With my recently launched voyages.net site, I spent a considerable amount of time working on the user experience both while users surf the site but also when they leave the site. I really dislike clicking on a link that turns out to a 404 error page and there is nothing to do about it. In this context I set about creating a system that used checking code from ‘server to server’ to make sure that the page is responding correctly and then if so send the user there.
Archives for March 2006
Give me the whole plot of the film in your review, no thanks !
Hands up, if you like being told what is going to happen during or at the end of a film, tv series, book etc. ??
I just started reading an article on the Guardian about the new Basic Instinct film with Sharon Stone. I’m not even going to link to the article because in about three paragraphs the journalist gives details of the inital plot and carries on to outline where the film goes from there… ???
[Read more…] about Give me the whole plot of the film in your review, no thanks !
Solutions for protecting laptops : a few examples
Although this article from E-commerce Times doesn’t go into great detail about what can be done to protect your computer, it briefly covers some of the new solutions that are appearing.
The article provides more detail about what should scare you enough, so that you invest in new solutions.
MySpace : another Web 2.0 example that has reverted procedure
Another example of why the Web 2.0 concept is not viable as described by O’reilly. Mainly the “trust your users” is pretty utopian but AdSense is also not a good example of “customer self service”. An article on MediaPost today talks about how the need for investors/advertisers money has pushed MySpace owners into setting up procedures to monitor content. Why ? Advertisers have been extremely reticent to invest money in advertising on pages where the content can invariably be ‘risqué’ and in some cases insulting.
I feel that this is also one of the problems with Google’s Adsense and Kanoodle seems to have figured out. Yet again a Web 2.0 example that just isn’t good in my opinion. There are some things as a content producer you don’t want to see on your site and AdSense/Google just doesn’t seem to care about these concerns. I do not believe AdSense is a good example of “customer self-service” since you cannot choose ‘not’ to display direct competitors’ ads on your own site. With Kanoodle you have more power over what adverts appear on your site. Potential advertisers on MySpace are in a more powerful position and therefore won’t invest their money unless the conditions are appropriate.
The Web 2.0 as described by O’Reilly is just too naive in this concept of letting each and everybody manage content where and how they want. The fact that examples cited seem to be one by one reverting to monitoring procedures that manage this is a pretty good example of how open systems just do not fit average online human behaviour…
