Mobile Ocean Screensaver Copyright Violations
I don’t know if I should be upset, or flattered. I think that my cease and desist letters solve that mystery. Some of the sites I found show hundreds of downloads of our Mobile Ocean Screensaver—that’s a bit upsetting.
I am also amazed that there are 1,350 pages in google search for “mobile ocean punchkick.” This basically means that when people post illegal downloads, they don’t even pay attention to scrubbing out the company name! At they very least I expect them to have setup keyword driven links back to our site. Did they? Nope.
Other copyright violations pertaining to Flash Lite software.
Google PageRank Algorithm Possibly Updated
I am not 100% sure on this one, but I think that Google may have updated it’s PageRank Algorithm. Today I noticed that our site’s PageRank was lowered, so I started to check some other sites. After some digging it seems to be somewhat across the board. Our sites root, http://www.punchkickinteractive.com, dropped from a PR6 to a PR3. http://www.punchkickinteractive.com/blog/ dropped from a PR7 to a PR4. http://www.wikipedia.org/ dropped from a PR9 to a PR8. http://www.google.com and http://www.adobe.com/, however, are still PR10.
If anyone else is has noticed a similar PageRank pattern, please post a comment about it.
Using a “pulseoxymeter” sensor, the Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory created a game that is in part controlled by physical movement. The difficulty and speed of the game are adjusted to the heart rate of the player. The system is meant to be used for maintaining the appropriate level of exertion during exercise, based on a physical response.
[Source engadget]
Search engine anomaly between different languages
Oddly enough, the google results change between the different languages that you search in. Google seems to give preference to similar language pages.
For instance, if you search “‘flash lite’ clock” on google.com, the result 1 of 72,300 is an article about the Chumby on Scott’s Blog about the Chumby being an alarm clock on steroids (perfect description by the way).
However, when you search for “‘flash lite’ clock” using google.de, Scott’s Blog does not come up until the third result. The result 1 of 71,400 is a German Flash forum page referring to “‘WS World Clock’ ist eine Flash Lite 1.1…”
p.s. The searches were done around 4:30pm EST on Sunday, January 7th.
The Essential Mobile WAP and Web Site Development Tools and Resources
If anyone is interested in designing or developing WAP sites for mobile phones, I have found some very useful information and put together this list of 11 essential tools for mobile Web development. You can also learn more about Punchkick Interactive’s mobile WAP and Web Site development capabilities.
Tools and Resources:
1. Mobi Ready score
Get your free page analysis and Mobi Ready score. This report tests the mobile-readiness of your site using industry best practices & standards
2. XHTML mobile phone emulator
Type in your .com / .net / .org / .biz, etc. site address and you can check how your site looks to a typical mobile phone user. Available handsets are the Nokia n70 and a Sony K750.
3. Submit Your Mobile Site to yahoo.com
This form lets you submit a mobile site to yahoo.com so that the mobile site will be included in search results when someone searches via their mobile handset at http://wap.yahoo.com.
4. The Mobile Domainatron
The Mobile Domainatron demonstrates a domain name’s mobile usability including: Calculating total keystrokes required to input the domain name on a typical i-mode mobile.
5. Mimic
Mimic (formerly i-Mimic) emulates either an N400i (European) or N505i (Japanese) i-mode mobile. Simply enter a URL and select the mobile you want to emulate.
6. YOSPACE.com phone emulators
You can either use the free online emulator for the 40+ handsets or you can use the standalone developer version on your PC. From here you can download the standalone version with a restriction of 5 minutes of use. Alternatively, you can buy a single user license is £299 + UK VAT.
7. WURFL – the Wireless Universal Resource File
The WURFL is an XML configuration file which contains information about capabilities and features of several wireless devices. The main scope of the file is to collect as much information as possible about all the existing wireless devices that access WAP pages so that developers will be able to build better applications and better services for the users.
8. Article :: The Mobile Web Top 10
Pukupi’s top 10 hints for building interoperable mobile web sites really spells out much of what has been questioned regarding mobile Web site development.
9. Article :: Making Small Devices Look Great
Opera has put together this wonderful resource that gives code examples, tips, and emulator advice for developing mobile XHTML pages.
10. Article :: Global Authoring Practices for the Mobile Web
This document gives general guidelines for web developers and content authors who are searching for directions to help create sites for the mobile web.
11. Blog :: http://www.handheldusability.com/
Handheld Usability is the first book to cover the emerging field of handheld product design. The book covers everything from product design cycles to optimum menu length and audicon (audio-icon) characteristics. Read the first chapter and preview other sections here.
Flash Lite Search Engine
I have created a customized search engine using Google Co-op that searches only sites that will have relevant content relating to Flash Lite. The Flash Lite search engine can be used by following this link: Flash® Lite™ search engine.
PunchkickInteractive.com is live
After several weeks of development, punchkickinteractive.com is officially live.
Punchkick Interactive is an advertising agency that works exclusively with mobile devices. Specializing in mobile technology and development, Punchkick Interactive utilizes a team of programmers and designers to create engaging mobile content. Underlying all that we do is a passion for combining fresh ideas and technical know-how with incredible design.
Founded in Cleveland, Ohio, Punchkick Interactive began as a freelance Web-development company headed by then design student Ryan Unger and his frequent collaborator, Zak Dabbas. Over time, Punchkick Interactive evolved into a mobile design firm, thereby keeping in line with the company’s objective of constantly creating within the cutting edge.
Our business relationships and the quality of our craft are possibly the two most important elements of who we are. It’s the relationships we make that fuel our creativity and keep us going—we suppose you could call it a compulsion to please. But quality of craft—that can never be compromised. Ever. We don’t do “half-finished.” And we don’t do “acceptable.” And we certainly don’t do “just fine.”
