The title really says it all. Domize helps you find domain names based on the entries you type into the search bar. It really is incredibly helpful when you have exhausted all means of finding a cool new and short domain name for your next BIG web property. Credit for the find goes to Darren Rowse from Problogger, he shot out a twit with it. Thanks Darren.
Recently I got into using the entire web to my advantage, namely the mobile market.
I know, old news Ryan get to the point!
Fine! Heres the deal. So I was developing a variety of websites today for the iPhone. Now I work on Vista, so the Apple SDK is out of the question for now. Every single iPhone “Simulator” out there is lame. All it they are doing is giving you a iPhone frame with an iframe inside of it. So the question begs, how do I really know this website will work on an iPhone if I dont have one?
Well I’ll tell you the secret I found today. Download the latest version of Safari(I think you know where to find it). Once you’re all set there. Goto Edit > Preferences. Then select the Advanced tab and check the Show Develop Menu in menu bar option. Close that window and goto Develop > User Agent > iPhone(or iPod Touch).
Bingo! You’re now viewing the webpage as you would if you were on an iPhone. Obviously to get the full effect you’ll need to shrink you’re browser window to match the 320PX width. Now that you can view in the iPhone style we can add some calls in our code to check the user agent for iPhone that way our websites will show special things to iPhone users.
I never thought I would be consistently doing a live podcast every week, but here I am five weeks later still doing the show. I have to say its been really fun. I get a slew of show topics and I can debate the topics with a couple good friends every week. This week we talked about Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, The big HD TV switch coming up, Guitar Hero,GT5: Prologue, Wii Light Sabre and sputnikmusic.com. If you have some time head on over to our site and start the podcast while you get cracking on some work.
Show Link: The Net Raiders
Wanted to share a really good IM client resource. Recently I have been looking to decrease the amount of time I spend checking email, IM’ing and Twittering. Mainly because time is an increasingly important thing in my day to day work load. By chance I happened upon Digsby. Digsby basically mashes everything together; IM, gmail, twitter. My three main items I have been using on a day to day basis. This has saved me heaps of time by not having to open Gmail for everything and I can twitter and IM right from one piece of software. If you feel like giving something new a shot, definitely check out this program.
Has Digsby helped you cut down time in your day to day work?
-Ryan
Pownce tends to be a wealth of new happenings and trends on the net. Recently Daniel Burka sent out a little message that his recent presentation on UI Case Studies was online with the accompanying audio and slides. Daniel took this presentation to go over the growth of the UI on both Digg and Pownce. How it has completely evolved to what it is today. I have to say I was completely impressed with all of the work that goes into the UI of Digg. All of the small changes that have affected the sites story listing and comment interfaces. Lots of little changes have massive effects on both the brand and the usability of the site as a whole. Very cool stuff. Take a 45 minutes, sit with a drink and watch this presentation.
Link: http://www.webdirections.org/resources/wdn08-daniel-burka/
So for those of you who are part of the massive Twitter Revolution! Something I have become quite annoyed with lately. Mostly due to the massive amounts of trash messages that come through it. I have found a better solution for me, namely Pownce. Pownce really pulls together all the elements of Twitter and add some file and event functionality to it. Overall its user interface is extremely streamlined and easy to use. The big benefit to me, is that Pownce allows you to easily reply directly to other peoples messages, rather than the whole ‘@youtwit’ Twitter method, this is a direct and inline messaging system. Makes things much more simple and easy to understand.
The system is still going through its growing pains, so it has the occasional hic-up. The only things I have had trouble with, was finding friends and looking at older messages in the system. Pownce has some quirk in the system when you add a friend it stop displaying their old messages. Makes it a little difficult to check out and comment on the older things they have done. Regardless Pownce does have a desktop app and a mobile app to keep you jotting notes where ever you may be.
If you’re on Pownce feel free to add me as a friend: http://pownce.com/ryanyockey/
Or just go over and sign-up for an account: http://pownce.com
So in case you’ve been hiding under a rock in the tech world, Flickr has recently added a nice new feature for its users, or so they thought. They gave users the ability to add 90 second video clips to their accounts. You have to be a PRO user to be able to use this feature. Now there are three schools of thought on this topic, let me break it down.
1. The New User: Looking at Flickr from a completely new user standpoint. I’m here to upload photos, maybe meet some new friends, but most likely connect with family. Now the addition of video for these users, probably not a highly used feature never the less its probably used here and there. I know a lot of my family likes to snap some quick video clips with their digital cameras. So really not getting any problems from this group. I’m sure this take up roughly 50% of the user base of Flickr.
2. The Casual User: This is most likely the user that uploads new photo sets weekly from various things around the net. Maybe he has purchased the PRO account for the cheap 25$ a year. Now that this new video ability is here, why not take the extra five minutes and upload your latest clips of you jumping on a couch or getting plowed at the bar. This is the group I would say I fall into. I have the PRO account, but i’m no avid photographer. This user group would most likely land about 30% of the Flickr user base.
3. The Die Hard User: These are hard core photographers or they are part of the original group who started using Flickr. They tend to take everything photography very seriously. They have been doing since long before Flickr, or learned and done it professionally, or as a serious hobby. Either way they are photographers and at heart they love the camera and not the camcorder. To this group the addition of video is an abomination to photography, the very thing Flickr stood for from the start. Now I would peg this group at the remainder of 20% of the Flickr user base.
Now really I personally am glad they added these short video clips. It shows that Flickr is thinking outside of the box and ready to gain even more marketshare. Whether these Die Hards accept it is up to them, but unfortunately their voice isnt big enough to sway the good folks at Flickr. People lack the ability to change and adapt. I try to look at it from their perspective, but its just the elitist attitude. I see no problems with it, its not like people are being forced to watch the movies or even forced to stare at the pictures. Time will tell how this develops. Regardless, good job Flickr. Lets see some more great ideas from their group.
Where do you stand on this one?
Just finished doing the third episode of The Net Raiders. A very rocky start, but we’re coming along with our radio skills. Check it out if you have a few free moments. If you have time drop us a line at our site.
Recently I got together with some friends of mine and started doing a live podcast show. We don’t really stick to just one topic. It tends to run around between Tech News, Entertainment, and lots of Gaming discussions. We have some basic topics set in place and just discuss everything we can gripe or praise about it. Over all its pretty fun show to do.
You can listen to it here: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/thenetraiders
So I broke down and finally bought an Apple product. I ended up buying an Apple iPod nano. *giga-gasp!* Yeah well its a great little MP3 player. My wife has the old nano and she is totally jealous now. So score one for me.
Overall I made my decision because I like the sleek small style of it. I like that it plays video. The clarity on movies is surprisingly very good. I wasn’t expecting much from it. I also wanted something small for when I go out jogging. I will most likely rarely use it for anything other than jogging or maybe when I’m reading.
So what kind of MP3 player are you using?
