Alex Hardy

I consider myself a gamer. I’ve had a multitude of computers and consoles dating back to the Commodore 64 (aging myself I know!). From Boulderdash to Bioshock I’ve loved playing games and I would defend the validity of the medium to anyone. There is however a peculiar trait of many so-called “hardcore” gamers that I’ve noticed before and recently I’m seeing again.

I’m not talking about the kind of platform fanboy-ism that’s been going on in the playground since the C64 and Spectrum (probably before that). I don’t mean the contempt some people have for the “casual” gamer (as if enjoying a bit of Wii Sports was a badge of shame). Nope - I’m talking about the resistance (borderline hostility) towards industry newcomers, or platforms that aren’t exactly the same as everything else, but with x% better graphics.

History repeating

Sony announces the Playstation. They make TVs, not consoles! Ridiculous!

Microsoft announces the Xbox. They make Office, not consoles! How dare they!

Nintendo announces the DS and Wii. Control Zelda or an FPS with a stylus? It’ll never work! Wave a wand around to control Mario? Who’d buy that?

And yet, Microsoft and Sony are now major players. You might even say the hardcore gamer’s choice. The DS has confounded its skeptics by being a smash hit.

Now I see it with the Apple iPhone. Apple have created a games console. I’d argue that they didn’t fully recognise that at first - it took the development community to persuade them. The clear message of the hardware upgrade in the iPhone 3GS is that they understand it now. With 40 million units shipped (the DS recently broke the 100m barrier), it has a significant installed base who clearly want to be entertained.

A wide spectrum of games, from Peggle to Real Racing are proving that non-traditional interfaces (which admittedly don’t apply easily to certain genres) aren’t preventing some excellent games being released for it. Watch the video below if you’re unconvinced. Then watch it again.

I’m not going to rant like one of the fanboys I referred to, listing games and the virtues of the device until I fall asleep at the keyboard, but I will say this:

I’ve been playing games for a long time. Frankly, I’m bored with many of them. Playing “Generic Space Soldier in Grey Future War 3″ doesn’t appeal to me like it used to. I’ll commit my time to a game if it enthralls me, and precious few games do that these days. Can someone explain to me how an intriguing new platform that demands innovation is a bad thing?

These “catch-up” posts have become too frequent and regular posts too infrequent for my liking. I’m in a transitional period at the moment after which I’ll re-evaluate this website’s content and direction. I’ve not decided yet, but I may retire this blog, or “reboot” it.

Obviously, I’ve not posted here in a while. That’s not because I’ve been idle - quite the opposite. The energy that I would have invested in writing this blog has been spent on the simpleContact support forum. There are refinements to be made (search is a particularly glaring omission) but there is now a substantial amount of content there.

Forums have an in-built Catch-22. As an administrator, you want people to use a forum. You want it to become the front-line of your support offering. You want to be able to receive and answer questions in one place, so common questions can be answered quickly without duplication of effort.

The problem is that unless people can see that other people have posted, they won’t post themselves. It takes time and dedication to build a forum to the point where enough dialogues have occurred that newcomers feel inclined to post.

I’m happy that the forums have now reached that point of sustainability and value.

In the months since I released simpleContact Pro 2.0 I have used this period to provide support. As 37signals put it in their post why it’s wise to launch softly:

Soft launching lets you tweak and revise. You get the word out there and you gauge interest. You know what works and what doesn’t. Plus, you get to make mistakes while you’re still in the shadows. Messing up in front of a smaller crowd means you’ll be better off when the bright lights eventually do shine upon you.

You can find any bugs in the initial release. Answer early-adopter questions. Discover where the immediate friction is between what the application can do and what users need. Sometimes you learn surprising things about your own product and how people use it.

Migration to the new, dedicated website simplecontactform.com is in progress. Support materials have moved. This weekend I plan to move purchase and delivery mechanisms to their permanent home. After that, I start building web pages based on the new design. I hope to have the new website live in a month or two.

Robert Hoekman Jr, usability guru and author of the brilliant Designing the Obvious conveys inside a 140-character Twitter post why CAPTCHAs suck:

“Enter correct CAPTCHA, get error, reenter chosen password, recheck checkboxes, reenter correct CAPTCHA, wash, rinse, repeat.”

Ugly. Glitchy. Problematic from a readability and accessibility standpoint. I think CAPTCHAs are horrible and I won’t be adding them to my applications.

A simple question/answer spam challenge – as on Building Findable Websites – is a far more elegant solution. This is definitely *on* the roadmap.

There is a seemingly endless supply of great PDF eBooks on the web. Design and marketing are (as you might imagine) particularly well catered for.

Here are three new ones that are particularly worthy of your attention:

The Art & Science of CSS

SitePoint are running a 14-day giveaway of The Art & Science of CSS, which ordinarily sells for $29.95. Follow SitePoint on Twitter or supply your email on the promotion page to receive your copy. Hurry!

Tribes Q&A

Seth Godin has released a Q&A eBook from the social network that he established called Triiibes, which was set up beside his new book Tribes (in paperback and audiobook). All about fostering active community, it is interesting because it was written by Triiibes members – proving its own message.

If you are interested in marketing you really should read Seth’s blog.

The Unscary, Real World Guide to SEO Copywriting

Ian Lurie of Portent Interactive has released a new eBook called The Unscary, Real World Guide to SEO Copywriting. At just $5 and 31 pages it’s a bite-size snack and a useful intro to search engine optimised copy for any writer who wants to learn but is put off by the dubious advice and technobabble that surrounds SEO.

I reviewed his dead tree book Conversation Marketing back in April.

I’m pleased to announce that simpleContact Pro is nearing release!

I issued a beta version this morning to a group of volunteers. I am very grateful that these people, several of whom I am fortunate enough to have worked with and call friends, are willing to give their time to help me deliver a great product.

I’ve also enlisted the help of some smart people that I’ve met on my internet travels: simpleContact users, designers, developers, bloggers and marketeers. I look forward to receiving everyone’s feedback.

Key features of simpleContact Pro

• Automagical installation – enter your database info and upload
• One-click upgrade for simpleContact users transfers settings and data
• Smart default settings to save you time
• Browser-based admin with messages inbox
• New form builder which supports custom fields
• Client-side and server-side form validation
• Multiple email recipients
• Email autoresponder with personalisation
• Single or double opt-in mailing list
• CSV mailing list export, ready to use with mailers like Campaign Monitor
• Built with web standards and integrates easily with your website

simpleContact Pro will be a commercial product, with a price of $25. The free version will be rebranded simpleContact Lite, and maintained alongside it.

The test period closes at the end of September. I am aiming for an October release.

How time flies: it’s been a full year since I released simpleContact 1.0. Quite a bit has happened since then, so here are the highlights for me…

Progress

As you can see from my downloads page, work has continued on the application. simpleContact currently stands at version 1.2, which I released in December 2007. The details of each version can be found in the release notes.

I’ve tweaked the design of the downloads page and the site in general, and I’m keeping a visual log of those changes in my Flickr account. When I release the “Pro” version it will be re-branded simpleContact “Lite”.

I added a support forum to this website. It’s very early days, but I hope to build a valuable resource. Publishing an application (even a vigorously tested one) is rather like releasing a domesticated animal into the wild – you have no idea where it will find itself and how well it will fare. It seems to be coping well in the big bad world of unpredictable server configurations and usage scenarios.

I’ve also made a personal discovery. To focus on something that’s your own, improving it bit by bit appeals to the perfectionist in me. I find it very satisfying.

Reception

The response from users has been overwhelmingly positive. I don’t mind revealing that I currently average 180 downloads a month, so you don’t need to be a maths whizz to know that I am getting close to a milestone that I will comment on soon.

In version 1.1 I added a rating form to the log out page to help users express their opinions and to promote the application on The PHP Resource Index, a leading script directory. The reaction was great, and it has a solid front-page position in its category. With the release of ‘Pro the attack on its rivals really begins!

Users have been generous, with comments such as these:

“I’m always looking for ways to make my clients’ projects useful and sophisticated, but still affordable. simpleContact makes it easy to deliver an advanced product easily.” Kim D.

“Being a web developer/designer but not a script author, this is an asset. This application, in my opinion, rivals most of the ones designed by other companies that charge a premium.” Alan J.

There’s still a long way to go. I’ve had lots of requests, some of which I definitely plan to include in future releases. “Subject” and “US state” fields in particular have been in demand. I hope to satisfy the need for bespoke options with ‘Pro.

Promotion

I’ve not engaged in any advertising so far, although that will come. I’ve relied solely on word of mouth, directory listings and links in relevant places. Thanks to Andy Prevost, the PHPMailer website in particular has been a strong source of visitors.

I’ll write my first newsletter in a couple of months. A fringe benefit of this project has been that it constantly yields new opportunities to learn and interact with people. To write better, more compatible code, manage versions, user expectations and support requests, stats analysis, PPC, email marketing – all things that you learn best on the job.

I can’t wait to see what I have to say in May 2009!

This is my first “official” book review! I recently bought a copy of Conversation Marketing by Ian Lurie. Lurie is the founder and president of Seattle-based Portent Interactive and writes a blog, which is also called Conversation Marketing.

He dispenses advice on SEO, internet marketing and analytics and occasionally has some fun exposing the charlatans of his profession (of which there are many).

Here are some of my favourite posts:

• 59 Things You Should Be Doing But Probably Aren’t
• 49 Things You Probably Are Doing But Shouldn’t
• Internet Marketing Is About Discoverability (Not Yelling)
• Google Analytics Tagging Demystified
• 3 Signs The Pitch is Slimey

This book is also available to read in a free HTML version. Why buy something you can read for free you might ask… In my opinion, the best efforts of new technology still haven’t delivered us a way to read that is more convenient and pleasurable than a simple book. I bought the book on the basis that I regularly read the blog.

Lurie was helpful enough to personally send me a copy by international post, in exchange for a review. Before I stand accused of advertorial, I’ll quote his email:

I’ll send it to you for postage […] You can give a bad review if you hate it

My impressions

I should point out that this is not a book on SEO. Lurie takes a more holistic view and covers design, development and communication. An endless cycle of observation and adjustment is the core of his argument that a site must serve its user’s needs, not the ego or presumptions of the website owner.

The book covers six rules, that are analogous to the human interactions you might engage in at a party or business networking event. A fictional custom bicycle shop is the vehicle (no pun intended) for his explanations of these rules:

1) Know the room

This chapter covers user personas, workflows (anticipated paths through a site) and calls to action. You have to know your audience, not just accumulate pageviews.

2) Dress appropriately

An overview of web design considerations. Professionals might roll their eyes at the simplistic advice, but this is not about teaching design. Rather, the goal is to impart a degree of appreciation to the would-be site owner. It wouldn’t do a professional any harm to think about the criteria others use to judge their work…

3) Sound smart

The technical angle. This chapter is more detailed than the previous one (I sense Lurie is more comfortable with code than colour theory). He writes about site maps, the case for standards compliant code and best of all, contingency design.

I was pleased to see browser testing and help messages treated as fundamentals rather than after-thoughts. Some advice on content writing and image preparation rounds off a useful chapter.

4) Make a connection

Once you have a user’s interest, what can you do to keep a relationship alive? Email marketing best practice, and a mention of RSS and podcasting for the uninitiated in this brief chapter.

5) Brag modestly

This chapter may be the most immediately interesting to readers. An introduction to natural rankings and PPC advertisements in search engines. It also contains some words of advice for how to spot the SEO cowboys.

It has always seemed to me that there’s no magic shortcut to search engine visibility. Remember that search engines exist for the user’s benefit, not yours. Provide relevant, up-to-date content and users will seek you out. Leave the tricks to people who can’t create an offering of value.

6) Observe and adjust

This chapter was of particular interest to me: The basics of web traffic analysis. Definitions of common terms are backed up by some insightful words on tracking conversion rates. This book was published in 2006 and two years is a long time on the Internet. The references to specific tools are somewhat out of date, but the principles remain sound.

Conclusion

You may have noticed that this review has been peppered with words like “basics” and “overview”. Quite so. This is a short book at 93 pages, but it achieves its goal.

With a friendly, informal tone it equips you to start work. You’ll go on to seek out weightier and more specific resources, but you’ll incorporate that knowledge into the right frame of mind that you’ll gain from this book.

The matter of availability

A minor criticism: I originally asked about overseas postage because I believed Conversation Marketing was unavailable outside the USA. I have since discovered that it is available on Amazon, but this remains a flaw in the book’s homepage.

I would also like to see a PDF version of the book, so that all bases are covered in a similar manner to Getting Real by 37signals. An HTML version is of little use when the reader is not online. Nor does it send any money in Portent’s direction. I would buy a downloadable eBook and hope to see this option added soon.

Other books of interest

• Meatball Sundae by Seth Godin
• Designing with Web Standards by Jeffrey Zeldman
• SEO Book (eBook, blog and tools) by Aaron Wall
• Building Findable Websites by Aarron Walter
• “Essential” series of free eBooks by Nixon Mcinnes

As I wrote yesterday, I’ve upgraded my blog to WordPress 2.5. I’d resisted this for a while, because I knew it would bring certain issues. I didn’t want to deal with it until other projects reached a natural break…

Much has been said about the inadequate security of old versions of WordPress. It was even announced that Technorati will not index vulnerable blogs. I decided therefore to bite the bullet and open the can of worms (mixed metaphor intended).

I was using WordPress 2.1, so the first step was to alter my database encoding. As touched upon in a previous post called “UTF-8 text encoding and self-hosted PHP / MySQL web applications”, versions prior to 2.2 created database tables using the Latin-1 character set and the latin1_swedish_ci collation.

Wordpress have a codex page about this issue, but more importantly there is a database converter plugin that does all the hard work for you. After backing up my files and data I offered a prayer to any blogging god that might be listening and pushed the button. It worked perfectly.

The next step was to go through the standard WordPress upgrade procedure. I transferred my theme and re-applied my modifications to wp-includes/widgets.php. Some CSS tweaks were necessary because 2.5 created different selectors in my sidebar, but I expected this.

I use very few plugins. Here they are:

• Google Analytics and Sociable plugins by Joost de Valk
• FeedSmith, originally by Steve Smith, now maintained by Feedburner

The other major step was because of the Google Analytics plugin. It uses the new ga.js tracking code, so the tags that I’d placed around my site had to change.

For example, where you might have tagged a link:

onclick="javascript:urchinTracker ('/download/my ace ebook');"

… you now have to tag it:

onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/download/my ace ebook');"

A bit of a chore to fix, but it’s not something you have to do every day. It can be handled with a simple find/replace.

My jury is out on the new WordPress interface, famously redesigned by Happy Cog. It has a more inviting colour palette, but some users have already complained that common tasks are now more clunky than before. I already miss having a list of my drafts at the top of the “Write” page.

Time will tell whether I prefer it to Steve Smith’s WP Tiger Administration.

I am upgrading my blog today to the latest version of WordPress. Normal service should resume shortly

In the meantime, my other pages remain available.

UPDATE: Upgrade complete.

The release of the iPhone / iPod Touch SDK and the excitement among developers and gamers begs the question: Just what kind of games will be on the iPhone?

Comparisons can be drawn with the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP consoles. Both have revised hardware, an established library of games and a head start in sales. Both also demonstrate that the best portable games have these characteristics:

• Simple
• Make use of the hardware’s unique features
• Suitable for short periods of gameplay (e.g. the bus to work)

On PSP, Loco Roco displays large areas of brilliantly vivid colour. WipEout Pure shows that the wide screen aspect lends itself particularly well to racing games. On DS, Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, Nintendogs and Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training leverage the Nintendo heritage, as well as the dual screen, stylus and microphone.

Both platforms fall prey to what is often called “shovelware”. Clones. Lazy ports. Tedious licenses. The iPhone will be no different. It will be the game designers’ challenge to figure out the iPhone’s key features. At a glance, they include:

• Touch screen (game interfaces can be unique)
• Accelerometer (also referred to as a “tilt sensor”)
• 3D graphics which appear to be inferior to the PSP, but on a par with the DS
• Multiplayer gaming over wifi
• Internet access and a unique content delivery mechanism

The lack of traditional control buttons and tactile feedback will present a new design challenge. Some will use the accelerometer for controls, while some may choose to draw virtual buttons and joypads for more traditional games. Some ideas I’d look forward to seeing:

• “Touch Tetris” is so obvious I’d be surprised if EA haven’t already written it
• Line Rider
• Flick Sports (think Wii Sports for touch screen)
• Tap-tap rhythm action games
• Episodic games

If the iPhone / iPod Touch has one unique advantage, it’s that it will provide an opportunity to sell games to people who don’t buy games machines.