Google+ vs Facebook

So which is more awesome Facebook or Google+ - watch this video and you can decide... AWESOME - although they need to bring it up to date to talk about how horrific timeline is? As the lovely Kevin put it: "‎- love the way Google are pushing, no, force feeding us Google Plus. The latest attempt via the new navigation bar and it's veiled funneling. It's no Facebook. Bottom line, why do you want two online social lives? If it could import your existing FB then they'd have something but, as it stands, it'll die just as its predecessor Google Wave and Google Buzz. Watch."

Should Computer Science be a core lesson in schools?

I was reading this BBC News article "Are children becoming 'digitally illiterate'?" which piqued my interest yesterday. It points out that computers have become ever more complex over the years and kids are taught in schools how to use them. Most young people know how to use Word, Excel, etc... they can work Windows, they can use a smartphone, they can email, tweet, blog, facebook, play games (from consoles to flash to mobile), they can do many complex tasks from a very early age. Some kids can surf the net before they've even started school... yet they don't understand nor are they taught the basic foundations that allow the creation of this software or hardware.

When I was a teen I had my first computers. They were simpler beasts. Through experimentation I knew how to take them apart, upgrade them, format them, etc. I found ways to make outdated DOS games work on newer versions of Windows. I took games apart, played with the code, customised the look and feel, built my own levels... I found little hacks, little fiddles, I knew the ins and outs of the kit I had to play with. I taught myself HTML and could produce some pretty fancy websites (for the time). Some of my peers took this further - they learnt how to write little pieces of software and scripts.

Many of the people working in the digital and software industries today started their careers as a teenager fiddling with their hardware in their room (chortle at implied inuendos).

But things were simpler then! The mind boggles how a teenager now could learn to build a website now - sure they could learn basic HTML and produce a crappy site like the ones I used to produce (crappy by todays standards)... but can the average teen learn PHP (etc), CSS and proper HTML skills from their bedroom in the same way? Is it possible to take things apart in the same way without irriparably breaking them? Things are so much more complex now than they were. And what's the motivation?

Many of the most well known, multi-billion pound, software and digital offerings started life from some kids bedroom. Someone who'd been tinkering with code as a teen and took this further into something that became Facebook, or Windows, or Spotify or... etc. Many of the well-paid programmers, contractors, producers, MD's, UX's, designers, etc started their careers pottering with a crappy basic computer at home.

But today's generation have super-whizzy computers, mobiles, etc. To complex to take apart - so where can a new generation get the knowledge they need to ensure the UK continues to have a thriving technical industry? Surely in school! As the Beeb article asks, should Computer Science be taught as a lesson in school? I say absolutely - every kid should know basic IT (how to use Word, internet, apps, etc) and they should know the science that goes behind it.

The UK is not a country rich in material resource but (in theory) it is a country rich in smart people. However, if enough people aren't nurtured and encouraged to follow careers in software, media, etc then we'll loose out to other countries that can do it more cheaply (China?).

Everyone needs to be taught basic foundations that will help them get through life - that includes the classic disciplines of science, maths, english, etc - but being able to understand the technological world we live in, how it works, how to manipulate it, how to follow a career in - that's as essential as being taught how to read and write.

Wii 2 (Wii U)

I'm loving E3 2011 at the moment. I spent half an hour yesterday looking through trailers for new games that have been announced. I'm rather excited by Star Wars the Old Republic and Prototype 2... and potentially Resistance 3 but then Resistance 2 was god awful.The game I'm most excited about, and yet so unsure about, is Bioshock Infinite. Bioshock 1 and 2 were stunning; and I expect this will be great. My only reservation is will the move away from the underwater Rapture towards a sky setting work? I'm also pretty excited by Aliens Colonial marines... but I've been waiting for this game for so long, and was so disapointed by the last Aliens Vs Predator game, that I'll wait to see what it's like when it arrives.

Perhaps one of the most exciting is Wii U... which sounds as far from the Wii as possible (read more about the Wii U on the BBC). A good move for Nintendo or not? It sounds like they've ditched the wavey wavey hand controller for something a bit more traditional, i.e. a controller with heaps of new features, camera, screen... etc (some of the things I suggested before would be great to have in the next gen controllers... am I a tech guru; or just one of many many hopful gamers who dream mad things? I think the latter, and it sounds like Nintendo have been listening. Hoorah!). Nintendo are trying to bring back the core gamers... but does this mean the Wii U won't cater for the new market of family and casual games they've created? Are they ditching this market following recent competition from XBox Kinect and PS3 Move?

I'll be keeping an ear out to see what Microsoft and Sony plan to do... will the PS4 or next XBox be announced soon?

Leading the gay in social networking

When I was a young teen I was social networking before anyone had heard the words "MySpace" leave alone "Facebook". I was using chatrooms and messaging services at a time when most people my age were still using Encarta to do their homework. Of course back then "Social networking" was called online dating and to my friends it was the domain of geeks and dodgy types. And in all fairness, quite often it was.


The reason I was happy to embrace this new technology was because I had figured out at an early age that I'm gay. At the time I thought I was the only gay in the suburbs. These niche sites helped me to talk to people with similar interests... you know, bums, willies and Steps. With retrospect I could have done without Steps. The important thing for me it was a way to make friends like me, not just finding dates.

When sites like MySpace, Bebo and Facebook came along we slowly saw a shift in people's attitudes to who goes online. It was no longer for nerds and people who like wearing long trench coats, now you could connect with your mates and share your movie and music interests... and eventually you could poke them, tell them you've brushed your teeth, that you've just checked into the gym, that you're outside their window wearing nightvision goggles and touching yourself (whoops, back to the trench coats again!)

The idea of online dating, in the straight market, is becoming less weird. I know a fair few older couples that have gotten together via Friends Reunited and I know a few people who have started using sites like PlentyOfFish to meet and greet online. They are starting to realise that there is nothing dodgy about doing this, or there is but it's probably better than getting trashed in your local and waking up with a whale who's name you never bothered to learn.

But my point is I believe the gays led the way with social networking. Simply because we had to. It was that or cottaging (never done it, never will!) If you're a straight teen you can meet girls up the park, or in your local getting served underaged.

And once again the gays have been leading the way for awhile with social networking/online dating/finding a shag (what ever you decide to use it for) in the mobile market. The most prominent app is Grindr (cleverly promoted by Stephen Fry). A gay networking mobile appthat lets you meet other guys in the area (by geolocation) and start a conversation with them via instant messaging. Originally only available on the iPhone it has recently been released on Android (and the number of lads has doubled...) It's a simple yet clever bit of software that is massively addictive and just does exactly what you need it too. There is no web version at the moment, it's all about meeting people in the palm of your hand (giggles at the inuendo).

Now I'm getting excited by the prospect of a new project from the Grindr team who are moving into the straight market. The project is soon to be launched at SXSW. I think we're going to see the next big trend emerge from Grindr in the form of "Project Amicus" (Spanish for friend).

I don't yet know the specifics of Amicus yet but Grindr's blog says it's "the codename and website for a new location-based mobile app that lets users discover, interact, and meet with nearby people. This app is for everyone – straight, gay, and lesbian."

If it becomes as popular as Grindr, and is indeed "straight Grindr", then I fully believe this is going to be huge. It'll be interesting to see if they stick to a purely mobile based platform or are considering moving into a web-version too. I'm sure there are lots of ways they could expand their offering further, the app is great - but it could be part of a suite of web services... let's wait and see. Either way, I think this is going to be big!

Why not get onto the beta list and sign up here.

Just remember, never let your Lolcat on Grindr or Amicus:

Apocalypse now

It's 2012 next year and if you're to believe the Mayan calendar or the Bible or numerous other prophets it's due to be the end of the world. There are those who believe that current turmoil, starting with Egypt and Tunisia, in the Middle East is a sign of the Armegeddon yet to come. The doomsday clock is currently close to midnight. Oil is running out, the ice-caps are melting, the climate is changing in a way we cannot predict, polar bears are dying out, wars are breaking out, birds dropping from the sky, Google (aka Skynet) is preparing for judgement day, the ground is tearing apart, countries are pointing nuclear war-heads at eachother, the coral reefs are disapearing, fish stocks are on verge of collapse, Bees are disapearing threatening our global ecology, China is on the rise set to over-take from the USA (Cold war II anytime?) and Britain are in charge of the LoOlympics.

All in all it's an uncertain future... apocolypse, I'd say not, but a time of revolution, history making, change and potentially a milestone in our history that will affect the planet for thousands of years yet to come?
Perhaps we should pray that aliens invade and sort things out.

I try to look at things in a positive way and assume that we'll wipe ourselves out when we're good and ready and not at a set time defined by which ever deity you may herald. I am not alone in this outlook but there are plenty of people out there who will probably spend the next year forming theories, starting cults and proclaiming prophecies of doom and destruction. I'm looking forward to seeing what emerges over the next months / years.

Catption: You knew there would be cats in here somewhere!

Unlike during the time of the Mayans there will be a bigger role for digital this time around. At the time of writing, if you search "Apocalypse" on Twitter you mostly get references to Zombie Apocalypse. A subject dear to my heart which I have written about before. I'm starting to wonder if Zombie Apocalypse is as likely as I first thought. Still if you want to watch for the Apocalypse I'd say watch for it trending on Twitter first.

Who will take over after?

Point of this article? None!

Dream time for gamers

Just as Sony have announced the arrival of their first Playstation Phone and their next generation PSP the NGP I've started thinking about what I would want from the next generation of consoles.

Here is my wish list so far:

Firstly, interaction - don't drop the humble controller but do make it awesome from the start (don't release the rumble pack edition months after you've paid for the lame-ass edition). I don't want anything half-arsed, if you're going to build in motion sensitivity build it in properly! I love the speakers in the Wii remotes. Please copy this Sony and Microsoft!

Of course the Wii has shown that there is a market for other forms of interaction (and Playstation Move and XBox Kinnect have been launched so that MS/Sony can get their cut of this market). The Wii really changed everything. I doubt these new ways of playing games will disappear as a gimmick. I just hope that traditional gaming doesn't die as a result.

Innovate - has anyone created a game with audio control before? What about touch screens, is there a place for this sort of tech in the gaming domain yet? Certainly touch has opened up new gaming possibilities not available before, can Angry Birds work with a controller? I doubt it (although I've yet to try it on the Ps3)

Have fun - of course there are other ways of controlling certain games that require specialist equipment, e.g. Karoke mics, drum kits, guitars, dance matts, balance or fitness boards, etc - these are all great and have their place. So basically carry on as you were here please Sony/Nintendo/Microsoft/Newcomers?

Secondly the hardware: I want to see some kick-ass graphics and massive processing power in any new system. The Wii's only flaw was a lack of power. The PS3 and XBox rule here, but even they are being stretched these days. 

Blu-Ray player - This is one of the most expensive parts of the PS3 but to drop it would be mad. People like owning things i.e. disks, I want a console I can play my old games on (dropping a disk player would make this impossible), and I want to play Blu-Ray's - part of the attraction of the PS3 is it's a Blu-Ray player, and regardless of how big my hard-drive is one day it will get full! (and no - we're not interested in another format). 

Massive harddrive and cloud computing - A massive hard-drive is ideal to store all those updates and downloads (I've one of the larger PS3 drives and it's clogged; and seamingly with absolutely nothing). Cloud computing could allow my most frequently used data to be stored locally for quick access and my less frequently stored data to be stored elsewhere but not lost. i.e. infinite space on your console via cloud but no lag via hard drive. Cloud computing would allow for back-up's in case of system melt-down. In theory cloud could replace a HDD but only if broadband allows; personally I hate lags of any kind. Users still need locally cached data and lots of it.

Thirdly, I want an entertainment system. - I want my new console to be a practical media server, web-browser, family and indvidual games system, I want IP TV, apps?, social networks? (PlayStation Home had so much potential, as did platforms like SecondLife. I'm hoping the next gen consoles can deliver hi-res, Tron/secondlife-on-speed-eque social networking). I can already do most of this on my PS3; the PS4 I hope will take all of this to the next level (and hopfully integrate with other tech, i.e. my phone, TV, laptop...)

Fourthly, the visuals have to be great. I'm thinking HD and 3D, ideally without the need for silly glasses.   Saying that, is the time right for virtual reality helmets to make a return? Why not, with Kinnect/Wii/Move like controls a VR helmet could fully immerse you into the gaming world (of course the potential for bumping into coffee tables needs to be worked out!)

Finally, make it work - no red rings of death, no half-arsed attempts (yes, I'm talking to you PlayStation Home) - just get it right!

The TechRadar articles are great for some further reading on the next gen consoles:

• Playstation 4: Read TechRadar.com's thoughts on what might be incorporated into the PS4.
• XBox 720: Read TechRadar.com's thoughts on what might be incorporated into the XBox 720.
• Wii2: Read TechRadar.com's thoughts on what might be incorporated into the Wii 2. 

I'd love to hear what extras you think they should have have. Does anyone have the word on what they are planning?

Paying for things with your mobile phone

Paying for things with your mobile phone... What a great idea (as long as security is worked out).

Read the BBC article "Orange customers of Everything Everywhere get mobile payments".

I think security is the biggest issue, but I see no reason why you can't type a pin into your phone to authorise a transaction... it'd be as easy as unlocking your iPhone. Hoorah!

How people use the iPad

Just saw this interesting post on Twitter about how people use the iPad. It contains lots of lovely graphs to make it easy to consume. Hoorah, lazy knowledge!

Wireless syncing - it's the future

Wouldn't it be great if your laptop, internet 3D TV, mobile, tablet, NAS drives, blah, blah blah all worked together in a beautiful harmony without the need for stupid cables.


Wireless sync is the future, read a tech crunch article about it here.

Will you need cables to power these devices? Not with wireless charging - see the telegraph. 

Perhaps in the future you won't need electric to be transmitted by a cable at all - read the wiki article on the future possibilities of wireless energy transfer.

One company to rule them all

A mate (thank you kindly Alex B) just pointed me to this rather interesting article about the internet monopolies - i.e. the giants like Facebook and Google and how if you were to ditch them you would have to give up "whole categories of activity".

It's a great read - I would recommend.

Social banners

Banner adverts are annoying... fact. Yet many companies still make a lot of money out of them and the number of people who click through is still sufficient to make the placement of banner advertising on websites a lucrative business.

Banners are generally set dimensions and easy for advertisers to understand - they are, to many, considered analogous to print advertising. i.e. flat and boring.

There is of course so much more you can do with an advert online, be that to build it in flash and make it "whizzy" or do something more intelligent with multiple ad's working together, using clever campaigns, using expandable content, use video, introduce a game, make it an adventure, stick a chicken in a gimp suit on it and so fourth.

A new dimension advertisers are starting to, rightly, look at is introducing a social aspect. An advert suddenly becomes more interesting if you know your peers on Facebook "like" it, or it becomes less static if you can see in real-time what people are tweeting about the brand. At least that's the theory - read more about social banner advertising here.

This sort of advertising is nothing like traditional print - it's interactive, it is involving - it's fucking fantastic!

Social is the way forward - actually it's the way you should be already because social has been around for ages.

Content shouldn't be static, it shouldn't be boring, it should be intelligent, it should know who you are, where you are and what you want. It should be relevant and interesting. I don't want to enlarge my penis, I don't care about women's clothing, Jessica is not horny and online now - I want to know that that film I saw with my mates a few weeks ago is now available on DVD, that the bike I just tweeted about is now discounted at my local store, I want that job vacancy that has just come up in MY city doing what i ACTUALLY do.

I guess there are heaps of issues with privacy here. For advertising to really get to know you it has to get to know you, i.e. advertisers have access to information you might not want them to. Anyway - I'm rambling.

The more clever things you can do the better (as long as they are relevant to the brand of course ). But in a world of noise you should always strive to create something that you would click on, that you would enjoy, that offers value that isn't just more noise.

Wii love new technology - help me obi wan kinobe, you're my only hope

Everyone loves the Wii (even though Nintendo last reported a loss - but they can afford considering the oodles of profit they were earning before). And PS3 and Xbox want a piece of the action with their various offerings. Today Microsoft's XBox "Kinect" goes on sale, and unlike the PS3 and Wii offering it's completely hand's free. I can't wait to have a play with this - from an interface point of view it's quite exciting. We're basically heading towards full on Minority Report - and let's face it, everyone wants to live the Minority Report dream.

I always get very excited about the tools that let us interact with computers because it brings about new possibilites. And as a geek I like looking at the tech in sci-fi films and TV that has or is coming true.  Like Star Trek Next Generation style touch screens - great for new games like "Angry birds" or 3G web-surfing. Rubbish for making calls, text-typing (I can write a full message with my Sony Erricsson without looking, impossible with my IPhone4) and rubbish for games like "Tetris" which lends itself so well to buttons but not to our stubby digits. (And if you're a fan of old style Star Trek we've had flip phones for ever! May they not live long or prosper!)

What's next - well 3D obviously. Avatar brought 3D to the forefront (although there were 3D cinema films before like the brilliant Coraline) - thankyou mr Cameron. It won't be long until TV's / consoles are 3D and don't require glasses. Nintendo have already acchieved this with the new 3D-DS. And these 3D-TV's will be delivered via Web-TV in glorious super HD. HOORAH!


So what's next? Well if we look backwards at what we might dream of - how about the Star Wars 3D holograms. We're not quite yet but the technology is starting to exist.In fact holograms are already being used (albeit in a crude form to what I hope the future will hold) in concerts e.g. Gorillas.

Anyway - I'm off to eat some sandwiches but I'm pretty excited about the future!

How to build a mobile website

I'll be reading this article on how to build a mobile website. Cursory glance says it'll be useful.

I was recently asked to quote for building one - my first question was "why".

Surely a website that is built properly (i.e. to accessible web standards) should work / degrade gracefully and work on a mobile phone.

If you build a website which, for example, uses Flash for it's whole navigation then yes - it won't work on a iPhone - then again if you don't have Flash or are using a screenreader it won't work either.

 

PS: Don't build an iPhone app because you can - know your user; do they need an iPhone app... and why not build for Android, Blackberry, Symbian, Windows, etc while you're at it?

Convergence - when internet met the TV

It was going to happen. The PC is dead. Mobile phones, all in one home cinema / tv / games console / blah blah, all working together in glorious harmony. Stream movies or videos of ninja cats from your living room, social network while playing video games from tetris to Call of Duty - it's all around the corner and it'll all be in one ultra thin, 3D, flat panel in your living room. Who will lead this, quite possibly Google or Apple...

Thinking about 3d

I wanted to understand 3D a bit better. I had predicted that the next generation consoles would be 3D; news on the wire is that PS3 will start bringing out 3D games in 2011. How it's going to work I'm not sure, but 3D is here to stay - and it's the future, at least before the inevitable hologram star trek style TV... it doesn't seem so sci-fi at the moment.

Anyway, in September 2010 this is the state of 3D Technology. Both fascinating and amazing.

Inevitable avatar image attached:

Playbook

So the Ipad was launched with lots of sanitary towel jokes, now the playbook will surely attract lots of porn jokes... or is this just me? Anyway take a look at Blackberry's lovely offering. Me likey!

960 Grids

Designing for a website isn't the same as designing for a brochure. Life is easier when you design in grids. This website shows you how simple it can be.

Thank you tutorial9. A great resource for photoshop, photography, blogging and UX.

YouView

Looking forward to project canvas, now named YouView.  Ok, new name is shit and really unoriginal - but still very exciting.

Looking like an adonis

What does your profile picture say about you? Read this article for more.The gist = people want to appeal, but do so in different ways. Generally I try and find the hottest picture of me; due to a lack of self-confidence I don't change my profile picture often instead favouring to keep the one people have said "you look nice" in most often.

Back in the day I'll admit I used to re-touch my pictures in Photoshop, but thanks to tagging in Facebook I now think what's the point. I can't control where photos of me exist, so if I want to look good in my photos I need to look good all the time not edit them. That's a lot of hard work, and when alcohol is involved even harder! Not to mention many of my friends are terrible photographers; there are so many of me with my eyes closed. I can't schmise all the time.

Perhaps with time we'll find a trend towards more realistic expectations about our bodies because we'll look at others on Facebook more than in magazines and realise real people are... well real! Or we'll find people worry more about looking good because they are must look good constantly in case someone whips their phone out and uploads a photograph straight to Facebook/Flickr etc.

We'll see.

Herding cats

Well done Ikea http://www.ypsilon2.com/blog/publicidade/herding-cats-ikea-e-o-experimento-com-100-gatos-em-sua-loja-em-wembley/ they seem to be experts at creating viral content (I was chatting to a friend about this, who cynically said it's because "they have lots of money"). I tweeted this on Friday and have had many many re-tweets.