Digital UK Design Blog
Archive44.com is a fun little project I decided to do on the spur of the moment. It’s basically an archive of over 900 front pages of newspapers from all over the world on the day Barack Obama, the first black African American, became President of the United States of America. When you put over 900 front pages together you really get a sense of scale and importance this day was.
Long tail search seems to be my greatest search phrase referrer via search engines. Phrases like ‘thomas jefferson with crayon lines’, ‘digital design principles explained’, ‘how to create a motivational posters with photoshop’. Some are bizarre, some are unexplainable but what about the short ones? Like SEO, Bogey, Viagra, Frog! Comment below the shortest search phrase a user has typed into a search engine and stumbled upon your lovely website… and include a link!
We’ll start with ours, boring indeed but one non the less:
While looking up OS, resolution and browers stats for January 2009 on TheCounter.com I can across some statistics that made froth at the g**h. Vista is no doubt a flop for Microsoft, it looks great but that’s just about where the celebrations stop.
According to TheCounter.com the top operating system used to access a TheCounter.com website between Febuary 2009 to January 2009 was Windows XP with 74%….. unsurprising. In last place was Windows Vista with 0%, one place behind Amiga OS!
Ok ok I’m sure you’ll have a million and one reasons why these results are as such but before you spit your dummies out just sit back and enjoy.
Adobe revealed their new ‘traditionally themed’ Photoshop interface this week at their annual AdobeExpo. The drastic redesign has come after months of highly publicised campaigning by angry Anti-Adobe protesters who state that their current interface is “harming our planet”, and “is turning our young generation into mindless web2.0 obsessed vombies”.
A spokesman from Adobe said “This new redesign will revolutionise the way we design in the future. The new sophisticated layout and intuitive panels will help modern designers leave the world of Web2.0 behind and thrust the web into a new place, a place where animated GIFs will live happily with PNG’s and Serif fonts.”
Bill Bates, leader of the Anti-Adobe interface movement said… “It’s about time! I’ve always been a fan of Adobe in the past but when their new interface was released in 2002 I knew this would cast dark shadows over the traditional design era. Web 2.0 on the web is a direct result of that interface so we knew it had to go!”
He continued…
“Next is Microsoft 8′s new interface, it just sucks, and if left to spread amongst our unprepared nation we’ll all turn into f***……” *Interview cut short.
Let us know your thoughts, can this new interface really eradicate Web 2.0 from the web? Can this new interface really improve the quality of designs. And most importantly, would you pay £1,250.00 for the luxury?
Credit:Advertising Agency: Bates141
Creative Director: Hendra Lesmono
Art Directors: Irawandhani Kamarga, Andreas Junus
Copywriter: Darrick Subrata
Photographer: Anton Ismael
Published: August 2008
While I was flicking through the Front page archive on Newseum.org on Auguration day 2009 I was surprised to see an entry from my hometown’s local paper ‘The Scarborough Evening News.’ Only 6 Papers in total were featured from the UK, The Guardian, The Times, The Daily Telegraph and a couple others… but why on earth was the Evening News featured?
In a messed up world what would happen if Cadbury merged with Nestle. Even better, what would the packaging look like if you merged them… well! If you like please share this with your friends 
Original source found by readers so we can now give full credit to the source.
This one is pretty slick since they provide YOU with all the information, except the one piece they want.Note, the callers do not ask for your card number; they already have it. This information is worth reading. By understanding how the VISA & MasterCard Telephone Credit Card Scam works, you’ll be better prepared to protect yourself. I received the following by email…
One of our employees was called on Wednesday from ‘VISA’, and I was called on Thursday from ‘MasterCard’.
The scam works like this: Person calling says, ‘This is (name), and I’m calling from the Security and Fraud Department at VISA. My badge number is 12460. Your card has been flagged for an unusual purchase pattern, and I’m calling to verify. This would be on your VISA card which was issued by (name of bank) did you purchase an Anti-Telemarketing Device for £497.99 from a Marketing company based in London ?’ When you say ‘No’, the caller continues with, ‘Then we will be issuing a credit to your account. This is a company we have been watching and the charges range from £297 to £497, just under the £500 purchase pattern that flags most cards. Before your next statement, the credit will be sent to (gives you your address), is that correct?’
You say ‘yes’. The caller continues – ‘I will be starting a fraud investigation. If you have any questions, you should call the 0800 number listed on the back of your card (0800-VISA) and ask for Security.
You will need to refer to this Control Number. The caller then gives you a 6 digit number. ’Do you need me to read it again?’
Here’s the IMPORTANT part on how the scam works the caller then says, ‘I need to verify you are in possession of your card.’ He’ll ask you to ‘turn your card over and look for some numbers.’ There are 7 numbers; the first 4 are part of your card number, the next 3 are the security numbers that verify you are the possessor of the card. These are the numbers you sometimes use to make Internet purchases to prove you have the card. The caller will ask you to read the 3 numbers to him. After you tell the caller the 3 numbers, he’ll say, ‘That is correct, I just needed to verify that the card has not been lost or stolen, and that you still have your card. Do you have any other questions?’ After you say, ‘No,’ the caller then thanks you and states, ‘Don’t hesitate to call back if you do’, and hangs up.
You actually say very little, and they never ask for or tell you the Card number. But after we were called on Wednesday, we called back within 20 minutes to ask a question. Are we glad we did! The REAL VISA Security Department told us it was a scam and in the last 15 minutes a new purchase of £497.99 was charged to our card.
Long story – short – we made a real fraud report and closed the VISA account. VISA is reissuing us a new number. What the scammers want is the 3-digit PIN number on the back of the card. Don’t give it to them. Instead, tell them you’ll call VISA or MasterCard directly for verification of their conversation. The real VISA told us that they will never ask for anything on the card as they already know the information since they issued the card! If you give the scammers your 3 Digit PIN Number, you think you’re receiving a credit. However, by the time you get your statement you’ll see charges for purchases you didn’t make, and by then it’s almost too late and/or more difficult to actually file a fraud report.
What makes this more remarkable is that on Thursday, I got a call from a ‘Jason Richardson of MasterCard’ with a word-for-word repeat of the VISA scam. This time I didn’t let him finish. I hung up! We filed a police report, as instructed by VISA. The police said they are taking several of these reports daily!
While at the bank the other day discussing options for my mortgage with one of the banks advisors, we hit upon a ‘grey-area’. I wanted to Let my property but either needed to switch to a Buy-to-Let mortgage or sign a Consent-to-Lease. A Buy-to-Let mortgage wasn’t viable due to the lack of equity in the house so my only option was to talk the bank into allowing what’s called a Consent-to-Lease. A Consent-to-Lease is a legal document that a Lender co-signs with you that says you can let out your property while adhering to the mortgage code. Unfortunately for me it wasn’t that simple…
I used to live in sunny Scarborough, on the East Coast of the UK. I lived there right up until two years ago when I took a new job as Senior Web Designer at 9xb in Harrogate. I own a property on the outskirts of the town in a small village called Staxton, approximately 50 miles away from Harrogate. For the first year in my new role I commuted to and from work on a daily basis and covered over 500 miles a week. In that one year of traveling I owned three different cars…
A Vauxhall Corsa – Written off!
In short I got side swiped my another motorist at about 50mph, causing an immediate head-on with another car traveling towards me from the other direction.
Well I lived, just, and after having three weeks off returned to work.
A Ford Fiesta – Sold!
Once I received a payout from the first accident I bought a economical Diesel Fiesta. Unfortunately after doing 17000 miles in under half a year I ran it into the ground.
A Ford Mondeo Sport TDCi
Which I still own, a brilliant long distance cruiser.
Obviously after the year I had it wasn’t sustainable to commit to long distance commuting anymore so I made the decision to move to Harrogate and Let out my house.
I moved to Harrogate and Let the house out to a lovely couple who were both Radio presenters. A year later they moved out, right at the same time my Tracker mortgage deal had ran out. So I decided to go into the bank to check out the latest deals. Which is where the fun began, and conversation went something like this…
Mortgage advisor: Unfortunately since your last meeting with us things have changed in the housing market and our offerings. For us to allow a Consent-to-Lease on a property you need a minimum of 15% Equity in your house (85% LTV). Our house price indexing system currently values your house at a lower price than last year resulting your LTV being over the 85% minimum. We are unable to offer you permission to Let your house out. To fall back under the LTV minimum you would need to put down £*****.00.
In short the bank weren’t allowing me to Let my property out now because of the down turn in the housing market. Now as you can imagine I was a little annoyed and disputed a few things. Firstly their so called ‘property valuation indexing system’. They valued my house at £*****.00 less than a valuation I had from a local estate agent so I told them they were wrong.
Mortgage advisor: You can dispute this automated valuation and pay £***.00 to get it revalued by one of our registered valuers.
Mortgage advisor: Ok sir our acceptance limit is 85% LTV if you are on one of our products (a fixed mortgage deal for example)
Mortgage advisor: Oh I’m not sure, I’ve never come across this before. There’s no information on the system about this. I can’t call our usual help department anymore as they have blocked incoming calls so I can only email them for an answer. Unfortunately I doubt we’ll get a response today so we can’t proceed.
I waited a week and finally got a call from the mortgage advisor saying…
Mortgage advisor: Hello Mr Hartley. It seems we hit a bit of a grey-area in our Consent-to-Lease offering. Our 85% LTV limit only applies to our products, Fixed and Tracker deals for example, but you aren’t on a product so we feel we can’t stop you from completing a Consent-to-Lease form on this reason. Using our discretion we are happy to authenticate a Consent-to-Lease on your mortgage if you wish to commence?
In summary, to Let out a property where you still have a mortgage on it you need your banks permission or else you’ll be breaking your mortgage terms and they could take your property off you. A Consent-to-Lease is an option but with the current economical climate hitting a rocky patch and with house prices plummeting most lenders are capping the minimum LTV acceptance to 85%. Now as I discovered with my Lender they may not have applied the same limited on Variable mortgages as you aren’t technically on a Mortgage Product. So if you find yourself in the same scenario there may be a loop hole you can jump through.
With the launch of the new Jim Carrey film Yes Man I thought I’d cast a thought on the effects that having a ‘yes’ mentality has on your career, and potentially your private life.
In my job I lead the creative side on most projects, I’m also expected to be highly productive. I found that by having these two responsibilities I was developing a “no” mentality as a default answer. In my mind it was about priorities, time, quality, creative thinking and setting a realistic expectation right at the outset. This is what I found:
Saying no:
1. Strips you of influence.
Most of the time the project still happens. It just happened without my influence. So the very thing I said no to…happened poorly without me. If the only agenda is my productivity then this may be a winner – but in most circumstances the agenda is effectiveness and because I said no the project happens ineffectively.
In my case I was saying “no” to a ton of internal design requests. The design was still happening – just without my influence and adversely effected the brand.
2. Creates lack of trust from teammates.
If I’m always saying no, people will stop asking, they will just get it done with or without me and start to see me. The question is am I out for myself or am I out for the team?
“I scored 5 goals but my team lost”, this is a very productive solo football outing but sucks for the team.
I understand the conventional productivity thinking and believe that there are several layers of “Yes”, but I am convinced that the principle should be – “The answer is always yes”. I hate to say it but it true.
5 Ways to say YES and NEVER say NO:
What saying YES does.
If you want an easy life – Say NO. If you want influence – Say Yes. If you want to tell your colleagues exactly what you think of them, if you want be left alone to ‘do what your paid for’ then just say no.
Rod Waters is a traditional illustrator based in London and has worked for The Folio Society, (8 books), The Spectator, The Independent, Nelson Thornes, The N.H.S., The Tower of London, Virgin Atlantic, Clifton Nurseries, The Surveyor, and MJ Magazine. The Floating Frog has had the pleasure of working with Rod recently and was very impressed with his work. Here’s a selection of his work to gaze your eyes over.
©2006 - 2009 The Floating Frog
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