Summary of eHow articles for February

Links for the numerous articles I posted in February on eHow. More . . .

Denver at dawn

I had an absolutely fabulous time at Web Directions North in Denver this month and got to meet and talk with some really interesting people. In this photo,  you see Denver just waking up with the sun just touching the tops of the buildings.

Then I returned to reality and wrote some stuff ‘n things for eHow.

Quoting Tweets on Your Blog? Try Twickie

Twickie will display threaded Tweets as text on a blog or website. More. . .

Are you posting Twitter conversations on your blog? Do you wish you had a way to make them look good so the conversation was easier to follow? There’s a very new application that will collect a thread and provide some code to paste on your blog. It’s easy and free.

The tool is called Twickie. Right now it’s on Chris Pirillo’s personal site, but it may move to its own domain in the future. It’s isn’t perfect yet;  it’s just getting started, though it works pretty well already.

the Twickie page

It’s easy to use. No downloads. Just go the Twickie site, and log in to Twitter. Your most recent tweets will appear. If you want to collect a thread you click a button that says “Get @s” and the thread is given. For any threaded conversation, code is provided.

export Twickie code

The code is basic HTML including some inline styles that make the thread look like Twitter conversations. It can be pasted on a blog or web page. Here’s an example. The conversation is less than wonderful, but it does illustrate the point. I copied the code from Twickie to create the following:

Miraz: Always happy to oblige. I hope things are well where you are. Rain here and more Webstock. 🙂

about 17 minutes ago

falmouthdesign: What sort of reply are you looking for? Did I miss the question?

about 24 minutes ago

vdebolt: Need @ replies for a BlogHer post. Would you reply to this, please, please, please. You are truly kind!

about 45 minutes ago

Looks good, doesn’t it? It’s text, with clickable links to profiles on Twitter. A big improvement over showing Twitter conversations as images.

As I said, it isn’t perfect. For example, I replied to some of these replies, which brought in another reply. Twickie doesn’t pick these up as part of the original conversation. Each Tweet I sent out was the start of its own thread. The only @s that got pulled in, were the ones sent directly in response to the original Tweet. It would be great if Twickie recognized that a reply in response to a reply is part of the thread. Maybe I’m asking for the impossible.

You can’t do a Twickie search for hash tags. I’d like to see that added. I think it would be especially useful when following breaking news or tracking events and conferences. There are sites that track hashtags, but not threaded.

This tool is so new, I couldn’t find anyone using it yet. If you give it a try and post something on your blog using Twickie, let us know so we can take a look.

More Information: Twickie video with Chris Pirillo. You can follow @twickie on Twitter to keep up with news about this tool.

Cross posted at BlogHer.

Useful Links: Neuro web design, Web design update, HTML 5 differences

Links to a review of Neuro Web Design, the latest issue of the Web Design Update newsletter, the difference between HTML 4 and HTML 5.
More . . .

dotEdGuru, a blog I just discovered and which is now in my feed reader, wrote sex…Sex…SEX! Now I have your attention about a book called Neuro Web Design.

Neuro Web Design takes Neuromarketing one step further by discussing psychological concepts, which can then be applied to your website.  It’s a fascinating (and quick!) read that I recommend for anyone working on the web in any capacity.

In case you missed the Feb. 20, 2009 issue of the University of Minnesota at Duluth’s Laura Carlson Web Design Update newsletter, it’s bursting at the seams stuffed with so many great links I’m going to point to the archived copy of the newsletter. A lot has happened in the past week in accessbility, HTML 5, WCAG,  CSS 3, web standards, and more. Sometimes I cherry pick a few links from this weekly email to emphasize here, but this issue is so full of things you need to know that I thought I’d provide a link to the whole thing. You can subscribe to the listserv and get these valuable newsletters yourself.

HTML 5 differences from HTML 4 at the W3C not only details the differences in typical W3C-speak, but also explains the reasoning behind some of the changes. If you’re teaching HTML, this could be a great resource for you. Keep in mind that HTML 5 is still in the draft stage and not yet a recommendation.

Review: Head First Web Design

A review of Head First Web Design from O’Reilly. More . . .

by Web Teacher
Buy Head First Web Design from Amazon.com

Head First Web Design (A Brain Friendly Guide) (Amazon affiliate link)

★★★★ Head First Web Design by Ethan Watrall and Jeff Siarto is from O’Reilly (2008). This book is not a basic HTML/CSS book, but is rather a look at all the processes and procedures that are involved in building a web site. The book starts with sketching designs on paper and works through wireframing, finding a visual metaphor, clear organization and navigation, design concepts like the Golden Ratio and the rule of thirds, color palettes, scannable writing techniques, accessibility, usability, jQuery libraries, blogs, business tools, and even advice on how to create a bid on a job and license your work.

It’s the everything but HTML/CSS/scripting part of the job of web design.

In general, the book is sound and delivers good information based on best practices. I was disappointed with the accessibility section. The book only discussed alt text, tabindex and longdesc. The usability suggestions were a little on the usability-lite side, too. That said, for someone new to web design, there’s a lot of good information in this book that could help you launch yourself into the field.

With any Head First book, readers need to be warned that a Head First book is not your standard technical book. It uses an approach based on educational theory and brain research that results in a barrage of visual images, surprising ways of presenting information and unique Head First style exercises designed to help you learn and retain the information. Some people react to Head First books with enthusiasm and say it’s exactly what they needed. Others regard the approach as a bit silly. Only you can judge how you will feel about the way the books are written, so take a look inside before you buy.

Summary: A good examination of the process and work flow needed in designing sites.

Technorati Tags: ,

Useful Links: The future of the web, shared passion, valuable blogs

The future of the web, shared passions about web education, and the most valuable blogs. More . . .

A battle of Beliefs: RDF, Natural Language Processing, and the future of the web at Burningbird pulls together information about HTML 5, RDF, the past, present and future—all with insight. Give it a look.

Shared Passion by Derek Featherstone shows that I’m not the only person who had a great time at Web Directions North 2009. He comments,

The premise was simple: bring together educators, web professionals and industry representatives to create a kind of think tank on improving the quality of education for the next generation of web professionals.

If  you care about the things that Derek mentioned, check out the Web Standards Project Education section and see where you can help.

The Twenty-Five Most Valuable Blogs from 247 Wall Street talks about the blogs that generate the most income and views, although they say themselves that it’s impossible to assign a value to a blog.

Legal Rights for Bloggers

Bloggers' Rights at EFF
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) released “the Legal Guide for Bloggers, a collection of blogger-specific FAQs addressing everything from fair use to defamation law to workplace whistle-blowing.”

The introduction to the Guide says,

Whether you’re a newly minted blogger or a relative old-timer, you’ve been seeing more and more stories pop up every day about bloggers getting in trouble for what they post.

Like all journalists and publishers, bloggers sometimes publish information that other people don’t want published. You might, for example, publish something that someone considers defamatory, republish an AP news story that’s under copyright, or write a lengthy piece detailing the alleged crimes of a candidate for public office.

The difference between you and the reporter at your local newspaper is that in many cases, you may not have the benefit of training or resources to help you determine whether what you’re doing is legal. And on top of that, sometimes knowing the law doesn’t help – in many cases it was written for traditional journalists, and the courts haven’t yet decided how it applies to bloggers.

But here’s the important part: None of this should stop you from blogging. Freedom of speech is the foundation of a functioning democracy, and Internet bullies shouldn’t use the law to stifle legitimate free expression. That’s why EFF created this guide, compiling a number of FAQs designed to help you understand your rights and, if necessary, defend your freedom.

The announcement at Blogger’s Rights contains links to the document and to usable badges like the one shown here.

I’ll be writing about fair use and the Shepard Fairey case regarding the Obama Hope poster tomorrow on BlogHer. I hope you’ll take a look at that article.

As with disability law and accessiblity on the web, so too with fair use and the rights of bloggers: very little is set into legal precedent yet in the current world. In the uncertain legal period we are muddling through, it’s good that an organization like the Electronic Frontier Foundation is working to help us be clear about our rights.

ADDED 2/14/09. Here’s the BlogHer article: The Murky Mysteries of Fair Use Rise Again.

IA Teachers: Take the survey

The Information Architecture Institute is currently doing some research. Take the survey. More . . .

The Information Architecture Institute is currently doing some research which will inform the work they will soon begin creating an IA curriculum.

The Research & Education Group in IA is conducting a survey aimed at understanding the current status of Information Architecture (IA) in Higher Education. If you are a teacher and/or researcher in Higher Education Institutions and Universities, please take 15 minutes to fill out our survey. The survey is online at:

http://is.gd/hERj

The results will be made public through the Information Architecture Institute website [www.iainstitute.org] and the REG-iA website [www.reg.ia.org] and will constitute a founding part of a proposal for an IA curriculum framework in Higher Education.