sugarenia.com

Gather round, folks. I have something to confide.

Most of us work as web designers, web developers or copywriters for the web. Something around ‘web’, in general. 

We strive to keep our designs and projects compatible with the latest web standards, we use modern browsers and trendy applications, we design Web 2.0 and 3.0 and n.0, trying to keep up with the latest trends in web design and web technology and web copy. We design for clients of every aspect, clients that are close to the Web or not, clients that know what they want or pretend to know what they want or are clueless whatsoever.

We love the Web and try to keep up with its ever-changing waves every freakin’ day.

I have a question for all of you, webbies: Who do we work for? Or else, who do we kid?

Who appreciates our sweaty forehead, after keeping our HTML error-free and accessible? Who do you think cares about pixel perfect designs and crisp mockups apart from us? Who cares about web standards and basic principles of design anyway, apart from web designers? 

More than once in my short career in Web I’ve answered myself: Noone.

Think, webbies, are we designing just for us? Just for a clique of people that will pat our back and say “hey, great job”? What do our clients see? What do our users see? What do they appreciate? Do you think they like new features? Do you think they ever use them?

Sigh.

P.S. Get-in-the-same-lousy-mood-as-me game: Check your perfectly crafted HTML mockup on client’s IE5, repeatedly alternating windows with Firefox. Bang head on desk as needed.

Leave it to Hotmail to ignore all unwritten laws of icon semantics.

While I was searching for a particular e-mail the other day, I stumbled upon this:

Any idea what this icon signifies? No, it’s not “go down a level”. No, it’s not “expand”, if that’s what you were thinking. No, it doesn’t mean “go south and wait for the icebergs to show up”.

It means “empty folder”.

Yay for semantics and conceptual models!

I know, I know. Hotmail is a dead service, probably. But I can’t resist beating on this particular dead horse.

hotmail, icon, semantics

The people behind the latest Cosmote banner campaign must be so, so proud. They managed to conceive the worst ad banner campaign ever invented. Yeah, even worse than the dancing baby one. Yay for them.

Notice the whiteness while browsing several mainstream greek sites? Think your computer is slow, your connection is slow, or your brain is slow? Look no further, it’s the Cosmote banner.

It hides (?!) the content of the page behind it, to make it look like your Internet is very, very slow. It advertises high-speed Internet cards, so it asks, oh so cleverly: Slow connections? Long loading times? Try Cosmote.

Oh. My. Friggin. God.

I can’t even begin to describe how many usability (not to mention federal and international and transgalaxian) laws it just stomps on. It friggin’ HIDES (forgive my caps) the content of a perfectly running and functional page, forcing you to think that your connection is slow, so hey, you need Cosmote.

We’re talking nonsense here. Whoever is behind it (I don’t know who, I don’t care if I know them) must be truly, madly, deeply ashamed. I can understand the ignorance of the people that approved it, but I cannot possibly see how a web advertiser in his right mind would ever propose something like that.

It’s the worst banner ever invented.

Oh wait…

No.

It’s definitely the worst banner ever invented.

cosmote, banner, sucks

Dear sexy girls out there,

You’re browsing social networks all day long, or have a video blog with nothing but you in provocative clothes talking about the latest buzz, or post hawt photos of you in underwear, clutching to your Macbook. You have a highly popular Facebook profile and you subscribe to every new trendy social web app.

You get thousands of comments by sex-deprived guys, you have a million pageviews, a gazillion of subscribers.

You think you’re the sexiest geek alive. You think you’re the geekiest piece of sex that exists.

Well, I have a message for you.

You’re not geek.

You may be sexy, but you’re not geek. Get over it.

Love,

Sug.

P.S. Wanna check out a sexy geek? Asia Carrera. The porn star that spends her time playing Unreal. Respect, girl.

sexy, geek, asia carrera

Daily ranting #454:

I use to access news sharing site Newsvine a lot, searching for Pathfinder Tech worthy Mac related articles.

I used to have its Tech section URL stored conveniently in my browser’s history, being at http://newsvine.com/tech.

These days, something didn’t click. Today I realized what: this URL wouldn’t get me to the Tech section anymore. I had to click again on the menu to find the correct technology section.

  

What’s this? Did I found a blind spot of the Internet?

They dropped the ‘tech’ alias for ‘technology’, so now I have to visit http://newsvine.com/technology.

  

It’s Technology, but according to the menu it’s Tech!

Why now? Who knows.

newsvine