Archive for the ‘ All posts ’ Category

Route One review – redux

Back in 2008, I reviewed the Route One website (here). Aside from that being ages ago (time flies), I recently stumbled across the site again – they’ve undergone a redesign! That’s cause for a) celebration, and b) another review. To recap, the main issues with the old site were: Crazy homepage with bonkers messages No hierarchy in terms [ READ MORE ]

Visa ‘Life Flows Better’ – with stolen sounds?

I was lying in bed recently, and caught the new VISA ‘Life Flows Better’ ad. It’s here for your viewing pleasure (YouTube embedded): This is all well and good…but being a massive geek, I noticed something. Play the video above again, and listen to the noise the camel makes at 0:20. Hear that noise? That’s not [ READ MORE ]

Mobile browser detection: WPtouch

Just a quick mention of a fantastic new Wordpress plugin called WPtouch. It acts as a mobile browser/agent detection script and displays Wordpress-based blogs in a more usable mobile-based theme. I’ve installed it on this blog, so from now on if you visit via your iPhone, Blackberry or other mobile device, it’ll use an optimised theme [ READ MORE ]

OMG Affiliate Network flog smut

As a web content type, I know it can be hard to ensure your copy is correct and error-free: hell, I’m sure that once I’ve posted this I’ll spot some typos. Anyhoo, at least I didn’t get it quite as bad as whoever is responsible for sending out the OMG Affiliate Network newsletter: Porn broker? Nice [ READ MORE ]

Site review: Virgin Holidays ‘Weddings’ section

Hello! I’ve not written a scathing review of a website for a while, so I thought I’d drop this little gem on you. For one reason and another, I was recently forced inclined to look for more information regarding weddings abroad – specifically in the Caribbean. Drop ‘caribbean wedding‘ into Google, and the Virgin Holidays (www.virginholidays.co.uk) [ READ MORE ]

New startup: “What Do I Do With This?”

Sorry about the radio silence: been working on something quite interesting in the background, and it’s now pretty much ready to rock! Introducing “What Do I Do With This?” (www.whatdoidowiththis.com), a site dedicated to recycling/reusing surplus building and decorating material. Designed to be used by both individuals and trades alike, it’s aim is to help reduce [ READ MORE ]

Google’s spam team still operational, slap Aviva for dodgy link-building

There’s been speculation recently as to whether Google actually pay attention to dodgy link-building tactics. eConsultancy carried a fairly damning article that implied the Google spam team weren’t paying attention – and judging by the articles, it was true… A bit of recent digging revealed that maybe the spam team have just been held up whilst [ READ MORE ]

Give the gift of Google Chrome

Just spotted that Google are touting a microsite called www.givechrome.com. It’s essentially a fancy ‘email a friend’ mechanism, but it’s been quite nicely done – with options to wrap your present and send a personalised e-card to your friend, informing them of their new present. It’s not ground-breaking, but I like it. Screenshots below! [ READ MORE ]

Site redesign: Alamy.com

In the latter months of 2009 Alamy.com, a stock imagery site, ran a competition to redesign their homepage. That in itself was all well and good: throwing it open to the public and offering cash to the winner is a great way of engaging with their users and – incidentally – getting shitloads of design options [ READ MORE ]

Review of National Rail (www.nationalrail.co.uk)

Travelling a fair distance (120+ miles) each day getting to and from work means the train is really the only method of transport that works for me. As such, I am a regular visitor to the National Rail site (www.nationalrail.co.uk), and have been for a number of years. Predictably (why else would I be mentioning it?), [ READ MORE ]