Browse Tag

Web development

Fighting Deceptive Patterns

Deceptive patterns can be hard to spot, but they are all around us: Social media apps forcing us to connect our phone numbers, “free trials” that automatically turn into paid services without a reminder, or prompts where the “no” option is well-hidden. The list could go on. Luckily, there are some great initiatives out there that take a stand against Deceptive patterns.

One of them is the Dark Patterns Tip Line. To raise awareness of the harm that manipulative design can cause, it crowdsources stories of digital manipulation. The goal is to help policymakers and enforcers hold companies accountable for their practices. So whenever you come across a dark pattern, don’t hesitate to report it to the tip line.

The hall of shame by Deceptive Design also collects stories from users who had to deal with deceptive patterns. The same goes for the Dark Pattern Detection Project. Their goal is to develop an open-source, AI-based text analysis tool that detects deceptive patterns automatically and redesigns them in a personalized manner for the respective customers.

Senior Website Developer wanted!

jagex logoHappy Friday everyone! What better way to start the weekend than looking for a talented website developer to join my team here in Cambridge! 🙂

Jagex Ltd, the UK’s leading independent Online Games Studio, is looking for a talented Senior Website Developer to join my team! We are currently going through an exciting phase, with multiple titles in development in addition to third party publishing opportunities, and as such we are looking to expand the Web Development team to cope with this increasing demand.

Working with industry standard web languages alongside our in-house technology, in close partnership with our team of designers and back-end programmers, you will be responsible for the development of the front end of our public-facing websites.

Key Duties Include:

  • Constructing high quality websites from supplied designs whilst utilising modern methods such as HTML5 & CSS3
  • Website usability, interactivity and application development using JavaScript
  • Working closely with our programming team to create interfaces to match existing site design
  • Maintaining and supporting current websites, products and applications
  • Management and mentoring of the website development team

Essential Requirements:

  • Standards compliant, accessible website coding in HTML/CSS by hand
  • Strong JavaScript skills, including experience of frameworks (preferably jQuery)
  • Able to demonstrate good functionality and usability through current online portfolios / sites (should be examples of work, not solely Flash based)
  • A good working knowledge of Photoshop CS
  • The ability to create and enhance user interfaces through the careful use of scripting
  • Emphasis on user friendly and accessible sites that work in all modern browsers
  • Experience managing a team
  • Excellent verbal and written communication skills

Desirable Requirements:

  • Experience with very high-traffic, bandwidth optimised sites
  • Experience with Firebug, server side scripting (eg, PHP, ASP), CSS frameworks all beneficial
  • Degree level education in a relevant subject or commercial experience in the web dev sector
  • Editorial or writing experience
  • Portfolio of well-crafted commercial websites
  • Understanding of Thymeleaf or Freemarker
  • Understanding of Javascript MVC frameworks

 

This is an excellent opportunity for an outstanding developer, with commercial experience and a deep understanding of usability and end-user experience, to forge an exciting career within our hugely successful, world-leading games studio.

Apply now!

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Don’t know what life at Jagex is like? Have a look:

Once again, click here to apply 🙂

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Visit Colchester mobile is now live!

mobile colchester screenshotI am very pleased to announce that we have launched the mobile version of the Visit Colchester website yesterday!

 

The mobile version of the site contains a wealth of information on events, attractions and accommodation in and around Colchester and displays a nice take on mapping for venues.

The website was designed and built by Severine Vidal and and is based on NVG‘s mobile modular CMS Pro. It features a host of new options and modules to maintain and update the site.

The site also has some lovely imagery, so it is definelty worth having a look!

Click here to visit m.visitcolchester.com

Good times :)

 

Adobe releases Coldfusion 9 betas

ColdFusion 9 beta released - WhatwasithinkingA couple of weeks ago, the brilliant minds behing Adobe released beta versions of ColdFusion and ColdFusion Builder to its Adobe Labs members. This latest version of ColdFusion features a greater integration with the popular Flash platform, including AIR, Flex (and Flex Builder) and Flash Media Server, making it easier for developers to create rich user interfaces for (web) applications. Not only that, ColdFusion 9 accelerates the development cycle by reducing complex code and the ability to access data from existing infrastructures based on enterprise solutions such as MS Office, Sharepoint and other standards.

Since the integration of the Flash and PDF ( since ColdFusion 8 ) platforms, more and more developers are flocking towards ColdFusion again, and it is seen as a great alternative to meet business needs quickly and effectively, and more and more businesses are hiring ColdFusion developers because of that.

Read more about ColdFusion 9’s key features and download links… Keep Reading

Mobile FireFox (codename: Fennec) goes beta

Mozilla Fennec has reached beta 1 - Whatwasithinking.co.ukFennec, the mobile version of Firefox has reached beta. Mozilla’s answer to the browser wars on mobile devices is here to provide its standards-based open-source browser engine, optimized for mobile, that can be embedded by device manufacturers and others, and is going to be a full-featured mobile browser including support for XUL-based add-ons, delivering on Firefox’s key principles of ease-of-use, security and accessibility, and help developers debug and deploy web applications for the mobile market.

Read on after the break what has changed in beta 1, screenshots and how you can get hold of it… Keep Reading

Up close and personal – Personas for Firefox

Up close and personal and 3d - Mozilla Personas - WhatwasithinkingThe never-sleeping minds from Mozilla Labs (who just gave us Bespin a few months back) have recently announced the the introduction of Mozilla Personas,  light-weight skins allowing users to “dress up” the look of their favourite browser via an addon.

After installing Personas and restarting FireFox you are able to install skins via a new icon through the new Personas menu, enabling you to browse through the most popular skins, latest skins or simply just through all existing categories, and with the click of a button you can preview what your browser will be looking like before applying it with a single click.

Feeling creative and want to know more on creating your own skin? Then read on… Keep Reading

Flash for mobiles – Adobe’s Flash Lite Distributable Player (preview)

Adobe Flash Lite Distributable Player - Flash for mobiles - Whatwasithinking.co.ukAdobe announced in February this year that its latest version of Flash Lite 3.1 Distributable Player has been released for beta testing.

This new player will enable developers and integrators to create rich, expressive applications targeted to the latest version of Adobe’s Flash technology, with the ability to distribute their apps including the runtime installer to millions of open OS mobile devices with a streamlined workflow and reduced time to market.

For now, the distributable player is only available on Nokia S60 and Windows Mobile devices, but more devices are to follow very soon…

Keep Reading