Contrast on Unconventional Web Apps at FOWA Dublin

One of the most engaging, entertaining and useful presentations I've ever had the fortune to see live. Well done again guys!

Tele-Medicine - First Concept Video

This popped into my neglected Google Reader last week and only got to take a look at it now. Very interesting concept, looking forward to seeing what the next iteration produces.

Via Kev's blog from Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design

COPD - service design concept - finalCUT from ujjval panchal on Vimeo.

INTO website fail

This is what you're faced with if you hit the INTO website. Well it made be stop and look so I guess it served its' purpose to some extent....?

Dolly mixture: Cork, Copenhagen & blogging

Cork

Randomly, a feature on the Blog Awards of a few weeks ago appear in today's Evening Echo in Cork. A bunch of photos accompany, including mugshots of myself, my sis, and fellow X Comms-ers Darren & Sarah. Damien has some snaps here.

Copenhagen

Kev is reporting that the Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design (CIID) will be enrolling students once again this year for their masters degree in Interaction Design. He's currently loving the pilot year of the programme & the work they're doing looks fascinating. Applications need to be in by April 1st so jump quickly if you're interested. Info is all here.

Blogging

So my new site, www.iamsteph.com, is far from being moulded and tweaked to perfection so for now I'll be blogging my little head off as usual here with the more design-related/nerdy stuff going over on the new site. Don't forget to keep an eye on the delightful www.downwiththatsortofthing.com for snippets and snapshots of Ireland's protests & strikes.

THE inauguration photo to beat all

"How I Made a 1,474-Megapixel Photo During President Obama’s Inaugural Address". This guy took 22 images to create a 59,783 X 24,658 image weighing in as a 2GB .TIF file. Amazing work by David Bergman.

Nissan.ie fail

Wow, what a way to advertise the 2009 models, really selling it to me. No wonder I was changing a button that was to say 'View our 2009 range' to 'View our cars under €12000' on a client's website today :)

The ____ cards

Awesome twist to greetings cards, in time for Hallmark Day too! You can buy them online direct from the designers in Singapore - http://www.the-breeding-ground.com

Mobile web development poll

Important: please specify what 'other' means you use if you choose this option. Feel free to leave comments instead if you need more room for your feedback. Thanks for your time!

Irish Independent on how to build a website

Today I stumbled across an article that featured in the Irish Independent this week via Creative Ireland's forum entitled 'How to build a website (It's as easy as www)'. Alarm bells instantly started to ring at the title alone but after reading the article I'm a more confused and annoyed as opposed to worried.

Firstly, I can't figure out who the article is aimed at. After establishing that many people still aren't clued in on how to get a website up and running, the section entitled 'Do I need one?' fails in helping to answer said question. Instead we meet the exhibit A for the exercise, phony photographer Hortense McCreedy. 

My second problem is the paragraph on how to get a domain name. He points to a bunch of UK and US based companies citing how these re-sellers are ("...usually work out cheaper for generic domains such as .com, .biz or .info). Who the hell wants .biz or .info? What about the little-known .co.uk? Support? Reputation?

This article is lifted directly from the UK sister Independent and plonked directly into the Irish version, leaving out some rather important and useful information regarding .ie domain registration, Irish hosting & domain re-sellers etc. 

The article ties up with "Better by design: how to have a hit site", providing some basic but valid pointers on the use of white space & cross-browser compatibility. However, to me the piece seems to be implying that there's no reason for anyone to approach a professional web services company to get an online presence up and working. Yes, it's great to encourage people to be aware of the need to get your name out there on the online channels. Yes, it's also good to encourage people to shop around and have a go themselves but it certainly isn't the solution for everyone. "Of course, there'll always be a trade-off between the ease of getting a site built and its professional sheen." Yes, its professional sheen, usability, effectiveness, communication of your message and so on. But hey, at least you've got a website for less than €20! Bad-mouthing the idea of putting forward a sizeable budget to spend on a website & online presence is mis-leading, ill-informed and good for absolutely no-one.

happyMail - email for the elderly

happyMail from Kevin Cannon on Vimeo.

A really interesting project undertaken by Kev & his colleagues at the Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design. You can see & read more about the interface & work leading up to it on his blog.

Tweetdeck usability

Well which is it? How can I tell? Conditional tooltip please :)

Scroll - new magazine for website makers

"Founded by long time web industry figures Maxine Sherrin and John Allsopp in 2008, Scroll is a print, PDF and online magazine for web professionals." The logo and overall design for the project is taken care of by one of my favourite designers, Veerle Pieters. The printed magazine will be around $10.95 (ex shipping), $3.99 for the PDF and full articles will appear gratis on the website 3 months after the printed publication. Nice.
Get more info and have a poke around right here.

How safe is your car?

So I'm in the process of learning to drive and buying my first car. 3 things that came to mind when I started thinking of what I was going to buy were emissions/fuel economy, safety record & design (what can I say, it's part of my day job!). The first and last were relatively easy to deduce but the second I didn't have a clue. So, off I did go and look up the Euro NCAP site - New Car Assesment Programme.

First off, the site is lovely - very well designed & wireframed, easy to use and pin-point the info you need. Shame the content is a little harrowing in places, such as the video above - that's a Toyota Yaris, year 2000 model being tested. If hit in those conditions my head would be minced. More surprising is the fact that this make and model does better than pretty much all the other cars in it's class. Yowza. Thankfully, Toyota have tackled that very issue in the newer model with side airbags.

The site is certainly worth a look whether you're buying, researching or just a fan of good website design. If you're particularly nervous about driving or even just being a passenger, then I'd say give the videos a miss. http://www.euroncap.com.

Fiat 500

Looks to me like the model Mini & VW Beetle had a baby.

www.fiat500.ie

Vitra BaObab

Just coz they're hot & incredibly useful - http://www.vitra.com/en-in/office/systems/baobab/

Red Horizon viral

When does a viral become ineffective? Possibly when the link to the real content being advertised isn't an obvious hyperlink and also, maybe when the pleasant viral leads to something altogether less appealing and bland.

www.redhorizon.ie