Apple iPhone vs. Droid: No One Cares

Submitted by Matt on Thu, 07/22/2010 - 16:15

No, this isn't another boring rehash of technical specs and righteous, ecstatic sermons on "openness". Because honestly, no one really cares. At least, not anyone who actually matters: an average consumer.

This is about the general marketing behind the devices, and why Apple wins and Droid loses.

Look at some of the latest Apple commercials:

in

Facebook Like Button for Drupal

Submitted by Matt on Thu, 07/22/2010 - 02:10

The Facebook Like button is showing up everywhere. And while it may seem simple to put it on your Drupal nodes and pages, it's a little trickier than normal.

You can't just put a piece of javascript in a .tpl file like you can with the old Facebook Share widget, because you need to dynamically pass the URL of the current page yourself.

But it's easy to accomplish. The following is for Drupal 6.

in

The Widow of an African Prince Becomes an Agent of the British Airport Authority

Submitted by Matt on Sat, 12/05/2009 - 03:50

I just received this email:

in

Google Wave Invite Contest

Submitted by Matt on Fri, 12/04/2009 - 22:46

I have 10 Google Wave invites I want to give away.

So here is all that you have to do to earn a chance to get one.

Follow me on twitter, and then tweet the following:

@jazzdrive3 is giving away Google Wave invites. http://su.pr/1BthxV

I'll announce winners next Friday, and ask for the winners' email addresses with a twitter direct message.

in

A Form of Google Paid Inclusion?

Submitted by Matt on Sat, 11/21/2009 - 17:52

One of the reasons Yahoo Search is somewhat less trusted in the industry is because they have a paid inclusion system. In order to increase rankings to your site, all you really had to have was enough money. Very simple for people to buy rankings of some form or another. (This is all moot, of course, when Bing takes over their search).

in

Read Only Fields for Drupal Forms

Submitted by Matt on Wed, 11/18/2009 - 20:49

When developing CrowdedText.com, I ran into the problem of needing read-only fields once a node had been created.  I didn't want to prohibit editing completely. Only for a few fields.

You can't just hide or disable the field, although that's a necessary step.  Anyone with a tool like Firebug would still be able to edit the html in real-time and submit the form, changing the value.  When some of your backend logic depends on the keeping these values accurate, this is a big no-no.

in

Why I Use Drupal

Submitted by Matt on Fri, 09/04/2009 - 20:13

Technology shouldn't be used just for the sake of technology.  It should have a clear benefit that you can measure.  I could have the best shovel every made, hand-forged and encrusted with diamonds with a gold-trimmed handle (my dream), but if all I can do with it is dig holes, then fill them back up, what good is this ultimate shovel?

in

Treat Your Visitors Like Children

Submitted by Matt on Wed, 09/02/2009 - 20:16

If you're website is for your business or you are trying to make any money off of it at all, then your website shouldn't be built for you.  It should be built for your visitors, with the aim of getting those visitors to do what you want and becoming a customer.

And your customers, especially new customers, need your guidance.  They need hand-holding.  They need to be treated like children.

in

Google Voice

Submitted by Matt on Mon, 07/20/2009 - 22:22

I just received an invite to Google Voice. I've been hoping this would happen, because I think it has the potential to revolutionize the way small businesses handle their calls.

What is Google Voice? The simplest way to find out is by hearing it from Google themselves. http://www.google.com/googlevoice/about.html

But I'll highlight a few things.

Basically, the service allows you to have a virtual call center, free of charge. You get one number, from any locale you want, and you can then forward anyone who calls that number to any phone that you want.

in

Don't Reinvent the Wheel - Use Open Source

Submitted by Matt on Sun, 07/19/2009 - 19:46

Don't reinvent the wheel.  It's a cliche for a reason.  And it's true in most aspects of life, especially business.  Very rarely will you want to start from scratch - with anything.

When launching a product or starting a business, would you like to invent plastic again?  How about paper?  The pen?  Of course not.

And yet with web development, many desire to do just that.  They desire to throw away years of experience and dedicated development in favor of untested, custom code.

in