February 2008
Usability: Email Newsletters →
Varien is an Open Source eCommerce software development and consulting firm. We’re passionate about creating engaging stores, innovative shopping experiences and helping our clients increase…
Piwik - Open Source Web Analytics →
Piwik is an open source web analytics software. It gives interesting reports on your website visitors, your popular pages, the search engines keywords and etc… Piwik is built with plugins: you can…
Wedding website buys wedding magazine →
You know the media world has been turned upside down when Websites start buying magazines. Today, the Knot, which operates the wedding site of the same name, acquired The Bump, a…
FriendFeed: Pure Genius →
FriendFeed is pure genius. I had this idea that I was going to write an aggregation service that took your sources from multiple locations and aggregated them into once nice RSS’able feed so your…
Powerful CSS-Techniques For Effective Coding | CSS... →
Sometimes being a web-developer is just damn hard. Particularly coding often responsible for slowing down our workflow, reducing the quality of work and sleepless nights with pizza coffee…
Navigation Menus: Trends and Examples | Design... →
Navigation is the most significant element in web design. Since web-layouts don’t have any physical representation a user can stick to, consistent navigation menu one of few design elements…
Usability Review: My Account Page →
Varien is an Open Source eCommerce software development and consulting firm. We’re passionate about creating engaging stores, innovative shopping experiences and helping our clients increase…
Usability Review: Product Image Rich Media →
Varien is an Open Source eCommerce software development and consulting firm. We’re passionate about creating engaging stores, innovative shopping experiences and helping our clients increase…
Usability Review: Customer Reviews →
Varien is an Open Source eCommerce software development and consulting firm. We’re passionate about creating engaging stores, innovative shopping experiences and helping our clients increase…
Usability Review: “Confirm Order” Pages →
Varien is an Open Source eCommerce software development and consulting firm. We’re passionate about creating engaging stores, innovative shopping experiences and helping our clients increase…
Usability Review: “Welcome” Emails →
Varien is an Open Source eCommerce software development and consulting firm. We’re passionate about creating engaging stores, innovative shopping experiences and helping our clients increase…
Usability Review: Customer Service Landing Pages →
Varien is an Open Source eCommerce software development and consulting firm. We’re passionate about creating engaging stores, innovative shopping experiences and helping our clients increase…
Ecommerce Product Search: Handling Attributes →
Varien is an Open Source eCommerce software development and consulting firm. We’re passionate about creating engaging stores, innovative shopping experiences and helping our clients increase…
Checking Out Ecommerce Checkout →
Varien is an Open Source eCommerce software development and consulting firm. We’re passionate about creating engaging stores, innovative shopping experiences and helping our clients increase…
Bringing Your Site to the Next Level: Learning... →
Varien is an Open Source eCommerce software development and consulting firm. We’re passionate about creating engaging stores, innovative shopping experiences and helping our clients increase…
Turning a Brick Wall into a Speed Bump: 26... →
Varien is an Open Source eCommerce software development and consulting firm. We’re passionate about creating engaging stores, innovative shopping experiences and helping our clients increase…
Tate Modern Extension →
I was taken on a tour this morning of the site where the new extension to the Tate Modern is to be built. Planning has now been granted for a pretty spectacular new building designed by…
UK digital agency sector grows profits 56% - but... →
The study noted a “diversity of performance” among the top 40 agencies. The reasons given for underperformance included the reluctance of agencies to charge clients the correct fees, and over dependence on expensive freelancers.
Hearst taps Yahoo! Buzz for content distribution →
“The deal is a great way for Hearst to increase traffic to it’s magazine websites and is also a coup for Yahoo’s platform because users see it as another way to share fun information with friends.”
Hearst digital uses Pluck tool to engage online... →
Hearst digital, UK-based national Magazine Company’s digital publishing business, has chosen Pluck’s SiteLife social media platform to provide reader interaction and community across its websites.
Hearst to shut down four websites in digital... →
Hearst Digital Network, the online division of the National Magazine Company, is to close a host of its magazine websites. The move is part of a rationalisation of the network’s key brands that will see it reduce its focus from 13 titles down to five. The four magazine sites being closed include Good Housekeeping and Country Living , which will be wrapped into a single portal,...
Travel technology isn’t a spectator sport - more... →
Making major changes to a travel reservation system is hard work for all involved. I know - I have project managed quite a few in my time.
To give you a sense of scale, one project I PMed for a leading UK tour operator took 8 months from start of planning to go live…. and involved over 50 IT, commercial, ecommerce and legal people. And that was just for a new holiday search! (OK, search is...
Last major change for symfony 1.1 →
If you read the symfony devs mailing-list, you know that we still miss one big feature before being able to release symfony 1.1.0. This is not the case anymore. symfony 1.1 now comes with a brand new configuration system. All config.php files are gone and are replaced with configuration classes. The new system brings more configurability and flexibility to your projects. If you already use symfony...
BBC - Beta Homepage →
bbc.co.uk offers a varied range of sites including news, sport, community, education, children’s, and lifestyle sites, with TV programme support, TV and radio on demand via BBC iPlayer, and easy to use web search from the BBC. Saved By: Paul Lomax | View Details | Give Thanks Tags: None assigned
Homeflow | Simple, powerful systems for Estate... →
Homeflow: Simple, powerful systems for Estate Agents Saved By: Paul Lomax | View Details | Give Thanks Tags: None assigned
50 Questions to Evaluate the Quality of Your... →
I know, it has been a while since my last post, but I was crazy busy. I have something else … Saved By: Paul Lomax | View Details | Give Thanks Tags: None assigned
iCarousel - An open source (free) javascript tool... →
iCarousel is an open source (free) javascript tool for creating carousel like widgets. Saved By: Paul Lomax | View Details | Give Thanks Tags: None assigned
London offices too expensive for startups? →
It’s a truism to say property is expensive in London. And the latest victim of rising prices is - ironically enough - real estate search engine Nestoria, which is moving out of its current home “because the building is to be renovated and turned into luxury flats.” However, despite the nostalgia associated with “little quirks like the window that never closed, the stolen furniture…” I’m sure...
Digg clone Yahoo Buzz launches →
Yahoo launches Yahoo Buzz - a Digg-like site that takes stories from pre-approved news publishers (100 to start) and let’s users vote on stories and push them up to the top of the page.
Like Digg, the more users that vote for a story, via the embedded button or on the Buzz site, the higher the story goes on Buzz. But user voting isn’t the only factor in how well stories do. Yahoo is also...
Google heads under the sea with cable investment →
Google has announced that it has joined a consortium to build a new trans-Pacific cable between Japan and California.
The Unity consortium is a joint effort by Bharti Airtel, Global Transit, Google, KDDI Corporation, Pacnet and SingTel and will initially increase Trans–Pacific lit cable capacity by about 20 percent, with the potential to add up to 7.68 Terabits per second.
Google’s Manager...
Our secret sauce →
Posted by Hal Varian, Chief Economist I was recently a guest columnist on the Freakonomics Blog. There were several interesting questions from the readers, but one was quite striking:
“How can we explain the fairly entrenched position of Google, even though the differences in search algorithms are now only recognizable at the margins? Is there some hidden network effect that makes it better...
How to use YouTube to get your message out →
If you would like to spread the word about something you’re doing, YouTube is an amazing resource that you can’t afford to ignore. Here’s a quick story to demonstrate this:
I wanted to offer folks a few tips on starting a business, while also raising awareness of our new Start-up Clinic workshop.
I spent about one hour putting together a rough script, about two hours filming and three hours...
Glam raises $85 million →
Brisbane, California based Glam Media reported an $85 million round of financing, their fourth, today. We first reported that Glam was looking to raise as much as $200 million in August 2007.
The round was $65 million in cash and $20 million in debt, on top of almost $30 million they raised in three prior rounds. Investors included Hubert Burda Media, GLG Partners, Duff Ackerman &...
OpenX Free Open Source Ad Server (formerly known... →
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Fuck Grapefruit →
EU startups getting name-checked →
A bunch of European startups are getting name-checked right now, whether it be selected for demo fights or ‘programmes’ - so I though it worth just listing these so we can all check them out.
First off the Plugg Start-Ups Rally 2008 has evaluated about 65 submissions from 18 European countries and 20 of them have been picked for the rally. They are:
1. 123people
2. Alenty
3. Assetbar...
Openads now OpenX, former AOL CEO Jonathan Miller... →
London-based startup Openads has changed its name to OpenX and former AOL CEO Jonathan Miller has joined as chairman. OpenX is an increasingly popular open-source ad server (we use it here at TechCrunch). Since his departure from AOL, Miller has become quite active in the startup world as an investor and board member.
He is a partner in the Velocity Interactive Group with former Fox...
AdSense for video now in beta →
Posted by Shamim Samadi, Product Manager and Ryan Hayward, Product Marketing Manager In a very short time, watching videos online has become a common pastime, and the imagination of artists and other content owners continues to fuel this trend. Meanwhile, across the industry, advertisers and video publishers continue to look for the best solution that balances the needs of video fans with the need...
Travolution awards for sales & marketing in online... →
Quote: “_I opined that asking someone in IT to increase sales by 20% using ecommerce is like asking your accounts department to make money buying and selling foreign currencies. Both believe they can do it - but are not best suited to it.
i.e. new organisational structures should be formed that join IT and marketing together - or what is now known as ecommerce.
However I now believe I...
Cornering the market whilst getting a monkey off... →
Great story from Innonate blog
Once upon a time in a village, a man appeared and announced to the villagers that he would buy monkeys for $10 each. The villagers seeing that there were many monkeys around, went out to the forest, and started catching them. The man bought thousands at $10 and as supply started to diminish, the villagers stopped their effort. He further announced that he would now...
Meet iPaper, Scribd's document viewing platform →
Document sharing on the Web via embeddable Flash players keeps getting better all the time. Scribd has now released a vastly improved upgrade to its document viewer, which it is now calling iPaper.
Scribd streams the converted PDF documents to the Flash player, and offers three different ways to view each document: in one long, scrollable window; as a book with page-turning effects, or as...
Price comparison sites are going, going, gone… →
A shake-out in price comparison sites in the UK - and possibly in the US - looks imminent after Experian said it was reviewing its online price comparison shopping service PriceGrabber and has “lots of interest from private-equity and listed companies”. The statement came after reports suggested the credit checking company is looking to sell the business.
Experian has appointed American...
FT.com / Business Education / Global MBA rankings →
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Toshiba to quit HD DVDs, ends format war |... →
The decision by the electronics maker ends the battle with a consortium led by Sony over who would set the standard for the next generation of discs, a fight that confused shoppers and stalled a move to the new technology in the $24 billion home DVD market.
BBC NEWS | England | London | Cabbie to face drug... →
That’s scary - he lives literally half a mile down the road from me and Sarah. I’ve seen his cab parked outside his (£650k) house as we walk past it regularly…
Not just dodgy cabbies that commit rape unfortunately. Don’t accept drinks from strangers, even if they’re taking you home…
curriculum vitaes templates, samples, examples and... →
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OpenAds: How to burn $20m on a clown logo →
So, you have $20.5 million in funding from some of the biggest VCs on the planet. What do you do next? Roll out a great new product? Expand internationally? Hire a new fire-cracker CEO? No, you re-brand… for the sixth time. London-based OpenAds, the commercial open-source online ad server firm has changed its name yet again to OpenX. Apparently this is part of a “plan to move with our...
Amazon Web Services goes down.... →
Amazon Web Services suffered a major outage this morning, affecting the thousands of Websites that rely on its storage (S3) and cloud computing (EC2) services. Startups including Twitter, SmugMug, 37Signals, and AdaptiveBlue, for instance, use Amazon’s S3 storage service to store all the data for their Websites. Reports started coming in across the Web, email, and Twitter about the outage...
Micah Richards on Manchester City beating... →
“The last thing manager Sven-Goran Eriksson said to the Manchester City players before we went out at Old Trafford on Sunday was “don’t be afraid”.”