I’m not sure I remember being this excited about a piece of open source code.  While the premise is fairly simple, the algorithms at play and the potential uses are vast.  Before I get too far ahead of myself, please let me clarify.  I’m talking about a piece of software called Genetify.

The code, in a nutshell, allows for the real time testing of variations on aspects of a website.  These aspects range from html elements to css styles to javascript variables.  With a few small lines of javascript and a several variations in the code, you can let ‘genetics’ take care of the rest.  For more information on how the software works, check out the usage section of the Github page.

I first read of this code being used on shoemoney.com.  In the post titled, ‘Split Testing with a Genetic Algorithm’, the company’s CTO explained how he used Genetify to split test several lines of text, colors of buttons and various call to action arrow configurations.  Over several thousand page views, the algorithms eventually determined which combination of elements resulted in the highest success rate.  Read more about how the use of genetic algorithms increased their sales figures in the article.

After poking around a bit, I learned that the software has been around in some form for a while now.  It was set to the back burner for some time while the creators explored a more lucrative version of the concept, SnapAds.  In a November 2008 post, John Resig talks about being very excited about the rumor of the Genetify code being open sourced.  A quick look in the Github history of the project shows that less than one month later, author gregdingle committed the first version.  A year later, we have the most current commit, which is what I’ve been experimenting with.

The most obvious use for this code seems to be for advertisement landing pages and product sales pages.  That being said, I’d love to find a use for it in my freelancing.  Being a web developer first, and barely a designer second, it’s a very intriguing to think that I could allow a site’s user base to determine a very important design decision.  I’d be very interested to know what web designers think of this use of genetic algorithms.

Programming, Web Development | No Comments »

Recently, I signed up with a company called Sponsored Tweets.  It’s a pretty simple system really.  You sign up and set the price you’d like to get paid per tweeted ad.  On the other side, Sponsored Tweets has a whole group of advertisers looking to have you tweet an advertisement for them.  If they think your price fits your twitter account’s reach and influence, then they contact you.  At this point, you agree on a price, and you send out a tweet advertising their product.  Very simple, and an affective way for companies to harness the power of Twitter.

I’ve mentioned this product to a few people, and their initial reaction is generally bordering on disgust.  When I ask what caused their face to turn sour, they almost always describe some sort of assumed purity in their Twitter feed.  This, as a developer, has a tendency to irk me in several ways.  After taking a few nerd breaths, I recompose myself and ask one simple question:

“How much are you paying to use Twitter?”

This is the exact same question I pose to folks who complain about design and policy changes on Facebook.  Or those who are still pouting about the inclusion of Buzz in Google’s *ahem* free e-mail service, GMail.  I am continually perplexed by the vast amount of entitlement assumed by the citizens of the internet. The last I checked, no one forced you to sign up for these services.  Nor did anyone ask you to disregard the respective services’ legal terms.

My other point of contention is the assumption that some phantom benefactor is paying for these services’ operational fees.  Server space, employee wages and legal fees are not paid with pictures of your dog, Snookie, or your tweet regarding a hot new bar in town.  They are, however, paid by allowing advertisers to target their ads in a very direct manner.

So, as a developer, I have no issue what so ever with seeing ads in my twitter feed, nor tweeting the occasional ad.  Do I want to see an ad every other tweet, not really. But if while Twitter takes its time figuring out how to monetize their system, far be it from me to not make a little extra cash while I tweet.

With all that being said, I’m interested in what you have to say.  So please,  developers and non-developers alike, chime in with your thoughts on the topics discussed above.

Twitter | 1 Comment »

Ahhh, yes… it feels good to be back up and running.  thehokie.com has been offline for a while now, but I figured it was just about time to revive the beast.

I’ve been getting into many new things since I last posted on this site.  I’ve started developing applications for the iPhone.  I have been doing some freelance web work.  Most recently, I’ve been working on a larger project, creating online shopping software for buying clubs.

Off of the computer, I’ve been spending a lot of time fermenting many things.  My friend Jake and I have been homebrewing now for about a year.  I’ve had several successful batches of sauerkraut and kimchi.  Throw in some exploding mead, a few tasty sour pickles and about two quarts of pickled beets and there have been a lot of things bubbling in my apartment.

The one thing that unifies everything above is that, for the first time in my life, I’ve continually ran into a lack of resources on the web.  If I Googled, “fermentation with whey”, I’d get a few sites, but nothing very specific.  Changing the color of several elements in a view-based navigation style iPhone app?  Again, nothing very useful.

Through stringing information from a few random websites, coupled with trial and error, I’ve figured out most of the things I was searching for.  But then I realized I should probably be writing this stuff down, lest someone else is searching for the same things to no avail.

And there you have it.  As the title indicates, I hope to make this website a resource for all things web development, programming and fermentation.  We’ll see how it goes!

Other Things | No Comments »