IP geolocation and dodgy practices

Check out this article on a rather dodgy use of geolocation. There are two interesting sites that have been created and localised to make you think you are getting a recommendation from a "local". Interestingly, the advertiser has picked up on the article and responded so that now if you try to go to the www.cathysteeth.com site you get redirected to a page that is a spoofed news site. All done with the intention of making you think the recommendations are real. It certainly is real in convincing you it is legit.....

A few articles

Have come across quite a few interesting articles recently. Take a look and be informed!

Interesting CSS post with good optimisation tips amongst others

Newspapers vs google

Facebook driving mobile net usage and other interesting mobile stats

Don't forget to check our the Digital Diary

Just a reminder to check out Digital Diary. Your weekly digest of digital thinking.

Jed

Micro-deliverables

Gauge the actual health your project using micro-deliverables:

http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/tech-manager/?p=818&tag=nl.e053

CSS for Mobile Devices

Fairly interested in CSS for mobile devices.

http://www.alistapart.com/articles/returnofthemobilestylesheet

Global browser stats

An interesting global view on browser stats from Net Applications. IE has dropped below 70% for the first time with Firefox solidly crossing 20% with a one point gain in a single month. Safari continues to trickle up and stands at 7%.

A good sign that we're heading for lean times...

Is a venture-funded, money-saving tips site! However, www.wesabe.com is slightly different.

To start with, Wesabe encourages you first upload statements for your bank or credit card account, prompting you for some further information to help integrate your monetary habits.

Once you're set up, the site allows you to tag all your outgoings and income, which helps you create a picture of your spending habits...for better or for worse.

For example, Wesabe will show you a merchant with whom you have spent money recently, and then allow you to tag them accordingly i.e. TFL can be tagged with transport.

In true, thrifty spirit, you can join up with fellow scrimpers, as Wesabe has the obligatory Web 2.0 community section, featuring numerous support groups of hard-up people, giving tips on frugal living.

It's definitely a great idea - not sure how they intend to make money from it though. Although, if they follow the advice on their forums, they may not have to.

Cooliris browser plugin + iPhone app

Cooliris transforms your browser into a visually stunning experience for searching, viewing, and sharing online photos and videos. Our "3D Wall" lets you effortlessly search and zoom your way around thousands of images, videos, movies, news feeds, and even online retailers. To share stuff with friends, just drag and drop.

Developers : your website can be quickly and simply enabled to Cooliris to be fully compatible with this very promising plugin.

Cooliris is also available as free application for iPhone and iPod Touch. Cooliris makes finding news and search a breeze by displaying them as an endlessly streaming 3D Wall, complementing the touch screen perfectly. Search across Google, Flickr, Yahoo and muche more faster than ever before with the flick of a finger…

Next time your ring a friend...

...why not try it through the medium of Arnold Schwarzenegger's soundboard!


http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/arnold

Check it out! You'll keep your friends entertained for hours!...

Avatars : AI : emotional response

As we’ve been discussing avatars (re coke / web 3.0) recently, I’ve come across this example, showing emotional responses in an animated avatar.

I really like the clean style of this, expect to see this type of thing quite a bit in the next year or so...

http://www.electronic-motions.com/

Soundcloud

Just trying out a new thing called soundcloud, which seems to be a very nice way of hosting mixes and music. you can even embed their player across other web pages.
www.soundcloud.com

a Quiet Evening In by inputJunkie

Restaurant with touch-sensitive tables, colorful menu projectors

A chic London restaurant and bar called Inamo is making patrons' dining experiences digital by projecting colorful menus and aesthetic patterns onto touch-sensitive tabletops. When browsing, patrons can preview the food as if it were on the plate in front of them -- only flatter. They can also order their meals, look up neighborhood services, and select one of seven visual vibes without ever interacting with carbon-based lifeforms.

More here and here

Powerpoint on the web via ajax

No flash here, just ajax.

http://280slides.com

http://www.yearbookyourself.com/

Very clever online flash app, which can lead to somewhat amusing results...
http://www.yearbookyourself.com/

Hey kids time to show off you geekiness!!

Thanks to this site you can now proudly display you coding skills on your chest http://www.myskillscloud.co.uk/. Just select the levels of platforms and code bases: Flash, PHP, HTML, .net, Mac etc. and drap them around until you are happy with your design. When you are ready you can get it made into a T-shirt in small, medium, large and extra large.

Sorry John but they don't do 'extra tight painted on white on black'. Have to get that sourced elsewhere or possibly by extra request?

Nice marketing site for a recruiter - great to see some one do something that is fun, useful and quite forward thinking.

Ms. W

Waterdrop

A rather beautiful installation which is going to be displayed at the 100% Design show, Earls Court, 18-21 September.

More info here

Watch the skies

Recent rainbow spotted over Clapham:




More shots here

Web fonts suck...but for how long?

Interesting article about the future of web fonts. Typical scenario in that the tech's already here, but lack of willpower from certain vested interests, and a lack of infrastructure mean that the promised land is still a way off.

Google & Flash

Further to John's post...
Whilst it is early days yet, this interaction between Google and Adobe could be the start of a significant shift in the way that we build websites. For the time being however, I saw this SEO article and thought that it gave a good summary of where this now leaves us. You'll need to read the article for detail but 3 key points are:

1. These changes only affect text and links. Images, videos, animation and graphic text are still not indexed.
2. Flash development practice will need to change i.e. The benefit of separate URLs for each set of content within the Flash experience is the best way to get content indexed.
   
3. SEO best practices still needs to be followed because the amount of text on a page (or in a Flash file) still contributes heavily to the relevance and value search engines attribute to a page.

I'd be interested in your views...

Indexed Flash from Google

This could have real implications on a lot of sites we work on. Everyone should have a read of it here.