Category: technology

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Notes from Weelearning

Weelearning held the first event on Wednesday and I was in attendance in bristol. Dan and Sam are hoping to build a regular following for us e-learning types in the commercial and public sector. I really enjoyed the night and not just because I won a prize of e-learning books from packt.

What made this really enjoyable in addition to the two talks was that we had plenty of time to kick it with fellow folks. I attend plenty of formal rigid event so it was cool to almost have the other end of the spectrum.

We talked about the differences between commercial/public sector approaches, terminology and value of e-learning to traditional workshop models.

If weelearning can attract a regular following and keep the essence of a relaxed and diverse crowd then I look forward to meeting you at a future event.

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Enabling webgl in Firefox

Earlier today I was attempting to view an example of 3D in the browser that makes use of webgl but the browser kept insisting webgl wasn’t enabled.

Initial web searches indicate that webgl, which is used to get the 3D working should be running on Firefox (im using 6.0.2) but it clearly was not!

Instructions

To enable webgl simply type “about:config” into the browser address, promise to be care and then type “webgl” into the filter at the top.  The second option should be “webgl.force-enable” and you’ll need to double-click the value of false changing it to TRUE.

Reload the 3D example page and you should now be up and running.

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Making Firefox mine – extensions and such

Whenever I use another computers browser it is always setup in a unique way, and mine is no different.

Though I have opera, chrome and safari I always come back to ye ole faithful Firefire. I like it naturally because I am used to it, and I got used to it due to some handy extensions that I probably use daily. I thought i’d list them as you may also find them of use:

  1. Firebug. THE must have extension if you are in anyway curious about what is under the hood of any website you come across. This beauty lets you select any page element and reveal the coding secrets behind. Better still, you can make changes and see live previews before your very eyes.
  2. ScreenGrab! I collect website screengrabs of sites that catch my eye and for keeping an archive of old designs before I update.
  3. Colorzilla. A really quick way to grab all the colours you find that you just have to have.
  4. Web developer toolbar. The ruler for measuring gaps between elements is worth the download alone.
  5. Open Attribute. The ultra fast way to get Creative Commons license details in the correct format at the click of a button.
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Show and tell with UOB ebooks

I recently delivered 3 one-hour sessions to small groups of library types on the subject of all things ebook at the University of Bristol.

The University of Bristol has around 5,000 ebooks at the moment. Enough of a critical mass to get my interest in ebooks in the institution. John Hargreaves, Assistant Subject Librarian for Law kindly organised the 3 sessions which I was using to see what the problems are from the other side of the issue desk whilst giving them a brain dump of what I see as the opportunities and constraints.

Being the book reading type that I am, I was keen to wade in with using ebooks – that was until I actually tried to find and use any of them (more of that in future posts).

Problem #1 By using the library catalogue, ebooks as a “type of resource” are not easily surfaced without using an advanced search, which I believe is a huge barrier to “discovering” ebooks. I doubt very many people use the advanced search as the first port of call. My mental model is that I do a search and all results are shown, regardless of the ‘type of resource’ be that print books, journals, CD-ROM or ebook.

I came to each session armed with 1 print book and various ebook reading capable devices as to my surprise the library doesn’t have any staff ebook devices, each loaded with the same ebook:

  • Amazon Kindle 1st Gen
  • Sony ebook reader Touch Edition PRS-650 *
  • Desktop Windows computer
  • Apple iphone 1st Gen
  • Android Tablet *

* Thanks for the lend Mr Gray

#Problem 2: The libraries do not have the kit that they require – using ebooks from the other side of the issue desk is both theory and practice and in order to help folks with trouble they need to use the devices themselves.

After briefly explaining about the common ebook formats (EPUB, PDF, mobi) we had a play with each device using the “Responsive Web Design” ebook. The above list shows the most liked (kindle as best) down to the least user-friendly (pressure-sensitive tablet).

The test ebook also makes use of video which displays on devices that support EPUB3  video and this showcased why the ebook version may have an advantage over the print version.

Opportunity #1 Next I showed the ibis reader which I only have glowing things to say about it. I wonder if the platform could be integrated someday into the University system and act as the official ebook reader for desktop and mobile.

Then we tried a University ebook and things got really depressing.

We used the search keyword ‘china’ to find our guinea pig ebook.

It appears that the major education publishers ship ebooks using Adobe PDF as the ebook format of choice. Clearly this is to make use of the Digital Rights Management (DRM) but has the nasty side affect that none of the ebooks will run on a ebook reader such as the Kindle… thats right, ebooks that do not run on the most popular ebook reader device. So I think it isnt too much of a leap to connect the dots that access to ebooks and use on devices are two of the major barriers to ebook uptake. I sent an email to one of the major publishers to ask them about this but am yet to get a response.

We were all in shock. Say it slowly – “ebooks that do not work on ebook readers, are probably not ebooks”.

If you work in a library, what are the issues here and how to do you work with such barriers?

I hope to wade into lots more ebook stuff in coming months.

UPDATE 10th Jan 2012

The fantastic Ibis Reader has been acquired and so it is watch this space as  to the future of the platform as I know it.

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The Setup – Doug Belshaw

Over at Doug’s blog he has written about his ‘setup‘ which is one of my favourite ideas on the web and always good to see others getting in the spirit.

A fact about Doug not included: He once took me clothes shopping in Berlin.

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Digging Design Professionalism

I am a fan of Andy Rutledge, both from his enjoying his blog and from the stellar work his agency does – including the excellent small CMS Unify that I heart.

He has recently released ‘Design Professionalism’ available online or as an e-book.

Read the foreword if you must and then go and get it.

Online, he is both a Platonist and a provocateur, a professor and a street fighter.
Jeffrey Zeldman