A Web Analytics Breakthrough (That May Never Be Used)

A Web Analytics Breakthrough (That May Never Be Used): "If you're one of the burgeoning number of Firefox users, you probably also use a number of the many extensions available to stretch, modify, personalize, and customize the browser's capabilities. If Google Browser Sync is one of those extensions, have you considered the implications it might have for Web analytics and ad tracking?"

This is an interesting article. It is a good reminder that the move toward centralizing ones online identity can be tied to the browser as well - not just the pages it's rendering.

Adobe CS3 Official Launch

Here's a round-up of some other interesting coverage and details:

• AppleBlog coverage
• digg.com coverage
• Apple.com special feature
• creativepro.com: What's New in Adobe Creative Suite 3
• CNET coverage

Adobe's Price Plans for CS3

Adobe Systems Inc. will announce Tuesday that its highly-anticipated Creative Suite 3.0 software suite will be available in six distinct bundles. Click through for details of each individual bundle.



read more | digg story

Web Apps 101: Your Three Point Success Plan

TechCrunch - Building a web app is easy. Building a successful and profitable web app is where most people fail. If you want your app to stay out of the Dead Pool, you need to know the answer the following questions:

1. Who is it aimed at?
2. Why will they use it?
3. Will they pay for it?

Also, you can download the MP3 audio and PDF presentation that appear to be the foundation for this article at: http://www.futureofwebapps.com/

read more | digg story

Pentagram & TIME Magazine

"Today, TIME launches the first issue of a major redesign developed by Pentagram’s Luke Hayman with TIME managing editor Richard Stengel and art director Arthur Hochstein... “The magazine has been modernized,” Hayman agrees, “but it still has the TIME ‘DNA.’ We deliberately chose fonts and design elements that echo classic TIME magazine.”

During the redesign process, Hayman worked closely with TIME’s in-house team.. Web touts have been embedded throughout the magazine that indicate related content at TIME.com. The contents page has been re-imagined on a horizontal axis, like a timeline. The size of the cover logo has been reduced, a decision that allows for secondary cover lines and images to be run in a row of boxes above the logo..."



This article offers great insight into the project. It also includes a number of sample pages with commentary.

Google's Founders didn't know HTML!

Product Manager for Google: "The prime reason the Google home page is so bare is due to the fact that the founders didn't know HTML and just wanted a quick interface... The name 'Google' was an accident. A spelling mistake made by the original founders who thought they were going for 'Googol'..."

The next time your are pondering Google's apparent brilliance in regards to strategy, ui design, and branding - refer to this list. Another reminder that dumb luck and happy accidents are your friends. There are a few interesting metrics for feature adoption in this article too.

read more | digg story

Don't Lose Your Visitors: Better 404 Pages

Devlounge: "Error pages control a lot more of our destiny than you may think. If a visitor has the unfortunate coincidence of reaching an error page on your site, chances of them attempting to access the page again are slim to none, especially if they were referred to the page from a direct link. How can you prevent this? Don’t let your error pages, especially 404, go un-noticed..."

This article is a handy summary of why it is important to carefully consider the design of your error pages when developing your site strategy. This can be of particular importance if you are doing a major redesign or any other thing that will change the existing structure of your site. You don't want to completely lose what you've worked hard to gain in terms of bookmarks and search engine entries.

MySpace News: The Digg Killer?

"MySpace is launching a news aggregator called MySpace News in the second quarter of 2007. It’ll rely on both algorithms and user rating - basically a combination of Google News and Digg..."

Yeah maybe it will be like the parallel-universe kind of digg with a really ugly design, giant ads with scantily clad women, and constant intermittent outages! I know, I know, it will probably succeed due to the sheer volume of existing users... Add to the '_-killer?' watchlist :-P

read more | digg story

Future of Web Apps: FREE MP3s, Podcast and Slides

The "Future of Web Apps" happened in London from 2/20-21. Well, it's a wrap and now you can find Speaker Presentations & MP3s (includuing a Podcast RSS Feed) on the program website. I just finished pulling down the last of the presentations in iTunes. There are some great speakers in the lineup.

The Mobile Web Offers a Rich Platform for Content and Advertising

Online Publishers Association: "With strong usage growth and consumers watching and acting upon advertisements, the mobile Web is a compelling platform for content and marketing, according to the latest research from the Online Publishers Association (OPA). Going Mobile: An International Study of Content Use and Advertising on the Mobile Web is the first OPA study to go beyond the U.S., involving over 6,000 interviews in the U.S., the U.K., France, Italy, Spain and Germany. The study was conducted in partnership with TNS Media and Entertainment."

Key findings: "Heavy Access and Growing Usage, Advertising is Driving Action, PC Web Brands Driving Mobile Web Activity, Mobile Web is Vital for Consumers of Sports, Weather and News"

They've also got the Presentation of Findings in PDF.

The 50 Most Important People on the Web

pcworld.com: "Despite what Time magazine would have you believe, you are not the most powerful or influential person on the Web. At PC World we love online personals, social networks, and videos of people falling on their keisters as much as the next person, but without the folks who create the Craigslists, MySpaces, and YouTubes of the world, much of the Web's potential would be lost among spam sites and other online detritus."



read more | digg story

Adobe to announce CS3 products March 27

CNET News.com: "Adobe likely will announce its Creative Suite 3 (CS3) products
on or about March 27,' Merrill Lynch analyst Jay Vleeschhouwer predicted last week, with the products themselves to ship 'several weeks thereafter...'"

Get your dock ready for a bunch of Two letter application icons.