BASEMENT.ORG
Posted by Richard Ziade on February 28, 2007, 10:22AMHere Come The Flex Components
Without a doubt, we're starting to see a migration from various development circles towards the power of Actionscript 3 and Flex. The first of hopefully many component library sites. Flexbox already has over 100 components. And over at Google Gode you've got Flexlib, another nice collection of components.
I've got one gripe with both sites: where are the RSS feeds for the latest additions???
swfIR
In the spirit of sIFR, swfIR is a flash/javascript concoction that replaces images with Flash-driven equivalents. This allows you to do some fancy tricks like dynamic resizing and image effects. Pretty cool...though the initial flipping to the Flash version of the image is a bit annoying.
Posted by Richard Ziade on February 27, 2007, 06:57PMOrbiting Around Users At Adobe Engage
I'm writing this post from Adobe Engage. It's a day-long seminar that gives us a glimpse into Adobe's rich application road map and also showcases a handful of RIA's and products that are either brand spankin' new or haven't even seen the day of light yet.
Today, it's all about using Flash, Flex and the baby brother - Apollo - to deliver rich internet applications to users everywhere. Tim O'Reilly highlights one of the key themes in today's talks: using these products to engage and involve users. Broadly speaking, its great to see "user experience" being such a prominent part of the conversation here. Rather than orbiting around a bunch of technologies and just mentioning users. Engaging users is what it's about. Technology gets us there.
Some more of my thoughts:
- Headache-Inducing Possibilities. The possibilities of Apollo are exciting and humbling all at once. The ability to bring together desktop power with the social aspects of the Internet makes my head hurt (in a good way).
- Out-Of-The-Browser Thinking. In my opinion, Apollo's potential won't be fully appreciated for a bit. Today, we seem to be asking: "how do we make this product better with Apollo?" Eventually we'll be asking: "what can we build in Apollo that is simply impossible today." Revolution vs. evolution. It's gonna take a bit to break out of the desktop/Internet dichotomy we live in today. Ryan Stewart touches on this as well.
- No more URL's. No More Back Buttons. No More Browser. While the techheads may write off the end of browser chrome is ho-hum, the impact on end-users is drastic. In fact, it may even be jarring at first. But there's no doubt that utility belt-type URL destinations will scream for Apollo.
- Don't Forget The Designers. With this new breed of software, let's not forget the designers. Not just the graphic designers, but front-end web designers. From the elegance of XHTML to the raw power of CSS, designers have invested a lot of time and energy to get good at this stuff. As these apps get richer, it's getting harder to keep them involved and contributing.
It's a really exciting time. At Arc90, we're subjecting ourselves to the growing pains of getting good at this stuff (and we are!). We'd love to put on the lab coats and start building, but alas we have clients and clients have needs...for now. We'll just have to show them the way.
Posted by Richard Ziade on February 26, 2007, 03:48PMBlog Junk Food
Over the past month or so, since Anna Nicole Smith's death, the media has been criticized for spending way too much time on what is effectively a sensational bit of news that is hardly newsworthy. The cable channels like MSNBC and CNN have spent countless hours dissecting, analyzing and reporting on the mildly ridiculous sequence of events since her death. Meanwhile, a a fairly serious war plays second fiddle.
As a result, the time-tested argument that the media is irresponsible rears its ugly head. "This isn't journalism. This is entertainment." or "The news media outlets are failing us." In these arguments is a tinge of high-mindedness towards the masses. The masses, the argument goes, should not be patronized in such a way. We're way too smart and scrupulous to be served such drivel.
Well, it turns out there's a really great way to get a sense of what the masses really want to talk about: search queries and blogs. What information are people seeking and what kinds of conversations are happening out there? Let's take a look:
The most searched term for the week ending February 25, 2007 on AOL is: Antonella Barba. What's the top topic on blogs last week? You guessed it: Antonella Barba.
Who's Antonella Barba you ask? She's one of the finalists on the wildly popular American Idol TV show. Apparently, some provocative pictures of her have surfaced on the Internet and people are going insane showing them, talking about them and even dissecting them for authenticity.
So much for blogging being the tool that elevates us to some sort of higher collective consciousness. Whether it be trash television, tabloid newspapers, or blog junk food, they're all mere symptoms of the underlying condition: most people don't really care about all the serious things in the world. Well, they may care. They just don't care as much.
Posted by Richard Ziade on February 22, 2007, 09:08AMGoogle Apps Premier...Premiers
Google Apps Premier, Google's very own Office-Suite-in-a-box, just debuted. Information Week has a nice summary. It's a nice collection of hosted web applications, including the mighty Gmail, for businesses. It's darn cheap too - at $50 per user per year.
From the perspective purchasing, maintaining and supporting IT infrastructure, the ROI is pretty clear: pay us $50 and we'll worry about everything else. It's not only a direct attack at Microsoft's dominance of business productivity software, it's a direct on how we think about and use software generally. If anything, it brings into question the operating system itself. Put differently, do we really need an operating system anymore? Google has a damn big one. Do we really need storage anymore? Google has plenty of that as well.
While it's all got a pretty revolutionary feel, one thing the press seems glean over is the wide array of highly specialized uses the Microsoft Office platform enables. We have a client here in New York that uses Excel in a very sophisticated way - tying tables to complex modeling functions and back-end databases. Word is no different. It's a staggeringly deep application that is used for everything from drafting legal forms to handling sophisticated, cross-referenced technical documents. Google isn't after such specialized use - at least not yet. They're after what I like to call the "obvious 15." It's the most visibile, most accessible 15% of functionality that lies within these apps. That 15% is all the great majority of users need. Simple formatting, spell check in Word. Basic ledger capabilities in Excel. It's a very large market. Word and Excel look like shallow puddles on the surface, but they are very deep.
In all this, I think it's an oversimplification to just broadly categorize this as some battle of office suites. The arena is clearly marked: casual and small business use that leverages the common office suite functions. A small accouting firm. A dentist's office. A startup with a few employees. It's very appealing to just sign up and go.
This leaves me with one more future-ism: envisioning a day when that depth, richness and functionality truly marries with a Google-like distributed model. Scary...but exciting.
Posted by Richard Ziade on February 20, 2007, 11:47AMNetvibes Tweaks It Up
Your favorite portal and mine, Netvibes, has churned out a handful of features and enhancements. Netvibes continues to impress.
We Me Apologize For The Inconvenience
Something went wonky with DNS yesterday and basement.org was effectively down for about eight hours. It's now back up and pointing to the proper "stuff."
Indie Artists, Give Me Your Paypal Account
Dear Independent Artist:
I am a huge fan of music - all kinds of music. Music is such an important part of my life that I seek it out. I don't listen to the radio much so I scour around the Internet for something new to latch on to. I ask friends. I read mp3 blogs. I follow sites like Pitchfork. I'll go just about anywhere to get at some new music that I can enjoy, connect with and fold into my life's soundtrack.
I don't buy CD's. I haven't purchased a CD in a really long time. I really don't have any use for them. I don't even own a CD player. I've got a laptop. I've got desktop speakers. I've got an iPod. I need your music in a DRM-free digital form. My music moves around. I also want to share your music with my friends. Besides, very little of what I want today - with the exception of the occasional hankering for classic rock - is available at Best Buy or Circuit City. So even if I were into CD's as a technology, none of what I want can be found at retail stores.
But even if they did have your music in stock, I wouldn't bother buying the CD's. I want to have your music the moment I realize it's something I want to possess. The moment after I discover it. Better yet, I wouldn't mind having it before I even realize that I want it. In fact, that's pretty much what happens today. A friend will pass along a folder of MP3's. I'll check it out. If I like it, I'll keep it. If I don't, I'll just delete it.
So there's a twisted irony here. Even for the music I like, I'm often not paying for your music. Why? Because it's actually harder to support you - the artist - than to get your music without supporting you. Think about that. It takes more work on my part to support you. On occasion, I've liked someone's music so much that I bought a few copies of your album and never opened them or given them to friends as gifts. I'm not sure what else to do.
I'm lucky enough to live in New York City. It's a great place to find just about any flavor of live music - big or small. I constantly scour sites like Pollstar and Sonic Living to find out when you're going to be in town next. I want to come to your shows and support you. I've heard that touring is just about the only way a small artist makes money (though I don't know that for sure).
I want to support you. Especially if your music means something to me. But it's actually hard to do that in this digital age. I don't want iTunes because I don't want limitations (limitations I'm not even entirely clear about) and your music isn't in the shopping mall shops and Walmart's. And like I said, CD's are relatively useless to me.
What it comes down to is this: I want to give you some money. I'm not entirely sure what I'm willing to pay. I'm pretty sure it'll vary depending on who you are and how much I like your music. There's a good change that an album of yours that was recently released is lousy - to me at least. Then again, your album may be amazing. Or it may just have a few worthwhile tracks. For the artists that contribute to improving my life, I'd like to support you in some way but it's hard to do.
Imagine a world where the notion of purchasing music is entirely thrown out the window. Instead, artists put music out there (you're pretty much doing that today anyway) and a system exists whereby the people that latch on can give something to the artists. This isn't about a commercial transaction or gaining rights to copyrighted work. This is about bypassing the purchase process altogether and rewarding you - the artist. It's a sort of Paypal for artists. It's about decoupling the commercial transaction around obtaining music and focusing on the inimitable relationship between artist and music fan. There are at least ten artists I enjoy today that should get some of my money - at least more than I've given them so far.
I really love Album X, and I'd give the artist $7 in a heartbeat if it was easy to do so. I only liked 3-4 songs on Album Y, so I'm only going to donate $3 to that artist's cause. There's a massive amount of good will out there that artists never get to cash in because there is no simple mechanism to do so.
It is, in effect, donationware for music. And music, unlike software or desktop wallpapers, evokes emotion and loyalty. Software has users. Music has fans. We are fans that want to see more of your music. That want you to have enough money to tour. To keep doing what you're doing. We would kill to have an MP3 of an acoustic session you did last weekend - no matter how sloppy it is. We want to support you so you can keep sharing more of your creations.
So come on Independent Artist, show me an easier way to support you. I'll keep coming to your shows, but the other ways to help you are just too difficult and rife with all sorts of unnecessary hurdles. Let's short circuit everything and go straight to you. I just want to give something back to you - the artist - for enriching my life.
Sincerely,
A Big Independent Music Fan
Posted by Richard Ziade on February 16, 2007, 10:15AMBrowsegoods.com
Browsegoods.com is an interesting approach to browsing for products on an ecommerce site. It applies a Google Maps-style interface where you see a bird's-eye view of the high level categories and as you zoom in, you see subcategories until you eventually see products.
I can't help but sigh when I see stuff like this. After about 90 seconds of "oh cool" you start to wonder about the usefulness of this sort of interface. If we step back a second and agree to overly generalize, you've got two types of shopping users: the "seeker' that is looking for an exact product and the "browser" that is looking for something in a general category ("I really need a winter coat...").
Through either user's eyes, this interface is annoying and potentially obtrusive. If the seeker wants a specific model of something, they're gonna drop it in the search box. Just make the search smart enough to get him there. If the browsing user wants a winter coat, make it ridiculously easy to jump to that category - whether through a nice laundry list of categories or just by typing "winter coats" in the search box. Neither user really wants to have a simulated flight over a landscape of shoes.
I think this further highlights the raw power of the humble search box. If that search box is smart, it'll outdo any whiz-bang interface. Just ask Google.
Posted by Richard Ziade on February 14, 2007, 10:38AMA Blogging Milestone (?)
Well this is sort of neat. Basement.org, your favorite blog (ever) has reached something of a blogging milestone. Feedburner reports 1,000 subscribers today.
I'd just like to thank everyone for reading, sharing and providing feedback to basement.org. It's been much fun so far. Hopefully it'll stay that way. :)
Posted by Richard Ziade on February 13, 2007, 09:33AMOpensearchfox
Ok, this guy is damn cool. Opensearchfox is a Firefox extension that allows you to easily add new search engines to that handy little search box in Firefox. Simply right-click on any search box in any website and you're done.
Posted by Richard Ziade on February 9, 2007, 12:54PM83 Nice Wordpress Themes
I'm convinced the guy behind Smashing Magazine has no job. Yet another massive list: 83 quality Wordpress themes.
Add Opensearch To Your Site In Five Minutes
Add Opensearch (that in-line search box in Firefox and Explorer that lets you easily search Google, Amazon, etc.) for your site in five minutes.
Posted by Richard Ziade on February 8, 2007, 09:42AMImified
Imified is a new service that allows you to manage various web accounts like Backpack, and Google Calendar through your instant messaging client (MSN, Yahoo, Google Chat & AOL are supported).
Posted by Richard Ziade on February 7, 2007, 09:19AMJobs: DRM Is Dumb
Steve Jobs has put out a pretty gutsy memo that essentially lays out Apple's stance regarding DRM and what an immense waste of time and energy it is for everyone involved. In short, Jobs asserts that if the big record labels agreed to drop DRM protection altogether, Apple would wholeheartedly embrace it.
I for one have never and would never buy music from iTunes precisely because of the restrictions associated with that music. Put another way, if iTunes sold plain vanilla MP3's, I'd be all over it. I may actually never take advantage of the "freedom" of purchasing unrestricted content, I just like knowing that I can. I think this is partly why CD's so drastically eclipse online sales even to this day. People know that when they buy a CD, they truly own it and can do with it what they wish.
I also think this is less about the DRM restrictions that are in place than it is about the lack of knowledge around DRM. People don't feel good about what they don't know. They're confident about their ownership when purchasing a CD, not so much when buying a song on iTunes.
Also, Jobs points out that the entire DRM cat and mouse game is a losing (and extremely costly) proposition for everyone involved. The gain is nowhere near the cost.
Oddly, this isn't about legal minutia and content ownership. It's about human nature. Hackers love the challenge of cracking the code as an end in itself, not as a means to steal music. And consumers want to know that when they buy something, they really own it. Acknowledging these two nearly obvious facts can get everyone to a better place.
Posted by Richard Ziade on February 6, 2007, 02:31PMPoetry And Powerpoint
Mashups are all the rage these days. But let's face it, if you've seen one Google Maps mashup, you've seen'em all. The concept of mashups is cool. It's just that we need to mashup a more diverse set of things.
How about...poetry and information visualization? :
Tutorials 2.0
All kinds of cool Photoshop, Illustrator and 3D tutorials at Tutorials 2.0. Go ahead - make some shiny, glossy icons. You know you want to.
Posted by Richard Ziade on February 5, 2007, 03:21PMBasement.org's Greatest Hits
Basement.org's first post happened on October 22, 2004. While on some days I do have that "s#$t, I really should blog" feeling, it's usually a blast. And some posts definitely blasted off more than others. Some posts have been served hundreds of thousands of times. Frightening.
And so, thanks to my trusty server logs, here are Basement.org's Greatest Hits:
10. Working Some New Muscles
9. Taking RSS Beyond Headlines - Part Two
8. "Uh Oh, Your Browser Is Leaking"
7. Give'em Room Folks : The Importance of Open Space In Design
6. Stealing Metadata
5. Google's Laser-Guided Missiles
4. I Don't Hate Macs, I Just Hate Mac Users
3. Reality Check 2.0
2. Taking RSS Beyond Headlines - Part One
1. Why Do We Love Rounded Corners?
Flash Is Goin' All Shiny 3D
Way back when Flash 8 got released, I was really impressed with all the new graphical effects and enhancements built into it. Since then though, we haven't seen a lot of activity come from the community (at least that I'm aware of) along these lines.
Well it looks like things are starting to heat up a bit. Here are a few nice examples. You can find many more at Flashscene.org.
You have to wonder if we're going to start to see the shine of Vista or the slick tweening of OSX on the Flash platform. Better yet, I wonder if the the Flex crew are thinking about taking a r/evolutionary step forward in terms of the standard GUI components that make up Flex - sort of the way Microsoft bumped it up from Windows XP to Vista. The capabilities - like transparency, alpha effects and such - are obviously there and client CPU power continues to get better and cheaper.