Posted by Tony Johnson | Aug 27th, 2009 10:35am
So, if only 8% of people know what a browser is, how many know about Firefox Add-ons? It can’t be many, but that’s a shame.
Add-ons are easy to install, generally free to use, and can literally change the way you work. Only one problem — there are too many from which to choose (5,000+). Here are some of my current favorites… what are yours?
- Firebug: Allows you to highlight areas in the browser and view markup, CSS, DOM, script, etc. Also lets you change the code and see a realtime preview on screen. For me, it has become as essential as Dreamweaver.
- Basecode: Here at EatonGolden, we use and love Basecamp for project management. Sadly, it comes with no formatting options built in. Instead, you have to try to remember textile codes, like putting asterisks around items to make them bold. No thanks. Basecode inserts a nice little formatting toolbar… much better!
- Abduction!: Attention, SnagIt lovers. Abduction! does the same thing — one-click screen captures within the browser window.
- YSlow: Yahoo!s website performance tool generates a report on speed of pages and provides some indicators for improvement.
- Web Developer: Like Firebug, this is a must-have for any front-end coder. It adds a toolbar with so many features, I can’t even begin to list them.
- KidZui: My preschooler loves Starfall.com. If Starfall is a hammer, KidZui is a jack hammer. It turns the entire screen into a kid-friendly browser. The extension is certainly impressive, but be aware of the promotional motivation behind it.
Posted in Tools + Tips
Posted by Tony Johnson | Feb 6th, 2009 11:03am
As Annette said in a previous post, we just spent two days in Denver at WebDirections North with some of the web’s brightest minds. The conference itself was tightly organized and highly professional, which is always a relief.
One of the main themes throughout was to define the “state of the web.” That’s a heavy question, especially given the uncertainty surrounding everything else in the world right now — but let’s take a look at just a few of the exciting things that are happening. Who knows, perhaps today’s innovations will play a role in dragging the world’s economy out of the doldrums.
- Mobile: In the past 18 months the iPhone has revolutionized the way the world views mobile computing and mobile web use. Why does that matter?
- Well, roughly 80% of the world’s population is not yet online — and a great many of them live in developing countries with no broadband access. One mobile expert here predicted that by Q3 2009, mobile devices will reach the threshold of 10% market share. That’s a big deal.
- Internet Explorer 6 Strategy: There’s a consensus that the time has come to change the way we approach Internet Explorer 6. By combining new technologies such as font embedding and CSS3 with old techniques, we can begin to move beyond the great anchor.
- In these times we must consider and communicate the costs of designing for IE6. So, what is the new approach for forward-thinking and cost-conscious organizations? Show IE6 users a site that works, but do not demand an exact replica of the site that is shown in modern browsers. That’s not so bad, really…
- Open Web Platform: This got me excited because more than ever, we need to be efficient — and like all web designers, I spend too much time searching for answers on the web.
- Mozilla announced that they’re working on a centralized “open web platform” for developers. Designers and developers could go there to get help documentation for any technology, look up the current browser usage stats, interact and save lots of time.
- They also previewed a new text editor called Bespin that works like Google Docs. Why does that matter? Well, it’s free — putting development in the hands of more people, it makes it more efficient to collaborate with with others in the code, and it demonstrates the amazing things that can be done using the vector-graphics based Canvas. They expect Bespin to be released in Labs this coming week.
Posted in Conferences, Events, Interface Design & Prototyping, Internet, Mobile
Posted by Tony Johnson | Nov 6th, 2008 12:46pm
Okay, think refrigerator magnet poetry — on steroids. I recently discovered Wordle, a nifty little application created by Jonathan Feinberg. It allows you to create your very own custom word cloud.
Okay, I admit that I didn’t wake today thinking, “Man, I really NEED a custom word cloud!” But it turns out you can make a powerful statement about your brand with one… and it only takes a minute.
Check out the Wordle I create about EatonGolden simply by plugging in the feed to our blog:
Posted in Branding, EatonGolden, Fun, Visual Design
