OER Commons Picture your dreams! A visionboard is a collage of pictures, where each picture symbolizes a goal you have in life and want to reach. The idea behind visionboards is that having clear pictures of our dreams helps us attain them. Think of what you want out of life... After hearing about the book 'The Secret', I had been looking for tools to create visionboards online. This version of the website is a 'concept' site. Now go have fun making your own visionboard! Orbital Content We are on the cusp of a complete overhaul of the way in which we interact with online content, and I think you should be a hell of a lot more excited than you currently are. Bookmarklet apps like Instapaper, Svpply, and Readability are pointing us toward a future in which content is no longer entrenched in websites, but floats in orbit around users. This transformation of our relationship with content will force us to rethink existing reputation, distribution, and monetization models—and all for the better. Content today#section1 Most online content today is stuck. It has roots firmly planted in one of the many sites and applications around the web. In this system, the sites are the gravitational center and we, the users, orbit them, reaching out for a connection whenever we want to interact with the content. Websites have responded quickly to these new demands. Publishers have had the ability to make their content flexible for over a decade. Content shifting#section2
101 Career Tips, Each in 140 Characters or Less We know—you want great career advice, but sometimes, you just don’t have time to read lengthy articles or books. Well, today, you’re in luck: We’ve distilled some of the best-ever advice on The Daily Muse into bite-sized chunks that you can scan in a matter of seconds. Or, better yet—that you can share with your entourage! Each tip is 140 characters or fewer, so you can easily copy and paste your favorites to share with your followers all over the web. General Career Advice 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Work Relationships 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. Finding a Job 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. Resumes 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 95% of large companies use resume tracking systems—and knowing how to beat them makes a difference. 40. Cover Letters 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. Interviewing 51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58. 59. 60. Management 61. 62. 63. 47% of new employees want big projects right away. 64. 65. 66. 67. 68. 69. 70. 71. 72.
Inline Images with Data URLs - embed graphics inline with data uri scheme Summary: Learn how to embed images into your web pages with data URLs. The data: URI scheme includes images directly into your XHTML pages using code instead of external files, saving valuable HTTP requests. Inline images use the data URI scheme to embed images directly within web pages. As defined by RFC 2397, data URIs are designed to embed small data items as "immediate" data, as if they were referenced externally. Using inline images saves HTTP requests over externally referenced objects. Browser Support for Data URLs While Opera 7.2+, Firefox, Safari, Netscape, and Mozilla support data URIs, Internet Explorer 5-7 do not. The Data URL Scheme You've no doubt seen other URL schemes in your travels around the Web, such as http:, ftp:, and mailto: schemes. data:[<mediatype>][;base64],<data> In the case of an image, you'd use a mime type identifying the image (image/gif, for example) followed by a base64 representation of the binary image. CSS and Inline Images Data URL Issues Conclusion
How SEO Can Work With Content Strategy Recently I spoke with Content Strategist, Margot Bloomstein, who was conducting research for an upcoming publication about Content Strategy intended for a variety of audiences. In particular, we discussed productive interactions and exchanges between Search Engine Optimization professionals and Content Strategists. Organizations advance their reach and engagement goals through content and Strategists work to audit, develop strategy, plan, create and maintain that content. Ahava Leibtag provides an excellent and practical approach at CMI in her post, “Creating Valuable Content” which outlines how content should be: Findable, Readable, Understandable, Actionable and Shareable. SEO and content strategy intersect in more ways than optimizing web pages with keywords. My take on Margot’s question, “How does SEO and content strategy interact?” Keyword Glossaries and Editorial Plans aid in planning relevant content that is inherently optimized for customers and target audiences.
Usability in Icons | Stiern In many apps, icons are used to illustrate a specific function — it can be used for everything from information to actions. But if the user doesn’t understand the icon, what’s the point? When designing icons, you want to strive for creating/using isomorphic icons — that is, icons that represent their real-life companion — eg. trash can, brush, eraser, etc. As long as you can do a somewhat decent depiction, these icons will be usable. As an example, I’m going to use the icon for a link. How do the big guys do it? Examples of link icons in apps and websites As you can see, most CMSes and apps use a chain. Only geeks understand link icons I’m a geek myself, so I can say it — only geeks understand link icons. We gave the test participants a list of assignments to perform, one of which was inserting a link. The icons used in our test All in all, only 35.29 % of the test participants understood the chain icon, and only 25 % understood the globe icon. “Why not just write WWW?
HTML5 Presentation In March 1936, an unusual confluence of forces occurred in Santa Clara County. A long cold winter delayed the blossoming of the millions of cherry, apricot, peach, and prune plum trees covering hundreds of square miles of the Valley floor. Then, unlike many years, the rains that followed were light and too early to knock the blossoms from their branches. Instead, by the billions, they all burst open at once. Then came the wind. It roared off the Pacific Ocean, through the nearly uninhabited passes of the Santa Cruz Mountains and then, flattening out, poured down into the great alluvial plains of the Valley. This perfumed blizzard hit Stevens Creek Boulevard, a two-lane road with a streetcar line down its center, that was the main road in the West Valley.
An Overview of the Euro Crisis - Interactive Arrows show imbalances of debt exposure between borrowers in one country and banks in another; arrows point from debtors to their bank creditors. Arrow widths are proportional to the balance of money owed. For example, French borrowers owe Italian banks $50.6 billion; Italian borrowers owe French banks $416.4 billion. The risk to countries’ debts and economies is indicated by color: More worrisome Greece amassed a huge debt that it has scant hope of repaying. If there is no firewall or if it is inadequate, it would be easy to imagine a run on banks. If no preventative measures are taken, a chain of events like this could unfold: In reaction to a Greek collapse, investors become worried about their exposure to other risks in the region. Italy may not be able to protect its banks if there is a loss of confidence. Losses could extend to American banks, which have large exposures to debt in France and Italy.