We still have many clients who refuse flash, and the most compelling reason was the lack of search visibility. The boffins at google have fixed that with some form a SWF decoder. Worth a read for developers and a reassessment of the reasons not to have flash…

 Q: Which Flash files can Google better index now?
We’ve improved our ability to index textual content in SWF files of all kinds. This includes Flash “gadgets” such as buttons or menus, self-contained Flash websites, and everything in between.

One key limitation is that the robot does not execute javascript,  so you might have to carefully select what flavour of flash detection you use to ensure the flash files are visible.

Link to the Google webmaster post

Google favicon revamp

Originally uploaded by hobart65

If you are of the typographic nature, you might have noticed the google favicon went lower case sometime in June. Here’s the backstory from the Google blog about the revamp . Google badly need some form of graphic device or framework to unite its ballooning set of services. Interesting that they start with the favicon, something most branding companies would do last.

” You may have noticed that Google has a new favicon, the small icon you see in your browser next to the URL or in your bookmarks list. Some people have wondered why we changed our favicon — after all, we hadn’t in 8.5 years(!)”

Link: one-fish-two-fish-red-fish-blue-fish

Shameless-plug-of-my-own-stuff alert.

I wrote another article (last one here) for mad.co.uk and it’s gone live. Titled Why is integrating digital into the agency so awkward? it discusses some of the problems that agencies face when trying to ‘go digital’ and how they might be solved or avoided.

Worth a look for the awful photo if nothing else. Enjoy.

Another piece of visual evidence to support that truism - everything just looks more cool in slowmo. The digirati in the studio have had this one on their desktopa for weeks, but it occurred to me how amazing that camera / phone manufactures haven’t latched onto this. How many hi-end phones / camera / camcorders can capture stuff at ridiculous frame rates? Answers please, as i’d like to buy one so I can make my own series of ephemera screen savers.

Similar to other media players but an AIR application. It’s pretty quick to pull in the data and the interface seems okay at first glance. Can the market place support another player or is this just another ‘AIR is super’ demo (albeit a pretty meaty one)?

Download and install if you fancy a play.

An astonishing and thought provoking TED talk:

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/227

I want to post this under our ‘lifehack’ category - bringing a whole new meaning to the term…

Rem Koolhaas is a total…

Originally uploaded by hobart65

Please fill in the blanks.

Amazing to see something in real life that resembles the channel 4 idents. Koolhaass divides people like marmite, but he is coming of age through the ambition and wealth of the emergent economies. Normally radical intellectual architects only get to make models, talk and write books. But, he’s building a full 1 kilometer square city in Dubai. Resulting in very questionable things like the Koolhaass Dubai Deathstar.

Some bright sparks at AQ Interactive have created a music application for the DS. Called the Korg DS10, it has synthesiser, drum machine, sequencer and effects and filters.

The idea is great but, for me, it’s the interface that will be the most interesting thing to explore. No use of the D-Pad or buttons, the whole thing is managed through the touch-screen. So many possibilities - can a novice keep track?

Look forward to trying it out.

Posted to subotron. Thanks to Conor for pointing it out.