Our Blog Has Moved

Some say it was about time…

In 2012, the project that started all the way back in 2006 as a thought exercise under the name of Bynapse, has moved on to become Bynapse – an enterprise doing its part in making the world a better, simpler and more intuitive place.

If you had subcribed to our blog by email or FeedBurner, you don’t have to do a thing, we migrated your subscription.

If however, you had previously followed us through your bookmarks or a technorati, reddit or digg account, or do not know what any of this means, please enter your email again on our new website 

This website will soon be discontinued altogether, so if you made bookmarks or links to it, please change them to our new website, too. All previous blogposts from the timeFTW site can now be found in the Blogspot archive.

See you on the new site, or if in doubt, just get in touch!

Protecting your ASP.NET Web API using OAuth2 and the Windows Azure Access Control Service

The world in which we live evolves at a vast speed. Today, many applications on the Internet expose an API which can be consumed by everyone using a web browser or a mobile application on their smartphone or tablet. How would you build your API if you want these apps to be a full-fledged front-end to your service without compromising security? In this article, I’ll dive into that. We’ll be using OAuth2 and the Windows Azure Access Control Service to secure our API yet provide access to all those apps out there.

Background Pattern Designs And Resources For Websites

Patterns are a useful resource for website design. Filling the background with a full-blown image is no longer a useful solution today as the variety of devices and screen resolutions in the market make it difficult to adapt to them all, although it is true that the latest plugins and scripts offer solutions such as automatic image re-sizing  Patterns are similar to those images that are indefinitely repeated either horizontally or vertically. That makes a lot more sense today where usability is concerned, especially in responsive design.

Following is a comprehensive collection of them for all tastes and desires.

Background Pattern Designs And Resources For Websites

Wireframe and Mockup Tools

Just a list.. a nice list.

Pencil

Open source and Free, the Pencil Project is a great tool for making diagrams and GUI prototyping that everyone can use. It runs as either a Firefox plugin or in a standalone XUL runner. Does not work on Mac currently.

http://pencil.evolus.vn/

HotGloo

The Online Wireframe Application

http://www.hotgloo.com/

MockingBird

Is an online tool that makes it easy for you to create, link together, preview, and share mockups of your website or application.

http://gomockingbird.com/

Balsamiq Mockups

Using Balsamiq Mockups feels like you are drawing, but it's digital, so you can tweak and rearrange controls easily, and the end result is much cleaner.

http://www.balsamiq.com/products/mockups

Moqups

Moqups is a nifty HTML5 App used to create wireframes, mockups or UI concepts, prototypes depending on how you like to call them.

https://moqups.com/

ScreenSketcher

ScreenSketcher is a tool for creating quick mock-ups, or wireframes, of a computer user interface, such as a window, a web page, or anything that can appear on a computer screen.

http://www.codingrobots.com/screensketcher/

Cacoo

Online Real time collaboration

• Cacoo is a user friendly online drawing tool that allows you to create a variety of diagrams such as site maps, wire frames, UML and network charts.
• Cacoo can be used free of charge.

http://cacoo.com/

Mockup by Lextech

Mockup is an iPhone app prototyping tool that makes it incredibly easy to:

• Think through design/usability concepts before you start coding,
• Brainstorm with future and existing customers, and
• Share your ideas and collaborate with the app development community.

http://lextech.com/mockup

Mockery

Mockery enables you to create great UI mockups, quickly and easily.

• Design great interfaces for the web or desktop.
• Review your designs with Windows and Mac themes.
• Annotate your mockups with detailed information.
• Share your mockups with others.

http://getmockery.com/

ForeUI

ForeUI is a handy UI prototyping tool. It can rapidly create static or interactive, skinnable UI prototypes of your website or software. You can use ForeUI to:

• Create mockup for the GUI in your mind and make others understand quickly.
• Make working prototype of website or software to collect feedback from potential users.
• Perform usability testing before releasing the beta version.
• Generate the schematics that can be inserted in the design documents.

http://www.foreui.com/

Naview by Volkside

Naview is a navigation preview tool for rapid information architecture prototyping from Volkside.

• Design and visualise an IA or website navigation structure
• Build prototypes quickly and get a feel for the navigation
• Test your IA with users and iterate on the fly
• Import your IA easily from a spreadsheet
• No need for coding to simulate real website menu behaviour

http://www.volkside.com/go/naview/

C-Inspector

A tool for information architecture testing C–Inspector is a web–based application that helps you to test the information architecture of your website. By analyzing both quantitative and qualitative data collected through the remote test, you can gain insight into the users' mental models and identify possible issues with labelling or grouping

http://www.c-inspector.com/index.php

FlairBuilder

A cross-platform prototyping tool that helps you create interactive wireframes & prototypes faster, easier and with better results. We put a strong emphase in interactivity as this is the best way to show your clients something closer to the real product.

http://www.flairbuilder.com/

MockApp

What can I use MockApp for?

• Brainstorm and refine a new app idea
• Show what the app should do so that it’s easy for a developer to code it just right
• Show-off your brilliant app ideas to your boss, potential business partners, investors, etc. (again, way more effective tan finger puppets!)

http://mockapp.com/

Creately

Creately is an easy to use and collaborative diagramming application that runs in your browser. With a powerful and intuitive interface, Creately is great for teams that need to work on designs together

http://creately.com/

MockFlow

Design, collaborate (in real-time) user interface mockups for your software and websites.

http://www.mockflow.com/

Pidoco

A GUI Design Software for clickable Wireframes. Fast and easy like rapid paper prototyping, but completely web-based and with many more features.

https://pidoco.com/

JustProto

The first tool to create the prototypes of network and desktop applications!

http://www.justproto.com/en/

JumpChart

Start with a strong foundation. Make planning architecture easier with Jumpchart. By creating pages, and subpages you can quickly sketch out the hierarchy of your site.

https://www.jumpchart.com/

iPlotz

iPlotz allows you to rapidly create clickable, navigable mockups and wireframes for prototyping websites and software applications.

http://iplotz.com/

ProtoShare

Historically, web-based applications haven't been able to match the speed and complexity of desktop apps—until now.

http://www.protoshare.com/

CogTool

CogTool is a general purpose UI prototyping tool with a difference - it automatically evaluates your design with a predictive human performance model (a "cognitive crash dummy").

http://cogtool.hcii.cs.cmu.edu/

Business to the Clouds

Most likely that you have heard of Software as a Service, the original “as a service” idea, and you are certainly using this type of service on a daily basis either on your smartphone, tablet or by accessing your online bank account.

The “as a service” world has expanded dramatically in the last decade and we are looking now at a plethora of services that reside “in the cloud”, whatever the type, location or reliability of the cloud may we be talking about.

Here is a top of “as a service” I put together that a business these days should not ignore:

1. UCAAS or Unified Communications as a Service. The UCaaS industry is led by email, collaboration, conferencing and telephony. (Skype, WebEx, NetMeeting, CallTower, Cypress ..)
2. BAAS or Backup as a Service. Basically, backup to the cloud. (Amazon, Windows Azure, Iron Mountain ..)
3. DBAAS or Database as a Service (Daas). Virtually, all major database platforms are "up in the cloud today. This is a service that cannot be ignored. (Amazon RDS, Windows Azure SQL ..)
4. IAAS or Identity as a Service. Identity and access management, administration, audit and verification for cloud based services (Google, IBM, Windows Passport Services, Verizon Business)
5. SAAS or Storage as a Service. Also serving the loved and appreciated CDN (content delivery network) and powering BaaS. (Amazon S3, Windows Azure Storage, Google Docs ..)

I am planning to update this list and provide some insight into the ups and downs of using this and that service. I am personally concentrating on two major cloud solutions out there: Amazon and Windows Azure.

For the iCloud crowd, you have to appreciate the fact that Apple starts with the user and then figures out the technology part. The experience is great!

Implicitly Typed or Named Types

An Implicitly Typed Local Variable, var, is “new” and it is subject to restrictions:

• The declarator must include an initializer.
• The initializer must be an expression.
• The initializer expression must have a compile-time type which cannot be the null type.
• The local variable declaration cannot include multiple declarators.
• The initializer cannot refer to the declared variable itself

Beyond the obvious use of var with LINQ, you may also clear the code for readability:

var d = new Dictionary<string, Dictionary<string, List<SomeClass>>>();

The entire debate around using the var is founded on readability.

Another pair of eyes see differently so the code has to self explain. That being said, using the var for just about anything is also an exageration. A method that returns a “hairy” type (like List<string>) would be easier to digest in a var but that would not tell those other pair of eyes anything about the purpose and the intention behind. So you would not know how that specific return was “intended to be used”. Just compare List<string> list = MyMethod():

• var list = MyMethod()
• IEnumerable<string> list MyMethod()

The second one is actually saying “I am not going to change this, use an index to access list members or modify members.”. It’s quite a lot to say in that few words. But it’s not over because it is also saying “I am going to use this list simply to iterate across it”.

The intention is what you are giving up if you use var. You are not giving anything up where the usage is obvious through the declaration.

var i = 5;
var s = "Hello";
var d = 1.0;
var numbers = new int[] {1, 2, 3};
var orders = new Dictionary<int,Order>();

are equal to

int i = 5;
string s = "Hello";
double d = 1.0;
int[] numbers = new int[] {1, 2, 3};
Dictionary<int,Order> orders = new Dictionary<int,Order>();

I' would write a LINQ query like:

var rows = from DataRow r in parentRow.GetChildRows(myRelation)
           where r.Field<bool>("Flag")
           orderby r.Field<int>("SortKey")
           select r;

But the debate is in the use of var, not in Anonymous Types, Object and Collection Initializers and Query Expressions, but everywhere in your code, for readability.

Here is Eric Lippert’s take on it:

All code is an abstraction. Is what the code is “really” doing is manipulating data? No. Numbers? Bits? No. Voltages? No. Electrons? Yes, but understanding the code at the level of electrons is a bad idea! The art of coding is figuring out what the right level of abstraction is for the audience.

In a high level language there is always this tension between WHAT the code does (semantically) and HOW the code accomplishes it. Maintenance programmers need to understand both the what and the how if they’re going to be successful in making changes. read more ..

LinX BoX

This Friday’s Top 3 interesting sites visited this week:

• Can you run it
• Annomalies Unlimited
• Asian Poses

This list is published every Friday and values originality. Submit your suggestions for next week as comments.

And don't forget my web templates shop at Bynapse.com - the easy web.

Reciprocal link of the week : Volunteer to Nepal

LinX BoX

This Friday’s Top 3 interesting sites visited this week:

 

• Definr
• Hunch
• Seusville

This list is published every Friday and values originality. Submit your suggestions for next week as comments.

 

And don't forget my web templates shop at Bynapse.com - the easy web.

 

Reciprocal link of the week : Termic

PDF and E-book creation

Every now and then, someone tries to edit a PDF file and the old Acrobat and Distiller question pops back. What are the roles of those two and why still use Word to edit? Why is Acrobat still important in e-book creation?

First the basics. Adobe Acrobat only reads PDF files. It does not create PDF files, nor can it be used to create content of any kind. It allows setting of certain attributes and anchors, such as creating hyperlinks and setting document security settings.

Distiller is a print driver that outputs PDF files. It is not a reader, nor an application used to create any content.

Adobe Acrobat (not Acrobat Reader) does not edit files, you create your content in a applications like Word, Photoshop.. then print to Distiller (some applications have a “Save as PDF” functionality like Word does in an optional add-on) and save the resulting file as PDF. All word, spreadsheet or image editing or viewing applications should be able to print.

You may open the PDF in Acrobat for fine tuning:

1) create hyperlinks (see Tools/Locate Web Addresses)
2) create title and author (see File/Document Properties)
3) set your desired security level (see File/Document Security)
4) File SAVE AS whatever.pdf. It is important not to just SAVE but to use SAVE AS because this eliminates unused fonts and makes a smaller PDF.

An important decision is to embed fonts in your PDF, or use system fonts. This impacts the size of your PDF but embedding your fonts guarantees that your reader will see the exact page layout you designed. The better system fonts seem to be the small common ones such as Times Roman or Arial. You should know that embedding fonts is a Distiller option (Printer/Preferences/Adobe PDF Settings/General Conversion Settings).

Currently, High speed internet access is becoming the norm and PDF files are generally small. As I was saying in a previous post, content is King.

LinX BoX

This Friday’s Top 3 interesting sites visited this week: 

• JQuery
• 43 Things
• One Sentence

This list is published every Friday and values originality. Submit your suggestions for next week as comments.

And don't forget my web templates shop at Bynapse.com - the easy web.

Reciprocal link of the week : Smartbyte