Quick announcement to Applied Web Vitals’ clients and others using the latest version of WordPress, version 2.6—the plugin PodPress, used for podcasting and video casting, is not working with the latest versions of WordPress. This issue has been outstanding for several weeks now and a resolutions does not appear to be available in the near future. For those interested, I can suggest an alternative to keep going. One that actually offers great advantages in media management, including sideshows, video and audio.

While on the topic of freeware though, some other thoughts have come to mind…

The reality of open and free technology catches up with us eventually. PodPress was developed and is maintained by a gracious individual who doesn’t profit from his work and offers it free to the public. Thousands (141,380 to be exact) have benefited and profited from this great tool. And at the same time, when it stops working, the same number of users come to a screeching halt. While some users like myself are occasional to frequent users, I know that others include large news syndications. What a great deal of faith and operating efficiencies we put into freeware!

Man, it hurts when your tools stop working! But if I tallied up the potential cost of all the freeware tools that I use, my business wouldn’t be able to afford them and wouldn’t be anywhere near where it is now.

…And so we appreciate the great benefits of the latest information revolution

Applied Web Vitals is a web design and development company. Please feel free to contact us to explore your next design, redesign or site enhancement project.

If you didn’t know, the accessibility of flash is (or has thus far been) significantly less than that of standard HTML. If you knew that, did you know that there have been some advancement in the ability for search engines (Google) to read and index flash?

Well, don’t take this news as the definitive green light to go 100% flash just yet. There are quite a few considerations before replacing your HTML with flash and the “advancements” are just that—steps in the right direction. We’re not there yet and I suspect in the end, there will always be some limitations.

Google recently reported on the progress that they’ve made in crawling flash files - “Now that we’ve launched our Flash indexing algorithm, web designers can expect improved visibility of their published Flash content, and you can expect to see better search results…” Continue Reading »

Assuming that my web guy died is actually giving him the benefit of the doubt; I have no idea where his is. Falling off the face of the earth is always a plausible explanation. Emails aren’t bouncing and voice mail isn’t full so it’s probably more likely that he’s made a conscious decision to hang me out to dry.

Situations like this call into question the professional ethics and reliability of the virtual web professional. Being a web designer and developer myself, I know that we shouldn’t all be painted with the same brush. Perhaps it’s my business background or the value that I place on my reputation that makes me push to please, complete, improve, excel . . . or to simply do what it is that I say I’m going to do.

The inspiration for this post came from a recent personal experience involving hiring and working with another web designer. The “incident” was painful, costly and (in retrospect) avoidable, or one where the damages could have at least been mitigated. Continue Reading »

If you’ve just started to use Google Analytics and aren’t sure which reports to look at, this video provides a helpful 1st-time analysis walk-through. You’ll learn how to interpret what you see in these key reports and what actions you should take as a result. - from Google Analytics

A brief overview of how to use the Google Analytics interface. If you are new to Google Analytics or you’d like to pick up a few tips on how to use some of the different features, this video is a good place to start.

For those in the Myrtle Beach area, Applied Web Vitals will be holding a lecture series on web technologies and the small business play. This lecture/discussion group will be hosted at Barnes & Nobles in Market Commons every Wednesday evenings at 6pm - starting Wednesday May 14th.

As the group gains momentum, the weekly meetings will be organized into themes for more focused and in-depth discussions on topics such as: building and maintaining websites; search engine optimization; Internet marketing and measurement; business blogging; graphic design & do-it-yourself advertising; and more…

Everyone and anyone is invited to attend. Bring your curiosity and any unanswered questions. We look forward to seeing our local MB friends there. And please feel free to pass the word along to anyone that you feel may be interested.

The group will be led by Dominic Taverniti, a recent San Francisco transplant, with extensive experience in web design & development, Internet marketing, small business development and franchising.

What a great honor! A Webby Award nomination!!!

Applied Web Vitals has received a Webby Award Nominee letter for its participation in the development of the Eyes on Darfur website. Citizen Group, a premier branding and design company in San Francisco, CA, brought us on board to write the site code—HTML, CSS, Java Script—and bring their elegant design to life.

Working with this world-class team of professionals, and on such a profound project, was in itself an incredibly rewarding experience. We’re thankful to have been a part of this effort and hope to see the site make a tremendous impact.

As all projects go though, challenges and deadlines were par for the course. Already on a tight time line, the site launch date was moved forward to coincide with Amnesty International’s accelerated PR efforts. And with lives on the line, what could we do? Well, we took this opportunity to pour ourselves into the work and not only worked faster (around the clock), but improved the quality of work right up until the switch was flipped.

If you haven’t yet visited Eyes on Darfur - please do. Be prepared for an eye-opening experience though, one that hopefully puts you into motion.

“Eyes on Darfur” site uses satellite imagery to expose genocide

Amnesty International’s unprecedented Eyes On Darfur project leverages the power of high-resolution satellite imagery to provide unimpeachable evidence of the atrocities being committed in Darfur – enabling action by private citizens, policy makers and international courts. Eyes On Darfur also breaks new ground in protecting human rights by allowing people around the world to literally “watch over” and protect twelve intact, but highly vulnerable, villages using commercially available satellite imagery.

The project was led by the Crisis Prevention and Response Center (CPRC) – Amnesty International USA’s rapid response center for engaging members, policy-makers, and the public in preventing and responding to human rights crises around the world. The website was designed and developed by Citizen, and can be viewed at www.eyesondarfur.org.

The project was funded by the Save Darfur Coalition (SDC) which seeks to raise public awareness about the ongoing genocide in Darfur while mobilizing a unified response to the atrocities that threaten the lives of people throughout the Darfur region. It is an alliance of more than 180 faith-based, advocacy and humanitarian organizations. The coalition’s member organizations represent 130 million people of all ages, races, religions and political affiliations united together to help the people of Darfur. For more information on the coalition, visit www.SaveDarfur.org.
-description from Citizen Group

It is our pleasure to inform you that Eyes on Darfur has been nominated for The 12th Annual Webby Awards in the Activism category. As one of only five nominees in its category, your work and the team behind it are eligible for the Internet industry’s two most sought-after awards: The Webby Award and The Webby People’s Voice Award.

This honor signifies the highest standard of excellence.

Congratulations!

ABOUT THE PEOPLE’S VOICE AWARDS
While the Academy selects The Webby Awards’ winners, the online public selects The People’s Voice Award winners. Webby People’s Voice voting starts April 8th and ends May 1st. Get your Web community to the polls and bring home the Webby People’s Voice Award! Please visit http://pv.webbyawards.com/ to vote.

Again, congratulations!

David-Michel Davies
Executive Director

The Webby Awards | Int’l Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences http://www.webbyawards.com | http://www.iadas.net

Welcome to Applied Web Vitals’ Blog, an ongoing discussion of web technologies, best practices and everything that comes with it. The articles in this blog will address issues that may be of interest to the web developers, designers, marketers or perhaps the business owner.

As versatile as the web platform is, our articles will naturally migrate to topics seemingly outside of the web design and development scope. But as any web professional knows, the lines are becoming increasingly blurred between the project at hand, that is building the web site, and the intended end result, that is a tool for the client.

We look forward to sharing our experiences and lessons and hope to hear from you if you find the information interesting or inconclusive.

Please also visit our web development and design forum for a two way channel of communication to ask questions or discuss your web issues.

Applied Web Vitals is a web design and development company. Please feel free to contact us to explore your next design, redesign or site enhancement project.