Category: technology

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Github confusion

Every now and then I find a useful plugin on Github to use on a project. However sometimes when I grab the plugin it won’t work with the expressionengine CMS and I could never figure out why, until now.

It might just be me but when I see the plugin folder on github (illustrated below A) I assumed this was what I needed. Grabbing the files and then installing them caused the plugin area of the control panel to fail and return me to the github page – i then delete the plugin from the server in order to get the plugin area to work again.

I completely overlooked the ‘zip’ button which gives me the correct folders/files and work…. (illustrated below B).

Problem solved,

View the github page in full

Screengrab of github page

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Podcast 5by5: David Sleight

In Big Web Show Episode No. 66, Jeffrey Zeldman interviews veteran web designer and publishing creative director David Sleight about how traditional publishers can transition to creating successful digital experiences, and the (mostly conceptual) obstacles they will have to overcome to do so.

Topics discussed in this episode include: why publishers alternately blame technology and treat it as a savior; the downside for magazine publishers of Apple’s new retina display; why content thieves may be your best customers in waiting; content-focused responsive design versus printed page emulation; and much more.

Around half way through the episode there is some interesting comments about the need for ‘digital and interactive experiences rather than simply porting the existing model to digital’.

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Strong interest for ebooks

3 computers to support the session

Today’s online surgery/webinar on ‘Getting started with ebooks‘ attracted 150 registrations and around 100 folk turned up at the top of the hour.

The turnout confirms that there is much interest on this topic and I hope to carry this energy into at least 1 project this year.

See my ‘notes on ebooks‘ for a collection of links from the past year or so that I continue to add to.

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JISC elevator

JISC elevator is a new way to find and fund innovative ways to use technology to improve universities and colleges. Anyone employed in UK higher or further education can submit an idea. If your idea proves popular then JISC will consider it for funding. The elevator is for small, practical projects with up to £10,000 available for successful ideas.

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Bathcamp #29

Bathcamp stage

It’s all design.

Curated by Alan Colville with speakers:

Richard Caddick of cxpartners: The Value Of Imagination

Joe Leach of cxpartners: Form Design

Jon Waring of 3Sixty: Designing measureable and meaningful websites

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Screencast

A screencast is a video that shows a recording of anything shown on-screen and normally makes use of a voice-over, typically explaining what is happening on screen.
A screencast can have additional supporting materials such as overlaid video (often the speaker), graphics, images and sound effects.
The creator of the screencast uses screencast software to record the on-screen activity and then uses either the same software to edit and prepare the  final video, or will import the screencast recording into third-party editing software for further work.

Because screencasts can have many different uses, they are quite popular and the basics can be learned in minutes.

Example uses include:

  • Demonstrating how-to do an activity on a computer
  • Providing student feedback
  • Introducing a software or web product for marketing purposes

Learn More

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Alistapart 342: A Pixel Identity Crisis

A Pixel Identity Crisis: Now that hardware is changing and pixel densities are growing, pixels are struggling to find relevance as the stable unit they once were. Browser zooming is one thing and has been covered on QuirksMode. But what is a pixel on high resolution devices today? Why does the 640px × 960px iPhone 4 claim to be 320px × 480px in the browser? The truth is that there are two different definitions of pixels: they can be the smallest unit a screen can support (a hardware pixel) or a pixel can be based on an optically consistent unit called a “reference pixel.”