News : April 2006
Wanted: Managing Editor
Digital Web Magazine seeks a volunteer with mighty fortitude, a fearless heart and a sense of humor to take on the role of Managing Editor. Developing and executing a content strategy for DWM is central to the role. If you've got a love for the Web, a visionary mind and a facility for language, we want to hear from you. Please be sure to list all your relevant experience.
Announcing: Carolyn Wood
It's my pleasure to introduce Carolyn Wood, Digital Web Magazine's new Interviews Editor. Carolyn has been working with DWM behind the scenes for the better part of a year, interviewing interesting and influential citizens of the net for the readers of DWM. Carolyn recently became a full-fledged member of the staff, dedicated to bringing you the best content on the Web.
Vacations and Anniversaries
Well Digital Web Magazine readers, I and the rest of the staff will be taking about two weeks of for a much-needed vacation. This means there will probably be very little activity on the site, maybe a few blog posts here and there, but no new articles for two weeks. We will return just in time to publish the site's 10 year anniversary issue. Not sure what we will specifically do for our anniversary out side of a regular issue. Maybe you as a reader have some suggestions? If so please leave a comment on this blog post and let us know what you think we should do to celebrate 10 years of digital-web.com... remember, we don't have a lot of money to spend but we'd like to do something special.
Pricing a Web Project
Brian Fling (full disclosure: one of my business partners) at Blue Flavor has authored an excellent post on Pricing a Project. If you are freelance web professional or even if you work in a small company where you are asked to price out project, this is an post you can't afford to not read. Also, if you are planning to hire a company to do your web site, it's probably a good idea to understand the nature of why the price is what it is. It's perhaps one of the best pricing articles I have ever seen and I am not just saying that because I have to work with the guy. :) Feel free to leave comments on the blog post at Blue Flavor, we would love to hear what you have to say.
Article: Build for the Future: Bend, Don't Break
Plan your Web site construction process for the future and you'll get a site that's flexible and easier to maintain. Garrett Dimon suggests how. Read more...
Interested in Podcasts?
Whether you're a maven or just someone dipping your toe in the shallow end, an online media product wants to hear from Digital Web readers. Take this short survey to help influence podcasting Xanadu.
WebVisions 2006
Yes, folks, that's right, it's that time of year where I along with Brad Smith, Ross Olson, Kit Seeborg, Janice Bradford and a few others help organize WebVisions. WebVisions is a conference that explores the future of design, content creation, user experience and business strategy. Be ready to network, share ideas and be inspired by an all-star lineup of speakers.
This year we have
Jared Spool,
Hillman Curtis and
Luke Williams keynoting. In addition we have a massive cast of talented speakers including
David Adams,
Dave Allen,
Andy Baio,
DL Byron,
Michael Buffington,
Dan Cederholm,
Mike Davidson,
Bill DeRouchey,
Garrett Dimon,
Brian Fling,
Kelly Goto,
Matt Haughey,
Jeremy Keith,
Nate Koechley,
Tristan Louis,
Matt May,
David McFarland,
Brian Oberkirch,
Jeremiah Owyang,
Derek Powazek,
Robert Reinhardt,
D. Keith Robinson,
William Rogers,
Christopher Schmitt,
Kit Seeborg,
Rashmi Sinha,
Gene Smith,
Jonathan Snook,
Thomas Vander Wal,
Mark Wyner and plenty more to come.
Learn more at the WebVisions website. If you plan on going, please register via the WebVisions site and then put your name on the attendee list at Upcoming.org.
Article: Principles and Elements of Design: A Web Design Review
Get your permission slip in and don't forget to pack a lunch. As part of his Design in Theory and Practice column, Joshua David McClurg-Genevese takes us on a field trip through the lovely CSS Zen Garden to illustrate the principles and elements of design. Read more...
2005 Reader Survey Results
Well, some things are better done late than never. I finally got around to publishing the results of the 2005 Digital Web Magazine Reader Survey that we took in December 2005 and January 2006. Some quick take-aways from this year's survey:
- The 25 to 34 age bracket seems to be growing even more this year
- There's a slight increase in women reading Digial Web Magazine
- Two to four-person companies seem to be on the upraise
- More readers are adopting 1280x1024 for their display area size
- DSL is becoming slightly more adopted where Cable is remaining consistant with last year
- Firefox usage keeps increasing this year where IE and Safari usage is decreasing
- Stylesheets, User Experience Design, and User-Centered Design are the top three topics of choice
Those are just some quick indicators. Go ahead and check out the results yourself and make your own calls.
Article: Building Your Own Start-up Technology Company, Part 2
This week, Innovating the Web Experience columnist and Involution Studios partner Dirk Knemeyer shares his knowledge on the legal, financial and human resources aspects of starting your own business in this second part of a four-part series on Building a Start-Up Tech Company. Read more...
Comet, the complement of AJAX
My good friend, Ross Olson tells me that there is a new acronym in town. Hot on the heels of the hype for AJAX comes ...Comet, Low Latency Data for the Browser. Ross goes on to say "Ajax is good for the browser, but doesn't allow the server to have it's say. Comet allows the server to push asynchronously. Ajax allows the browser to pull asynchronously. Two great tastes that taste great together. They compliment each other." Just like AJAX the technology is nothing new, but simply a repackaging of something that has been around for a while. Alex Russell is the guy behind Comet and if all goes well he may be giving Comet workshops and traveling the world on book tours in about a year.
Apple, Microsoft, and Linux all in bed together?
On the heels of the Microsoft does Linux announcement comes the Apple does Microsoft announcement. No folks, this is not some idiot April Fools joke, it's April 5th and I assure you this is very real. Which will, of course, beg the question What if Microsoft Bought Apple? Yikes. [thanks for the tips Tristan Louis, Garrett Dimon, and Thomas Vander Wal]
Omni starts blogging
Linda Sharps, "The Marketing Weasel" at The Omni Group, tells us that they now have a blog up.. so now you can hear all your Omni related news directly from, well, The Omni Mouth. Linda goes on to say "However, lack of demand WILL NOT STOP US. No, indeed, we are barging straight ahead into the magical world of blogging. Because we are focused on community! And we like talking with our users! And, well, some of us have too much time on our hands."
Review: Campaign Monitor
There was a time when HTML emails were the red-headed stepchild of Web marketing-ungainly to create and despised by readers. As Digital Web Magazine product reviewer Ken Westin notes, Campaign Monitor is a Web-based HTML email delivery and monitoring application that will change that reputation. Read more...
