I read in smh this morning that The Powerhouse Museum is creating Australia’s first public email archive in an attempt to preserve a collection of present day communications for future generations. Anyone can contribute by going to the Email Australia site and submitting emails which are funny, sad, embarassing etc etc. Having just made the […]
Sometimes I find it hard to tell the difference between a good idea badly executed and a plain old bad idea. This is one of those times. Reputation HQ is a “socialprise web application that bridges the gap between Social Media and enterprise ORM”. Yes, I had to look up ORM as well – it […]
A presentation given at at Web Directions Government, Old Parliament House, Canberra, May 19 2008.
Web Usability is far more complex than user testing and interaction design alone. And while interface design is an important consideration, there’s more to a usable site than what’s on the surface.
We all know the importance of accessibility and web standards, so let’s take that knowledge one step further and into the realm of usability. In this session Lisa Herrod will redefine the common definition of usability by introducing a greater focus on accessibility and web standards. By taking a more holistic approach you will soon see why usability is more than skin deep.
I decided to go with the forms feature of Google Spreadsheets for our Have Your Say in the Web Directions South 2008 Program survey. Only 24 hours in I’m largely happy with the choice, apart from I’d love to be able to limit which cells of the spreadsheet I share (so as to not have […]
A presentation given at Web Directions Government, Old Parliament House, Canberra, May 19 2008.
Government has huge amounts of information but how can this be effectively managed and delivered through the web? This session will ‘lift the lid’ on web mapping technology and identify some of the key issues that must be addressed to achieve a successful outcome.
The NSW government SIX Viewer web mapping portal will be used as a case study to demonstrate how terabytes of data can be integrated and delivered via the Internet.
I liked this, which I saw the other day (Hat Tip: Virginia Murdoch). It’s a story in the “hard-boiled” genre, told in bite sized chunks with each chunk connected to its location on Google Maps. As I said, I liked it, but it didn’t really hold my attention I don’t think because I’m not familiar […]
Every year the Web Directions conference brings together a group of expert speakers who have been working on interesting projects and finding ingenious and practical solutions to those same challenges the attendees face in their own work. This year we’d love your help with finding out who those experts are. If you can spare 5 […]
John and I have been thinking about ways of drawing on the great ideas for speakers and topics from the people who come to the conference ever since the closing keynote of Web Directions South 2007. Who better to tell you about what content should be there than the people who are going to experience […]
I always find it the most tiresome of conversation stoppers whenever anyone says “Twitter/Facebook/MySpace/Flickr/[insert name of social networking application here] is stupid. I don’t care what you had for breakfast. I don’t want to find out what my friends are up to over the web etc etc etc.” Boring! In a nice quote from his […]
Sydneysiders free around lunch time tomorrow should swing by the Powerhouse Museum and catch Sebastian Chan, who gave a much loved presentation at Web Directions South last year. As part of the Talks After Noon series, Sebastian will be speaking on the future of museums online and looking at the different ways museums are engaging […]
By now, I suspect all of our readers will be familiar with the idea of a barcamp – “unconferences” which have no agenda, no invited speakers, little or no cost, and which encourage everyone who turns up to participate. Australia has seen a number of these events in the last year or so, and April […]
OK, off the cuff I’m troubled by all the references to girls and fairies in this interview with Chris Heatherly, Disney’s VP of Technology and Innovation, but there is mention of an innovative solution to a real problem. That problem being risks to personal security of children brought about by the connections they make in […]
Like many a young, science focussed geek growing up, science fiction as well as science fact became a very important part of my teenage years. Towering above the great names of mid century SciFi like Asimov and Robert A Henlien to my mind at least was Arthur C. Clarke. Clarke’s fiction was only one half […]
Or should that be 37Signals takes on Donald Norman? Responding to a Wired Magazine article in which he was quoted as saying that the kind of simplicity embodied in the products of organisations like 37Signals was overrated, Donald Norman blogs Now, I have always admired 37signals. Nice website, intelligent articles. But I’ve tried their products […]
It’s a fair bet that Andy Budd, author, web designer and developer, renowned blogger, and organiser of the d.construct conferences among many other things will be known to most people in the web industry. We are really excited to have him as our opening keynote speaker, as well as presenting a full day workshop in […]
Thoroughly enjoyed Web Directions — met some great people, heard some inspiring presenters and added a whole bunch of things to my to-do list.
Joel Roberts Web Developer
