Archive for November, 2007



Who comes to my site and why should I care - the case for user personae

Published on November 30, 2007

What are personae?

User personae are archetypes of typical customers. They are based upon our research of your services and the information you have given us about your customers and their habits.

Personae consist of personal information about the user as well as their mindset and technological comfort level.

How does YVOD use personae?

YVOD practices User-Centered Design. We base many of our design decisions on the expectations of these personae. Personae act to give us a solid base upon which to architect and design the best possible site to address your needs and those of your visitors.

As we develop the Information Architecture and flesh out the design, we constantly
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Card Game: Rich Man, Poor Man

Published on November 26, 2007

Rules for the card game: Rich Man, Poor Man

This is a game we learned while visiting the Wall-Johnson’s over Thanksgiving. It is simple to learn and fun to play. Each game takes less than 5 minutes but you will want to play it for hours. It is easy enough to understand that children as young as 6 can play if they are good at cards (poker hands can be difficult to to understand).

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The rules are laid out pretty well in the link above (and copied below) with a few modifications:

1) 2’s are wild and the highest card in the deck
2) The same number of cards must be played (if play starts with 1 card, only 1 card can
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Boka Marimba - Amaxoxo

Published on November 24, 2007

Boka Marimba - Amaxoxo

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We had a wonderful time jammin’ to Boka Marimba up in Portland. Very cool sounds. Max danced and danced and danced…

 
icon for podpress  Boka Marimba [0:09m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (134)

 
icon for podpress  Boka Marimba 2 [0:15m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (126)

Boka Marimba - Amaxoxo


To Kindle or Not To Kindle

Published on November 19, 2007

Kindle
Newsweek Review

I don’t see it. $400 is a bit steep and the thing is ugly. I do not get the whole “colorless” thing. Why not make the thing a portable hard drive to facilitate the transfer of files? Why make this a wireless-only thing? What advantage does that give? And what is up with being a gatekeeper for which blogs I read?

I hate to say it, but this is the the type of device that could only be conceived of up in Washington. It reeks of Microsoft proprietary “we rule this space” thinking. Why not make a device that conforms to Open Standard where everyone can play?

Does Amazon really think they can invent something
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Quicktime is fine… but MPlayer is better

Published on November 15, 2007

When you want to watch a movie on your computer, many people turn to Apple’s free Quicktime Player. When that does not work, try MPlayer or VLC.


It’s just a ride… We can change it at any time…

Published on November 13, 2007

Zeitgeist - Part 1 of 3

Zeitgeist - Part 2 of 3

Zeitgeist - Part 3 of 3

Zeitgeist - Full Film

I find it amazing that something like this is on the internet… especially in light of this.


Laptop Giving

Published on November 12, 2007

Give One. Get One.

Will you be counted?


How do I make my website stand out?

Published on November 8, 2007

How will my new uSite™ website differentiate me from my competitors?

The simple answer to this question is that your website must perform three main tasks:

1) It must meet visitor expectations
2) It must provide visitors with the information they seek
3) People must be drawn to your site

YVOD designs user-centered websites. We figure out who your visitors are (or will be) and build a site that meets their expectations. Once we know who your visitors are, we create individual sections to speak to their needs. We spend a large amount of our energy organizing your data into understandable bits that are easy for your visitors to consume. We are guided by the two principles: K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Stupid) and Don’t make
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