Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Facebook Thumbnail

It seems that now-a-days social networking is all the rage. I been on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Digg and all other social media for a long, long time now, but haven't seen the big potential in any since the days where Digg was driving all the traffic to my sites.

Since I started using Facebook, about two years ago, I have seen an influx of communication with family and friends that I would typically not reach out to on as much of a regular basis as I do with the social platform. As for twitter, honestly, I just don't see the point or get it. I can do much more with Facebook, and see Twitter as a spam platform for celebs to sell themselves and companies to sell products. I just can't be bother.

My sites all have Facebook Connect and automated interaction with social media, and see the value in the traffic that is driven everyday from the sites to mine.

I learned today that as Web developers, we still have some control of our sites within the social platforms. For example, when someone grabs one of your links to post on Facebook, the link shows up on the page with a brief description and a thumbnail. The description comes from the meta description data, lack of the tag forces facebook to grab the first few lines of text it encounters. The thumbnail comes from the first tag it finds, or you can specify via the tag with photo to grab. To do so, specify it as follows,

<link rel="image_src" type="image/jpeg" href="http://www.domain.com/path/icon-facebook.gif" />

The bottom line is than in this day of super automation, it is nice to know that you still have some control over what happens beyond your control. Good luck and keep on socializing, someday computers will run the world on their own, we will continue to get paid, and socializing will be all we do.

Labels: advertising, brand, content management, Design, Digg, Search Engine, SEO, Social Bookmarking

Sunday, February 08, 2009

2009 Superbowl

Last weekend, I like many others, went over to gather with some friends and watch the most important American sporting event of the year. It occured to me that sports have gotten stale. This year most folks were not excited to watch the game. I don't know if it was the teams, or the half time act (sorry Bruce), but most people where not looking forward to the gathering. I do know that it wasn't the host, he is one of the most likeable guys around, but most people decided not to make the party.

TV and other media mediums are also suffering from being stale. Magazines and newspapers are a dying medium, not because people don't want to read, or be in the know, but because they have evolve to get the information from the Web, in a more instant manner. As such these mediums re-invented themselves to provide up to the minute news, and the latest information in the niches for their audience.

It is time for footbal to re-invent itself. After a great debate during the party, here are some ideas the NFL can use to provide a more entertaining experience and a greater challenge for the teams.

1. Why do a simple kick to a goal post. This just doesn't seem to be a big challenge. Most teams earn the extra point after the sweet touchdown. After all, how hard is it to get an oval shape, leather wrapped, piece of rubber through a Goal posts that is 10 feet high and 18 feet, 6 inches wide. I propose that they make the goal post more interactive to provide a better challenge. For example, if the team is 50 feet from the goal, then the post should remain as is. For every 10 feet they move closer, the post should become 3 feet narrower, so that when the team is at the goal line, the post should be 6 feet wide.

2. For an added more challenging experience with a bigger reward, the team can then opt for a three point conversion by allowing the goal post to sway from side to side.

3. Another addition to the match is to learn from the very popular sport of orchestrated wrestling (WWE). Teams can opt to give up one of their time outs in exchange for sending in a special player at any time in the middle of a play from any spot of the sidelines to block that very special, yet fabulous play as seen during the 2009 superbowl. I'm speaking about the 100-yard interception return for a touchdown by Pittsburgh linebacker James Harrison. Think how funny and amussing it would have been to seen a Cardinal run in a pick up Harrison and run him all the way back to the starting point and convert that interception into a touchdown. Of course, this would be quite a challenge, first to knock down a 250LB player and then pick him up and run him back. This would yield a 14 point conversion, surely to put some distance between the two teams.

The bottom line is that altough this are mere farce suggestions, every industry should find a way to reinvent themselves. A way to captivate the audience they once secured, to get back the dollars they once had. If every series ran the same plot line, if every movie had the same theme, they would cease to exist, but why are we still watching a game which has not changed over the course of its history. Sure, players have change, but the game has not. I started following the game, but two years, all I can say is that I'm already bored and not looking forward to the same all next season. The NFL needs to do a better job to sell me back on.

Labels: advertising, brand, Entertainment, Freedom of Speech, techniques, Video Games

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Sad Economics Time

The New York Post just posted a story titled "BETTER SIGN OF TIMES". This comes about because the NY City SANDWICH BOARD Man got a job.

This is great for the Sandwich board man, but a better economy this does not make. There are two weeks left till Christmas and stores are running more and more sales, TV and online advertising campaigns. This is due to slow downs and decline sales from 2007. As well, this year temporary help numbers are down for the season and many stores have chosen to not hire and cut their regular employees to part time.

The bottom line is that the media tends to create big hype. We are now in tuned to their efforts to persuade us to one side or another. Proof is that we have know elected the First Black President. We as a people are capable of making better choices. Newspapers are almost all gone. Magazines have downsized, the print publications of the past with hundred and hundred of pages have decline, some to single digits. Wake up America! We are in a state of economic depression; it is time to do all things possible to build a nestegg. The rich keep getting richer because in these times they are able to buy stocks at an all time low price, they can afford to float cheap real estate. If you would have planned better, you too would be getting wealthier, stop blaming the man, and start placing the blame on yourself.

Labels: brand, Florida, Freedom of Speech, Jacksonville, lawsuits, marketing, Politics

Sunday, November 30, 2008

Networking sites and comunications

So many social networks so little time, however I do get frequent email updates from them.

We went to the movies yesterday and there was a preview for "He's Just Not That Into You", seems funny, but what really stay in my head is a line from Drew Barrymore where she talks about cyber-stalking and how you have to jump from this network to that other network and text message and ohhhh!!!!!!! it hurts to keep up with all this nonsense.

The bottom line is that in this day and age of social networking and cyber-visiting your friends is tough to find the time to do it, yet alone keep up with everyone. I don't spend a lot of time on this sites and rarely visit facebook, linkedin, and yet to have a twitter account, but I do receive helpful emails with notifications for things that sometimes matter. I could care less what you are doing right now, it simply doesn't have an impact on me whether you are thinking of which "f-word" phrase is more reasonable or you are having lunch, what has a bigger impact is the ability to reconnect with forgotten friends and keep up with the bigger picture of what your current friends are doing. We relocated 1 and 1/2 years ago to the Jacksonville, FL area and is hard to make friends, but is nice to get an update of what my old friends in CT and NY are up to. We may not find the time to talk all the time, but I know what you're doing...

With that said, congratulations Michelle on the launch of your new site!

Labels: brand, Connecticut, Florida, Social Bookmarking, Web Design

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Print, Web, who cares, just be informed

Recently I had a friendly discussion with a colleague on the topic of print versus digital publishing. The mediums are very similar in that they provide information.

That is were the similarities end.

When an individual sits down to read a newspaper or magazine, they do so as a leisure activity, a way to pass time, which yields knowledge. At the same time they are limited to the information provided by the author/writer. If the user has questions, they cannot interact or find a quick answer within the same media vehicle. The reader is left to ponder and resolve their own thoughts and ideas on the piece. Readers usually find themselves reading the piece two or three times looking for clues that will help them come to a conclusion.

When a reader opens a browser, it is done with the purpose to satisfy a hunger for knowledge. They seat at this dinner table and start with a search, one or two key terms. They dive into the topic at hand and quickly find themselves jumping from one topic to the next, all trigger by the information they are receiving. Like in print, one topic leads to questions, the difference, the reader has a quick satisfaction. The need to think is drastically diminished. A reader simply needs to turn back to the search box and be ready to face a multitude of choices and options for an answer.

This medium is able to provide a great deal of information to be consumed. The hunger never seizes, but merely a level of satisfaction is achieved that allows the reader to walk away from the table empower with applicable knowledge.

The bottom line is that there is a need and room for both mediums. Writing for the Web is a whole different art form than that of print. The Web is a medium of collaboration where a reader is provided a multitude of opinions and ideas that lead to a conclusion. Where as Print is a medium for those seeking one experts opinion allowing the reader to either accept the conclusion or form their own with at their own capacity.

Labels: Blogger, brand, Freedom of Speech, Google, Politics, reuters, Search Engine, SEO, Web Searches

Saturday, May 31, 2008

Embed fonts on your Web site

Recently, I have been thinking about design and the nature to code safely on the Web. As designers we typically choose to use Web friendly fonts like Verdana, Times New Roman, Arial, and Trebuchet MS.

Designers, however should not let browsers inabilities to carry a vast array of fonts interfere with their designs. Michaelangelo would not have sacrifice the roof of the Sistine Chapel due to lack of a smaller brush, so why is it that Web designers so often sacrifice bandwidth and turn to background images or heavy downloads to convey their message; not to mention the lack of search engine friendliness involved in presenting picures and images instead of text.

I sought out a clear answer on how to embed fonts on a site without the need to sacrife speed or SEO. Back in the late 90's both Netscape and Internet Explorer were fighting grounds for the title of browser reign supreme as such both came out with unusual plugins and font rendering programs, however this was but a mere patch and band aid on the problem as fonts were translated to images solving only the small side of the equation. I don't blame them as SEO wasn't a hot topic in those days and Google was but a silly word some guys thought of to represent their brand.

In today's Web, where Search Engines are the hot club were your name must be on the list, it is crucial to create SE's friendly sites. to do so, the @font-face construct must be utilize.

Here is a simple example courtesy of the css czars at A List Apart:

@font-face {
font-family: "Kimberley";
src: url(http://www.princexml.com/fonts/larabie/ »
kimberle.ttf) format("truetype");
}
h1 { font-family: "Kimberley", sans-serif }

"Those familiar with CSS syntax will recognize the last line. The @font-face construct may not be familiar, however it’s easy to explain: as the “Kimberley” font is requested, the font file is fetched from the specified URL. The syntax is described in the CSS2 specification.

To avoid long lists of @font-face declarations in the style sheet, they can be hidden using @import" like so,

@import url(http://www.princexml.com/fonts/larabie/index.css) all;
h1 { font-family: Goodfish, serif }

The bottom line is that you should not limit yourself or set the bar too low, there is always a way to solve the problem. Problems are easy to come by, but securing an answer is where the intellectual matter comes into play. Don't let the ineptitude of todays' browser interfere with the future, just make sure that you gracefully prepare your site for degredation or for those living in the past. To appreciate the true power behind css, please refer to the Zen Garden project.

Labels: brand, cms, CSS, Design, dreamweaver, Features, jagged images, photo resizing, Search Engine, SEO

Thursday, February 01, 2007

Advertising is out of control

First there was Superbowl ads, then incorporating animals into ads, the latest, incorporating ads on eggs.

Reuters is reporting today of a new marketing campaign design towards consumers buying eggs. This, the first of its kind in Japan, will feature stickers posted onto eggs in supermarkets. Ramen Noodles is spending $58,000-$66,000 US dollars on the promotion of it's new chicken ramen instant noodles product.

As we know this kind of campaign is very targeted and promotes good brand recognition. If you don't believe me, then let me postulate this question, what brand of bananas do you buy?

The bottom line is that in the US we have informed consumers to death and it's always refreshing to find someone using a new design and approach to brand and market a product. Although, the sticker on food items is not new, I haven't seen this kind of cross promotion in the market place before. Very ingenious, but does it affect the quality or sanitation of the eggs, only time will tell when we heard of the sticky bird flu.

Labels: advertising, brand, Design, eggs, reuters

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