Posts in ‘Tech News’

Like all the other team members here at TPI I’m addicted to sharing and consuming data. I wake up, check Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, email, then (if I have time) I play some Angry Birds.  Throughout a typical day, I check Facebook way too much, tweet more than the average person, read a couple blog posts, check in to wherever I eat lunch, send 50+ emails and exchange instant messages with my coworkers.  As a person who works in the social media world each day, I understand that I might visit these sites and share more data than the typical person, but depending on what kind of business you’re in, there are many ways data plays a part in your everyday life and for your company.

Consider the following infographic, courtesy of DOMO.

How Much Data We Share Each Day

While all this data may seem overwhelming, the team at Thoughtprocess Interactive can help you understand it and make your company, website design or social media strategy stand out from the rest.  Contact us today to see what your business strategy has been missing.

A few weeks ago, I was working on a web application that uses jQuery Mobile.  This app contained an unusual form that would make an AJAX call to validate the user’s input, grab some data, and display a confirmation message in a div.  The web application uses that input later to customize their experience.  None of this was a problem until we realized that a user might want to go back and change their information during the same visit.

If you’re a web designer or web developer and have ever worked with jQuery Mobile, you may already know where this is going.  When the user returned that form, the AJAX call would fail to update it, even though I could see the request succeeding in Firebug’s network traffic tab.  After considerable frustration and a big cup of coffee, I noticed that jQuery Mobile reloaded the page containing the form the second time around, despite the existence of a copy it cached in the DOM only seconds ago!  This resulted in two distinct copies of the form trying to use the same ID’s: a sneaky, invisible doppelganger and the visible one.  The script was only able to poll and update the hidden one, because it was higher in the DOM, resulting in AJAX calls containing stale data, and useless DOM updates.

Data-ajax decorator to the rescue!  Putting data-ajax=”false” on an element such as a form or a link prevents jQuery Mobile from using its caching magic when the user performs an action that would take them to another page, and instead reloads the DOM.  In this case, it also banished the doppelganger form, allowing everything to work correctly.

As you all know by now Facebook has released Timeline for business pages!  This is exciting news, but trying to keep track of all these changes can be confusing.  Fear not! We have you covered.

Here’s a quick list of the changes you can expect to see in how businesses will communicate and market to their Facebook fans through Timeline (as seen in the Tiffany & Co example below).

1. The overall design, look and feel of Pages has dramatically changed.

2. Photos, Likes, and Apps are now at the top of the page.

• You have the ability to change the order of tab locations although the “Photos” tab must remain in the first position

3. Default welcome tabs will be eliminated.

4. Custom tab locations are changing and will have larger icons.

• Custom tab icons are now 111px by 74px
• Tabs are now wider – 810px

5. The cover photo can be 850px by 315px but can NOT include the following:

• Calls to action
• Contact information, such as web address, email or other information intended for your “About” section
• Price or purchase information
• References to user interface elements, such as Like or Share, or other Facebook site features

6. Admin Panel is new and more user friendly.

• In March new admin capabilities will be activated.  For example you can now add admins who can only post, have complete control over the page, or add an ad partner who cannot make any changes to the page without your approval…pretty cool, huh?
• Fans can now message the page directly and you can reply as the page, instead of using your personal profile!

7. Timeline can feature your brand’s history. 

• We love how Tiffany & Co. has highlighted their company’s rich history with “highlighted” stories

8. Access to a limited view of OTHER brand page’s insights. 

• You can view this only if the brand has the new Timeline.  Click on their “likes” box and voila…there are their insights for all to see!
• This is sort of a double edged sword.  For those who are new to business pages on Facebook…or just not so hot at fan engagement and outreach on this medium, this could be a way to learn from businesses and brands that are doing it well.  Consequently, if you’re doing a really good job with fan engagement, this could be a way for competitors to take a peek at your game plan.

Tiffany & Co. has done a great job taking advantage of the new apps boxes, filling their timeline with rich content and attracting fans with their cover photo. Head over to their page to check out how they have filled their Timeline!

Below is just one example of a highlighted story they’re featuring:

We have a feeling we will be updating this list with more changes we notice as we get more familiar with Timeline.  What do you think of the changes?  Tell us in the comments below!

Future technology is something we’re all curious about.  What will it look like?  What will it cost?  Will everything be touchscreen?  Well according to Corning Incorporated and their innovations with Gorilla Glass, soon everyday will be a “Day Made of Glass”.  See the video below for the story behind Corning’s Vision.  Full article can be found here.

Last year’s video (displayed below) followed the same family, brought in millions of hits on YouTube and left many in awe of Corning’s interpretation of what’s possible with photovoltaic glass, LCD TV glass, architectural display and surface glass.

Do you think this is possible in the future? Connect with us on Facebook and tell us what you think.

It turns out there’s an advantage to old-school search directly from Google.com. Not just content to sit around fine-tuning their algorithm and counting their money, the web wizards of Mountain View, CA have also taken to working some clever tricks and treats into their programming to the delight of users that happen to stumble across or successfully uncover them. These fun little surprises have come to be affectionately known as “Easter eggs,” hence the shade of  hide-and-go-seek involved.

Here’s a few of our faves for your viewing pleasure (Fair Warning: this list is a time drain!):

• Find Chuck Norris…if you can.  Type “Find Chuck Norris” into Google, hit I’m Feeling Lucky, and Google will tell you what’s up with Chuck
• We can only assume that this one is meant as an ode to lost productivity: www.Google.com/Pacman
• Type “Do a Barrel Roll” into the search bar.  We dare you not to turn your head
• Type in “Askew” or “Tilt.” Same dare
• A holiday classic:  type in “let it snow” and watch the magic happen.  You can even defrost your screen and write in the snow with your mouse!
• See if you can find the subtle humor in this one: type in “Recursion.” Get it?
• Type “gravity,” click I’m Feeling Lucky and watch the Google logo defy Isaac Newton
• Ask Google Maps for directions from Japan to China.  You might want to pay close attention to step 42…
• BONUS: Google has a bit of Pirate in ‘em with this next Easter Egg.  Simply click here and have a good time, matey (or whatever pirates call friends)

UPDATE: April 6, 2012

In celebration of the upcoming Easter holiday, we’ve added one more to our “Easter Egg” to the list, and this time it isn’t from Google.

Yay ‘ol Facebook

• Is your Facebook profile looking a little bland?  Well spice it up with a little pirate action!  Simply go to your Facebook profile page, click on the small, downward pointing arrow on the upper right on the blue bar.  A small menu will pop up.  From there, click “Account Settings” and then the “Language” tab at the bottom.  Now look closely and you will see multiple English settings named English (Upside Down) and English (Pirate).  We recommend choosing the “Pirate” language (this is BY FAR the most fun).  Save your settings (of course you can change them back at any time) and have a look around at all the changes to your text!  We guarantee you will impress all your friends with this little gem!

Picture this: I’m walking through the park with my dog last week and my phone rings.  I take my phone out of my pocket to answer it and I can’t.  Why not?  Because I have gloves on.  I made it work by using the tip of my nose but you can just imagine how silly I looked!

For the rest of my very cold walk through the park I took my gloves off so I could text, take a picture of my dog and answer my phone…I might have been able to do all this with my nose but I choose not to look like an idiot and just let my hand freeze.

Fast forward to last night when I’m Christmas shopping at Target and I happen to come across the perfect present for everyone who has a smartphone:  TOUCH SCREEN GLOVES!  How did I not know about these before?  I ended up buying a pair for all my friends and family with smartphones – which is everyone.  So after my semi-expensive trip to Target, I Googled these gloves and it turns out they are everywhere!

While I realize you (or my boss, hi James!) are probably thinking this has absolutely nothing to do with what we do here at Thoughtprocess Interactive, consider this:  Morgan Stanley’s analysts believe that based on the current rate of change and adoption, the mobile web will be bigger than desktop Internet use by 2015.  That means if you want to get on the internet anytime during the winter in the future (without your hands freezing off) you may want to invest in these touchscreen-friendly gloves.

Or you can just use your nose.

We know, we know, Facebook has had so many changes lately it’s hard to keep up with them all. If you are a casual user, there are plenty of new features to explore. You may see some changes in accessing some of your games, or notice different content on some business pages, but generally you’re good to go.

However, it gets trickier if you’re a business owner who has developed Facebook apps. Starting October 1st, apps that run on Facebook must be hosted from a secure server. Facebook is requiring this to help protect the privacy of its users. What does it mean to you? If you don’t have a SSL certificate for your app’s site domain, your app will not show up on Facebook anymore – meaning your fans won’t see it!

Don’t worry, we’re here to help. If you host your application with us, we can get a SSL certificate set up for your domain. If you use a different host, they’ll be able to help you. Either way, you’ll just need to provide some specific information that verifies you are the owner of the site, and you’ll likely have to pay a small amount to buy the certification from the company that provides it. The most commonly known certificate provider is VeriSign, but there are plenty to choose from, with a variety of features and prices.

If we can help you, let us know. In the meantime, enjoy the latest features on Facebook… we will be back soon to guide you through more of the interesting changes that are happening there — stay tuned!

Change. No one likes it.  There are a lot of complaints on the social feeds today about the new features on Facebook.  Every 6 month or so our News Feed fills up with “I hate this new layout” and “I’m gonna stop using Facebook if they keep changing it” (like that will ever happen).  However, if you take a couple minutes to figure these features out it you will see that they are actually very useful.  So don’t fret, we have put together a quick and easy guide to understanding these new features.

Ticker & Chat: The new ticker on the top right of your homepage shows real-time posts making them easier to go through.  Just hover over any story to see entire update.  Additionally by clicking your chat sidebar the ticker attaches to the top.  You can chat while navigating to any page you like while watching your friend’s status updates change.

Photo Layout: You probably noticed the creative way our pictures are now laid out in our News Feed.  This is purely for our viewing experience and gives business pages a more unique way to attract “likes”.

Top Stories:  Facebook’s new concept shows posts that you will most likely find interesting and puts them at the top of your feed when you first log in.  The top stories are marked by a blue tag on the top left corner of the post.  To remove them from your top stories just click on the blue tag and they will be removed.  To add a top story that you are interested in just hover over an update where the blue tab would be and click-it’s that easy!

Friend Lists:  Facebook’s new “Smart Lists” are just that-Smart.  Smart lists automatically create lists for your city, work, family, and school.  You can add friends or brands you follow to the lists Facebook automatically created for you, or you can create a new list to organize your friends even better.  To create a new list or edit an existing list click on “Lists” on the left of your News Feed.

Here you can see a list I created based on my favorite movies and television shows making it easy for me to skip all the news feed and go straight to my shows.

Friend List Dropdown:  You can also organize your friend into lists right from their profile page.

Subscribe:  The subscribe button allows you to hear from people that you are interested in, even if you’re not friends.  You are automatically subscribed to all your current friends updates and with the subscribe button you can choose which of their updates you see.  For example, if you have a friend who is always playing Facebook games (we all have those friends), you can hide all those game posts in a simple step.

Not all profiles have a Subscribe button.  Only people who allow subscribers will have the Subscribe button on their profile.  If you choose to allow Subscribers they will only see the things you share publicly.

What do you think of all these new features?  Love it or hate it?

Have you always longed to play music on a stage for an audience?  Well your chance has finally come…sort of.  A few months ago a new social music site launched called Turntable.fm. I know what you’re thinking, but this is no everyday music playing website.  There is no limit to how much music you can listen to, unlike Pandora who allows you to listen to a whopping 40 hours a month, in which I personally go through in less than a week.  Turntable.fm allows you to make your own private channel or join in on someone else’s channel that you may like, while chatting with all your fans, or new found friends in the room!

Once there you select your avatar and create your own playlist, which can be anything you want in Turntable’s huge library of tracks or you can upload your own.  You can also bookmark songs on other sites and if you like a song that is playing you can buy it right there from iTunes or add it to your own playlist.

The beauty of this social music site is that you can choose if you like the song that is being played or not…it’s either “Lame” or “Awesome”.  The more “Awesome” points you get the closer you become to changing your avatar to something bigger and better, if the song gets “Lamed” too many times then that song is skipped and the next person DJing” gets to play their song.

Simple enough right?  Well there is one downfall…for the moment you need an “invite” from a Facebook friend in order to play music or join a room, but once you’re in, you’re in!  You can start inviting friends each time you start to play music!  Enjoy!

UPDATE: Now you can take turntable.fm to go with it’s new iPhone app.  It offers all the same features as the online version but fits right in your palm.  It’s easy, just log in with Facebook and up pops all the rooms you are used to seeing!  I’ll be in the Top 40 room!

iPhone Screenshot of turntable.fm

Exploring the Buddypress Add-on for WordPress to turn our blog into a social community.

http://buddypress.org/