David Phipps' Blog

David Phipps' Blog tag:learningremix.net,2007:/w2007integ/dphipps1//24 2007-04-19T22:53:38Z Movable Type 3.33 Team whereismycaffeine? tag:learningremix.net,2007:/w2007integ/dphipps1//24.1773 2007-04-19T22:41:00Z 2007-04-19T22:53:38Z

Here is the final iteration 3 prototype for team whereismycaffeine? Our site is now both IE and firefox friendly and everything is working. Site Presentation...

David Phipps is449]]>" label="is449]]>" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" /> iteration3site]]>" label="iteration3site]]>" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" /> project]]>" label="project]]>" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" /> w2007]]>" label="w2007]]>" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" /> whereismycaffeine]]>" label="whereismycaffeine]]>" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" /> Site Presentation]]> Changed the flickr photos page per request tag:learningremix.net,2007:/w2007integ/dphipps1//24.1772 2007-04-19T21:35:30Z 2007-04-19T21:51:09Z

No on really liked the way that our photos page was working. Users didn't want to actually have to type in the tag names themselves so we scrapped the whole format and went in an entirely different direction. Instead of...

David Phipps is449]]>" label="is449]]>" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" /> project]]>" label="project]]>" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" /> w2007]]>" label="w2007]]>" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" /> whereismycaffeine]]>" label="whereismycaffeine]]>" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" /> photos page was working. Users didn't want to actually have to type in the tag names themselves so we scrapped the whole format and went in an entirely different direction. Instead of having a text box for users to type in our suggested tags, we actually linked the tags for users to click on and display the picures. It looks similar to the way that the AJACS team displayed their pictures in their infowindows. The thing I like about how we did it, is that the pictures are much larger since they are not confined to the small space of the infowindow like they are on the AJACS site. Hopefully this final correction makes all the naysayers happy and we move up in the rankings. This is my last blog! Everyone have a great summer and maybe we'll meet again on the job some day. ]]> Infowindow issues in IE solved... tag:learningremix.net,2007:/w2007integ/dphipps1//24.1771 2007-04-19T21:25:56Z 2007-04-19T21:31:44Z

Well we solved our problem in IE. In the end we decided that why even do 3 tabs when all the info can easily fit onto 2. We burned up many hours trying to figure out why the info windows...

David Phipps is449]]>" label="is449]]>" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" /> project]]>" label="project]]>" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" /> w2007]]>" label="w2007]]>" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" /> whereismycaffeine]]>" label="whereismycaffeine]]>" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" /> problem in IE. In the end we decided that why even do 3 tabs when all the info can easily fit onto 2. We burned up many hours trying to figure out why the info windows cut off in IE and then decided to just get rid of it. I styled the new info so it would be distiguished from the other info and it acually looks better with only two tabs. If you want to take a look at it now click here. Now everything is working in both IE, firefox and opera.]]> User suggested corrections made tag:learningremix.net,2007:/w2007integ/dphipps1//24.1770 2007-04-19T21:18:29Z 2007-04-19T21:25:51Z

We've updated our site with the suggestions from other groups. - Placed the city and state above the map so that users would be able to tell what part of the world they are looking at. - We updated the...

I found a great site for developers to find out more info about AJAX, XML, JSON, .net, php, and pretty much anything else you can think of. Specifically I was looking for more information on JSON. This site describes JSON...

David Phipps is449]]>" label="is449]]>" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" /> JSON]]>" label="JSON]]>" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" /> w2007]]>" label="w2007]]>" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" /> site for developers to find out more info about AJAX, XML, JSON, .net, php, and pretty much anything else you can think of. Specifically I was looking for more information on JSON. This site describes JSON as being clearer and has less redundancy than xml does. It goes on to say that JSON is ideal for data interchange since each instance of a JSON document describes only one object with nested object, arrays, strings, numbers, boolean values or null values. The biggest plus I came across is that you can parse JSON with one line which saves time and looks neater. ]]> New generation of flat screen monitors... tag:learningremix.net,2007:/w2007integ/dphipps1//24.1624 2007-04-13T04:23:46Z 2007-04-13T09:56:01Z

I came across an article that talks about the new generation of flat screen monitors that are coming out. They are ultra-thin because they do not need a back light for it to work. They are going to be call...

David Phipps is449]]>" label="is449]]>" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" /> OLED]]>" label="OLED]]>" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" /> w2007]]>" label="w2007]]>" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" /> article that talks about the new generation of flat screen monitors that are coming out. They are ultra-thin because they do not need a back light for it to work. They are going to be call OLED because they are using organic light-emitting diode (OLED) technology. Since they do not use a back light, they draw far less power and, and when powered from a battery, can operate longer on the same charge. They are currently making a few thousand 11" models to test the market later this year. Witnesses say that LCD and Plasma displays look faded compared to the OLED. The drawbacks are that they only last about 5,000 hours currently but they are already working with new materials that will extend it to 20,000 hours. ]]> Mini Project Iteration 3 tag:learningremix.net,2007:/w2007integ/dphipps1//24.1615 2007-04-12T19:07:35Z 2007-04-12T19:17:52Z

Here is my mini project iteration 3. And here is my presentation. I had to start from scratch to get rid of the innerHTML that I had in my previous two iterations. Here I am pulling an RSS feed from...

David Phipps is449]]>" label="is449]]>" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" /> miniprojects]]>" label="miniprojects]]>" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" /> w2007]]>" label="w2007]]>" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" /> mini project iteration 3. And here is my presentation. I had to start from scratch to get rid of the innerHTML that I had in my previous two iterations. Here I am pulling an RSS feed from the msnc.com technology and science top stories. It has event handlers, uses the DOM and works in both firefox and IE. My previous iteration did not work in IE which probably had something to do with the innerHTML that was in the code. It's simple but it works and I got it done quicker than 3 minutes before it is due this time. Last time I spent way too many hours trying to get something fancy to work.]]> Response to Chidambaram's review of wheresimycaffeine tag:learningremix.net,2007:/w2007integ/dphipps1//24.1537 2007-04-05T22:06:47Z 2007-04-05T22:16:39Z

I would like to address Chidambaram's suggestions on how to make our site better. I hadn't thought about putting what city they are looking at above the map. The markers pretty much cover up the name of the city and...

David Phipps is449]]>" label="is449]]>" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" /> projects]]>" label="projects]]>" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" /> w2007]]>" label="w2007]]>" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" /> whereismycaffeine]]>" label="whereismycaffeine]]>" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" /> suggestions on how to make our site better. I hadn't thought about putting what city they are looking at above the map. The markers pretty much cover up the name of the city and I can see where someone would be confused initially. We are going to add Ypsi for the next iteration too so I'll add a header that indicates that this is the Ann Arbor/Ypsi area. We are still working on our IE issues. Thank you for the error information which will help troubleshoot. Having the sidebar on the bottom is better for people viewing our site with a low resolution. It keeps them from having to scroll side-to-side as well as up-down. The blank info tab is going to have the coffee shop website, live band, special features info. We didn't get that far before iteration 2 was due.]]> Response to Jeffery's review of whereismycaffeine tag:learningremix.net,2007:/w2007integ/dphipps1//24.1536 2007-04-05T21:51:17Z 2007-04-05T22:02:49Z

Jeff had a couple of suggestions that I will be using for next iteration. The suggestions that we will use will be to expand to Ypsilanti along with Ann Arbor. It's going to make our xml page a beast but...

David Phipps is449]]>" label="is449]]>" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" /> project]]>" label="project]]>" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" /> w2007]]>" label="w2007]]>" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" /> whereismycaffeine]]>" label="whereismycaffeine]]>" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" /> suggestions that I will be using for next iteration. The suggestions that we will use will be to expand to Ypsilanti along with Ann Arbor. It's going to make our xml page a beast but at least the template is there to add more locations easily so there will be a lot of cut and paste. I had considered once before making the sidebar alphabetical and now that someone else has suggested it, I will go through with my earlier plan of doing that. We don't want the pictures in the infowindows because they are too small and having the flickr finder on the main page will only clutter it so it needs to stay separate. We don't want people to have to scroll around on the main page. I will be removing the tags section that displays before the pictures or I might move it to below the pictures, I haven't decided yet. ]]> Response to Dave's review of whereismycaffeine tag:learningremix.net,2007:/w2007integ/dphipps1//24.1535 2007-04-05T21:14:24Z 2007-04-05T21:25:45Z

Dave offered some suggestions for iteration 3 that I would like to address. Unfortunately we can not automate the process of somebody adding a new location. One of our strengths is that the data provided is as correct as possible....

David Phipps is449]]>" label="is449]]>" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" /> project]]>" label="project]]>" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" /> w2007]]>" label="w2007]]>" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" /> whereismycaffeine]]>" label="whereismycaffeine]]>" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" /> suggestions for iteration 3 that I would like to address. Unfortunately we can not automate the process of somebody adding a new location. One of our strengths is that the data provided is as correct as possible. To prevent someone from adding a hundred new markers to our map, the submissions need to be screened by us to verify that there is actually a coffee shop at the address they provide. We had considered putting the flickr photos on the main page in an infowindow, but there are not enough pictures that are specific to the businesses located in Ann Arbor. It didn't make sense to do it that way. Some of the coffee houses we found were so small, they did not even have a website. What do we do for those types of businesses that have no pictures? Our answer was to have it all on one page separate from the map. ]]> Response to Matthew's review of whereismycaffeine tag:learningremix.net,2007:/w2007integ/dphipps1//24.1532 2007-04-05T20:34:02Z 2007-04-05T20:42:13Z

Matthew brought up a point that came up during the presentation. We were also concerned about voters adding data that shouldn't be there so instead of text boxes we are going to put in drop down boxes so that the...

Jayanthy made a couple of points I'd like to address. Another blogger didn't like the tags section that displays after typing in a tag into our photo finder so I'm going to remove that for the next iteration. Most professional...

David Phipps is449]]>" label="is449]]>" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" /> project]]>" label="project]]>" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" /> w2007]]>" label="w2007]]>" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" /> whereismycaffeine]]>" label="whereismycaffeine]]>" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" /> points I'd like to address. Another blogger didn't like the tags section that displays after typing in a tag into our photo finder so I'm going to remove that for the next iteration. Most professional sites have navigation at the top and bottom of the pages so that needs to stay. The less time a person has to spend looking for navigation the better. Minor stuff such as adding website URLs of the coffee shop and updating the email us link will be hashed out before the next iteration. ]]> Response to Rajesh's review of whereismycaffeine tag:learningremix.net,2007:/w2007integ/dphipps1//24.1527 2007-04-05T20:07:46Z 2007-04-05T20:16:31Z

Rajesh had some suggestions on improvements to whereismycaffeine. We are still working on some bugs in IE which is why the flickr photo finder isn't working and the infowindow tabs are not sized correctly. For everything to work, view in...

David Phipps is449]]>" label="is449]]>" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" /> project]]>" label="project]]>" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" /> w2007]]>" label="w2007]]>" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" /> whereismycaffeine]]>" label="whereismycaffeine]]>" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" /> suggestions on improvements to whereismycaffeine. We are still working on some bugs in IE which is why the flickr photo finder isn't working and the infowindow tabs are not sized correctly. For everything to work, view in firefox. To put the sidebar on the side of the map isn't going to work right. Since there are so many Starbucks with different locations, we need to include the address in the description or someone would have to keep clicking on different starbucks links to find the one they want. By placing the sidebar at the bottom of the map, all the information can be placed on a single line so it looks a lot neater. ]]> Response to Juweria's review of whereismycaffeine tag:learningremix.net,2007:/w2007integ/dphipps1//24.1524 2007-04-05T19:56:53Z 2007-04-05T20:07:08Z

Juweria brought up a point that a couple of other people did about the flickr photos. What I didn't like about putting the pics in to the infowindows is that it is limited in quantity and when you click on...

David Phipps is449]]>" label="is449]]>" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" /> project]]>" label="project]]>" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" /> w2007]]>" label="w2007]]>" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" /> whereismycaffeine]]>" label="whereismycaffeine]]>" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" /> point that a couple of other people did about the flickr photos. What I didn't like about putting the pics in to the infowindows is that it is limited in quantity and when you click on them, they do not get big enough to see well. By having the photo finder, you get a whole lot more results and when you click on the photo, it goes to the flickr page that the pic is hosted on and displays at its true size. Plus you get the list of tags that the photos use. Plus this finder is not specific to coffee, it can be used to look up anything which I think is a lot more functional. It might keep people on the site longer looking up tags using the finder. ]]> Response to Joern's review on whereismycaffeine tag:learningremix.net,2007:/w2007integ/dphipps1//24.1519 2007-04-05T19:37:44Z 2007-04-05T19:49:36Z

Joern's review brought up a couple of questions that I would like to respond to. The flash thing isn't going anywhere. I feel we have made it sufficiently smaller for this iteration and made the map larger as well. As...

David Phipps is449]]>" label="is449]]>" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" /> project]]>" label="project]]>" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" /> w2007]]>" label="w2007]]>" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" /> whereismycaffeine]]>" label="whereismycaffeine]]>" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" /> review brought up a couple of questions that I would like to respond to. The flash thing isn't going anywhere. I feel we have made it sufficiently smaller for this iteration and made the map larger as well. As for your hypertext links, they are in a scroll bar under the map. As for not having anything new, we added pages to track user favorites and we added the flickr photo finder. We are going to add website links and special features to the info tag so the user may check the website. To maintain data integrity, we will be ones in charge of the data. I don't know too many businesses that change their hours very frequently so that part is going to stay. If anything the hours will be mostly correct.]]>