October 27th, 2006
Anthony
This is a blog, and its got an RSS feed. It feels like RSS feeds are becoming more and more common every day. Part of this is due to the growing popularity of blogs, and partly because web users are becoming a little more savvy.
Once upon a time there was a web user. We’ll call her Betty. Betty found a blog she liked to read, and she checked back daily for new posts. Then Betty found out about some more blogs she liked, so she started checking those daily too. It wasn’t look before Betty was checking 30 blogs every day - and wow, it was starting to take a while! Read the rest of this entry »
October 23rd, 2006
Anthony
Today’s “wtf” moment brought to you by news.com.au - Vegemite has been banned in the U.S.
Apparently it has been deemed illegal under US food laws, due to the inclusion of folic acid. Admittedly, I only ran a quick google search on folic acid - but I’m not really seeing any downside to it, anyway. It doesn’t seem to be a harmful ingredient in any way.
It appears that Australians are being searched at airports to prevent them from bringing this little taste of home with them! As my friend Pete says:
its a good thing they’re getting rid of vegemite to make way for healthier foods like pancakes wrapped in bacon
Heh! Folic acid, who would have thought. If anything, I figured the U.S would have banned vegemite for its ability to make grown men pull funny faces. *shrug*
October 21st, 2006
Anthony
Jonathon Mendez has put up a great article titled “Choice Kills Conversion“.
Too often websites, landing pages and even ads decrease the odds of conversion by presenting considerations to users when they are already past the consideration stage and ready to buy.
Much like Columbus showing how to stand an egg on its end, this seems blindingly obvious now that its been pointed out.
Practical example: If you run an Adwords campaign for Ugg Boots then conventional wisdom suggests you create special landing pages for various keywords and phrases. So if I click an add for Jumbo sized Ugg Boots, then you’ve got a better chance of me buying your product if you don’t show me options to Mid-sized boots too - thats just going to confuse me!
October 19th, 2006
Anthony
Well, thats just dandy. Internet Explorer 7 was released for download today, from the sound of things.
They haven’t pushed it out to all Windows XP machines via windows update yet, but I can’t imagine thats very far away. I did hear it would happen on November 1, but that wasn’t an official source, so I’m not sure.
What this means to me: Next week could be a busy one, what with ensuring all our old websites display properly in the new browser.
If you haven’t heard anything about Internet Explorer 7, then I think you should use the alternative download site: http://www.ie7.com 
October 19th, 2006
Anthony
Following on from yesterdays post about the Apple iPod Virus Incident, is some feedback from bloggers at CNet. Is it just me, or are these guys totally missing the point?
The text from Apple’s website is this: (Emphasis mine)
We recently discovered that a small number - less than 1% - of the Video iPods available for purchase after September 12, 2006, left our contract manufacturer carrying the Windows RavMonE.exe virus. This known virus affects only Windows computers, and up to date anti-virus software which is included with most Windows computers should detect and remove it. So far we have seen less than 25 reports concerning this problem. The iPod nano, iPod shuffle and Mac OS X are not affected, and all Video iPods now shipping are virus free. As you might imagine, we are upset at Windows for not being more hardy against such viruses, and even more upset with ourselves for not catching it.
I keep re-reading this, and it doesn’t seem like they’re trying to ‘blame’ Microsoft so much for having an Operating System which is vulnerable to virus attacks - instead, I think its more of a tongue-in-cheek poke at their competition.
Background: Windows is plagued by vulnerabilities and virus attacks, whereas Apple computers have never had a widespread attack - the kind which seems to hit the news every week regarding Windows.
So, are bloggers being too literal? Too up-in-arms about this?
This seems to be a trend, especially when I read cnet ‘talkback’ posts. People getting very vocal about whatever issue it is, and often missing the subtle humour involved in the topic.
October 18th, 2006
Anthony
I saw this on Gear Factor (wired news) today.
Apple has managed to ship a percentage of their new iPods with a virus on them!
Apparently the virus was somehow added to the iPods during the manufactoring process as some of them came in contact with an infected PC. The virus has been identified as the Windows RavMonE virus, and Apple has already posted instructions to remove it. Apparently any recently-updated virus scanner should be able to pick it up.
I especially like the last line of Apple’s statement:
As you might imagine, we are upset at Windows for not being more hardy against such viruses, and even more upset with ourselves for not catching it.
I can’t imagine Apple deliberately shipping infected iPods - but they’ve just turned this mistake into an opportunity to point out windows vulnerability (Apple competes with Microsoft and Windows).