Brussels web design blog

Me.dium : browsing street

One of the vital challenges of internet and the most complex issue of electronic medium is to formalize or create the notion of presence, of “being there”. Check out this firefox extension:  Me.dium (description by Katherine Yee)

http://me.dium.com/

Me.dium is a plug-in for the Firefox Browser that enables “social browsing”. It occupies a space on left side of your browser window, has a bulls-eye graphic in the top half, and a buddy list/chat window in the lower half. When you navigate around different sites an algorithm at Me.dium it looks through the characteristics of those sites and puts related sites on the bulls-eye. If another Me.dium user happens to be on one of those sites in the bulls-eye, a small buddy icon (yellow for a friend, blue for a generic user) floats near the icon for the their site. You can visit other sites on the bulls-eye or you can chat with anyone in the bulls-eye, friend or not, in the chat box. Or you can just click on a friend in my buddy list to chat. It is a way of expressing how different people and the amount of activity affect a person. For example, when you go outside looking for something to eat, you react to the people’s behavior around you and migrate to the restaurant that has more positive vibes. That’s what Me.dium does. By seeing what other people around you are doing, it gives you a range of options (or supplies a range of information) that mirrors the range you have in everyday life making everyday decisions.”

found via: Digital Media, Digital Meaning

Pushing data onto the browser: Comet

The future of the read-write web is multi-user.

Read about “Comet”, a technology that allows to push messages /updates onto the client’s browser. Sure, Ajax can do that, but not synchronously with other connected persons with virtually no latency. Read more about Comet: Low Latency Data for the Browser

integrate sound in html via javascript

Integrate sound in an html paget… via a hidden flash 8+ file, controllable via javascript.

SoundManager 2: Javascript Sound For The Web – Schillmania.com

Amazing to see the progress made with javascript since one year. 2007 looks very promising, and i ‘m in love with jQuery !

Heatmaps to display statistical data

for the sake of studying the usability of an interface (such as a website), people use heatmaps as a way of tracking the click rate per screen area.

i like it because it’s a dead-end example of why words like “virtual” do not have any sense: it underlines the materiality of a visitor’s presence on a website.

http://www.etre.com/blog/2006/05/five_days_dixonscouk/

The ultimate RSS reader, free and usable: KlipFolio.com

I think i’ve found the ultimate rss feader. Lightweight, tiny, yet highly configurable, visually pleasing, and giving direct access to information. Great usability especially, as it does a good job in helping you digest the great floods of information in a very short time.
And it’s completely free too. KlipFolio.com

Here is how it looks on my desktop (i made it as a tiny floatbar):