I’m a huge proponent of open platforms and open API’s, so when Google announced Open Social I was excited. After thinking about it for a bit, I’m not so sure about it now. It’s great for developers to have exposure to these host services’ large user-bases, but at what cost to the hosts brand? The thought of a Facebook style Vampire application on Linkedin just doesn’t sit right. …
As a web designer, I have to deal with SEO (Search Engine Optimization) a lot. (between you and me, a lot more then I would like to). My opinion on SEO is that it is 99% best practices, good marketing and good content. The other 1% percent is the gray area that takes up a larger percentage of my time. SEO is important, but it’s not some magic elixir that is the answer to all your site’s problems. I try to design for human users and not for Googlebot. …
My computer habits have changed in the last year. I’ve noticed that I’m using more web based software. I find data portability to be the over riding factor in the products I use. Last year, I changed from using Apple’s Mail program to using Google Apps for my email, calendar and documents. This gives me amazing flexibility. I’m able to get my email, calendar, and documents wherever I have access to a web browser. With the advent of ajax and lean javascript frameworks, developers are creating products that act more like desktop applications, thus making operating systems less relevant. …