Photo Credit: Shutterstock.com

Even though I don’t have exact numbers to back the statement I am about to make, I think it is safe to say that our generation has become increasingly dependent on technology in our day-to-day lives. Take my daily ritual for example:

My phone alarm wakes me up in the morning. It provides music in my car and helps me track the calories of every meal I eat. At night it tells me how far I’m supposed to run in my “Couch to 5k” endeavors and it serves as a source of entertainment at bedtime via my Pinterest app. I run on a treadmill instead of the lovely outdoors because that way I can control the temperature with our state of the art AC unit and efore bed I check on my daughter using a video monitor.

And it’s not just me. People are starting to pay for items with the wave of their phone. Amtrak conductors now swipe your train ticket with their iPhone instead of using a ticket punch.

Don’t get me wrong, I am a huge fan of technology, but some days I miss the old fashioned way of doing things. Standing next to my baby girl’s bed and watching her sleep, going in to the bank to get cash instead of using the drive through (I can honestly say I do not know any employee at our local branch where we bank) Spending time planting an actual garden instead of re-pinning all the gardening ideas on Pinterest.

Which old fashioned ways of doing things do you sometimes miss?

Photo Credit: Shutterstock.com

Now that most everyone has a smart phone or tablet, the importance of a mobile site (a layout of your website pages that is designed to work within the smaller screen) is paramount to a good user experience when accessing your web presence. There are many different ways to approach mobile site design, but to limit the amount of time it requires to build an environment that works with all mobile devices can be achieved by using a mobile framework. Here are a few that I have worked with and find useful:

jQuery Mobile, from the developers that make jQuery this is a awesome framework that has hooks for everything mechanically that needs to happen for a mobile web app.

Kendo UI, from the folks at Telerik, uses jQuery, but has its own set of methods that handle page navigation and components.

jQTouch, an open source alternative to the ones above while still using jQuery for its smarts.

Any of these are great to work with, however they do have a learning curve as you figure out how they perform actions and what works best with various platforms.

While these are all based on jQuery there are many others that utilize their own code libraries to develop against.
I prefer jQuery because of my experience with it, what do you find useful or use?

I have written blog posts before about the wonders of Frameworks, which are extensions created by the internet community to help other coders handle common tasks. There are many different types for each of the various flavors of programming languages. As far as choosing the best, its mostly a personal choice of which offers solutions to common tasks that you perform and that make sense to you. I would like to highlight one that I recently became aware of and have been some what intrigued by the development team that created it. Kendo UI, they have three sections to their framework which is an extension of jQuery, a javascript framework (standing on the backs of giants comes to mind).The three sections are Web, Mobile, and DataViz. Web is a set of useful interfaces like calendars, lists and data handlers just to name a few. Mobile is a complete set of utilities that allow you to generate mobile interfaces that appear and function like native apps. DataViz is a group of interfaces that display data in columns, grids, charts and gauges. If you aren’t familiar with this framework, take a look at it and use it in your next project. Great stuff!

What frame works do you use or have looked at that you find intriguing?

Today is the day…maybe. Tech blogger and Apple stalkers alike are waiting “calmly” for the launch of the iPad 3. Details of its new features (or at least wide-spread speculation) have been leaked across the internet for a few weeks now. High-definition zoom, the disappearance of the home button and the appearance of Siri, iPhone’s own personal assistant, are rumored to headline the new iPad. These are fairly modest upgrades if you ask me, but I’m certain they will fly off virtual and actual shelves.

So…are you going to be first in line to purchase the iPad 3 or are you going to hold out for a discounted iPad 2? Me, I sold my first generation iPad after two months of exploration. I have nothing against Apple – I’m actually a big fan. I do, however, own an iPhone and Mac Book Pro. While I do think an iPad (1, 2 or 3) would be great for watching movies when I’m traveling or assisting me in the kitchen when I’m attempting a new recipe, I can’t bring myself to own an Apple mobile device, tablet and laptop. Granted, I do miss playing Angry Birds on a larger screen.

I am fascinated with people, including certain Willow employees, who purchase anything and everything “new” Apple releases (or just tells consumers to buy). It truly is a testament to the company’s innovative core and marketing expertise. So, while I won’t be purchasing an iPad anytime soon, I will continue to enjoy my iPhone and Mac Book Pro while I enjoy watching and listening to others gawk over the iPad 3. No matter what, it will be new to someone.

Think Different, all.

What a big week for social media! Google+ made its public launch. Facebook made all kinds of drastic changes to its user interface. I think I saw more status updates bashing Facebook for messing with people’s comfort zone than angry Colts posts from the season opener game! The way I see it, Facebook is an incredible technology that keeps me connected with my family, friends and organizations that I love…for free!

So what about Google+? Some are saying that it will change the world of social networking (see article here). I mean, after all, it is a Google product. I wouldn’t expect anything less!

So what do you think about all of the recent changes in social media? What would you like to see change next?