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I\'m a web developer and consultant with experience in project management, user interface design, usability, accessibility, web analytics and search engine marketing.

04 February 2010 ~ 0 Comments

Google works with NSA

The National Security Agency is set to help help Google analyze attacks against its systems that possibly came from China. There are already rumblings about privacy and how much the NSA will have access to but in terms of cybersecurity the partnership should be a win-win. Google with more secure systems and the NSA with new info on how hackers operate doesn’t seem like a bad thing.

Read more here:
Google to enlist NSA to fight off cyberattacks
Google charge highlights China-based hacking

08 November 2009 ~ 0 Comments

Will JavaScript and HTML 5 Replace Flash?

Here’s a quick look at a current technology (JavaScript) and new version of a current one (HTML 5). Both are are being touted as a possible replacement to Flash. I’m not personally convinced it will happen but its good to see JavaScript and HTML becoming more powerful web development tools.

Infoworld recently ran an article about the creator of JavaScript, Brendan Eich. In the article Ben Eich tells InfoWorld that “The browser vendors are making super-fast implementations of it, so JavaScript’s gotten very, very fast, and this is helping developers use it more…”. Later it quotes Eich as saying “Activities now done in Flash would be done in the browser via JavaScript”.

In another article, InfoWorld discusses the role HTML 5 will play in web development, “The World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) HTML 5 proposal is geared toward Web applications, something not adequately addressed in previous incarnations of HTML, the W3C acknowledges. In other words, HTML 5 tackles the gap that Flash, Silverlight, and JavaFX are trying to fill.”

Read more here:
Eich: JavaScript getting faster, could displace Flash – InfoWorld
HTML 5: Could it kill Flash and Silverlight? – InfoWorld
HTML 5 Overview and Resources Showcase – Webitect
Yes, You Can Use HTML 5 Today! – Sitepoint

21 September 2009 ~ 0 Comments

Lessons in Customer Service: FreshBooks

Note: This post isn’t  meant to push FreshBooks as a service but to give an example of how one company treats new customers.

I recently signed up for an account with FreshBooks and was very impressed with their initial customer contact.   If your not familiar with the company FreshBooks provides online invoicing and time tracking for businesses.   Here are my three lessons learned from the experience:

Lesson 1 – Make it personal
After I signed up for an account I received a voice mail from Jon at FreshBooks.   In the message Jon wanted to see if  I  had any questions about the service and to also introduce himself as a contact I could use.

Lesson 2 – Follow up & keep it personal
After the voice mail I received an email from Jon basically reiterating what he stated on the message.  He also added a personal touch to it by showing that he did his research on me and what I was doing.

I checked out your clients page, and it looks like your team has developed some pretty cool stuff. The work you did for NAAS was really cool!

I personally wouldn’t have used “cool stuff” or “really cool” when first contacting a customer but I got the idea.

Lesson 3 – Follow up again (in another channel)
About a week later I received a “courtesy snail mail invoice” to show me how snail mail invoices look .

Overall, If your looking for a way to build customer loyalty and word of mouth this is a surefire way to do it.

17 September 2009 ~ 0 Comments

San Antonio leads in recession recovery

A report by economic research firm HS Global Insight says San Antonio and Austin will be the first areas to recover from the recession.

San Antonio and Austin will lead the way, bouncing back to their pre-recession job levels sometime next year, according to the Lexington, Mass.-based economic forecasting firm, while Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth are among eight other metropolitan areas predicted to recover by 2011. [ SA Biz Journal]

Read more here:
Texas predicted to lead recovery

S.A., Austin expected to be first U.S. cities to bounce back from recession
U.S. Metro Job Recovery Will Take a While