumbled on. It breaks out preconceived barriers of the browser window.

Check out browser ball

Parallax scrolling and Jquery... salivating aren't we?

pkathiari@gmail.com (Pinaki) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 01:18:00 +0000

We've been talking in the office about producing environments as part of the user experience. People explore websites to reach their goal just like we explored worlds in video games to reach the end boss. We're realizing that people don't want to be online doing work, they want to be online having fun.

So lets start by making work fun.

Check out Jparallax, a clever parallax effects in Jquery.

Jenga

noreply@blogger.com (Big Latin) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 22:38:00 +0000