May 22, 2013

Posts Comments

You are here: Home / Archives for Tips & Tricks

NetFlix Going Into the High End

July 18, 2011 By Leave a Comment
A Netflix envelope picture taken by BlueMint.

Image via Wikipedia

 

Broadband hog Netflix is being charged more by it’s Internet providers than they’d like and they have to pass the increase along to the customers. 

Up to now they’ve been charged a flat fee to use broadband Internet, but they take up so much broadband that it’s detrimental to other customers. They say it’s time to begin charging in increments of broadband measures – and time to put a cap on how much broadband a user can have during any month. 

The ISP aren’t even mentioning services like HBO Go, Huluor Amazon Prime; it’s the hog they’re after, but of course changes would be made across the board. 

How do You Spell Fair Pricing? 

More and more, fixed-wire and wireless ISPs are introducing a new pay policy ending flat-rate fees and creating data caps, but they’re worried it will raise bills for regular consumers. Metered billing could curb competition, and we all know, when that happens prices go up exponentially. 

Then there will be problems because companies like Comcast and AT&T will have to start charging for their own services by the bit. Not just broadband shortages are the problem, there’s also overloaded networks slowed by videos and apps based in the cloud, and huge graphic files. ISPs have to spend more so it only makes sense that the biggest users should pay the biggest price. 

Netflix is going to be one of the worst hit by the new charging system, and there will have to be some bugs worked out in pricing because HD television will be big competition if it’s cheaper than Netflix.

 

 

Filed Under: Hardware, Programming, Tips & Tricks Tagged With: , ,

If your Build it- They Will Come. Usability Tips

May 31, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Creating a user-friendly website is crucial to inviting new customers and visitors to the site who will choose to stick around for awhile and navigate. A confusing or poorly arranged site is the first step in hindering those who want to purchase the products or read the content available. The design of a site includes the way graphics, text and video are arranged on the page, as well as how users are able to interact with the content displayed. The best way is to present the material clearly, without distracting users from the message and purpose that is intended.

Simplicity is Everything

The first step to building a site that will result in an easy experience for any consumer is to keep it as simple as possible. When there are many links or hyperlinks, especially within the first few pages, a user might become overwhelmed and leave the site. However, some users may stumble upon the site on a page other than the home screen, so it’s always good to make sure that every page along the way is easy to navigate from start to finish.

Staying Current

It is always useful for web designers to learn about updates and enhancements in the technological world, so enrolling in website development courses regularly is a great way to stay on top of these changes. This ensures that the latest technology will be featured on the site, thus making it more usable for all.

Know the Audience

No matter what the website is designed to promote, just about every site owner wants to attract visitors. Usability can be defined as the ease in which a specific task can be completed. Some users will come to a site with plenty of background knowledge of how to navigate, while others may have just started using the Internet yesterday. The site should cater and appeal to both examples equally, and not cause more confusion to the new user. If a logo is displayed anywhere on the site, it’s always helpful to link this back to the main home page. This allows users to navigate back to where they were.

Feel of the Text

When writing content, it’s helpful to keep the tone casual, so that the user will feel at ease when reading the information and understand how to proceed on the site. Listing out information in bold headings also will grab the attention of the reader, and if the titles sound interesting enough, they will often keep going and read the whole paragraph. A site that’s neatly organized and without a clutter of graphics or text onto the page is more visually appealing, so it will help keep visitors on the page.

A well-designed website is a great tool for advertising, and maintaining usability will keep users on the site. On the other hand, a cluttered or confusing site can drive business away, so it’s important to keep the page updated and organized. What companies wouldn’t want more business?

Filed Under: Tips & Tricks, Web Design

Making Surveys Work Easier

April 8, 2011 By Leave a Comment

You do not need to be a programmer to have a website that uses the latest surveying technology. After all, the products of programmers all over the world are available to you now with relative ease of use. You can employ a survey on your website, and figure out precisely what your readers and customers want most of you. If you want, you can even figure out who your best customers and most loyal fans happen to be, so as to customize what you offer them even further. The fact is, the usefulness of what you ask is limited only by your imagination and interpretive ability.

The great thing about survey software is you do not need to be able to do very much to install it on your website. All you have to do in many cases is insert the questions you want to ask, and customize a few other variables such as the fonts and color scheme used in the survey itself. From that point, the software provides you with HTML code which you can simply drop into your website’s section.

With a properly executed survey, you can find out a lot of things about the people who visit your site. You can find out who you would be wise to court and work at pleasing, and what topics people most want to learn more about on your site. Your entire offering can grow and even completely mutate based on the information your survey supplies you with.

Filed Under: Tips & Tricks Tagged With: , ,

Keyboard Shortcuts Make Websites Easier to Use

January 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Slowly but surely, home computers are integrating with the Internet. Many programs access information on the Internet every time that you open them. This helps reduce the amount of hard drive space that the programs use and allows them to function more efficiently. The integration of the Internet and home computers is not a one-way road. As technology moves forward, many websites have started functioning like the types of programs typically seen on computers rather than the Internet.

Keyboard Shortcuts

One of the most useful innovations in website design is the keyboard shortcut. Programs have used keyboard shortcuts for years. Instead of tediously using a mouse to click through prompts, you just press a certain combination of keys to execute the function that you need. A simple example from Microsoft Word is CTRL “P,” which prints the document. Instead of using the mouse to click “File” and “Print,” you just use this simple key combination.

Websites have started developing keyboard shortcuts to make them easier to use and more interactive. Flickr, for instance, uses keyboard shortcuts so that its members can print, cut, edit, crop and move from one image to the next, all without using the mouse. Other websites have picked up on this too. Over the next few years, it is likely that more and more websites will begin developing shortcuts. Imagine, for instance, how much more efficient it would be to open a new email document in Gmail just by pressing a few keys. Key combinations not only save time by reducing the number of movements required to execute a task, but also allows you to work without breaking your concentration.

Eventually, a system of keyboard shortcuts might become standardized for websites. At the moment, though, each site is responsible for creating its own system. Considering how easy keyboard shortcuts are, it’s hard to imagine that they won’t catch on quickly.

Filed Under: Tips & Tricks Tagged With: , ,

3 Tips for Using Online Forums

January 3, 2011 By Leave a Comment

One of the places that you can find a lot of useful information is through the use of online forums. These are places where you can exchange information with people and get to know them on a more personal basis. Here are a few things that you should keep in mind when you are using online forums.

  • Observe – The first thing that you should do is to observe. You want to know how things should be done. This way you aren’t going to be doing something that you will regret. It’s also a good idea to read the rules of the forum too.
  • Be Nice – The second thing that you want to do is to make sure that you are nice to the new people who come into the forum once you have been there for a while. Remember, you were new once and you want to give them the same consideration that you were given. Help them with what they need and don’t be insulting when you tell them the right thing to do if they make a mistake.
  • Search – The third thing that you want to do is to make sure that you are searching the forum before you post a question. Chances are that someone has already asked it and nothing is more annoying than answering the same question over and over again. If you can’t find what you are looking for or if there isn’t a search box, try the FAQs of the forum.

These are the three things that you should remember to get started on the forums online. They are a wealth of information but you are going to get more out of them if you are familiar with the way that they work so that you don’t make a mistake. Take time to observe and make sure that you are nice to the new people on there. You were there once, too.

Filed Under: Tips & Tricks