Thought for the day: the web is primarily about people communicating. The technology really doesn't matter that much.
Category: Web world
Believr…
So, how about this: a web 2.0 application called Believr. People could go on there and share what they believe – about anything!
What flavour ice cream is the best; what faith they adhere to; why PHP is king; whether mustard or ketchup is best on hotdogs. It doesn’t matter, as long as you believe it, you can be a Believr!
Then (in the true spirit of web 2.0 goodness) you can tag your beliefs and find others with similar beliefs. Hey, how about rating other people’s beliefs, the ones with the most “I don’t believe that for one second, boyo!” ratings (perhaps a threshold?) gets automatically discredited, and everyone that believes a discredited belief gets virtual dried apricots thrown at them.
Of course we could have feeds for beliefs with particular tags. And how about pulling in what politicians from around the world have been saying (via the BBC, Fox News, CNN etc) and saying whether we believe them or not. Coooooool.
There, that’s a freebie for you. If you make a packet with this idea remember where you got it from :0)
Designing for dummies…
I have to admit I’m not the best web designer in the world. A few years a go I had the honour of working with a great designer (hi Paul) who regularly used to make me weep with jealousy at the ease with which he could produce a gorgeous design. But those people are far and few between, and the rest of us webbies have to do our best with the meagre skills bestowed upon us.
So, if you’re more Query Analyser than Photoshop, more EditPlus than Illustrator, and more objects than palettes, these links may help.
You want colour schemes? You got colour schemes.
You want layouts? You got layouts.
You want ideas for spicy elements? You go those ideas, daddio.
In fact, you want complete sites? You got complete sites.
There are quite a few more links here, and if you don’t find something useful here, you’re not a True Web Geek.
Pricing software…
Seeing as I give software away for free, I didn’t think I would be interested in this article on pricing software, but I was wrong. But don’t worry, we’re not about to start charging for any Wiblog stuff :0)
For one thing Joel writes informative and entertaining articles, and I’d highly recommend subscribing to his blog to brighten up your day with insightful and quirky writings. But for another, he gives a great introduction to the complexities – downright futility, I would suppose – of pricing software right. It’s not a job for the faint hearted, as I well know at the moment as I’m in discussions for the pricing of a new web application.
Anyway, read and enjoy. You might also like what Joel has to say on IT business strategy, where he makes some pretty sharp points about open source software.
Hat tip to Pamela Slims excellent “Escape from Cubicle Nation” blog, which is also well worth a read. Particularly her open letter to CEOs.
Building something nakedly…
Is ‘nakedly’ even a word? I hope so. Anyway, we’re still waiting for the arrival of Small Individual which should be any day now, but I thought you would like to see the latest site from Carson Systems. It is describing, in brutal and minute detail, the process that the eminent Carson Systems are going through to develop and launch their latest web application.
To be honest, I’m hooked. It’s like reality TV for web geeks. Fantastic, and I wish them all the best.