In mid-November, Microsoft released a new update to the Zune software and device firmware. The update adds three new games to the Zune device, but doesn’t offer much else. Microsoft is calling the software Zune 3.1 (though the official Zune Web site is still promoting Zune 3.0).

The updates are pretty well covered on Paul Thurrott’s blog. As I said, there wasn’t much added to the new software and firmware except for a few extra games for the device.

A new version of Boxee was released yesterday. The new version is currently available on Mac, AppleTV and Windows. While this is just an update for the Mac and AppleTV users, this is the first version released on Windows.

Those of us using Linux have been told we’ll have to wait a few more days to get our update, but I’m okay with that.

I am very curious to see how Boxee performs on Windows, but I am not one of the lucky few (214, to be exact) that got an invitation to test it on Windows, yet. Hopefully I’ll get one in the next wave of invites.

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Unfortunately, there are few good options for sidebars in Linux. With the advent of the Vista sidebar on Windows Vista, I find myself missing those nifty widgets when using other operating systems.

I am slowly moving toward using Linux Mint more than I am using Vista, so I went in search of a good sidebar for Mint. After trying a few things that failed miserably, I happened upon Google Gadgets for Linux (GGL). It is important, at this point, to mention that Google Gadgets is also available for Windows and Mac. For purposes of this article, though, I will be referring exclusively to GGL, as I have not tested the application on any other operating systems.

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Online video is big business nowadays. Websites dedicated to video like Youtube, BBC iPlayer and 4oD have taken off in a big way, and an increasing number of websites are introducing video content to keep users engaged. This spread of online videos is in no small part due to the ever improving connection speeds – 90% of internet connections in the UK are through broadband (source: UK Statistics Authority). However, if you’re considering introducing video content to your site or looking to make the best of your existing video content, you must put the user experience at the forefront of your proposition. Here are some guidelines to enhance the usability of online video:

It’s a video…

The first step to getting your users to play the video is letting them know that it is in fact a video and not an image or text. Obvious as this may seem, it’s particularly important on websites where users aren’t expecting to see video content. When using a still as a thumbnail, provide a big, clear play button in the middle of it to show that it’s a video. If it’s a link, you can still use a play button in line with the link text to differentiate it from a regular link.

The MSN video site has an unmissable play button in the middle of the still.

The BBC effectively indicates links that lead to videos or audio files.

Descriptive title & summary

Set users’ expectations as to what’s in the video, what its purpose is and why they should spend their time watching it. Convey the essence by providing videos with descriptive titles that contain keywords. You must use relevant keywords which are good for search engine optimisation (SEO) as well as usability, as these are likely to be the terms people are typing in searches. Offer a summary of selling points to persuade users to watch it. This summary should be no more than a couple of lines or bullet points so it’s quick and easy for the eye to scan.

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Ikea, the Swedish furniture giant, has once again developed a new and innovative way to advertise their products.

A few months ago, CenterNetworks posted about Ikea’s ad campaign with Nils, a single guy living alone in his Ikea-furnished apartment while his every move was broadcast across the Internet. That was pretty wild, but I think Ikea’s latest innovation is even more ingenious (although it’s just as creepy and weird as the Nils concept).

Ikea has unleashed a new site called “Come Into the Closet” (warning – for some unknown reason, this site resizes your browser window). This campaign uses Adobe Flash to synchronize stop-action animation (with actors, not drawings) with any music thrown at it. The characters will move in sync with the beat of the music. What’s more, the movements actually seem to be controlled by pitch as well as rhythm.

Be sure to check it out. You can even upload your own tracks to see how the characters interact. I found that the movements almost begin to look like epliepsy when you upload a track with driving beats and very little silence.

Earlier this week, I missed Fringe when it aired on Fox on Tuesday night. I decided I would try to catch up by checking it out on Hulu. Unfortunately, that was a disaster for me.

About 30 seconds into the video, it started skipping terribly, playing for about a second, then pausing for two or three, then playing another second or two, then pausing for another two to four seconds. I can only assume that the problem is due to my satellite Internet connection.

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Curtiss wrote a great post about Thanksgiving earlier this morning and I wanted to echo his comments. I especially want to say thanks to Curtiss, Leppy and Deadeye for taking care of the forums, making sure they are spam-free and all their hard work answering everyone’s questions. Also a shoutout to Till for helping to get us working on the new Web host.

It’s amazing to think that we started the HTMLCenter journey over 10 years ago and I believe we are the longest-running independent web developer community operating today. I’ve got some ideas which will continue to move HTMLCenter forward over the year next year so stay tuned.

No matter if you are in the U.S. or anywhere else in the world, all of us here at HTMLCenter thank you for your interest in our community.

To all of our readers in the United States, I want to wish you a happy Thanksgiving. In these trying economic times, please take the time to remember those things for which you truly are thankful. In everyone’s life, no matter how dim things may seem, there are always things for which to be grateful. I hope you find those things in your own heart and mind, and take the time today to celebrate them.

If nothing else, at least most of us can be thankful that we won’t be dealing with the Black Friday crowds in a major metropolitan area (I will, regrettably, be dealing with Black Friday crowds, but not in an urban setting).

Recently, I have found myself more and more frustrated and dumbfounded by the sheer lack of attention people seem to pay to their own writing. There are certainly circumstances under which I can understand using poor grammar.

However, over the last few months, I have encountered poor grammar in almost all situations from almost all types of people. I have seen sloppy, unedited writing in commercial marketing. I have seen and heard poor spelling and speech in professional situations and official communiques from various white-collar managers.

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When searching on Google the other day, I noticed two new icons for the first time. Next to each search result, there now are two icons. One of them looks like an arrow pointing upwards inside of a box, and the other looks like an X inside of a box.

When you mouseover the first, the tooltip says “Promote”. When you mouseover the second, the tooltip says “Remove”.

Also, a little less conspicuous is a comment icon, allowing you to post comments about the search result.

Google is calling the new features “SearchWiki”, and they posted about it in the Official Google Blog.

Have you noticed this new feature? Have you used it at all? What are your thoughts?