We’re back after a month and half break with a massive pack of mobile news! We discuss a recent Adobe acquisition, the Kindle Fire, new advances in HTML5 that promise to make mobile development better, and how shopping on the iPad means you’re gonna buy more stuff!

Enjoy!

- Steve & Ron

News Items:

We’re joined this week by Daniel McQuillen, a Air/Flex developer here in Fort Collins who built the Air application called Simple Diagrams http://www.simplediagrams.com/, it’s a tool used by many people including UX designers, education-types, and anyone who wants to get across complex ideas with simple diagrams. We do our normal news stuff, too, but we really loved talking to Daniel about what it takes to build your own app, and the value of making yourself ship it even if everything isn’t perfect.

Enjoy!

- Steve & Ron

Episode 17 Show Notes

Enjoy!

- Steve & Ron

Episode 16 Show Notes

News Items:

• Apple’s Overloaded iPhone Button
• http://www.lukew.com/ff/entry.asp?1382
• List of more than 13 actions the home button accomplishes on the iPhone
• Here are two I didn’t even know about:
• When in Force Quit Apps mode (minus icons visible on active apps list), pressing the home button exits the mode.
• On any app, hold the power button until the “off” slider shows, let go, then hold home button until App is “killed”.
• Adaptive Path iPad app available!
• http://adaptivepath.com/ideas/announcing-the-adaptive-path-ipad-app
• Google Chrome tip when developing web apps
• http://thinkvitamin.com/code/quick-tip-preview-public-urls-in-chrome/
• Most apps have a logged-in and logged-out state, when developing, annoying switching between these states constantly.
• When logged into a web app and you need to check what a page looks like to the public (in the logged-out state), simply open a new Chrome window in Incognito mode. This will create a completely fresh browser session with no saved cookies, allowing you to see exactly what is publicly visible.
• Keyboard shortcuts:
• Mac OS X: ?-Shift-N
• Windows: Ctrl-Shift-N
• Mobile Apps Beat the Mobile Web For Android Users
• http://gigaom.com/2011/08/18/android-users-only-spend-time-on-top-apps
• http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/?p=28628

Social Media Minute – Nick Armstrong

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• For the listeners of Einstein & Sock Monkey, Audible is offering a free audiobook download with a free 14-day trial to give you a chance to check out their service.
• My audible pick this episode is:
• “The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less” by Barry Schwartz
• To download your free audiobook today go to http://www.audibletrial.com/einstein

Blog Picks

• Ron:  http://thinkvitamin.com/category/web-apps/
• John: http://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/
• Steve:   A List Apart: http://www.alistapart.com/

Contact Us

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• Nick Armstrong
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• Josh Mulligan
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Another fun episode of the web design world’s most lovable podcast! We return for our crystal anniversary episode (look it up, nerds) to talk about UX research on the iPad, some important mobile news, the Iconathon, more thoughts in the “native app” vs “web app” for the mobile world, and Ron gives us some really cool insight into the mind of the iPhone addicted person by sharing his story of loss (funnier than it sounds, I promise!!).

- Steve & Ron

Episode 15 Show Notes

News

• Nokia to Discontinue Symbian
• http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/report_nokia_to_discontinue_symbian_smartphones_in.php#more
• Symbian will no longer be sold in North America.
• This comes on the heels of the news that the MeeGo-based Nokia N9, considered to be its most powerful and user-friendly phone to date, will not be available in the US
• Chris Weber, the president of Nokia’s U.S. subsidiary is a former Microsoft Executive
• CEO Stephen Elop was a former Microsoft executive
• The idea is to start in the U.S. and then make devices available worldwide. The theory is that any type of critical mass in the North American market can carry overseas, much the same way that it has for Apple and Android.
• Massive marketing campaign planned for WinPhone7, the biggest one every in Nokia’s history
• Iconathons are underway!
• (from http://globalmoxie.com/blog/iconathon.shtml ) “The Iconathon is a collaboration between the icon geniuses of The Noun Project (http://thenounproject.com/ )and the civic-minded geeks at Code for America (http://codeforamerica.org/ ) . The gist: gather a slew of designers together in cities around the nation for a full day of brainstorming and designing the icons needed in civic signage. The result will be a set of public-domain symbols that can be used by public and private organizations to communicate visual concepts to urban denizens.”
• http://iconathon.org/
• @Iconathon on Twitter
• HTML5 Can Get the Job, But Can HTML5 Do the Job?
• http://www.readwriteweb.com/mobile/2011/08/html5-can-get-the-job-but-can.php#more
• HTML5 is changing the way that developers create applications for the mobile Web. Yet, it is not the be all, end all of mobile development. If it was, then the whole discussion of “do I create a native app or a Web app for my service?” would be finished – the Web app would win the day. The developers at pinch/zoom, a company that creates mobile apps for some of the biggest brands on the planet, have been studying how to implement HTML5, and they ask an interesting question: “HTML5 can get the job, but can it do the job?”
• The short answer is yes. But it is not as easy as many developers would like. Brian Fling, pinch/zoom developer and author of a best selling book on mobile app development, attempts to answer that question. In a post on pinch/zoom’s blog Swipe, Fling discusses the “Anatomy of a HTML5 Mobile App” and what developers will need to get started, what the pitfalls are and why HTML5 is so difficult.
• Javascript skills are part of the critical path
• So, HTML5 can get the job. But can it do the job? Fling says yes, but with these caveats:
1. Allow for time. Assume it will take far longer than any other project you’ve previously done.
2. Budget appropiately. This is not a website, and it will cost you a lot more.
3. Make sure you have the right talent in-house. If these problems are hard for the most seasoned experts in the world that do it every day, assume they will be hard for your team, too.
4. The “tools” are non-existent. More often than not, you will have to build your own tools.
5. Consider all your options. A dogmatic approach to technology is a surefire way to spend money unnecessarily. There are no right or wrong answers in mobile. Keep an open mind and focus on what your customers need.
• http://pinchzoom.com/posts/anatomy-of-a-html5-mobile-app/
• 15% of all mobile apps launch when they the device is offline. So it is also likely you are going to have deal with the offline data experience as well.
• Five Lessons From a Year of Tablet UX Research
• http://uxmag.com/technology/five-lessons-from-a-year-of-tablet-ux-research
• Trends:
• Trading (Home) Computer Time for iPad Time
• 70% of tablet owners use their device while watching TV, and 57% use their device while in bed.
• Most individuals prefer to use a desktop or laptop computer in these circumstances:
• tasks that require significant amounts of text entry
• anything that requires multi-tasking, e.g. browsing with multiple tabs
• work that requires specialized programs or detailed manipulation, e.g., Excel or Photoshop
• activities where security is a major concern
• tasks that require information that is stored only on the computer
• The Tablet Is a Shared Device and Raises Security Concerns
• Apps that keep you logged in, lack of ability to have different user accounts, etc.
• Tablet Users Need an Experience-Based Incentive to Access Apps Over the Web
• …users want a “streamlined” experience from iPad apps, which means a sleek, intuitive interface and improved loading speed compared to the Web
• 5 Things to keep in mind:
1. The iPad is viewed as more of a small computer than a big iPhone, so apps should be designed to provide a fast, intuitive, and full-featured experience that is fun to use, and that beats the Web.
2. People use their iPads as extra-portable laptops, but don’t necessarily bring them with them everywhere. This means that in the iPad’s current state, location-specific experiences are secondary to core functionality. However, look for this to change as the proliferation rate of mobile broadband increases in the coming years.
3. When browsing the Web, users expect to access the full version of websites, so ensure that your site is optimized to deliver a great experience on the iPad in addition to on traditional computer platforms. For example, input fields should include the appropriate HTML5 tags to streamline information entry on the iPad by serving up the appropriate iPad keypad.
4. The fact that the iPad serves as a shared device (without iOS support for multiple users) presents unique challenges, so be sure to consider how features and use cases (e.g., one-click purchases) may be affected by multiple users sharing a single device.
5. Security is a major concern for iPad users as many are still unfamiliar with the platform. Plan accordingly and be aware that users may be less likely to log in or enter their personal information when using a tablet device.
• http://mashable.com/2011/08/09/mobile-workers-infographic/

Social Media Minute – Nick Armstrong

Podcast Sponsor

• For the listeners of Einstein & Sock Monkey, Audible is offering a free audiobook download with a free 14-day trial to give you a chance to check out their service.
• My audible pick this episode is:
• Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain by John J. Ratey
• To download your free audiobook today go to http://www.audibletrial.com/einstein

Blog Picks

• http://www.uxmatters.com/
• http://chartporn.org/

Book Club

• “Resonate” by Nancy Duarte
• On amazon: http://amzn.to/k3Z9xP $17.50

Contact Us

• Please subscribe in iTunes and give us a rating!
• einsteinandsockmonkey.com
  • @einsteinmonkey
• Ron Zasadzinski
  • @ron_z
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• Steve Martin
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• Nick Armstrong
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• Josh Mulligan
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We brought back Nick Armstrong (@IMNickArmstrong) for another awesome episode! Nick’s our resident social media expert, so we asked him to come give everyone the low-down on Google’s new social network: Google Plus! Nick had a lot of great information and even told us about features we didn’t know about. We also talked about Apple’s strange decision to switch the scrolling direction, some amazing mobile content stats, how to get people to take your design advice, and the trickiness of the HTML5 audio tag. Don’t miss this one!

- Steve & Ron

Episode 14 Show Notes

John Wolters (@jochenwolters) is back for round 2 – or 4 (whichever) either way, he’s awesome!  We decided to shorten the podcast just a bit and skip the “feature” section, only to wind up with the longest podcast to date!! But never fear, dear listener, it’s 1hr 27min of pure AWESOME! We go through the sordid details of our WordPress site getting hacked, briefly turn the show into “Mobile News Weekly” as we discuss the HP TouchPad, talk about some mobile stats Ron came across (mind blowing stuff), and more great news in the web & UX design world. Enjoy!

- Steve & Ron (& John)

Episode 13 Show Notes

John Wolters (@jochenwolters) once again flies all the way from Germany JUST to grace us with his presence. Do we have good friends or WHAT? While he was here, he had great stuff to say about usability, iPhone web app prototyping, a new web image format (say it with me “weppppy”) and even got to critique some websites live before a non-studio audience (which we, naturally, discussed). Oh, and there was some web news thrown in there someplace. Give it a listen – and come back next time for another episode of Einstein, John & Sock Monkey!

- Steve & Ron (& John)

Episode 12 Show Notes

News Items

Special guest Sarah Jane Griesemer (@savvysarahjane) joins us to chat about her love of kale (as in, the vegetable) and has a ton of great stuff to say about building communities, dealing with negative comments on your blog, and kale! We also discuss the news of the recently announced Google Wallet, YouTube turning 6, and ways to make your iPad app and web experience better. We had a lot of fun recording this episode, so let us know if you had fun listening!

- Steve & Ron

Episode 11 Show Notes

Contact Us

• Please subscribe in iTunes and give us a rating!
• einsteinandsockmonkey.com
  • @einsteinmonkey
• Ron Zasadzinski
  • @ron_z
  • www.codegeek.net
• Steve Martin
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  • www.clevercubed.com
• Sarah Jane Griesemer
  • @savvysarahjane
• Nick Armstrong
  • @imnickarmstrong
  • www.iamnickarmstrong.com
• Josh Mulligan
  • @JoshuaMulligan

Not only did we get to sit down for a 30 minute interview with the ineffable Cennydd Bowles (UX Designer Extraordinaire) but we have some great discussion on the “cloud” (is it the same as the internet, or not?), some interesting mobile news, what the Google I/O conference means for you, and the return of the Social Media Minute with Nick Armstrong!

- Steve & Ron

Episode 10 Show Notes

News items:

• WordPress 3.2 Beta 1 available for download
  • http://wordpress.org/news/2011/05/wordpress-3-2-beta-1/
  • Performance improvements
  • The visual editor’s full-screen composing experience has gotten a major overhaul, and is now available from HTML mode, too
  • Admin UI facelift
  • New default theme: Twenty Eleven: Rotating header images, post format support,
  • If you visit your Dashboard using an outdated web browser, we’ll let you know there’s a newer version available.
  • WordPress has new minimum system requirements: PHP 5.2.4 and MySQL 5.0.
  • Internet Explorer 6 will no longer be supported.
  • Anticipated to be officially released near the end of June
• Improving Usability with Fitts’ Law
  • If you’re a UX Designer who finds that, because “designer” is in your job title, some people mistakenly think that what you do is purely subjective and ethereal. Not real work, in other words, you need to point them to this article.
  • http://sixrevisions.com/usabilityaccessibility/improving-usability-with-fitts-law/
  • There’s a lot of science and reasoning that goes into a good user experience on the web or elsewhere.
  • Fitts’ law is centered around a mathematical equation that is used to illustrate the time it takes to reach a target object. A target object, in the context of UIs, can be any interactive element, such as a submit button, a hyperlink, and an input field in a web form. The idea is this: The quicker you can reach a target object, the more convenient and easy it is to use.
• Ericsson 2011 study on the use of mobile, with a particular focus on apps
  • http://www.ericsson.com/res/docs/2011/silicon_valley_brochure_letter.pdf
  • 35 percent of US Android/iPhone users interact with non-voice applications on their smartphones before getting out of bed. The most common activity here is checking Facebook – 18 percent of social networking users log in while their heads are still on the pillow.
  • [Apps] are perceived as easy to use because they require little or no navigation through file structures, they require no inputting of addresses,  no searching or clicking on links. In other words, apps give users direct access to the content or online service of their choice.
  • App use bridges the experience across devices. If you have an app on your iPhone and iPad, many associate the activity with the app rather than the device. They conclude that “while people are currently on a smartphone honeymoon, the smartphone itself may turn out to be easier to replace than the actual apps. When new devices come along and capture the interest of consumers, they may indeed find themselves with shiny new things in their hands, but the habits that have developed around apps could prove harder to change.
• Google IO Developers’ conference announcements
  • Android-centric:
    • New version of Android: Ice Cream Sandwich
      • previous versions: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_version_history
      • supposed to combine the phone and tablet versions
      • (link to logo: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/10/google-ice-cream-sandwich-logo_n_860007.html)
    • Movie Rentals
      • for Android phones & tablets
      • same prices and terms as the iTunes rentals
    • In-App Payments for Android store
      • they’re only taking 5% of the transaction, not 30% like Apple
      • can be implemented with only one line of code
  • Web/Chrome centric
    • There are 160 Million users of the Chrome browser
      • up from 70 million last year
    • Google Music Beta
      • cloud-based music storage
      • streams to any computer or android (or kind-of the iPhone)
      • The current beta allows for 20,000 songs to be uploaded for free.
      • Still can’t buy music – you have to upload it all yourself
      • by invite only (you can request an invite at music.google.com )
    • Chromebooks are going live
      • running the Chrome OS
      • everything on the cloud – hardly any local storage
      • for enterprise and education – a monthly payment model
    • Angry Birds available in the browser
      • through the Chrome app store
      • pretty awesome gameplay – and it’s in a BROWSER!!
  • To top it off, everyone at Google IO got – for FREE!
    • Samsung Galaxy Tab
    • Verizon EVO 4G hotspot
    • Google Chromebook (shipping next month)
    • This is BRILLIANT marketing!!

Feature:

• Interview with Cennydd Bowles
  • author of our current book club book, “Undercover UX Design”
• You can find Cennydd at www.cennydd.co.uk
• Twitter: @cennydd

Book Club:

• “Resonate” by Nancy Duarte
• On amazon: http://amzn.to/k3Z9xP $17.50
• Podcast sponsor!
  • For the listeners of Einstein & Sock Monkey, Audible is offering a free audiobook download with a free 14-day trial to give you a chance to check out their service.
  • My audible pick this episode is: iWoz, by Steve Wozniak & Gina Smith
  • To download your free audiobook today go to http://www.audibletrial.com/einstein
  • Again, that’s http://www.audibletrial.com/einstein for your free audiobook!

Social Media Minute is back!!

Blog Picks

• Steve: http://www.chromeexperiments.com/
• Ron: http://wordpress.org/news/

Contact Us

• Please subscribe in iTunes and give us a rating!
• einsteinandsockmonkey.com
  • @einsteinmonkey
• Ron Zasadzinski
  • @ron_z
  • www.codegeek.net
• Steve Martin
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  • www.clevercubed.com
• Nick Armstrong
  • @imnickarmstrong
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• Josh Mulligan
  • @JoshuaMulligan

Getting good fonts on your website is easy for just about anyone – FINALLY! Ron gives a great explanation of the different ways to approach having more than “web safe fonts” on your site, and gives a review of a few of the more popular font services. Also news about Google Apps for Business, the Apple location tracking fiasco, and a great discount on Rosenfeld Media books. All with massively upgraded sound!!

- Steve & Ron

Episode 9 Show Notes

News items:

In this episode we wonder about IE10, what’s really the top mobile OS, and have an interview with Kevin Hoffman (@kevinmhoffman), one of the Experience Directors for Happy Cog. He gives us some insights into one of the country’s best known web design firms, talks about working at the right level, and explains how to make meetings NOT suck.

Enjoy!!

- Steve & Ron

Episode 8 Show Notes

News items:

Contact Us

• Please subscribe in iTunes and give us a rating!
• einsteinandsockmonkey.com
  • @einsteinmonkey
• Ron Zasadzinski
  • @ron_z
  • www.codegeek.net
• Steve Martin
  • @clevercubed
  • www.clevercubed.com
• Nick Armstrong
  • @imnickarmstrong
  • www.iamnickarmstrong.com
• Josh Mulligan
  • @JoshuaMulligan

We’re BACK!!

After a brief hiatus, we’re back with a great mobile-centric episode of the podcast. Featuring a great interview with Josh Clark (@globalmoxie), author of “Tapworthy: Designing Great iPhone Apps” that Steve recorded at the IA Summit in Denver. We also have news about Google dropping QR codes, the uselessness of CAPTCHAs, and more!

Enjoy!!

- Steve & Ron

Episode 7 Show Notes

News:

Enjoy!!

- Steve & Ron

Episode 6 Show Notes

Special Guest: Nick Armstrong

News:

• sixrevisions Blog Cartoon
  • Web Designers vs. Web Developers
• iPhone 4
  • If you have the Video app running, with the headset plugged in, click the “Play/Pause” button on the headset will Start the video
• Facebook Messages
  • Incorporates email, Facebook messages, SMS, chat clients, Skype into one platform
  • Able to filter conversations based upon specific groups (family, friends, etc.)
• CSS3 for Web Designers
  • By Dan Cederholm
  • Second book in ABookApart
  • Available now!
• Interaction 11
  • Put on by IXDA
  • In Boulder in 2011
  • Sold Out!
• IA Summit in 2011 in Denver – Mar30 – Apr 3
• Future of Web Apps Conference
  • Las Vegas
  • Feb 7 – 9 2011
• TedX in Fort Collins
  • Nonesuch Theater in Fort Collins
• Global Ignite Week
  • February, 2011
• damnyouautocorrect.com (NSFW)

Feature

• Interview with Nick Armstrong
  • Started with he graduated from CSU (CIS and Marketing Degrees)
  • Worked at HP for a while
    • Supposed to be programming, ended up doing HR
  • Random programming jobs afterward
    • Learned a lot about privacy while working for a GIS company
  • Started a blog: psychoticresumes.com
    • Got a decent following
  • Business Communication
    • The best brands tell a story around themselves
    • If you bring the right story to a business, then those businesses do very well
      • How to use Facebook, Twitter, etc. appropriately
      • We need to be on Facebook! Ok, why?
    • You can do some pretty amazing things, even with a small company, if you just communicate about it.
    • Failure isn’t a horrible thing, it’s a natural part of the development process.
    • Going from failure averse to failure tolerant is HUGE.
      • You have to be ok with launching a beta, to let people test it and give feedback
  • Founding a business called Creative Renegade
    • Reminds businesses how to be creative by improving their communications
    • Primarily looking for Fort Collins businesses that need help connecting with Gen-Y members
    • Gen Y is traditionally difficult for Gen-X to communicate with
    • Gen Z is even moreso
  • @imnickarmstrong
  • www.iamnickarmstrong.com

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• Book Pick
  • More Information Than You Require
  • John Hodgman (the PC guy from the Mac commercials)
  • Bonus material in the audo book that’s not in the real book

Book Club

• Undercover User Experience Design by Cennudd Bowles and James Box
  • Lots of examples, as well as information on processes and methods
  • Geared towards people who are new to the UX field, as well as people who’ve done it for a while who need to get more acceptance for the process.
  • undercoverux.com

Blog of the Week

• 24ways.org
  • The Advent Calendar for Web Geeks
  • One article about web design and development a day
• Mighty Wallet
• 90percentofeverything.com
  • Author created darkpatterns.org
  • @harrybr

Contact Us

• Please subscribe in iTunes and give us a rating!
• einsteinandsockmonkey.com
  • @einsteinmonkey
• Ron Zasadzinski
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  • www.codegeek.net
• Steve Martin
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  • www.clevercubed.com
• Nick Armstrong
  • @imnickarmstrong
  • www.iamnickarmstrong.com
• Josh Mulligan
  • @JoshuaMulligan

On this episode we learn about World Usability Day, why the new Blackberry OS matters to you, and Ron drones on and on (his words!) about Responsive Web Design. Nick Armstrong also gives us a great overview of Feedburner in his Social Media Minute, and Ron picks a surprising book for our Audible recommendation (hint: it’s not about sock monkeys). Oh – and we pick user experience book for our next Book Club book!

Enjoy!!

- Steve & Ron

Episode 5 Show Notes

News:

• World Usability Day 2010
  • November 11th
  • worldusabilityday.org
  • Events Worldwide
  • To let people know that usability (not just web usability) is important
  • This Year’s Theme: Communication
  • Organized by the Usability Professionals’ Association
    • www.upassoc.org
• Blackberry 6 OS Available
  • Available on the Blackberry Style and Torch
  • Used to use a proprietary browser, but as of OS 6, they use Webkit
• Take A List Apart’s Web Design Survey for the year
  • alistapart.com/articles/survey2010
  • The survey always produces interesting statistics about the web design world

Feature: Responsive Web Design

• A flexible grid, with flexible images that incorporates media queries to create a responsive, adaptive layout. – Ethan Marcotte
• All about the rise of mobile, and the convergence of browsers used for both mobile and desktop OS.
• Should a layout be created as a fixed width layout, or a fluid layout?
• Can you create a layout that works well on both desktop and mobile platforms at the same time?
• Responsive web design is not THE solution for mobile web, it is merely one set of tools that can be very helpful.
• Before IE5, designing for the web was a mess, especially with Netscape.
  • It was a lot of work to get a website to work on all of the proprietary browsers.
• We’ve finally graduated from 800×600 screen resolution to 1024×768.
• About 4 years ago, web standards finally started to take hold across all browsers.
  • However, the mobile area was too fragmented to even think about developing in.
• Nowadays, we have significant convergence in support for web standards in the desktop browsers.
• Mobile browsers are even more convergent.
  • With BlackBerry OS6, all of the major browsers (Android, iOS, and BlackBerry) all use Webkit.
• Some mobile statistics:
  • Mobile Internet adoption has outpaced Desktop Internet Adoption by 8 times.
  • AT&T has seen 4,932% increase in mobile data traffic in the last 3 years.
  • Smartphone sales are suspected to surpass worldwide PC sales by the end of 2011.
  • Forecasters are predicting that around 2014, there will be more mobile devices connected to the internet than all pcs and laptops in the world.
• Idea is to create websites that have the potential to adapt to the device.
• One of the leading proponents is Ethan Marcotte, who wrote a great article for A List Apart.
• Key Components of Responsive Web Design: A Flexible Grid
  • Grid-based layout: a layout (perhaps 3-column) that clearly lines all of the elements up
    • Not required, but it’s definitely recommended
  • Flexible: define the widths of elements in percentages, rather than ems or pixels.
    • Figure out what platform most users are using the design on, and create your design for that platform.
    • Then scale up or down from your initial design.
    • To make flexible images, define a max-width of 100%.
      • This way, no image is ever larger than the container holding it.
      • As the container shrinks, the image will shrink as well.
    • Don’t define the width and height of the image in the HTML, only in the styles.
    • Usable for video and object tags as well.
  • CSS3 Media Queries
    • Applies conditional styling in your stylesheet.
    • Can target different paramaters, such as the viewport size and the device size.
    • Allows you to change the CSS being applied based on the paramaters.
  • “It’s what some of us were trying to do with liquid designs back in the 1990′s, only it doesn’t suck.” -Jeffery Zeldman
  • Media Queries
    • Based off of Media Types (all, screen, print, etc…)
    • Media Queries extend that functionality. Now you can specify conditions for the CSS to be applied.
    • Can also use Media Queries within a stylesheet, instead of linking to different stylesheets based on conditions.
    • Can have as many different conditions as you want.
  • List of Media Query Conditions:
    • Viewport Width
    • Viewport Height
    • Device Width
    • Device Height
    • Device Resolition
    • Orientation (Landscape vs. Portrait)
    • Aspect Ratio
    • Device Aspect Ratio
    • Color Depth
    • View More Here
  • Then you have to consider how to layout your site for different screen sizes, then you’ll use Media Queries to implement the layouts.
  • For example, on a three-column layout:
    • As the viewport shrinks, the columns will narrow, but at a certain point, they might get too narrow.
    • Then make the Media Queries shift it to a two-column layout.
    • You could even go down to a one-colmn layout on a mobile device.
  • Check out an example here: www.codegeek.net/amscan-rwd/
  • The idea is to have only 1 HTML file, and then several CSS files.
  • It presents a unique challenge to designers, who may need to create layouts for each screen size.
  • Is this the future of web design?
    • Probably a big part because of the power it offers for different platforms.
    • It may not be the end-all be-all of the future. Users tend to use sites on mobile for very different reasons than on a desktop machine.
      • For example, Google Maps on Mobile vs. Desktop.
    • It all comes down to doing proper user testing for your website.
  • Responsive Browser Support
    • CSS3 Media Queries are supported in:
      • Opera 9.5+ (Currently at 10)
      • Firefox 3.5+ (Currently at 3.6)
      • Safari 3+ (Currently at 5)
      • Google Chrome
      • Mobile Webkit
      • Opera Mobile
      • IE9
    • For the IE5 – IE8, Firefox 2+ and Safari 2+ browsers, there’s a JavaScript workaround that enables Media Queries. You can find it here.
    • There’s no reason NOT to consider this as a tool to use.
  • Criticism:
    • May need to rethink complex navigation.
    • Sites aren’t necessarily optimized for mobile bandwidth, even if the layout is.

  Social Media Minute

  • Nick Armstrong
    • FeedBurner
      • RSS Manager
        • RSS = Really Simple Syndication
      • All you need is a Google Account.
      • You can manage and track your RSS subscription stats
      • You can simplify podcast distribution
      • You can create newsletter, or product launch lists

  Podcast Sponsor

  • Audible.com
    • Over 75,000 titles for audiobooks, as well as magazine and newsletter subscriptions
    • If you’re interested in trying it out, click here: audiblepodcast.com/einstein for a free book!
  • Book Pick
    • Einstein by Walter Issacson
    • Great biography of Einstein’s life
    • Based on letters recently released to the author

  Book Club

  • Undercover User Experience Design by Cennudd Bowles and James Box
    • Lots of examples, as well as information on processes and methods
    • Geared towards people who are new to the UX field, as well as people who’ve done it for a while who need to get more acceptance for the process.
  • undercoverux.com

  Blog Picks of the Week

  • baratunde.com
    • Exists at the intersection of comedy, politics and technology.
    • Web editor of The Onion
    • Host of the Science Channel’s show “The Future Of”
  • wireframes.tumblr.com
    • Screenshots of wireframes (for example, of a grid-based layout)
    • Great templates and toolkit downloads.

  Contact Us

  • Over 12,000 downloads!
  • einsteinandsockmonkey.com
  • @einsteinmonkey
  • Ron Zasadzinski
    • @ron_z
    • www.codegeek.net
  • Steve Martin
    • @clevercubed
    • www.clevercubed.com
  • Nick Armstrong
    • @imnickarmstrong
    • www.iamnickarmstrong.com
  • Josh Mulligan
    • @JoshuaMulligan

Enjoy the podcast, and be sure subscribe and give us feedback in the iTunes store!

- Steve & Ron

Episode 4 Show Notes

Special Guests:

• Jeremy Keith – Author – HTML5 for Designers
• Jochen Wolters – Usability Engineer and Technical Communicator
• Lindsay Ogden – Web Developer – Specialty in Drupal Development

News:

• MailChimp got an upgrade
  • Now allows up to 1000 users in the free account (previously 500)
  • Also allows up to 6000 emails a month in the free account (previously 3000)
  • MailChimp allows you to specify editable tags within an HTML email
  • Allows you to view open, unsubscribe, etc. stats
• New Book: Undercover User Experience Design
  • Created by James Box and Cennydd Bowles from ClearLeft
• Video about Homemade Spacecraft
  • Being launched attached to a weather balloon
  • Sent up an iPhone4 (which survived reentry)
• Neilsen released stats on mobile device market share
  • BlackBerry – 31% (and falling)
  • iPhone – 28%
  • Android – 19% (and growing)
  • Android has 32% of sales, 25% for iPhone and BlackBerry
• Google Goggles was released for the iPhone
  • Get the Google App (from the iTunes store)
  • Tap on the camera button
  • Take a picture of whatever you want to search on
  • Google searches for whatever is in the picture, and returns information on it
  • Obviously, Google tracks your pictures (but you can opt out of the tracking)
• Blog Post: My First Week with the iPhone
  • Great example of how accessibility can change someone’s life
  • Written by someone who was blind, using the iPhone
• The Glif
  • Tripod adapter for an iPhone4
  • Also serves as a kick stand

Feature:

• Book Club – “HTML5 for Designers” by Jeremy Keith
  • Discussion with Jeremy Keith via Skype
  • Special guest Lindsay Ogden – local listener
    • Five Rings Web Design
    • Drupal Developer
  • Jeremy Keith
    • Author
      • Dom Scripting
      • Bulletproof AJAX
  • Publishing with a small company versus a large publishing house was much nicer
    • Collaboration for the book took place via BaseCamp
  • The whole book was written in about 2 months
  • There were several edits up until the last minute, because the standard is constantly changing
  • Not everything in the spec is touched on, because of the ever changing nature of the HTML5 spec
  • It’s almost certain that Google is starting to track HTML5
    • But it’s not clear how much it will affect the ratings
  • Canvas is a likely competitor to Flash, at least for things like games
  • HTML5 allows you to provide both Flash video, and HTML5 video
  • Drupal 8 will support HTML5 by default
  • IE9 beta is out
    • Supposedly has great HTML5 support
    • Has great CSS3 support
  • Start using HTML5 now
    • Start with the semantic tags first
    • If you’re hesitant to fully switch to HTML5, you can get a grasp of the semantic markup by using the tag names as classes on divs
  • It looks pretty and it’s short – pick it up!
    • Available at books.alistapart.com
    • Also available on the iTunes store as a digital iBook

Podcast Sponsor:

• Audible.com
  • The place to get audiobooks and spoken word entertainment
• audiblepodcast.com/einstein
  • Get a free book for signing up!
• Book Pick
  • Nonfiction: Nudge – Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness
  • Fiction: Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter

Social Media Minute:

• Nick Armstrong
• Twitter and Facebook updated their privacy settings
• On Twitter, programs can no longer ask you for your username and password, and store them indefinitely as a means to access your account
  • Instead, they have to have an API key
  • This new system has 4 keys that have to be enabled before account access is allowed
  • Go to Settings -> Connections to see what programs have access to your Twitter account
• Facebook has a similar setting
  • Found under Account -> Privacy -> Applications
  • See which third-party applications and sites have access to your profile

Blog Picks of the Week:

• uxmyths.com
  • State a common UX or UI myth, state why they think it’s wrong
• lanyrd.com
  • Conference directory
  • @lanyrd
• micasaessucasa.tumblr.com
  • Pictures of homes (inside and out)
  • Great design inspiration
  • Use of space, color, textures, shapes, etc…

Contact Us

• einsteinandsockmonkey.com
• @einsteinmonkey
• We’re now on iTunes!
  • Download us on iTunes
  • Rate or make a comment
• Ron Zasadzinski
  • @ron_z
  • www.codegeek.net
• Steve Martin
  • @clevercubed
  • www.clevercubed.com
• Jochen Wolters
  • @jochenwolters
  • www.uiobservatory.com
• Lindsay Ogden
  • @lindsayogden
  • www.5ringsweb.com
• Cohere Coworking
  • @coherellc
  • www.coherecommunity.com
• Nick Armstrong
  • @imnickarmstrong
  • www.iamnickarmstrong.com
• Josh Mulligan
  • @JoshuaMulligan

Episode 3 Show Notes:

News:

• Ron’s MacBook Pro crashed last week…
  • Two-day turnaround from a Genius Bar appointment
  • Two hours for a Time Machine restore, everything’s back to normal
    • With the exception of license issues, Adobe, Audible, etc…
  • Always a good idea to have an online backup service, in case a physical backup fails
    • Carbonite, Dropbox
  • Had to use an iPad as a primary computer
    • Was able to get by with a wireless Bluetooth keyboard
    • Used the Gmail webapp
      • The interface is degraded for the iPad
        • Doesn’t allow you to create filters
    • Safari web browser DOES NOT let you edit Google Docs
    • Office² HD – $15.00. Allows access to Google Docs
      • Doesn’t do live editing
      • Arrow keys on the keyboard don’t work in spreadsheets
      • Integrates with other Apps, such as emailed Google Docs links
    • LogMeIn – ~ $30.00
      • Allows remote access to desktop machines
      • Not perfect, but still a viable solution
  • Like working with one hand tied behind your back, but still manageable
  • Will be easier with iOS 4 upgrade to the iPad in November
  • Web browsing experience is similar to the iPhone
  • With iOS 4, an iPhone can connect to a Bluetooth keyboard
• http://darkpatterns.org/
  • By Harry Brignull
  • Dedicated to User Interfaces designed to trick users to do things they otherwise wouldn’t have done
  • Good examples of what NOT to do with UX design
• Gmail Priority Inbox
  • Uses Google’s internal algorithms to identify email that’s important to you
  • Prioritizes it to the top of your inbox
  • Can organize the different filters to prioritize emails differently
  • You have to help “train” Gmail to learn what’s important and what’s not, by marking specific email’s as priority or not as you read them
• UX Design “Catfight”
  • Ryan Carson – Carsonified
    • At Deconstruct conference, tweets “A UX Professional is a bullcrap job title. It’s just a way to overcharge naieve clients. All web designers should be UX pros.”
  • Andy Budd – ClearLeft
    • Replied “Why I Think Ryan Carson Doesn’t Believe in UX Professionals and Why I Do.”
    • Every web designer SHOULD be a ux pro, but it doesn’t always work that way. Especially as websites get more and mroe complex.

Interview – Jeffery Zeldman – AnEventApart Minneapolis 2010

• AnEventApart has been running since December 2005
  • Originally had 150 attendees
• Have about 5 or 6 events a year
  • All of the events each year are more or less the same, which really forces you to look at what’s going on in Web Design that year
• Mobile Web Development
  • Platform has severely matured lately
    • Largely due to the iPhone
  • Used to be more trouble than it was worth
    • Had to use new languages, and adhere to strict graphics limitations
  • Now with better mobile browsers, especially Webkit, and better resolutions, mobile development is much easier
• http://books.alistapart.com/
  • HTML5 for Web Designers by Jeremy Keith
  • In the future: CSS3, Best Practices, Responsive Web Design, Progressive Enhancement
  • Books intended to be read in “an Airplane Read”
  • Meant to be the last word on complicated topics
  • Approximately the same amount of information that you would get in a 60-minute speech
  • “A rebellion by HTML people against the W3C”

Book Club

• HTML5 for Web Designers by Jeremy Keith
• Post questions or comments on the website
• Next show, will be doing a discussion with a listener
• The book is now available for download as an ePub eBook

Social Media Minute

• Nick Armstrong
• Using Facebook and Twitter for your business
• Does this dulite your brand?
  • Yes and no.
• Hire a competent web designer to make sure that your brand is consistient across all media – website, Twitter, Facebook
• Use subdomains
  • Subdomains like twitter.yourbrandname.com or facebook.yourbrandname.com help prevent dilution

Conference Calendar

• SXSW 2011 Early Bird Registration ending on September 24
  • $450 for the interactive part of the conference
    • March 11-15
    • Austin, Texas
  • http://www.sxsw.com/
• Interaction 11
  • Boulder, Colorado
  • February 9 – 12
  • Put on by IXDA – Interaction Design Association
  • www.ixda.org/i11/
    • $650 before November 1
    • $250 student volunteer price
• Smashing Magazine
  • List of Web Design conferences in 2010
• If you have any conferences you would like us to mention, send us an email at ask@einsteinandsockmonkey.com
  • Especially if you know about any discounts

Blog of the Week

• www.quirksmode.org
  • Covers compatability of browsers, relative to CSS and JavaScript
  • Several blog posts on CSS3 Media Queries and Responsive Web Design
• www.whatmakesthemclick.net
  • Written by Susan Wineshank
    • Doctor of Psycology
    • Author of – “Neuro Web Design: What makes them click?”
    • @thebrainlady
  • Centered about why people do what they do on the web

Contact Us

• einsteinandsockmonkey.com
• @einsteinmonkey
• Ron Zasadzinski
  • @ron_z
  • codegeek.net
• Steve Martin
  • @clevercubed
  • clevercubed.com
• Nick Armstrong
  • @imnickarmstrong
  • iamnickarmstrong.com
• Josh Mulligan
  • @JoshuaMulligan

John Wolters, Special Guest

On this episode we discuss whether “The Web Is Dead” or if it just “smells funny”, we learn about Disqus.com, how to feed your inner OCD, and more!  We also had an AWESOME special guest – John (Jochen) Wolters, all the way from Aachen, Germany. He was in town for a few weeks, so we grabbed him for the podcast and his input was stellar. Thanks so much to John! Can’t wait for next time!!

Enjoy the podcast, and be sure to give us feedback.

- Steve & Ron

Episode 2 Show Notes:

[btw, special HUGE thanks to Josh Mulligan for typing up our show notes for us! He's at @JoshuaMulligan on Twitter]

Special Guest: Jochen Wolters – Usability Engineer and Technical Communicator

News:

• Facebook joined the Geo-Location Race with Facebook Places
  • Direct competitor to FourSquare and Gowalla
  • Facebook Places launched with over 1 million places already in the database
  • Can check in using the Facebook iPhone app, or facebook on a mobile browser (using HTML5!)
  • Lets you see anyone else checked into that location, regardless of whether or not you’re their friend or not
  • Lets you check in your friends for them…
  • Probably a good idea to disable that feature in your Facebook privacy settings
• www.gomockingbird.com goes LIVE!
  • Webapp for developing wireframes, including interactive wireframes
  • Finally leaving Beta as of September 1, no longer free to use
  • $9/month for 2 projects, up to $85/month for unlimited projects
  • Balsamiq is an alternative wireframing tool, makes lower-fidelity wireframes
  • Mockingbird DOES NOT work on Internet Explorer
  • Not Flash based, powered by Cappucino
  • Future of web apps (vimeo)
• Jing has launched several new features
  • Service that lets you take a screenshot or screencast of your screen
  • Works on Mac or PC
  • Integrate with Slideshare account
  • Free and Pro ($15/year) versions available
  • Now has ability to select different microphones
  • Now can connect it to a sftp site, instead of just Slideshare
• iTunesU has reached 3 million downloads
  • iTunesU is a bunch of videos or audio of University Courses
  • Several big Universities have videos on there
  • University of Aachen, Germany has a great course on Human Computer Interaction
  • Search ‘RWTH Aachen‘ on iTunes

Feature

• Wired Magazine Article “The Web Is Dead”
  • Talking about Apps on Mobile Phones v. Mobile Browsers
  • Most users probably don’t care whether or not they’re using an app or a browser
  • They probably care more about whether they can use it or now.
  • However, Apps have the advantage of being easier to launch than going into a browser and navigating to a site
  • The openness of a platform is also unlikely to matter to any non-geek
  • It DOES appear that things are moving more towards apps
  • This is likely due to the easier monetization of the apps
  • The controlled environment that apps provide, at least in Apple’s case, help increase the usability if apps
  • The things that apps have going for them right now is the ease with which they can be purchased, used, and installed
  • Is it possible to get to a point where it is possible with web apps where they are just as easy to pay and install?
  • “How We Decide”  by Jonah Lehrer is a great book that talks about how humans are wired to do what’s most convenient, specifically on cash vs. card
  • A point that the article missed is that internet speeds are far slower than what you get on a computer, so web apps aren’t as efficient
  • Since the connection isn’t as good on phones, installed software is the alternative
  • If tailored properly however, webapps can still be effective on mobile devices
  • “Apps vs. The Web” by Craig Hockenberry on www.alistapart.com
  • With HTML5, we will get the ability to do stuff offline, and then have the app sync with the cloud when there’s a connection, which is an advantage apps have right now
  • The main thing to look at is how the users access your data, and what data they access
  • The web has a major advantage as being an open publiching platform, especially privately
  • The quality of the content is the key, not always how you say it
  • A downside of apps is that they are platform specific, which makes them really hard to maintain

Book Club

• “HTML5 for Designers” by Jeremy Keith
• Discussing on the September 28th podcast
• Available at books.alistapart.com
• Leave comments about the book at the ‘Book Club’ page

Questions?

• Send any questions to ask@einsteinandsockmonkey.com
• Text emails are fine, but if you want to go the extra mile and send an audio question, we’ll play it on the show.

Social Media Minute

• Nick Armstrong, Gen-Y Social Media Guy – @ImNickArmstrong
• Disqus.com
• Comment management tool that is completely free, and has integration with almost any site
• Features email notifications for new comments
• Has support for multiple admins, and multiple sites
• Users can log in with Twitter, Facebook, Yahoo, OpenID, etc.
• Can even pull their avatar in from their other social media account
• Can link to users discuss profile, if they have one
• Can also post user comments to Twitter or Facebook
• Check out www.iamnickarmstrong.com or www.einsteinandsockmonkey.com for an example

Blog of the Week

• www.swiss-miss.com
  • Tina Eissenburg
  • Several posts per day
  • Design related, but not always web design
• thingsorganizedneatly.tumblr.com
  • Nothing but eye candy for OCD people
• www.uiobservatory.com
  • Blog posts about everyday user experiences

Contact Us

• www.einsteinandsockmonkey.com
• @einsteinmonkey
• Ron Zasadzinski
  • @ron_z
  • www.codegeek.net
• Steve Martin
  • @clevercubed
  • www.clevercubed.com
• Jochen Wolters
  • @jochenwolters
  • www.uiobservatory.com

We’re excited to announce the launch of our VERY first episode of Einstein and Sock Monkey. We’d love any comments you have – good or bad.

ENJOY!

Steve & Ron

Episode 1 Show Notes: