What Should I Always Buy Generic? [Ask Lifehacker]

Native Gmail iPhone App Is Coming Soon [RUMOR]

Currently, Gmail is supported on the iPhone as a web app. It does its job fairly well, but a native app would probably be faster and could include some extra features such as advanced search and push notifications.

However, there’s a question of whether Apple would allow a native email app on iOS, given that it would be a direct competitor to its own Mail app, which is an integral part of the platform.

MG Siegler, citing several sources familiar with the matter, doesn’t have a lot of info about the upcoming app, but he claims push notifications are sure to be a part of it. And, he says, Priority Inbox and one-click starring of messages will likely to be included.

As for when can we expect this shiny new app to reach our iPhones and iPads, “soon” is all we have.

Google declined to comment on the possibility of a native Gmail iPhone app.

More About: App, apple, gmail, Google, iphone

Siri Ported To iPhone 4 and iPod Touch 4G

In a moment as historic as Alexander Bell’s call to his assistant, an iPhone hacker wrote on Twitter that he had successfully ported Siri to the iPhone 4 and iPod Touch.

The hack requires a jailbroken device. By copying the app onto the device, the iPhone 4 can call up Siri and, more important, connect to the Siri servers. You can follow these instructions to install the app yourself and it seems to currently also work with the iPod Touch 4G although those instructions are forthcoming.

Mark Gurman at 9to5mac interviewed Steven Troughton-Smith, another iPod Touch/iPhone 4 hacker, answering a few questions about the feat:

Mark: Do you ever see Siri showing up in Cydia (or another jailbreak store) for non natively supported devices?

Steven: No, I could not be a part of that. I have no doubts that others will package this up and distribute it quasi-illegally, or try and sell it to people. I am only interested in the technology and making it work; proving that it works and works well on the iPhone 4 and other devices

Mark: So, you also got Siri working on the fourth-generation iPod touch, how is that working out?

Steven: We got chpwn’s iPod touch up and running with Siri after proving it works on my iPhone 4. Unfortunately the microphone on the iPod is nowhere near as good as the iPhone – you will notice that the Siri level meter hardly moves when you talk to it. While it does work, you have to speak loudly and clearly to the iPod

We’ll give it a try this weekend and report back.

News: LCD makers challenged by iPad 3 retina display

China’s Property Crash – Effects on Vancouver?

“Recent buyers are outraged as the value of their investments fall, sometimes by more than 25%.”
“They worked hard to earn money to buy property, but not long after they bought it, it crashed this much.”
“UBS are predicting the property market will suffer a hard landing in the next few years.”
- from ‘Shanghai Property Crash’, 27 Oct 2011 [video care of Greenhorn].

Greenhorn writes, by e-mail:
“This means Vancouver real estate prices will rise, right?
Condo prices in Shanghai are crashing. If you watch this video, you will see that condo prices in Shanghai are falling from $260/sq.ft. to $190/sq.ft. A lot cheaper than Vancouver!
Why are condo prices so low in Shanghai? Because China is a poor country with a per capita GDP of less than $8,000. But Canada’s GDP is only $40,000 and condos in Vancouver sell for over $1,000/sq.ft. so may be this ratio of per capita GDP/condo prices per sq.ft. is about right.
People tell me that if real estate prices crash in China, there will be a flood of money to Vancouver as our real estate market is an excellent store of value. I find this hard to fathom. If your real estate in Shanghai at $190/sq.ft. is crashing, do you then go buy in a market such as Vancouver that is 5 times as expensive? If Vancouver real estate at $1,000/sq.ft. crashes, do you then go buy in Monaco at $5,000/sq.ft.
Sure my examples are extreme, but you get the point I am trying to make.
When China real estate prices are up, Vancouver prices rise because the wealthy Chinese want to diversify their holdings.
When China real estate prices are down, Vancouver prices rise because the wealthy Chinese want to diversify their holdings.
Do prices ever fall in Vancouver?”

Despite our apparently bullet-proof market, we have a hunch that this will have a negative effect on Vancouver RE:
(1. deleveraging in China)
+
(2. psychological effects of plunging Chinese RE on Vancouver local buyers)
will be greater than
(3. tiny amount of safe-haven money running wishfully to only RE on globe still ‘retaining value’)
Add to this Euro-bloc rolling-crisis, and we think that the next leg down in everything is going to be a doozie. Look out, here comes 2012.
- vreaa

Evergreen Line construction date set

Google+ rolls out new features, support for Google Apps

Look out for malicious QR codes

You Did It Wrong: How Not To Win The Lottery

Google+ To Integrate With Blogger

Up-and-coming social network Google+ will soon be integrated with Google’s blogging platform, Blogger, according to a message now appearing in the “Edit User Profile” section of Blogger’s Settings.

The message reads “Connect Blogger to Google+ : Use your Google profile and get access to upcoming Google+ features on Blogger,” and includes links to “Learn more” and ”Get Started.” Unfortunately, the links are dead-ends right now, so we don’t yet know what type of integration is being planned.

The “Learn More” link is currently dumping to this “page not found” message in Blogger’s Help Center, while the “Get Started” link simply redirects logged-in users to their Blogger Dashboard.

The message was spotted first Alex Chitu of the unofficial Google news source, Google Operating System. Chitu says it’s obvious that Blogger profiles will be discontinued and replaced by Google Profiles – the profiles which are now used by the Google+ social network.

He also speculates that the Google+ integration will be used to introduce additional social features that have been provided in the past by Google Friend Connect. That service, which offers social gadgets that can be embedded on personal websites and blogs, now seems to be obsolete since Google+ has arrived. Google has already closed the Google Friend Connect Help Forum and has shut down the Friend Connect discussion group. It’s well past time for Google to officially shut down the actual website for the service too.

Friend Connect currently lists gadgets that provide access to blog readers’ user profiles, a “social bar” highlighting members’ activities, a ratings and reviews gadget, a comments gadget and more. Chitu says it’s possible we’ll soon see even deeper integration between Blogger’s commenting system and Google+ comments in the future, thanks to the forthcoming integration.

That would position Google+ against Facebook on another front beyond just social networking: blog commenting. Facebook Comments (such as those used here on TechCrunch) provide a way for authenticated users to sign in using their Facebook credentials in order to leave a comment. The drawback, of course, to using a system such as this is that it requires commenters to post using their “real” identity, not a pseudonym. While somewhat effective against trolling and other bad behaviors, it also has it drawbacks. (For more on the pros and cons of Facebook Comments, see Erick’s coverage here).

With the recent news that Google+ will soon be supporting the use of pseudonyms, it sets up the social network as a platform that could soon rival Facebook as another option for sign-ins, authentication and therefore, for blog commenting as well. Integration with its own blogging service, Blogger, is surely just the first step.

News: Apple plans to offer in-store pickup of online orders

Apple TV set was Jobs' last tech frontier

What's the difference between retiring in Canada and America?

Steve Jobs Bio Now Available On The Kindle And In iBooks

As if this whole “Steve Jobs” biography thing couldn’t get more drawn out and dramatic, users — including Jeff Jarvis and Jason Kottke – are reporting early deliveries of Walter Isaacson’s highly anticipated book, oddly enough through pre-orders on the Amazon Kindle. This leaves Apple fans with quite a conundrum; Watch the “60 Minutes” Issaacon interview now or read his book first?

Before you get too Amazon trigger happy, I just tried to order one via Kindle and it has not yet shown up — so maybe it’s first come first served?

Update: My copy on the Kindle just arrived, 15 minutes after I ordered it. And, as is fitting, the book — including a free sample — is now available for the iPhone and iPad in iBooks, with zero wait.

The analog version of the 656 page book should be officially available in bookstores across the US tomorrow.

Image via/ Johnnie Manzari

6 Things: New and improved - Vancouver Canucks - Features

As if this whole “Steve Jobs” biography thing couldn’t get more drawn out and dramatic, users — including Jeff Jarvis and Jason Kottke – are reporting early deliveries of Walter Isaacson’s highly anticipated book, oddly enough through pre-orders on the Amazon Kindle. This leaves Apple fans with quite a conundrum; Watch the “60 Minutes” Issaacon interview now or read his book first?

Before you get too Amazon trigger happy, I just tried to order one via Kindle and it has not yet shown up — so maybe it’s first come first served?

Update: My copy on the Kindle just arrived, 15 minutes after I ordered it. And, as is fitting, the book — including a free sample — is now available for the iPhone and iPad in iBooks, with zero wait.

The analog version of the 656 page book should be officially available in bookstores across the US tomorrow.

Image via/ Johnnie Manzari

10 Things You Should Know About Being A Web Designer

Web design is not the most noble job in the world. We don’t save lives or build houses for the poor kids of Africa. We create visual experiences on the internet. Our job has its own ups and downs and rules that not everybody agrees with and there are obviously things you should know about this career if you plan on getting serious about it. You can find here a list of things you might want to know about being a web designer that will help on easing you in the business.

Clients are hard to deal with

Well, not all of them, but the majority of them will create a lot of stress for you and you won’t be happy to hear from them again soon. They put the money in your pocket, so you always have to try and bring their vision to life. There is a very funny illustration on the internet that talks about this topic better than I could ever; you can enjoy it here. Many times you will have to deal with this situation and might design a product you are not entirely happy with. But because the client pays, you will have to finish it. Later on I will tell you why this should not be a problem.

But wait, there is more. Not signing a proper contract might cause you headaches, because the clients will try to make you work more for them for free. This is why you need to have a solid contract signed by both parties before you start working. Never skip this part. Never!

Sign a contract with the client before starting the project

Not all clients are like that, some of them will even pay everything beforehand and then hand you some more bucks for small adjustments, but that’s quite rare. This only happens with clients who don’t know how the internet works and thinks that a web designer is quite hard to find. Therefore be aware of the “big sharks” of the internet, who’ve done this kind of job hundreds of times before and know how easily a designer can be manipulated, because he needs a specific amount of money at the end of the month – we all do; in the end, nobody works just for fun.

Get out there and make a name for yourself

It is very lame when web designers go to interviews with an empty portfolio. Nothing shows more disinterest and laziness than the empty portfolio of a so-called web designer. Don’t expect to be hired and to create a portfolio for yourself afterwards, because nobody will hire you in the first place. Don’t forget you compete with people who polished their skills by working hundreds of hours for clients and who have a portfolio full of good work and promising testimonials. What do you have besides the “I want to provide high-quality services to this company” cliché?

Have a high-quality portfolio to show clients

Sure, it might take a lot of work for free, but this will bring you something that no payment can: experience. Once you have that experience, you are ready for a bigger job, but until then you have to go out and find some work. You can find churches, groups, hobby clubs and so on; all these would be happy to extend their presence on the internet and you are right there to offer it – for a low price or even for free. That’s how everybody starts, nobody hires web designers without a portfolio. It is entirely your responsibility to create a name and a brand for yourself and you shouldn’t expect to get the big bucks until you do it.

Have a clear target

One of the things you need to do at an interview for a freelance job is to define the product you will deliver. Today everybody can do some design and why would a boss hire you when his 15-year-old son can do the same for pocket money? You have to specify what exactly it is you can deliver, from SEO to social media integration and a content management system which you develop yourself. Many clients think a website has these features included anyway and won’t even consider paying more for them. This is why you have to specify from the beginning the nature of your project and the targets.

The client is not always right

Yes, you’ve heard me right. You were not hired to be liked by the boss. You were hired to provide a good, high-quality solution. If the client knows nothing about web design, how can he give you tips and advice, like in the illustration above? If you provide a great tool for his business, which generates profit, you are very likely to be hired back even if you didn’t listen to the client’s tips. There is no doubt about the fact that you are the expert and you should decide upon most of the project. Sure, hearing out ideas is not a bad thing and it’s recommended, but following the bad ones is stupid and will never help you create a strong name. If you do what the client wants and end up with a crappy website, you might have to avoid putting it in your portfolio. You don’t want people to know you’ve made it. But what are you interested in, having a high-quality portfolio, with work you are proud of, or earning money from different projects and, when a big opportunity arises, show up with an empty portfolio or with poor websites?

Remember once you’ve signed the contract (be aware of what it stipulates), you are the one who takes the most important decisions on a website, not the client. He hired you to do what you are good at; you’re the expert, not him. If he wanted someone he could order around, he has thousands of employees to do that with.

Design for the user

This is a big one. The design is the most important part of the user experience, although it’s very easy to find successful people on the internet who might argue with me. Craigslist is the best example: no design, no brand, huge success. But this is rare, don’t think that if Craigslist managed it, you will too. Design for the user and all the time think of how they interact with a website. It might be a good idea to ask the client what kind of clients he has. What kind of people are them, what do they do for a living, how much time they spend on the internet and so on. This is important to consider when designing for the user.

The User Experience is built on these layers

Once done, leave it like it is

Once you’ve finished the product, delivered it, earned the money and shook hands, it’s done. The product is not yours anymore. Take screenshots of it in its final form and then let it go. If the client wants to destroy it with low-resolution images, a poor logo or disproportionate font, it’s entirely his problem.

You should offer guidelines and help him in the beginning, but if he can’t keep the nice design you’ve made for more than a few weeks without messing it up, it is not your problem anymore. This means he needs a Web Master who can take care of his website on a full-time or part-time job for money. Or you can do it – for money too, obviously.

Don’t send desperate e-mails few months after the delivery saying that this does not look good and you should do this another way. It is simply not your problem anymore, so let it go already!

It never works from the first time

Web design is one of those jobs which eats the energy out of you and drives you crazy all the time with simple problems that have simple solutions. A selector does not work, you can’t make the hover color brighter for whatever reason, the database shows you an error each time you use it or the content does not update if you press the required button. All these problems have been and will be the ones which drive us all crazy. Don’t expect that once you start coding, it will be done within a matter of hours. It will not! It will take days, weeks or even months, depending on the size of the project, but expect having problems and be ready to go out for short walks many times.

Stressed worker

“No” is an answer too

Many designers avoid saying “no” because they might upset the client; but, as said before, you are not hired to be liked by the client, but to show your worth and skills by developing a solution the client will be happy with on the medium and long-term period.

It is also OK to say “no” to a client who wants to hire you only because you have a solid portfolio and can be picky if you want to. This doesn’t mean you should reject all the projects that might, at some point in time, cause you stress and headaches, but try avoiding those clients that you know you don’t like working with. Declining clients and turning down offers is something every one of us does now and then, so don’t be afraid of saying  no to projects you know you won’t fit in.

"No" is a valid answer too

Be a master of something

You’ve probably heard before of Jacks of all trades, Master of none. You shouldn’t be one of them. It is OK to have skills in multiple fields, but be outstanding in one of them. You need something that makes you perfect for a job. “Web designer” is a very broad term, a web designer can do lots of things. What kind of web designer are you? Focusing on social media integration, nice and clean designs, fresh and clean code and so on. You need to be very good in something and market yourself accordingly. The fact that you can do more is OK, but don’t rely on it too much. Nobody will hire you for a complex project if you have basic knowledge in everything needed. You have to own more than that.

Tools don’t matter that much

This might seem a strange one, but just look in the past. Facebook is the new MySpace. Broadband internet connection is the new AOL. HTML5 is the most exciting technology right now. CSS3 is the new CSS1. Flash is on its way out. ASP.net will be out in maximum five years. Terms like WAP, FBML or Perl tend to become unimportant today, because nobody needs them anymore.

Tools for webdesigners

The average life span for a web technology is around five years – right now; who knows in the future? Do you think that in 10 years you will be able to impress your client with a strong HTML5 portfolio? Definitely no.

The answer to this problem is constant learning and improvement. Reading and learning about new technologies and then learning how and where to use them is the way to be successful. Maybe you are not an expert today, but you have the chance to transform into one in few years time, when the new technologies appear. While the current experts will be too busy with their projects, you will have time to learn the new technologies and go out there and market yourself as an expert. This is the way you will create a strong career for yourself.

Bottom line

Being a web designer requires many skills not everybody can have, and the more things you are capable of, the more chances you have to get a good job. The portfolio is the most important thing for a web designer, therefore put a lot of effort into it, even if you will have to do some volunteer jobs – it could pay off in the end. Market yourself as an expert in something, not a Jack of all trades, and then try to improve all the time. This is the key to success in every career, but in web design it is crucial if you plan on doing this on a long-term basis.

More to read

There are not many articles similar to this one on the internet, but I’ve tried my best to find some close ones:

30 Things You Have To Know About Being a Web Designer on 1stwebdesigner

The Funny Thing About Being a Web Designer on ClickNathan

5 Reasons Why I Love Being a Web Designer on My Ink Blog

10 Things You Can Do To Become a Better Web Designer on VanSeoDesign

The Roadmap To Becoming a Professional Freelance Web Designer on Smashing Magazine

Voters scrapped HST for personal gain: Poll

Google Reader to Get Google+ Integration

The changes, which are “highly requested,” according to Google software engineer Alan Green, include a new design and the retiring of features like friending, following and shared link blogs inside of Reader, which will be supplanted by Google+.

You may “feel like the product is no longer for you,” Green writes, in which case you can export your subscriptions, friends, likes and shared items to another RSS reader. Google gave Reader a social makeover with follows and friending in 2009, when Digg, among other social news services, was much more influential.

Like Google Buzz, which was retired last week, those social features are being excised as the company focuses on growing Google+.

More About: Google, google buzz, google reader, rss reader

Gmail Getting an Interface Overhaul with Better Conversation Display, Search, Auto-Resizing, and More [Video]

Man Orders Size 14.50 "Monster Slippers", Manufacturer Makes & Sends Size 1,450

When the 27-year-old ordered a special monster-design slipper to fit his oversized left foot, he was sent this size 1,450 one - because manufacturers failed to spot a decimal point. He had requested a 14.5, as well as a smaller size 13 for his right foot. The pair cost £15.50. However, manufacturers in China misread the measurement and accidentally made the whopping seven foot-long slipper, which was shipped to him along with the correct smaller size. Apparently workers in the slipper factory assumed his giant order was for a shop window display.