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Saturday 30 October 2010

Do you want to understand what it means to go viral?

This is icon for social networking website. Th...Image via Wikipedia





This great session explains why you should usually post at least 3-4 times a day to FB about what you are doing or perhaps sometimes about your business, other times a quote or something inspirational, or what I' doing. etc. Great to know about being able to post on other sites and have it post automatically too.

Saturday 2 October 2010

How to Design Perfect Websites

The four essential elements for creating captivating websites

The four principles of design are balance, rhythm, emphasis and unity. Each one of them is essential for bringing together the different visual elements that are necessary to achieving a strong design, which, in turn, is imperative for a website to succeed on any level. What follows is an examination of each principle, with insights about how to incorporate them into your own Web design for optimal results. 
Balance — Balancing all colours, different shapes with sizes can create different degrees of what Netbods call “visual interest” on your Web page. It is important that pages are designed to hold a site visitor’s interest without overwhelming them or causing distraction away from the elements most important to conversion goals. As such, distribution of this interest needs to be controlled and balanced by considering each element in a layout and its “visual weight” — determined by its size, shade and thickness of lines. 


Balance we achieve by placing elements in the design evenly. If you place a large, heavy element on the right side, you will have a matching heavy element on the left. Centering is the easiest way to get a symmetrically balanced page. And then you must be-careful, as it can be difficult to create a centred design that doesn’t look flat. For symmetrically balanced design, it is better to create the balance with different elements — an image on the left and a large block of text to the right of it, for example.

Asymmetrical balance is an arrangement of unlike objects of equal weight on each side of the page.

Colours, values, sizes, shapes and textures are all used for balancing elements. However, asymmetrically balanced pages can be more challenging to design, as elements are not matched across the centre (line) of the design.

For example, you might have a large element placed very close to the centerline of the design. To balance it asymmetrically, you could place a small element farther away from the centerline. If you think of your design as being on a
teeter-totter or seesaw, a lighter element can balance a heavier one by being further away from the center of gravity. You can also use color or texture to balance an asymmetrical design.

Sometimes the purpose of the website itself makes an off-balance design the right choice.
Designs that are off-balance suggest motion and action. They make people uncomfortable or uneasy. If the content of your design is also intended to be uncomfortable or make people think, a discordantly balanced design can work well. 



Repetition —  Spaced repetition — is a pattern created by repeating elements that are varied, allowing your designs to develop an internal consistency that makes it easier for your site visitors to understand. Once the brain gets the pattern in the rhythm it will relax and absorb the whole design.

Spaced repetition (repeating similar elements within a consistent manner) and variation (a change in the form, size or position of the elements) are the keys to success. Placing elements in a layout at regular intervals creates a smooth, even rhythm and calm, relaxing mood. Sudden changes in the size and spacing of elements creates a fast, lively rhythm and an exciting mood.

Gestalt is a general description for concepts that make unity and variety possible in design. The mind has the ability to see unified “wholes” from the sum of complex visual parts. Some principles of gestalt are proximity, similarity, continuance, closure, uniform connectedness and 1+1=3 effects. 



Dominance — Dominance comes with showing an emphasis in design to provide a focal point for the piece, enabling the most important design element to stand out. To draw the reader to the important part of the piece, every layout needs a focal point.

Generally, a focal point is created when one element is different from the rest. However, to maximise emphasis, it is necessary to avoid too many focal points, so as not to dilute the dominant effect. When all elements are given equal emphasis, it can make the piece appear busy, at best, or even boring and unappealing.

Emphasis can be achieved in the following ways:

• Using semantic markup to provide some emphasis, even without styles.
• Changing the size of fonts or images to emphasize or de-emphasize them in the design.
• Using bold, black type for headings and subheads and much lighter text for all other content. Placing a large picture next to a small bit of text.
• Using contrasting colors. For example, using a series of evenly spaced, square photographs next to an outlined photograph with an unusual shape.
• Placing an important piece of text on a curve or an angle while keeping all of the other type in straight columns.
• Using colored type or an unusual font for the most important information. 



Proximity — Proximity helps all the elements look like they belong together. Readers need visual cues to let them know an article is one unit — the text, headline, photographs, graphic images and captions all go together. Elements that are positioned close to one another are related while elements that are farther apart are less so.

Unity can be accomplished through the following methods:

• Being consistent with the
type font, sizes and styles for headings, subheads, captions, headers and footers throughout the website.
• Positioning elements so that those close to one another are related, while elements that are farther apart have less of a relationship.
• Using only one or two type styles and various size or weight for contrast throughout the site.
• Repeating a color, shape or texture in different areas throughout.
• Choosing visuals that share a similar color, theme or shape.

Web users rely heavily on visual clues when making decisions about a website — whether to click and explore, consider a purchase or sign up for a service. This is even more pronounced for first-time visitors when the decision to stay on-site or abandon is made in just a few seconds. Follow these four design principles and you can be sure that your users and new visitors will stay engaged with your website. 






Watchout a Facebook Worm is About

This is icon for social networking website. Th...Image via Wikipedia
Thousands of Facebook users are being attacked by a nasty Facebook worm that forces you to “like” a Facebook page, which then automatically spreads it through a user’s wall. According to SocialToo’s Jesse Stay, the scammers have figured out a way to exploit the “Like” button via Javascript and are using it to force users to like the page, thus spreading it inadvertently through postings on Facebook walls. The result is thousands of wall posts for a page entitled “Shocking! This girl killed herself after her dad posted this photo.” Clicking the link enclosed spreads the worm further. Unfortunately, this is not the first time we’ve heard of such an exploit, but according to Facebook Search, a lot of people have been affected by this one. Do not click any of these links or go to this Facebook page. It will force you to like the page and spread the worm further. As far as we can tell though, the exploit doesn’t compromise your account or steal your password. We’ve put an e-mail out to the Facebook team for more information.http://www.facebook.com/FanExchange

Friday 1 October 2010

Judging session for the UK IT Industry Awards About to Start

wiktionary:thank you diagrammatically shown in...Image via Wikipedia
There are 4 days to go until the judging session for the UK IT Industry Awards.  Here's the latest in our series of blogs on the finalists for the Digital Inclusion Award.


So here's today's nominee: ITV Signpost


We all know ITV as the host of XFactor and the creator of Corrie.  What is less well known is its extraordinary tool for the deaf community, SignPost.


British Sign Language has its own grammar, word order and linguistics and in 2003 the UK
government recognised it as a “language in its own right”.  70,000 deaf people use it in the UK, but with their families and friends, professionals and students, it’s thought 250,000 people in the UK use it every day.














Part of ITV plc, SignPost is Britain's biggest supplier of British Sign Language (BSL) on-screen services for all platforms, including television, video, CD-ROM, DVD, film and the internet.  Based at ITV Tyne Tees Television in the North East, it broadcasts to more than 2.5million people from the Scottish border to the Vale of York.
SignPost uses deaf on-screen interpreters to provide high quality translations of content into British Sign Language.   The best part is all the translations are done by deaf native British language users.  It also believes the “internet is perfect for communication in BSL.”
Steer the mice to the cheese


The site http://www.signpostbsl.com/ includes telly translations, up to date news, events and learning tools.   It also encourages everyone to learn the language through a free tool “Sign-A-Day,” which introduces the language through “Fingerspelling” – representing written English with the hands.   Although there are 26 letters in the English language, up to 100 distinctive letter shapes can be identified in the Fingerspelling of the deaf community.
Every day you’re given a word and taught how to
sign it.  There are also loads of games for you to play, so why not have a go?
Everyone should have access to the amazing power of the web.  So if you're not already part of our campaign, 
join us now.














There’s a £10,000 prize for the best amateur film and £5,000 prize for the best professional film.

Steven Spielberg on the red carpet at the 62nd...Image via Wikipedia
Ever fancied yourself as the next David Lean or Steven Spielberg ?

BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, has launched “Digital Revolutions” a short film competition, with Sheffield Doc/Fest, the biggest documentary film festival in the UK andCrossover, an international digital media and content programme.
To enter, participants must submit films up to three minutes long, showing how they see the world they live in and how information and information technology impacts it.  The aim is to build the largest creative picture of what information and information technology means for Great Britain today.
According to Elizabeth Sparrow, BCS President:
“We want people in the UK to tell us how their lives have been changed by information and information technology and what this might mean for their communities in the future.  We think this will be the biggest ever information competition to unlock the public’s creativity and we’ve teamed up with Sheffield Doc/Fest and Crossover to deliver that”.
Creativity and skill alone aren’t enough. The competition requires entrants to use social media to get their films noticed.  Building a fan base for your film will be as challenging as creating the film itself.
To enter, films must be uploaded to YouTube, tagged digitalrevolutions and an entry formcompleted and submitted to digitalrevolutions@bcs.org
There’s a £10,000 prize for the best amateur film and £5,000 prize for the best professional film.  Entries close on 15 October and the winner (announced on the 5th November at the annual Sheffield Doc/fest), will be chosen by a panel of judges including award winning directors Kevin Macdonald and David Bond.

In an economic climate where we all need to tighten the purse strings, we face tough choices about where to dish our dough.

RecliningImage by dragon762w via Flickr


Charities should rest on their laurels!
Stop reclining and get online NOW

Times are particularly tough for
charities and funding is becoming increasingly restricted.  However, in an article for this month’s Trust & Foundation News, Martha explains how funders can raise awareness of the power of technology for charities – both for the groups they work with and their own productiveness and efficiency.
There are a growing number of free or low-cost technology tools available to charities: including
Microsoft’s free softwareCharity Technology Trust’s hardware and software donation schemes,Solutions4Inclusion’s database of projects and IT4Communities volunteers, all of which could support charities to improve their reach, fundraising and daily work.
Recent
research from the Community Foundation Network shows that while large national charities are increasingly alive to the fundraising and awareness-raising benefits of using ICT, woefully few small charities have skills, exposure or confidence to take advantage of these new tools, despite the fact they represent a possible revenue stream that runs into the billions.
As the CFN argues, what makes small charities so important and so effective – how deeply embedded they are in their own community, how passionately they are committed to their cause, also limits how much time they have to spare.  IT is often seen as a distraction from the hard work of helping people or fundraising.  This is becoming a false economy with corporate and individual donors going digital, opting for digital payments over cheques, a failure to embrace digital will actually start to pose a real threat to small charities’ survival.












When looking to launch that new Internet business it really is a time to dream! So set you goals NOW!

When looking to launch that new Internet business it really is a time to dream and consider what the business will look like once it is finished.


Start with the end in mind and consider what will my business look like in 5 years from now.
To achieve that goal what would the turnover and product range be in 4 years.
How many buyers will I need in 2 years and what will I do to get the traffic to my we business?


Then breakdown the activity you will need to hit in a years time, 6 months, 3 months, 6 weeks and to hit that what do we need to do each day.


Set an hourly activity rate and keep going whilst dreaming






Achievement in Steps?
Since this is a time of adjustment for me and a time for me to renew my dreams of what I want to accomplish in life and business, I want to share a few thoughts on achieving your dreams. It is never too late to dream or renew your dream for a better life. The real question though, is how do we achieve a dream? Well, here are some thought that will help you answer that question!

                Can achievement be broken down into steps? Well, it isn't always that clean and easy, but I do know that those who achieve great things usually go through much of the same process, with many of the steps listed below as part of that process. So if you have been struggling with achieving your dreams, look through the following, and internalize the thoughts presented. Then begin to apply them. If you do that, you will be on the road to achieving your dream!

1. Dream it - Everything begins in the heart and mind. Every great achievement began in the mind of one person. They dared to dream, to believe that it was possible. Take some time to allow yourself to ask "What if?" Think big. Don't let negative thinking discourage you. You want to be a "dreamer." Dream of the possibilities for yourself, your family, and for others. If you had a dream that you let grow cold, re-ignite the dream! Fan the flames. Life is too short to let it go.

2. Believe it - Yes, your dream needs to be big. It needs to be something that is seemingly beyond your capabilities. But it also must be believable. You must be able to say that if certain things take place, if others help, if you work hard enough, though it is a big dream, it can still be done. Good example: A person with no college education can dream that he will build a 50 million-dollar a year company. That is big, but believable. Bad example: That a 90 year-old woman with arthritis will someday run a marathon in under 3 hours. It is big alright, but also impossible. Your dream must be believable.

3. See it - The great achievers have a habit. They "see" things. They picture themselves walking around their CEO office in their new 25 million-dollar corporate headquarters, even while they are sitting on a folding chair in their garage "headquarters." Great free-throw shooters in the NBA picture the ball going through the basket. PGA golfers picture the ball going straight down the fairway. World-class speakers picture themselves speaking with energy and emotion. All of this grooms the mind to control the body to carry out the dream. You have to see it in your mind before you can see it in reality.

4. Tell it - One reason many dreams never go anywhere is because the dreamer keeps it all to himself. It is a quiet dream that only lives inside of his mind. The one who wants to achieve their dream must tell that dream to many people. One reason: As we continually say it, we begin to believe it more and more. If we are talking about it then it must be possible. Another reason: It holds us accountable. When we have told others, it spurs us on to actually do it so we don't look foolish.

5. Plan it - Every dream must take the form of a plan. The old saying that you "get what you plan for" is so true. Your dream won't just happen. You need to sit down, on a regular basis, and plan out your strategy for achieving the dream. Think through all of the details. Break the whole plan down into small, workable parts. Then set a time frame for accomplishing each task on your "dream plan."

6. Work it - Boy, wouldn't life be grand if we could quit before this one! Unfortunately for the lazy folks, the successful are usually the hardest workers. While the rest of the world is sitting on their couch watching re-runs of their favorite television shows, achievers are working on their goal - achieving their dream. I have an equation that I work with: Your short-term tasks, multiplied by time, equal your long-term accomplishments. If you work on it each day, eventually you will achieve your dream. War and Peace was written, in longhand, page by page.

7. Enjoy it - When you have reached your goal and you are living your dream, be sure to enjoy it. In fact, enjoy the trip too. Give yourself some rewards along the way. Give yourself a huge reward when you get there. Help others enjoy it. Be gracious and generous. Use your dream to better others.
When you have become successful and achieved your dreams circle around and go back to number one. And dream a little bigger this time!