One of the biggest recent developments is the rise of mobile devices such as iPhones and iPads, which have the potential to open up online gaming to a much wider audience. To date most of the customers of online poker and casino sites had to dig a bit to find a game, with many seeing advertisements on television for sites such as Full Tilt or PokerStars and then logging on to give it a whirl. While that model worked, it takes a dedicated fan to not just find and download the software but to make the leap of faith and use their credit card or bank account to deposit money at online sites.

As apps and games for mobile devices become more common, though, many of those barriers are falling. Apple currently has a strict policy with its AppStore as far as approving very few games that allow for real money play (and the few that have been approved are for non-US customers only) but many feel that it’s only a matter of time before more and more people are playing poker or online slots for real money on most popular mobile devices and platforms. Popular apps and games get exposure to millions of potential new customers via the App Store and Android Market, so it’s very likely that a whole new generation of gambling fans may soon find their way to online gaming sites.

While security is still a concern for many online gambling companies, more and more banks and other traditional financial services firms are putting their full faith behind mobile apps, unveiling applications that not only let you check your account balances but also scan and deposit checks and pay for goods with a flick of your iPhone. The trend of putting more and more trust into mobile apps (coupled with better security and technology underpinning them) could be a boon for the online gambling industry as well, with less hesitation from customers to bet and wager at online sites.

Retain Domain Name and Page Equity

My portfolio site ranks very highly for keywords, specifically, Patrick Burt and Graphic Designer. This can all be thrown away if I decide to rewrite things or get rid of my already valuable links. Using the same, pre-redesign, URLs has allowed me to leverage pre-existing PageRank towards my new content. I also made sure to use similar content, titles and metadata that had gotten me high on Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs).

Dropping Flash and Using More Javascript

Adobe Flash does not degrade very well in the event that a user does not have Javascript or Flash. If I had to guess, I say that Flash’s inaccessibility is proportional to the surge in use of mobile devices as Web browsers.

Given the advances in the Javascript world with such libraries as jQuery and script.aculo.us and with HTML5 on the horizon, some might say Flash is falling behind. With Javascript, however, comes the responsibility to ensure that user or browsers without Javascript are still given a satisfying experience.

Social Media Presence

I don’t think anyone can disagree that Social Media is here to stay. I’d have to say it’s as transparent as listing your phone number on your Web site. You create a human connection. You are more than simply an anonymous user or company sitting behind a screen.

Functions

• Easily create labels, text fields, checkboxes, radio buttons, textareas, etc.
• Validate empty fields, number ranges, checkboxes, string length, emails, postal codes, phone numbers, and dates
• Display a compiled list of all errors with the form if they exist.
• Change the color of labels that contain erroneous data.

Other Goodies/Features

• Validates with W3C
• Supports two languages (currently has French and English error messages)
• Other functions including string shorteners, easy redirects, HTML emails, etc.
• English and French vocabulary
• Easy-to-understand function names and comments

Download it here.

If you’re interested, I created an RSS Feed for E-mails from an Asshole, one of my favourite websites.

Check it out if you’re interested and leave me comments with suggestions. They’d be much appreciated.

Finding Images Without Alt Tags

I did some internet sleuthing and found the following code to search for images without ALT tags:

<img((?:(?!alt)[^<>])*)>

What it does is search for “<img”, and then the next “>” that occurs, hopefully the end of your image tag. it then checks for the phrase “alt” anywhere in there to find an alt tag. The downside, is that if you’re image HTML looks like this:

<img src=”malt.jpg” />

Dreamweaver won’t pick up on it. That’s something I’ll look into if I revise the code, but I wasn’t working on a beer website so I didn’t think it was going to be a problem.

Auto-Generating ALT Tags

Because it’s impossible to give an accurate description of each of the 400 images without consuming a lot of time, what we’re going to do is base the ALT tag on the file name.

Here is the FIND field:
<img src=”(.*?)(.gif|.jpg|.jpeg|.png|.GIF|.JPG|.JPEG|.PNG)((?:(?!alt)[^<>])*)>

Here is the REPLACE WITH field:
<img src=”$1$2″ alt=”$1$3>

What’s happening here? You’ll seethat we’re checking for the existence of the “alt” tag once again, but we’re also breaking down the image tag down. Each section to be broken down is within parentheses. The first chunk is the image’s source, then the image’s extension and then the last chunk before the end (that doesn’t contain an alt tag). For example:

<img src=”myDogShelby.jpg” border=”0″ height=”300″ />
becomes
<img src=”||||PART 1: myDogShelby||||PART 2: .jpg||||PART 3: border=”0″ height=”300″ /||||>

Then what we’re doing is reconstructing the image link as follows:

<img src=”myDogShelby.jpg” alt=”myDogShelby”  border=”0″ height=”300″ />

Simple? I thought so.

Finishing Touches

What happens when using this technique is that you’re also throwing the path into the ALT tag:

<img src=”images/shelby.jpg” />
becomes
<img src=”images/shelby.jpg” alt=”images/shelby.jpg” />

This is an easy fix, simply do a global search and replace. Replace:

alt=”images/
with
alt=”

Easy peasy, japaneasy. This is pretty straight-forward, hope that helps and saves you oodles of time.

RB  What is your job in the industry?

I work as a Web Developer/Designer for an ad agency in Canada’s capital. I also do freelance.

RB  How long have you been in your current role?

I’ve been doing freelance for over 5 years and have been with the ad agency for almost 2 years.

RB  How has the credit crunch affected your profession?

The credit crunch doesn’t seem to have impacted the work we’re receiving at the agency. The pipeline of work seems about the same as last year at about this time. I’ve spoken with some other freelancers and they were looking to move to more full-time positions because “recession” is a pretty big word when you depend on contracts to pay your rent.

RB  Has there been a noticeable difference in business compared to last year?

The freelance work has been a tad slower, not sure if I can actually attribute that to the credit crunch at all. Work at the ad agency doesn’t seem to have changed at all.

Thanks for the quick questions, Rob.

LC Is this what you wanted to be “when you grew up”? If not, how old where you when you decided to pursue this career?

When I was younger, my career selections for what I wanted to be when I grew up were based on some iffier motives such as salary instead of better motives, such as actually enjoying what it is that I wanted to do. I was 17 when I came to the decision that I wanted to be a Graphic Designer.

LC What did you do before you were into graphic design (hobbies/interests/jobs)?

I did a lot of work on my computer in my spare time. I designed websites, did 3D modelling and put together graphics. Didn’t dabble all that much in competitive sports, but played them quite a bit casually. Previous to jumping into the Graphic Design field, I was a camp counsellor; it certainly teaches you a lot about interpersonal skills. If you can communicate with children, irrational clients aren’t that much far off.

LC What steps did you go through to get where you are today?  (schooling, grasped opportunities etc..)

I’ve gotten to where I’m at now by applying myself when in the Graphic Design program at our local college. Applying myself goes above and beyond meeting the assignment’s basic requirements, but instead, making an effort to do the best you can. I surrounded myself with people who were ready to criticize my work, and that made improved me and that specific project. Maintaining deadlines with clients, pumping out good work and establishing strong client relationships are essential to excelling in the field of Graphic Design. All of these build your reputation. In the service industry, this is crucial.

LC  Did you work for other people before you owned your own design company?  If so, for how long?

I do a lot of freelance and have worked at an full-service advertising agency. Technically, I’m always working for someone. I’ve been doing freelance for approximately 4 years and have been working in an ad agency environment for one and a half.

LC  Have you always been an artist of sorts?

Always. But it wasn’t until I was older that I decided that this core talent could be applied to my career focus.

LC  Did you have mentors that helped you get where you are today?  If so, do they still help you?

Yes on both accounts. I have many strong mentors in my life that help me develop my talent, get me out of some jams and give me sound business and career advice. I would not be where I am right now without them and I certainly won’t be where I will be in 5 years without them.

LC  What does you current job entail ( a day at the office)?  How many hours a day/week do you work on average?

I work 40 hours a week at an advertising agency, and approximately, 20 additional hours freelance. The projects I work on are different, but similar, but I do about the same at both. That would include: website design, web development, electronic production (movies, web banners), Flash, etc. The graphic design program where I studied gave us a good taste of a variety of fields including illustration and print. It was my preference to take the more web-oriented route because it has always been my passion.

LC Do you love what you are doing  and why?

Absolutely. It was a hobby to start off with and I certainly can’t refuse to be paid for something I enjoy. I love what I’m doing because the projects are always different, every day, there’s an opportunity to expand your skillset, work for a client without boundaries, work in a new medium or work with new people. Your job always changes and it’s always refreshing.

LC  Is this what you plan to do until you retire  or do you have bigger future plans?

I plan on always keeping my fingers in the Graphic Design pie because I have a feeling it’ll always be a passion. I can’t imagine myself not being fascinated by the creativity of others in commercial art.

LC Do you ever get stressed out? What do you do to cope with the stress?

Stressful events pop up every now and then. Usually I’d take a walk or lie down and sort through what’s giving me issues. In my experiences, it’s not best to handle stress while staring at your inbox and the soothing glow from your computer screens.

LC What steps do you take to balance your life? ie: excercise, love/relationships, work, fun

Ultimately, as work starts to pile up, it’ll start being a balancing exercise to maintain everything at levels you would like them to be. It’s key to establish how much weight you place on each aspect of your life before problems arise so you don’t end up with broken promises or disappointed people in any of those aspects.

LC Do you try and practice the 7 habits?

I’m not quite what the 7 habits are, but I’m sure they’ve popped up in previous answers.

LC Do your hobbies relate to your job?

Between freelance and working at an ad agency, the time I do have left for hobbies are not graphic design related. (Apart from the people you do the hobbies with of course, you do make a lot of friends along the way.)

LC  What makes you happy in life? Is this helping make you happy in life?

That’s certainly a loaded question, but I’ll keep it relevant to the topic at hand so you don’t end up with an essay on my childhood dreams, interpersonal relationships and favorite types of food. Being content with what I do for a living is right up there on a list of goals to consider my life a happy one.

LC  Is there anything you would do over again if you had the chance to better where you are at this point in your life?

Luke, I’m not one to live with regrets. I’m afraid I don’t even have an answer to this question. Everything I’ve been through, good and bad, has helped, in some way or another, to get me to where I am.

LC  Do you have any advice for me as I’m coming up?  Anything to look out for?  Ways to better myself for success?

When people are trying to avoid paying their bills or use you for your services, standing your ground is more important than your reputation. Your reputation only matters with good, honest, loyal people. Don’t work for free, if someone asks you to work for free, tell them to come dry wall your basement for free and see how they react.
Love what you do, make an effort to improve.

Thanks a lot, Luke. It was fun. 

Network with Others in your Niche
Talk to others about their issues and concerns. You may be able to pull out some information that can constitute a basis for one of your blog posts. Also consider exchanging guest posts with a fellow blogger.

Invite Questions from Readers
Readers will always have questions, general questions or questions about content. Communicate with your readers and find out what’s on their minds.

Write Sequels
Think about writing a follow-up for one of your most visited articles. Or a complete article addressing issues that readers had posted in your comments section.

Make a Post About Writer’s Block
I imagine this post speaks for itself.

Hope that helps.

A new version means a new syntax, new file and most importantly, new features. It’s also worth noting that the JS file was compressed, so if I recall correctly, you’re saving a few KB this version.

Check it out here: http://code.google.com/p/swfobject/

I will have a tutorial up some time this week simplifying the details on how to use it.