|Absolute Value|

Nice title hey?  I like it, should catch some attention.  But seriously, I wanted to bring some of your precious attention to some failings I’ve noticed on the side of my friend and yours Uncle Google.

You see, Google always launches these wonderful “Web 2.0″ products.  All about collaboration, power to the users and oh wait don’t forget curved edges and pastel colours.

But one thing is missing.  Consistency… 

Has anyone noticed the new features of Gmail?  New buttons, and new links to stuff like “Reply”, “Forward” and other features.  Except now the design isn’t consistent.  We have buttons and links thrown all over the interface, which besides starting to clutter means we have many options to do exactly the same thing.

An important point  I picked up from Tom Coates at the “Future of Web Apps” conference in London last year was Guessable URLs.  Lets make it easy for our users to find your services. 

But not Google. ;)  Some of the time they work it out: pack.google.com goes to the Google Pack.  But if you want Google Analytics?  google.com/analytics.  Hmmm, not the most consistent design here.

These are a few of the consistency issues I’ve picked up in the last few weeks.  There are some other issues that need to be sorted.  Inconsistent design causes confustion for users which is never a good thing.  Cmon Google, lets change this.

Well done Wordpress.com, I appreciate you taking a stand.  Have a look here at what they are doing with users that use Payperpost.

Well done!

Something to keep you warm during those cold winter nights.

• 1 part Pimms
• 3 parts Apple Juice (the clear one, not the cloudy version)
• Mix together
• Heat gently until warm but do not boil (I’ve used the microwave as its easier, around 1 minute per glass)
• Add orange or apple slices (I actually add orange before the heating part, it makes the taste so much better)
• Serve warm.

I hope you enjoy that little recipe as its a favourite in my house.

A follow up to the job offer post.  If you need to get in contact with me, the best way is via Jabber/Gtalk or Skype.  Details below:

Skype: twyford
Jabber/GTalk: raybooysen@rjb.za.net

I’m looking for a developer.  I have a full time, London based (Kensington) .NET developer position waiting for one lucky person.  I’m moving away from my current company so we need to fill my shoes.  If you have .NET experience (minimal required), love the platform and are looking for some new experiences, drop me a line. 

We’re a small company but its great fun and definitely worth it.  You’ll be driving forward an accounting engine, workflow system and some new projects in the works.  It is great fun to work here and I would recommend it for any .NET developer starting out in the industry.

This is huge!  Lets hope the UK gets this too.  Clicky

After volunteering, I recently took the post of Patch Manager within the Subtext software project.  My role until recently has been pretty minor, essentially working on the API support for Subtext.

Subtext is a fork of the old .TEXT blogging platform.  Phil Haack is our “benevolent leader” (I think he made that title up. ) and its been a great journey learning a ton from him and the platform.  I’m going to hopefully put forward a feature request to get an import function from Wordpress so I can start blogging off of Subtext.  It seems a little contradictory to work on a blogging engine but use another.

Essentially my role is to make sure patches that are posted are applied and tested before committed to the code base.  Looking forward to getting more involved!