I am going to San Francisco next week. I read on PCWorld that with iPhone OS 3.0 AT&T will deliver free Wi-Fi access non-U.S. carriers who include Wi-Fi access in their plans. Naturally, I am curious to see if the plan I have with Rogers (my Canadian provider) covers me with a Wi-Fi access. Since I unable to find the information on Rogers site, I did a search.

Here are the search results I got on Rogers Web site. Totally useless since the description repeats the menu instead of highlighting some content of the page. To make matter worse, the results were not even filtered for iPhone due to the fact that their search engine considers menu items. This is what happens when you failed to implement the most basic don’ts and do’s in search engine.

At minimal, a search engine eliminates menu items and only considers the content of the page to deliver relevant results. At least if they were providing me with the content of the page instead of repeating the menu items in the short text highlights I may be able, with patience, to get a clue of where to find what I was looking for.

Basic Wordpress Search Engine

To reassure bloggers on Wordpress, the basic search engine used by default on Wordpress blogs limit the search to the content of the page. It is far from perfect, but at least it does that.

Search Engine is the Last Resort

A well-designed site should give me easy and obvious access to the information I need. A good navigation system and gathering related links are a must. If the Rogers site was better structured, I could have find the information I was looking for without using the search engine. In doubt, ask yourself these questions:

• Is it too complicated to navigate your Web site or blog?
• What I can do to make it simple to understand?
• Do I need a portal page easy to navigate that contains absolutely ALL the links relevant to the single product, its options and accessories and latest news?

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But as many other bloggers, I often wish to mix and match plugins in a different way. This is where I hit a wall. I hit a few walls so far. Some are due to the fact that I run a design blog where the visual aspect is quite important. At other times, I wish to bring a feature to the next level.

Mashup Sites

Today’s blogs are mashups. Wordpress blogs are the king of mashups. Plugins are developed by a bunch of programmers of different skill levels. The ideal plugin gives control to the user with parameters. One size fits all does not work to bring the ultimate experience to your community.

To understand my point, let’s look at the mashup of P2 theme with Twitter Tools. Two teams developed the 2 projects. I decided to put them together to create my Live blog. I used these 2 tools as an example but the same hold true for most Web 2.0 tools that you put together.

The Situation

Like I mentioned yesterday on my At Home blog, I created Kim Vallee Live to publish quick posts, without photos and to live blog when I go to conferences. The P2 theme interface provides a Twitter-style interface without limiting my comment to 140 characters, which provides the right framework for what I want.

One feature of the Twitter Tools plugin is to automatically publish a tweet by shortening the message I entered in Kim Vallee Live. But the way it is done right now does not add value to my readers. See for yourself, why I do not like the current result:

Twitter Tools automatically adds “New blog post:” in front of the tweet. Even if technically, each entry I published in P2 is a post, there are not from a user viewpoint. My programmer changed the plugin to put #kvlive instead. If the maker of Twitter Tools had better thought about usability, they could have add one more parameter to their long list of options so I can fill the text of the prefix. If I do not wish to add a prefix, I would leave blank the text box.

The other problem is that the tweet message is too short to be meaningful for my followers. What happened is that the Twitter Tools plugin used the post title as the content for the tweet. The P2 theme stored the first 40 characters as the post title. The maker of the P2 theme did not anticipated that it could be a problem since this Wordpress theme was designed to show Twitter-style posts.

One lesson I learned from years of experience in software development is that users will always find new ways to use your applications. As more and more non-technical people are embracing social media and running different types of blogs, it puts more pressure on developers of mashup tools to give more control to the users.

Custom-Made Solution

I defined with Jerome of Paradivision (we own Paradivision) the ultimate automatic tweet generator for Kim Vallee Live. We still have to implement it. Until then, I disabled the automatic tweet feature. When it is done, Jerome and I will share with you what we did.

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The 6th edition of Webcom Montreal is scheduled for Wednesday, May 13th, 2009. This is a bi-annual one-day conference. I am writing a quick note to tell you that I will be publishing posts live (assuming no technological problems) one week from now. Readers of On The Web will be lucky since you will get more than one post next week.

I am one of the 5 official bloggers of the conference. The other official bloggers are Bertrand Duperrin, Frédéric Harper, Philippe Bonneau and my husband Jérôme Paradis. Since Jerome is an extraordinary software developer, our coverage should be from a different angle. As you can see, I am the only woman in the group. Note that 6 speakers out of 32 are women.  I wish to concentrate my coverage on topics that will interest you as bloggers and participants in social media.

Being hosted in Montreal, Webcom Montreal has the particularity of having sessions in French and sessions in English. About 40% of the sessions are in English. The 32 speakers are from Canada (many from Quebec), the United States and France. All conferences from 3:30 pm to 6 pm are free. Places are limited.

If you wish to know more, visit the Webcom Montreal conference Web site. The event will take place at the head office of the ICAO, the International Civil Aviation Organization.

+ Webcom Montreal
+ Blog of Webcom Montreal – in French

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Here is how it works

Instead of giving possible dates and time or listing when you are not available in an email, simply send a link that automatically keeps up to date of your availability. Tungle works in sync with your preferred calendar: Google Calendar, MS Outlook, Entourage for Mac and Apple iCal. I tried it with iCal and it works fine.

You can send and receive requests to book a meeting with you.

People can propose you several timeslots without registering. If they do not registered, they will need to confirm their email before you received their email with the proposed timeslots.

From the email you get a link that enables you to:

• pick a time that suits you from the calendar, then click to book the email and notice the other party
• send other proposed dates and times
• tell them that you will not attend the meeting.

As a bonus, Tungle will prevent the risk of double-booking a timeslot. But this is only true if you do not make typing errors, like I did last week. I entered A.M. instead of P.M. while recording an appointment with my iPhone. The appointment is for next week. I will send that person my personal Meet with Me link now. I suggest you get your own.

MORE:
+ Tungle
+ Via a tweet by afrognthevalley

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• Tourism Montreal hiring bloggers

New devices and natural user interfaces will be invented to make our life easier. Just things of all the progress we did over the last 40 years where we passed from a typewriter to digital cameras, MacBook Air and the iPhone. Using everyday objects like our key chains to carry and update information will simplify our life.

The biggest advantage will be than we will enjoy true mobile technology. By truly mobile technology, I mean equipments that are small, weightless and are powerful to have everything we need at our fingertips. No more needs for laptops to carry around.

iPhone users already have a taste of it. So imagine if that freedom extent to our entire computer needs both at home and at the office. I cannot wait for the next 10 years. We live in exciting time.

Take for example, the interactive electronic newspaper. Imagine all the carbon emission we will save in distribution, not counting the trees. For comfort, we need bigger screen than the iPhone and more mobility than the laptop. Electronic paper will become a reality at some point. Many attempts of inventing the electronic paper have already been tried.

Watch a short version here. You can watch the 5-minute video (the second one) at I started something by Long Zheng, a 21 years old Chinese-born who now lives in Australia. The 5 -minute video put things into context. A Powerpoint presentation by Stephen Elop, President of Microsoft Business Division, covers the technology showcased in the video.

It is not just the devices but mostly the ease of use that is impressive. From an interior design viewpoint, we will recover at some point the sleek look of our house as the devices will be less intrusive and will serve multi-purpose. The flat screen TV will be our computer screen and computer.

User interface based on natural movements will revolution the use of computer. The best application today is the iPhone (I know I love my iPhone). From a transparent wall screen between two classrooms miles away to animated drawings, surface displays a la Minority Report, digital wallets, electronic flight boarding cards, way way smarter phones, and mini projectors to guide you in the airport.

The future looks bright.

+ Via I started something

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The game play is simple. You make points by catching any insects except the bees. The bees will kill you. You jump to catch and eat the bug. You cannot catch more than one insect per jump.

The interface is easy to maneuver. Gently hit the screen to trigger a jump. Move your iPhone horizontally in the desired directions to direct your frog in the air and on the ground.

A lovable element of the game are the frog expressions. If it failed to catch an insect, it looks disappointed. The frog smiles after eating an insect. The frog shouts in pain when it gets stunned by a bee. I often shout with it.

Lima Sky has already created 26 iPhone applications. Crazy Frog is a fun and addictive game. At 99 cents, it is money well spent.

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I prefer the Mac, unconditionally. I used to be a PC user (I still have a desktop at the office) but I do not intend to go back for my daily activities. I feel that for the average folks (not just the graphic designers), the Mac is the best option.

Defining Your Needs

I switched in spring 2008. I wanted a new laptop to fulfill my needs as a blogger. Basically, I run a small numbers of applications including Word and Photoshop. I am a heavy Web user, I upload photos and answer my emails. This corresponds to what most people do.

I gave up Outlook a couple years ago and I use Gmail now. Therefore, I do not have to care about the email software compatibility.

What I like the most about the Mac laptop?

1. Fun and easy to use
2. Hassle-free with the ProCare service – $99 per year for up to three computers
3. No more frequent windows updates to interrupt my work
4. No need to install an anti-virus software that slows you computer (thanks Janick for reminding me of this great feature)
5. A keyboard that feels wonderful – I type faster on my Mac than my PC
6. A better looking computer that is fast

Which Mac model to select?

For mobility, the affordable 13-inch MacBook will satisfy your needs and keep the weight down. Unless you are always on the run, I suggest to get a more powerful MacBook that cost less than the MacBook Air. This is what my husband did before Christmas.

I owned a 15-inch MacBook Pro.  I went for the Pro in case I want to edit some videos but mostly because the basic MacBook did not have an illuminated keyboard at the time. If you select the more rapid MacBook, the 2.4GHz MacBook, you will get the illuminated keyboard.

How Was the Transition?

I optimized my work with the right tools and techniques over the years on my PC. It took me about a week until I found the ultimate working environment on the Mac.

By asking Mac users around me or by searching for the answers on Goggle, I discovered the Mac tools or the integrated functions I need to perform at maximum. The only feature unavailable on the Mac than is way better on the PC is a keystroke shortcut to switch between an English keyboard and the French keyboard.

If you are unsure about which system is best for you, I suggest you express your needs in simple tasks or features like the way I did on this post.

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Then, the iPhone becomes a simple cell phone with a contact book. Nothing smart about it. I felt naked. It is easy to forget the technological advancement as we get used to technology. The first thing we did when we arrived at the hotel was to open our computer to get Rogers phone number. We called to inquiry if there was a plan we could subscribe to reduce our costs. They now do!

Instead of paying $6 CAD per meg, you pay a monthly fee of $10 + $1 per meg. I used about 14 meg on my trip. I save $60 (=$84-$24). Since my husband also have an iPhone, our savings pay off the Custo Barcelona dress I got on sale.

Important Steps to Take to Reduce your Costs

1. Turn off the data roaming as you board your departure flight even if you subscribed to a US data rooming  plan.
2. Close off the Fetch New Data – this means that you control when you are downloading new data.
3. Reset the usage statistics (Settings -> General -> Usage). The idea is that you can track your usage and adapt your behavior.
4. Once you landed you can put back on the data roaming.
5. Try to limit browsing the Web, reading your RSS feeds (especially if you read a lot of graphic blog) and even checking your email too often. These actions raise your bill.
6. Uploading pictures on Twitter do not consume too much; after all they are part of the fun of Twitter. I sent a little bit more than 1 meg for uploads versus receiving 13 meg.
7. If you do not plan to go to the United States the next month, cancel the US data roaming plan at Rogers to save the $10 monthly fee

As soon as we landed in Montreal, I return to reading my RSS feeds while I was waiting to pass the customs. It felt great to use the full capability of my iPhone whenever I want.

Little note: My husband Jerome Paradis, the other half of the we in this post, wrote a post on the same topic. We did not consult before. If you are curious you can check his version of the story.

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A sign of the lack of girls in IT: I just wrote my name to attend iPhoneDevCamp. I am the only girl in a list of 36 participants so far.I am going there because I have ideas for iPhone applications that I will like to launch.

The iPhoneDevCamp will be at Station C in Montreal, January 23rd 2009 from 4 pm to about 10 pm. It is free as  far as I know.  Click here if you wish to attend.

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He bought the individual wireless stations, installed them and the next morning, I watched a home decor show while I ate breakfast. The Media Center allows you to skip the ads. It is a fast forward button that jumps 30 seconds each time you press it. So it took 20 minutes to watch a 30-minute episode. I got 3 network congestion in 20 minutes; the image freezes until the congestion is gone. Unacceptable! I asked him to put back the cables, which he did. Everything works fine again.

My husband did not give up on his idea. He tried with another wireless technology. I am happy to report that our complex techno-system works well now.

The story does not end here. My husband failed to mention something when he told me that we get rid of the cables. His wireless network set up meant that a few wireless boxes will be spread across the house. It is not bad since you can hide them behind a book but it is something to consider before you make the move.

The lesson is not to ask more questions because we will never imagine all the scenarios. Since I have no intention to learn about this boring matter, I simply make sure my husband knows my requirements so well that he will only propose solutions that will please me. My requirements are simple:

1. it has to work the same or better than the current situation
2. it has to be simple to operate
3. it has to look good in the living room.

An if you can do the set up without cutting my Internet connection for a couple seconds here and then, it would be fantastic.

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