Some Random Dude is a blog by P.J. Onori that covers design & technology in the broadest sense possible.

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Archive for the ‘Opinion’ Category

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The Golden Rules of Site Redesign

Posted on 28 January, 2009 at 9:06am with 22 comments

As many of you know, Some Random Dude was redesigned earlier this month. The redesign of this blog was a tremendous effort that took months of part-time work to get from inception to launch. The process was overly-arduous for a plethora of reasons — I was determined to design and plan in a way that would prolong the longevity of the current site and push off next redesign of this site as long as possible. In doing so, it strengthened my belief of four basic tenets when going through the redesign of a blog or any other content-driven site. I have tried to apply each four of these rules to the new redesign which have already made the site much more manageable and enjoyable and worthwhile. I thought it would be worthwhile to share my experiences. Read the rest of this post…

To Advocate For or Abandon the 10%

Posted on 18 July, 2008 at 9:57am with 9 comments

10 percent Back in 2002 or 2003, when Internet Explorer reigned at the undisputed leader in browser market share, I was very outspoken over the need to support all browsers – even those with only 5% share or less. I argued about the need to provide a consistent experience for all users, regardless of what browser or version they decide (or as forced) to use. This ideology was all the easier to adopt considering how had market share at the time – I feel as though my strong feelings were just as much about not idly allowing the “evil” corporate browser to swallow even more share by helping make it the de-facto browser on the internet. Fast forward 5+ years and oh, how the tables are turning. A new generation is jumping online and they’re not just blindly clicking the blue ‘e’ on their desktop. Firefox 3 shattered the record for most downloads and, according to some metrics, is passing up 20% global market share and well above 40% in some European countries. The underdog is now the up-and-comer.
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Write Articles, Not Blog Postings (Sometimes)

Posted on 9 July, 2007 at 1:34pm with 1 comment »

I just read a very good article by Jakob Nielsen on proper writing for weblogs. His opinion is that blogs (most notably, business blogs) should focus more on in-depth articles rather than short, post-lets. I think Mr. Nielsen’s advice is absolutely correct for a large number of business bloggers out there – but I hesitate to agree it is the best format for all business blogs. I genuinely respect Nielsen’s research on the subject, but a few thoughts from my experience have led me to the opinions mentioned below.
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Social News an Upgrade From an Old-News-Only World

Posted on 5 June, 2007 at 2:17pm with 3 comments

A while back, I read a very interesting article debating the validity of social news sites. There is no denying that the old media machine is beginning to sputter – most notably newspapers. New media has begun to pull visitors away from traditional news outlets with free access to news, less advertising (sometimes) and features unique to the internet such as voting, discussing and recommending. Getting news on the internet is not, well, news at all, however social news is starting to catch on. By catching on, I do not mean our generation, we have been well aware of it for some time – I mean that the larger mainstream is slowly starting to hear whispers of such an idea. The interesting thing is that many people are trying to pit traditional news against social news – as if “there can be only one”. Rather, social news is a great addition to the genre of news which will only improve the public’s access to information.
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A Better Web is Coming – Big Business Or Not

Posted on 22 March, 2007 at 4:55pm with 4 comments

I read a very interesting article, Why the Semantic Web Will Fail, about one person’s thoughts on why the web will never reach its full potential due to the greed and short-sidedness of big business. The author makes some very good points in the article and it is quite compelling to read.

Here’s an excerpt:

The Semantic Web will never work because it depends on businesses working together, on them cooperating.

We are talking about the most conservative bunch of people in the world, people who believe in greed and cut-throat business ethics. People who would steal one another’s property if it weren’t nailed down. People like, well, Conrad Black and Rupert Murdoch.

And they’re all going to play nice and create one seamless Semantic Web that will work between companies – competing entities choreographing their responses so they can work together to grant you a seamless experience?

I think the author is right about one thing – big business is not a big fan of an open, sharing web and will fight it tooth and nail in the name of profit. My feeling however is that business really does not have a choice in the matter. The web is built on a very open, uncontrollable model – opening up infinite possibilities for individuals, competitors and or startups to ruin them in a heartbeat. The web is moving towards a more open model, like it or not. We do not rely on big business, big business relies on us. If corporations do not want to work in that model, all it takes is $15 for a domain name, $100 a month for hosting and word of mouth for some David to take down Goliath.
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