Flat Hatter Collaborative http://zug.flathatter.com Bryan Zug's blog on interactive development and the art of thriving in a world of change. Thu, 29 May 2008 22:19:31 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 en Blasting the Myth of the Fold - Boxes and Arrows: The design behind the design http://zug.flathatter.com/blasting-the-myth-of-the-fold-boxes-and-arrows-the-design-behind-the-design/ http://zug.flathatter.com/blasting-the-myth-of-the-fold-boxes-and-arrows-the-design-behind-the-design/#comments Thu, 10 Apr 2008 16:41:38 +0000 Bryan Zug http://zug.flathatter.com/blasting-the-myth-of-the-fold-boxes-and-arrows-the-design-behind-the-design/ Recommended Reading: Interesting article about “The Myth of the Fold” pointed out by Terry Heaton on the Gnomedex mailing list.

Holding on to this disbelief – this myth that users won’t scroll to see anything below the fold – is doing everyone a great disservice, most of all our users.

]]> Recommended Reading: Interesting article about “The Myth of the Fold” pointed out by Terry Heaton on the Gnomedex mailing list.

Holding on to this disbelief – this myth that users won’t scroll to see anything below the fold – is doing everyone a great disservice, most of all our users.
]]> http://zug.flathatter.com/blasting-the-myth-of-the-fold-boxes-and-arrows-the-design-behind-the-design/feed/ Search Boxes are Big In Japan http://zug.flathatter.com/search-boxes-are-big-in-japan/ http://zug.flathatter.com/search-boxes-are-big-in-japan/#comments Wed, 26 Mar 2008 15:44:32 +0000 Bryan Zug http://zug.flathatter.com/search-boxes-are-big-in-japan/ Nice post from Cabel Sasser on how Japanese ads are dropping URL’s in advertisements in favor of search boxes with keywords.

Lots of back and forth in the comments on how regular folks don’t use the address bar like they’re “supposed” to — money quote from the comments –

I don’t think us web geeks have [...]

]]> Nice post from Cabel Sasser on how Japanese ads are dropping URL’s in advertisements in favor of search boxes with keywords.

Lots of back and forth in the comments on how regular folks don’t use the address bar like they’re “supposed” to — money quote from the comments –

I don’t think us web geeks have any idea of the heinous crimes that the average user is committing out there.
]]> http://zug.flathatter.com/search-boxes-are-big-in-japan/feed/ Participatory Narcissism and why Counting Crows has sucked since back in the day http://zug.flathatter.com/participatory-narcissism-and-why-counting-crows-has-sucked-since-back-in-the-day/ http://zug.flathatter.com/participatory-narcissism-and-why-counting-crows-has-sucked-since-back-in-the-day/#comments Sat, 22 Mar 2008 15:24:41 +0000 Bryan Zug http://zug.flathatter.com/participatory-narcissism-and-why-counting-crows-has-sucked-since-back-in-the-day/ So I finally got Mars Edit working again with my wordpress install (upgrading wp did the trick) and am getting back in the flow of posting as I come across interesting things.

One of my favorite bloggers, Jeff Atwood at Coding Horror quotes Maciej Cegłowski’s notion of Participatory Narcissism concerning a recent post by Paul Graham.

After [...]

]]> So I finally got Mars Edit working again with my wordpress install (upgrading wp did the trick) and am getting back in the flow of posting as I come across interesting things.

One of my favorite bloggers, Jeff Atwood at Coding Horror quotes Maciej Cegłowski’s notion of Participatory Narcissism concerning a recent post by Paul Graham.

After a while, you begin to notice that all the essays are an elaborate set of mirrors set up to reflect different facets of the author, in a big distributed act of participatory narcissism.

Which is exactly why just about “everything” Counting Crows has done “after” their first album has sucked so bad.

]]> http://zug.flathatter.com/participatory-narcissism-and-why-counting-crows-has-sucked-since-back-in-the-day/feed/ Screencast Tools http://zug.flathatter.com/screencast-tools/ http://zug.flathatter.com/screencast-tools/#comments Tue, 05 Feb 2008 03:28:26 +0000 Bryan Zug http://zug.flathatter.com/screencast-tools/ Since I get asked a lot, here’s my rundown of screencast tools –

PC - Camstudio: Free and can get you started

PC - Camtasia: $299 but has bells and whistles that most people want after doing it for a while (e.g. pan and scan)

PC - Captivate: $699. Like powerpoint on steroids, lets you capture screen sequences [...]

]]> Since I get asked a lot, here’s my rundown of screencast tools –

PC - Camstudio: Free and can get you started

PC - Camtasia: $299 but has bells and whistles that most people want after doing it for a while (e.g. pan and scan)

PC - Captivate: $699. Like powerpoint on steroids, lets you capture screen sequences and create demos or interactive simulations — then outputs Flash movies that you can put on the web (.swf) or edit in the Flash IDE when installed on the same machine (.fla).

Mac - iShowU: $20

Mac - Snapz Pro: $69

Mac - Screencast: $29. Here’s a recent review of this third Mac tool in relation to the first two.

]]> http://zug.flathatter.com/screencast-tools/feed/ 10 Best Intranets of 2008 http://zug.flathatter.com/10-best-intranets-of-2008/ http://zug.flathatter.com/10-best-intranets-of-2008/#comments Thu, 10 Jan 2008 16:44:14 +0000 Bryan Zug http://zug.flathatter.com/10-best-intranets-of-2008/ Had coffee with Drupal aficionado Gregory Heller over at Top Pot in downtown Seattle on Tuesday and he pointed me to Jakob Neilson’s new article on the 10 Best Intranets of 2008.

Design seemed to figure directly into business results. Here’s a short money quote –

The productivity gains from polishing the user experience are [...]

]]> Had coffee with Drupal aficionado Gregory Heller over at Top Pot in downtown Seattle on Tuesday and he pointed me to Jakob Neilson’s new article on the 10 Best Intranets of 2008.

Design seemed to figure directly into business results. Here’s a short money quote –

The productivity gains from polishing the user experience are well worth the cost of going beyond the first design that comes to mind.

]]> http://zug.flathatter.com/10-best-intranets-of-2008/feed/ New Job as a Technical Director at Methodologie http://zug.flathatter.com/new-job-at-a-technical-director-at-methodologie/ http://zug.flathatter.com/new-job-at-a-technical-director-at-methodologie/#comments Thu, 10 Jan 2008 16:36:20 +0000 Bryan Zug http://zug.flathatter.com/new-job-at-a-technical-director-at-methodologie/ Started a new job on Monday. I have joined the wonderful team at Methodologie in downtown Seattle as “Technical Director, Interactive Manager”.

Methodologie is an incredible brand design firm with a great specialty in Corporate Social Responsibility communication and Annual Report design.

I get to work with an award winning interactive team and am looking forward to [...]

]]> Started a new job on Monday. I have joined the wonderful team at Methodologie in downtown Seattle as “Technical Director, Interactive Manager”.

Methodologie is an incredible brand design firm with a great specialty in Corporate Social Responsibility communication and Annual Report design.

I get to work with an award winning interactive team and am looking forward to a great 2008.

Also to note — I’ll probably be posting less on elearning specific topics (when I post right :) — will be moving more toward the identity of the blog becoming “Bryan Zug’s Flat Hatter Collaborative”.

]]> http://zug.flathatter.com/new-job-at-a-technical-director-at-methodologie/feed/ My Chumby Just Arrived http://zug.flathatter.com/my-chumby-just-arrived/ http://zug.flathatter.com/my-chumby-just-arrived/#comments Tue, 08 Jan 2008 04:37:35 +0000 Bryan Zug http://zug.flathatter.com/my-chumby-just-arrived/ My Chumby just arrived — here it is (except mine is black) — and yes, this is a realtime reflection of what it is showing –

]]> My Chumby just arrived — here it is (except mine is black) — and yes, this is a realtime reflection of what it is showing –

]]> http://zug.flathatter.com/my-chumby-just-arrived/feed/ Way cool physics engine for the iPhone http://zug.flathatter.com/way-cool-physics-engine-for-the-iphone/ http://zug.flathatter.com/way-cool-physics-engine-for-the-iphone/#comments Thu, 06 Dec 2007 18:55:00 +0000 Bryan Zug http://zug.flathatter.com/way-cool-physics-engine-for-the-iphone/ A physics engine for the iPhone — just play the vid –

]]> A physics engine for the iPhone — just play the vid –

]]> http://zug.flathatter.com/way-cool-physics-engine-for-the-iphone/feed/ Make My Logo Bigger Cream http://zug.flathatter.com/make-my-logo-bigger-cream/ http://zug.flathatter.com/make-my-logo-bigger-cream/#comments Fri, 09 Nov 2007 15:36:28 +0000 Bryan Zug http://zug.flathatter.com/make-my-logo-bigger-cream/ I wish they had embed code for this video, would go wider much faster. Since they don’t, just go visit the site — Make My Logo Bigger Cream — so funny because it is so true.

]]> I wish they had embed code for this video, would go wider much faster. Since they don’t, just go visit the site — Make My Logo Bigger Cream — so funny because it is so true.

]]> http://zug.flathatter.com/make-my-logo-bigger-cream/feed/ DevLearn 2007 Session http://zug.flathatter.com/devlearn-2007-session/ http://zug.flathatter.com/devlearn-2007-session/#comments Wed, 07 Nov 2007 23:01:02 +0000 Bryan Zug http://zug.flathatter.com/devlearn-2007-session/ Here’s my presentation files from my session at DevLearn 2007 in San Jose today as .PDF (1.3mb) or .PPT (1.7mb) — Dave Wilkins of Knowledge Planet and I did a session called “Team-based Authoring: It’s About Time”.

]]> Here’s my presentation files from my session at DevLearn 2007 in San Jose today as .PDF (1.3mb) or .PPT (1.7mb) — Dave Wilkins of Knowledge Planet and I did a session called “Team-based Authoring: It’s About Time”.

]]> http://zug.flathatter.com/devlearn-2007-session/feed/