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Munger on "the Shoe Button Complex." -- Hoover's Business Insight Zone
[Source: http://www.hooversbiz.com]
1 comment in conversation. Last comment found December 17, 2008.
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MasterCard, what are you thinking? How on earth will you reproduce this logo on a credit card, on a ...
[Source: http://andrewdupont.net]
1 comment in conversation. Last comment found November 08, 2008.
Last comment:
Alex S. Jones Nov 8th, 2008
at 8:09 am (Quote ↓)
That will look amazing embroidered on a golf shirt.
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A Hundred Visions and Revisions
[Source: http://jbradforddillon.com]
7 comments in conversation. Last comment found October 17, 2008.
Last 5 comments:
J. Bradford Url
Posted 12 hours, 17 minutes ago #
@David: Glad to hear from you. God bless Brightman indeed. I look forward to your call.
@Ethan: Thank you very much, my good man. Thanks for the kind word and kind linkage.
Anton Url
Posted 4 hours, 10 minutes ago #
Me: Blown away. This is hot!
Alex S. Jones Url
Posted 4 hours, 10 minutes ago #
Elegant and fun. I love the front page and your Deviations is a great touch. I've struggled with the best way to present my bookmarks and had given up. Now I'm inspired to give it another try.
J. Bradford Url
Posted 1 hour, 35 minutes ago #
@Anton: Thanks man! Great to hear from you again.
@Alex: The bookmarks were a huge obstacle. I wanted them to be "separate but equal" to the articles, rather than just being an after thought, or getting lost in the content. This solution fit my needs perfectly. Thanks for checking it out.
Emily Url
Posted 56 minutes ago #
Lovely.
I particularly like how you stayed true to a grid, but mixed up your columns.
Has a very nice old-school print feel with great (yet simple) typography and lines.
And I'm a sucker for black and white. This one's going in my inspiration file. Thanks!
-
statesman.com
[Source: http://www.statesman.com]
15 comments in conversation. Last comment found October 14, 2008.
Last 5 comments:
By Scott
October 13, 2008 4:24 PM | Link to this
So what about us small business guys that drive for a living. I put 60k miles a year on one car. No way in hell I would pay that much in road taxes.
By jmbb
October 13, 2008 5:15 PM | Link to this
Somebody has to pay for the roads. May as well be the people that use them.
By Ray
October 13, 2008 8:39 PM | Link to this
Elect Obama. That Socialist/Communist will increase your taxes so high you won't be able to drive anything, anywhere. Road use will will be non-existant - ie, no need for road tax for raod maintenance.
By Susan Garry
October 14, 2008 10:17 AM | Link to this
I can't find any coverage today of the CAMPO meeting last night. Is there coverage, and I just can't find it?
By Jim Worley
October 14, 2008 10:59 AM | Link to this
Once you give them a new way to tax, the only thing that happens after that is that it INCREASES.
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One reason to invest in social media. -- Hoover's Business Insight Zone
[Source: http://www.hooversbiz.com]
1 comment in conversation. Last comment found October 08, 2008.
Last comment:
Business Blog: Hoover's Business Insight Zone
One reason to invest in social media.
October 08th, 2008
To paraphrase Willie Sutton: "Because that's where the money will be."
Vast pools of digital ink-equivalent have been expended over the past couple of years describing (or just wondering) how to calculate the return-on-investment of money spent on corporate social media initiatives.
Some of this work has been very good, and certainly the implementation of it calls for grownup business conversations, not just echo-chamber evangelism of the "Social media is awesome!" variety.
But two trends seem clear to me:
1. By its social nature, when it's done right, social media can bypass some of the reflexes of the modern consumer. Not for nothing does each of us cultivate anti-marketing or anti-advertising reflexes in our own roles as consumers. To put it another way, there's a reason why so many people from all walks of life hate-hate-HATE to be interrupted by a telemarketer during dinner. But social media offers the chance to form some sort of not-purely-commercial human connection between a company and its customer. I've made this argument before in describing how "Social media makes merchants of us all."
2. Money is fleeing traditional media outlets in droves. At the moment, a lot of would-have-been advertising dollars (and euros, pounds, etc.) simply aren't being spent because of harsh economic conditions. But many other still-being-spent ad dollars are simply moving online as newspapers, network television, and other traditional advertising outlets stagnate.
So, the various types of social media give businesses new opportunities to talk with customers, at the same time that those customers are moving away from traditional media outlets. Even better, businesses can genuinely talk with customers, not just at them as in traditional advertising. I'm saying what a thousand others have said before me, but it bears repeating in the current climate of economic uncertainty.
It's early days yet for social media. When I was talking with Brian Haven yesterday, he and I agreed that we're at the Model T stage - if not earlier - for social media as a whole. And the world's current macroeconomic conditions cast all kinds of doubt on where things are headed, whether we're talking about old-school advertising, online spending, investment in social-media platforms, or whatever. No one said divining the future was easy.
But, best I can tell, investing in social media takes advantage of major trends that don't look like changing anytime soon.
What do you think?
~
(Photo by covilha.)
Category: Advertising, Marketing & Sales, Social media
« The global IPO market, such as it is.
2 Comments so far
Michael October 8th, 2008 6:32 am
No question, social media is a great opportunity to interact with customrs in new, non-traditional ways. I think the thing most marketers, business development teams, and even executives are wondering is just how to use the medium correctly. Or, in some cases, at all. Given the economic challenges many are facing, funds and resources spent there can be just as wasted without a good strategy and clear goals.
Alex S. Jones October 8th, 2008 6:52 am
Great article Tim.
Michael brings up a good point, the money could easily be wasted without a solid plan and defined goals, but I think all too often companies and individual execs look at Social Media as having different goals than the core of their business and their existing revenue streams. Ultimately the tools that are built to help customers and prospects communicate with the business and each other support the business, shore up the foundations and provide new opportunities to learn and expand.
It comes down to communication. This new wave of tools makes it easier to connect and discuss with all of your clients, not just those few who you call or who call you.
I'll wrap it up by saying that now is the time to invest in the core of your business. For every business that core is made up of customers, and for the first time in a very long while there is a real opportunity to renew and improve upon relationships. The cost to add social media tools to a company (it goes far beyond the Web or the 'Net as a whole) is minor, while the benefits, both spreadsheet-tangible and emotionally-driven are great. We'll see the good companies stand a little taller when we come out of the current economic downturn, rising above the insular and fearful.
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-
The visible hand of Congress. -- Hoover's Business Insight Zone
[Source: http://www.hooversbiz.com]
1 comment in conversation. Last comment found September 30, 2008.
Last comment:
Business Blog: Hoover's Business Insight Zone
The visible hand of Congress.
September 29th, 2008
A bipartisan majority in Congress voted down the bailout engineered by Secy. Paulson (R - Wall Street) and Congressional leaders (D - San Francisco, Nevada, others), a bad market promptly turned much worse, and by the time the markets closed the major U.S. indices had lost 7 - 9 % of their value on the day.
Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post suggests that the defeat of the bill came because many members of Congress, following the old adage that "all politics is local," believed they were better served to respond to their constituents' mistrust of the bailout bill than they were to pass a law that Paulson, Democratic Congressional leaders, the President, and Warren Buffett had all said was vital for shoring up the rickety U.S. financial sector.
Buffett's opinion is apparently shared by many investors, since they headed for the exits in droves after the bill was defeated.
But what was the motivation of all those constituents who put the fear of the ballot box into those "Nay"-saying members of Congress - who had to go against their co-partisans in either the House leadership or the White House? Maybe the same sentiment that Adam Smith expressed 232 years ago when he published The Wealth of Nations:
The proposal of any new law or regulation which comes from [businessmen], ought always to be listened to with great precaution, and ought never to be adopted till after having been long and carefully examined, not only with the most scrupulous, but with the most suspicious attention. It comes from an order of men, whose interest is never exactly the same with that of the public, who have generally an interest to deceive and even to oppress the public, and who accordingly have, upon many occasions, both deceived and oppressed it.
Most of the businesspeople I know are honest and upright. My personal opinion is that Paulson and Bernanke are smart, sober, and incorruptible. I hope that no member of Congress would willingly throw the U.S. economy in the tank.
But I know that the U.S. electorate - like the Wall Street class - often acts from the gut. From where I sit, it looks like the fears and doubts of voters, by proxy of Congress, have only stoked the fears and doubts of investors.
If you ever made the ill-conceived wish to live in interesting times, that wish has come true.
~
(Image via Wikipedia.)
Category: Economics, Finance & Real Estate, Legal
« Where do you find calm in the financial storm?
Profundity . . . now! »
3 Comments so far
Kay September 29th, 2008 3:57 pm
The curse of a representative system is that it affects our overall country's well being. Sometimes a member of Congress must do what is right for the country, knowing that it might not be popular or even good for his or her particular state or district. If the whole doesn't hold, then all the parts are worthless. We are stuck nowadays with politicians instead of statesmen and women.
Alex S. Jones September 29th, 2008 4:07 pm
Great post Tim, though I would note that politicians often acts from the gut as well and I think in this case the electorate was reacting to the very short time span allotted to review of the bill. I don't think anyone involved would choose to damage the economy, but this bill was put together in a very short period of time but it will have an impact for decades to come. I think it's fair for the electorate to pressure their representatives to slow down a bit and read what they're voting for and amend it where needed. I bet many of them have yet to read it in full, choosing to follow the pressure of their party leaders or the calls of their constituents.
On the business-side, I agree, the majority of business folks I know are solid, trustworthy and intelligent, The problem lies in the fact that there are enough who do not meet that bar, which is why we are where we are economically. Smart people made dumb decisions. Honest leaders were either in the dark or looked away at pivotal times. It happens; we're human.
As for Paulson, I would have agreed that he was likely incorruptible prior to the three page plan he submitted, but those now-infamous 32 words has convinced me otherwise:
Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.
That's not how our democracy works and it sure doesn't fall into the expectations our founders and the lawmakers since set out in crafting our nation. I'm not claiming that Paulson is corrupt in the sense of greed, but rather in the sense that he feels that he and those who follow should wield great financial power unchecked by the Legislative and Judicial branches. In fact it evens allows him to sidestep the Executive branch to which he belongs.
Had Congress rushed into a vote on a bill that they hadn't fully read nor researched by consulting economic experts outside of Wall Street (some of whom disagree with Buffett and have proposed other plans), we could have passed a very dangerous law.
Our economy is going through a tough time, but a few days of intelligent research, debate and bi-partisan compromise will shore us up in the long run far better than a quick reaction.
Laura C. September 30th, 2008 2:01 am
Interesting indeed. I have mixed feelings about what is going on, and my current thinking is that the government should be helping home owners (yes even the ones who took out mortgages they couldn't afford) before it helps the people who were wildly betting with all of our retirement - overleveraging those mortgages to buy their oversized homes in Greenwich. See this article in the NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/28/business/28every.html?em
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» Learn More
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Market Mess? Blame Your Brain - Forbes.com
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-
Ma.gnolia Blog: Jumping into the Stream
[Source: http://ma.gnolia.com]
6 comments in conversation. Last comment found September 30, 2008.
Last 5 comments:
Johan on September 26, 2008
Looks great. As Sean, I can't wait to check it out my self.
Alex on September 26, 2008
These are very exciting changes both in in the overall move from v 1 to v 2, but also in the specifics you are providing here. Granularity of control is becoming more and more important and it's great to see Ma.gnolia embracing it.
I love the information shown in the screen shot, though I would like to see the visual presentation of Recent Activity tightened up.
I'm probably jumping the gun on this feedback, but wanted to throw it out there anyway. :)
There are a lot of different visual elements which make it hard to read the content itself. For example, trying to scan the entries for September 17 is not easy due to two icons applied to each entry plus the occassional thumbnail image with title description and stars. Ma.gnolia is beautiful and fun to use because the design is so clean, so I suspect that you're already thinking about this and are way ahead of me.
I really love the new direction of Ma.gnolia and appreciate that y'all are sharing so much of the process and reasoning behind the decisions. Please keep it up!
Todd on September 26, 2008
Thanks for the early feedback! Alex I agree the page does look really busy in the screenshot, but I don't think it's jumping the gun at all. I feel like it's a bit easier to read in action, but it's something that will need early attention so any suggestions are welcome.
Renovations are always messy :)
Any thoughts on the default visibility permissions? Should we go wide open or risk making things feel very quiet by starting out people's streams locked down and wait for them to open things up? Or is there a happy medium somewhere between?
Ben on September 27, 2008
Thanks for keeping Ma.gnolia a useful service where I can use my OpenID to log in.
I'm somewhat disturbed, though, that the Ma.gnolia M2 site invites me to "Discuss" on Google Groups, or "Follow" on Twitter. So I can't use my OpenID if I want to discuss or follow M2?
What about Pibb Pibb: Stay in the Loop (View Details) (or any other OpenID-enabled discussion system) for discussions, and Identi.ca Identi.ca: micro-blogging service (View Details) (or any other OpenID-enabled microblogger) for updates?
Todd on September 30, 2008
Thanks for the suggestion, Ben. We could certainly look at embedding a Pibb discussion into the Ma.gnolia.org page. We created an account at identi.ca and that should be linked as well, so we can fix that.
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Bill Erickson sent me Kevin Kelly's TED talk "Predicting the Next 5,000 Days of the Web". Kelly disc...
I am not afraid of the semantic web. What I am afraid of is a portrayal it as merely unifying. The web converges but it also destroys and stratifies, and NO ONE can truly grasp how all of these points within the web fully relate. It asks us to separate the truth from our own perspective of that truth. If this Truth exists, we wouldn't be able to ge... [Source: http://www.michellesblog.net]
6 comments in conversation. Last comment found August 21, 2008.
Last 5 comments:
2 Michelle // Aug 19, 2008 at 10:26 am
@Alex
Very good points regarding the Georgia/Russia conflict. Even w/ as much info as we have, it's hard to determine where to stand on everything.
Re: Reducing differences and tightening connections. This in the ultimate sense has to be the goal, but seeking truth, even if it is painfully different, is a part of this process.
I guess I just get sick of "Apple web 2.0″ design, the same buzz words, and this utopian idea that somehow the web is going to save the world. We often use the web to create. People like Al-Queda choose to use it to destroy. Do we chose to see this? How does this affect our perceptions of the world?
I don't want to be a terrorist, but I'm also a bit bored of it all in the end.
3 Alex S. Jones // Aug 19, 2008 at 11:50 am
The Web, and the Net as a whole are a technology. It's no different than paper. A quick review of history will show you many instances where writing and printing have caused mass consternation and fear as well as many instances where it has served as a light in a dark life. Technology isn't good or bad, it's the way that it is used and the way that it is consumed that matters.
The semantic Web holds promise of making it easier to learn and connected topics. It also holds the promise that these connections will require little to no human effort, but a scientist searching for an antidote will be searching the same wealth of knowledge as the student writing a report on the plague and a terrorist hoping to destroy others in their search for media relevance.
The technology in and of itself doesn't matter. The medium doesn't matter beyond the amount of people it reaches.
The message matters. Whether or not it is verifiable via current means or future means, it's the message. People will tell the truth or they will lie and distort as their goals require.
The "thinking" Web is made up of humans with better interconnections than we currently have, but it will be susceptible to popularity, we just need to find ways to even that balance without making the system easy to scam.
Alex S. Joness last blog post..Recent Links: August 10 to August 17
4 Michelle // Aug 19, 2008 at 1:12 pm
Alex, props. Very well put.
5 PJ Brunet // Aug 20, 2008 at 10:41 am
I don't think finding great information is hard. How many search engines, robots, directories, libraries, organization/classification systems do you need?
As for "intelligent agents" and "thinking", the web does that all day long. Probably a third of all the traffic to this blog is non-human already, look at your logs, some of those bots will identify themselves as such. In fact, I wouldn't be here right now if it wasn't for a Google Gadget agent running on my desktop.
PJ Brunets last blog post..Criminally Accessing MySpace
6 tim hoang // Aug 21, 2008 at 5:30 am
it's an interesting debate and what it ultimately boils down to is whether the Web can think for itself when humans struggle with many of the issues. I think the Semantic web will not be this all encompassing entity - more like a gradual step by step that makes searches (or whatever) more relevant as time goes on. It'll be evolution not revolution
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6 Metrics for Managing UI Design
August 18th, 2008 by Russell Wilson As part of a recent management summit at my company, we were asked to fill out an RMPT matrix for our departments (I head up Product Design). An RMPT matrix consists of (R)esponsibilities, (M)etrics, (P)rocesses, and (T)ools. I have been intending to develop better metrics for both measuring and guiding our desig... [Source: http://www.dexodesign.com]
22 comments in conversation. Last comment found November 05, 2008.
Last 5 comments:
Nick Gassman Says:
August 27th, 2008 at 6:53 am
Hi Russell. As others have commented, your metric focus on numbers,
and not quality.
I think you have two primary sets of people to address. The first is
the people you work with (presumably developers and people generating
business requirements/product owners). They will have their own ideas
as to what they see as success from you, which will include whether
you deliver designs on time, and whether they trust your professional
judgement. You could derive some metrics from discussions with them.
The second audience is the users of the applications that you are
developing for. You can survey and talk to users, and get measures of
overall satisfaction, or of satisfaction with key modules. You can
also measure in a number of ways whether people can successfully
complete tasks, and how long it takes, and where they get stuck. You
can measure how many problems you identify with the usability of live
applications, and how many you have design solutions for.
Those are the sorts of things I'd be more interested in, as they
relate more directly to business success.
3 (not 6) Metrics for Managing UI Design | Dexo Design: Design for Web Sites and Applications Says:
October 22nd, 2008 at 7:27 pm
[...] a first pass at choosing a set of metrics for managing UI design (see "6 Metrics for Managing UI Design), followed by some great feedback and many internal meetings, we finally decided on the following [...]
6 Metrics for Managing UI Design (Russell Wilson) « Digital Industrial Park Says:
October 23rd, 2008 at 8:16 am
[...] Full Article here. "As part of a recent management summit at my company, we were asked to fill out an RMPT matrix for our departments (I head up Product Design). An RMPT matrix consists of (R)esponsibilities, (M)etrics, (P)rocesses, and (T)ools. I have been intending to develop better metrics for both measuring and guiding our design efforts, and this exercise served as a catalyst to get me started. Bear in mind that metrics help you focus your efforts and measure your progress, but you are also held accountable to them. [...]
Russell Wilson Says:
October 24th, 2008 at 7:04 am
See follow-on post with our final choice for our first metric set (based largely on feedback to this post) here: http://www.dexodesign.com/2008/10/22/3-not-6-metrics-for-managing-ui-design/
Eric Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 6:24 am
entry level resume template…
I personally agree with your comments, but there will always be some people who may not feel the same….
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Refresh Austin: From a Surface Warfare Officer to a Gypsy Guitarist | trif3cta.com
[Source: http://trif3cta.com]
No comments in conversation. -
2009 SXSW Interactive Panel Picker - More Secrets of JavaScript Libraries
[Source: http://panelpicker.sxsw.com]
7 comments in conversation. Last comment found August 15, 2008.
Last 5 comments:
Alex Jones
3 days, 4 hours ago
Last year's panel was by far the best. One of the few with a practical technical bent. I look forward to this one.
Kent Brewster
3 days, 3 hours ago
5 stars; please be sure to invite someone from YUI this time. :)
Leah Culver
2 hours, 32 minutes ago
MOARE SECRETS!
Dmitry Baranovskiy
3 hours, 4 minutes ago
If I'll make it to S×SW, I wont miss this panel.
John Resig
2 hours, 1 minute ago
@Joe McCann: Probably, yep! @Kent Brewster: Definitely planning on it. @Everyone: Thanks for the feedback!
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2009 SXSW Interactive Panel Picker - SXSW Year Round: Organize Groups, Maintain Your Buzz
[Source: http://panelpicker.sxsw.com]
13 comments in conversation. Last comment found August 13, 2008.
Last 5 comments:
Alex Jones
34 minutes ago
Very cool Paul, I think I was at your panel last year, and recall you leading a rather energetic line through the conference center on the way to the panel itself (?). I'll check out the video as soon as I get a chance, thanks for posting it. The core of this presentation will be the strength of local groups to keep that thrill going, with specific tips, tricks and stories around creating, maintaining and growing these groups. We'll share what worked, and what didn't for Refresh Austin, which is a very solid Web Professionals community, here in the home of South-By.
Alex Jones
12 minutes ago
Sorry Paul, I think I got you, the interviewer confused with the panelists re: the leading the energetic line. :) Thanks again for posting the video.
Mark Phillip
2 hours, 30 minutes ago
There's running a panel on something you know, and then there's running a panel on a topic that you exercise every day. Alex somehow continues to wrangle geeks to keep Refresh Austin growing--I'm looking forward to hearing his secrets...
Allyson Kapin
2 hours, 7 minutes ago
Awesome panel idea. Looking forward to it.
Alex Jones
40 minutes ago
Wow, thanks for the ringing endorsement Mark and Allyson!
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2009 SXSW Interactive Panel Picker - Clients: Insane or Just out to Get Me?
[Source: http://panelpicker.sxsw.com]
4 comments in conversation. Last comment found August 27, 2008.
Last 4 comments:
Susan Price
2 days, 4 hours ago
Alex gives excellent advice on the lists he frequents; I won't miss this opportunity to quiz him in person.
Alex Jones
7 hours, 9 minutes ago
Thanks Susan! I plan to leave time for people to share their own tips and tricks, so hopefully we'll get a wide range of great ideas.
Christian McDonald
1 day, 19 hours ago
What a great idea. This is one of my questions for new developers interviewing at our shop ... it always happens. Hey ... sometimes that customer is me!
Alex Jones
3 hours, 15 minutes ago
Exactly Christian! Clients can be internal or external, higher in the corporate food chain or parallel or brand new to the work force. This topic will bridge the gaps between the different types of clients and elevate good practices that apply to each one and clients in general. Thanks for leaving a comment!
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2009 SXSW Interactive Panel Picker - Herding Cats: The Role of the UX Manager
[Source: http://panelpicker.sxsw.com]
1 comment in conversation. Last comment found August 11, 2008.
Last comment:
Alex Jones
3 days, 4 hours ago
This sounds great! While I'm heavily involved with the high tech/Web community here in Austin, I have yet to meet anyone else with a title of User Experience Manager. It would be great to learn from the experiences of other UX Managers.
-
Last.Fm API
10 Jul [Source: http://jeroensmeets.net]
8 comments in conversation. Last comment found July 23, 2008.
Last 5 comments:
Neil
20 Jul 08 5 pm
I'm definitely interested in this beta with WP2.6 as well…I've been wanting to put covers on my site for a long time!
Alex S. Jones
20 Jul 08 11 pm
I'm definitely interested in testing the beta.
Kevin
21 Jul 08 3 am
Hi Jeroen,
I'd love to beta test the new last.fm plugin if you are still looking for folks. I just updated to WP 2.6 too.
peter.e
21 Jul 08 2 pm
ah! hola, thats the reason. i also upgraded to WP 2.6 and did see the changes on the last.fm site. as a last.fm fan i would be more than happy to test the beta. thanks for the great work with last.fm records!
brue
23 Jul 08 3 am
Hi,
it's a pity not to support php4, becouse my ISP is still running it and I can't even test the new plugin… and the old one, does not work :(
Anyway,
Good work! :)
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API seems broken ?? - WP plugins have all stopped updating - Last.fm Web Services Discussions - Last...
[Source: http://www.last.fm]
No comments in conversation. -
Silver Spider
silverspider.com My friend Alex redesigned Silver Spider with a really interesting bit of javascript. Just click on the archive link in the header [Source: http://www.flickr.com]
2 comments in conversation. Last comment found September 22, 2008.
Last 2 comments:
baldtechnologist says:
Thanks for pointing this out! I'm pretty proud of the effect as I was trying to figure out all sorts of weird layout options that ensured the links weren't covered by the logo before I realized that I could just move the logo out of the way. Bit of a 'duh' moment.
Posted 7 seconds ago. ( permalink )
jbradforddillon says:
Yeah I dig it. I had the same reaction when I saw the links dropping down. Then the logo moved. Very nice.
Posted 3 months ago. ( permalink )
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Yes. Yes we do.
The City of Austin has generously decided to let us build LaunchPad Coworking. There's an official permit that our general contractor has to pick up to post onsite, but some of the info is online. Here's the meaty bits of our shiny new building permit. Can you say All Systems Go? [Source: http://blog.launchpadcoworking.com]
No comments in conversation. -
A Better Way to Create Information Architectures, Wireframes and Prototypes | Smiley Cat Web Design
[Source: http://www.smileycat.com]
11 comments in conversation. Last comment found July 11, 2008.
Last 5 comments:
As an interaction designer I'm using Adobe Fireworks. It's not cheapest software out there but it's very powerful and quiet easy to use.
7. Posted by Igor Jovic on June 03, 2008
I've used Axure for over a year and while it is pricey it provides interaction design which is tough to communicate with the traditional 2d tools. Specifically it provides the ability to make changes in a master (such as the footer) and have that change propagate to all affected pages saving a ton of time. Also it can generate an HTML prototype which provides users with a more realistic picture of how the site will behave.
I'm on a mac and I install VMWare Fusion and XP just for the program. There is a new online tool called protoshare (protoshare.com) that is still in beta and looks interesting.
RG
8. Posted by Rob Grady on June 04, 2008
Thanks for the post. I use Fireworks to design my wireframes. I stumbled on this piece of software, gliffy. Wondering if anyone was using it or had thoughts about it?
9. Posted by Michael Swartz on June 06, 2008
Thanks! I've been looking for a good prototyping tool, and this one looks really easy to use.
10. Posted by EE on June 15, 2008
Christian, thanks for your comment over at my blog. I posted my response: http://tinyurl.com/5sebdl
Would love to hear your added thoughts. -ross
11. Posted by Ross Popoff-Walker on June 24, 2008
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When does consumer engagement become SPAM?
My coworker, Alex, posted the following tweet today referencing our fried chicken taste-off planned for tomorrow: Setting up the rules for fast food fried chicken taste-off in the office tomorrow. To which, Popeye's Chicken chimed in with: @alexcc I know the winner! I know it! Do we have to wait until tomorrow to announce? (sounds like bonafide?) N... [Source: http://www.atxryan.com]
3 comments in conversation. Last comment found September 22, 2008.
Last 3 comments:
Alex S. Jones wrote:
It all depends on the nature and content of the reply. If it's a genuine response from a real person, then it's much harder to call it spam in my opinion. In this case, the fact that Popeye's responded in a way that shows they actually read Alex's tweet and responded with passion. I wish I had that level of service when I go to one of their stores.
Zappos is a great example of a company that gets it. It's insane how many of their employees actively use Twitter, which includes their CEO. They're tinkering with this experiment and blazing some cool trails along the way.
The very nature of Twitter encourages open communication from people or organizations who may not know each other directly. In the examples you listed above, the companies were actually being helpful, which I think rocks, and I for one, would love to see this type of use and participation grow.
That said, spammer's have found holes, and will likely find or create more, and some companies try to use Twitter for purely promotional means. In both cases the folks behind Twitter, and those of us who use it will need to step up in varying degrees to combat the misuse.
Posted on 29-May-08 at 4:36 pm | Permalink
Michelle Greer wrote:
The difference is that spammers are not solving problems-they are just offering unsolicited service. As long as Twitter users do not respond to spammers, the spammers will see it as a waste of time.
Posted on 29-May-08 at 6:18 pm | Permalink
spatially relevant » Blog Archive » Social Media Can Save The Planet wrote:
[...] there has been a considerable interest around a twitter account from Popeye's Chicken and the positive feedback is certainly [...]
Posted on 31-May-08 at 10:32 am | Permalink
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Austin WordPress Professional Office
We're thinking of opening an Automattic office in Austin. Being the only local employee, I imagine sharing the space with independent/satellite WordPress professionals. Are you interested? Candidates should be earning all or part of their income working on WordPress (developing, designing, or servicing) and be able to defend their choice of editor.... [Source: http://andy.wordpress.com]
31 comments in conversation. Last comment found July 11, 2008.
Last 5 comments:
Jason Reneau Says:
June 3, 2008 at 5:42 pm
Andy, Great to hear the news about the potential Automattic office opening here in Austin. As a sister True Ventures company, we at MindBites would love to help however we can. We are also good WordPress users ourselves (blog.mindbites.com). We just got some nice space for our team at 14th and Rio Grande, which is a great central location. Shoot me an email when you are down here. I'd love to get together.
Jason
johnschuster Says:
June 3, 2008 at 8:07 pm
Chicago web designer 60610
I put a wordpress blog on all my clients domains usually with a custom template to match the site.
John Schuster
john erik Says:
June 4, 2008 at 3:44 am
hey andy, just wanted to chime in with the others to show my support! would be a killer addition to the startup district and to supporting all the wp coworkers in town.
cheers man!
Ryan Russell Says:
June 4, 2008 at 5:01 pm
Andy, we might be able to accomodate you. We are downtown on congress, 78701.
Feel free to send me an email if you haven't already come up with something.
Ryan
racer of SEO Says:
June 23, 2008 at 2:30 am
I see this as a great way to solidify the local WordPress community and by an extension the Austin Web development communities as a whole.
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Maintaining your Personal Brand Online - Snook.ca
[Source: http://snook.ca]
33 comments in conversation. Last comment found June 30, 2008.
Last 5 comments:
29 paperless April 02, 2008
All comments
The problem is..imagine you go to some irc room and you act differently there, you know everyone in there and you like to have fun around calling them names (not to offend but just beacuse you know each other and its harmless) or just relax and say weird things, things that could easily be misinterpreted therefore leading you to lose credibilit. The reader for any reason wasn't aware of the context in which you said what you said.
I have thought about what is said on this post and honestly that's exactly how i have been looking at my case.
Ive been in kind of a dilemma though, also because of something that is mencioned in that post.
My name is very unique, specially my surname im nearly sure theres no one else with my first and last name at the same time.
Well, if i used it online i'd be identified very easily which would bring some advantages and some disadvantages as well.
I decided not to use my real name but stick with a nickname instead which i have been using nearly every single place i register in (except in some places i have no interest in being recognized).
You never know what the future may bring..you know enemies or whatsoever could use that information to hurt you.
Since my name is unique it would be like showing everyone what is my national identification number, if they had access to any database where they could search for my name, they would find me easily.
http://www.pai.pt
Anyone that searched my last name in that site would very easily know my address :)
Yeah i know it's not exactly my address (it's my parents', i live with them) and they could have it removed from there but i still hope you get the point.
30 paperless April 02, 2008
All comments
Two more examples:
By searching for my name on google you would easily find some of the grades i have been taking on university lately (PDF files).
Also, i once said my real name in a chatroom, people found it very funny and it went around from "mouth to mouth" until it reached a channel topic and now it's stored on Gogloom (they track some IRC channels' topics).
It's harmless, sure but once you put your real name (or any kind of information) in the wild you never know where it could end in.
31 Jonathan Drain April 06, 2008
All comments
I like this idea. Although I used to go by aliases on internet forums, I started posting under my real name when my writing began to be published in a magazine and I wanted to be associated with that on certain forums. It's reasonably distinctive and uncommon name, although not unique - I've had an e-mail from an alter self who eerily has similar interests to my own.
32 Malcolm Almeida April 08, 2008
All comments
Thanks for the tips, they sure are helpful. I am just starting to get into this 'brandwagon' and your tips would definitely get me there :D
by the way, how is 'mloclam' for a brand name - its my name spelt backwards
33 Kaanon April 21, 2008
All comments
Re: malcolm - It's probably too hard to spell.
I'm actually mulling of this myself, as I am gearing up to more side work. Shall I go with what I already have "Kaanon.com", or shall I create a company name which I will then have to maintain. I'm a little apprehensive, because the spelling of my name is unique, and most people get it wrong the first time.
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Corvus Consulting : SxSW and a Slayer of Schedule Dragons
[Source: http://www.corvusconsulting.ca]
1 comment in conversation. Last comment found September 22, 2008.
Last comment:
Alex Thu, 06 Mar 2008 14:54:29 GMT
Looking forward to meeting you Todd! It's always insanely busy, but SXSW is all about what you make of it and who you talk to.
I love Sched in large part because I am double or triple-booked throughout the conference, so having the panels on my phone will make it easier to make the last minute decisions.
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Where to post jobs in Austin / active communities
Let me know if I'm missing any important ones under these topics, this is the list I sent to the City of Austin guys… Communities with active job boards http://door64.com http://geekaustin.org http://austinonrails.org/ Other Active Groups http://www.bootstrapaustin.org/ http://wiki.workatjelly.com/JellyInAustin -Dusty started this http://www.refres... [Source: http://unbelieveable.info]
No comments in conversation. -
Inaccessible Label-Wrapped Form Inputs
Posted February 8th, 2008 by Mike Cherim Not too long ago I wrote an article on keeping forms accessible. That was in September of '07. It's an okay article, mostly accurate and helpful. I'll stand behind its recommendations (it's not that old), but one of those recommendations, an allowance actually, is seriously flawed. I am compelled and obligat... [Source: http://green-beast.com]
16 comments in conversation. Last comment found July 10, 2008.
Last 5 comments:
Mallory responds:
Posted: February 11th, 2008 at 6:56 am →
Alex, there's another way (for those of us who like to have our fieldsets not wrap around a single question), though I wish I could really tell how it sounds:
Where you have your title, you could make it a label with a for. Following it is a div with the id matching the for. Inside the div are radio-label pairs, each label having a for matching the radios' ids. Close div.
inside a form...
Pick a radio
Radio 1
Radio 2
Radio 3
...more form...
I use the class of "matchingdiv" to remove the styles I've given all the other labels and inputs, since I usually want the default behaviour on these. I also use this for checkboxes and select dropdowns.
I read this somewhere back when I was first playing with forms. It was only someone's idea and I'm not sure how great it works as far as association of labels and label-input groups, but it seemed good enough to try out. I didn't like the idea of taking all the labels I didn't need displayed and moving them offscreen (cause I also use this set-up for select groups, and having a label for each day, month and year seemed ridiculously repetitive when days were numbers and months were words…)
Actually, if someone's documented a problem with this method, I'd be interested in reading it, as I haven't found anything about it since I first read about this.
Mallory responds:
Posted: February 11th, 2008 at 6:58 am →
O, I used code tags above but I guess I did it wrong?
Mike Cherim responds:
Posted: February 11th, 2008 at 9:59 am →
@Mallory: Yes, sorry. You have to convert your code into entities. That's okay though, you described your example well enough I think. You have mentioned wondering how it sounded, and that would depend on what mode the cursor is in. In virtual cursor mode everything is read, but in forms mode only form elements will be processed. Thus, any instance of conveying form organization or instruction via non-form elements may be confusing for some. The sound of the way Joe had described will be like this:
Fieldset
Legend: Pick modes of travel
Label/input: Train
Label/input: Bus
Label/input: Plane
Label/input: Car
Label/input: Bike
Label/input: Walking
Read aloud, it would sound like this (I think):
"Pick modes of travel. Six radio buttons: Train, Bus, Plane […]"
Mallory responds:
Posted: February 13th, 2008 at 5:33 am →
Ah, so then using > label < for the main title and then wrapping a div around label-input pairs would be completely read-aloud in forms mode. I guess I've been in cursor-mode the whole time…
I suppose if I had a huge number of checkboxes or radios, a fieldset and legend works better, but I often find myself with lots of yes/no radios, so the label + extra div grouping seemed to make more sense than 10 fieldsets : )
Jermayn Parker responds:
Posted: February 13th, 2008 at 10:36 pm →
I can see this is similar to the conversation over at the WSG mailing list.
imo using the for for labels was definitely an over kill.
Thanks for explaining this as it now makes much more sense, I may however have to re-read your break article to help maybe answer my question about whats best to use for forms, p or li.
Last comment:
Munger on "the Shoe Button Complex."
December 17th, 2008
Charlie Munger has been Warren Buffett's partner in Berkshire Hathaway for decades, and is a justly influential business thinker in his own right. In this tidbit from Alice Schroeder's biography of Buffett, The Snowball, Munger gives a name to a poisonous syndrome that I've witnessed many, many times in my own career, worst of all among top managers.
But while [Munger] considered himself an amateur scientist and architect and did not hesitate to expound on Einstein, Darwin, rational habits of thinking, and the ideal distance between houses in a Santa Barbara subdivision, Munger was nonetheless wary of venturing very far from what he had spent some time to learn. He dreaded falling prey to what a Harvard Law School classmate of his had called "the Shoe Button Complex."
"His father commuted daily with the same group of men," Munger said. "One of them had managed to corner the market in shoe buttons - a really small market, but he had it all. He pontificated on every subject, all subjects imaginable. Cornering the market on shoe buttons made him an expert on everything. Warren and I have always sensed it would be a big mistake to behave that way."
~
Related posts:
Marc Andreessen and Charlie Munger walk into a bar . . .
Irrationality in investment decisions.
Confirmation bias: fight the Procrustean instinct.
Company of the Day (09/05/2007): Berkshire Hathaway.
~
Category: Books, The business brain
« Restart NOW.
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1 Comment so far
Alex S. Jones December 17th, 2008 9:25 am
It's great to have a phrase for this all-too-common flaw. I've seen two promising companies flounder because founders believed their depth of knowledge and high level of intellect qualified them to weigh in on every decision, often times contradicting those with more knowledge and experience with the topic at hand.
It's a valuable lesson for all of us to keep in mind - we may be smart, or even experts in our chosen field(s) but that doesn't translate to other areas and we need to respect our limited knowledge, rely on those who aren't as limited and work to improve the interconnections between what we know and what we do not.
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