Whitney Hess is an independent user experience designer, writer and consultant based in New York City. She authors the blog Pleasure and Pain.

When I tell people that I am a user experience designer, I usually get a blank stare. I try to follow it up quickly by saying that I make stuff easy and pleasurable to use. That’s the repeatable one-liner, but it’s a gross oversimplification and isn’t doing me any favors.

The term “user experience” or UX has been getting a lot of play, but many businesses are confused about what it actually is and how crucial it is to their success.

I asked some of the most influential and widely respected practitioners in UX what they consider to be the biggest misperceptions of what we do. The result is a top 10 list to debunk the myths. Read it, learn it, live it.

User experience design is NOT…

1. …user interface design

It’s not uncommon to confuse “user experience” with “user interface” — after all it’s a big part of what users interact with while experiencing digital products and services. But the UI is just one piece of the puzzle.

“Interface is a component of user experience, but there’s much more,” says Peter Merholz, founding partner and president of Adaptive Path. Christian Crumlish, curator of the Yahoo! Design Pattern Library, explains that design “isn’t about cosmetics, pixel-pushing, and button placement. It’s holistic and it’s everyone’s concern, not just the realm of ‘artistic’ types.”

Dan Saffer, founder and principal at Kicker Studio, agrees that it’s common for design to be mistaken for being solely about decoration or styling. “I’ve had clients tell me not to worry about what their strategy is,” he says, “because why would a designer care about that? UX is more than just skin deep.”

2. …a step in the process

It is the process. In order to create a great experience for your users, not just design something that we’d like to use, we need to keep listening and iterating. It doesn’t have to be a rigid process, but it does need to exist.

“User experience design isn’t a checkbox,” says Liz Danzico, an independent user experience consultant and chairperson of the new MFA in Interaction Design program at the School of Visual Arts. “You don’t do it and then move on. It needs to be integrated into everything you do.”

Dan Brown, co-founder and principal at EightShapes notes, “Most [clients] expect experience design to be a discrete activity, solving all their problems with a single functional specification or a single research study. It must be an ongoing effort, a process of continually learning about users, responding to their behaviors, and evolving the product or service.”

3. …about technology

User experience isn’t even about technology, says Mario Bourque, manager of information architecture and content management at Trapeze Group. “It’s about how we live. It’s about everything we do; it surrounds us.”

Like a painter uses paint to communicate concepts and emotions, user experience designers use technology to help people accomplish their goals. But the primary objective is to help people, not to make great technology.

“User experience design is not limited to the confines of the computer. It doesn’t even need a screen,” argues Bill DeRouchey, director of interaction design at Ziba Design. “User experience is any interaction with any product, any artifact, any system.”

Really, a user experience designer could help to improve a person’s experience with just about anything — a doorknob, a faucet, a shopping cart. We just don’t typically refer to the people using those things as “users,” but they are.

4. …just about usability

“People often think that [UX design] is a way to make products that suck into products that don’t suck by dedicating resources to the product’s design,” says Chris Fahey, founding partner and principal of Behavior. Making stuff easy and intuitive is far from our only goal. In order to get people to change their behavior, we need to create stuff they want to use, too.

David Malouf, professor of interaction design at Savannah College of Art & Design, explains that “while usability is important, its focus on efficiency and effectiveness seems to blur the other important factors in UX, which include learnability and visceral and behavioral emotional responses to the products and services we use.” Not everything has to be dead simple if it can be easily learned, and it’s critical that the thing be appealing or people might never interact with it in the first place.

“Usability is not a synecdoche for UX,” asserts Will Evans, principal user experience architect at Semantic Foundry. He points to Peter Morville’s UX honeycomb, which in addition to usable, recognizes useful, desirable, accessible, credible, findable, and ultimately valuable as the essential facets of user experience.

5. …just about the user

Russ Unger, experience design strategist, likes to say that the biggest misconception of UX design is the “U.” “There are a set of business objectives that are needing to be met—and we’re designing to that, as well,” he explains. “We just can’t always do what is best for the users. We have to try to make sure that we are presenting an overall experience that can meet as many goals and needs as possible for the business and the users.”

As user experience designers we have to find the sweet spot between the user’s needs and the business goals, and furthermore ensure that the design is on brand.

6. …expensive

Every project requires a custom-tailored approach based on the business’s available resources, capabilities, timeline, and budget, and a whole slew of real-world constraints. But that doesn’t always mean that it needs to be costly or take forever.

Steve Baty, principal and user experience strategist at Meld Consulting, combats the fallacy that UX design adds too much time to a project. “Sometimes a fully-fledged, formal UCD process may not be the best thing to try first time,” he says. “It’s extremely important - and totally possible no matter where you’re working or when you arrive on a project - to make small improvements to both the project and the product by introducing some user experience design techniques.”

“People cling to things like personas, user research, drawing comics, etc.,” notes Saffer. “In reality the best designers have a toolbox of options, picking and choosing methods for each project what makes sense for that particular project.”

7. …easy

Just because we know how to conduct some cool and useful activities and you know your business really well doesn’t mean that this whole process is a breeze. And cutting corners on some important steps is a recipe for disaster.

Saffer maintains that a misconception “as common among designers as it is among clients, is that there is one secret method that will solve all their design problems.”

A trap that a lot of companies fall into is in thinking that they are their own end users. Erin Malone, principal at Tangible UX, finds that both product managers and programmers believe they will create the experience as they build it. “UX designers are caught in the middle trying to speak the business language and the developer language to justify why we need to do our jobs and why it’s important to success.”

If you make assumptions about the people you expect to use your product or service — who they are, how they behave, what makes them tick — you’ll probably always be wrong. But take the time to get to know them, and hire the appropriate person to facilitate the process, and you can ensure you’ll get it right.

8. …the role of one person or department

User experience designers are liaisons, not subject matter experts, doctors or any type of magical beings. We don’t have a set of best practices that we can robotically implement, nor do we have all of the answers. Our greatest skill is that we know how to listen. While we can help evangelize the most effective process within your organization, it’s ultimately up to all members of the business to make it a success.

“User experience isn’t just the responsibility of a department or a person,” says Livia Labate, principal of information architecture and user experience at Comcast Interactive Media. “That compartmentalist view of UX is evidence that it is not part of the organizational culture and hints to teams not having a common goal or vision for the experience they should deliver collectively.”

Malone highlights the fact that there are many different breeds of practitioners that fall within the user experience umbrella. “We, as an industry, have not done a good job of separating out specialties and roles with enough unique language so that clients and businesses get that they need to hire (on staff or consultant) different types of people at different points in a project lifecycle.”

9. …a single discipline

The truth is that we’re all still very new at this. Louis Rosenfeld, publisher at Rosenfeld Media, publishing books on user experience design, and co-author of the seminal 2002 book Information Architecture for the World Wide Web argues that user experience may not yet even be a discipline. “It may not even be a community just yet,” he asserts. “At best, it’s a common awareness, a thread that ties together people from different disciplines who care about good design, and who realize that today’s increasingly complex design challenges require the synthesis of different varieties of design expertise.”

We have proliferation of nebulous titles: information architect, user experience architect, interaction designer, usability engineer, design analyst, and on and on. And they don’t mean the same thing to every person or company.

Different people specialize in different parts of the process. Some UX practitioners focus on a specific technique, like Indi Young and mental models, or a single challenge, like Luke Wroblewski and web forms, or a focused activity, like Steve Krug and usability testing. Just like you wouldn’t go to a cardiologist to heal your broken foot, don’t expect any professional in the realm of user experience to accomplish everything you need.

10. …a choice

For those of you who think you don’t really need a user experience designer, keep this in mind: “Nobody wants to believe that what they are offering is of poor-quality or deficient,” says Kaleem Khan, an independent UX consultant, “because nobody sets out to achieve a bad design as a goal. It’s always a risk. Bad designs and bad experiences happen.”

Jared Spool, founding principal and CEO at User Interface Engineering (UIE), the world’s largest usability research firm, has done extensive investigation on the qualities of the satisfied and successful product teams. Simply put, the most common flaw he has found is that companies think “good experience design is an add-on, not a base requirement.”

Josh Porter, formerly of UIE and now principal at Bokardo Design, echoes Spool when he says, “The biggest misconception is that [companies] have a choice to invest in their user’s experience. To survive, they don’t.”

There are plenty of amazing practitioners who can help right in your local area. Check your local chapter of the Information Architecture Institute (IAI), the Interaction Design Association (IxDA), or the Usability Professionals Association (UPA), or just find someone on LinkedIn.

Looking forward

2009 is going to be a year of scaling back, but let it also be a call for pragmatism. It’s time to adopt more streamlined, smart, progressive and effective practices. We’ve reached a level of technological maturity where functional just isn’t good enough.

It’s how we engage people and the respect and value we provide to them that will separate the wheat from the chaff. Which side will you be on?

Whitney Hess is an independent user experience design consultant working with Happy Cog, boxee and other companies putting people first. She writes about making stuff easy and pleasurable to use on her blog Pleasure and Pain.

Imagery courtesy of iStockphoto, nico_blue, gwmullis, podgorsek, Jaymast, Rellas

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Most people think of Google Maps in terms of finding a place or business, or getting directions from one point to another. Others use the satellite images and terrain mapping features. But there are tons of other uses out there for Google maps.

From mapping the weather and news to mapping things that aren’t maps at all, like paintings or magazines, Google Maps has a lot to offer. And there are free tools available out there for those who want to use the Google Maps API without doing a bunch of coding. Here are more than 100 of the best mashups and tools out there right now.

Have a favorite Google Maps tool or mashup? Tell us more about it in the comments.

Travel and Transportation

Mapness - An online travel journal that interfaces with Google Maps to show where you’ve been.

The AA Route Planner - Plan trips around the UK.

Montreal Metro Map - A complete map of Montreal Metro stations.

TubeJP - A London Tube journey planner using Google Maps that also incorporates a search function to find local businesses.

District Taxi Fare Estimator - A taxi fare estimator provided by the Washington Post that shows travel routes in Google Maps.

Washington, CD Taxicab Zones - A zone map that covers each taxicab zone and is zoomable, unlike the ones in the actual cabs that are poorly labeled and hard to read.

Dublin Public Transport Advisor - A trip planner for public transportation in and around Dublin.

Most Dangerous Roads on Earth - A map of the most dangerous roads in the world.

Perfect Escapes - A travel search engine that features a click-through Google Maps search interface.

hotspotr - A map showing more than 14,875 wifi hotspots all over the country.

safe2pee.org - Find a public bathroom anywhere in the country.

Mezzoman - Find a place to meet in the middle of two points on the map.

Wines and Times - Use this map to plan a winery tour anywhere in the United States.

fastfoodmaps.com - Find fast food restaurants, including McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, KFC, Wendy’s and more, anywhere in the U.S.

Photo Enforced - Get maps of red light cameras in multiple cities across the United States.

World Port Source - Maps of more than 3,100 ports in 189 countries, plus a map to find ports anywhere in the world.

IMB Live Piracy Map 2008 - A map of all of the armed robbery and piracy incidents (both successful and attempted) reported over the past year.

flexTraffic - A map of traffic delays and construction projects across the UK.

Cheap Hotels - A map of more than 66,000 cheap hotels in more than 165 countries that also lets you book online.

NOAA Nautical Maps - A mashup that overlays NOAA nautical maps over Google Maps and allows you to adjust the transparency of each.

News, Weather and Politics

Gaza Conflict YouTube Videos Map - This mashup shows the latest YouTube videos about the Gaza conflict attached to their locations along the Gaza Strip and elsewhere.

Track This Now - Search for news worldwide or in a specific country (or group of countries) and have news stories marked on a map.

TimeSpace: World - An interactive map from the Washington post that shows current news items linked from a world map.

iMap Weather - An easy way to get current weather conditions and the forecast using a map-based interface.

Barack Obama’s Journey to the White House - A Google Map of Barack Obama’s entire life, from Honolulu to the White House.

RMI’s Oil Imports Map - A mashup that shows all of the U.S.’s oil imports from 1973.

Who is Sick? - Find statistics on a map for illness in your area, everything from allergies and runny noses to fever to stomach aches.

HealthMap - Map of disease cases worldwide, including rabies, salmonella, and more.

Taxpayer Contribution to the Iraq War by State - View how much taxpayers have paid for the Iraq War by state.

Missing Kids Map - A mashup that shows the origins of missing kids (from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children) on a Google Map.

Map of Election Conditions in Zimbabwe - A map of the corruption, from vote buying and gerrymandering to abduction and murder, that occurred in elections in Zimbabwe.

MetaCarta GeoSearch News - A map with links to current news stories from all over the world.

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Recreation and Entertainment

Theatre In Chicago - An interactive map for Chicago that lists theatres with current and upcoming plays.

Gruvr - A map that shows live music shows at clubs and elsewhere anywhere in the country.

LOST Maps - A map that shows all of the locations mentioned in the ABC television series “Lost”.

The London Knowledge - A map of London that shows tube stations, restaurants, nightclubs and more.

Drive Score - Shows a map of nearby restaurants, schools, hospitals, bars and more for any address and awards points based on what’s close by.

Google Maps Disc Golf Courses - A map of disc golf/frisbee golf courses all over the United States with descriptions and directions.

Live Sports Map - Find sports scores and news on a Google Map that includes stadium and arena satellite views.

FindLakes - Maps for each state showing more than 40,000 lakes around the country.

SafeFoodFinder - A map showing Seattle area restaurants and what their health department inspection scores have been.

Broadway2Day.com - A map of current Broadway shows with information on price, genre, run, and more.

Environment and Climate Change

The World’s Most Polluted Cities - A map with geotagged photos of polluted cities all over the world (though mostly in Asia).

San Francisco Solar Map - This interactive map shows residential, municipal, commercial, and other solar projects around San Francisco.

RoofRay Solar Calculator - Find your house on their Google Maps interface, trace your roof, determine the roof’s orientation and pitch, and get a solar estimate.

Climate Change Wales - Interactive maps that show what flood levels will be based on rising sea levels from climate change.

United States Sea Level Rise Map - A map with geotagged photos that show the impact of different sea level rises in cities around the United States.

Flood Maps - Shows what new coastlines would be for sea level rises between 1M and 14M.

MapEcos - A map showing U.S. industrial facilities that use toxic chemicals and includes information about each facility.

Wasting Away - A map showing all 1,623 superfund sites in the United States, including sites that have been cleaned up.

DaylightMap.com’s Clouds - A map showing regularly-updated cloud cover overlaid on a Google Map of the world.

Prescription Drugs in Drinking Water - A map showing the levels of prescription drugs in various cities around the country.

Carma - A map showing the world’s highest CO2 emitting power plants.

Photo and Media Maps

Panedia - Maps of places all over the world with placemarkers linked to panoramic images.

Driving Detroit - A map of Detroit that includes placemarkers that link to photos, slideshows and other media.

Star Viewer - A Google Map of the night sky that includes YouTube videos of different stars, galaxies, and star systems.

Games and Simulators

googleDrive - Another Google Maps driving simulator.

Real World Racer - A car racing game in Google Maps that is surprisingly challenging.

2D Driving Simulator - A Google Maps Flash driving simulator.

Pedestrian and Bike Maps

Where is the path (or street) - A mashup that shows regular street and footpath maps next to a Google Maps satellite view so that you can see things not indicated on the Google Map.

99Trails.com Philadelphia Map - A map showing walking and biking trails around the Philadelphia metro area.

NYC Bike Maps - A map of New York City’s bike paths, lanes and greenways.

ActiveTrails - A map of trails throughout the United States and France that allows users to contribute trail information.

HikeCT - A map of hiking trails in Connecticut.

I Need A Bike - Find bike rental locations in and around Paris, Lyon, and Marseille.

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Information, Education and History

Cassini - An overlay of 18th century maps over Google Maps that lets you adjust the transparency of either layer.

mapdango - A mashup that teaches about a new place every day, showing news, weather, and more.

MapsZipcode - A Google Maps mashup that shows zip codes nationwide.

London Profiler - Get maps of demographic and other public information in London.

Solar Eclipses - A list of solar eclipses from 1961 to the present that link to maps showing the path of the eclipse over the earth’s surface.

Area Code Maps - An area code map overlay.

BibleMap.org - An interactive map of locations from the Bible.

World Heritage Google Map - A Google Map of UNESCO World Heritage Sites worldwide that includes photos.

MailboxMap - Find a USPS or UPS mailbox anywhere in the country.

UFOmaps.com - A map of UFO sightings all over the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Qibla Locator - Find which direction Muslims should pray in from anywhere in the world.

PlaceOpedia - A map of Wikipedia articles linked to their locations.

Meteor Craters - A map of meteor impact craters around the world.

World’s Creepiest Places - Just as the name implies, this map shows information about the world’ creepiest places.

Housing and Real Estate

Roomapes - An apartment finder app with a Google Maps interface.

CribQ - An apartment finder for San Francisco that interfaces apartment listings, Google Maps and Microsoft Virtual Earth (for a birdseye view, streetview and WalkScore).

SuiteMatch.com - Find shared office space and see a map that shows all of the amenities surrounding that space including coffee, food, bars and gyms.

Non-Map Uses

The Kremer Collection - Use a Google Maps interface to browse a large collection of paintings.

zkimmer - An online publication viewer for newspapers and magazines that uses the Google Maps UI.

Other Maps

Samknows - Find a house or building on a map of the UK and see what types of broadband internet are available at that address.

If I dig a very deep hole, where will I end up? - This map shows you where you would end up if you dug a hole straight through the earth at any point on the globe.

If the earth were a sandwich - This pair of maps shows you the point on the earth that is the exact opposite of any other point you select.

RoadlessLand.org - Map of all of the designated road-free areas in the United States.

Google Maps Recent Edits - A constantly updating map that shows the most recent edits to Google Maps.

DishPointer - An application that shows you which direction to point your satellite dish based on your address.

DaylightMap.com - A map of where daylight currently is on earth as well as the lights appearing on the night side.

We Tell Stories - A map of the stories of six different authors that lets you follow the trail of their stories around the world.

Directories

MapTube - A directory with nearly 200 different mashup maps available.

Popular Google Maps - Browse popular Google Maps covering a variety of topics.

Tools

Map Builder - A quick and easy Google Maps mashup builder.

MapMyPage - A simple tool to put Google Maps on your website.

Map My Life - An easy to use mashup that will map your life and show a timeline using an XML file you provide.

The Google Maps Image Cutter - A free application for cutting any image into tiles for use with the Google Maps interface.

Automatic Tile Cutter - Another app for cutting any image into tiles to use with Google Maps.

GMapCreator - A tool to make creating thematic Google Maps easier.

Geo Twitter - GeoCode your tweets and plot them on an embeddable map.

Mapmsg.com - An app that lets you put a message (smoke signals, crop circles, etc.) into a map and then email it to anyone.

Dual Maps - Free mapping tools to combine different Google Maps views as well as Microsoft Virtual Earth maps.

maps-for-free.com - Get relief layers for Google Maps free for creating your own mashups.

HeatMapAPI - Use this API to create your own heat maps to overlay Google Maps.

PdMarker - An app to help you easily customize Google Maps marker behavior.

Interested in more Google Maps resources? Check these out:

- HOW TO: Get the Most Out of Google Maps
- The 10 Best Google Maps Extensions for Firefox 3
- Top 15 Google Street View Sightings
- 17 Google Maps Mashups to Waste Away Your Day

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Dana Oshiro is an irreverent writer with a love of mahjong, the internets & niu ro mien. She authors a blog at hiyaablog.com.

Anyone with a smartphone can scan and read QR codes with the click of a camera, and anyone with access to a computer can generate QR codes themselves. BayBrain’s Snappr.net offers a QR bar code generator and links to a comprehensive list of software for code reading. By scanning the codes, you can access images, websites and text. By creating the codes, you can produce your own messages.

Usually synonymous with mass production, the quick response (QR) bar code was originally created by Japanese company Denso-Wave to keep inventory. However, because QR codes allow for more data than the standard 10-digit bar code, and because scanning requires less effort than typing a URL, the QR has taken a turn for the personal. The genius behind QR codes is that even a hairless chimp can play with them. Below are five of my favorite uses:

Got any cool uses for QR codes? Share in the comments below.

1. SWAG and Self Branding

Users can embed code with text or links to their favorite images, music and sites. Upon creating a QR code, Snappr then offers you a chance to transfer the bar codes to hats, mugs and even baby gear. Because the point of the code is to provide additional info to passersby, there are a ton of potential uses for it.  You can proactively provide speed dates with background info, fundraise on-site during charity events, or simply advertise.

I’d avoid any permanent tattoos, but these temporary ones could be cool promo pieces. 

2. Geo-Based Reviews and Tours

A pilot program between CitySearch and Antenna Audio began in Spring 2008. Reviews and audio snippets were embedded into codes on San Francisco historical landmarks and restaurants. Foodies and tourists enjoyed self-guided tours of the Bay.

In a year, despite the fact that the same codes will remain posted on the same landmarks and restaurants, tours may evolve into something drastically different. If a QR code is linked to a public review site, a wiki, or a forum, anyone can lend a hand in chronicling a site’s history. Obviously this has its pros and cons.

3. Green Ticketing

This summer Eventbrite, tested a QR code program for concert and party registration. Meant to increase efficiency and reduce waste, this type of registration will likely become more popular as camera and scanner technology improves.  In the future, codes could be used to signify race checkpoints with sports fans tracking their favorite cyclists and motorists in real time from their phones.

4. Geek Chiq Fashion

Lendorff.Kaywa produced only 500 high-end limited edition Space Invaders QR code scarves . Meanwhile, QRCode Commando Nerd p8tch offers a slightly more affordable “p8tch” to sew to bags and clothing. The patches are less likely to be used for branding than the Snappr merch as they link to a URL on the Swiss domain p8t.ch and users must then redirect. That being said, you’ve always got the opportunity to elegantly Rickroll your unsuspecting public.

5. Secrets & Acts of Defiance

In 2007, the Pet Shop Boys released a single criticizing the British national identity card concept. The single came complete with a QR code linked to the critique. Fine, you don’t like the Pet Shop Boys. Still, it’s interesting to see that the codes can be used to subvert regimes.

Environmentalists can sticker products and link to corporate crimes, artists can satirize the man by postering government buildings, and Kevin Bacon can finally organize a footloose dance-off free of oppressive townies. The potential for activism and buffoonery is limitless. You are the master of your QR Code Destiny!

Imagery courtesy of Wikipedia; iStockPhoto, narawon

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WordPress 2.7 completely overhauled the admin area of your blog, so isn’t it time you treated yourself with an overhaul of the front end also?

Why not pick something radically different than the usual blog look? Not only can you have a blog that stands out, you can completely change the function of WordPress to be a photoblog or a CMS, the possibilities are pretty much limitless with this powerful program. Here are 10 of the best themes to choose from.

What are some of your favorite non-traditional themes?

Album

Album - The perfect theme for any artist, photographer or designer that wants to display their work.  Has seven different color schemes to better match your work.  Cost for an individual license is $59.95.

Blue Grace

Blue Grace - A 3-column theme that has the unusual distinction of not making you feel crowded as you read it.  Colors can be customized by playing around with a PSD file, and it is released under the GPL license.

Celebrity Gossip

Celebrity Gossip - Despite the name, Celebrity Gossip can be used for just about anything.  Thumbnails of images are auto generated from the first image in a post, but you can also override the selection manually.  Has 3 different color styles, widgets, 125×125 ads and more.  Cost for an individual license is $35.00.

Google Chrome

Google Chrome - Can’t get enough of Google Chrome?  Well, you can now carry it over to your blog in a surprisingly effective translation.  Very open and clean, but we would warn to be wary of adding too many widgets as they would be very noticeable.  Released under the GPL license.

iQ2

iQ2 - A photoblog theme built around the PhotoQ Photoblog Plugin which gives you choice of colors for the theme, the ability to batch upload photos and a whole lot more.  No license is listed on the page, but seeing as there is an easy download link handy and donate button, one assumes it is free.

Over Easy

Over Easy - A CMS theme that features lots of highlighting for various articles with a really interesting sliding header to feature multiple pages.  Also has a blog hidden away in it so you can do normal blogging if you choose.  Cost for an individual license is $70.00.

THiCK

THiCK - A highly customizable theme built with the social media minded individual in mind.  Shows your latest Tweets, your social profiles, a LifeStream section for all of your latest activities, and has over 20 styles and colors available.  Cost for an individual license is $70.00.

TimesCafe News

TimeCafe News - This mixture of magazine style and CMS comes in three colors and caters heavily to those that use a lot of pages on their site.  Has lots of ad slots, video coding ready, FeedBurner options and more.  Cost for an individual license is $79.95.

Vigilance

Vigilance - A highly customizable theme that allows you to make all sorts of changes to the top image. Highlight box in posts, Google Analytics ready, multiple sidebar configurations and numerous changes allowed to the design.  Best of all it’s small in size and free to use.

WP Remix

WP Remix - A theme built around the idea of your WordPress site being used as a CMS, WP Remix comes bundled with 50 different page layouts allowing you to quickly change the look of your site, or even of a single page.  They also offer a magazine module separately.  Cost for an individual license is $75.00.

Interested in more WordPress resources? Check these out:

WordPress Themes: “Top 12 Stunning WordPress Themes“, “30+ WordPress 3 Column Themes,” “20 WordPress 4-Column Themes,” “30+ WordPress 1-Column Themes,” “10 Unusual & Original WordPress Themes”

Plugins: “20+ Great WordPress 2.7 Compatible Plugins,” “50+ WordPress Plugins for Multimedia,” “30+ WordPress Plugins for Statistics,” “30+ WordPress Plugins for Comments,” “30+ WordPress Plugins to Get More Blog Readers.”

Miscellaneous: “WordPress God: 300+ Tools for Running Your WordPress Blog,” “The 7 Weirdest and Wackiest Uses for WordPress“

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Atherton Bartelby is a Brooklyn-based graphic designer, art director, writer, blogger, and photographer. He authors a blog at Curious Affairs.

We’ve all been there: You’re at a party hosted by that one fabulous friend, and populated with the best of your mutual circle of friends. The atmosphere is almost carbonated with excitement; the guests’ personalities flawlessly compliment each other; and the conversations that abound are infused with intelligence, caustic wit, and a wide variety of knowledge that ensures the complete absence of any pregnant, awkward pauses. Then, it happens: someone appears who just doesn’t…fit.

A similar phenom happens on Twitter. You’re having conversations with your established Twitter friends, you’re broadcasting useful information, news, or links to your followers, and you’re “engaging your Tribe,” etc., when suddenly, someone begins following you who, much like that previously referenced party guest, just doesn’t fit. This is the person whose follow on Twitter you simply cannot bring yourself to return. This is the follow fail.

Run any number of searches on Google or Alexa and you will arrive at a veritable host of articles offering endless lists of tips on “how to get more followers on Twitter.” What you will not find are lists compiled by Twitter “power users” regarding the major reasons why they will or will not return a Twitter follower’s follow when it happens, and this is my gift to you: “The Top Ten Reasons Why *I* Will Not Follow You In Return On Twitter.”

1. You have no user avatar

…or your user avatar is neither a personalized photograph nor reflective of a brand.

More important than whether or not your Twitter profile background is “designed” is how you choose to present yourself in that seemingly insignificant 48×48 pixel square. If that square is empty, impersonal, or otherwise lacking any qualities that will immediately allow me to visually associate it with you, that is an immediate Follow Fail. If I am going to build a Twitter relationship with you, I want to see you, or your brand, and not, however humorous I may find it, a screen capture of a magical leoplurodon.

2. You list no location, no website, or no bio

Clearly, Twitter is all about brevity. So how difficult is it to provide a few additional characters of information that may offer potential followers more impetus to follow you in return? I’ve returned countless follows from users whose Twitter streams I’ve found “meh,” but whose listed blogs, sites, or portfolios were too amazing to not follow, or whose 160-character bios were too humorous/intriguing to pass up, or who were in the same city as me and therefore potential project collaborators.

These fields take two seconds to populate; it would behoove you to take those two seconds to populate them.

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3. Your “website” listed is a MySpace profile

…or, far worse, an AngelFire “page.”

I’ll admit it: I had a MySpace profile…until I deleted it a year ago when it became obvious that only teenagers and musicians were still using it. I also had a GeoCities/AngelFire “page”…for my very first website when I first got on the Internet in 1994. If the Twitter user in question happens to be an actual teenager, or musician whose MySpace presence truly works for them, then fine. But I tend to pass over those users whose proffered web presence is, well, clearly doing it wrong.

It doesn’t take much these days to establish a web presence that seems genuine and thoughtful, and appears to intend to attract and build an online community based on the content it provides. AngelFire pages simply don’t communicate that.

4. You’re following over 1,000 users, have 20 followers, and no updates

…or, worse, one update that includes a shamefully ill-constructed mention of Jason Calacanis.

Who, aside from those running Twitter apps that automatically follow and unfollow followers, would add these Twitter users? While I may every so often and uncharacteristically give these users a chance, simply to see what sort of content, if any, they may eventually provide, the gratuitous mention of any higher-profile Twitterer or web-famous personality means little more to me than that you were properly able to spell “Calacanis” or “Kawasaki.”

5. Your profile features any variation of “Internet expert”

…or “social media expert” and you have very few and/or insubstantial updates.

While I generally loathe any mention of the word “expert” in a Twitter bio, it is particularly egregious when paired with a Twitter stream of only five updates, or one with a plethora of updates that make me question your “expert” status. You’re an “expert” who is only now tweeting about a Twitter app that everyone else was tweeting about two months ago? How awesome for you! #instantfollowfail

6. Your updates clearly indicate that your Twitter activity is always, only, about pushing your own service/product

So, you have decided to use Twitter as an online marketing tool in order to sell your amazing service and/or product, and you make this glaringly obvious. I find this fabulous, because not only must this tactic be working for you, but it also allows me to immediately decide whether or not I want to follow you in return.

Since I do not use Twitter in this manner, I rarely follow any of these users in return, unless said product or service genuinely piques my interest/desire to support it.

7. Your following and my return follow result in a poorly-constructed auto-DM reading, “Thx for the follow! How can I help you get to a 4-Hour Work Week?”

I’ve several Twitter friends who employ the automatic direct message tool upon any new follows, but their messages are carefully crafted and, well, thoughtful, and go far beyond the garden variety “click my junk” automatic direct message. As I am an intelligent, savvy, thinking Twitter user, I am more than capable of reading all about how you can help me get to a 4-hour work week by consulting your Twitter stream, Twitter background, or website. An impersonal automatic direct message from you along these lines does not impress me, it insults my intelligence.

8. Your most recent updates make references to any need to achieve “more Twitter followers”

…or “enough new followers to reach 10,000 followers by midnight!”

For me, Twitter is not a shallow popularity contest, it is about forging interesting connections and conversations with other people. My Twitter followers are far more to me than a simple follower count: they are friends, they are colleagues, they are collaborators, they are peers, and they are sources. To follow someone in return whose only intent is clearly to acquire more followers would be to devalue the esteem with which I hold my other followers.

9. Your Twitter stream indicates a propensity for consistent arguing

I am all for intelligent debate on any topic, and I’ve been lucky so far in meeting Twitter followers who are still able to politely debate about a variety of passionate topics without constant and vitriolic argumentation. If your Twitter stream is filled with nothing but mean-spirited opinions and argumentation that only advance your own beliefs and allow no consideration of others’ views, then my Twitter stream is definitely not for you.

10. You do not engage your Twitter followers

Probably the most important reason why I will not return your follow, though, is if it is glaringly obvious that you do not engage your Twitter followers. Here I suppose I need to make a distinction between those Twitter users who use Twitter to broadcast their content, as opposed to everyone else; these broadcasters, in my experience, are generally the ones who are followed, not those who are following.

Obviously, engaging their followers is not a priority. Twitter is a major platform in social networking and social media, and they aren’t called “social” networking and “social” media for nothing. There are other people out there, and if you are not engaging or interacting with those users who take the time to follow you for whatever reason, that is a huge follow fail in my book.

The three tenets

My list isn’t perfect, and it is definitely personal and therefore biased, but it is a start toward exploring the differences between a successful Twitter follow attempt and an outright follow fail. In the end, and to return to those previously referenced lists of “how to get more followers on Twitter,” I think there are really only three tenets that should be followed should you desire to build a successful and quality Twitter network:

1. Present a cohesive personal brand, or, if presenting a brand is too much for you, simply present a cohesive sense of yourself

2. Always be consistent in your use of Twitter, i.e., become known for the unique ways in which you use Twitter, and stick with what works for you

3. Engage with your network. Genuine engagement with your network of followers will ultimately ensure that your mobile number is retained, and not “lost,” at the end of that fabulous party, and it will ensure that you don’t (too often) commit any serious follow fails.

What do you consider follow fails? Tell us below in the comments.

Atherton Bartelby is a Brooklyn-based graphic designer, art director, writer, blogger, and photographer. An observer by nature, he enjoys studying the fascinating intricacies of interpersonal relationships, the design and media industries, and Internet culture, and faithfully records his observations in his blog, Curious Affairs.

Interested in more Twitter resources? Check these out:

- “HOW TO: Build Community on Twitter”

- “HOW NOT TO: Build Your Twitter Community”

- “HOW TO: Win Friends and Twinfluence People”

- “The 10 Users You’ll Meet on Twitter”

Imagery courtesy of iStockPhoto, cwlawrence, swilmor, Sveta

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When people think of the BlackBerry, they tend to think of it only in terms of enterprise users. Over the past few years it has become much more than that; a device that is easily accessible to anyone for any number of uses. One of the biggest trends on the device has been easing communication.

Be it in the form of Instant messaging or social networking, there are plenty of free tools out there for you to use to stay in touch with anyone from anywhere. Use these 15 free tools to turn your BlackBerry into a communications powerhouse.

What are some of your favorite ways to communicate on the BlackBerry?

Instant Messengers

AIM - The old guard instant messenger of AIM is available for various models of BlackBerry and includes picture messaging inside of chat, avatars, emoticons, instant login and more.

Google Talk - Google brings their popular instant messenger to the BlackBerry with features such as changing your status, chat logging just like the desktop version, buddy pictures and everything else you could hope for.

ICQ - A favorite of the technical elite for years, ICQ for the BlackBerry gives you the ability to run several chats at once, near real-time updates on which friends are online auto-login and several other features.

Windows Live Messenger - Windows Live Messenger for the BlackBerry allows you to add, delete and block contacts, customize your status message, participate in multiple chats and a bevy of other features.

Yahoo Messenger - Yahoo’s entry into the BlackBerry instant messaging market allows you to view your current contacts list, add avatars, use emoticons and the usual line-up of features.

Social Networking

Facebook - Facebook for the BlackBerry gives you easy photo sharing for models of the phone with a camera, updates on your mail and wall messages. Also send pokes and a heck of a lot more.

Flickr - The perfect application for models of the BlackBerry with a camera, Flickr will allow you to directly upload your photos, resize, tag and even geotag the image if your unit has GPS.

MySpace - The BlackBerry MySpace application allows you to read email and bulletins, change your mood, add comments, post photos and an assortment of other features.

Miscellaneous

Cellity - Cellity is an app that allows you to make calls at cheaper rates, offers reduced fees for text messages, microblogging and more.

iSkoot - iSkoot is a third-party application that gives you full control over your Skype account. You can chat with your contacts, make Skype-to-Skype calls, and even use Skype Out to call international phone numbers, all via your BlackBerry.

LogicMail - LogicMail bring IMAP and POP email support to the BlackBerry. You can also send email via SMTP and view images in mail. Provides support for IMAP folders and a whole lot more.

ShoZu - ShoZu allows you to interact with numerous sites such as Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, LiveJournal, Blogger and a whole slew more. Available features vary by service.

Twitterberry - How could you talk about communications on any device without bringing up the ubiquitous Twitter? Enter new messages, get replies, send direct messages, check the timeline and more.

Vlingo - While not a communication app in and of itself, Vlingo is a voice command app that will allow you to speak your text messages instead of having to type them off. Also allows you to voice control other selected applications.

YouMail - While not exactly an application, YouMail is a third-party service that allows you to get new services in your voicemail such as the ability to download, forward, look up missed calls and several other features.

Interested in more BlackBerry Resources?

- “20 BlackBerry Mobile Apps for Organization and Productivity”

- “7 Great Resources for BlackBerry Applications”

- “BlackBerry Toolbox: Themes for Your BlackBerry“

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Free iPhone Apps!

Music-based games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band have become wildly popular, so it only makes sense that similar games are being created for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Both devices have a plethora of gaming apps, but only a handful of those are free and based around music. Here are 10 - perfect for long hours stuck in airports, commuter trains, and so on.

What are some of your favorite music-based games for the iPhone and iPod Touch, and which do you wish existed?

Aero Drum Free

While it may not be as exciting as beating the skins of an actual drum kit, Aero Drum Free will still help you work out some of your frustrations by beating out a sick rhythm. Just follow the dots to play snare, cymbal and bass drum and try to beat the scores.

As with all of the “X Game Free” versions, this is a trial version, and there are more features in the paid app.  (App Store Rating: 2 stars)

Aero Guitar Free

At some point or another, everyone has “played” air guitar, but with the help of Aero Guitar Free, now you can actually feel like you are accomplishing something!  This free version of the app will allow you to sample the game before you buy the full one, and will teach you the basic of up strokes, down strokes and basic tapping.

Another rhythm action game, but at least it makes you feel like you are doing more than just tapping.  (App Store Rating: 2 stars)

Aero Synth Free

Ever wish you had the mad skills of a club DJ?  Well, more than likely you never will, but Aero Synth Free will at least help you live out that fantasy a bit more. Tap along as the electronic music plays and keep the beat going, but if you miss one of the bubbles in the four streams, the music goes back to its original intro until you are on track again.

The side scrolling nature of this game is a bit prohibitive as your hand can hide the lower streams.  (App Store Rating: 2.5 stars)

Chrimbell

There is nothing quite like the sound of bells playing along with a Christmas carol, and with Chrimbell you can reproduce that sound to go along with some old time hits.  Choose from Christmas carols like “Away In A Manger” or “Jingle Bells” and then choose your bell and get to playing.

It appears it does need the built-in speaker of the iPhone or iPod Touch version 2 to work as I couldn’t get any sound on my iPod Touch 1.  (App Store Rating: 2.5 stars)

Mardo’s Music Trivia - Lite Version

Who doesn’t love to test their knowledge of trivial facts?  With Mardo’s Ultimate Music Trivia you can see how well you do across a whole range of musical genres from punk to country.

The lite version is very lite, but it will give you a feeling for how the full version plays and if it will even interest you.  (App Store Rating: 2 stars)

rePete Lite

Harking back to the days of the Simon electronic game, rePete Lite allows you to choose a playing grid of 4, 6 or 9 light boxes and then uses lights and sound to show you the pattern you need to remember.

As with most memory games out there, watch out for the addictive factor.  (App Store Rating: 2.5 stars)

synthPond Lite

A fairly complex app, synthPond Lite allows you to place different types of nodes around the screen to create synthetic music.  You can change their pitch, speed and a whole lot more.

While most lite versions of games really scale back on their features, this one seems to be complete in all the right places.  (App Store Rating: 2.5 stars)

Tap Tap Revenge

Have a desire to tap your iPhone or iPod Touch screen to a rhythm?  Then Tap Tap Revenge is your answer.  With a name obviously inspired by Japan’s mega-popular Dance Dance Revolution, the actual game play takes its cues from the addictive Guitar Hero.

While the music is generic in this version, that is what allows them to keep it being released for free.  I personally find the game a bit frustrating, but then I have huge fingers and am not exactly known for my ability to keep a beat.  (App Store Rating: 3 stars)

ThumbStruck Free

Compared to other rhythm-based games, ThumbStruck Live has you hitting the musical elemental balls on three bars instead of the usual one.  Your thumbs will be dancing all over the board to keep up with this one.

This game definitely steps up the rhythm-based genre by requiring you to be a lot more agile and coordinated to hit all three sections of the board.  (App Store Rating: 2.5 stars)

Xmas In Space: Play-a-Long Christmas Carols

Who knew they had Christmas on other planets?  Well, according to Xmas In Space:Play-a-Long Christmas Carols, they do, and they have sent you a music app that allows you to play along with bells or harps to some of your favorite Christmas carols.

Though the game has no way to measure how well you did, the song mixes are cute, and the fire crackling sound is oddly comforting.  (App Store Rating: 2.5 stars)

Interested in more resources? Check these out:

- “100+ iPhone Games That Use the Accelerometer”

- “12 Great Free Games for the iPhone and iPod Touch”

- “40+ Free iPhone Music Apps”

- “Top 10 Free iPhone Apps to Lose Weight”

Image courtesy of iStockPhoto, rustycloud

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Even if you didn’t make a resolution to lose weight this year, you probably have some fitness goals you would like to achieve in the new year. To help, we’ve put together a list of the top 10 free iPhone apps to help you lose weight and get into shape.

From calorie trackers to fitness tutorials, you can find pretty much anything you could ever want for managing your diet, weight, and fitness goals — best of all, they’re all free. Now you have no more excuses. Download one or more of these apps and get going. Here’s to staying motivated in 2009!

Tell us about your favorites in the comments.

Calorie Tracker

Calorie conscious? Calorie Tracker is an incredibly handy free app from LIVESTRONG.com, Lance Armstrong’s health and fitness website. Users can look up and track daily caloric, fat, carbohydrate, and protein intake.

The app pulls from LIVESTRONG.com’s Daily Plate nutritional database with over 450,000 food and restaurant items. And if you want your physical activity to factor into the mix, just use the app to calculate burned calories for a variety of exercises. Users can also use the app in conjunction with the website for support groups, forums, and Q&A. (App Store Rating: 2.5 stars)

Lose It!

Set goals, create a daily calorie budget, record food and exercise, and view graphs of progress with this full-featured weight management app. After you enter your stats, you can create a custom plan, with an end date in mind, based on how much weight you want to lose per week. So for my weight loss goal, should I stick to my 1279 daily calorie budget, my loss should be realized by April 17 of this year.

Since the app is incredibly easy to use and approaches weight loss in an easy way for me to manage, I think I’m going to stick with this one until I reach my goal; I’ll let you know how that goes. (App Store Rating: 3.5 stars)

40·30·30

Calorie trackers are great, but how do you make sure that you’re getting the right nutritional balance? The 40·30·30 app is a one trick pony that will really come in handy if you need to quickly calculate the percentage of carbs, protein, and fats in your meal.

Just scroll through the weight (in grams) options for each nutritional element to view your ratio. (App Store Rating: 2.5 stars)

iPump Free Workout

Created by Exercise Physiologist, Declan Condron, this free alternative to iPump, has two full body workouts targeting major muscle groups, as well as sample exercises from each of the other iPump apps.

Each workout is designed specifically for maximum results, and lets users listen to music, watch video demonstrations for each exercise, and record activity to a workout log as they go. (App Store Rating: 2.5 stars)

StepTrackLite

When logging activity just doesn’t cut it, use StepTrackLite as a simple pedometer to measure and track physical activity while strolling, walking, or running.

The app works whether your iPhone is in your pocket, on your belt, or even in your backpack, and you can listen to music as you get your workout on.  (App Store Rating: 2.5 stars)

iMapMyRun

iMapMyRun utilizes the iPhone’s GPS technology for real-time distance, time, pace, and speed tracking. It even integrates with Twitter, should you want a quick way to advertise your fitness regime.

Once you setup your account (you can use an existing MapMyRun.com account), you can save your runs, bike rides, and walks to a training log, with maps, for future reference. Additional features include the ability to sync with the website and use voice feedback to coach you as you go. Note: as with all apps like this, you do need to leave the app open for the entirety of the workout. (App Store Rating: 3 stars)

iSPINNING

Mountain and road biking fanatics listen up, iSPINNING is powerful app that lets you design workouts to see and track heart rate, time in target zones, calories burned, cadence, speed, distance, and power.

The app is compatible with a variety of fitness sensors, and lets you customize your workout dashboard metrics for each ride. You will need additional hardware, like the SMHEART LINK, for creating a wireless bridge between your iPhone and your fitness sensor. (App Store Rating: 2.5 stars)

Pret-a-Yoga Lite

Pret-a-Yoga Lite is the perfect app for yoga beginners who might be threatened by the gym environment, or advanced yogis looking to take their routine on the go.

Pret-a-Yoga Lite is like having your own personal yoga instructor, minus the slightly awkward touching, to guide you through each breathe and pose with both images and audio instructions. (App Store Rating: 3 stars)

2Fat

If all you need is to calculate your body fat percentage and BMI, then the 2Fat app might be just the right fit.

The scroll wheels make it incredibly simple and fast to use. All you need to do is select your sex, weight, and waist measurement and wait for the bad news. (App Store Rating: 2.5 stars)

Heartbeat

If you need to take a quick heart rate census during or after a tough workout, use Heartbeat to help you manually track your heart beats per minute (bpm).

To calculate your heart’s bpm, just tap the heart on the screen every time your heart beats — it’s that easy. The app would be incredibly cool if it could automatically calculate your heart rate, but it still is a handy tool for heart rate monitoring on the run. (App Store Rating: 2.5 stars)

Interested in more resources? Check these out:

- “Lose the Blogger 15: 25+ Web Apps for Dieting and Getting in Shape”

- “40+ Free iPhone Music Apps”

- “50+ iPhone Apps to Enhance Your Photo and Video Experience”

- “15+ Free iPhone Apps to Navigate Your World”

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, evirgen

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Ryan Deal is a social media and creative advertising lover who’s got an eye for good design and a passion that won’t quit. He authors a blog at ryanyeah.com.

Twitter is undoubtedly becoming one of the fastest growing social media tools in existence. As it continues to expand, so too does the diversity of its user base.

Whether you’re new to Twitter, a veteran user, or someone that is just interested, here’s a list of the 10 people you meet on Twitter. There may be more, but this is a great place to start.

Feel free to suggest more types of accounts you may encounter in the comments section.

1. Memes, games, and activities

From Twitter accounts that claim to be God (way_truth_life, god, holygod) to accounts that provide fun games to kill time (tweetbomb, secrettweet, etc.), memes, which are defined on Wikipedia as intangible elements of our culture, are constantly popping up on Twitter. They don’t always have many followers, but they’re there.

2. A company, product, or brand

Some brands really get it, and those are the ones that should be on Twitter. They make a great product and they understand the importance of engaging their consumers. Companies like Comcast, Zappos, Starbucks, and Mimoco interact with their consumers every day, and for that deserve some sort of recognition.

Then, there are brands that use Twitter to spam. These accounts are only on Twitter to let people know about new deals, new products, or anything else about their product. They usually follow way more people than are following them and they obviously don’t get it. I’m not going to point any out here; I’m sure you can recognize them when you see ‘em.

3. Suspended accounts

A lot of accounts are being suspended these days because they violate the Twitter TOS in some way. These accounts are usually spam accounts that follow tons of people in hopes that many will follow back so that they can spam them with sales messages and links. For this reason, I make it a point to check out every person that follows me before I follow them back.

If you’ve followed an account like this or you know of one, you can report them to @spam by sending them an @reply with the suspected account’s username.

4. Guy in a suit, corporate background, with more following than followers

These people are the realtors of Twitter. They might not be overpriced home dealers, but they feel the same. Their avatar and bio serve as a generic business card from which they hope to achieve your business or your loyalty and trust.

These are the people that do everything for a living; and I mean EVERYTHING. They are self-proclaimed social media experts and they are usually a CEO or founder of something. Their bio usually includes words like this: startup, expert, artist, visionary, social media, enthusiast, specialist, marketing, PR, sales, properties, and maven.

Many of them are full of you-know-what, but they aren’t all bad. You can usually point out the legit ones by looking at their followers to following ratio and by taking a look at their recent updates. Here are some that do it right: JimConnolly, madmain, and KikiValdez.

5. Default avatar: means 3 things… spam, n00b, or something else

Then there are the accounts with the default avatar. To me this means one of three things. Either they are a n00b, a spam account, or they don’t know how to use a camera, and if that’s the case, how did they ever make it onto the Internet?

Additionally these may be people that can’t decide on one picture they want to represent themselves, or they just don’t have time. If that’s the case, they should really spend the minute it takes to find a picture and upload it. A lot of Twitter users won’t even consider accounts without avatars. Sorry @bad_decisions, this means you.

6. Scobleizer… and others like him

This list wouldn’t be complete without mentioning the Twitterati. Chances are they aren’t going to just follow you, but if you’ve been on Twitter more than a week or two, you’ve definitely heard of them. Whether they should be or not, they have become the idols of social media. With tens of thousands of followers and just as many updates between them, there’s no doubt you have or will come into contact with them.

I suggest checking them out before you follow them. And don’t be discouraged if you send them a message and they don’t reply; chances are they’re getting tons every day.

Here’s a short list of people who have achieved this rank. This is in no way a full list, just