Día: 24 julio, 2010

Why Flipboard Matters

e were the first big media source to cover Flipboard, and ever since that moment the iPad application has taken over the technology scene leaving many scratching their heads: what about this application is so special? Let’s take a moment to break down just what Flipboard is, why it is a big deal, and what it means for future media applications.

To begin, Flipboard is not finished or perfect. It has annoying feature holes, but like an unfinished painting you can see the bigger picture in the gaps. Flipboard needs, among other things, offline access, stronger posting capabilities for Facebook and Twitter, more pages per section, a ban button, and better controls to prevent repeat content. All that will be solved over the next several releases, it’s just a matter of time, so let’s put that aside.

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We were the first big media source to cover Flipboard, and ever since that moment the iPad application has taken over the technology scene leaving many scratching their heads: what about this application is so special? Let’s take a moment to break down just what Flipboard is, why it is a big deal, and what it means for future media applications.

To begin, Flipboard is not finished or perfect. It has annoying  feature holes, but like an unfinished painting you can see the bigger picture in the gaps. Flipboard needs, among other things, offline access, stronger posting capabilities for Facebook and Twitter, more pages per section, a ban button, and better controls to prevent repeat content. All that will be solved over the next several releases, it’s just a matter of time, so let’s put that aside. Leer más “Why Flipboard Matters”

Antennas: Jobs Was Right. They’re Still a Challenge

For most of today’s basic voice and data cell signals, the right antenna length is about three inches or seven inches. FM radio and broadcast TV antennas are longer, though antennas can be bent to fit inside tiny phones. The optimal length is half the frequency the antenna is designed to receive divided by the speed of light. Any longer or shorter, and the reception can suffer. Furthermore, “the [human] body has a major effect on the antenna because at different frequencies it acts differently,” says Stuart Lipoff, an electronics consultant.


Image representing Steve Jobs as depicted in C...
Image via CrunchBase

As phones continue to shrink, fitting antennas in and making them work correctly often comes down to trial and error

By Amy Thomson

Whatever you think of Steve Jobs‘ defense of the iPhone 4 and its reception issues, the Apple (AAPL) boss was right about one thing: Antennas are a technological challenge, one that engineers have wrestled with since before Gordon Gekko barked orders into his Motorola (MOT) DynaTAC from a beach in the Hamptons. And as phones continue to shrink, fitting antennas in and making them work correctly often comes down to trial and error, says Stephen Temple, a retired engineer who helped plan Europe’s GSM technology. “It would be fair to say that antenna design is a little bit of a dark art,” Temple says. Leer más “Antennas: Jobs Was Right. They’re Still a Challenge”

Microsoft shows off TellMe voice control in Windows Phone 7

We know Microsoft and TellMe (who Microsoft bought) worked close together on the Samsung Intrepid (awful phone, neat service), but nothing else ever came out from it.

We also know Windows Phone 7 will have some type of voice control (see Dieter hilariously try to activate it back in February) and low and behold, Microsoft has recently demoed it for it us.


by Malatesta

We know Microsoft and TellMe (who Microsoft bought) worked close together on the Samsung Intrepid (awful phone, neat service), but nothing else ever came out from it.

We also know Windows Phone 7 will have some type of voice control (see Dieter hilariously try to activate it back in February) and low and behold, Microsoft has recently demoed it for it us.

The good… Leer más “Microsoft shows off TellMe voice control in Windows Phone 7”

40+ Web Design and Development Resources for Beginners

Brian Casel is a web designer and owner of ThemeJam WordPress Themes and CasJam Media. You can follow Brian on his blog at BrianCasel.com or on Twitter @CasJam.

It’s no secret that web design is a fast-growing industry. Virtually every type of business is in need of a quality website. There are opportunities at the large agency level down to freelancers developing small-business websites from home.

So how do you break into this exciting field? With little or no experience creating websites, getting yourself up to speed can be a daunting task. There are so many different avenues of design and development to explore. Which way should you go first? Which skill sets suit you the best?

We aim to give you an overview of a few things things that are essential to a well-rounded knowledge of web design. These are starting-points, if you will. Below each item, we’ve listed additional resources for you to continue on in your learning process.

Before we get into it, heed one important lesson: You can’t become a professional web designer overnight. It takes years to reach an expert level in any aspect of the field. But everybody starts somewhere, and there’s no better time than the present begin your web design education.


ipsum imageBrian Casel is a web designer and owner of ThemeJam WordPress Themes and CasJam Media. You can follow Brian on his blog at BrianCasel.com or on Twitter @CasJam.

It’s no secret that web design is a fast-growing industry. Virtually every type of business is in need of a quality website. There are opportunities at the large agency level down to freelancers developing small-business websites from home.

So how do you break into this exciting field? With little or no experience creating websites, getting yourself up to speed can be a daunting task. There are so many different avenues of design and development to explore. Which way should you go first? Which skill sets suit you the best?

We aim to give you an overview of a few things things that are essential to a well-rounded knowledge of web design. These are starting-points, if you will. Below each item, we’ve listed additional resources for you to continue on in your learning process.

Before we get into it, heed one important lesson: You can’t become a professional web designer overnight. It takes years to reach an expert level in any aspect of the field. But everybody starts somewhere, and there’s no better time than the present begin your web design education. Leer más “40+ Web Design and Development Resources for Beginners”

Weekly Web Design and Development Inspiration

This is our selection of our favorite web designs from the past week or so, some sites we discovered, but the most of them have been recommended by our readers.
Thanks for all your recommendations, and we hope you like this selection of sites as much as we do, feel free to comment and let us know what you think.



This is our selection of our favorite web designs from the past week or so, some sites we discovered, but the most of them have been recommended by our readers.

Thanks for all your recommendations, and we hope you like this selection of sites as much as we do, feel free to comment and let us know what you think.

Paul Bennett

Paul Bennett

Leer más “Weekly Web Design and Development Inspiration”

Case-Study: Make Web, Not War

Internet is the most important scientific and technological discovery since mankind conquered the Moon in 1969. No discovery over the last years had such a great influence on our civilization. Since the 90’s a new step in human evolution was written, the new “Homo digitalis” makes room for a new era, driven by technological and scientific development, filling it furthermore with an essence of life. All the main discoveries in the post Internet period were helped by it due to its capability of showing everyone, everything at anytime. For instance, the human genome was decrypted more easily and faster because of the possibility of changing information almost instantly between scientists situated all over the world.

It was the perfect situation that revealed to all people from all over the world that without communication and collaboration (which is the same as without Internet) the great discoveries would have remained still hidden. From this point of view the Internet is not only a discovery, it is a catalyst for changing and finding information or why not for a better life.


InstantShift - Case-Study: Make Web, Not War

Internet is the most important scientific and technological discovery since mankind conquered the Moon in 1969. No discovery over the last years had such a great influence on our civilization. Since the 90’s a new step in human evolution was written, the new “Homo digitalis” makes room for a new era, driven by technological and scientific development, filling it furthermore with an essence of life. All the main discoveries in the post Internet period were helped by it due to its capability of showing everyone, everything at anytime. For instance, the human genome was decrypted more easily and faster because of the possibility of changing information almost instantly between scientists situated all over the world.

It was the perfect situation that revealed to all people from all over the world that without communication and collaboration (which is the same as without Internet) the great discoveries would have remained still hidden. From this point of view the Internet is not only a discovery, it is a catalyst for changing and finding information or why not for a better life. Leer más “Case-Study: Make Web, Not War”

Freelancers Working From Home – Cures to Common Problems

Fixing this problem can be a bit challenging. First of all you have to try sticking to set hours. Close your office door when you’re done for the day and don’t allow yourself to go back in there. If you feel the need to work extra, allow yourself to do this on one scheduled day of the week – but not too often. Practicing this over time will have you feeling calmer about the whole situation, but especially in the beginning this can be tricky.
You’re “always” at Work

The previous point is about what you feel yourself about being in your work-environment during your spare time. This point is about what others feel. You could have people calling you after work hours or dropping by for work-related things, because you’re always there. If you have the required discipline to put all these things aside until your next day at work – great! If you don’t – you will feel as if you don’t have much private space.


By: Hilde Torbjornsen

If you’re a freelancer or have a small business, it’s very common to work out of your own home. Some bigger companies also offer this as a full or part-time solution for some of their workers. This type of work can be both a blessing and a curse in many ways. Here I’ve listed some of the most common problems you may run into, and some suggestions to how you can turn these into something you can live with.

Freelancers Working From Home
Image credit: EHPhoto

When you think about working from home, many positive things come to mind. You can work wearing your pajamas and walk to work in less than a minute – regardless of season and weather. You can also set most of the rules yourself, schedule personal appointments and vacations to fit with your work, listen to music as loud as you want and be in an environment you feel comfortable with. What you should be prepared for though, are the things that aren’t as glamorous.

In this article you’ll get to know some of them, along with some suggestions on how to make them work for you and not against you. Leer más “Freelancers Working From Home – Cures to Common Problems”