60 Minutes- Cyber Bullying

This evening, 60 Minutes in Australia features a special report on the cyber bullying and the effects that it is having on children, their parents and the wider community.

In a world that is controlled by the wider media we know as the internet, these offenders are becoming more and more common around classrooms, schools and your local community. Once upon a time there was a way to escape that hell these people put on children, but now it can continue 24/7 in every home, around the world.

I choose to feature a news post dedicated to this issue as it can effect us all, especially to people that spend their lives and time on the computer. Bulling via the internet, your mobile phone or social network is not uncommon, but there are ways to prevent it happening to you.

1. Make sure you report any offenses to the website or mobile service provider. This way, the organization is aware of the issues at hand, and will deal with the offenders within the space of the bullying.
2. Make sure you have strong passwords and password protection on all your networks. Bullies that are computer literate can could gain access to your network and inflict more harm.
3. Block or Delete any users that abuse you in any form

Parents need to take a proactive approach to this form of bullying. Parents have little to no understand about the communities we all engage in online, its a virtual world. But by been proactive to take the approach of accepting these worlds and finding out more is a step in the right direction. By saying "You don't need Myspace, turn it off" is NOT going to help!

In Australia, our laws when it comes to this form of abuse are fucked. They ain't going to help anyone that is abused via the internet. As young Australian's growing up in this digital age, we need to shape the way our laws are been proactive when it comes to this issue!

Unfortunately, we all have played a part in the problem in the past, but now its time to play a part in the solution.

30 Great Web Designs

With this been my last post before Good Friday, I thought I would share some of the great designs in Web. I came across this website about 2 months ago, and its always refreshing to head back there every couple of weeks to see what people are doing out there on the internet.

Here is what we all should be aiming for when it comes to Web Design.

Have a Happy Easter and a good and well deserved break. I am going away for a couple of days, but will be back on Monday with even more information, great web designs, and as the fan boy I am... more Apple Stuff!!! (There is word on the street we could be seeing another big Tuesday announcement this week)

Enjoy!

30 Great Website Designs

Apple Researching 3D Stereoscopic Displays

After our visit to the "Virtual Room" at the Melbourne Museum last Monday, this little gem has just popped into my Inbox. Although there is not factual information behind this apart from the patient, it looks like Apple may be creating Steroscopic displays. How long will this take before it comes a mainstream consume item, only time can tell, but just image been able to branch into a 3D world at a consumer level?!!?

Here is the latest patent information from Macrumors.com

A new patent application from Apple details how to implement a 3-dimensional stereoscopic display. While 3d images have been around for years, Apple points out that computational power has advanced to the point where these true 3d images can be rendered and animated in realtime. Apple specifically explores the implementation of "autostereoscopic" systems that don't require the viewer to be wearing special glasses or goggles.

Apple believes its system addresses issues found in previous implementations of 3d and involves tracking the observer to ensure proper rendering of the 3d image regardless of where their exact position. Their system involves real time modulation of left/right sub images to be projected to the observer's left/right eyes individually. Apple also claims it can accommodate multiple observers to provide "a unique and personal 3D visual experience to each individual observer, with each visual experience (i.e., projected image) selectively being similar or different from the others, as desired."

As with all patent applications, we're uncertain when this will make its way out of the labs and into consumers hands, but Apple appears to be continuing to explore alternative interfaces for consumer use. What's interesting is that this is not the first time we've heard of Apple exploring stereoscopic displays. In 2002, Apple was said "to have other flat-panel technologies cooking in the labs, including stereoscopic displays."

Its time to Geek out..... Safari 3.1 is here... with new Webkit

Apple today released a new version of there popular web browser, Safari with many many more features under the hood. Safari now renders pages 1.9 times faster then IE7 and runs Javascript a whoping 6 times faster then any other browser on the market. But what is of more interest to web designers and developers is the support of the next generation of web standards such as CSS3

What is CCS3?

Cascading Style Sheets level 3 is the next generation of style sheets which allow effects, animation and much more. Without going deep down into the CSS3, this allows designers and developers to integrate things we were once doing in Javascript into the CSS code itself, resulting in faster load times, and hardly any accessibility issues (into the future I might add)

The only issue with CSS3, is right now, its ONLY supported by Safari 3.1 and WebKit. Firefox 3 and IE8 will more then likely support all these standards when released later this year.

For the time been , its nice to see Safari so far ahead of the other browsers on the market, but at this point in time, with only >5% market share, is there any real need?... well at least us Mac users can have a better and faster browsing experience for the time bee.

Links

Apple's Safari 3.1 Press Release

Webkits Website

Safari Website

IE8 Beta Download Website

Revision 3 - Vector and Rasterized Graphics

Recently, Tekzilla on the Revision 3 network has been running some great segments on Vectors GFX vs Rasterized GFX. For all your n00bs out there, this may be a great starting point when designing a logo vs a banner, which program to use, Illustrator or Photoshop, or even just to touch up on your skills in either program. 

I have attached one link to the video on the Rev3 network, and one to a great website which turns Rasterized GFX into vector based images... yes, it does cost, but from my experiences with the website, it works better then the Live Trace function of Illustrator

Here are the link...

Tekzilla Episode 23

Vector Magic - Online Software

Alpha Testing of HRAFF Website

From tonight, I have began doing some simple browser tests before the completion of the index page takes place early this week. This is the first time I have launched this new site, so there are still a WHOLE lot of issues that need to worked out. Some of the graphics still need some slight adjusting, but overall, this is the look and feel of the completed website.

We are well on track on getting this website completed within the next fortnight. Also, we have already started adding in some Script.aculo.us frameworks. At the moment, you can see this functionality where the thumbnails of the Movies are. Click on the first thumbnail to see the implementation of the Shadowboxing.

Click here to view alpha version of HRAFF website.

Worst Designed Website on the Internet

As a website designer, I have come across was pretty awful websites. From poor designed, to just plain right shit on a screen, these websites are horrible. What is worse to know is that these sites still remain out there, knowing we have the tools, frameworks and programming skills to make some of these sites look and function beautifully.

I have recently come across this link with  the WORST (and I mean worst) website on the internet. If you really want to see how not to design as website, this is a perfect example!

Click here to view.

Cheers