An ‘Independent Web Advice’ Blog

Sometimes you come across a piece of software that is so powerful, yet simple and easy to use, that ideas start popping into your head immediately. Ideas about useful applications, great web sites that could be built as well as wondering why not more people are using it. They are called Killer Aps.

93 Photo Street is one such piece of software. This piece of open source software is a gem. The user experience is incredible. I cannot wait to deploy my first (of many) maps. (Many commercial programmes could do with employing the creator to consult on their own user interfaces, such as Photoshop, Microsoft and even Google.)

I love this little programme. BUT it has happened before. Until I get a live map running I can’t be sure there are no drawbacks. You can see my ’silly’ attempt while I play here.

This is a Killer AP.  Try it.

Paul

There has been a lot of criticism of the Wikipedia lately, suprisingly from some of the top management there. They claim that the wikipedia is broken beyond repair and full of inaccuracies. I would like to make a few points about this.

1) The Wikipedia is not a source of news and should not be considered ‘up to date’.

2) The wikipedia is not a commercial body, so relies on voluntary editors and members to add material. As in all big groups there are some rotten apples that want to spam or upload nonsense just for the fun of it. These people will always exist.

3) The wikipedia is STILL a fantastic resource for research. However every adult should realise that you cannot rely on one source of information. If the wikipedia says Chess began in the 11th Century, that is the opinion of the author, not a fact. Never rely on one source.

4) I read the wikipedia for fun, it is fascinating. If students, researchers or businesses want factual information that has been peer reviewed commercially, then you should buy a magazine, subscribe to a journal or read actual research papers as they are released by historians, scientists and journalists the world over. There are many fabulous resources, but none of which are free.

Finally, if the inaccuracies (minor or major) really are a problem for you, log in, join the relevant group and edit the bloody thing. That is the whole point of the wikipedia. We are all the authors. Us, the general public, anyone is welcome. Join, add your 2 penneth and correct any errors you spot. (The only way to beat spammers is together.)

To the complainers that bemoan the nature of the Wikipedia - I say you have failed to understand the nature of the beast. Stop criticising and help.

I suspect commercial interest is on the side of criticising the Wikipedia with the aim of bringing it into disrepute. Information is a commodity that is easily sold. The Wikipedia is about the FREE dissemination of knowledge for the betterment of all mankind. Good luck to it and it remains the single best example of the power of the web available anywhere today.

(In my humble opinion of course.)

Paul

Independent Web Advice

I am considering creating my own search engine. Obviously it will simply scrape results from the big seven, but I can control the results and perhaps provide a better niche service than is already available.

I thought about calling it ‘topsy turvy’ or perhaps ‘wwearch’. But the last thing we need is another Google clone.

So I am stuck.

The search engine will return results only from the UK. It will search Google, MSN, Yahoo, Altavista, Ask etc etc and find relevant results. Those results will be limited to several themes and perhaps a keyword or two. Those results can then be presented in any format and any sort order, creating a niche provider search engine.

Should it be part of this website? Or perhaps a more catchy domain? Independent Web Advice is not particularly easy to type, but how many times do you actually type a domain name? Usually you follow a link or a bookmark. So does it matter?

Any suggestions welcomed!

Paul

The OSWD is the Open Source Web Design organisation that provides a single resource for designs that have been released for public use.

Please remember to leave any requested credits in place. It is nothing to be ashamed of, be proud of your open source designs and let everyone else appreciate them.

Paul

I often get asked by fellow web developers how to create a succesful website. Here it is in black and white without any needless explanations.

If you are not a web developer and not used to these terms, then please ignore this post. Read a bit more from Independent Web Advice.

1) Keyword Research (difficulty 9/10)

2) Domain Name (difficulty 7/10)

3) Avoid the Sandbox (difficulty 4/10)

4) Create Content (difficulty 5/10)

5) Site Design (difficulty 9/10)

6) Page Size (difficulty 2/10)

7) Usability (difficulty 6/10)

On Site Optimization (difficulty 10/10)

9) Globals (difficulty 4/10)

10) Headers (difficulty 2/10)

11) Site Map (difficulty 3/10)

12) Content (difficulty 9/10)

13) White Hat Only (difficulty 2/10)

14) Competition Analysis (difficulty 7/10)

15) Submit (difficulty 1/10)

16) Blog (difficulty 5/10)

17) Links From Other Sites (difficulty 8/10)

18) Study your traffic with statistics (difficulty 4/10)
* Where are your visitors coming from?
* Which search engines do they use?
* What queries do they type in?
* What pages on your site do they visit the most?
* What are the entry pages on your site?
* What are the exit pages?
* What path do they follow when they browse your site?

19) Look Ahead (difficulty 2/10)

20) PR and Articles (difficulty 7/10)

Good luck everyone - let me know how you get on!

Paul Drewett

Independent Web Advice.

This is an example page that I shall be deleting in a moment.

Actually, I shall leave it here and add to it.

• I don’t like deleting posted to comments.
• I often want to test something and I shall continue to use this post.
• If you are reading this, please don’t, it is just a test posting
• I wonder how many Internet users are so bored that they are still reading?

A much better and more interesting post is the one just before this. (Probably the ones that came after too!)

I believe the internet is the most beautiful creation made by human kind.

In my humble opinion it represents our best hope for the future of our planet, our economies and our lives.

Why? I shall show you.

I shall demonstrate, in a single example, a concept on the internet that is changing the way our world will work forever. The consequences of this single example could be overwhelming. Do I exaggerate? No. Definitely not.

Once upon a time you had to pay quite a lot of money to buy the Encyclopedia Brittanica. Now you can log on and visit the Wikipedia. Before you go there, let me just explain one thing about the Wikipedia, it is nothing like the Encyclopedia Brittanica, it is far more exciting.

Anyone can register on the Wikipedia, log in, and edit any page. Anywhere you feel you can add value, you can edit. You can even start whole new chapters or even portals. (Some sections are more protected than that, some pages are open for anyone, registered or not, to edit.)

It is now one of the top 20 websites in the world! Forget searching Google for information, search the Wikipedia. But it does not stop there.

The Wikipedia has over 1.3 million articles (and I mean really good, high quality, in depth, remarkably cross referenced, reliable and up to date articles) in the english version alone.

In the meantime, the Wikimedia Foundation, a non-profit organization, have also given us these remarkable sites. Visit them all, they are magnificent examples of the internet changing our lives, forever.

Wiktionary
Dictionary and thesaurus

Wikinews
News of course

Wikiquote
Collection of quotations

Wikibooks
Free textbooks and manuals

Wikispecies
Directory of species

Wikisource
Free-content library

Wikiversity
Free learning materials and activities

A list like that just makes me want to cry with joy. While the world goes to war over oil, some of us are still trying to be just human kind.

So how can I persuade you all that Internet Explorer is a ‘bit’ dodgy.

The fact that Bill Gates apologised for the bugs in IE7 should give you some clue as to how dangerous IE can be. At least a not completely upgraded, serviced packed, patched and security bug fixed internet explorer. ie exactly the sort of IE we all use every day. The one with huge security flaws in it.

If you want to be malicious, or are simply annoyed at someone, send them an email link that will crash their system. The code has been beautifully described in this wonderful blog how-to-crash-internet-explorer that is about as IT moany as it gets, and I love it.

I must admit I have tried it. It worked on one recipient but not on another. This code is simple and legal javascript, that exploits internet explorers weaknesses. Put quite simply, IE cannot cope with it, and crashes. Firefox, Moxzilla and others, that have been written properly, are immune.

What a wonderful example of why web users should avoid internet explorer!

Paul

PS Perhaps IE8 will solve these issues. Perhaps, perhaps…

PSS WARNING: Please do not send this code out maliciously. It really is unfair to do so. Much worse than spamming. Sending this code could cause serious damage to your victims computer stability.

Now as much as I support this initiative, it seems to me that Google is spending a very small amount on something it is proclaiming to the world is very important to it.

So how much are they spending exactly?
For several years, Google has honored the legacy of computer scientist Dr. Anita Borg with a scholarship program designed to encourage women to pursue careers in computer science and technology. The awards are $10,000 (Americans only of course) scholarships for outstanding female undergraduate and graduate students completing their degrees in computer science or related fields.

Why are they doing this?

Because we believe in what the Anita Borg Institute calls the “virtuous cycle.” Through this scholarship program and other efforts, we hope more women can be encouraged to embrace engineering and technical professions and learn the skills of leadership. Then they can use those apabilities to influence how technology is designed and used, and focus on practical solutions to global issues - energy, food, illiteracy, environment, elder care, disease control - that confront us all. As the products and services resulting from their innovations permeate the global market, new generations of women will follow, in a profession that is increasingly more supportive of women.

The Institute is named for a renowned computer scientist who spent her life inspiring and motivating women to become active participants and leaders in the technology revolution that can benefit all of us. For the 2006-2007 academic year, Google received 324 applications from students at 90 different universities America. They awarded scholarship support to 47 young women, more information available from http://www.anitaborg.org.

So they are spending $500,000 on it, given administration costs, this amounts to about a half a million pounds. Now that is actually a not inconsiderable sum. But in terms of profits, what percentage does this represent of a global billion pound industry?

Compared to court settlements
Compare this contribution to the good of the community with their recent out of court settlements. Rather than harming Google’s profits, the search engine’s proposed $90 million settlement of a click-fraud lawsuit does more to draw attention to a problem that continues to concern advertisers. http://www.dmnews.com/cms/dm-news/search-marketing/36027.html

Settle a lawsuit out of court rather than sort out click fraud for 180 times what they are spending on supporting women in science and technology. They could have sponsored not 90 women, but over 16,000!

Now that would have been worthy of praise!

Come on Google and Gates, you can do more to impress us and support the communities your wealth is built from.

Now this may appear to have nothing to do with the internet and web advice. Well, it has, but in a very loose way.

Can it be possible that some of the awful crooners actually and truly believe they can sing? What exactly are they hearing? The x-factor is half built to laugh at these people, but there are so many of them.

When I look at websites and discuss them with their owners, I am often amazed, that they can talk about their websites with pride. They point at awful constructions straight from the 90’s and beam with pride, ‘you can see it’s a really good site’ they exclaim ‘but we don’t seem to be getting many orders.’ and I wonder why? Look at the state of it!

So the lesson from the x-factor is this. Go onto your competitors website and buy something. Call it the price of a lesson in humility. The question is then why or how are you better?