+ Playgrounds Blogged Up +

New blog template on the way...

2007-04-30T21:41:00.000+02:00

I'm almost ready to launch my new design for playgrounds.dk - I simply got tired of looking at the old one (this one).

Please comment on it as soon as it goes live and let me know what you think.
E-mail: info@playgrounds.dk

New BETA version of W3C Markup Validator!

2007-04-24T15:36:00.000+02:00

Try it...

Try it...

Or use the CSS Validator Web Service API and insert your own string according to the URI.

Download Joost!

2007-04-04T12:55:00.000+02:00

Version 0.9 for Windows is ready for free download, so go try it out - how ever you still need an invitation to sign-up and join the network! If you don't have an invitation, send me an e-mail to recieve a Joost invitation.

Not sure what Joost (pronouced as "juiced") is?

Check it out here

Add custom search providers to IE7

2007-04-19T21:07:00.000+02:00

Want to search specific websites (your own for instance), then add it easily through IE7. Default settings are usually Google (Default search provider) and Live Search, but you can change this in any way you like.

To automatically add new providers from a list, just follow this link

To manually type in your provider, follow these easy steps:

1. Start www.google.com and type "TEST" (ALL-CAPS)
Copy the resulting URL from the addressbar

3. Open this page and paste the URL inside the yellow area as shown above.

For instance, to add Playgrounds as a new provider use the below code and press "Install":

For instance, to add W3C as a new provider use the below code and press "Install":

And while were at it: Also check out your general E7 Settings here

CSS Support in e-mails, continued...

2007-04-19T16:59:00.000+02:00

And to continue the talk on CSS support in e-mails anno 2007 (read: MS Outlook), I paid a visit to Molly and found this interesting discussion on HTML e-mails in Outlook 20007 using the MS Word rendering-engine!

But after scanning through the endless comments on "how could Microsoft do this awful thing to us, they must hate us"-thing, I felt no smarter than before reading it! It seems that many people out there are really surprised and sad, now knowing that you can't use external stylesheets or elements such as:

- background-image
- float
- clear
- position

Furthermore I've read way too many disturbing business articles online on how to properly take advantage of Javascript and Flash in your e-mails, not to mention forms!! Let me enlighten you right away: Forget those rich media in your e-mails - it's not even worth testing or trying. :)

Here's my comment on "What Really Happened with HTML and CSS in Outlook 2007"

and instead of writing the same thing over again, go check these websites instead:

Other articles on HTML/CSS e-mails:

A List Apart:
http://www.alistapart.com/articles/cssemail/

Xavier Frenette on CSS support:
http://www.xavierfrenette.com/articles/css-support-in-webmail/

Tim Slavin, Sitepoint:
http://www.sitepoint.com/article/code-html-email-newsletters

David Greiner, CampaignMonitor:
http://www.campaignmonitor.com/blog/archives/2006/03/a_guide_to_css_1.html

Article from 2004, which basically states the same thing as today:
http://www.reachcustomersonline.com/content/2004/11/11/09.27.00/index.php

CampaignMonitor's guide to CSS in e-mail anno 2007

2007-04-19T16:38:00.000+02:00

Go read if you have any interest in e-mail marketing!

Congratulations Homer Simpson!

2007-04-19T13:31:00.000+02:00

Believe it or not, but today The Simpsons can celebrate their 20th birthday, being the most popular TV-show for more than two decades AND it's "only" a cartoon!

Meet The Simpsons

No more Joost invitations!?!

2007-04-18T20:01:00.000+02:00

Wow! Ever since my first post regarding my BETA-testing for Joost, e-mails started dropping into my inbox from all you great people out there asking me for a future invitations! And then when I officially opened up for free invitations, I was overwhelmed by the interest and all the kind e-mails. But everything comes to an end and so did my invitations (for now)!

Thanks everybody - appreciate your visit. Hope I managed to reply to all of you with some sort of answer :)

Cool table for sale!

2007-04-17T12:24:00.000+02:00

Since this is my personal blog, I'm allowed to do a little advertisement once in a while...so if you live in Denmark and are looking for a stylish table (low cost) check this article out:

Bolia table for sale

Joost™ Pros/Cons review

2007-04-16T13:24:00.000+02:00

Okay, so I'm finally ready for a little Joost™ review after spending about 30 minutes "in there". I've taken a few screenshots for your convenience, which hopefully gives you an idea of the atmosphere of Joost™. If you would like to try the Version 0.9.2 of Joost™, please e-mail me for a request and I will send you an invitation, but don't wait too long, as I'm running out of invitations!

So let's get started with a simple Pros/Cons overview.

Pros:

Recognizable Konfabulator-like widgets with drag/drop functionality which works fine

Easy-to-use interface (not too many options really)

During my 30 minute surfing, I found many interesting channels, programs, videos, music and more and they all worked super

Remember: Still a BETA product and given this fact, it performs okay

Cons:

Experienced some trouble when starting the application, as it immediately minimized to my status bar without much hope of restoring it again. However, I found that when choosing "restore" and then right clicking the tab at the bottom of the taskbar and choosing "Maximize" made it work (messy explanation for a messy maneuvre, I guess)

I was surprised by the dull and 90's style interface, buttons and general design. I had expected a little smoother and more up-to-date design without the ugly 2-3px rounded borders all over - perhaps a bit more Web 2.0 universe was expected from my side (see screenshots for your own judgement)

Often times I had problems activating the entire interface and it wasn't obvious to me how to exit the application (not stand-by or minimize)

The interface still lacks a few fundamental rules of usability in my opinion, such a clear, unquestionable navigation etc.

This application is obviously still in BETA-mode ;)

Splash screen on start-up picks a random channel for playback. To the right: "My Channels". To the left: "My Joost™"

Screenshot of "My Channels" catalogue chooser:

Interface with different customized widgets, such as an analogue clock, RSS-feeds, chatroom, notice board and more. The background is not a wallpaper, but a MOS video on pause:

BeatportPlayer for your website

2007-04-13T11:33:00.000+02:00

Hopefully, you're all already aware of the absolutely fantastic music ressource www.beatport.com - the 100% Flash-based website that offers tons of cool clubbing/electronic music.

Now you have the chance to create your own personal player based on genre, artists, label and what not. All you have to do is choose your music, choose number of tracks vivisle and generate the code for your website or blog.

Create you own player here »

Beatport's Pool Session

The beautiful Miami crowd

Music provided by BeatPort.com

Icons away!

2007-04-10T23:57:00.000+02:00

A bunch of great and free icons for your blog!
Check them out at DHTML.com/icons.php

Examples:

What good is a great flow if the final step fails?

2007-04-10T22:36:00.000+02:00

Sunday Cruise
The other day a friend and I went cruising around town and at one point we decided to park the car and go for a coffee. So we quickly found a spot near by and without trouble parked the car - even very close to the ticketing dispenser (God forbid we have to walk on a Sunday cruise!)

The automatic ticketing dispenser
Now comes the actual point of this post; the automatic ticketing dispenser. Actually I should applause the usability and step-by-step guide on the dispenser, as this caused us no trouble at all. We pushed a few buttons, inserted a few coins and waited for our ticket...and there it was, behind a tiny plastic window, which could only be pushed inwards against the ticket itself. Having slightly fat fingers (you be the judge) and not being the most patient individual in history of mankind, the dexterous maneuver of pushing the plastic door in, while trying to reach the soft paper ticket behind and pulling it out at the same time, seemed a bit more difficult than first expected. As a matter of fact the ticket - when we finally managed to force it our sideways - was all torn and broken and so was our patience with this piece of usability!

The final make-over
So with this experience in mind, I keep wondering why "they" didn't finish the nice job on this new ticketing dispenser with digital interface, step-by-step guide, easy payment methods etc. But for somehow, this often seems to be quite a hassle for many people in many places; I guess the reason is that once you have put so much effort and work in approving and optimizing your product, you simply skip the little parts and pretend they are not really that important! My only comment remains; what good is a flow if the final step fails?

PS3 vs. Nintendo Wii - you decide...

2007-04-10T16:51:00.000+02:00

A nice little tool for all you webdesigners out there

2007-04-10T15:57:00.000+02:00

Might I present a nifty little application (for free), which I use on a daily basis. It's nothing fancy, but a well-functioning color-dropper with zoom, lock etc. and it gives you the values in RGB, HEX, HSB, CMYK.

Go fetch!

An Event Apart - here I come!!!

2007-03-23T10:17:00.000+01:00

Ohh, did I mention that tomorrow noon, I'm off together with a collegue to Boston, USA for this years An Event Apart conference!

This years show features gyus like Steve Krug ("Don't Make Me Think"), Dan Cederholm, Eric Meyer, Molly Holzschlag, Jeffrey Zeldman and more...

Located at Hotel Marriott Copley Place in Boston - which by the way is the same location of the actual event - we are going to spend 5 great days, just chilling out, shopping, taken pictures, having a drink or two, watching the Harlem Globe Trotters and much more.

Updated to new version of Blogger...

2007-02-09T13:23:00.000+01:00

From the outside you can't really see it, but yesterday I was literally forced to upgrade my Blogger account to the new version. I wasn't really too exited about it, but since I couldn't post anything without upgrading, I really had no choice.

So from now on, you will find tags or labels (as the Blogger creators have kindly decided to rename it) at the bottom of each post - that is, if I'm not too lazy to leave that field blank!

Playgrounds.dk official BETA tester for Joost™!

2007-02-26T23:05:00.000+01:00

Today, I finally received my approval as an official BETA tester for Joost™ - formerly known as "The Venice Project", but I think we should now skip the "project" part and just call it the all new global P2P video-streaming platform for television!

Janus Friis, the Danish co-founder of Skype is once again behind the wheels of this sweet little ride. As mentioned it's still in the BETA process and I can't wait to check it out and see what they've created this time. And as with many so many other BETA versions out there, Joost™ involves real people as well to try it out and test and bug it and blog it, as I do now.

Because God knows, the best tests are made by those people for whom the application was intended and hence the best results emerge subsequently...let's hope so.

To give you a little heads up on this new platform, allow me to quote directly from their website frontpage: "Imagine having infinite choice, and TV that is truly interactive. TV anywhere, anytime...".

Okay, so maybe a bit corny and commercialized, so here's another one from Janus Friis himself: "What we have done is created a streaming P2P platform for television. This is a platform, which is good for content owners, for advertisers and of course the viewers...you download and you get free television...It is near television quality, and it needs about one megabit per second...We are building an ad-based system, and it is close to the television model. We will do revenue share with the content providers". Sounds interesting, don't you think?

IT-geek Janus Friis and his partner in crime Niklas Zennström was ranked no. 36 in June of 2006 over at "CNN's 50 People Who Matter". The no.1 who mattered at that time and probably even more today was and is: You, the user. So if you have any interest in this matter, get over there and apply for yourself.

Apply as a BETA tester now

Flashearth - if you like Google Earth!

2007-02-05T12:42:00.000+01:00

Tag of the Week: Renetto

2007-03-07T22:11:00.000+01:00

Meet Paul Robinett aka Renetto - the digital revolution celebrity of YouTube, as the FOX News host put it! He's a stand-up comedian, a photographer, an artist and most of all an online celebrity with millions of viewers and subscribers - each week! He takes on any subject and opens the door to communication and dialogue through written words, but just as much video-comments, which have evolved into a "second life"-type cyberspace world, where millions of people suddenly use YouTube to express themselves on these subjects. As with most things on the web (and in the real world) these days, this phenomenon is only possible with the contribution and commitment of the real users out there...

Recently he started a responded to the "Why aren't there more Black People on YouTube?" VLOG, which soon created a hysteria and massive dialogue through YouTube. The subject might not be new to anyone, but that's not really the point anymore I'm tempted to say. The reason I'm posting this in the first place, is that I find it very interesting and extremely fascinating to be part of and to experience the common mental change of mind around the globe. YouTube is - by now - far more than just a place to post personal stupid or funny videos - it has become a serious space of communication. A communication which is not entirely anonymous anymore...

Renetto on YouTube
Renetto's Official Website

Follow the cheese (and increase loyalty...?)

2007-02-13T09:37:00.000+01:00

"Male, 100 years old - United Kingdom"

This is the self-proclaimed profile description of West Country Farmhouse Cheesemarkers on their MySpace website...

Apparently, blogging and corporate blogging has really prooved itself as one of the top web-trends (not to be confused with Webtrends) of 2007! By opening the virtual doors to your company, the general believe is, that you slowly start to increase knowledge and loyalty. You show your guests, that you are in fact real people.

However...when West Country Farmhouse CheeseMakers decided to "open up the virtual doors" to an ol', ugly Cheddar cheese, the trend took a scary turn! West Country obviously thought, that bringing a live web tv-show of a cheese in the process of maturing would increase and connect cheeselovers around the globe, they thought wrong. Personally I love cheese, but this is just too ridiculous, if you ask me! :)

But you have to give it to the folks at West Country Farmhouse Cheesemakers (love that name); they also opened an online cheese-shop, so now you can buy your bloody cheese online! Who would have thought...

And everyone knows, you can't have an online cheese-show, an online cheese-shop and then not offer your trustworthy clients a "cheesy" screensaver for you computer! Have I tried it? No way...

4-track recorder for your iPod - by Belkin!

2007-01-25T14:53:00.000+01:00

This sweet little toy (coming this summer of 2007) allows you to create on-the-spot recordings directly to your 5th generation iPod in 16-bit, 44kHz quality, which I guess is fair enough. It also comes with USB-connection to your PC or Mac and you can plug in up to four different instruments and start rocking! :)

Read the official news release from Belkin here

New Blog template in progress...

2006-12-05T19:56:00.000+01:00

Recently, I’ve been working on a new design template for my blog here. You get an idea and instantly start working towards that vision and line of design, but as you go along, things seems to gradually change direction and you find yourself wondering, if the current blog design is actually better!?

That’s how the last few weeks have been inside my head, when I finally have the time to sit down and work a little on my new blog template. And I’m still not convinced, that this new one is actually better than the one I use today - from a designers point of view. As to the functionalities, I made some nice adjustments, cleaned up my code a bit and added some new scripts.

Testing the Blogger Word Plug-In

2007-01-31T22:58:00.000+01:00

This is only a test for the Blogger Word plug-in, created in Microsoft Word, using my specific account settings.

:)

Evident usability or common ignorance?

2007-03-31T19:13:00.000+02:00

Recently a colleague and I took a trip to Boston, USA for the 2-day “An Event Apart”-conference. On the plane was the in-flight entertainment monitors on each seat, displaying movies, music, games and more for you to browse, using the attached remote control located in the arm rest. Being used to technological devices and gadgets just like remote controls, iPods, computers, digital cameras, Wii, mobile phones etc. it took me only a few minutes to figure out how to operate this customized remote control (an ol' fashioned one too). I quickly located the primary buttons and defined their functions easily, so I was able to use the device to its fullest. Without thought I expected the arrows on the remote control to operate as left/right/up/down respectively and with my "Select/OK/Confirm"-button in the middle, I was ready to be calmly entertained with the remote firmly planted in my lap.

On the plane right next to me, was a guy of Muslim descent (I think), with a big, black beard, a small hat of some sort on his head, some strings or something hanging from his pocket and a tiny book written in words I've never seen before (ﻖﻘ ﻚﻏﺚﯿ). I couldn’t help noticing the difficulties he encountered, when he decided to give the in-flight entertainment a try. Now don't get me wrong - this could've been any other individual of any race, colour or gender, but the reason I even mention his descent is because he seemed very unaccustomed to all this common technology and so I just figured, that he might not be use to these things on a daily basis, from wherever he came from. I hope that I have now made it perfectly clear, that there's no racism in this writing - only my own prejudice and biased perception and the fact, that I'd like to approach this issue from the believe, that cultural and geographical elements matters when talking usability!

On the actual monitor was only two physical buttons for screen contrast/brightness – all other functionalities were managed by the remote, well hidden in the arm rest on your left. Here’s the progress of his reluctant actions as I observed them:

Step 1: Exploring the surroundings?
To begin with he started pushing the two available buttons on the monitor only to find that these did nothing but control the contrast/brightness, which was already fine

Step 2: Flipping the monitor
Now as some of you might know, these monitors don't have a wide spectrum or viewing angle when you sit in front of them. So you might have to adjust it up/downwards in order to sharpen the image compared to your sitting position. You do this by flipping the actual monitor with you hand. Once again this proved a bit of a hassle, as the poor guy desperately started pushing the two buttons again, adding massive contrast and brightness, just because he didn't know better.

Step 3: Locating the remote control
When he finally felt comfortable with the positioning and brightness came the next obstacle: How did he switch away from the annoying Northwest Airlines ad, which was constantly looping on the monitor?

Trust me, it took some time, before he even noticed the remote control, located in the seat next to his legs.

Step 4: In the palm of your hand (as we always have it)
Carefully and with his body slightly twisted to the left and the head down, he began pushing in blindness the many buttons on the remote control. He was obviously not aware of the fact, that you could actually remove the remote control from its place in the seat for a more convenient one-hand browsing.

This is where I kindly told him, that the remote had an elastic string attached to it and that he could take it out of the seat, without being afraid to drop it on the floor. Also it would make it a whole lot easier to press the right buttons etc. What I forgot to tell him at this point was, that the elastic string could lock itself, when pulling hard on the remote, thus saving you the pain of holding the elastic string all the time - a mechanism kind of like how the flex automatically wounds up at the touch of a button

Step 5: Managing the remote
Next problem immediately occurred: How to remove the control from its retainer, so you wouldn’t have to sit in that awkward position for the next 8 hours? Once again, I felt sorry for the guy and in a nice way without indicating pity, I pointed his finger in the direction of the little button next to the remote, which would instantly unlock it from its retainer with a single “click”!

Step 6: Remote vs. Interface
I could go on with this guy for hours on how he constantly faced new problems or practical usability obstacles, as we might put it. But he finally got to the main menu and even managed to scroll down to "Games" AND managed to press the world famous "Select/OK/Confirm"-button, which we all know. This 3-step action took him to a small 2-D platform game in the spirit of Pac-Man - this meant that you would have to use the arrows on the remote to control the character on the screen.

Step 7: Malfunction or...?
The attentive individual would have noticed the graphic illustration showing you to turn the remote 180 degrees to the left for correct use before starting the game, but of course our guy missed that little part! So you can probably imagine how he desperately tried to figure out why the Pac-Man like character moved totally different of what he thought he did with the remote. Pressing the up-arrow made the character move the left, pressing the left-arrow made it move down and so on… It was actually hilarious and I couldn’t help laughing inside myself and at this point it was almost embarrassing how many times I had already helped him out, so I decided to enhance and exaggerate my own movements, as I was playing the same game, hoping that he would notice.

Conclusion
As I started out by stating, that cultural and geographical elements matters when talking usability, this - I believe - proved to be right in this case at least. Obviously we were two very different individuals with two very different backgrounds. Myself being brought in a modern world of technology with the Internet passed through the mother’s milk, I was more than used to such a situation and device, even though I had never used that exact device before. While he on the other hand, probably hadn't spend as much time on technology (or so it seemed) and stupid gadgets, faced an immense amount of obstacles before he finally achieved what was intended and even then did he fail to gain full control over this device.

The big question remains: Did this device live up to the minimum standards of usability and what are those evident standards anyway or was this guy just to ignorant to have the honour and pleasure of using such a device?

» The device
Pros:
Personally I'm a bit divided in this matter, as I believe that this device really did what it should. It was incorporated into the chair, it even had a security string attached to it with a locking functionality (flex). It had all the normal icons and buttons that one could expect from a remote control
Cons:
It used four coloured buttons which took a few minutes to remember and learn. It had the same overall grey colour as the chair, which made it harder to spot and it was incorporated so well in the chair, that you wouldn't notice it right away.

» The user
Pros:
This guy had a curiosity and stubbornness, which made him continue his quest for the Pac-Man game! He was a regular individual like any other that you could expect to be sitting on an airplane. I dare to compare him to some elderly segments who have decided not to take interest in the technologies of the new world (fair enough, I don't blame them) and such segments would also easily be found on an airplane facing this exact situation and wanting to interact with this monitor. He’s human for crying out loud!
Cons:
As I mentioned earlier, this guy did not have a background in the IT-industry, which started him off in a worse position than many others.

My definition of usability
When talking usability in its many manners, the one common point must be that the user gains full control and achieves what is intended. The purpose of the device must be clear and obvious and any user (depending on the device and location of the device) should be able to use it without asking one single question. Such a device could be located many places and in many shapes. For instance in a subway in the form of a ticketing dispenser, where many different people have to use it or for instance on a website in the shape of a navigation menu, where perhaps only selected persons have to use the website/navigation. But if those persons for which the device was intended, does not succeed in using it, then the usability – NOT the device necessarily – have failed. I like to see it as a "usability" shaped around an "object", creating a complete usable product.