There’s a lot of buzz surrounding OpenID at the moment, and there’s good reason for it too. The idea of one single login for all your Internet services has been the holy grail of online authentication for years.
OpenID differs from previous attempts at a global authentication system (Microsoft’s .NET/Live login) in that it is non-proprietary and decentralised. You are not forced to trust any one OpenID provider – you can choose who hosts your OpenID and if you fancy it you can even use your own personal website as your OpenID.
I know I usually try to register for online services with a consistent username/password combination, but this is not always possible. Wouldn’t it be great if we could log in to all our online service providers with one single login? Of course it would and that’s why we’re all interested in OpenID.
However, I read an article today by Kyle Neath on five reasons why he wont be getting on the OpenID train. Each of Kyle’s concerns are very valid concerns but fundamentally there is one issue that I think stands out as a potential show-stopper: OpenID is just bloomin confusing!
I can use any provider I choose to host my OpenID. In fact I can have as many OpenIDs as I like and switch providers if I want. I can associate my OpenID with my own website using something called ‘delegation’. Or if I prefer I can host my own OpenID by installing some PHP libraries and scripts. And, with my dozen or so OpenIDs, I can bunch them together and declare them as one using something called YARDIS.
And all this is BEFORE I’ve even logged in to anything…
So how does one log in to OpenID enabled services? You type in your OpenID, your are then redirected to your OpenID provider, you log in, and your are then redirected back to the place you were trying to log in to in the first place. I’m not sure how user friendly this all is?
Another thing that particularly irks me is that there are many services who offer to host your OpenID. However, some of these services don’t seem to allow you to log in with an OpenID that is provided by an alternative provider. Which isn’t very open and kind of defeats the purpose, as well as add to the confusion.
Out of the murky OpenID fog that is occupying my brain, one thought is overwhelmingly clear: OpenID still has someway to go. I clearly don’t fully understand it yet, and I’m a self-confessed nerd. My Mum and Dad are simply not going to get it, and until they do OpenID will remain that dreamt-of holy grail.
Last week I was asked to participate in a group interview project organised by a handful of blogger-designers on the Estetica Design Forum. With my lifelong ambition for a Friday evening chat show at the forefront of my mind, I eagerly agreed.
I was asked to interview 24 year old graphic designer and self confessed geek-girl Caroline Murphy from Newcastle in the North East of England.
Tell me a bit about yourself and what you do for a living?
I’m 24, living in the east end of Newcastle with my partner and little kitten. I work full-time for a firm called Armadillo Creative and also try and freelance in my spare time under CM Designs.
Tell me more about your love of design and creativity. How did it all start?
I think it has always been with me; apparently when I was 3 I won an art competition! But, I’ve always been into drawing but was extremely precise and neat. My mum told me it was graphic design and from then on I knew exactly what I wanted to do.
Before we go any further, one crucial question: Mac or PC?
I’ve used both, but PC is the one for me! Mac’s do look good, but I like to be able to customise and upgrade my PC to no end, myself. Yes, I am a geeky girl.
So you run your own business and work in an agency? How do you squeeze it all in?
With great difficulty!! It was OK when I was part-time for the ‘Revenue, but now its very hard when I’m working over 40 hours a week. But as always I get there in the end: persistence and a lot of tea!
Hows the Freelance side of your career going? Is it something you intend to push further or are you happy being an employee?
Its had its up and downs, I didn’t expect to start freelancing so early in my life, therefore its been a steep learning curve, but I do wish to gain experience every day and hopefully do more work for more clients in the years to come. My dream would to be in my own small creative firm, alongside friends that have that same interest.
If I came to you with an ideal project that filled you with joy, what would that project be?
Oooh gosh that is a hard one. Sounds odd but I like someone quite demanding and knows their own mind, so it would inspire and encourage me to create something big and wonderful!
When you’re feeling down and uninspired, what do you do to get the creative juices flowing again?
I flick through my Computer Arts magazine, look at inspiring art on deviantART and if that doesn’t work, me and my boyfriend go to the coast for a drive and chill out.
Do you have any advice for the kids out there?
Work hard, play hard. Keep your chin up and you will get there, maybe not tomorrow, but you will someday!
Oh, and don’t take drugs!
What about the ones that are looking to start a design career?
Do listen to those who are already doing the job you want; not everyone is right just because they are older. A bit of education and experience (not either or) goes a long way. Don’t loose the enthusiasm you have as a young person. Its OK to be different.
Last but certainly not least, what song is getting played the most on your iPod right now?
I don’t own an iPod (shock horror) but I have a lovely new head-unit, and at the moment its Tidy Boys – Heavens Cry (Til Tears Do Us Part).
Wow, it seems ages ago that I first mentioned that I was thinking about launching a new site. It’s been almost three months since the idea popped in to my head, and about six weeks ago that I first started sketching ideas, but the day has finally come.
The aim of my new site is certainly to better position myself for my freelance activities, hence the way the homepage has been used as a kind of shop window. However, I intend the blog element to provide a useful resource for web and graphic designers and I hope to to carry on much of the what this blog has been doing up until now.
My opening article is a list of 25 design and creativity blogs that have inspired me. This is a way of thanking all the bloggers I have interacted with and learnt from over the past 14 months. Please head over, have a read and subscribe to the new RSS feed. And you would be doing me a massive favour if you could Stumble or Digg the article?
What happens to miLienzo.com now?
I want miLienzo.com to stay. I’ve actually built up quite a successful little site here with decent traffic and subscriber numbers, so it would be a shame to let it go. However, the truth is running two blogs may be more than I can manage.
My intention is to use this site more for my personal ramblings – somewhere where I can let of steam and post links to weird and wonderful things I see around the Internet – somewhere where I don’t necessarily have to think too carefully about what I am saying. I like the idea of distinguishing between my professional freelance blog and my personal random ramblings.
For the next month that is how I will try and run things in which time I can assess how manageable running two blogs simultaneously is. If all goes well I will then redesign miLienzo.com and give it a fresh coat of paint for a new life.
Many thanks for all your support through this – I know my postings have been few and far between for some months now and I appreciate you sticking with me. Thank you!
Of course you do because they are absolutely awesome! And luckily for you I want to raise awareness of a genuine competition where one is up for grabs. In fact, not just one is up for grabs but one every month!
I’ve just completed developing a Facebook application for IGM Investmore. The application is a trading game/competition where you are given £50,000 of virtual cash to spend on stocks and shares on the London Stock Exchange.
The game uses real data straight from the stock exchange so as the prices go up and down in real life, so do the prices of your virtual investments. The aim is obviously to make high returns off your investments – which is easier said than done.
The cool bit is that IGM Investmore are offering a free iPod touch to the most successful trader every month, and this is based on the highest percentage return which means anyone can win it any month – it doesn’t necessarily favour those that have been playing it for months on end.
A social bookmarking site – there are millions out there to choose from.
An icon – I wont describe how to make an icon, but you will need one (preferably PNG) size 20 x 20 pixels.
A submission URL – each site works slightly differently so you will need to find out the format of how URLs are submitted.
Place the icon and edit the CSS
This first bit is really easy. Simply put your icon in the plugin includes folder along with all the other icons. Make sure you have named it something sensible.
Next you need to open up the plugin’s style.css style-sheet (also in the includes folder). See the list of classes that show the background images for each social network site? Add a new one using exactly the same format (replacing ‘mysite’ with your chosen site):
.ilsb-mysite{background-image:url(mysite.png);}
Add the site to the PHP array
This next bit is slightly less easy. But still easy. Open up ilsb.php and scroll down until you find the show_icons array. See the format for how each separate site is defined? Well that’s right, you need to create a new one using the exact same format which will look something like this.
That, ladies and gentlemen, is it. You may need to click the ‘Reset Defaults’ button in ILSB admin options screen if it doesn’t show up immediately.
If you do add any extra sites, do let me know via the comments here or my contact form, and I will consider putting your custom sites in the next release.
