I have moved ...

I have moved my personal website and blog over to:

www.sheilafarrell.com

The new site is built using a hosted version of WordPress on a customised template. I plan to incorporate video, tutorials and any useful training tips I discover on the way relating mainly to web design & development, web marketing, e-commerce, e-learning and Adobe software.

Deprecated Features in Dreamweaver CS4

If you have started to use the new Dreamweaver CS4 beta you might notice some features have been removed. It was announced last August that some features would not be supported in future releases due to low usage and continuing costs of support. As mentioned in the Dreamweaver technote the features to be removed:

• ASP.NET server behaviors and recordsets
• JSP server behaviors and recordsets
• Layout Mode
• Flash Elements
• Flash Buttons and Flash Text
• Site Map
• JavaBeans
• ASP.NET server behavior mechanism
• JSP server behavior mechanism
• Web Services Panel
• Timelines

Dreamweaver CS4 Beta Released

Adobe have released their Beta version of Dreamweaver CS4 which you can download the trial version with discussions available at the Dreamweaver Beta Forums. The Beta version will run alongside your Dreamweaver CS3 application.

NOTE FROM ADOBE
The Dreamweaver beta is available in English only to Dreamweaver CS3 users worldwide. It is available to licensed users of Dreamweaver CS3 (full, upgrade, and education) and Adobe Creative Suite 3 Web Standard, Web Premium, or Design Premium (full, upgrade, and education). You will need to provide your Dreamweaver CS3, Creative Suite 3 Web Standard, Web Premium, or Design Premium serial number in order to get a Dreamweaver beta serial number, enabling you to activate the Dreamweaver beta and use it beyond the 2-day grace period.

Free Video Podcasts on HTML and CSS

I have created a series of video podcasts on HTML / XHTML and CSS, with the first part of the series covering Introduction to HTML / XHTML.

To get started we have a lesson on Basic HTML Tags.

Enjoy and let me know if there are any other topics you would like to me add to the series

India's Primary Web Connection is through Mobile

There was an interesting article this weekend in the Economic Times entitled "Indians prefer to surf Net on the go" with 31.30 million users who access the internet through their mobile handsets versus 9.27 million internet subscribers.

They typically use "GSM or CDMA—to read and reply to mails, download content and for online transactions, according to latest figures released by telecom regulator Trai".

For more information read the full article entitled "Indians prefer to surf Net on the go".

Support Andy Mitchell and Ben Wood on the Rickshaw Run

Andy Mitchell and his friend Ben Wood are taking part in the charity Rickshaw Run which set off from Calcutta on 24 June with 22 Teams taking place.

All proceeds will go to Mercy Corps Scotland who work amid disasters, conflicts, chronic poverty and instability to unleash the potential of people who can win against nearly impossible odds.

You can read about Mitch and Ben's adventure on their travel blog at www.unraveltravel.co.uk and also their Rickshaw Run team page The Whippet Boys. All donations can be made at Ben and Mitch's fundraising page.



Good luck Mitch and Ben, I'm looking forward to reading all about your adventure.

iPhone in the news today ...

I saw this post regarding the new iPhone on "Life Gives You Lemons"
... made me smile ...

Mobile subscriber base to pass 3bn in weeks

Following article by Tim Green of Mobile Entertainment

Mobile subscriber base to pass 3bn in weeks

There will be 3 billion mobile subscribers by July 2007, says The Mobile World.

A new survey by the researcher reveals there were 2.84 billion global mobile subscribers at the end of March 2007, and that the current rate of growth will take the total past 3 billion next month.

This represents an increase of more than 135 million on December 2006, and is equivalent to more than 1,000 new customers every minute. Over 250 million new handsets were sold in the quarter.

It’s the third strongest quarter in the industry’s history. The Mobile World now predicts global penetration will hit 50 per cent by the end of the year. Penetration in Europe now exceeds 100 per cent, with 666 million connections.

John Tysoe, principal analyst at The Mobile World, said: “It took over 20 years to connect the first billion subscribers, but only 40 months to connect the second billion. The three billion milestone will be passed in July 2007, just two years on. By the end of the year, the global mobile base will exceed 3.25bn connections, or over half the world’s population. With handsets and services becoming ever more affordable, the prospect of a fully connected mobile world is becoming ever more real.”

An Introduction to Screen Magnification Software

Continuing the series, Karo Caran has produced a video entitled "An Introduction to Screen Magnification Software"

Karo Caran takes you on a tour of screen magnification software -- tools used by partially sighted users to enhance their experience of screen-based user interfaces. Karo shows you the basic toolkit and then applies those tools to some typical web sites to give you some perspective on how she uses magnification software while she browses the web.

Video duration is 16:29

Introduction to Screen Readers

Victor Tsaran has produced a video entitled "An Introduction to Screen Readers"

Victor Tsaran is an accessibility engineer at Yahoo! who focuses on developing best practices for the creation of websites that work well with screen readers. In this video, he provides an introduction to some of the things that work well in the world of screen readers and others that fare more poorly.

Video duration is 27:23

RSS Feed Icons Resource

http://feedicons.com/

Feed Icons is a great resource where you can download various alternatives of the well known feed icon. Formats that are available are: AI, EPS, SVG, PSD, PDF, PNG, JPG and GIF. You can even colour-code them to your own branding.

Feed the web!

Broadband Speed Test

How fast is your internet connection?

You can calculate your speed with this test at ZD Net:
http://resources.zdnet.co.uk/speedtest/

RSS Introduction Article

If you are looking to RSS and wish to add some RSS Feed to your web pages, here are some interesting articles to get you started with the topic:

http://www.webreference.com/authoring/languages/xml/rss/intro/
http://www.webtechniques.com/archives/2000/02/eisenzopf/

Stokefest 2007

I really love living in London N5, it is a short walk to Upper Street one way and a short walk to Stoke Newington the other. We wandered out for a coffee this afternoon and walked up to Stoke Newington Church Street via Clissold Park which was hosting the annual Stokefest.

Stokefest is a free, independent festival that takes place in Clissold Park every year. The sun was shining and all the locals, young and old were really getting into the spirit of the festival with various arts & crafts, music and stalls. There was something for everyone!

You can keep up to date with latest events in Stoke Newington's online magazine

Say no to 0870 Numbers

http://www.saynoto0870.com/

There is a growing increase of companies in the UK opting to use 0870 numbers (and similar). Usually to hide their geographical location and appear more national and in doing so get a commission on the phone call, so there is no incentive to advertise their geographical numbers.

However, if like me you are out and about and using your mobile, you probably have a price plan that includes a bundle of talk time which don't include 0870 numbers in the pricing plan.

This site is great as it lists many well known companies, and their equivalent geographical numbers so you can dial the geographical number, save on the cost of the call and also use them as part of your price plan on your mobile if you have that kind of price plan.

TIP: don't forget to Dial 141 first as some companies won't answer if they see the incoming call is UK based.

Effective Marketing - Top Ten Tips

Understand your customer

• Who they are, how they buy
• Talk to them, ask them what they want
• Do they fully understand your business

Features V Benefits

• People buy solutions to their problems

Think like your customers

• How would you like to be served?
• Build your service around the same principles

Elevator Pitch

• Clearly say what you do in less than 2 minutes

Let people know you are there

• Take your product to them, e.g. Coca Cola Vending Machines

Clear Objectives and Targets

• Increase sales by X

Price Increase

• Don't be afraid of them
• 80 / 20 rule

Test & Monitor

• Otherwise how do you know what is working for you

Guarantees - do what you say you will

• Delight the customer - do what you say you will - how often have you expereinced a phone call when they say they will call us back

Find your niche

• Don't try to be everything to everyone - find your niche

Be one in a million - not one of a million

Games 2.0: The internet is the games platform

Interesting article by developmag.com on the internet becoming the games platform

Adance London MTC Network Meeting

Last night I attended the inaugural Advance London MTC Network Meeting, which took place at Microsoft's London HQ. Advance is a global community of Australian professionals working overseas with chapters worldwide and each chapter having several industry networks represented.

The MTC Network brings together professionals from the Media Technology and Communication sectors based in London. The idea of the first meeting was to get people together in this sector and share ideas and build a community and discuss ideas of how each individual could contribute and what we would like to get out of the group. The event was a great success with a good turnout and was hosted by David Rowe, new Chair of the MCT Network and Kate Parker, the Director of London Advance.

Advance is a non-profit organisation and membership to the group and chapters is free. If you are interested in joining you can sign up here for free.

HTML Email Newsletters

Here are some useful web articles on HTML email newsletters. "How to Code ..." has some information on the ideal code to design the layout of the newsletters and "A guide CSS Support in Email" gives some information on CSS and email client support. They will be particularly useful for web developers who like to adhere to web standards where possible and would like some guidance on CSS compatibility in email clients and the best approach with HTML.

The articles can be found at:

How to Code HTML Email Newsletters and A Guide to CSS Support in Email

Photography tips & guidance on colour & composition

Got yourself a fancy, all singing & dancing SLR camera and wished you knew more about composition and colour? I have just been reading some tutorials by Caroline Mockett.

Caroline has written 11 short and snappy [ pardon the pun :-) ] articles on composition and colour. There is a brief introduction to the theory with some stunning examples of each category to illustrate the topics well. It's worth just taking a look for the lovely photography.

Here are some quick links to the topics:

Composition #1 - The Rule Of Thirds

Composition #2 - Lead-In Lines

Composition #3 - Using Symmetry

Composition #4 - Framing Elements

Composition #5 - Creating Depth

Composition #6 - Using Repetition

Composition #7 - Fill The Frame, Or Not?

Composition #8 - Using Triangles

Texture & Tone in Monochrome

Subdued Or Single-Colour Images

Vibrant Colour