The pixel has always been the smallest unit in screen-based design. Because it’s been indivisible, it is the concrete unit of measurement among screen-based designers. The phrase “a pixel is a pixel is a pixel” has been adopted to help print designers not used to fixed-screen density understand the concept. Because of this consistency, web designers have adopted pixels over points and other units to build websites.

Now that hardware is changing and pixel densities are growing, pixels are struggling to find relevance as the stable unit they once were. Browser zooming is one thing and has been covered on QuirksMode. But what is a pixel on high resolution devices today? Why does the 640px × 960px iPhone 4 claim to be 320px × 480px in the browser? The truth is that there are two different definitions of pixels: they can be the smallest unit a screen can support (a hardware pixel) or a pixel can be based on an optically consistent unit called a “reference pixel.”

The hardware pixel

Most of us are familiar with the hardware pixel. It’s the smallest point a screen can physically display and is usually comprised of red, green, and blue sub-pixels. Light from these three sub-pixels is mixed to create the colors we see. Because the hardware pixel relates to a physical element on a screen it cannot be stretched, skewed, or subdivided. These properties make the hardware pixel like the atom: the unit of design on which we build everything.

The reference pixel and splitting atoms

Things are changing for the pixel. The w3c currently defines the reference pixel as the standard for all pixel-based measurements. Now, instead of every pixel-based measurement being based on a hardware pixel it is based on an optical reference unit that might be twice the size of a hardware pixel. This new pixel should look exactly the same in all viewing situations. The beauty of using a reference pixel is that it takes proximity to a screen into account. When using a phone that you held close, a reference pixel will be smaller on the screen than a projection you view from a distance. If the viewer holds their phone up so it is side-by-side with the projection, the pixel sizes should look identical no matter the resolution or pixel density the devices have. When implemented properly, this new standard will provide unprecedented stability across all designs on all platforms no matter the pixel density or viewing distance.

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We launched another great site for ITW Texwipe at http://www.texwipe.com! This site seamlessly blends the functionality of Hannon Hill’s CMS (the Products, Industries and Technical Data menus) with a full-featured ecommerce store (the Buy Texwipe menu), with shared navigation and design. This is the first project that integrated both products at the same time and, thanks to hard work by pretty much everyone on the software dev team at one point or another. 

BEFORE

AFTER

Other interesting features of the site:

• Ability to “hide” pages from different geographical regions, based on the “region” selection of the visitor in the footer.

• Transition of transactional applications from old system to new
• Email verification required to place order

According to new research from HTTP Archive, which regularly scans the internet’s most popular destinations, the average size of a single web page is now 965 kilobytes (KB), up more than 30% from last year’s average of 702KB.

This rapid growth is fairly normal for the internet — the average web page was 14KB in 1995, 93KB by 2003, and 300KB in 2008 — but by burrowing a little deeper into HTTP Archive’s recent data, we can discern some interesting trends. Between 2010 and 2011, the average amount of Flash content downloaded stayed exactly the same — 90KB — but JavaScript experienced massive growth from 113KB to 172KB. The amount of HTML, CSS, and images on websites also showed a significant increase year over year.

There is absolutely no doubt that these trends are attributable to the death throes of Flash and the white knight, if-only-the-internet-was-a-damsel-in-distress emergence of HTML5 and its open web cohorts. It’s curious that the amount of Flash content hasn’t shrunk, though, which suggests that this year’s 33% increase in web page size is mostly down to a significant increase in website complexity and functionality, and not some kind of wholesale shift from Flash to HTML5.

The only real problem with the data is that HTTP Archive only began operating in October 2010 — and so there’s no way to find out the long time growth (or decline) of Flash. HTTP Archive, incidentally, constantly scans 16,000 websites — a list that was cobbled together from sources like Alexa and Fortune 500 — and records the total data downloaded, the number of individual HTTP requests required to fetch all of the content, the size of the JavaScript, Flash, and image content, and a bunch of other metrics. If you’re wondering about the odd spike towards the end, that’s where HTTP Archive increased its sample size from 16,000 to 50,000 — so presumably, the web’s top sites are smaller (or better written?) than the dregs.

So, what’s the actual significance of web pages that are almost 1MB in size? Not a whole lot, when you consider that caching will reduce that amount by 70 or 80% — and the more important statistic, at least as far as latency and rendering times are concerned, “total requests,” only increased from 74 to 85 over the last year (and again, caching will reduce that by 70% or more). One valid concern is mobile 3G and 4G surfers, where carrier data caps certainly haven’t increased by 33% over the last year — but even then, many popular sites have mobile versions that use significantly less than 1MB, and again, caching!

We would now expect the size of web pages to slow down a little, too. 2011 will have been the year in which many developers switched from Flash (or other technologies) to HTML5, and it’s unlikely that their first attempts will have been all that optimized. In 2012, JavaScript libraries will be refined, and cleaner ways of using CSS and HTML will be popularized. Even so, expect more mobile offerings that compress data, like Amazon Silk and Opera Mobile, to emerge as well.

We’re proud to announce the release of the Greensboro Housing Authority redesign!  As always, Beacon was right on-time with our deliverables, which is always our goal.  The client chose a soft launch date of December 1, 2011 because they wanted to show the new site to their Board of Directors at their annual meeting that day.

Their Web site was designed and constructed in-house several years ago, which meant that it was time for a completely new look.  The site also had content that was very out-of-date, so the client took it upon themselves to do a complete rewrite of the content, and restructure the site to be more intuitive.  Also, they wanted to get away from having to update the site by-hand using HTML, and wanted it in a content management system.  Finally, they wanted a new Web hosting partner.

Enter Beacon:

• We provided them with a brand-new graphical design;
• Developed it to display perfectly in multiple browsers;
• Implemented the new site into Cascade Server (content management system) to allow multiple users to update the content with an easy-to-use solution;
• Incorporated a new search feature;
• Imported approximately 60 pages of content, including 20 fact sheets about each of their properties;
• Transferred their Web site to a shared hosting package here at Beacon.

Several Beacon staff members made this project a success:

• Wendy:  Without much direction from the client, Wendy put together a design that they liked on the first try, which is phenomenal.
• Stephanie:  She was instrumental in getting the project off the ground, attending the initial meetings and providing meeting notes, the business requirements, and proposed site hierarchy.
• Zed:  He was thrown into the fire, as this was his first development project here.  He developed the front-end HTML/CSS/jQuery, and implemented the site into Cascade Server (which he picked up on very quickly), and entered most of the content.
• Tiffany:  Provided assistance and training to Zed.
• Justin:  Project Management and Cascade Server documentation & training.
• Beacon’s Technical Support Group (TSG):  And finally, no site hosting transfer is complete without the efforts of TSG, specifically Caleb and William, for setting up the hosting and troubleshooting some DNS issues over a weekend.

This is another high-quality design to add to our portfolio, and another non-profit site we can be proud of.   Thanks to everyone involved!

Before

After

If you are working in WordPress and are thinking about modifying the core WordPress code I’d like to tell you why you shouldn’t. I’ll start with a reminder that WordPress has created both plug-in and theme capabilities to help customize every part of WordPress including looks and functionality. Given you can accomplish what you need using these tools, hacks shouldn’t be needed and are not recommended.

Reasons why you shouldn’t hack WordPress core files:

• There’s almost always a solution that doesn’t involve hacking core files
• Almost all situations should be handled with a hook or custom plug-in
• Upgrading to the latest version or security patch will overwrite your changes
• Core file changes could cause other plug-ins to not work correctly
• Makes it more difficult for other developers to debug or solve issues

Modifying the core files is a quick fix that will likely end up more costly than doing it correctly the first time or the functionality could just disappear on the next upgrade. It is more likely among amateur and beginner developers that are not aware of the correct way to implement the functionality. I’m not saying you will never have to edit the core files because there is that chance you may find a bug. But in that case you need to report it to WordPress so they can fix it in the next upgrade.

So next time you’re working with WordPress take some time to look through all the WordPress documentation out there and I guarantee you there is a better way of solving the issue that will not interfere with future development and updates.

As for beginners to WordPress I highly recommend the print and PDF version of the book Digging Into WordPress by Chris Coyier & Jeff Starr. It is the best WordPress book I’ve come across and on my top 3 books of all time. I cannot express my love of the spiral binding (I wish all tech/developer books did this), the large and colorful print and screenshots throughout the book and most importantly the content itself covers everything you would want to know in a detailed, accurate and easy to follow way.

Beacon is pleased to announce the launch of Framingham State University’s Academics section redesign.

NEW Academics Section

After completing a redesign of Framingham State University’s main website in the summer of 2010, the client contracted with us to address the Academics section such that it would be more effective in reaching prospective and current students.  Well, we are proud to announce the launch of the newly redesigned Academics section and all department sections as well.  The client had a very tight deadline for this project in order to have the new site launch coincide with a planned ad campaign.  Beacon’s Web Development Team juggled its resource plan to complete this project on time and within budget (again)!

NEW Department Section

Justin Klingman managed the project and Wendy Honeycutt, worked directly with the client to create the beautiful design.  Keana Lynch completed the template and Cascade development a little early and perfectly, and Thomas Brinegar customized the jQuery homepage slideshow on the Academics homepage.

Our website hasn’t been updated in 3 years.  Way too long, but updating our own website always takes a back seat to our client work – which thankfully has been plentiful during this period.  The last design was fantastic and I struggled with the idea of replacing it.  However, it was time.

When I consult with businesses about web technology and marketing, I always talk about the “leap of faith” that exists for a buyer when choosing a vendor.  No matter how you look at it, there’s an element of trust here.  Can the vendor really do what it says and deliver as expected (on time and within budget)?  I believe you narrow this “leap of faith” through credibility, which is something we wanted to emphasize with our new site.  Additionally, we wanted to practice what we preach with ties to social media, video, map features, case studies, dynamic phone tracking and web marketing tactics.  As with any website (and as a good marketing approach), it’s important for visitors to quickly understand how our services will help their business, rather than just see a listing of services.  Simply put, it’s about what they get, not what we do.

I’ve been in the IT business a long, long time.  Prior to starting Beacon in 1998, I was with AT&T for 15 years, the last few years of which, leading the development of its global corporate intranet (custom-integrated into Peoplesoft).  The growth in web technology businesses has been incredible since then, which certainly isn’t a surprise.  However, I’m surprised at how many web companies profess to be experts by using their websites to list all the things they “can” do without any strong credibility references.  Hey, I completely understand that any new business has to earn and build up credibility.  Been there.  Done that.  You just don’t start with it, so consequently, you must market the expertise of your staff because that’s all there is.  But at some point there has to be a shift.

I guess that’s why I’m so proud of this new website.  It represents 13 years of hard work that has led to growth, stability and credibility.   We removed the flash content and made the message very straight forward.  Web Development, Web Marketing & Web Hosting.  Automate, Grow & Connect your business.  The map on our new home page shows our reach across the United States.  It clearly accentuates our valued relationships with strong, well-known companies like Google, AspdotnetStorefront (ecommerce system with thousands of implementations), Hannon Hill (Cascade Server CMS, used by hundreds of Universities and businesses), Bridgeline Digital, Dell, LabTech and TW Telecom.  SEO friendliness has been improved through better page sculpting.  You will also see links to a few of our prominent clients in each area of our business.  Over the years, Beacon has also had the pleasure of serving as a subcontractor for Accenture, Lockheed Martin and KPMG Consulting.  Although these relationships certainly lend credibility, we elected not to highlight these because we no longer focus on federal government projects.

I particularly like how our web design team integrated social media into the new site.  Our blog is very active with regular, diverse posts from our staff.  Our video really shows the personality of our team.  And of course, we connect to the world through Facebook and Twitter as well.  On the lower tier pages, you will see some of our clients highlighted in each section and, if you mouseover any of their logos, you will get a few details of what we do for them.  We also included a section for links to pertinent content related to each section, which we initially connected to many of our blog posts.

Our website is a sales and marketing tool.  When prospective clients come to our website, I want them to know that we’ve been doing this for a long time, we are good at it, we don’t outsource, we have a good track record, we are a long-term web technology partner and we have many credible, recognizable clients that can attest to this. 

“Where were you in 1996? If you were in cyberspace, surfing the World Wide Web, chances are you were waiting a long time for pages to load, laughing at the first Internet meme and suffering through some god-awful graphics.

My, how times have changed!”

Read the full article on Mashable...

Infographic courtesy Online University

Beacon Technologies just completed a redesign of the Texas A&M Foundation Intranet. In addition to visual updates, the site received usability enhancements and organizational features.

Here are some project highlights:

• The site is secured using both .NET permissions and an authentication method (Central Authentication Service) used by the University and allows multiple levels of security—from “guests” to management level. GREAT JOB MIKE!
• Bulletin board system for FAQs and Q&As as well as “fun” applications like trading tickets and recipes
• Integration of Google calendar, including downloadable events and calendar filters (See below.)
• Internal blog to enhance internal communication
• Beautifully designed and informational employee profile pages (See below.)
• Bookmark utility that visitors can use to save pages
• A-Z index for alphabetical listing of site pages as well as traditional site map
• CMS form creator

The client is thrilled with the results and we’d like to give credit to everyone on the software development team that was involved in the project! This is the Foundation’s eighth project with Beacon.

BEFOREAFTER

Bitcoins came up in a brief discussion during one of my CS courses this past week. Apparently, these have been around since 2009, but I hadn’t heard anything until now. Essentially, a bitcoin is a digital currency that can be used across the internet. The Bitcoin Client can be run from a linux box and  can “mine” for coins on a network which are then saved into a digital wallet with electronic signatures. Major perks of the new currency include:

• Transfers directly from sender to receiver (no clearing house).
• Fees are much lower.
• Useable in every country.
• Lower fees
• Accounts cannot be frozen.
• Based on open-source software
• No prerequesites or limits

Video

Getting Started

• Get Started Guide
• Privacy & Security
• Mining Guide

So what determines the value of a Bitcoin? According to “WeUseCoins.com”:

“The value of a commodity is determined by supply and demand. The supply side of Bitcoins is limited by design. The demand comes from people wanting Bitcoins to trade with.”

~Source

Exchange Rate

The exchange rate can be monitored online at MTGOX. Here is a diagram of the currency value over the last 24 hours at the time of writing this post:

More Information

• Wikipedia
• May Article in Forbes
• Bitcoin mining botnet also used for DDoS attacks