everything you ever wanted to know about any website
QuarkBase is a sweet new tool that compiles all of the available information about any website. From the whois registration info, Alexa traffic, popularity on linking sites, and even the latest tweets about the site, from across the twitterverse. Really, really handy.
From Startupmeme, via Twitter
Labels: blogging, mashup, twitter, web2.0, webdev
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:23 AM
2 comments
internet 'flips' are the next big thing.
Flipping houses is sooo yesterday. According to the New York Times, the latest new flipping trend is websites. People are buying crappy sites with potential, turning them around, and then selling them for a profit. Cool.
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:06 AM
0 comments
steve woodruff is waiting for your genius
Steve Woodruff is a really smart dude. Like many of us, he's recognized the need for a new super tool to confaburate all of the many, many social media tools and devices that we need into one snazzy dashboard. One dashboard, where you can control everything. Only one problem: Steve isn't really a developer. But he knows that as a community, we're filled with designers, developers and girl geniuses. So he's doing something.
Steve Woodruff is crowd designing the ultimate dashboard, deemed MetaMee. Check out his posts (part 1), (part 2), (part 3) and the latest on his blog. Be enlightened or inspired by watching the thought and development process. Or pitch in with ideas and direction to make it better. This is the ultimate tool waiting for your input.
I want this product now. Right now. Can you hurry up and help Steve finish the design process and start coding? Or can some VC company just give him a kabillion dollars to develop this tool today? Productivity is waiting.
Labels: creativeinspiration, mashup, productdesign, productivity, social media, web2.0, webdev
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:27 AM
2 comments
think iphone apps are just for the big guys?
LifeHacker posts that Australian bank ANZ has produced an iPhone version of their site, along with a trading application that users can install on their phones.
Proof that even localized businesses can create tools for their users, that work on the tools that their users are using. That's lots of tools and users speak.
What could you be doing on an iPhone? (Thanks, Justus!)
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:49 AM
2 comments
google: now we can see everything. except facebook.
The Google gods have just announced that they've engineered some magical potion that allows their search engines to see text in Flash. This is a big deal for Flash developers, because up until now, if your site was built in Flash, it was pretty much invisible to the search spiders.
An awesome development that is a great step in the right direction. Now really important content like the text from the Mentos Kiss Fight will finally be viewable for the world to see.
(And don't worry. Your drunken rants in Facebook are still completely invisible from the Google gods.)
Labels: facebook, Flash, google, search, webdev
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:51 AM
0 comments
what the internet looks like on paper
This is fascinating. Original sketches for ideas that have become staples of our web 2.0 lives. Like Twitter. Vimeo. Flickr.
It's inspiring to see things that are now viewed as grand, in their conceptual stages. The original sketch for Twitter's concept is pictured above.
Are you archiving your brand's history? From Waxy.
Labels: social media, twitter, web2.0, webdev
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:51 AM
0 comments
geek banging in silicon valley
It's late at night. You take the wrong turn and the next thing you know, you're in the "wrong" neighborhood. In Silicon Valley. Geeks are coming out from the street corners, and giving your dirty looks when you're at the stop light. What to do?
Just say "howdy" with your handy geek gang sign. Now, thanks to Accordion Guy, you can sport all of the latest hand signals of geekery. Challenge someone to a game of Quake, profess your love for C++, or rock it old skool with the sign for Windows.
(Coworker Rob sports the Plaid gang sign, above.)
Labels: creativeinspiration, pop culture, webdev, workplace
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:13 AM
0 comments
oil for your commerce site
If you're running a commerce site, and have lots of products to choose from, Answer Oil can help your customers narrow down choice. And give you valuable market research data in the process.
Looks like a cool web 2.0 style tool that's been made available to existing sites and developers. I'm guessing that their solution is more efficient than developing this on your own. Neat idea. From Techcrunch.
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:45 AM
0 comments
what has the internet done for you?
Irina Slutsky shares the answer to the most important question of all. What has the internet done for you? See some internet famous and other people, taped while Irina was at SXSW. Always cute and funny.
Labels: pop culture, sxsw, technology, webdev
posted by darryl ohrt @ 6:47 AM
0 comments
meet chumby.
A few weeks ago, we purchased a Chumby, for our office. We were intrigued by the buzz this little device has been getting.
What's a Chumby?
It's a streaming internet player in a plushy shell. You program your Chumby channel, picking from a variety of RSS streams and widgets. Stream your Flickr photos, Facebook newsfeed, YouTube videos, local weather and so much more.
Chumby also has a touch screen, and motion sensors.
So, why do you need a Chumby? You don't...but you might enjoy it, if you do. We've got a couple of fun ideas, that might be good for your brand:
+ As a door opener for sales calls and promotions. Sure, it's expensive, but if your sales leads are few, and your average sale is big, the investment would be worthwhile. Imagine having a cool device sitting on your potential client's desk that's streaming videos of your product or event, photos of your product, or a live webcam from your event.
+ As a retail display device. Get a few Chumbys, and put together an interactive display that enhances your brand. Utilize the touch screen to create a fun Chumby application that customers can interact with.
+ As an employee motivator or informant. Place Chumbys around your office, and program the Chumby channel to feature company photos, your company's YouTube channel, or webcams from field offices.
Rob and I do our best to show you the Chumby and talk through these ideas, in the video above. (Oh yeah, don't worry - I got a haircut this weekend.)
How could you use a Chumby?
Labels: art, creativeinspiration, technology, webdev
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:25 AM
1 comments
everything about everything about inernet marketing
Here's a massive list of the best internet marketing blog posts. How to do almost anything on almost any social tool. Lots of great reading if you're stuck at the office this week while everyone else is on vacation. They'll come back fatter, and you'll be smarter. (Always better.)
The pic of David Hasselhoff might seem related, but this is a pic that I snapped right as he was jumping onto a social media bandwagon. So it's related, trust me.
Labels: blogging, facebook, google, hacks, self promotion, social media, twitter, web2.0, webdev, youtube
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:42 PM
0 comments
the fold is old school thinking
Hooray for ThreeMinds for writing an outstanding post on how "the fold" doesn't exist.
"The fold" refers to ancient newspaper-speak that was applied to early web design - where you don't want content to fall beneath the immediate area on the screen. Because users are too dumb to scroll. Well, that was the 1990's. People now understand how a website works.
At our agency, we've been designing "without the fold" for some time now, and are constantly educating clients, and other developers on our anti-fold beliefs. So I'm stoked to read Rod MacQuarrie's post.
Rod also points to some additional posts/articles at the end of his piece. One in particular, from Boxes and Arrows, has been a favorite link of mine to send friends in the industry.
So, three cheers to scrolling!
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:46 AM
0 comments
an engaging 404 page.
I want to reach out and buy a beer for this 404 page. Maybe hang out with him for a while, and become better friends. You rock, 404 dude.
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:28 AM
0 comments
view your flickr traffic stats
Flickr is now providing traffic stats to all of their pro users.
TechCrunch says it's like Google Analytics for your photos. We've integrated Flickr into many of our client websites, and this will prove to be an awesome tool.
Our most viewed photo? Me, with that Sum 41 dude.
Labels: photography, social media, web2.0, webdev
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:51 AM
1 comments
why that programming dude is ignoring you
Here's a really cool essay titled The Nerd Handbook, that may shed some light on what's going through that massive brain of your co-worker, the coder.
Labels: productivity, right-brain, webdev, workplace
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:43 AM
0 comments
what they should really be teaching in college.
Facebook 101. Robert Scoble predicts this new class at Stanford will result in the creation of new exciting companies. I agree.
Labels: facebook, social media, web2.0, webdev, youthmarketing
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:31 AM
0 comments
we're hiring.
We're hiring a Tech Lead at our agency Plaid. Send this job description to your coder/geek/tech friends who kick your ass in Halo3:
Tech Lead
An agency full of creatives needs a geek to be our friend. We'll make you
cool, you'll make us error free.
As the interactive lead for an uber-hot agency, you'll:
+ Manage all programming and development for our interactive business.
+ Interact with outside developers and coordinate/manage all details of
projects.
+ Coordinate with designers/art directors needs, changes, and requirements.
+ Perform some programming for projects
+ Communicate with client IT personnel, to review needs and implementation
plans.
Skillz you've mastered:
+ Intimately familiar with html, javascript, PHP, Ajax, Flash and other current internet programming tools.
+ Ability to write code. The old fashioned way - not just with wysiwyg tools.
+ Project management master. Capable of pulling together (and scheduling, coordinating) multiple team members to get the job done.
+ Great communication skills, with ability to explain any of the above to designers and clients and people who generally won't know what you're talking about.
Plaid is the coolest agency in all of the world, sporting clients from entertainment industry to action sports to consumer brands and b2b. Name brands you know, and stuff you've never heard of.
Extremely relaxed and fun work environment, where you'll never wear khakis. (Unless you're into that sort of thing.) Profit sharing, 401(k), 100% paid health benefits, and a salary lower than you'd get at the big stressful agency.
Interested? Send resume to:
darryl(AT)thinkPlaid.com
Labels: adindustry, plaid, webdev, workplace
posted by darryl ohrt @ 5:54 PM
0 comments
insight into iphone interface design
Excellent observation over at 37 Signals about the placement of the new iPhone icon, and how the design puts context over consistency. Nice design lesson that could apply to so many of the things we use (or see) every day.
(Note how many i's that i squeezed into that headline.)
Labels: design, iphone, webdev
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:32 AM
1 comments
disposable web pages
Oh, this is a sweet idea. With so many fun applications. Disposable web pages. Pages that you make on the fly, and they go away when you say.
Like the one that I just made. I've titled it "amount of time until Britney Spears implodes again," and used it to keep track of Britney's next meltdown. I'm predicting this will take place in about 46 days. Just a hunch.
But you can use disposable web pages to countdown anything your heart desires. Like a friend's birthday, an anniversary, an event, or how long until they cancel the Bionic Woman. Enjoy.
Labels: social media, viral, web2.0, webdev
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:35 AM
0 comments
belgium's group94 totally rocks
Agency Group 94 in Belgium just launched a beautious new site featuring full screen videocasts that show the viewers what work they completed this week. Holy smoke. Not only have they been REALLY busy launching sites, their work is absolutely stunning. From SwissMiss.
Labels: adindustry, Flash, webdev
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:11 AM
1 comments
introducing the world's longest, scrolling, visual website. even much, much longer than this terribly super long headline.
At visuals of the world, you can scroll on forever and enjoy social design goodness in the process. Users can submit their own artwork, and have it added to the bottom of the ever going page.
At first I thought "lame." But with the exception of a couple of tools who have attempted to use this as promotional space, there's some real cool, inspired art here. Enjoy its ever long lasting flavor. From information aesthetics
Labels: art, creativeinspiration, illustration, viral, webdev
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:20 AM
0 comments
well branded 404's rock.
Adland points to Jeep's 404 error page. Nicely done.
Labels: branding, trends, webdev
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:42 AM
0 comments
what not to do in social media
Some really good notes about what to include (or what NOT to include) in that new social network that you're creating for your brand.
Labels: social media, web2.0, webdev
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:00 AM
0 comments
surprise your users with cool 404
Advertising is Good for You points to a collection of fun 404 pages. These are the pages that your site points to when a user encounters a dead link.
You can create your own "404 page," and many people have had some fun with this. A good idea. Why not surprise your customers with a fun message that's reflective of your brand?
Labels: branding, technology, webdev
posted by darryl ohrt @ 6:53 AM
0 comments
illustrating with html
Send this to your geeky friend. A pretty impressive video clip of an illustration crafted entirely in html code. Ask your dorky friend - she'll confirm that this is an impressive feat. Soundtrack may give you a seizure.
Labels: hacks, illustration, viral, webdev
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:34 AM
0 comments
video even more important now than in the 80's
Video is more important now than it's been in a long, long time. I know we've seen a very healthy uptick in the amount of video work at our shop, as more and more clients incorporate it into the interactive work we're producing.
JCrew features a really nice video intro on their current site. Excellent brand and style positioning. There's some interesting discussion points going on over at the Organic blog about whether or not the video gets in the way of the shopping experience. And what other opportunities video could bring to the table.
I believe it adds to the experience - and is a good indication of how interactive shopping spaces are evolving. Used to be, that the interactive version of a store was all about convenience, and the bricks and mortar was about the experience. That's changing - and leaving opportunities for some spectacular experiences online. And, as Organic points out, this will only evolve further, and deeper into the interactive experience. Fun times ahead for all.
Labels: branding, design, fashion, pop culture, trends, webdev
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:21 AM
0 comments
google makes search universal
Google has updated the way in which their search results are delivered, announcing what they call Universal Search. More integrated results now include detail that may have previously been easier found through one of their individual search engines. Like blog search. The most significant change is that it appears that the majority of the web index that's used for search is now being assembled in real time.
As you would expect, internet genius Steve Rubel has some insight and details on the change.
Labels: google, technology, trends, webdev
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:39 AM
1 comments
make the internet black
Somebody who's pretty good at math has determined that if the Google page were designed in all black, we'd save a bunch of energy. And so, someone created Blackle.
Why stop there? Let's make the entire internet black on black, with grey highlights. Or you could just remove Google from your life. Blasphemy.
Labels: design, hacks, technology, webdev
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:36 AM
0 comments
viral marketing hall of fame
After that last post, I'd better follow with a chaser of facts and figures. So check out Marketing Sherpa's Viral Marketing Hall of Fame, where they detail five prevailing concepts of the most winning viral efforts.
Biggest lesson: Viral isn't just for selling sex (previous post withstanding) and beer. Viral can be uber effective for non-profits, and b2b too.
Great read.
Labels: branding, marketing, viral, webdev
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:47 AM
0 comments
how to make barcodes fun
Problem: You've got a product that's relatively boring. A barcode scanner. How do you make it fun?
Easy, says Tamba, an agency that produced Barcode Bedlam for their client, DataScan Systems. Proof that nearly anything can be fun. Even barcode scanners. And in an exciting industry like barcode scanning, you can be sure that work like this will stand out. So much better than the typical brochure-ware site that their competitors likely have.
This will be the talk of the barcode scanning industry conference, where the barcode scanning geeks get together and drink, and stay up late, and talk scanning. And that's the real game, right?
Labels: creativeinspiration, webdev
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:17 AM
0 comments
I Love the 80's: Webby Edition
The Webby Award nominations are out. More random that those freaky shadow puppet contortionists at this year's Oscars are nominations for the Anderson Cooper and Pet Shop Boys fansites. Erasure, Thompson Twins and Yaz couldn't be reached for comment. The Webby noms come just as AdWeek reports on new Forrester Research saying the Web design business is heading for a revenue growth rate of about 20%. This bodes well for my buddy Darryl, Plaid and A Flock of Seagulls.
posted by Wilson Cleveland @ 7:02 AM
0 comments
google themes. so many possibilities
Google just launched 'themes,' which lets you customize your home page using cute little scenes. Even more google-icious - they adjust based on the weather, when you enter your zip code. Which means that my theme will likely always be grey and too cold. Mmmm. New England.
No idea what the long term plans are here, but if Google opens up the doors, this could be a powerful branding tool. If they allowed users to create their own themes - artists and designers could go wild. We could produce cool, branded themes that deliver messages based on locations. Oh, soo many possibilities. Please, Google, please?!
Update: There's 'easter eggs' hidden in the XML.
Labels: technology, web2.0, webdev
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:09 AM
0 comments
uniqlo rocks the house
Uniqlo's new site is absolutely wonderous. (Click on "Uniqlo Explorer" on the home page.) Stunning design and Flash work. So jealous.
Labels: creativeinspiration, design, fashion, Flash, webdev
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:49 AM
1 comments
good stuff to keep you unproductive
Two really impressive Flash productions have come to my attention in the last couple of days.
The first, Roxic, allows users to create their own animated character, who immediately comes to life, replicates into a cast of thousands and dances. Your character dances live, until he's replaced by the next user's character. It's social. Pretty cool.
Next is Hedgehog, which I guess works a little like Sonic the Hedgehog (hence the name), but I'm really not sure, not having been a hedgehog fan. I've got a pretty short attention span for video games, especially Flash games. Everything has been done before. But Hedgehog is pretty cool. The game play isn't anything you haven't seen before - but the fluid, smooth Flash work is awesome.
Careful, it's Monday. Your boss will expect some work to be done today.
Labels: creativeinspiration, Flash, gaming, webdev
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:18 AM
0 comments
online videos branded as yours. with ads.
MIT Advertising Lab points to InVideo from Adbrite, a video player that allows you to embed ads within the player, and put your logo on the video. And then you can upload them to YouTube or the other video sharing sites. Pretty cool. Lots of discussion on both sides of the fence over at Techcrunch. We'll definitely be checking this out.
Labels: technology, video, webdev
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:50 AM
0 comments
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