Technical Happenings

Why are Web Applications Superior to their Desktop counterparts?

I recently needed to convince a client not to build an application in Excel and deploy throughout Europe on CD. To do this i provided the following list of advantages of web applications.

No need for an install or to ship updates

The application lives in the cloud and is centrally managed, when you launch the application you will always have the latest version. This leads to a single point for updates and fixes with the user receiving the updated version the next time they use the application. You remove any chance of legacy applications being used

No admin rights or approval required

There is no software install, which means that as long as the user can access the site they can use the application. There is no need for a network administrator to approve the installation.

Anytime, Anyplace, no distribution network

You don’t have to be on your office computer to access the application, you can use it from any computer with an Internet connection. Which also means you can distribute globally for zero cost.

Build Once, Run Anywhere (Platform independent)

The browser becomes the platform and developing for that allows users of any underlying operating systems (Mac, Linux, Windows) to access the application.

More Robust and Faster to fix

Developing for one platform reduces the risk of environmental bugs. Also even when a bug does get found it can quickly be rectified and deployed to all users see (No need to install of to ship updates). Makes maintenance and support simpler.

Enables social functionality

The world is becoming more social and people want to collaborate and work online together, having a web application allows you to add this functionality.

Lower cost of deployment

No boxes, printed manual, expensive shipping costs, CD’s, distribution channels,etc.

Usable from inexpensive computers

If your user base has a variety of hardware of differing specification then a web application is for you. The browser is very lightweight in computing power terms and your application will run just as well on a Net-book.

Piracy-proof

can’t be cloned in a DVD Writer.

Instant payment, no need to invoice

If you are charging for you application payments are simple, they can be collected through the application so as long as the customer pays, the account is active

No Viruses

No installation, means no viruses.

Simpler mobile deployment

If you decide you require a mobile version you get a high degree of application re-use; re-purpose key functionality via an alternate interface i.e mobile.

Widest potential audience

For all the points above, this basically unlocks markets for software vendors that previously were inaccessible due to technical reasons.

Make use of a users existing knowledge

It’s safe to assume that nearly everyone is familiar with a web-browser and your application can be designed to take advantage of this knowledge i,e forward, back buttons and bookmarking.

What is a QR Code?

A QR Code is a two-dimensional bar-code and the name “QR” is derived from “Quick Response”, as its Japanese creator intended the code  to be decoded at high speed. QR Codes have been very common in Japan, this popularity due to the fact that the majority of  Japanese mobiles can read this code with their camera.

QR Codes can be used to store textual information such as addresses, phone numbers and URLs.  Then a user with a phone installed with reading software can scan the image of the QR Code to decrypt its stored information. This act of linking from physical world objects is known as hard-linking.

Users can also generate and print their own QR Code for others to scan. Such as the image on the right.

• 5 Unique Uses for QR Codes
• Generate your own QR Codes
• Google Pushes QR Codes
• QR Code Reader for you mobile

Can you Predict the X Factor Winner using Twitter?

I thought this was pretty interesting,  the  full article is worth a read, see the link below.

Bil Tancer at Hitwise occasionally tries to predict talent show winners by studying Search activity, but there are now too many dynamics to interpret to be able to use internet data to easily predict X Factor winners and losers this year. When the internet was a one way street, then Search volumes were good indicators of intention / preference. However, new platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, blogs and Twitter fuel ’social influence’ and contribute to the ‘cumulative advantage’ dynamic studied by Duncan J Watts. Watts’ argues that Justin Timberlake is a product of cumulative advantage, putting forward the idea that the ‘most popular tend to get more popular’ as social influence affects people’s perception of quality. The herd mentality affects hits - rankings like the Top 40 / bestseller lists distort perception of quality and influence people’s likes.

The visibility of shows like the X Factor in social media means that using search volumes to predict winners is not going to give the whole picture. The only way to use online data to predict X Factor outcomes would be to combine Search data with real time sentiment analysis in the period between the performances on Saturday and the results show on Sunday – not easy, or particularly cheap, to do. It is clear though that compelling TV content does drive people to go online, often simultaneously – and you don’t need research to tell you this when shows like the X Factor have such an obvious online echo!

see for full article http://www.nickburcher.com