Chris Brandrick

Twitter today announced that users in the UK will no longer be able to receive text based updates from those that they follow; although twitter did ensure that it was clear that users will still be able to update to twitter from their mobile devices using the same old Twitter UK number. So you can update, you just can’t receive while on the move.

The disappointing yet understandable move comes due to the problems in forming a deal with UK mobile networks and due to the rising costs involved in sending the messages, all coming from twitter’s own pocket (up to $1000 per year, per user).

It’s the rising popularity of the service which keeps effecting the micro-blogging site, for example the constant downtime a few months back, rising costs, and finding an effective method to monitize the website. Twitter’s founder Jack Dorsey discusses these issues and the future of twitter in this month’s .net magazine (issue 179), which is available on UK newsstands now.

Personally I will miss the device updates, but I can understand the move and hope Twitter can find a solution soon.

I recently came across wirenode.com a service which can take your site and make a mobile friendly version (with a .mobi extension) in minutes. Having a mobile version of your site is becoming more of a necessity, what with the rapid increase in the use of the web on mobile devices.

My experience in using wirenode was incredibly simple, from signing up to having my blog up and running on the service took less than five minutes, and I even had chance to customize the appearance of the page. So it’s very simple and user friendly.

My wirenode mobile site can be found here (http://chrisbrandrick.wirenode.mobi/) , and while it acts as suitable mobile version of my blog I would like to develop something more fuller for the mobile environment down the line, especially for the increasingly popular iPhone platform.

Check out Wirenode here.

Whether you code, design or even write, if you are involved in the creation of websites in any way then ‘A List Apart‘ want to hear from you. It’s time to fill in the annual survey as put out by the site to see how the industry we work in is shaping up and how our trade is practised throughout the world.

It’s a fairly straightforward survey and only takes 10 minutes of your time to complete, and no doubt once the results are published it will make for some interesting reading. You can get to the survey by clicking the image below or just following this link, let us know in the comment form below if you filled it in, and what your thoughts are.

As some of you who follow me on Twitter or have me added on Facebook may have realised I am now back in the UK, after my holiday away to Turkey. I had a really nice break away, and you can now check out the pictures of my trip on my Flickr page, I also have some on my Facebook too.

Now I’m back I would also like to announce that Kufu (as previously blogged) is now officially open for business, and we are on the look out for new clients. So drop us an email!

In addition to working for Kufu, the rest of my summer will involve finally getting Gamebrit off the ground, which has been ridiculously delayed for several reasons, it’s amazing to think I have had the domain for nearly a year now! But yeah keep an eye out for updates on that one.

But in the mean time, keep it on ChrisBrandrick.com! Subscribe to my RSS feed, or even add me as a Technorati fave.

Wordpress today announced that version 2.6 of the popular blogging platform is now available to download, for free of course. This version comes more than a month earlier than expected and is packed with a fair few new features, including a post word count, new media functions, and the ability to view your blog with a different theme before making it live. Check out the below video for the full details:

Pretty cool additions I’m sure you will agree, and I will be upgrading to the new version as soon as I get back from my holiday.  In other news the holiday is going well, and the weather is lovely, I will be sure to update my Flickr with a lot of pictures upon my return, but in the mean time here is a shot of me enjoying the sun:

Despite being offline for over a week now, I wanted to quickly touch upon the closure of j0n.org. j0n.org for those of you who don’t know was a blog (mainly video entries) run by Jon Wheatley about his various online ventures, be them web development, design or even software development.

I came across his blog thanks to Tyler Cruz, and since then I have even blogged about Jon’s projects due to me wanting to expose them for the good they are, for example the superb Mac application that is GrabUp (which if you don’t have, get!).

But now there is no more j0n.org and despite me being somewhat disappointed at the lack of updates from a personal inspiration for me, he is now blogging over at Indie Startups about “independent startups and entrepreneurs”. The new blog is great, and a superb way to find out about new unique independent sites, check it out.

It seems in the past two months my blog hasn’t seen much love, but rest assured this isn’t down to me fleeing the online scene, in fact far from it. Since moving house back in April and finishing University for the year in early May (exams, fun!) I have been in the process of starting up a design company with three other good friends, all of which have a good background in design, coding and of course running a business.

The company is based in Lincoln, UK, and last week we finally moved into our office in the heart of the city center. I am currently in the process of designing the companies website and hopefully soon we should all be ready to go. Kufu is the companies name (or Kufu Design if you so wish), and we are on the look out for clients to get the ball rolling, so if you need a design making, a whole site coding or something more simple do not hesitate to get in touch and help us out as we start out. You can find us at Kufu.co.uk, which currently has just placeholder contact details up, but keep an eye on the site as it will be changing soon.

Let us know your thoughts!

Despite having a twitter account for quite some time now I realised I have never advertised this fact on where it may matter the most, here on my blog. компютриTwitter is superb for networking with those within the same field as yourself, so in my case having a simple way to keep up to date with a handful of web developers is very handy, a good way to stay on the ball.

So for those of you who read my blog, follow me on twitter and no doubt I will follow you back! If your using Twitter and are a Firefox user then be sure to make use of Twitterfox, a simple way to keep up to date on all the tweets!
(Apologies for the brief downtime also!)

Web guru and HCI expert Jacob Neilsen has yet again released his annual reporting detailing his findings on web use and accessibility. Yet despite Neilsen’s history of being a somewhat controversial figure in the web world, especially in regards to design (or lack of!), he does, as ever raise some interesting points.

The report touches upon how users are becoming more impatient and are no longer aimlessly browsing as much as in previous years, and most web users have an online task to complete, and no doubt will complete it through the use of search technologies.

Be sure to check the article out on the BBC News website.
And yes I am back online!

Don’t worry readers I am still here! My phone line at the new house was meant to be connected yesterday, therefore allowing me to get the broadband set up but alas, nothing is ever as simple, so who knows when normal blogging will resume, hopefully soon! Looking over my post history for April sure is disappointing.

But anyway, just like last month, and late again, I will post this list every month as a big thank you for those Entrecard users dropping on my blog, so if you want to see yourself in this list and gain a linkback, be sure to drop your entrecard on my blog often. Monthly love for those dedicated droppers!

For those of you unfamiliar with entrecard be sure to read my post about it here. Anyway without further a due here is the list of those that dropped the most cards on my blog in April:

• Lee Doyle
• Yimto
• INconstantIN’s Blog
• Life In The Internet
• Sexy Ads Blog
• Sizzling Popcorn
• Freelance Sprout
• Amy Lilley Designs
• Journey Down The Tracks Of Life
• My Wife And Twins

Some new top droppers last month, so well done to you guys, and thanks for dropping by. Be on the look out for new posts soon, including a look around my new place.