Aug

12

A fast and fun way to mockup almost anything

Filed Under Blogging, Doing, Review, Social Media | 3 Comments

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A fast and fun way to mockup almost anything (image: )

Mockups…easy!
Part of the regular cycle is the user interface mockup. I’ve worked with many different including Google Sketchup and Adobe Photoshop to build representations for clients.

But nothing has been as quick, easy, and as Balsamiq Mockup, and (and /offline) user interface mockup for PC, Mac and .

version is $79, but the version is , with some limitations.

I’ve done a couple of small projects for personal work using the (5 minute nag screen) version.

Mocking up
Here’s how easy it is to use:

  1. Load up the default ‘demo’ page.
  2. Press Ctrl-A to select all default elements
  3. Press Delete to remove all default elements
  4. Start selecting and dragging in elements from the element bar at the top of the page (over 60 of them)
  5. Double-click on an element to edit its properties
  6. Repeat until you’ve got a mockup you’re happy with

A fast and fun way to mockup almost anything (image: )

Yes, it’s that easy.
With the version, you’re prompted every 5 minutes with an advertisement, but you can still save your work or print it out. Ads don’t get in the way of your workflow.

Developers have chosen a , look for the presentation because:

Balsamiq Mockups intentionally uses hand-drawn UI elements, so that don’t get attached to “that pretty color gradient” or think that your mockup has actual code behind it and is “practically done”.

A fast and fun way to mockup almost anything (image: )

This lets your focus on the functionality of the item and is generally more open to honest critique (which is what you want at the mockup stage).

Some other features of the version:

  • Export to Human-readable text
  • Import from text
  • Integrated into Confluence, with other apps in the pipe
  • Pre-drawn controls and icons
  • Very easy to use
  • :)

So, if User Interface , User , or website is your thing, you need to check out Balsamiq Mockup.
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Jun

2

Why trust strangers when you can trust your friends.

Filed Under Doing, Review, Social Media | Leave a Comment


Why trust strangers when you can trust your friends. (image: 1zoi5jt)GigPark is a new / word-of-mouth referral 2.0 and Facebook (whew!)

What all that jargon means is that if you’re looking for a plumber, accountant, real estate agent or magician you have a convenient place where you can your friends (or their friends).

The concept is ; invite your friends to GigPark, and then start asking them questions. Your questions are immediately visible to your friends, and their friends.

Friends, not strangers. What makes GigPark different is that you have a with the making recommendations - they are your friends or the friends of your friends, not weirdo strangers who may be plugging their own businesses.

When I signed up, one of the GigPark founders immediately became my ‘’ (through the magic of programming, I’m sure, since I never him). Lucky for me, he has 342 friends (everyone signed up to date?) so my query will have some pretty good reach.

To add friends, GigPark makes it easy, hooking into popular services. They’ve also developed a GigPark that you can add to your account.

Removing the complex and leaving the , this is similar to the ‘ & ’ feature in LinkedIn. You a of a trusted group and expect that the replies should be of higher quality, or so the theory goes.

My take: it’s a new so the jury is out. GigPark is still in , and from the FAQ, it looks like they’re going to be expanding the to individuals and businesses (they call them providers).

Eventually, I’m thinking it may have value, as the number of users increases. Then again, when you add more to the mix, the greater your chance of diluting the value of responses. And we’ll have to see how the providers fit into the mix.

Your thoughts? Are you on GigPark? If so, what’s your ?

Update: It’s only been a few hours since I posted my query on GigPark, and I’ve already received one response.

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May

14

Engaging in ‘high risk’ activity - moving my blog

Filed Under Blogging, Doing, Web | 2 Comments


Engaging in high risk activity - moving my blog (image: 20562069_7cf1e2aaec_m)I’ve decided to take the plunge and move my blog to a more traditional .com type (rather than the .net that I currently use). I’m going to keep the .net for more esoteric things, private server, etc.

If you’re this on the old blog (blog.bradgrier.net), then please jump over to the new one, bookmark it, and check it out to make sure it works as you expect. You can find it at blog.bradgrier.com.

The dot-com is more , have a standard ‘expectation ‘of a site or blog when it has a .com address. A .net address seems to have a different ‘expectation’. And I felt the need to try out a new provider.

So, this will mean a bit of :

  • feeds - already moved my feedburner redirects so there should be no disruption
  • Incoming - not sure what to do about this yet. Incoming add value to your ranking, so this transition will cost me some of that precious Google Juice
  • Site duplication - some of the articles I’ve been about domains suggest maintaining duplicate sites for a few months. I’m thinking about this. It may work, but I’d customize the so that some sort of ‘ moved’ message is appended to the feeds etc

But, I’m not the expert here, just the guy doing the work. Do you have any thoughts or opinions about domains? What should I watch out for? What should I do differently?

: David Asch

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Apr

8

Are Canadian telemarketers quaking in their boots? Maybe.

Filed Under Web | Leave a Comment


iOptOut logo. Woot!My position: telemarketing is annoying and should be eliminated. DO NOT WANT!
My reasoning: I did not for the call; hence it is an intrusion. It uses up my resources (time) without my request or approval. I did not for you to call me offering a home audit for an alarm company. My current is fine thank you. Don’t call me. I’ll call you.

As a result, my is locked on Do Not Disturb. I don’t hear the calls — all incoming calls go directly to mail. Nice and quiet now.

But why should I have to have a that screens my calls? I pay my company a fee just to add telemarketers to my ‘blocked’ list. I’m paying for the privilege of having a peaceful dinner at home.

Soon all this may , as will implement a Do Not Call list.

The government passed legislation in 2005 mandating the creation of a do-not-call registry. The registry is scheduled to take effect in mid-2008, yet many Canadians may be disappointed to learn about the exemption of a wide range of organizations (registered charities, with prior relationships, political parties, survey companies, and newspapers). Under the law, exempted organizations are permitted to make unsolicited telephone calls despite the inclusion of the number in the do-not-call registry.

So, there’s a loophole, and a rather large one at that. But wait…there’s more!

Canadians now have their own Do Not Call (iOptOut.ca), hosted by renowned --rights law professor Michale Geist. iOptOut (still in beta) is a where Canadians can register up to three numbers and addresses as part of setting up their iOptOut profile.

Once the profile is set up, iOptOut members select organizations to be notified of their preference to opt-out of marketing communciations. Just select an industry, say Newspaper, check all, and an will be sent to all registered newspapers indicating that you no longer want them calling or emailing you for subscriptions. By law they must comply.

As I understand it, ’s do not call legislation (and the official DNC registry) allows some organizations to be ‘exempt’ from the legislation. iOptOut fills that exemption hole.

How does iOptOut work?
iOptOut contains a database of organizations, all of which are exempted under the current law. When you register with iOptOut you create a personal list of organizations that you wish to opt-out from further marketing. You provide your name, telephone number(s) and address(es) and we send a message to each organization, on your behalf, asking that they remove you from their active marketing or polling lists. You could send a message to each organization yourself individually, but there are hundreds and the appropriate contact information is often difficult to obtain. iOptOut allows you to do this in bulk, opting out of dozens of organizations with a few clicks.

Do I still need to register my number with the “official” do-not-call registry once it is operational?
Yes. IOptOut complements the forthcoming do-not-call registry by filling in the gaps created by exempted organizations. You will still need to register your number with the do-not-call registry once it becomes operational.

So, I’ve opted out. We’ll see if this reduces the number of calls coming in from ‘Manitoba’ or ‘Ontario’. Unfortunately, there’s no way to opt out of incoming telemarketing calls from outside of . Savvy telemarketers will soon switch to services hosted in the America, or offshore. Sigh.

Quotes courtesy iOptOut.ca FAQ and Michael Geist’s blog.

Sep

5

wiPod: the next big thing?

Filed Under News | 2 Comments


 If you managed to catch the today, the twitter-sphere was abuzz with it, is freshening its product line in preparation for this upcoming holiday sales season.

 wiPod: the next big thing? (image: ) As various pundits both at the event and monitoring it remotely twittered away, it seemed that Steve Jobs was at his best, once again, in front of a crowd of the converted. Gotta love live and .

What’s new in the catalogue for this season?  How about an Nano that includes .

Or, how about this thing: the iPod Touch (or as some are calling it, the wiPod): an without the .

It looks interesting; only the deluxe for me:

  • 16gb on board memory
  • 320 x 480 display
  • 802.11 b/g wi-fi
  • A bunch more stuff
  • $399.00 USD

 

wiPod: the next big thing? (image: ) For me, the wiPod isn’t that big a deal. I’m able to do most everything it can with my trusty Palm T|X. Sure, Blazer, the default browser is dated and needs updating to handle AJAX, streaming , etc. Also, an that properly syncs to Calendar would be appreciated. But to dump this and get a wiPod now is not in my cards.

But, should the battery die or the system brick, you can bet I’d be considering the  Touch as a replacement.

*** UPDATE ***

I recently went through some of the pros/cons of upgrading from a T|X to the Touch:

Downsides: Battery…replaceable by . has to be unscrewed to be opened and replaced.
No expansion cards… can take up to 2 GB. Swap and files by using more cards.
iTunes: must use it to copy and to the unit. 16GB is not enough when you have lots of and podcasts.
Price…have to buy one.

Upsides: It’s an . Stylish. . Screen is same size as . Plays more formats. New product at the beginning of it’s lifecycle, is near it’s end.
Price…own one.

 

Jul

27

Linklist - July 27, 2007

Filed Under In the life | Comments Off


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Jun

23

NOT an iPhone simulator

Filed Under Web | 2 Comments


An enterprising company has developed a handy little application that will aid website developers when creating sites for Apple’s upcoming iPhone.

But, to be clear, this is not an simulator:

iPhoney is not an simulator but instead is designed for developers who want to create 320 by 480 (or 480 by 320) for use with . It gives you a canvas on which to test the visual quality of your designs.

…and yeah, they called it iPhoney. That’s the same name as a Palm hack / skin released shortly after the iPhone was unveiled.

Do you detect a bit of confusion on the horizion? Maybe a lawsuit by ?

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May

23

Change or Die: How web tech is killing organizations

Filed Under Photography, Social Media | 3 Comments


Change or Die: How web tech is killing organizations (image: 66u8ydk)Many dinosaurs roam the organizational landscape, complacent in their daily routine, unaware of a new threat to their existence, one that will wipe them out if they don’t figure out a way to evolve and adapt to embrace it.

Hyperbole aside, I’m talking about , new , communities, or even 2.0, whatever you want to call it.

Three recent items caught my attention and touched on this idea:

“Take Your PowerPoint And” — BusinessWeek
“Unconferences turn the plodding, predictable gathering inside out. They’re a hybrid of a teach-in and a jam session, with a little show-and-tell mixed in, and they are attracting hundreds…”

“Craigslist Founder: People Who Run Printing Presses ‘Screwed’”  — Editor & Publisher
Newmark told an all-too-knowing that this is a time of “ destruction” and that he has a “great deal of sympathy for who run the printing presses. They are screwed.”

Frequent recent discussion in For Immediate Release podcast — Neville Hobson & Shel Holtz
Discussion about professional organizations, and the of communities (MyRagan.com, , LinkedIn, etc) as networking alternatives.

So what I see here is three examples of organizations that serve a particular . Three groups that are being challenged by one external force, the rapid adoption of easy-to-use . 2.0 if you will.

It makes sense, to me as a user. Heck, why would I pay thousands of dollars to attend an educational / networking / professional conference when I can attend an ‘unconference’ for ? Would you? Why join a professional network when you can get much of the same value, again, for ?

I’m looking at this and thinking that the value provided by these and events compete with any value delivered previously by traditional organizations and communities.

This is a logical evolution. services have already changed the shape of many brick-and-mortar businesness, and invented many new models too! I had my last set of business cards printed by moo.com. I visit bookshops and stores less as I order more from sources, and am continuing my education by taking courses through an accredited university. Physical presence is not necessary to meet my needs.

But that’s old hat now. What is new is the of communities and services that leverage the power of the crowd. Some call this ‘crowdsourcing‘.

I think of it as active communities of committed , creating new value in a way that disrupts the traditional model that organizations have used to provide value to their members.

This diminishing value will result in declining memberships (I may not be joining some organizations), unless these organizations recognize that someone has moved their cheese.

To quote from that esteemed tome on , Who Moved My CheeseChange or Die: How web tech is killing organizations (image: ):

Happens
They Keep The Cheese
Anticipate
Get Ready For The Cheese To Move
Monitor
Smell The Cheese Often So You Know When It Is Getting Old
Adapt To Quickly
The Quicker You Let Go Of Old Cheese, The Sooner You Can Enjoy New Cheese
Move With The Cheese
Enjoy !
Savor The Adventure And Enjoy The Taste Of New Cheese!
Be Ready To Quickly And Enjoy It Again & Again
They Keep The Cheese.

So, these organizations will have to figure out how to to remain relevant to their audiences or members. Or they risk becoming extinct.

They must , and that’s where the grand adventure lies. Exploring the facets of , discovering the new ways an organization can serve its publics.

There lies the challenge, and the . Yes there are risks, but they can be managed with due diligence.

Given that, how would a newspaper make itself relevant in this new age of citizen journalism, where stories are developed by citizens with a blog, and no traditional journalistic credentials. What happens when photographs are freely available with Creative Commons Attribution licenses on flickr, what happens to the staff photographer and his trade association? Do they lose relevance?Change or Die: How web tech is killing organizations (image: 4u0j6ms)

What about other organizations, what about yours? Do you work for a Dinosaur?

** Update **

Just saw this lovely Diesel Sweeties cartoon that eloquently sums up.

Title courtesy afterfate via flickr

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