Catching the tail of COMET

From the Irish Developer Network I found this very thorough description of AJAX's next phase--COMET.

The article goes into detail (not too much) on the architectural differences between AJAX and COMET.  The main benefit, and if you've tried any of the online apps below you've seen it yourself (I like the GMail-GTalk integration myself), is that COMET is more persistent with long-term connections.  Activities that take time to complete.

• GMail’s GTalk integration
• Jot Live
• Renkoo
• cgi:irc
• Meebo

So the question is, should more apps be moved online via AJAX or COMET?  I'm not so sure.  I still live in an online-offline world, so I need applications that run when I'm not connected.  That being said, I see a lot of potential for internal applications like expense reports or maybe even group spreadsheets and word processors.  Even an internal IM system might be a good application.

What do you think are the AJAX or COMET apps that have the most potential?

Tags: COMET, AJAX, web development, online applications

Filling out web forms rots

Chris Breisch has a great post "Death By a Thousand Textboxes" where he laments about web forms where you have three boxes instead of one to fill in a phone number.  Those actually only really bug me if the active form cell doesn't jump to the next one as you hit the right number of digits.

That being said he does close the post with a great bit of UI advice that is well worth remembering ... for all the UI work we do:

I think UI experimentation is not only desirable, but necessary. If we don't experiment, we can't evolve UI forward. However, you have to do it the right way:

1. Have a complete understanding of the current convention and how it arose
2. Have a good, reasoned argument for deviating from the convention
3. Collect usage data on your experiments
4. Make decisions based on the usage data

If you're not collecting usage data, or your reason is "it looks better this way", then you're doing it wrong, and you should stick with the conventions.

Tags: web development, software development, UI

Software as a Service (SaaS) ... haven't we done this before?

Software as a Service (SaaS) is the lead article in InfoWorld this week (there is even a downloadable PDF of the report for subscribers/members) with continuing commentary on ZDNet:

   

It's official: SaaS is the Next Big Thing by ZDNet's Phil Wainewright -- The cover story on the latest issue of InfoWorld has it writ large: Software as a service: The next big thing.

Not to be a curmudgeon, but I don't get the sudden hype around SaaS.  I like my hosted web services as much as anyone, but I find this smells a bit like over-hype.  As good as a SaaS service might be, and with AJAX and better bandwidth making the apps extremely rich, these applications are still vulnerable to outages, crashes, and when you're offline ... so is access to your data.

But ... what do you think?

Tags: Software as a Service, Saas, Salesforce.com

AJAX tourtorials online

As AJAX gets hotter you can bet that you're going to be asked to start turning out AJAX apps yourself.  Don't know where to start?  Lifehacker offers a list AJAX tutorials.  Since most of us learn a lot of our web programming online ... sounds like a good idea to me.

Tags: AJAX

Another AJAX-powered collaboration suite

AJAX is certainly one of the hot development platforms out there on the Net right now.  From Small Business Computing comes a new service from Joyent for team collaboration.

While I don't know if this particular service is good or not, what is fascinating to me the the range and power of the new AJAX apps.  Myself I'm hoping to get a test drive of Foldera soon ... along the same lines as this app, but it has gotten a lot more attention.

I think the future looks bright for web-based apps, especially if an online-offline connector can be written.

Tags: AJAX, collaboration

IE 7 Beta 2 ... it's public now

Latest word from InternetNews.com is that IE 7 Beta 2 is going public today.  Tabbed browsing, anti-phishing measures, security improvements ... all on tap for this release.  While Beta 1 was private (I had a CD of Beta 1 and left it behind at the Blog Business Summit, actually), Beta 2 is public.  No word yet on whether is this is for the faint of heart or beta.

For web dev folks like me, MSFT has tried to strike a balance of old and new, so not as too break IE 6 tweaked sites.  I think AJAX is going to make serious headway now that IE 7 is in the fray.  RSS?  Well now that it's public, I will try it for the RSS features are there.

Will this be a Firefox killer? That is the million dollar question.

Tags: IE7

Feed your readers with .Net syndication libraries

Syndication is hot.  Personally I subscribe to over 700 of them.  Now ... one thing that bugs me when there isn't a feed for a great site (thanks for the sites Doug!).  Looks like there are some .Net libs so you can do it...

http://www.howdev.com/technologies/ http://www.howdev.com/news/howelldevelopments-rss.opml

Hat tip.

Tags: .Net, RSS, Atom, OPML

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Blink and you'll miss it ... 20th of a second decides a website's fate.

Thanks to Byron at the BBS site for this ...

A Wired.com articles discusses new results from Behaviour and Information Technology journal showing that surfers decide extremely on the looks of a site.  Thumbs up or down in a 20th of a second!  OMG, think about how much we fuss over the widgets and such for our sites only to have people decide almost before the page has finished loading!

Here is the abstract from the paper ...

Three studies were conducted to ascertain how quickly people form an opinion about web page visual appeal. In the first study, participants twice rated the visual appeal of web homepages presented for 500 ms each. The second study replicated the first, but participants also rated each web page on seven specific design dimensions. Visual appeal was found to be closely related to most of these. Study 3 again replicated the 500 ms condition as well as adding a 50 ms condition using the same stimuli to determine whether the first impression may be interpreted as a ‘mere exposure effect' (Zajonc 1980). Throughout, visual appeal ratings were highly correlated from one phase to the next as were the correlations between the 50 ms and 500 ms conditions. Thus, visual appeal can be assessed within 50 ms, suggesting that web designers have about 50 ms to make a good first impression

Now, this is making me consider how quickly my blog loads, how it looks and what I need to change.  I think my days of tons of widgets and such are drawing to an end ... quickly.

Byron leaves us with a couple more thoughts ...

The study doesn’t show what makes a difference, what users like or don’t, but concludes that, “designers have to make sure they’re not offending users visually” and to not give them a negative impression.
The study didn’t cover it, but my guess is that RSS doesn’t give a great first impression, especially those RSS icons I call the little badges of courage.

Looks like blog design is headed for a sea of change.

Tags: blog design, web design, graphics, GUI, human interface

Plug in for live demos

Gadgetizer profiled WebServUSB this week.  I love gadgets, this one though I think has a huge potential for software developers, web developers, and bloggie folks (like me).  Why? How many times have you needed to demo your new web-based application and the company's firewall got in the way?

I can't count how many times I've had web demos fail on me.  This little device could come in quite handy for developers.  Place the client site or web-app on it (this assumes that you're not running IIS here) ... bingo!  Nice live demo.  Me?  I'm thinking a blog and wiki.  The wiki would be for me, the blog for demos.

Here are some top line specs from the website:

WebServUSB features operational compatibility with almost all types of web content, including server side interactive CGI scripts, Perl, PHP, and a variety of multimedia formats such as Flash, RealMedia, and Windows Media. Essentially it can serve any web content.

WebServUSB is also a very handy tool for anyone who wants to learn how to set up a web server or develop websites beyond just the design stage. It allows you to see how your site will work on the web and includes several functions which permit site enhancements. As a local in-house server for debugging websites, it’s very useful and easy to manage. WebServUSB is also superb for carrying on the road, for use with a Laptop. It provides a great way to setup Intranet or Internet file sharing or distribution for projects where you may need to share documents with many people, such as for training.

WebServUSB is simple to configure. This tutorial is written from the point of view of a complete novice and includes step-by-step instructions to set up the basic server plus an example of how to include an additional function (in this case a PERL based message board). Since WebServUSB is compliant with most standards applied to high end web servers, almost any web server add-on or program will function with it. Simply refer to the manual for the software or service you are trying to install.

In use, WebServUSB functions much like a Unix/Linux based web server even though it operates on a Windows platform. In fact, that's one of its greater strengths because WebServUSB is not prone to the many security weaknesses that plague Microsoft's Internet Information Server (IIS) WebServUSB even has a feature that you can enable to prevent it from broadcasting any information about itself in the HTTP header information, thus confusing potential hackers. Since no specific are published on the Internet about WebServUSB's internal workings, hackers have no points of reference to begin an attack. Unlike IIS, which is integrated into the Windows Operating System, WebServUSB has no connections to the host OS, thus preventing a wide variety of known Windows based security, virus, worm, and Trojan horse exploits.

WebServUSB runs the following Web programming and content tools:

• CGI /Perl

  • PHP /Python
  • MySQL
  • Java / JavaScript
  • Flash
  • RealAudio
  • Windows Media

Tags: WebServUSB

Ruby on Rails hits 1.0

The scripting language Ruby has reached the vaunted 1.0 status ... and sounds like 1.1 might not be far off.  Having used a few applications with a Ruby core, I've been impressed with it.  Like many of the Web 2.0 apps, Ruby is an evolving platform.  Ready for primetime?  You tell me.

Ruby on Rails is a set of tools, or a "framework," for building Web applications with the scripting language Ruby. Started by David Heinemeier Hansson, Ruby on Rails has received accolades for the productivity it brings to developers. Heinemeier Hansson said that the project is already working on version 1.1. In a previous interview, Hansson said that the open-source project will focus on making it easier to deploy and administer Web applications.

Source: News.com

Technorati Tags : Ruby+on+Rails, Ruby

Ground control to Adobe ... Apollo is a go for launch ... or is it?

Ah, powerful, cross-platform development.  The Holy Grail of development.  With Adobe sealing the deal for Macromedia recently the buzz about synergies is ringing in my ears.  But is it a good thing?  Is a marriage of Flash and PDF even needed?  Will it work?  While I like both Flash and PDF, I'm not sure a marriage and yet another runtime engine for users to load is the answer.  I think I have more than enough running on my machine right now.  I'm not the only one who has questions about this ...

Now, maybe I’m just being negative or perhaps I can’t see the forest for the trees… but WHY ON EARTH ARE THEY DOING THIS? Sure, the PDF, SWF and HTML formats are all open - but the SWF player isn’t. You cannot use the File Format Specification to create a SWF interpreter or player . PDF is definitely more open , but many Adobe specific features will not work in alternative viewers (this isn’t necessarily Adobe’s problem). So, the only reason I can see for Adobe creating a ‘universal player’ is to basically lock everyone into their player/runtime ( platform) - under the guise of providing an exceptional user experience . Didn’t Microsoft pull this crap before? Source: Bryan Rieger

Technorati Tags : Adobe, Flash, PDF, Apollo

The move to web-based software ... end of software or a bigger problem?

From ITWorld Canada comes an article that raises some interesting questions... On-demand spells 'end of software' .

He said the success of Web-based on-demand services would not be restricted to the customer relationship management (CRM) space, but would extend to other business process apps as well. That's because such services are relatively low-cost, less risky and uncomplicated.

"We believe this is the end of software," he said, predicting a move away from client-server as a dominant model for delivery of computing technology. "In a short (period) of time, all technology will be delivered (via) the on-demand service approach." Salesforce.com is counting on its newest on-demand platform – dubbed AppExchange – to move this trend forward.

AppExchange is a Web-based application-sharing service that offers customers a host of pre-built business applications including sales, marketing, productivity tools, customer service, finance, administration and human resources.

Using the service, companies can browse through some 70 applications and test drive the ones they want. Once satisfied, they can install the applications through the on-demand AppExchange system.

At a lot of levels it makes sense.  Why buy a whole large software package, and the hardware infrastructure to support it, when you can pay as you go?  Host it.  Use as you need to.  Moving, flexible licensing.  Sounds great.  Web-based CRM, web-based office apps, web-based accounting ... Wait.  What if it goes down?  What if it gets hacked?  What if there is a large-scale Internet outage (remember Sober?)

Here's a bit that I quoted in a post by Mack D. Male ...

So what happens in a few years when the vast majority of our data is stored online? Creating some sort of malicious software to target those data silos will become increasingly irresistible for those who write viruses, worms and the like. And that introduces a pretty big problem for users, and for those running the hosted services.

This is exactly the question that needs to be asked when investigating a web-based, on-demand solution.  What about back ups?  Local copies?  Security and monitoring?

Given these concerns, this probably means that in most cases, some tasks might be moved to web-based solutions, while core, mission critical functions will for the most part remain local.

Technorati Tags : AppExchange, SalesForce.com, web-based+software