JavaScript, Ecommerce, Research, and more – The Monday October 17th Roundup
It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Today we have the first roundup in 2 weeks, with news from across the internet, including JavScript prototypes for increased performance, mobile tips for ecommerce websites, social media metrics, research advice, and more.
Create
For you JavaScript nuts out there, Ajaxian is reporting that Intel is showcasing a prototype extension that will allow JavaScript to take advantage of parallel processing.
Our friends at ElasticPath have the Internet Retailer Mobile Commerce Forum 2011, and came back with 10 key highlights.
Attract
Neilsen has released its 2011 Social Media Report, which – among other findings – has some interesting information on what amount of time people spend on various types of internet activities. The odd part is that they group social networks and blogs together (despite being fairly different social media categories). The odder part is that it still only makes up 22.5%. Also noticed videos/movies only count for 4.4%, but are they including Youtube in that? The best part, though, is the “other” section, which makes up 35% of online activity. Talk about longtail.
The Bronto Blog has a neat post on working with QR codes. I’m pretty curious about this, because while I find QR codes interesting, I don’t find I scan them for more than novelty value.
Analyze
L3 has a presentation up on 5 web analytics tips. Some of them are pretty basic, but good stuff. They also have a nice report comparing traffic sources to entry points by % entries and bounce rate.
It has been a while since we had an Avinash post up, so why not today. Fitting in the theme of our “attract” section, it’s “Best Social Media Metrics”. The best part of this is that it’s fairly theoretical, looking at what we should measure, not what we can. Well, not that we can’t measure this stuff, but that they’re not readily available to us in our analytics suites.
Optimize
Jon Phillips recites some UX lessons learned from offline experiences. It’s interesting but at the same time I have to question some of his decisions, such as removing three tables. Remember that each empty table is potential profit, as people tend to skip restaurants when there’s nowhere to sit. This is also why a little local restaurant on our street has so many tables packed so tightly.
Some have compared him to the Dalai Lama, others to Kublai Kahn. When he isn't teaching third world children how to purify water with nothing more than a plastic bottle and a garden hose, he is creating mad waves for surfers off the west coast with little more than a paddle. Some say there is a boat involved, others that he walks on water.
Little is known about his background. he appeared from nowhere 15 years ago and claims heritage from a land with neither want not need. He makes little comment, stating only that it was a pretty cool place.
Fire does not burn him, cold does not hurt him. Words could... but they don't. When he passes, pedals fall off branches. When he speaks, hair tugs at skin, pulling just slightly in his direction.
He does not sleep but he does dream. He has muscled his way into the lives of the famous and whispered his way into their hearts. And in the wee hours he plays oboe softly, as if to sooth the night to sleep.