James Oppenheim’s blog

I have had a few conversations lately about what are the most essential tools for any web designer or developer. So here you go, here is a list of my “can’t do without’ applications that I use on a day to day basis.

• Photoshop
• Illustrator
• SmartFTP
• Color Cop
• Crimson Editor
• Firefox
• Firefox - Web developers toolbar
• Firefox - measureIT

So there you go – that is me and my day in a lunch box.

Technorati Tags: web design tool, Photoshop, Illustrator, SmartFTP, Color Cop, Crimson Editor, Firefox, Web developers toolbar, measureIT

I recently changed back from Windows Live Mail to the traditional hotmail. Why? Slow load times, inconsistent behaviors with check boxes, small reading panes that you can resize, not being able to export contacts, shall I go on. Sure it is a beta version and sure it is free. However, why should I upgrade from a stable hotmail to a clunky, nonuser-friendly email client.

Long live hotmail!

Technorati Tags: live mail, hotmail, windows, email client

http://en.wikipedia.org

Now I love Wikipedia. Yes I am obsessed, from feature articles to on this day. It is an information overload and I love it.

The concept of a Wiki is fantastic. User generated / community generated content, the cyber world’s answer to Encyclopedia Britannica. And it’s free!

Will we ever be able to quote Wikipedia as a legitimate academic resource? I am not sure. However, I think the interesting question is: why does it work so well?

I know from previous experience that collaborative projects can sometimes be hard to manage, especially when there is an international edge to the project. Anyone can add and edit the content already there. But the interesting thing is no one takes advantage of this novel situation to post radical and controversial ideas. Amazing!

Maybe I can incorporate the concept of a Wiki into my design process mashup. It would be a perfect use for it, from documentation to concept generation.

Technorati Tags: wikipedia, wiki, site of the week

I recently bought a book “The JavaScript Anthology: 101 Essential Tips, Tricks & Hacks” from Sitepoint while I was at the Web Directions Conference in Sydney. Note: I did this after being inspired by Jeremy Keith’s two talks on AJAX.

After skimming over the book on the plane back to Melbourne I found a strange anomaly. The book was missing about 50 pages, which, funnily enough were related to AJAX. I was a bit bemused about this situation and decided to email Sitepoint and see what they had to say.

Within an hour of the email I receive an email back politely explaining that there was a problem with the printing run and that they would send me out a new book, no questions asked. Then within the week I received the book on my doorstep. This experience left me in a good mood the whole week.

Well done Sitepoint! If only all customer service experiences were met with such speed, efficiency and politeness.

I will definitely be buying books from them again.

Technorati Tags: sitepoint, wd06, customer service

There has been a lot of hype recently about Mashups using publicly available APIs. Recently at the Web Directions conference in Sydney Cameron Adams and Kevin Yank did a talk about this exact topic.

While I believe this is a fantastic way to re-invent public data and use it in helpful and creative ways. Why can’t we bring the concept of a Mashup into the web design process?

A designer could seamlessly combine different stages and data sources into the design process. Why not combine parts of research and development into the design or programming phase? Why not incorporate the web community in the design phase? The design process does not have to be a linear designer vs the website process. It should be a collaborative and evolving procedure where you can go from stage one to stage two with a little bit of stage 5 mixed in as well and then back to stage one.

Technorati Tags: wd06, mashups, web, design process

http://www.thehorizontalway.com/

Is my web browser broken? Have a somehow switched over to Internet Explore by mistake? The answer is no! This is an interesting website, one that challenges the way we should design websites by displaying the information in a horizontal format.
The site showcases other websites that display its content in horizontal not vertical direction. I have seen some websites like this before, so the idea is not completely new one, however, I believe that this site pulls it off quite well.

Bad practice and usability I here you scream, well maybe it is not the convention. Yes as a web user I don’t like side scrolling. However, I think the presentation of content in this manner should be explored. Don’t just use a convention for the conventions sake.

Technorati Tags: design, conventions, site of the week

I recently attended the Web Directions Conference in Sydney and it was amazing to see the amount of reflective glow from the Apple icons throughout the conference hall. What amazed me about this was not that Apple is reclaiming the laptop market. But that so many people were publishing content to the internet right there and then. Now I know I am a nerd and that I see a unique cross section of society, but the times are changing.

Here is a prime example. This is a girl from Iraq who talks about war, politics and occupation. No loner do we have to have to be told what to here from the big publishing companies! This begs the question, are we seeing the beginning of the demise of major newspapers and television stations? I don’t know. But what I do know is that I am not a good looking as Sandra Sully.

People are blogging on the train, in lecture theatres and in wars and more interestingly with the launch of Testra’s new G3 network people will be able to view this content anywhere, any time.

The world is changing. Power to the people!

Technorati Tags: wd06, computer age, web