Google is back in the social networking scene again! With their latest upcoming release of Google Plus (or Google+). Check the video out for an overview of the project!

Now to see if Google can finally compete with Facebook in the social networking scene! Remember it is not that I have failed countless of times, it is just that I have found more ways that couldn’t work. Thanks to an invite by a school mate of mine, I am able to test it out and it sure looks good at this early stages! Now lets see what happens next. Will it be good enough to compete with Facebook? Who knows, at this stage and time maybe… just maybe.

When one thinks of online learning, Khan Academy would be one of the first names to pop up. If you didn’t know what Khan Academy is, it is basically a not for profit online organisation founded by the brilliant Salman Khan. Whose video lessons on a variety of subjects (history, physics, maths etc) have gained a reputation worldwide for being really easy to understand. For now it is heavily focused on mathematics, with topics from the most basic addition and subtraction to the difficult college level stuff.

I first got to know about it some years back in my search for learning maths (I’m really bad at it). My first reaction was “I should have been born later!” However, the aesthetics of the website as well as the sheer amount of videos and content also kept me away. Being overwhelmed and not knowing where to start, I simply bookmarked it thinking that I should come back another time but I never did.

It is not until recently that I hear people talking about a recent upgrade of Khan Academy. I went to check the site out and lo and behold, an amazing site unfolds before me.  A new Khan Academy Profiles layer is added to its exercise software as well as several key design improvements. The introduction of many new user-friendly features (e.g keeping track of my progress, a really helpful knowledge map etc) bundled together with the profiles and stuff were, in my opinion, the missing puzzle pieces that prevented Khan Academy from being a complete piece.

Rather than to bombard you with screen shots and my comments, I think it is best to show you a video by the creator of Khan Academy himself (Salman Khan) on the exercise software:

In my opinion, being able to keep track of your progress, as well as getting badges for finishing a task is what motivates me. Deep down, we are all just toddlers wanting an ice cream for a job done well. However, I do find myself spending time doing unnecessary tasks just for the sake of badges, such as playing videos without looking at them, or doing the “absolute values” exercises 100 times to get a moon badge. This is more of a discipline problem on my side however, and a problem badges could find it hard to solve completely.

Online learning is certainly different from the past, with P2PU, KhanAcademy and many others coming up, the future is certainly bright for the new generation .

Looking at twitter today bought me to the attention of a new charity program by Google called Chrome for a Cause. Basically all you need to do is to install an extension that keeps track of the amount of tabs you opened in Google Chrome. Every new tab opened results in Google donating some money to the different charity organizations. Hassle free as there isn’t a need to spend time playing any any flash games or word games ( Free Rice by UN anyone?) Just install the extension and live life as usual!

So if you have a copy of Google Chrome browser installed, there isn’t much of an excuse for not helping out. This event starts from 15 December and ends at 19 December. Just install the extension, surf the web as usual and heal the world . Yeah, and make it a better place too.

Let us all be united for this good cause fellow online citizens!

[Source: Chrome for a cause]

After finishing my conscript army (also known as the National Service in Singapore) and going back into the workforce in September, I had the opportunity to do some freelance work for a friend I knew back in the army. He and his designer friend were going to start an e-commerce website selling products and I’m approached to aid them in this business venture for a cheap price. As a fresh polytechnic graduate in IT, I took up the offer since it would help me build up my portfolio as well as slowly adjust myself to the requirements of the working world.

Things were going well at first with the first meeting with them to capture their business requirements and understand what they wanted. However the first warning sign (of a nightmare client) came when we were discussing the website design. I was told by my friend: “Don’t worry! my partner here is a designer who graduated from the prestigious XYZ. You just need to implement whatever he designs.” I took it upon face value trusting what he said.

That was when my nightmare started. It’s easy to figure out what happens next. Here some snippets of the scenario I faced throughout the project.

Designer:
Now take a look at my design mock up pictures I printed, the layout should be exactly as this, first my splash page then my main page, the text blocks should be justified, I have specially worded each paragraph to ensure there isn’t any single hyphenation character at the end of each line & these are the various fonts I used…

Me:
Sure, however I would like to ask that you reconsider some parts of the design such as the use of [XYZ]. While they are somewhat technically possible. There were many drawbacks as well…(explain reasonings). I assure you I will try to follow your designs as much as I could but there are some areas I have to make some changes as print design isn’t totally the same as web design. Thoughts have to be given to usability.

Next Meeting, we both bought our laptops.

Designer:
**** what are you doing? You are not following my design exactly. Why aren’t I seeing the same font used on your display? Are you trying to act smart by showing me my choice of fonts when I viewed the website & a different one for others? Who is the qualified designer here.

Me:
I thought I have mentioned to you about font licensing issues the other day.  (I’m more of a developer than a designer here so I kept quiet on the “qualified designer” part.)

Designer:
I’m not gonna pay, why can’t i use the fonts I bought? In fact I already figured out how to built the website perfectly without your help.

Brings his portable hard drive full of images.

Designer:
Just attach 1 image on every page. Everything here is absolutely perfect. You even need me to build the website for you.

Client (my friend):
Speaking from a neutral point of view, I feel the design is very important as well. Just do as he say. Just as we don’t question your web development skills, don’t question his design decisions either. I feel what he said is absolutely valid. You are the unreasonable one here.

Me: …(take a breather and continue my explanation)

Falls on deaf ears.

Designer: Oh and just before we forget, we want the splash screen duration to be even longer. You made the duration too short. Our logo need to be shown a few seconds more and stop telling me splash pages are terrible.

Client: Agreed.

Me: :angry silently…:

The above is a typical scene of what many freelancers in general would have encountered. You are often questioned and instructed with specific steps,  making you wonder why do they even hire you in the first place if all they wanted was you to completely follow their steps, their opinions and their thinking. If that is the case, why not do it yourself? If you’re going to question the method I go about doing things and dismiss everything I suggest without any consideration at all, why bother to hire someone to help you? Nevertheless I learnt some few important pointers, here are some of them:

Ensure both parties (client and freelancer) agrees on a common set of goal, objective and requirements

It is of extreme importance that the client understands what he needs and me as a freelancer to know what the client wants. If both the client and freelancer are not on the same page, not thinking about the same objective and requirements, the frequency of changes will increase. You submitting a draft, a preview the client says no, he wants this and that. The next morning you get a phone call, he says he want another thing. Set the goals from the start and try not to deviate from it. Ensure your client know what he wants and do not go changing it whenever he want. Minor changes here and there are fine, frequent major requests are simply just not acceptable and a waste of time. Also, just because they are your friends doesn’t mean you can be more lenient with them. If you do, you’ll just go facing the same problems as me. Of course, the relationship between friends will make the job a little more trickier, so think carefully first.

Client interaction is fine, not too much though

It is obvious that clients would want the best for themselves, the most effective use of their money and the best possible finished product. Therefore, if the client wants to participate actively in the design of the website/product, fine, but make sure he understands the role of him the client and you the freelancer, preventing any time wasting. As you are the expert here, be sure to offer your opinions while actively listening to his. Share among yourselves the different ideas and suggestions, you never know what great idea your client may come up with. However, always ensure that your client understands his place. If he is persistent on his idea (that may be ridiculous in some situations),  show him the pros and cons of his ideas while suggesting your own, letting him make an informed decision. Data and research reports will be valuable here, but as always stubborn people will remain stubborn. You might want to go ahead with his idea first and upon launch ask users for feedback. Discuss with him further then.

Clients are the source of the money

Lastly, while you may not agree with your client, they are still the ones filling your pockets at the end of the day. Nevertheless, you wouldn’t want something that is of not high enough standards to put within your portfolio, besides you are the one that make that product, affiliating yourself to the quality of that product. As much as you hate it being of rubbish, you need the money to live thus forcing yourself into following ideas and concepts that maybe nonsensical and stupid. As hard as that may sound, just do your best to offer suggestions that will improve the product, if the stubbornness remains, that is just too bad. Of course there is the special case of copyright laws and things that are illegal and unethical. If you know something is wrong, point it out and ensure that it will not be produced. You don’t want to get yourself burned when your client gets sued.

[image by bornazombie via flickr]

In today’s world where everyone is busy with work, study and other commitments, having a clear mind on what to do next is crucially important to maximize our limited time. A To-do list is a great aid in this aspect;  it helps us take note of what we plan to do in the next hour, day or even months ahead.

However many such To-do list applications are either too simple or too complicated. Simple in the sense that they provide just a single column for all your tasks, lacking of customizations and specifications. Complicated in the sense that they might actually be feature rich with tons of flexibility and customizations, it might be overwhelming for a normal end user. In my case, I simply need a To-Do List that gives me a quick & simple overview of what’s ahead for the week or month without the need to spend time cracking my head trying to fit in details into those single column only To-do list.

TeuxDeux is quite the perfect match for me. At first glance as you could see here, it simply just shows up a To-do list page for the next 5 days.

Intuitive isn’t it? How do you add tasks? Just type it in of course. Had something you want to postpone to tommorow? just drag the task to the next day. Oh and wait, there is a Someday tasks section at the bottom for procrastinators like me to place our no datelines tasks over there to constantly remind ourselves of what we haven’t done yet (:.

Here a video on how TeuxDeux works from the makers themselves:

p.s theres even an iPhone app that allows you to sync with the service!

WordPress 3.0 “Thelonious” is released! Update your copy of wordpress now to enjoy new features such as:

• The new TwentyTen default template
• Header and Background customization
• New Link shortener
• Custom post types for better content management
• AND MUCH MORE!

Read on for the video tour of wordpress 3.0!

Link to official release notes: http://wordpress.org/development/2010/06/thelonious/

It has been one to two months since I requested for the cashout in Nuffnang after meeting their cashout requirements. Not a lot of money but it certainly took a long long while. Apparently one of their staff contacted me a week before I receive the cheque to explain the long delay. Apparently (yet again), it seems as though the person in-charge of signing cheques went overseas for the past month thus the delay. However the problem is why the wait till he is back before sending me the email to inform me about the delay? That I have no idea, busy isn’t a reason or a valid excuse.

Anyways who cares about that, at least the money finally arrived. This is the second time I’m getting money from the net after 3 years. Slow but who cares, it is still money.

I just received my first ever google adsense cheque! Woohoo! I’m so proud of myself. Although it took 3 years to do so, I mean it is at least something right? Haha now I can use some of my money to buy stuff I want like a new set of speakers. Anyways will be away the whole of next week due to some overseas trip to Cambodia with the school.

Looking forward to the bonding sessions with the class. Hope that the trip will unite the class as one even though we’re a totally non-intact class (well for me at least. almost 3/4 of the time I’m not with my class). Going to Cambodia to do some community service with an Orphanage. So yeah I’ll not only probably be more bonded with some people but also spiritually enriched after the trip.

That aside, WOOHOO I got my first ever google adsense cheque. Waiting for a $50 cheque from Nuffnang that should come within a month (or much more seeing the amount of complaints back then. Some took several months! Hope that is not the case for me).

And lastly, SINGAPORE is playable in Fifa World Cup 2010 South Africa game! How awesome is that? Even though the people don’t even resemble one bit of our national team, it don’t matter. As long as the name is there and the national anthem can be heard it is a great achievement. Time bring Singapore into virtual world cup glory.

P.S I feel the great importance of this milestone and decided to feature it. =)
P.P.S I’m so happy I decided to put a cool interesting fire illusion video I stumbled upon.

I did mention in my previous review of my current host that I would do a follow up when 6 months passed. Here I am doing just that and I must say that so far everything has been fantastic. SharkSpace, for those who don’t know who or what they are, is a hosting company that SwiftWorld is currently being hosted by. This is a follow up review of the host and is based on the shared hosting services provided by the host.

There are many hosts out there that come and go within months. SharkSpace obviously ain’t part of that category of hosts and they don’t show any signs of entering such a situation any time soon. So far I haven’t faced much if not any problems at all. Uptime has been perfect, site loading times fast and server load maintained at a near perfect rate. Prices of the plans remained competitive and for such stability the price is totally worth it.

There was a period of time when uptime of my site lingered between 98% to 100% for around a week or so, not sure why but it didn’t really bothered me much since the impact was minimal and I doubt I suffered much lost or any implications during that period. After that particular week everything has been perfect so far.

For the mere pricing of $5 USD a month, SharkSpace not only provide excellent plans but also marvelous support and service. For those looking for a hosting solution, you might want to take a look at SharkSpace.

WordPress 2.9 Camen (in honour of jazz vocalist Carmen McRae) has arrived! Have you upgraded your wordpress yet? There are a few newly added features that are definitely useful for many people. I for one love the new image editing feature, sure it ain’t that powerful but it sufficient enough for some minor editing. Thumbnails for articles and stuff now come built in within the engine itself and you can use it for your new theme and so on. Check out the main site for information on all the changes and stuff.

Hit the jump for the video to introduce some of the features in version 2.9

I quote from the wordpress official blog:

The coolest new stuff from a user point of view is:

1. Global undo/”trash” feature, which means that if you accidentally delete a post or comment you can bring it back from the grave (i.e., the Trash). This also eliminates those annoying “are you sure” messages we used to have on every delete.
2. Built-in image editor allows you to crop, edit, rotate, flip, and scale your images to show them who’s boss. This is the first wave of our many planned media-handling improvements.
3. Batch plugin update and compatibility checking, which means you can update 10 plugins at once, versus having to do multiple clicks for each one, and we’re using the new compatibility data from the plugins directory to give you a better idea of whether your plugins are compatible with new releases of WordPress. This should take the fear and hassle out of upgrading.
4. Easier video embeds that allow you to just paste a URL on its own line and have it magically turn it into the proper embed code, with Oembed support for YouTube, Daily Motion, Blip.tv, Flickr, Hulu, Viddler, Qik, Revision3, Scribd, Google Video, Photobucket, PollDaddy, and WordPress.tv (and more in the next release).

Have fun!