Thursday, October 29, 2009

SEO

I was surprised by the impact that basic text can have. On page factors, simply what is on the page. The small tortoise example was amazing. SEO can be much easier than I originally thought; I tested this out on a website that I created (for testing only) and it actually worked! I changed the key words to text ratio of about 80% key words and added some images that also relate to the key word. With these changes Google easily found the site. Before the changes I would have to add more descriptive words to my search in order for Google to find it but after the changes the site came up on the first page using only 3 words. SEO can be a very powerful and effective tool when used properly.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Web 3.0

Intelligent searches...one of the benefits that Web 3.0 should bring will be the ability to eliminate the need to do multiple searches. Web 3.0 will be able to do very specific searches...and will be able to remember your searches. "I want to see a funny movie and have mexican food for dinner"...today this is a few different searches...but with Web 3.0, this could be a single search that uses your location to find funny movies and mexican food in your area. One of the best ways that I have heard Web 3.0 described is as a personal assistant. You still have to tell it what to do...but you can give it detailed instructions instead of keywords. Today the search only looks for key words, the engine doesn't really understand what the search is asking for. A Web 3.0 should not only find key words but also interpret the context of the search

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Videos and the Web

There are several things to keep in mind when creating and distributing video on the web. Some questions that you should ask yourself before deciding to use or create a video are:
What is the value the video adds to the website?
Who are your primary visitors or users?
Do your users have the browsers and bandwidth necessary for the multimedia you wish to add?
What is the primary purpose of your page or site?
Will sound and video add to, or detract from what you are communicating?
These questions will help to ensure that the video is relevant and carries a meaning for the targeted users. If the content is completely irrelevant and has no application with the primary audience than the creation of the video was essentially a waste of time. To help keep a video on track and on topic the use of a script is important. Addressing the capabilities of the user’s browsers and bandwidth is also important to ensure that the target audience can view the great video content that has been created. The use of good quality equipment will also be important to having a good quality video produced.
Why use audio or video?
Sometimes the use of audio and/or video may be the best way to get your point across. Also video may be a good supplemental source, such as a how to video to supplement written out instructions. Audio and video can also be used to stand apart from the competition by adding a “wow factor” or by adding a personal touch which may appeal to the target audience.
It isn’t always easy to create a video with meaningful content and a high level of quality but by following the simple guidelines outlined here you should be well on your way to creating a great online video.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Thursday, October 1, 2009

SOA

Ok for a while there I had pretty much Google-fied my life...I was using many of Google's applications (GMail, Google Docs, Google Calendar, Groups...) and continue to do but have backed off a bit since the purchase of an iPhone. So...free software, excellent. The free software buzz has been going on for a while now, but is now really forcing software companies giver consumers something for free...even Microsoft is going to provide something, Word, Excel, and Powerpoint will be offered online for free...this is huge considering the popularity of MS Office. These are all gaining in popularity but I don't think that they will ever be able to replace a desktop processing program (MS Word) or at least for a long time simply because of all the things that MS Word can do in addition to word processing...but for general word processing I say great, they work fine and make sharing a snap. Overall I'm still a fan of Google Docs unless Microsoft's Web Applications become more MS Word like...
Here is a easy to understand video on SOA

References:

Dr. Horrible...

Dr. Horrible's Sing-along blog...this won a tv award and was not on tv...interesting. More and more people are doing more things over the internet everyday, it is no surprise that TV is becoming one of those things.
Watching things on the internet is nothing new, YouTube has been one of the most popular sites for a while now, but something that is quickly growing is Internet TV. Sites like Hulu.com and Fox.com are allowing people to watch shows, clips, and news for free! I played around with some free tv sites and found that they are pretty dependable, easy to use (as long as you want to watch it on the computer...more in a second) and yup, free. Back to the easy to use, visit the site and watch the show, pretty easy yes, but lets say I don't want to stare at my 15 inch monitor...easy fix I know plug the laptop's HDMI cable into the tv...yes easy if you have a newer laptop and newer tv (I did in one room but not the other)...but with out a newer tv and laptop the connections can get a bit tricky, also without a wireless connection this would have been much more involved...what does all of this mean? As technology such as wireless, HDMI, and newer TVs become more and more popular, I can see more people watching internet TV much more.

Adobe Air w/Flex

Adobe is well known for their software to create RIAs(Flash, Dreamweaver, Photoshop...). In addition to their more popular software is Adobe Flex; Flex has been around for a few years but is now being used more frequently as webpages and applications are becoming more rich. Flex is a development language that Adobe calls a "highly productive" frame work for building and maintaining expressive web applications. Bragging points with Flex are: consistent deployment on all major browsers, desktops, and operating systems. My experience with Flex centers around creating user interfaces for Java (generally) backed applications. Here is my opinion...it is extremely fast when combined with Flex Builder or (my preference) the Eclipse Plugin, you can create a sample mock up of your application roughly as quickly as you can in something like PowerPoint, adding functionality is also a snap...drag and drop, data display, videos...very easy with Flex.

If you combine Flex with Adobe Air you can create application that runs outside of the browser. This is really cool...in a few days I was able to create a desktop application for tracking inventory; create, update, delete, and read from / to a database, all displayed with an easy to use and understand interface. Without Adobe Air this would have had to run on a web browser...with Air it is much faster, can be accessed without an internet connection, and can easily be found on the desktop. Adobe Air and Flex are very powerful together. Check out this video on reguarding Air