TheWayoftheWeb

I’m currently looking at embarking on some new web projects, with both blogs and websites playing a part. And I know that the sites will be based on home coding and open source applications…(I was going to say cheap, but the labour and time involved definitely isn’t cheap).

I’ve had a look at various CMS systems etc, but I’m struggling to find any examples of really interesting design. It seems if you lock into a system like Drupal, you’re able to modify templates etc, just as you would here, but no-one seems to radically change things about, or hide the CMS behind a custom-coded main page etc?

DO you know of any such sites? They can use Drupal, Joomla, DotNetNuke or any other Open Source alternative you can suggest…

Interesting changes are afoot at the world’s biggest fleamarket and online auction site.
Firstly, the charges for a number of categories will change from March 1, 2007. Listing fees are being reduced and simplified, which is nice at first glance. But, if you’re one of the many, many people who sell comics, DVDs, music and video games, then you’re in for a shock. The Final Listing Value is now up to 9%!
Ebay’s own example shows that selling many of these items will now have an increased cost to the seller, and it seems to suggest that you’re better off listing items for an unfair price to get the maximum cash, rather than offering a fair price. Could this see low-margin sellers looking elsewhere? Take a look at the examples for yourself, and note that they all assume an item needs to be listed twice to sell.

There’s also the news that Ebay is delisting ‘Real Money Transfer‘ items when they correspond to video gaming. RMT is basically the method for selling your gold or other items harvested from World of Warcraft etc, and converting them into real cash.
Interestingly, however, Second Life is exempt, due to questions about whether it is a game, or a virtual world.

The repercussions could be that low margin sellers and World of Warcraft gold farmers both start looking elsewhere to make sales. And coming at the same time, it could give a significant boost to any alternative route to market.
It also suggests that virtual money making could increasingly move towards the likes of Second Life, whose makers, Linden Labs, have already stated their intention to be behind the framework for the 3D Web 3.0.
And finally it highlights the problem of monopolies in the online world, as much as in reality. Do I accept that I’m going to be paying an extra £1 in fees for every DVD and game I sell, in addition to Paypal costs and postage? Meaning that I get less reward for the pain in the backside which is Ebay trading? In addition to the risks that sellers seem to shoulder by using Paypal?

A quick post today, as an idea has just struck me…

If you’re explaining how to use a new system or work process, and you find yourself apologising for the complexity, or for anything that doesn’t make sense to the user… that’s probably a sign it’s not quite right.

And that includes the often overlooked Admin functionality…as well as the user experience…

Remember kids…always try and make it more simple to use than it is already.

If there was a grand league of making PR disasters, Sony would actually have the edge on Prince Phillip at the moment.
Not content with the last viral disaster, involving a blog so unbelievable and obvious is was spotted and flamed within seconds, they’ve gone and topped it with an even bigger disaster.

See if you can spot what they did:

Screenshot from major racing game PGR3 on the Microsoft Xbox 360:

Screenshot from Sony advert for racing game Gran Tourismo 4 HD

Sweet Lord, that’s a mistake and a half in every pixel. I’m looking forward to hearing the explanation…

For more mockery, see http://www.aeropause.com/archives/2007/01/yet_another_muf.php.

And bear in mind that there is also a backlash about the cost of the PS3 (particularly in Europe), and a growing disatisfaction with the PSP.

I’m sorry. I need to go and lay down for a bit because my sides are hurting. Can I humbly suggest to Sony that they hire me as their Head of Marketing and Advertising, as I can actually play games and write blogs?