Blogs

  1. Favicon Tom Hume

    [Blog] Tom Hume: Breaking user-agent news

    Via the WMLProgramming mailing list, see this bug report, and listen to the sound of an assumption creaking gently in the wind.

    For quite some time now, folks in the mobile industry have been using the User-Agent HTTP header to identify devices, look up capabilities (using a device database like the WURFL), and deliver appropriate versions of content. Industry initiatives like transcoding which threaten the ability to do this have been met with a variety of flavours of opposition... but it looks like there's a new threat to this practice:

    "The different User-Agents are an expected outcome of how Android works. Different parts of the Android system handle different actions.

    The browser renders the various mark-up languages, but it will hand off to other applications to handle various file types. In the case of the video player, it uses the OpenCORE framework as you indicated to play video files where the source is HTTP."

    Despite the problems such an approach might cause, it isn't actually wrong, either. RFC1945 defines a user agent as:

    The client which initiates a request. These are often browsers, editors, spiders (web-traversing robots), or other end user tools.

    So what happens now? Do we start expanding device databases to include not only browser user agents, but also those of individual applications on individual platforms - even presuming that we can distinguish different devices by the apps that run on them? Or do we use some other mechanism to determine device capabilities?

    Posted 15 March 2010, 10:33 am

  2. SiteVisibility

    [Blog] SiteVisibility: The Importance of Keyword Consistency

    Contributor has not supplied alternative text for this image

    No matter how many new products Google roll out then scale back, or shifts made in the algo; there are certain elements of the search marketing process that I can’t envisage changing any time soon.

    Credit

    At the very beginning of every search project there is the task of including keywords in the relevant places in a website. And just because this method is ubiquitous doesn’t mean we should take it any less seriously.

    Recently when providing training to small business owners trying to pick up the basics of SEO, I’ve been referring a lot to the concept of keyword consistency.

    I think it’s really helpful as an idea to beginners, but I think even the more seasoned hands should have keyword consistency on their radar.

    Once you’ve decided what keywords you are targeting on a particular page you need to ensure that you’re following through with your optimisation so you’ve got every box ticked.

    I normally start with the title tag as that’s still the biggest signal websites send to the engines. Don’t rush the process as there will be a number of possibilities or sequence of words, and your job is to make the best selection.

    Collaborate with your colleagues

    By explaining and justifying your choices you will help to ensure you’ve made the best choices.

    Follow through with your h1 header

    The content will probably differ from the title tag but make sure there’s a strong similarity between the content in the h1 and title tag.

    Then look at your first paragraph of the body copy

    If it’s not possible to put your main phrases in the first paragraph I’d question whether you’re targeting the right term.

    Work through the rest of the main body copy

    Are there any opportunities to slightly tweak the syntax to match the content up with the title tag and Meta description?

    Read through any sub headings

    These really should be marked up as h2 or h3s. People will be skim-reading your content so including the keywords will help them quickly grasp what the page is about, but also shout loudly to the search engines that there is no question about the terms you are chasing.

    Then we move to two more areas in which to consider keyword consistency away from the page.

    Internal Anchor Text

    Whenever you mention the keyword on other pages are you linking to the page targeting the term? Don’t underestimate the importance of internal anchor text, so spend some time getting it right.

    External Anchor Text

    Last, and definitely not least, try and get some external deep links to the internal pages of your site. If it’s a product page you may struggle to attract links so consider using some of the link building tactics under your direct control (press releases, articles, directories) to direct links at these pages. These tactics may not have a huge influence on your sites authority, but not every link has to achieve everything.

    Post from Apple Pie & Custard the blog from SiteVisibility a Brighton SEO Company

    The Importance of Keyword Consistency

    Related posts:

    1. How to do Negative Keyword Research (Part 1)
    2. Is Your Link Building Dealing With Your Anchor Text Deficiencies?
    3. New ‘Local Search Volume’ Addition to Google Adwords Keyword Tool
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    Posted 15 March 2010, 9:49 am

  3. zenbullets.com

    [Blog] zenbullets.com: Further Adventures in Old Media

    Quick update on the book. It’s been kinda quiet since xmas, as I’ve been busying myself with client work, trying to replenish my battered bank balance (the first brutal reality of writing a tech book – it doesn’t pay the bills). But I was around 2/3rds finished by then, and now I have a new [...]Contributor has not supplied alternative text for this image

    Posted 15 March 2010, 12:17 am

  4. Web Tart

    [Blog] Web Tart: Invitation to hell

    ..living hell

    Posted 14 March 2010, 9:29 am

  5. CREATIVEBLOKE

    [Blog] CREATIVEBLOKE: Pic of today : bike lights in the rain


    bike lights in the rain, originally uploaded by creativebloke.

    I deliberately used curves on this image in Aperture 3, along with a boost on blue and orange, then a tickle with vignette. The Curves tool in Aperture 3 is lovely, ignore the presets just play with the curves.....mmmmm play with the curves.

    Posted 12 March 2010, 10:04 pm

  6. The Jezblog

    [Blog] The Jezblog: Create “transparent” technologies

    So, here is my my first blog post for Urgent Evoke, a new Social Innovation 'game'. The Innovation In Africa Tips post had a number of good points, some of which are relevant to all good design for the future and not just in Africa. The one that stood out for me is Create “transparent” technologies as technology is my thing. My Physics teacher used to say "Physics is simple, if you're finding it complicated then you are doing it wrong". My Design teacher used to tell me, "don't just make it, make it beautiful" and I see that the beauty in good technology is when it does something great whilst appearing simple.

    As to blogging on urgentevoke.com, wouldn't it have been better for me to write this on my own blog out there on the internet so that the word will spread? It isn't quite beautiful, but it is simple and achieves a higher goal than just getting me to understand.

    Posted 12 March 2010, 8:45 pm

  7. A few words from Rob Mansfield

    [Blog] A few words from Rob Mansfield: Coffee cup art

    via etsy.com At some point, we’ve all had a cuppa from a burger van out of a styrofoam cup and then chucked it in the bin, convinced that we’d finished with it. Not boyobsolete. He takes the humble coffee cup and turns it into a work of art. Using just a ’sharpie’ to [...]
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    Posted 12 March 2010, 3:46 pm

  8. A few words from Rob Mansfield

    [Blog] A few words from Rob Mansfield: Coffee cup art

    via etsy.com At some point, we’ve all had a cuppa from a burger van out of a styrofoam cup and then chucked it in the bin, convinced that we’d finished with it. Not boyobsolete. He takes the humble coffee cup and turns it into a work of art. Using just a ’sharpie’ to [...]
    Contributor has not supplied alternative text for this image

    Posted 12 March 2010, 3:40 pm

  9. 90 Percent of Everything - by Harry Brignull

    [Blog] 90 Percent of Everything - by Harry Brignull: Email verification – is your call-to-action strong enough?

    Email verification is often needed as a step in user registration. It plays the role of an identity check – to confirm that the person registering genuinely owns the email address given.



    If you run a site that uses email verification in its registration process, here’s a challenge for you: go and find out how many users successfully fill in the registration form but never complete the verification step. If it’s higher than a few percent, you should probably be worried. In fact, whatever the percentage is, you should be thinking hard about how you can bring it down – after all, any leakage is bad leakage.

    This isn’t a ‘normal’ conversion rate calculation we’re talking about here. Conversion rates, as they are normally defined, involve comparing the number of users who perform an action against the number of unique visitors (i.e. people who happen to hit the first page). Amongst these unique visitors, a large proportion of them are likely to never actually have been likely to convert (they were lost, having a look, or doing something else), which means you naturally get a large number of drop-outs.

    The difference in this scenario is that we can be sure that all of the users were dedicated to completing the task – after all, why else would they have bothered to complete the registration form? They’ve done the hard bit – surely all of them should have completed?

    Failure to complete the email verification step is sometimes caused by deliverability issues. However, it’s also entirely possible that the problem lies in your call-to-action design. Here’s an example from KpiLibrary.com (a nice site that happens to have a slightly flawed registration process):

    What the user needs at this point is a large, unmissable call-to-action such as “Check your email now“, with no other irrelevant content around it. However, on this page there’s a mixed message – it starts with a green tick icon and and the statement “Sign up successful!…” – but it then goes on to explain that they need to check their email. Users are very likely to skip past the text and start filling in the log-in form, which will inevitably return an error. This is something that Luke Wroblewski refers to as being like “muscle memory”. He goes on to explain (transcribed from a podcast):

    “… Time and time again, [...] people try to preface a web form with help text or explanatory paragraphs [...] and every just about single person skips over all that and goes to the first thing that looks like an input field.”

    I’ve certainly experienced exactly the same effect myself in many user research sessions in the past. Here’s another example of a weak email verification call-to-action, this time from Mailchimp (which will probably be fixed the time you read this – they are very dedicated to UI design):


    Here I am poised to register my email address…


    And here I am done. Except I’m not. The text in green – which looks like it’s a positive confirmation – is actually telling me that I must go and check my email.

    Like many other usability issues, the problem is incredibly obvious once it’s been pointed out. As Steve Krug puts it:

    “If your audience is going to act like you’re designing billboards, then design great billboards.”

    Here’s how Linkedin does it. A nice example of a clutter free page, stripped down to the core message to ensure the point cannot be missed:

    Linkedin also provides OAuth-based verification if your email provider supports it (e.g. gmail), which is probably something we’ll see a lot more of in the future.

    Finally, one thing to remember is that email verification doesn’t always need to be a barrier to registration. Just because your competitors do it, doesn’t mean you have to copy them. Facebook, for example, don’t do it – they use a form of lazy registration so people can start using the site before they’re verified.

    Contributor has not supplied alternative text for this image
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    Posted 12 March 2010, 12:19 pm

  10. SiteVisibility

    [Blog] SiteVisibility: Is Your Link Building Dealing With Your Anchor Text Deficiencies?

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    When we look at any back link portfolio, we want to look at four key areas:

    Link Volume, Link Velocity, Link Authority and Link Anchor Text.

    A varied and inventive link building campaign will usually deal with the first three factors by default, but are you making sure you get the right anchor text?

    Credit

    And when we talk about the right anchor text, it’s more than just aiming to get the odd keyword here and there – you need to know what the breakdown of your anchor text is.

    How does that differ from your competitors anchor text?

    What are your deficiencies?

    And how are you going to deal with them?

    Unfortunately it’s often difficult to control the anchor text which people use to link to your site. We’ve previously talked about a few ways you can influence how people link to you and these strategies become even more important when you know where your weakness lies.

    Sometimes it won’t be keyword-rich anchor text you’re looking for.

    Recent shifts in the algorhythm may mean your balance of keyword-rich links is an anomaly in comparison to the top ranking sites.

    If you’re in this situation, tactics like press release syndication and directory submission may be your friend. Or back link analysis focusing on who is linking to your competitors using their brand as the anchor text.

    Other times there will be a very clear correlation between your anchor text and the types of key phrases you are ranking fo.

    Here you’ll want to increase the variety of keywords in the anchor text to rank on other terms. One of the easiest ways to do this is to create content with link potential where you use the keywords.

    People link to articles or blog posts using their titles, so make sure your titles include the keyword variations you’re looking for.

    Whatever your situation, you shouldn’t be carrying out your link building without an appreciation of the anchor text landscape.

    Post from Apple Pie & Custard the blog from SiteVisibility a Brighton SEO Company

    Is Your Link Building Dealing With Your Anchor Text Deficiencies?

    Related posts:

    1. How to Get the Anchor Text You Want Without Even Asking
    2. Taking Advantage of the Weaknesses in your Competitors’ Back Link Profile
    3. What’s the best way of measuring link building efforts?
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    Posted 12 March 2010, 8:39 am

  11. Favicon Postings from an edge

    [Blog] Postings from an edge: Zebra finches and a Les Paul (WN0029)



    Came across this gem of an artistic idea today via The Guardian - an art installation with zebra finches alighting on the fretboard of a pugged-in, switched-on Les Paul. Delicately natural grunge. The installation was assembled by French sonic artist Céleste Boursier-Mougenot. It's currently being shown at London's Barbican.

    As the gallery says:
    As the birds go about their routine activities, perching on or feeding from the various pieces of equipment, they create a random and captivating soundscape.
    I'm unlikely to be able to make it along there myself, but the above video gives a delightful flavour of the experience. And yes, The Guardian has already used the 'rock chick' gag...
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    Posted 11 March 2010, 10:09 pm

  12. CREATIVEBLOKE

    [Blog] CREATIVEBLOKE: Pic of today : Pondering the morning


    pondering the morning, originally uploaded by creativebloke.

    Right well was feeling a bit down about my lack of creativity, so be warned world i have my camera armed with a 50mm now at all times.

    This shot proved the point, i didn't notice the couriers face until i saw it in Aperture. he could just be changing lanes, literally and metaphorically.

    Posted 11 March 2010, 10:09 pm

  13. A few words from Rob Mansfield

    [Blog] A few words from Rob Mansfield: Mad Men meets Barbie

    via nytimes.com It had to happen eventually – the ultimate US icon of Barbie has teamed up with the current TV perfection that is Mad Men. But these are no ordinary Barbie and Ken dolls that you will be buying for your kids to play doctors and nurses with. Oh no, Mattel proudly calls [...]
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    Posted 11 March 2010, 9:54 pm

  14. SiteVisibility

    [Blog] SiteVisibility: Pubsubhubbub, Flash 5, Google Webmaster Tools & OpenSiteExplorer.org – Podcast Episode #59

    It’s here, the first of our new weekly episodes of the podcast.

    As always you can listen to the player at the end of this post, subscribe to this feed or via itunes

    Credit

    In this weeks edition we cover

    As always you can get in touch by emailing kelvin.newman@sitevisibility.com or use the hash tag #impc on twitter

    So what do you think about the Digital Economy Bill?

    Can you pronounce Pubsubhubbub?

    Post from Apple Pie & Custard the blog from SiteVisibility a Brighton SEO Company

    Pubsubhubbub, Flash 5, Google Webmaster Tools & OpenSiteExplorer.org – Podcast Episode #59

    Related posts:

    1. Google Analytics Revisited – Podcast Episode #42
    2. Want to set up Subscription Online Publishing Business? Listen to our Podcast Interview with Miles Galliford of Subhub – Podcast Episode #54
    3. The 12 Internet Marketing Tools of Christmas – Internet Marketing Podcast Episode #56
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    Posted 11 March 2010, 9:02 am

  15. Adactio

    [Blog] Adactio: South by Twenty Ten

    I’m about to head off to Austin for South by Southwest, the annual Bacchanalian geek festival. I’m speaking on a panel again, but this year, the emphasis is very squarely on having fun. MJ very kindly asked me to represent the British contingent on her How to Rawk SXSW panel.

    It will be a fun, if somewhat bittersweet affair: Brad Graham was also going to be on the panel. Ol’ bastard Death has put paid to that. Southby won’t be quite the same without him. But while there won’t be a Break Bread with Brad, there will be Break Bread for Brad, shortly after the panel on Friday afternoon.

    Given my recent musings on the transience of domains, I can’t help but wonder what will happen to the bradlands.com domain. I hope it doesn’t go the way of Leslie Harpold’s online legacy at smug.com and harpold.com.

    Anyway, I’ll be taking a break from my doom-laden predictions of the disappearance of our collective online culture to drink beer and eat barbecue in Texas. I’m looking forward to seeing old friends and meeting new ones. Oh, and I’ll be having a good ol’ chinwag on The Heather Gold Show on Saturday. Come along if you’re around.

    As is now traditional, I’ve updated Adactio Austin with a selection of hCalendared, hCarded hand-picked parties that I’ll be checking out. Compared with the whizz-banginess of location-aware real-time iPhone apps, it seems positively quaint.

    If you’re going to Austin too and you spot me amongst the heaving throngs of geeks, say hello. We can have a Shiner Bock together.


    Tagged with

    Posted 10 March 2010, 11:15 pm

Flickr

These photos are the most recent added to the BNM Flickr Photo pool.

  1. [Flickr] Between Tuesday and Wednesday

    Between Tuesday and Wednesday

    Posted by atomicShed, on 26 Feb 2010, 11:58 am

  2. [Flickr] BRIGTHON WEST PIER LASER SHOW

    BRIGTHON WEST PIER LASER SHOW

    Posted by heatherbuckley, on 18 Feb 2010, 12:41 pm

  3. [Flickr] Fried Flower Eggs

    Fried Flower Eggs

    Posted by atomicShed, on 14 Feb 2010, 12:29 pm

  4. [Flickr] laser light west pier

    laser light west pier

    Posted by heatherbuckley, on 11 Feb 2010, 6:05 pm

  5. [Flickr] laser light west pier

    laser light west pier

    Posted by heatherbuckley, on 11 Feb 2010, 5:54 pm

  6. [Flickr] laser light west pier

    laser light west pier

    Posted by heatherbuckley, on 11 Feb 2010, 5:51 pm

  7. [Flickr] laser light west pier

    laser light west pier

    Posted by heatherbuckley, on 11 Feb 2010, 5:42 pm

  8. [Flickr] laser light west pier

    laser light west pier

    Posted by heatherbuckley, on 11 Feb 2010, 5:31 pm

  9. [Flickr] laser light west pier

    laser light west pier

    Posted by heatherbuckley, on 11 Feb 2010, 5:10 pm

  10. [Flickr] laser light west pier

    laser light west pier

    Posted by heatherbuckley, on 11 Feb 2010, 4:59 pm

My toy

[Flickr] My toy

Plastic dinosaurs

Photo uploaded by atomicShed, on 11 Mar 2010, 5:43 pm

Recent Threads

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Last.fm artist chart

This is a chart of the most listened to artists in the BNM last.fm group. Chart for the week ending .

Chart updated every Sunday.

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These are links tagged by members of the BNM mailing list with the tag ‘bnm’. If you find something you think other readers may find useful, why not do the same?

Events

Events are taken from the BNM Upcoming Group. There are currently 5 events.

You can download, or subscribe to this schedule.

  1. [Event] £5 App Meet at The Skiff

    Tuesday, March 30th 2010. 8:00pm—11:00pm

    The Skiff,
    49 Cheltenham Place,
    Brighton,
    BN1 4AB

    A meet-up for programmers, web developers and designers to discuss and showcase their "£5 apps" - lightweight software created by one or two people who take a simple idea and run with it.

    The discussion will range from technical (what tools/languages were used during development) to business (building communities, spreading the word, costs and rewards).

    We've got a busy lineup for this £5app.

    Simon Willison and Natalie Downe will be talking about Wildlife Near You (http://www.wildlifenearyou.com/), which as part of a team of twelve they mostly built in a fort.

    Then Jez Nicholson and Simon Harriyott will discuss Open Plaques (http://www.openplaques.org/) - a project:

    > "... that aims to find and provide data about all the commemorative 'plaques' (often blue and round) that can be found across the UK and worldwide."

    Steve Carpenter will talk about his latest
    robots (not sure which one yet) and will hopefully demo his
    iPhone-controlled Dalek (http://hackedgadgets.com/2010/03/02/iphone-controlled-dalek-robot/) and maybe his iPhone-controlled maze solver (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWaOLWvJFqA).

    After the main talks there will be some shorter show and tell sessions:

    * Jamie Campbell, Go learn another language - a short talk about GO
    * Ian will be showing how easy AI can be - using modern computer vision and voice recognition libraries

    Added by lilspikey, on Wednesday February 24th, 2010

  2. [Event] Brightwest III Global Twestival Event at tbc

    Thursday, March 25th 2010. 7:00pm

    tbc,
    around Brighton,
    Brighton,
    BN1

    Brightwest is back for it's third installment of fun with a conscience.

    This time, we are raising money for Concern Worldwide -a global charity aimed at helping those in extreme poverty by providing education and aid. Please check out their site http://www.concern-worldwide.org/ for details on how the money raised will be spent.

    Full details on this year's global event can be found here http://twestival.com/about-twestival-global-2010/ and details of our local event will be added as soon as we have them. `Get the 25th March in your diary and prepare to 'meet, tweet and give'

    Added by special_noodles, on Wednesday January 20th, 2010

  3. [Event] dConstruct 2010 at The Brighton Dome

    Friday, September 3rd 2010. 12:00am

    The Brighton Dome,
    Church Street,
    Brighton & Hove,

    Now in its sixth year, dConstruct is the affordable one day conference for those designing and building web applications.

    Follow @dConstruct and @clearleft on Twitter for news on how and when to to book tickets.

    Added by andyhume, on Sunday February 21st, 2010

  4. [Event] Introduction to ASDoc at The Werks

    Tuesday, March 16th 2010. 7:00pm

    The Werks,
    45 Church Road,
    Hove,
    BN3 2BE

    David de Worde strode into the press room of the Ankh-Morpork Times. 'Goodmountain,' he bellowed at the dwarf who controlled the digital press 'I have a story to dictate.' Goodmountain nodded, and sat down at the keyboard.

    'GRANT SKINNER RESCUES ASDOC - that's the headline. Adobe's ASDoc has emerged from the Command-Line age through the bold actions of Flash Developer Grant Skinner. Adobe's documentation tool "ASDoc" only runs from the command line, but Skinner "skinned" it by creating "ASDocr", a simpler graphical interface.'

    Bamboozled by the unbridled enthusiasm with which de Worde was promoting this esoteric - if doubtless fascinating - topic, the dwarves on the subbing team subconsciously released their grip on their e-rats to listen in. The e-rats emitted a collective digitised squeak as, scenting freedom for the fourth time that morning, they yanked their tails from the sockets and swarmed through a hole into the server room. Goodmountain audibly sighed as the last of them disappeared. Equally mystified, sub-editor Sacharissa looked up from her 'WEREWOLF IN MOLE STATION NURSERY DRAMA' story, in which she was trying to spell an interviewee's laugh, and asked 'David, what in Discworld are you on about?'

    'It's news to you, but I use ASDoc to generate docs for our Flash and Flex APIs. It's great, but hard to use, and ASDocr really simplifies it. I want you all to come to The Werks next Tuesday at 7pm so I can show you why ASDoc is good, and ASDocr is great.'

    Goodmountain was on his knees, peering down the hole after the rats. 'We'll be there, just as long as we can get these dratted e-rats back,' he said, scraping around inside with the shaft of his axe.

    Added by flashbrighton, on Wednesday March 10th, 2010

  5. [Event] Drupal Brighton March 2010 - Views 2 at The Skiff

    Tuesday, March 16th 2010. 8:00pm—10:00pm

    The Skiff,
    49 Cheltenham Place,
    Brighton,
    BN1 4AB

    By popular demand, this month's Drupal Brighton meetup will be all about Views 2.

    http://drupal.org/project/views

    "But what are Views Steve, and what's more, what is Views 2?

    What is a Views Attachment Steve? How do I handle arguments in my views?

    What cool things can I do with Views?" I hear you say...

    Well, come along to http://theskiff.org in Brighton Tuesday 16th March 2010 at 8pm to find out this and more!

    (hint: views allow you to view data in any which way you like)

    Added by stevepurkiss, on Monday March 15th, 2010