Monday, May 05, 2008
Relational Music Discovery
I spend most of my days and nights in front of the computer screen. Needless to say I listen to countless hours of music. I'm always looking for new music to listen to, and face it, iTunes can only get you so far with it's rather limited discovery features. Recently, I've turned to relational, and visual music discovery engines to find more tunes that related to my current musical tastes.
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Max Kiesler,
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visualizations
Saturday, May 03, 2008
New Search Visualizations Paradigms
I really like to search the web. I search because I'm curious. I search because I need specific information. When I need to find something specific I still go to Google. When I'm curious, and searching for entertainment sake I go to visual, faceted, and relational search engines. There are many ways to search the web these days that are not just liner. Today searches can now be based on context, color, relationship, and even child safe content.
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Max Kiesler,
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visualizations
Monday, November 19, 2007
Designing Visualizations for Time-Based Data
Most interaction designers understand the concept of timelines and other time-based data. Blogs, calendars, and to-do lists are all examples of time-based data. However, if you are trying to fit 400 data points into a 1024 x 726 screen you'll quickly see how challenging time-base data can be. Currently, many interaction designers are turning to visualizations to overcome many of the issues associated with this form of data representation. Below you'll find a list of some of the best time-based visualizations on the web.
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Max Kiesler,
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Tags:
examples,
visualizations,
web design
Sunday, November 18, 2007
AJAX Your Blog - Plugins, Source Code, and Tutorials
I started this blog around the same time AJAX was introduced by
Adaptive Path's Jesse James Garrett. At the time there were no out of the box add-on's for blogs. Fortunately, now there are a plethora of plugins, source code, and tutorials designed for specific blog software. The following is a list of AJAX components you can add to Wordpress, Expression Engine, and Moveable Type.
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Max Kiesler,
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tutorials,
source code,
ajax,
wordpress,
blog,
expression engine,
moveable type,
plugins
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Visualization Programming Languages, Software, and Toolkits
If you've seen websites such as,
Digg Big Spy,
We Feel Fine, or
Gapminder. and you're a web surfer you are probably amazed. If however, you're a web designer or programmer you may be wondering how to accomplish these dramatic visualizations. Below you'll find a list of visualization software, toolkits and programming languages to get you started.
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Max Kiesler,
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Tags:
visualizations,
software,
toolkits,
programming languages
Thursday, November 08, 2007
Javascript and AJAX Security - How to Make Your Website Safe
Beneath the peppy front ends of many of todays Rich Internet Applications lies a dark flaw that if left unchecked can bring a site down to it's knees. For the past few years many designers and developers have been adding AJAX and Javascript functionality to there websites. Many of these websites suffer from threats such as, cross site scripting (also known as XSS), cross-site request forgery (XSRF), and several other well know exploits. Maybe your using one of the popular libraries such as, Prototype and Script.aculo.us, or Dojo and think You're safe. Think again. Unless you've implemented security fixes you may be vulnerable to several types of attacks. The same goes for blog plugins, popular open source applications, and of-course the plethora of free Javascript and AJAX add-ons available at free script websites. If you want to protect yourself, please read on.
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Max Kiesler,
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Tags:
javascript,
ajax,
security
Sunday, November 04, 2007
How To Minimize Your Javascript and CSS Files for Faster Page Loads
Over the last 11 years I've spent a great deal of time trying to improve client websites with an eye for minimalist interface design and code. While the minimalist design esthetic is not the choice for every client the notion of less code and faster load times always goes over well. Today, many of web applications I design and code for have a plethora of Javascript and CSS files. Fortunately, there are many options to solve this rather simple problem. Compression, obfuscation and bundling are all great options.
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Max Kiesler,
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javascript,
web design,
css,
web apps,
ajax,
minimalism,
minimal,
compression
Monday, October 29, 2007
Learning AJAX & Javascript by Example - Tutorials, Source-Code and Documentation
I learn the best by example, so I read about, and try, as many AJAX and Javascript examples as I can find. Below you'll find a short list of the AJAX tutorials and examples that I've seen recently. They have all been organized by category with the exception of the "General" category which includes some example that didn't lend themselves to a vertical. Please let me know through email or a comment if you know of any other great AJAX tutorials, and I'll be glad to post them. Also special thanks to all of the folks who produced all of these great free learning experiences.
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Max Kiesler,
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examples,
javascript,
tutorials,
source code,
learning,
ajax,
resources
Thursday, October 25, 2007
VizList - The Data Visualization List
I'm pleased to announce VizList as a new addition to my blog. VizList is a constantly updated list of all forms of next generation web-based visualizations. Posts will provide a screenshot, a description written by either myself or the developer, and a link to the website. All visualizations will be categorized for easy browsing. I am focused in keeping you up to date with the latest developments in data visualizations, software and applications.
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Max Kiesler,
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visualizations,
data visualizations,
web design,
web apps
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Beyond the List View - New Patterns in User Interface Design
Currently there are many ways to view content on the web. From an interface design perspective these usually fall into one of three categories which include, list views, grid views and content visualizations. This article will look at each one of these patterns and discuss their history along with the pro and cons associated with their use. Then, I'll give some examples of past and present websites using these patterns. Finally, we will look at a few examples of what we might be seeing in the next few years in the way interface design patterns.
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Max Kiesler,
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Tags:
design,
design patterns,
minimalism
Saturday, October 20, 2007
AJAX & Javascript Galleries, Slideshows and Effects Redux
I was looking through some of my older posts tonight and realized my last post about AJAX galleries, slideshows and effects was from March 2006. Tonight I did a quick search through some of my sources to see what was new and exciting in the world of AJAX and Javascript image display and manipulation. Once again, below you'll find a categorized list of all of the AJAX image solutions I've been able to find that were of some use.
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Max Kiesler,
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Tags:
examples,
downloadable,
ajax,
slideshows,
galleries,
photography
Monday, October 15, 2007
Content Visualizations - The Next Wave of Interaction Design
While the web is changing every day, the one constant is the need to discover information. Search, browse, lists and tags are all great ways to find what you are looking for, however, today content visualizations are giving us a whole new way to discover deep content and relational data like never before. For instance if you search for RadioHead in most of the current search engines you will find lots of links to RadioHead related information. What do you search for if you want to find bands that you might like that have the same sound as RadioHead? This is where content visualizations shine. Many give you the ability to drill down in the content you are interested in and, in a very graphical and visual way.
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Max Kiesler,
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Tags:
examples,
visualizations,
data visualizations,
design,
design patterns
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Minimalist Website Design Patterns
Do you want your website to be beautiful, SEO friendly and fast loading? Try a true minimalist approach. Total, complete and utter minimalism is a high mark to meet in any medium. Wikipedia describes
minimalism as, "movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is stripped down to its most fundamental features." In web design minimalism translates into style, structure, and download time. Many websites that look minimal are actually mired in obtrusive or invalid code and slow download times. I believe true minimalism in web design should consider the design, code and efficiency of each page. In this article I'll discuss a basic standard for minimalist web design, show examples of how a few current sites measure up to these standards, and finally show you a road map to your own web design minimalism.
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Max Kiesler,
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Tags:
examples,
web design,
design,
design patterns,
minimalism
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
40 Downloadable Open Source Social Software Applications
While large scale social sites like Flickr, Digg, Youtube and Myspace have predominated the web-o-sphere over the past few years there still is a need for narrow content verticals in this arena. This list will give you links to 40 open source resources to get you started building your own social bookmarking, networking, filesharing or search application. The following is a list of what I consider the be the best open source social software that I've found over the past year.
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Max Kiesler,
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Tags:
examples,
source code,
downloadable,
web apps,
social software
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Twitterverse Launches
We're psyched to launch our first release of
Twitterverse tonight after working on the idea for the last couple of weeks and then the last 48 hours straight.
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Max Kiesler,
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Tags:
visualizations,
data visualizations,
web apps,
projects,
site launches
