Web Directions

object(WP_Query)#69 (47) { ["query_vars"]=> array(55) { ["year"]=> int(2009) ["monthnum"]=> int(5) ["error"]=> string(0) "" ["m"]=> int(0) ["p"]=> int(0) ["post_parent"]=> string(0) "" ["subpost"]=> string(0) "" ["subpost_id"]=> string(0) "" ["attachment"]=> string(0) "" ["attachment_id"]=> int(0) ["name"]=> string(0) "" ["static"]=> string(0) "" ["pagename"]=> string(0) "" ["page_id"]=> int(0) ["second"]=> string(0) "" ["minute"]=> string(0) "" ["hour"]=> string(0) "" ["day"]=> int(0) ["w"]=> int(0) ["category_name"]=> string(0) "" ["tag"]=> string(0) "" ["cat"]=> string(0) "" ["tag_id"]=> string(0) "" ["author_name"]=> string(0) "" ["feed"]=> string(0) "" ["tb"]=> string(0) "" ["paged"]=> int(0) ["comments_popup"]=> string(0) "" ["meta_key"]=> string(0) "" ["meta_value"]=> string(0) "" ["preview"]=> string(0) "" ["s"]=> string(0) "" ["sentence"]=> string(0) "" ["fields"]=> string(0) "" ["category__in"]=> array(0) { } ["category__not_in"]=> array(0) { } ["category__and"]=> array(0) { } ["post__in"]=> array(0) { } ["post__not_in"]=> array(0) { } ["tag__in"]=> array(0) { } ["tag__not_in"]=> array(0) { } ["tag__and"]=> array(0) { } ["tag_slug__in"]=> array(0) { } ["tag_slug__and"]=> array(0) { } ["ignore_sticky_posts"]=> bool(false) ["suppress_filters"]=> bool(false) ["cache_results"]=> bool(false) ["update_post_term_cache"]=> bool(true) ["update_post_meta_cache"]=> bool(true) ["post_type"]=> string(0) "" ["posts_per_page"]=> int(15) ["nopaging"]=> bool(false) ["comments_per_page"]=> string(2) "50" ["no_found_rows"]=> bool(false) ["order"]=> string(4) "DESC" } ["tax_query"]=> object(WP_Tax_Query)#90 (2) { ["queries"]=> array(0) { } ["relation"]=> string(3) "AND" } ["meta_query"]=> object(WP_Meta_Query)#89 (2) { ["queries"]=> array(0) { } ["relation"]=> NULL } ["post_count"]=> int(15) ["current_post"]=> int(-1) ["in_the_loop"]=> bool(false) ["comment_count"]=> int(0) ["current_comment"]=> int(-1) ["found_posts"]=> string(2) "16" ["max_num_pages"]=> float(2) ["max_num_comment_pages"]=> int(0) ["is_single"]=> bool(false) ["is_preview"]=> bool(false) ["is_page"]=> bool(false) ["is_archive"]=> bool(true) ["is_date"]=> bool(true) ["is_year"]=> bool(false) ["is_month"]=> bool(true) ["is_day"]=> bool(false) ["is_time"]=> bool(false) ["is_author"]=> bool(false) ["is_category"]=> bool(false) ["is_tag"]=> bool(false) ["is_tax"]=> bool(false) ["is_search"]=> bool(false) ["is_feed"]=> bool(false) ["is_comment_feed"]=> bool(false) ["is_trackback"]=> bool(false) ["is_home"]=> bool(false) ["is_404"]=> bool(false) ["is_comments_popup"]=> bool(false) ["is_paged"]=> bool(false) ["is_admin"]=> bool(false) ["is_attachment"]=> bool(false) ["is_singular"]=> bool(false) ["is_robots"]=> bool(false) ["is_posts_page"]=> bool(false) ["is_post_type_archive"]=> bool(false) ["query_vars_hash"]=> string(32) "fc939bfabde47fec39a528106a53ab41" ["query_vars_changed"]=> bool(false) ["thumbnails_cached"]=> bool(false) ["query"]=> array(2) { ["year"]=> string(4) "2009" ["monthnum"]=> string(2) "05" } ["request"]=> string(252) " SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS wp_posts.* FROM wp_posts WHERE 1=1 AND YEAR(wp_posts.post_date)='2009' AND MONTH(wp_posts.post_date)='5' AND wp_posts.post_type = 'post' AND (wp_posts.post_status = 'publish') ORDER BY wp_posts.post_date DESC LIMIT 0, 15" ["posts"]=> &array(15) { [0]=> object(stdClass)#114 (25) { ["ID"]=> int(1816) ["post_author"]=> string(1) "3" ["post_date"]=> string(19) "2009-05-29 12:05:21" ["post_date_gmt"]=> string(19) "2009-05-29 02:05:21" ["post_content"]=> string(862) "In an encouraging sign given the largely poor economic news we've been hearing of late, this week has seen several high profile new jobs posted to our jobs site.News Digital Media/TrueLocal and looking for a Senior Front-end DeveloperGruden are looking for an Online Project Manager / ProducerDifferent Solutions are looking for an Art Directorwith many other jobs listed.Remember, if you are looking for a contractor, part time, or full time web professionals, it's free to post." ["post_title"]=> string(31) "New Jobs at Web Directions Jobs" ["post_category"]=> string(1) "0" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(0) "" ["post_status"]=> string(7) "publish" ["comment_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["ping_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["post_password"]=> string(0) "" ["post_name"]=> string(31) "new-jobs-at-web-directions-jobs" ["to_ping"]=> string(0) "" ["pinged"]=> string(0) "" ["post_modified"]=> string(19) "2009-05-29 12:05:21" ["post_modified_gmt"]=> string(19) "2009-05-29 02:05:21" ["post_content_filtered"]=> string(0) "" ["post_parent"]=> int(0) ["guid"]=> string(36) "http://www.webdirections.org/?p=1816" ["menu_order"]=> int(0) ["post_type"]=> string(4) "post" ["post_mime_type"]=> string(0) "" ["comment_count"]=> string(1) "0" ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" } [1]=> object(stdClass)#115 (25) { ["ID"]=> int(1811) ["post_author"]=> string(1) "3" ["post_date"]=> string(19) "2009-05-29 10:46:16" ["post_date_gmt"]=> string(19) "2009-05-29 00:46:16" ["post_content"]=> string(1620) "As far too few people know, Google Maps started life here in Australia, and Google continue to have a large Australian engineering presence. Now, Lars and Jens Rasmussen, two of the founders of what became Google Maps have announced Google Wave - built here in Australia by all indications.What exactly is Google Wave? Well, from the description, it sounds like a kind of real time collaboration wiki kind of thing. Or maybe a kind of distributed, extensible Facebook? Hmmmm. From the announcement

You create a wave and add people to it. Everyone on your wave can use richly formatted text, photos, gadgets, and even feeds from other sources on the web. They can insert a reply or edit the wave directly. It's concurrent rich-text editing, where you see on your screen nearly instantly what your fellow collaborators are typing in your wave. That means Google Wave is just as well suited for quick messages as for persistent content — it allows for both collaboration and communication. You can also use "playback" to rewind the wave and see how it evolved

Some cool things - it's built with HTML5 (will Wave do for HTML5 what Google Maps and Gmail did for Ajax?), and it's a platform that can be extended by developers.It's only announced as and not even in any kind of public availability, but well worth keeping an eye on, and great to see such high profile stuff being built right here!" ["post_title"]=> string(58) "Google Wave - the next big Aussie success story at Google?" ["post_category"]=> string(1) "0" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(0) "" ["post_status"]=> string(7) "publish" ["comment_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["ping_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["post_password"]=> string(0) "" ["post_name"]=> string(55) "google-wave-the-next-big-aussie-success-story-at-google" ["to_ping"]=> string(0) "" ["pinged"]=> string(0) "" ["post_modified"]=> string(19) "2009-05-29 10:46:16" ["post_modified_gmt"]=> string(19) "2009-05-29 00:46:16" ["post_content_filtered"]=> string(0) "" ["post_parent"]=> int(0) ["guid"]=> string(36) "http://www.webdirections.org/?p=1811" ["menu_order"]=> int(0) ["post_type"]=> string(4) "post" ["post_mime_type"]=> string(0) "" ["comment_count"]=> string(1) "2" ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" } [2]=> object(stdClass)#116 (25) { ["ID"]=> int(1807) ["post_author"]=> string(1) "3" ["post_date"]=> string(19) "2009-05-29 10:33:11" ["post_date_gmt"]=> string(19) "2009-05-29 00:33:11" ["post_content"]=> string(2455) "Regular readers will know of my near fixation with embeddable/downloadable fonts on the web, as now supported in Safari, Firefox 3.5 and Opera 10, and long supported (in a somewhat incompatible way with these other browsers) in Internet Explorer.But the technology has never taken off. Foundries and many type designers have been wary of the idea of simply putting their fonts online, to potentially be copied by anyone who wants them. The only game in town until this year has been the EOT format, which only IE supports, and which is the only font format IE supports. And EOT is frankly a pain and three quarters to work with.So folks have been using all kinds of horrible hacks (yes, they are horrible hacks people) like FIR, SIFR, and now Cufon, to try and get the fonts they want in their designs, demonstrating the desire for some solution to the problem.In a fit of frustration last year I wrote this post outlining a business model that could benefit designers and foundries - what we called in the 90's "upside all round". I learned soon after that a number of other folks had proposed similar ideas (it's not rocket science!)Well, Jeffrey Veen and his team at SmallBatch have gone and implemented the concept with a service due out in the next couple of months, called Typekit. I'm proud to say that my post and some subsequent involvement have had their part to play in the story.The idea has been met with huge enthusiasm by many, as I was quite sure it would be.Andy Clarke, a big favourite with Web Directions audiences, says simply "Typekit will change everything". I certainly think its impact on web design will be profound.I guess this will ensure that Mark Boulton's presentation on Web Typography at Web Directions South will be a rather popular one in October!I personally think this is an important day in the history of the web as a medium. Do others share the enthusiasm?" ["post_title"]=> string(37) "The dawning of real fonts on the web?" ["post_category"]=> string(1) "0" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(0) "" ["post_status"]=> string(7) "publish" ["comment_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["ping_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["post_password"]=> string(0) "" ["post_name"]=> string(36) "the-dawning-of-real-fonts-on-the-web" ["to_ping"]=> string(0) "" ["pinged"]=> string(252) "http://www.webdirections.org/blog/ubiquitous-web-font-embedding-just-got-a-step-closer/ http://www.webdirections.org/blog/ubiquitous-web-font-embedding-just-got-a-step-closer http://south09.webdirections.org/program/design#font-embedding-and-typography" ["post_modified"]=> string(19) "2009-05-29 10:33:11" ["post_modified_gmt"]=> string(19) "2009-05-29 00:33:11" ["post_content_filtered"]=> string(0) "" ["post_parent"]=> int(0) ["guid"]=> string(36) "http://www.webdirections.org/?p=1807" ["menu_order"]=> int(0) ["post_type"]=> string(4) "post" ["post_mime_type"]=> string(0) "" ["comment_count"]=> string(1) "1" ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" } [3]=> object(stdClass)#117 (25) { ["ID"]=> int(1803) ["post_author"]=> string(1) "2" ["post_date"]=> string(19) "2009-05-28 11:57:19" ["post_date_gmt"]=> string(19) "2009-05-28 01:57:19" ["post_content"]=> string(2344) "Lisa Herrod has been breathing a bit of life into the local scene by turning the Social Usability Professionals Association meetups into a regular event at The Arthouse in Pitt St. If you haven't been before, these are a great opportunity to mix with other local usability and UX people in a casual atmosphere.

You don’t have to be a UPA member to attend, if you’re working in the area of UX or interested in it, come along. It’s all about catching up, meeting, mixing and talking shop.

The next one is next Thursday, June 4th - come along!But it's not all just happening in Sydney though. On the training front, Tania Laing of Peak Usability, who will be speaking at Web Directions later this year, is also hosting a collection of full day workshops in Melbourne Brisbane and Sydney next month:

• Melbourne, 3 June 2009 - Web application design and interaction design
• Brisbane, 23 June 2009 - Web application design
• Brisbane, 24 June 2009 - Human characteristics and theoretical principles for usable web applications, intranet and internet sites
• Sydney, 30 June 2009 - Introduction to User Centred Design tools and techniques
• Sydney - 1 June 2009 - Discount evaluation techniques and how to conduct usability tests

" ["post_title"]=> string(49) "Usability - the word on everyone's lips this week" ["post_category"]=> string(1) "0" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(0) "" ["post_status"]=> string(7) "publish" ["comment_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["ping_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["post_password"]=> string(0) "" ["post_name"]=> string(46) "usability-the-word-on-everyones-lips-this-week" ["to_ping"]=> string(0) "" ["pinged"]=> string(53) " http://scenariogirl.com/usability/supa-social-upa-2/" ["post_modified"]=> string(19) "2009-05-28 11:57:19" ["post_modified_gmt"]=> string(19) "2009-05-28 01:57:19" ["post_content_filtered"]=> string(0) "" ["post_parent"]=> int(0) ["guid"]=> string(36) "http://www.webdirections.org/?p=1803" ["menu_order"]=> int(0) ["post_type"]=> string(4) "post" ["post_mime_type"]=> string(0) "" ["comment_count"]=> string(1) "0" ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" } [4]=> object(stdClass)#118 (25) { ["ID"]=> int(1800) ["post_author"]=> string(1) "3" ["post_date"]=> string(19) "2009-05-27 12:59:43" ["post_date_gmt"]=> string(19) "2009-05-27 02:59:43" ["post_content"]=> string(1476) "Anyone who's been to one of the Web Directions South conferences will have seen Mark Pesce, inventor of VRML, judge on the ABC's New Inventors, big thinker, and all round guru, speak.While he gracefully retired from our final keynote role after (in fact during) last year's keynote (like John Farnham I'm sure he'll be back, but in Mark's case much more welcome), Mark continues to grace the stages of the world.In just under 2 weeks, Mark will be presenting at "What's the big idea", an event that I'm helping to organize in the quiet little town of Bundeena just south of Sydney that I moved to about 2 and a half years ago, along with good friend and neighbour, Sydney Morning Herald journo Nick Galvin.The idea of "what's the big idea" is to bring a little of the sort of intellectual stimulation you can easily find in the big smoke to regional areas. It'll be held at the local "bowlo", in that most Australian of institutions, the chinese restaurant. You get a feed, a great presenter, and the conversation that ensues, all for $30! We're hoping to make this a regular occurrence, and that it's an idea other folks might run with in their town.If you are interested, it's on the night of June 9th, and it's only an hour from the CBD by car, or there are plenty of great B&Bs down here to stay at as well.If you'd like to know more, or would like to run your own, just drop us a line at the Big Idea site." ["post_title"]=> string(56) "Mark Pesce kicks of the first ever "What's the Big Idea"" ["post_category"]=> string(1) "0" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(0) "" ["post_status"]=> string(7) "publish" ["comment_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["ping_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["post_password"]=> string(0) "" ["post_name"]=> string(53) "mark-pesce-kicks-of-the-first-ever-whats-the-big-idea" ["to_ping"]=> string(0) "" ["pinged"]=> string(0) "" ["post_modified"]=> string(19) "2009-05-27 12:59:43" ["post_modified_gmt"]=> string(19) "2009-05-27 02:59:43" ["post_content_filtered"]=> string(0) "" ["post_parent"]=> int(0) ["guid"]=> string(36) "http://www.webdirections.org/?p=1800" ["menu_order"]=> int(0) ["post_type"]=> string(4) "post" ["post_mime_type"]=> string(0) "" ["comment_count"]=> string(1) "0" ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" } [5]=> object(stdClass)#119 (25) { ["ID"]=> int(1798) ["post_author"]=> string(1) "3" ["post_date"]=> string(19) "2009-05-27 09:55:58" ["post_date_gmt"]=> string(19) "2009-05-26 23:55:58" ["post_content"]=> string(966) "I'm not sure how many Australians will be familiar with DailyKos, an enormously influential and highly trafficked politically liberal online community in the US.DailyKos, frequently singled out by right wing commentators in the mainstream media for vitriolic abuse (which seems to only benefit DK), is an example of an extraordinary online community that has grown from literally nothing in only 7 years (it's 7 years old today).The very first post is still online. It's interesting to see such humble beginnings become something so influential. Whether you agree with their politics or not you can't but help marvel at what it has become. We live in the kind of times where that can happen, largely thanks to the web.Just one of the many things that make me feel incredible privileged and fortunate to have stumbled on this web thing, 17 or so years ago." ["post_title"]=> string(26) "Happy anniversary DailyKos" ["post_category"]=> string(1) "0" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(0) "" ["post_status"]=> string(7) "publish" ["comment_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["ping_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["post_password"]=> string(0) "" ["post_name"]=> string(26) "happy-anniversary-dailykos" ["to_ping"]=> string(0) "" ["pinged"]=> string(0) "" ["post_modified"]=> string(19) "2009-05-27 09:55:58" ["post_modified_gmt"]=> string(19) "2009-05-26 23:55:58" ["post_content_filtered"]=> string(0) "" ["post_parent"]=> int(0) ["guid"]=> string(36) "http://www.webdirections.org/?p=1798" ["menu_order"]=> int(0) ["post_type"]=> string(4) "post" ["post_mime_type"]=> string(0) "" ["comment_count"]=> string(1) "0" ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" } [6]=> object(stdClass)#120 (25) { ["ID"]=> int(1795) ["post_author"]=> string(1) "3" ["post_date"]=> string(19) "2009-05-26 08:58:22" ["post_date_gmt"]=> string(19) "2009-05-25 22:58:22" ["post_content"]=> string(1012) "Techworld has a detailed summary of Google's high performance guru Steve Souder's recent Tech Ed presentation on web site performance, where he singles out JavaScript as a particular culprit in slowing down sites.With Amazon reporting that a 10th of a second slow down in overall page loading reduced sales by 1%, this is no trivial matter.If you are interested in knowing more, Steve's classic book High Performance Sites, and upcoming Even Faster Sites are well worth thinking about. We also have a detailed session at Web Directions South by Gruden's Mark Stanton, where you can learn how to analyse what your end users are experiencing and how to reduce your load times by 25-50% using a range of simple techniques. " ["post_title"]=> string(34) "JavaScript and Website performance" ["post_category"]=> string(1) "0" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(0) "" ["post_status"]=> string(7) "publish" ["comment_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["ping_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["post_password"]=> string(0) "" ["post_name"]=> string(34) "javascript-and-website-performance" ["to_ping"]=> string(0) "" ["pinged"]=> string(94) " http://south09.webdirections.org/program/development#best-practices-for-speeding-up-your-site" ["post_modified"]=> string(19) "2009-05-26 08:58:22" ["post_modified_gmt"]=> string(19) "2009-05-25 22:58:22" ["post_content_filtered"]=> string(0) "" ["post_parent"]=> int(0) ["guid"]=> string(36) "http://www.webdirections.org/?p=1795" ["menu_order"]=> int(0) ["post_type"]=> string(4) "post" ["post_mime_type"]=> string(0) "" ["comment_count"]=> string(1) "0" ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" } [7]=> object(stdClass)#121 (25) { ["ID"]=> int(1793) ["post_author"]=> string(1) "3" ["post_date"]=> string(19) "2009-05-26 08:48:17" ["post_date_gmt"]=> string(19) "2009-05-25 22:48:17" ["post_content"]=> string(479) "News from Autoweek, that BMW will now offer full internet access in the dashboard, well. provided your car is travelling at less than 5 kph.One wonders whether the kind of folks with a BMW budget won't already have a web enabled phone, and whether dedicated in car web access will ever really take off?But always good to add to the list of places you can find the web." ["post_title"]=> string(33) "Great moments in User Experience?" ["post_category"]=> string(1) "0" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(0) "" ["post_status"]=> string(7) "publish" ["comment_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["ping_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["post_password"]=> string(0) "" ["post_name"]=> string(32) "great-moments-in-user-experience" ["to_ping"]=> string(0) "" ["pinged"]=> string(0) "" ["post_modified"]=> string(19) "2009-05-26 08:48:17" ["post_modified_gmt"]=> string(19) "2009-05-25 22:48:17" ["post_content_filtered"]=> string(0) "" ["post_parent"]=> int(0) ["guid"]=> string(36) "http://www.webdirections.org/?p=1793" ["menu_order"]=> int(0) ["post_type"]=> string(4) "post" ["post_mime_type"]=> string(0) "" ["comment_count"]=> string(1) "0" ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" } [8]=> object(stdClass)#122 (25) { ["ID"]=> int(1790) ["post_author"]=> string(1) "3" ["post_date"]=> string(19) "2009-05-22 11:33:05" ["post_date_gmt"]=> string(19) "2009-05-22 01:33:05" ["post_content"]=> string(1857) "Announced a few weeks ago, via Stephen Collins we learn that America's service to

increase public access to high value, machine readable datasets generated by the Executive Branch of the Federal Government.

has been launched.To me, a hugely important step in the transformation of the concept of government to greater transparency and accountability. Remember, they work for us.I had the privilege to do a keynote presentation at the CeBIT eGovernment forum in Sydney last week, where I suggested the concept of a data czar in government, whose role is to identify, and facilitate the publication of Austraian Government data. I'd also love to see developer.gov.au - similar to the New York Times developer programCredit where it is due, the Australian Bureau of Statistics does release much of its data under a creative commons license, where

[p]eople are free to re-use, build upon and distribute our data, even commercially. This makes a wealth of data readily available to the community, researchers and business, facilitating innovative research and development projects based on quality statistics, and promoting the wider use of statistics in the community, which is one of our core objectives

Where will all this lead us? I'm not sure anyone has much of an idea (except maybe Mark Pesce) - but I certainly believe it will transform the way we interact with government. " ["post_title"]=> string(8) "Data.gov" ["post_category"]=> string(1) "0" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(0) "" ["post_status"]=> string(7) "publish" ["comment_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["ping_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["post_password"]=> string(0) "" ["post_name"]=> string(7) "datagov" ["to_ping"]=> string(0) "" ["pinged"]=> string(0) "" ["post_modified"]=> string(19) "2009-05-22 11:33:05" ["post_modified_gmt"]=> string(19) "2009-05-22 01:33:05" ["post_content_filtered"]=> string(0) "" ["post_parent"]=> int(0) ["guid"]=> string(36) "http://www.webdirections.org/?p=1790" ["menu_order"]=> int(0) ["post_type"]=> string(4) "post" ["post_mime_type"]=> string(0) "" ["comment_count"]=> string(1) "2" ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" } [9]=> object(stdClass)#123 (25) { ["ID"]=> int(1783) ["post_author"]=> string(1) "3" ["post_date"]=> string(19) "2009-05-22 11:00:21" ["post_date_gmt"]=> string(19) "2009-05-22 01:00:21" ["post_content"]=> string(1315) "(As astute, more likely female readers might guess, Sound of Music is now the new favourite movie at chez Allsopp for the 3 year old)We might forget it, but once IE6 represented a great leap forward for the web. At the time, its support for CSS was really as good as it got. Then, sadly, nothing happened with IE, and the web in the shape of Opera, Safari and Firefox (the last two not even released when IE6 was) moved on.IE6 became an albatross around our necks.Since then, a myriad proposed solutions, from Dean Edward's extraordinary IE7 Script, to the best forgotten Browse Happy campaign have come along to help us try and deal with this aging, but still significant browser (even CSS3 gets in on the act with the box-sizing property, supported in IE8!)Now, one of Web Directions favourite presenters, Andy Clarke, has proposed simply serving all sites the same style for IE6.Read Andy's suggestion for Universal Internet Explorer 6 CSS in detail - a very interesting proposal." ["post_title"]=> string(36) "How do you solve a problem like IE6?" ["post_category"]=> string(1) "0" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(0) "" ["post_status"]=> string(7) "publish" ["comment_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["ping_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["post_password"]=> string(0) "" ["post_name"]=> string(35) "how-do-you-solve-a-problem-like-ie6" ["to_ping"]=> string(0) "" ["pinged"]=> string(0) "" ["post_modified"]=> string(19) "2009-05-22 11:03:01" ["post_modified_gmt"]=> string(19) "2009-05-22 01:03:01" ["post_content_filtered"]=> string(0) "" ["post_parent"]=> int(0) ["guid"]=> string(36) "http://www.webdirections.org/?p=1783" ["menu_order"]=> int(0) ["post_type"]=> string(4) "post" ["post_mime_type"]=> string(0) "" ["comment_count"]=> string(1) "2" ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" } [10]=> object(stdClass)#124 (25) { ["ID"]=> int(1785) ["post_author"]=> string(1) "3" ["post_date"]=> string(19) "2009-05-22 10:47:35" ["post_date_gmt"]=> string(19) "2009-05-22 00:47:35" ["post_content"]=> string(443) "As regular readers and Web Directions attendees will know, we are big big fans of Adrian Holovaty here at WD!Adrian's latest short post summarizes I think much of why we are such big fans. Highly relevant to the current widespread debate about the future of news and journalism, and whether the internets are killing traditional media." ["post_title"]=> string(22) "We ❤ Adrian Holovaty" ["post_category"]=> string(1) "0" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(0) "" ["post_status"]=> string(7) "publish" ["comment_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["ping_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["post_password"]=> string(0) "" ["post_name"]=> string(22) "we-lov-adrian-holovaty" ["to_ping"]=> string(0) "" ["pinged"]=> string(0) "" ["post_modified"]=> string(19) "2009-05-22 10:47:35" ["post_modified_gmt"]=> string(19) "2009-05-22 00:47:35" ["post_content_filtered"]=> string(0) "" ["post_parent"]=> int(0) ["guid"]=> string(36) "http://www.webdirections.org/?p=1785" ["menu_order"]=> int(0) ["post_type"]=> string(4) "post" ["post_mime_type"]=> string(0) "" ["comment_count"]=> string(1) "0" ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" } [11]=> object(stdClass)#125 (25) { ["ID"]=> int(1779) ["post_author"]=> string(1) "3" ["post_date"]=> string(19) "2009-05-22 09:43:19" ["post_date_gmt"]=> string(19) "2009-05-21 23:43:19" ["post_content"]=> string(1050) "Each year in March, Microsoft hold MIX, their web focussed conference. For the last three years, Microsoft Australia has been holding REMIX, a one day event bringing focussing on the web, from Microsoft's perspective. This year's event is a few weeks off, in Sydney June 11.Clearly Microsoft, and their technologies, play a significant role in the lives of web designers and developers. Internet Explorer remains, and will do so for quite some time yet, the most widely used browser. On both the server and client side, a raft of Microsoft technologies power tens of millions of sites. Whether you use any or many of these technologies, there's no doubting that your site's visitors will, and there's a good chance that your clients or companies systems will. So keeping abreast of what goes on with these technologies is relevant to many web professionals.If it's relevant to you, check out the REMIX program." ["post_title"]=> string(30) "Microsoft REMIX coming in June" ["post_category"]=> string(1) "0" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(0) "" ["post_status"]=> string(7) "publish" ["comment_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["ping_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["post_password"]=> string(0) "" ["post_name"]=> string(30) "microsoft-remix-coming-in-june" ["to_ping"]=> string(0) "" ["pinged"]=> string(0) "" ["post_modified"]=> string(19) "2009-05-22 09:43:19" ["post_modified_gmt"]=> string(19) "2009-05-21 23:43:19" ["post_content_filtered"]=> string(0) "" ["post_parent"]=> int(0) ["guid"]=> string(36) "http://www.webdirections.org/?p=1779" ["menu_order"]=> int(0) ["post_type"]=> string(4) "post" ["post_mime_type"]=> string(0) "" ["comment_count"]=> string(1) "0" ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" } [12]=> object(stdClass)#126 (25) { ["ID"]=> int(1777) ["post_author"]=> string(1) "2" ["post_date"]=> string(19) "2009-05-13 10:43:57" ["post_date_gmt"]=> string(19) "2009-05-13 00:43:57" ["post_content"]=> string(1138) "It's really great to see industry meetups taking off again. The latest I have heard is that the Australian Web Industry Association are hitting the road - bringing Port80 Drinks to Sydney and Melbourne this May.

Founded in 2002, port80 is proud of its informal meetings - no long speeches, no admission fees, no forced networking. Just great discussion, a few drinks and the chance to meet others in your industry.

Port80 Melbourne Tuesday 26th May, starting at 7.00pm, at:The Lounge @ Softbelly Bar 367 Little Bourke Street Melbourne VIC 3000You can see a Google Map here.Port80 Sydney Wednesday 27th May, starting at 7.00pm, at:Saasu Offices Level One, 111 Elizabeth St Sydney NSW 2000You can view a Google Map here.See you at the Sydney event!" ["post_title"]=> string(32) "Port80 May 2009 Roadtrip Meetups" ["post_category"]=> string(1) "0" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(0) "" ["post_status"]=> string(7) "publish" ["comment_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["ping_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["post_password"]=> string(0) "" ["post_name"]=> string(32) "port80-may-2009-roadtrip-meetups" ["to_ping"]=> string(0) "" ["pinged"]=> string(0) "" ["post_modified"]=> string(19) "2009-05-13 10:43:57" ["post_modified_gmt"]=> string(19) "2009-05-13 00:43:57" ["post_content_filtered"]=> string(0) "" ["post_parent"]=> int(0) ["guid"]=> string(36) "http://www.webdirections.org/?p=1777" ["menu_order"]=> int(0) ["post_type"]=> string(4) "post" ["post_mime_type"]=> string(0) "" ["comment_count"]=> string(1) "0" ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" } [13]=> object(stdClass)#127 (25) { ["ID"]=> int(1775) ["post_author"]=> string(1) "2" ["post_date"]=> string(19) "2009-05-12 11:32:40" ["post_date_gmt"]=> string(19) "2009-05-12 01:32:40" ["post_content"]=> string(2488) "You'll all remember the mini fracas a month or so back when Doug Bowman pulled up stumps at Google, and moved on to the role of Creative Director at Twitter.John and I thought there was definitely enough meat on this topic for a thought provoking session at the conference this year, so we were delighted when someone sent us in the direction of local designer Luke Stevens, who will be giving us his insights and hopefully encouraging a bit of debate in his session at Web Directions South this year.Luke's just published a thought provoking blog post with some of his thoughts on what happened between Doug and Google. It's a great taster for what I think will be a really interesting session come October.

With that in mind, I do have one nit to pick with Doug Bowman. He finished his piece on leaving Google by saying “But I won’t miss a design philosophy that lives or dies strictly by the sword of data.”

Web design, in my view, should live or die by the sword of data.

I’ll tell you why: every bit of ‘data’ isn’t an abstract thing. It’s a person like you or me trying to do something, and succeeding or failing.

On the web, you can measure what people do. You can measure what they click, how long they stay for, if they scroll, how many pages they view, if they ‘bounce’, if they return, and so on. You can ask if they were successful or not. For perhaps the first time in history we can accurately measure all interactions with a piece of design.

If it can be measured, it can be improved. And each of those improvements represents helping someone do something a little more successfully.

The full article makes a great piece of lunch time reading." ["post_title"]=> string(52) "Data driven design - a debate that isn't going away?" ["post_category"]=> string(1) "0" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(0) "" ["post_status"]=> string(7) "publish" ["comment_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["ping_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["post_password"]=> string(0) "" ["post_name"]=> string(48) "data-driven-design-a-debate-that-isnt-going-away" ["to_ping"]=> string(0) "" ["pinged"]=> string(67) " http://south09.webdirections.org/program/design#data-driven-design" ["post_modified"]=> string(19) "2009-05-12 11:32:40" ["post_modified_gmt"]=> string(19) "2009-05-12 01:32:40" ["post_content_filtered"]=> string(0) "" ["post_parent"]=> int(0) ["guid"]=> string(36) "http://www.webdirections.org/?p=1775" ["menu_order"]=> int(0) ["post_type"]=> string(4) "post" ["post_mime_type"]=> string(0) "" ["comment_count"]=> string(1) "0" ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" } [14]=> object(stdClass)#128 (25) { ["ID"]=> int(1772) ["post_author"]=> string(1) "3" ["post_date"]=> string(19) "2009-05-12 11:13:28" ["post_date_gmt"]=> string(19) "2009-05-12 01:13:28" ["post_content"]=> string(1835) "Thanks to all those who have already registered - WDS09 is off to a great start!We're also very happy to announce our first exhibitors for 2009 - long time supporters of Web Directions, Campaign Monitor, and XERO, providers of a very popular web based accountancy system. XERO were supporters last year, and this year will cross the ditch to exhibit.

Campaign Monitor

Campaign monitor, a great Aussie success story, powers our email campaigns. We've been doing email campaigns for 15+ years, and they have by far the best solution we've ever used. The fact they are generous enough to support us, and exhibit at Web Directions is honestly incidental - do check them out if you even occasionally send email campaigns.A big thanks to Ben, Dave and the crew at Freshview for their support!

XERO

XERO came across our radars some time in the last 18 months, as people started raving about the sophistication of their web based interface. They are clearly doing things right over there in the land of the long white cloud, as they picked up two Webby Awards in this years edition. So, like Russell Crowe, we Aussies will claim them as our own (hang on, I mean like Split Enz!)A big congrats, and thanks to Xero for their support - looking forward to seeing you in Sydney in October!

Exhibiting

There's still some places left for exhibitors, and a number of sponsorship opportunities for this years conference, so if you think it's something that could help your company connect with an audience of early adopter, opinion leading web professionals, drop us a line!" ["post_title"]=> string(28) "WDS09 - off to a great start" ["post_category"]=> string(1) "0" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(0) "" ["post_status"]=> string(7) "publish" ["comment_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["ping_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["post_password"]=> string(0) "" ["post_name"]=> string(26) "wds09-off-to-a-great-start" ["to_ping"]=> string(0) "" ["pinged"]=> string(0) "" ["post_modified"]=> string(19) "2009-05-12 11:13:28" ["post_modified_gmt"]=> string(19) "2009-05-12 01:13:28" ["post_content_filtered"]=> string(0) "" ["post_parent"]=> int(0) ["guid"]=> string(36) "http://www.webdirections.org/?p=1772" ["menu_order"]=> int(0) ["post_type"]=> string(4) "post" ["post_mime_type"]=> string(0) "" ["comment_count"]=> string(1) "0" ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" } } ["post"]=> object(stdClass)#114 (25) { ["ID"]=> int(1816) ["post_author"]=> string(1) "3" ["post_date"]=> string(19) "2009-05-29 12:05:21" ["post_date_gmt"]=> string(19) "2009-05-29 02:05:21" ["post_content"]=> string(862) "In an encouraging sign given the largely poor economic news we've been hearing of late, this week has seen several high profile new jobs posted to our jobs site.News Digital Media/TrueLocal and looking for a Senior Front-end DeveloperGruden are looking for an Online Project Manager / ProducerDifferent Solutions are looking for an Art Directorwith many other jobs listed.Remember, if you are looking for a contractor, part time, or full time web professionals, it's free to post." ["post_title"]=> string(31) "New Jobs at Web Directions Jobs" ["post_category"]=> string(1) "0" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(0) "" ["post_status"]=> string(7) "publish" ["comment_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["ping_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["post_password"]=> string(0) "" ["post_name"]=> string(31) "new-jobs-at-web-directions-jobs" ["to_ping"]=> string(0) "" ["pinged"]=> string(0) "" ["post_modified"]=> string(19) "2009-05-29 12:05:21" ["post_modified_gmt"]=> string(19) "2009-05-29 02:05:21" ["post_content_filtered"]=> string(0) "" ["post_parent"]=> int(0) ["guid"]=> string(36) "http://www.webdirections.org/?p=1816" ["menu_order"]=> int(0) ["post_type"]=> string(4) "post" ["post_mime_type"]=> string(0) "" ["comment_count"]=> string(1) "0" ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" } ["queried_object"]=> NULL ["queried_object_id"]=> int(0) }