A developer of internet enabled applications and websites comments on his work life http://www.activeminds.ca/blogarticle.php?blogname=software&id=0 Facebook has serious problems with its attitude to privacy, so much so that they appear to be in breach of Canadian privacy laws. Any action by the Canadian government will however be limited to just a small part of the wider problem. Facebook has to go much, much further. This article makes some suggestions on how I think they should clean up their act. http://www.activeminds.ca/blogarticle.php?blogname=software&id=42 http://www.activeminds.ca/blogarticle.php?blogname=software&id=42 Sat, 18 Jul 2009 20:43:48 EDT General Translations of complete web pages have come a long way from the early days of Babelfish, although they still leave a lot to be desired. But what if you only need to translate individual phrases? Should you construct the phrase in English and then use Google Translate or do we need to do something more sophisticated? http://www.activeminds.ca/blogarticle.php?blogname=software&id=41 http://www.activeminds.ca/blogarticle.php?blogname=software&id=41 Sun, 05 Jul 2009 17:27:33 EDT General Working from home is becoming easier and easier as computers, the internet and mobile phones become more sophisticated. Why then don't more people (and more companies) embrace it? http://www.activeminds.ca/blogarticle.php?blogname=software&id=37 http://www.activeminds.ca/blogarticle.php?blogname=software&id=37 Sun, 04 Nov 2007 12:30:19 EST General AJAX is a powerful programming tool that is without doubt the future of the internet. However, until the search engine and browser developers catch up with the new reality, there are a few gotcha's you need to be aware of. http://www.activeminds.ca/blogarticle.php?blogname=software&id=34 http://www.activeminds.ca/blogarticle.php?blogname=software&id=34 Sun, 08 Jul 2007 10:46:46 EDT AJAX Web pages are moving away from fancy graphics to dynamic interactive sites with added value for users. To develop such pages, web developers need to be able to program in a variety of different languages. If you can't program, there soon won't be a place for you in the web development industry. http://www.activeminds.ca/blogarticle.php?blogname=software&id=30 http://www.activeminds.ca/blogarticle.php?blogname=software&id=30 Sun, 22 Apr 2007 11:20:07 EDT Internet Mobile devices become smaller and more multi-functional with fewer buttons and bigger, touch sensitive screens. Those of us with limited short range vision should be getting worried by these developments. Perhaps the science of haptics wil be our saviour. http://www.activeminds.ca/blogarticle.php?blogname=software&id=27 http://www.activeminds.ca/blogarticle.php?blogname=software&id=27 Mon, 19 Mar 2007 12:01:53 EDT General Some censorship of the internet is necessary. I fully support the removal of child pornography for example. But insiduous censorship by special interests is slowly creeping over the internet and eroding free speech. These special interests include web site owners who censor forum posts and business owners who deliberately remove competitors ads from public listings. http://www.activeminds.ca/blogarticle.php?blogname=software&id=25 http://www.activeminds.ca/blogarticle.php?blogname=software&id=25 Sun, 25 Feb 2007 13:00:01 EST Internet It's time for a new search engine algorithm that is based solely on content and that recognises copyright. This algorithm should reward the original author whilst penalizing copyright thieves. It is possible to achieve and here are some details on how to do it. http://www.activeminds.ca/blogarticle.php?blogname=software&id=23 http://www.activeminds.ca/blogarticle.php?blogname=software&id=23 Sun, 18 Feb 2007 10:40:06 EST General I decided it was time to learn AJAX so I could implement more dynamic web applications without having to resort to annoying screen refreshes. I was surprised at just how easy it all is. So ignore all the hype and give it a try yourself. http://www.activeminds.ca/blogarticle.php?blogname=software&id=21 http://www.activeminds.ca/blogarticle.php?blogname=software&id=21 Fri, 09 Feb 2007 19:12:51 EST AJAX Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) are the latest piece of poor design to be foisted onto the web site development community. Sure, CSS has its uses and I do use it but what a piece of badly thought out design. http://www.activeminds.ca/blogarticle.php?blogname=software&id=20 http://www.activeminds.ca/blogarticle.php?blogname=software&id=20 Wed, 07 Feb 2007 13:55:34 EST Internet Internet crime is a huge problem that must be tackled on a global scale before the internet is overwhelmed. Doing so will not be easy but the alternative is huge disruption to the internet. http://www.activeminds.ca/blogarticle.php?blogname=software&id=18 http://www.activeminds.ca/blogarticle.php?blogname=software&id=18 Thu, 25 Jan 2007 10:43:59 EST Internet I've been thinking about a different sort of tool for unit conversions for quite a while now and have finally got round to implementing it under the Tools menu on this website. It has a couple of interesting, perhaps unique features... http://www.activeminds.ca/blogarticle.php?blogname=software&id=16 http://www.activeminds.ca/blogarticle.php?blogname=software&id=16 Sun, 07 Jan 2007 22:17:26 EST General There is a lot of talk on the web developer forums about standards for web pages. How important are these and should we as developers do more to ensure compliance? http://www.activeminds.ca/blogarticle.php?blogname=software&id=15 http://www.activeminds.ca/blogarticle.php?blogname=software&id=15 Fri, 05 Jan 2007 10:43:28 EST Internet The amount of spam e-mails and telephone calls is increasing alarmingly. It's time to do something effective to prevent its further growth. http://www.activeminds.ca/blogarticle.php?blogname=software&id=13 http://www.activeminds.ca/blogarticle.php?blogname=software&id=13 Tue, 26 Dec 2006 10:43:04 EST Internet Web surfing from Blackberrys, phones and other devices will increase as their cost of use gradually reduces. Browsing regular web sites from these devices is not a very pleasant experience so we need to see more sites with versions specifically designed for the mobile user. Here is my account of how I did it for one of our sites... http://www.activeminds.ca/blogarticle.php?blogname=software&id=11 http://www.activeminds.ca/blogarticle.php?blogname=software&id=11 Mon, 18 Dec 2006 10:53:24 EST Internet The current pay-per-click model for online advertising is fatally flawed, not least because of the fraud problem. Here at last is a solution that will work and should keep everyone happy, apart from Google of course. http://www.activeminds.ca/blogarticle.php?blogname=software&id=9 http://www.activeminds.ca/blogarticle.php?blogname=software&id=9 Mon, 11 Dec 2006 10:52:42 EST Internet Our recently acquired wireless internet connection is much better than the satellite connection we used to have. It's both faster and cheaper, but it does have a few problems that are not immediately apparent... http://www.activeminds.ca/blogarticle.php?blogname=software&id=7 http://www.activeminds.ca/blogarticle.php?blogname=software&id=7 Thu, 07 Dec 2006 09:35:33 EST General Just how useful is RSS (Really Simple Syndication) in practice. I can't see any real benefits so why is it being so hyped recently? http://www.activeminds.ca/blogarticle.php?blogname=software&id=4 http://www.activeminds.ca/blogarticle.php?blogname=software&id=4 Sun, 03 Dec 2006 10:19:46 EST RSS I suddenly realised my previous post in this blog is a load of rubbish. Here's the real reason why I've been spending time on the redesign. http://www.activeminds.ca/blogarticle.php?blogname=software&id=3 http://www.activeminds.ca/blogarticle.php?blogname=software&id=3 Fri, 01 Dec 2006 10:51:28 EST Internet Rationale for redesigning the Activeminds web site http://www.activeminds.ca/blogarticle.php?blogname=software&id=1 http://www.activeminds.ca/blogarticle.php?blogname=software&id=1 Sat, 25 Nov 2006 10:41:35 EST Internet