Show 71: macBoag
Posted in Podcast on: Tuesday, March 20, 2007 by Paul Boag
On this week’s show Paul talks about user login and registration, Patrick Haney shares his opinions on good design and Marcus covers picking the right web design agency.
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News and events
The world of web design seems to be bristling with news this week. Nevertheless I have managed to pick a mere five stories worthy of sharing with you:
The WASP Street Teams
The importance of web standards is a message that has now largely reached the majority of professional web designers. If you read blogs, attend conferences or indeed listen to podcasts then you probably know and work with standards. However WASP recognises that there are still a lot of web designers who are not so aware. They are therefore setting up Street Teams, which are local groups who share the “good news” of standards with their local community of designers.
Admittedly there is little in the way of details at the moment, but in principle this sounds like an interesting concept.
Elitism within web design
The Brit Pack has come under attack since SXSW for being an elitist group. Similar bizarre claims are often levelled at conference speakers, however this is the first time it has been directed at a group like the Brit Pack. Exactly why they are considered elitist is beyond me but it does raise an interesting question about what role more prominent members of the web design community should be playing.
Why semantic URLs matter
Robert Nyman has published a nice little post on the value of semantic URLs. In other words why:
domainName.com/page/foo.html
is better than:
domainName.com/page.html?query=foo
He talks about usability and search engine optimisation as well as looking at the development benefits it provides. If you aren’t already using semantic URLs then this post is definitely worth reading.
Buying and selling websites
There is an interesting article this week on Sitepoint. It looks at the idea of buying up failing websites, revamping them and then selling them on. This is definitely worth reading if you are a web design company like us looking for alternative incoming streams beyond pure development projects.
The future of Open ID
I was gutted to miss the Future of Web Apps conference in London. I was therefore understandably excited to see that the podcasts are already online. I was even more excited to see that Simon Willson had taken the time to match up his slides with the podcast to create a screencast on Open ID. Open ID is an area I see huge potential in and can’t wait to see how it develops in the future.
Client corner: Selecting an agency
We have an interesting discussion this week about the pros and cons of different types of agencies. For example should you look for a small specialist agency that focuses on one area of web design or turn too a massive ad agency that handles everything from web design to print and TV. Specialist agencies offer more experience and expertise in their particular field but often require more management, as you need to work with multiple agencies to get the different elements of a project done. Conversely, larger agencies tend to be slower moving and so lack the cutting edge experience in specific areas but allow you to get everything done “under one roof”.
Ask an expert: Patrick Haney on what makes good design
Patrick Haney is a designer for Harvard University but is probably best known for his flickr photoset. It started as a personal project to keep track of websites that inspired him. He would see a site he liked, grab a screenshot and add it to flickr. However over time more and more people subscribed to the feed until today Patrick is known for his good eye for design. He therefore seemed the logical person to ask: “what makes great design?”
Agony uncle: user Login
Creating a secure area on a website can be a tricky business. Not only are there technical challenges but also usability issues as well. How do you handle usernames and passwords, what if the user loses their password and how do you streamline the registration process? In this week’s agony uncle section we look at setting up a secure area, the technology and the downsides of locking content behind a password.
Review: Moving to the mac
So while I was away in the states I bought a macbook. I know, I have been rude about macs in the past but the exchange rate was so good and it just sat there looking all black and sexy. Since returning to the UK I have been undergoing the process of moving across. This has proved an interesting experience and so I thought I would share some of it on the show. I cover things like:
- Apples attention to detail in their hardware
- The intuitive interface of OSX
- Why good user interface design is about leaving stuff out
- Why I am missing Office 2007 (Entourage sucks!)
- The rose tinted glasses of most mac users
- Why I believe that Vista is a viable alternative for some users.
40 Comments
Comments are for the discussion of this post. If you have other questions / comments then post them to the forum or send me an email
Omnigraffle is the Mac designers canonical IA / wireframing application
Check this out for syncing windows mobile and address book, ical etc. Missing Sync
Also, can I suggest http://iboughtamac.com/ as a good place to visit.
There is also this for syncing os x and Exchange http://www.snerdware.com/
Hey, how come there’s a nice buzzing sound when I’m talking? Weird…
By the way, I don’t actually own http://notasausage.com though I do have http://notasausage.org now. My site is at http://patrickhaney.com right now.
Thanks for having me. Maybe next time I won’t sound so robotic. I don’t have this podcasting thing down just yet, but maybe in time…
Congratulations Paul on the Mac purchase. I made the switch last spring and have never for a moment regretted it.
I do also miss Office, but I have actually managed to get by well without it.
I am curious to know if you will find it easier to record and produce your podcasts with your Mac. BTW, with which program have you been producing them until now?
Another great Podcast once again! Thanks guys!
It’s so interesting to me where my links come up on this crazy internet thing. Thanks Matthew for the link! Not just for linking to the site, but for inadvertently introducing me to this site and the podcast. Welcome to the world of Mac Paul! It’s nice to know that I am not the only munging my way through things. Great show! I’m you newest subscriber!
Thanks!
Brent
iboughtamac.com
Congrats on your new mac book! I can’t wait for the next enhancement to the podcast: the Enhanced version.
Did you know that you can insert Chapter markers, links, graphics and the like if you create an enhanced podcast?
Interesting isn’t it?
http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/2005/07/how_to_make_enh.html
Enjoy the new appleness!
Congrats on the new MacBook, nice podcast too – as always.
The links in your show notes for the Future of Web Apps (and related podcasts) appears to be for last year’s conference. For the most recent conference, visit:
http://www.futureofwebapps.com/
Welcome to the world of Mac, Paul!
I switched in January, Mac’s rule! There’s a post on my blog about my switch – including a hairy experience with BootCamp.
Let me suggest Parallels Desktop for Mac, it’s the ONLY way to port your Windows apps (imho).
In a few weeks you’ll wonder why it took you so long!
Sebastian
@Nick… the first thing I did was look at chapters in my podcasts. The problem is that you have to use the apple specific format instead of the standard mp3. That kind of sucks for the none itunes/ipod user audience.
I really liked the epsiode.
Patrick’s segment was great, and I thought that your assement of moving to a mac was very fair and unbiased (I have to admit I was expecting the opposite).
I know you are getting tons of recomendations, but two programs I can’t live without are quicksilver and Transmit Quicksilver seems like a standard application laucher until you use it for awhile and practically pipe a lot of what you do on your mac through it. Also I am guessing you use the ftp in Dreamweaver, but for docksend alone transmit is worth the money.
Once again great show.
Paul, just wanted to bring up the point you made about sites that don’t inform the user whether it is their password or their username that is wrong, when trying to log in.
There is a reason why this is good practice, and can be argued, should be done. It gives a security advantage. A ‘hacker’ could otherwise work out what names exists, and then try to guess those user’s passwords. If they can’t find out what usernames exist then they must guess both together or will get nowhere at all.
Good work with the show, as always. :)
@Nick, yes I am aware of the reason why it is done that way (although admittedly I should have pointed that out on the show). However, I hate it when a user has to pay the price for what should be the site owners problem.
Also, be sure to check out Textmate and CSSEDit 2
http://macromates.com/
http://macrabbit.com/cssedit/
I also have just got a Macbook, I’m well chuffed by how easy it’s to use.
If you’re missing Office 2007 try the open source alternative ‘Open Office’.
http://www.openoffice.org/
We all use this in our office. Mainly because its free and opens and saves all office file formats.
Paul
I was forced to use a mac when I moved jobs seven years ago and run two at home as well as the one at work.
Interacting with the Windows world does suck, and you will gradually find yourself disassociating yourself from Windows users, not returning their emails (because you can’t) or phone calls. Even seeing the candy coloured icons of an XP will invoke a reflective snort of derision. Don’t worry this is a normal part of the addiction, along with the ecstasy when Steve tricks out some new beautiful piece of juicy frippery — and they inevitable depression when you realize it almost works.
The best enhancement you can make to your new mac is http://quicksilver.blacktree.com/. A file launcher, app launcher, clipboard manager, etc etc all wrapped up in a pretty and simple frontend that has you discovering new things it can do months after you started using it. Did I mention it is free as in beer?
Note how most of the problems interacting with Windows machines involves MICROSOFT software. This is no coincidence, MS operate a closed system and it is clearly in their interest to make it far easier to work in a corporate environment with Windows than with any other OS.
It’s not a fault of Apple, or the Macintosh, it’s purely down to a closed-minded, anti-competitive and sheer bloody-minded Microsoft.
Nice Podcast, really liked the Mac bit, very balanced, I am a recent convert and now have to switch between Mac and Windows 2K every day, boy I love it when I get back to my mac! You missed one thing which never fails to please me. Open it, it’s on – close it, its off (I’ve never had a windows laptop that can do that reliably). Now I never reboot or shut down (unless its a software update). I also never sweat when the battery warning happens with a mad dash for the power cable before it all crashes. The other thing I love is the address book telling you who’s phoning, wicked! Need more memory though :-(
@Simon, how do you set up the address book to tell you who is calling?
@Paul
As long as your phone is paired and connected (their is a little bluetooth symbol in the top left of the addressbook window that you can press to connect to your phone – by the ‘action cogwheel’), then you don’t need to do anything.
You can also send sms messages via address book when your phone is connected, which is very handy. Just control (right) click on the titles to the left of the phonenumber you want to sms to, and choose ‘SMS Message’.
Btw. You can set up the pairing of your phone in the bluetooth system preferences, under ‘devices’.
:)
Hmm… doesn’t seem to like my windows mobile phone. I’ll have to wait for my iPhone ;)
Sorry for that screw up in the post – and I do see that someone else did mention Textmate.
@Paul, sorry I got beaten to the punch on the Phone thing, however I think your problem is down to the Bluetooth services in the Windows Mobile device. I used to have one and got rid of it (although the new ones are nice) but on bluetooth I couldn’t get it to do much more than use an earpeice (sometimes) even before I got my macbook. My personal pref’ is get a normal phone, but that is a whooooole other debate. I early adopted on everything from the Newton through the HP clamshell devices, even a palm, nokia brick (communicator) and and XDA. Bottom line for me no no keyboard-not much use. You should find all symbian devices have good bluetooh support. BTW if you have and ipod, think carefully before you restore it (it’s os) completley via your macbook. If you do the disk is no longer accessible via windows. Best combo for me is I have it paired with my macbook, but I update it’s os via windows this way you have a disk that works on Windows and mac especially useful if you work on both.
I can only tell you that after using windows for over 9 years and using a mac for 6 months there is nothing I miss about windows except a good erd tool for designing databases.
I have all the tools I need by now textmate, cssedit, transmit, handbrake (for non-work stuff), appZapper. But I do really need an erd tool. I’d be glad for any hints or tips regarding that topic.
greetings from vienna,
mario
@Paul
I also am subscribed to the MacCast (Enhanced). What Adam (the podcaster) does is have two feeds, one with an mp3 file and the other with the enhanced format.
It really helps to be able to skip to pieces of his show that are relevant or to get back to the beginning of a section.
Thanks for the show!
Nick
Glad to hear you joined the club Paul. I switched about 4 monthes ago and I’m loving it.
Glad to hear you joined the club Paul. I switched about 4 monthes ago and I’m loving it.
Glad to hear you joined the club Paul. I switched about 4 monthes ago and I’m loving it.
Paul-
I don’t think you can have parameters after an html file- wouldnt that have to be something like
“domainName.com/page.phtml?query=foo”
Sorry- Im a bit of a “Prefectionist” (Boy I Love thinkgeek.com)
Thank you for answering my question re: logins in the Agony Uncle section – it has given me lots to think about (for example, hadn’t thought about lost passwords or using email address for login).
I have also recently switched to the mac. One mistake I made was to sell my old PC… not, at that time, realising that I would later require it to check compatibility across web-browsers – specifically IE6/7. From a web design point-of-view – other than not being able to run IE – I like the Mac – as you say, the quality of the hardware and it’s excellent design are it’s best assets. If anyone knows how to run IE 6/7 – let me know…
Thanks again!
Ken
Ken, have a look at Crossover http://www.codeweavers.com/products/
Was there as much congratulatory posting when Marcus got a new PC ?
It looks like you have unleashed a new beast on boagmacworld, and the mood is changing. You may have to ask Mac users to moderate their enthusiasm so as not to alienate the 98% especially when Leopard comes along and moves the goalposts again in the Vista v OS X debate.
One tip, get along to Crucial and buy as much RAM as you can cram into that puppy. OS X needs loads of memory.
great podcasts still.
Damn, I cant believe I forgot textmate. Anyway yeah its an awesome text editor for mac
You need Missing Sync for the Mac – it does an excellent job of syncing everything on your MacBook with Windows Mobile 5. Their email tech support is AWESOME – ask for Pete!
Also, you forgot to mention iWeb (totally awesome), and iPhoto (so totally awesome), and Dashboard. Plus, you’ve got to use iChat (totally awesome video chat)! Record a movie with QuickTime Pro (really totally awesome).
I switched to a Mac about 4 months ago after using Windows/DOS for over 22 years! The best move I ever made! I will admit that experienced Windows users have a steeper learning curve. The first 50 hours are tough! But, after the first 50 hours, I am totally amazed every day as I learn new really cool things the Mac does better!
You forgot to mention what happens when your battery runs low. You get a message stating your battery is low. It automatically goes away when you plug it in. WOW! Try that on a Windows notebook of any brand! You’ll be clicking OK about 3 to 5 times to just remove the silly Windows dialog boxes that interfere with your work!
Why did you FORCE me to enter my email address! You mention in your podcast NOT to do this! I did what you suggested in your Podcast – I entered bozo@disney.com
About your mac podcast. When you were talking about mac not syncing up with windows mobiles it seemed funny that the percentage of people that own ipod’s giggles modestly at the amount of people that own windows mobiles, and itunes syncs everything beginning “i” up to an ipod. Surely that makes more sense than designing a program to sync up with the obscure, diseased, alcoholic, conservative that is Windows. I’m a mac user and feel like I’m doing my bit for charity when I use a PC at work, because it looks ugly, it’s slow and uses a folder system which looks like it was invented by Margaret Thatcher trying to prove she’s down with the street. Obviously I am biased because I make music, films and design websites and doing any of these things on a PC is like sitting GCSE’s only much more complicated and possibly more boring. PS Keep up the good work, you might have bad taste in computing but your podcast rocks.
Welcome, my friend, to the club de Mac. It’s wonderful to have you. Oh, great show.
wow.. a very complete list of mac dev products. On the business side the things i use and cant live without are Daylight and Billings from http://www.marketcircle.com.
Daylight rounds up mail, address, email, projects, notes etc. like entourage on ‘roids.
Billings is just that.
check them out!