James Oppenheim’s blog

So after a few months of doing this blogging thing I thought to myself, is this really the best / most efficient way for me to participate in the blogosphere. I am using WordPress to publish this blog and it is great, easy to style, effective and user friendly. Well this is good yeah?

But what about the new Bubbletwo (this site no longer exists) by Ben Nolan. I have setup another blog and it took 5 seconds. Now that is great. It takes me about the same time to write a post. So is this better than WordPress? Well it depends on what you want. I think Ben’s web application is a fantastic idea, but it lacks a few key features.

1. Lack of customisation. - You should be able name your blog and give it a strap line
2. Strange URL’s - You should get a more memorable URL you can give your friends rather than http://www.bubbletwo.com/gaaye (this site no longer exists)
3. Edit - You should be able to have the ability to edit your other posts, not just delete them

Once these features have been integrated I think Bubbletwo has the ability to be the next MySpace, Flickr, YouTube or Twitter.

While Bubbletwo is in a different market than WordPress, I still think it could have a major impact on the internet or at the very least change the way I blog.

Technorati Tags: WordPress, bubbletwo, blog, blogging, web, personal, Ben Nolan, MySpace, Flickr, YouTube, Twitter

I like this idea of Jeremy Keith’s elsewhere. Grabbing all the pieces of information on the web about you and then placing it all in one spot. I had a go and look at what I came up with.

Nice idea, I suppose I could redo my whole blog to just be a collection of other information about me around the internet all complied in one spot.

Go Jeremy!

Technorati Tags: Elsewhere, Jeremy Keith, web, personal, interesting sites

http://www.spamhelp.org/harvesterkiller/

Not a very nice looking site, but wow what a great idea. Do your bit to hit back at the spam bots, but clogging up there database with invalid email addresses. Ever been caught in an endless loop while programming one of your applications. I know I have. Hopefully this can annoy the spam bots as much as they annoy me.

Well done http://www.spamhelp.org/

Technorati Tags: spam, spam help, spam bot, interesting sites, web, personal

Spam should be canned or is it spam in a can!

I can’t stand spam, from junk emails to spam comments on this blog. Does anyone remember the days before spam. Wow, I could hear the calm sound of the ocean as I soak up the sun on the beach with my free time. But not now. Spam. Spam. Spam is all I hear as I attempt to find the relevant information between all the spam.

Why do we receive spam emails. Because they must work! Why people click on them is beyond me, but they must work or there would be no reason for them at all.

I can understand why there is blog comments spam. At least akismet and the web community is trying to collectively do something about this.

From work to personal email all I see is spam. So if anyone has created an effective way of managing their spam emails please let me know.
I hope it invloves frying up what comes out of the can.

Technorati Tags: spam, email, blog, wordpress, akismet

http://www.rosefu.net/

Wow, clean code in book form, who would have thought. Now this is a really nice portfolio site. Clean HTML and CSS, combined with fantastic graphic design to create a unique user experience, that hopefully get Rose Fu some work.

(more…)

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

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

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

I have just become a member of Technorati.

What is Technorati I here you ask, with a quizzical look on your face. Well… Technorati is seen as the authority on blogs. It is a search engine designed to specifically search weblogs and as of August 2006, Technorati indexed over 50.6 million weblogs. Welll 50.6 milliion + 1 now that mine is on there.

The name Technorati is a portmanteau, pointing to the technological version of literati or intellectuals.

Well now that you know all this why not take a peak at my profile: Technorati Profile

Technorati Tags: Technorati, personal