A screenshot of the redesigned provost web site, currently in development.
It has been one year since University Relations rolled-out new page templates for University of Minnesota web sites. So at this week's web standards meeting, we'll be taking a look at how the U's web staff have implemented these new standards and what they have learned.
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After several months of study and hard work, I am happy to announce that Apple has accepted ArtAlphabet, my new iPhone and iPod Touch application. It is an alphabet flashcard game designed primarily for young children, and secondarily for anyone who enjoys typography, design history, and art. It is one part educational game and one part miniature art gallery.
As part of the application development and marketing process, I also started a new company called Aesthete Software. Look for additional iPhone applications from Aesthete Software in 2010.
Thanks to many people who have encouraged and supported this side project; several are listed personally on the credits screen in the application.
Related:
My presentation from HighEdWeb 2009 in Milwaukee.
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Last week I was honored by having my proposal to speak at the HighEdWeb Professionals Association's national conference accepted.
My topic: Nurturing Communities with Social Networking.
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MinneWebCon 2009 was, according to the numbers and the feedback heard so far, a great success:
For more information, links to presentations, and video of the keynote presentations, please visit the MinneWebCon web site.
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I am looking forward to attending a wayfinding workshop sponsored by UCDA (University & College Designers Association). Particularly because two of the presenters are Drew Sternal and Gary Stemler, who were involved in the University of Minnesota's Scholars Walk.
Because I designed (and continue to manage) the Scholars Walk web site, I'm thrilled to learn more about the design process for this web site's subject. Hopefully "getting into their heads" a bit, and possibly even hearing some critique of the Scholars Walk web site from their perspective, can help me improve the overall wayfinding experience and help it better relate to their design ideas and goals.
Related:
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Synthesis AG, a Swiss iPhone application developer, has released Todo+Cal+Sync for the iPhone.
And in doing so, has completed my world.
Now my iPhone syncs with our enterprise calendar environment, Oracle Calendar. Which means I now have full connectivity with my calendar over AT&T's mobile network and via wireless hotspots. So adding that to email, Twitter, and other web resources such as online banking, there's really very little that I now cannot do on my iPhone.
Ganz herlizlichen Dank, Synthesis AG!
And on a related note, a colleague of mine here at the U, Colin McFadden, has already posted a nifty tutorial for U staff on how to use this application.
Todo+Cal+Sync costs $14.99 on the iPhone App Store.
Today, Jeffrey Zeldman released an interesting tool, Jeffrey Zeldman’s Web Standards Advisor, a $49 extension for Adobe Dreamweaver. It includes two tools, a Web Validator and a Web Standards Advisor. Zeldman notes that the extension began as a “fantasy product that could improve the markup of even the most experienced front-end coder”.
Is this a useful tool for you? Perhaps. As Mr. Zeldman continues on his blog:
I’m a hand-coder and always will be. I own Dreamweaver mainly because it comes with Adobe CS3 and CS4. Installing Jeffrey Zeldman’s Web Standards Advisor is a no-brainer, and running it on my work (or that of people working for me) turns up enough surprises to more than justify the time and expense.
The timing of this is interesting, as just a few weeks ago I engaged in a spirited online discussion about Adobe Dreamweaver on Marc Grabanski's web site. Mr. Grabanski’s premise is:
The intent of Dreamweaver was to give people who don't know how to code websites the power to build websites.
It’s true that in some ways, Dreamweaver is designed for people who don't know how to code websites...except this ignores the fact that Dreamweaver has a code view, something for which a non-coder would have no use. I think this premise also overlooks Dreamweaver’s many features for site, file, and task management, work that is separate from the task of coding pages but still important for successful websites.
So what do you think: is Adobe’s all-in-one page and site tool really just a “Web Hero” for web design and developer wannabes? Or when used smartly, can Dreamweaver be an advanced tool for experienced web professionals, particularly when paired with an extension like the one offered by Zeldman?
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Doc Searls, a fellow with the Berkman Center for Internet and Society, wrote this yesterday:
Much of the activity that used to happen out in the wild unfettered Net, over email, open (XMPP-based) IM and blog posts is now happening inside the Facebook silo. It is AOL 2.0.
Frankly (and unfortunately), I think he's right.
I frequently hear people refer to Facebook as a "walled garden," which alludes to its nature of holding all of its content within itself. Data can go into Facebook, but they can never come out (with the one exception being via email notifications, but these are also a Facebook vehicle and not an open or third-party option).
Facebook's unwillingness to play in an open manner also dampens my enthusiasm for using it regularly, and even lessens my desire to implement other tools such as Google's OpenSocial and Friend Connect (Facebook was an early partner of these projects, but then abruptly withdrew).
Can Facebook find ways to open up its data, and still maintain security and a profitable business model?
I would like to think so, but only time will tell.
Related: Read Doc's entire blog post about Facebook, January 5, 2009
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The planning committee is moving forward with preparations for version 2.0 of our conference. Visit the web site to submit a presentation proposal or catch up on some of the presentations, photos, and other details from 2008.
Launch date: April 6, 2009
Related:
Tonight I switched my iPhone Twitter client from Twitterrific to Tweetie.
I got to Tweetie circuitously via a friend who I follow on Twitter, @hammerikaner, because I noticed that he started using Tweetsville. I then searched for Tweetsville in iPhone apps, but after typing T-W-E-E-T, both Tweetsville and Tweetie showed up. Tweetie's name was cuter, I read about it and was sold, and that was that. It's functionality blows Twitterrific away.
(See screenshot above, showing the interface for accessing replies, messages, and more; Twitterrific only presents replies and messages inline, which is really annoying except for in realtime.)
So I must admit: choosing the right name can matter — normally, I malign the marketing function. But Tweetie's developers and marketers both got it right this time.
And the Twitter-client wars continue.
My presentation with Kurtis Scaletta this morning about the usability of social networks. We had great attendance — thanks to everyone who came out to participate. The full presentation at Google Docs includes slide notes (a Google account is required).
Unfortunately, this only documents the first 45 minutes; the second 45 minutes was a fabulous discussion. Guess you had to be there! =)
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Disclaimer: I don't let myself go off-topic on this blog too often, but this is a design entry, and even has a tie-in to the web (despite it being letterpress printed).
This R. Luke DuBois exhibit is a must-see at the Weisman Art Museum. A brilliant look into the minds of our nation's presidents, it is essentially 43 tag-clouds. Each poster features words from a president's State of the Union addresses, and sorts them by frequency as a Snellen eye chart.
The results are beautiful, insightful, and often surprising.
Visit the Weisman Art Museum web site for more information, and I encourage you to see the exhibition (it runs through January 4, 2009).
I've been invited to speak at the University's World Usability Day event, scheduled for Thursday, November 13, 2008. I will be giving the keynote presentation with Kurtis Scaletta, an instructional technology consultant with the Digital Media Center. Our topic: The Usability of Social Networks.
Time: 10:00 a.m. — Place: 402 Walter Library
Related link:
]]>Yesterday and today I attended Eric Meyer's and Jeffrey Zeldman's web conference par excellence. It has been fabulous.
The best thing about it has been the fusion of ideas and topics — it has been, quite literally, a liberal arts education. Sessions about best coding practices, approaches to client and project management, presentation theory, and CSS troubleshooting. And even with this summary, I know I am missing a few things.
More details forthcoming.
(and thank you to Nathan Fitzsimmons for sharing his conference photo with me)
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