Business
Transparent App Development – the Panic Board
Tuesday, March 9th, 2010 | API, Business, Mashup, Project Management, Tools, Tracking, Utilities, WebApps, computer graphics, visual effects | No Comments
While there are probably a good number of apps that I use on a daily basis, there are only a few dvelopement companies behind these tools that I actually have a strong admiration/nerd-crush for. One of these companies is Panic, creator of my all-time favorite FTP client and Web Development tools Transmit & Coda. On their blog they typically show-off upcoming features, status updates on various projects and just all-around random shit that they find interesting online. Trust me, while it’s definitely a company blog they’ve got a loyal following thanks to the interesting posts that pepper the typical product/marketing dev. updates. This is a prime example. They just posted a pic/feature-list on a new project that they’ve been working on that’s an easy-to-digest project status-board, or as they’ve called it “the panic board.” Primarily using AJAX this status board will give any team member privy to their internal network a one-screen update on where in the development cycles any number of projects might be in. Not only that but according to the blog it also incorporates streaming twitter updates, email announcements, the company calendar and even the local Tri-Met Bus Arrival calendar for employees who rely on the bus to get to and from work (hey, they’ve got an API, why not use it?!). The blog post then goes on to make any data nerd squeal with the admission that they’re using a 46″ Samsung LCD Video Wall Display to keep the team within eyeshot of the status board. Very cool.
Now by no means is this the first or even one of the first examples of global ‘status board’ type pages that have been setup for both internal and external use. One of my favorite examples of a public project status page is the one featured on the right in the header image, found over on the Culture Code company website. These are the guys behind the OSX & iPhone to-do application called “Things.” They’ve created a project status page in the form of an airport arrival/departure screen. What’s cool about this is as the user you’re able to see not only the status on various product updates, but also see who in the company is working on that particular issue and when they last updated the sheet.
Other notable one-page project update tools is one recently put in place by the Boulder office of ad agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky, shown below.
It’s a quick way of seeing how far along any given project is in the office, sorting by account, due date, job-type, Creative Director or Producer assigned to the piece. It’s also got a status bar so if you’re across the room you can see at a glance whether or not something has already started (or is about to be finished). They apparently have this sucker projected on the main wall in the inner-depths of the office. Having been forced to deal with so many archiac ways of managing projects at advertising agencies, this is definitely a step in the right direction (if you’re a project manager/producer/in the traffic dept.). I’m sure the creatives will hate this visual reminder of what work they haven’t done yet….so bonus points are awarded there. What it needs though is some color, maybe even little avatars/graphics to help people find specific types of projects without having to scan the entire board…just a thought.
R.I.P Geocities – We’ll always remember the animated gifs
Saturday, April 25th, 2009 | Business, News, Yahoo | No Comments
It has just been reported that Yahoo has finally shut down age-old free web hosting service Geocities for good this time. Acquired by Yahoo! in 1999 for a whopping $2.87 billion, it was a service that many used to get their first website. Ohh how I will always remember those animated flame border .gifs and the flashing text featured all over the page…and who could forget the scrolling news going across the top of the screen…it was the coolest.
You were a legend, you will be missed.
(cue moment of silence)
Send out your business card via SMS with Contxts.com
Monday, March 30th, 2009 | Beta, Business, SMS, Unusual, Utilities | No Comments
Here’s something cool a came across the other day, it’s a service that will send out your business card via SMS message on demand. That’s right, for any time when you’ve either been caught without a business card or just want sure your number got entered correctly into their phone, this is for you. It’s still in beta so features like having your own user profile are not yet enabled, but the good news is that it’s free while they’re still working out the kinks.
Here’s how it works, you setup whatever information you’d like to be part of your digital ‘business card” and then you’re done. Really, that’s it to participate in this program. And it’s free.
To send someone your business card via SMS, you either tell them to send a txt with your username to 50500 or you can do it yourself by texting “send 3034759204” to 50500 with the 3034759204 being the your new friend.
I can’t imagine sending a potential client or business partner this as a way of contacting me after our initial meeting, but as far as getting your phone number and a brief self-written bio into someone’s phone, this could be great for any after-hours networking.
go check it out for yourself while it’s still free – http://contxts.com
Tracking Twitter – Directory of Brands on Twitter
Friday, March 6th, 2009 | Business, Marketing, Mashup, Tools, Twitter, WebApps | No Comments
Brand management firm ElectricArtists just recently launched Trackingtwitter, a site that tracks media, entertainment and consumer product accounts on the microblogging site.
Trackingtwitter follows Zappos, Whole Foods, Starbucks, Jet Blue and Comcast, among others. It broadcasts the brand category (“sports,” “television,” etc.), the Twitter usernames, number of followers, most recent tweet and any personal notes they may have collected about the account.
eBay Holiday Giveaway Thwarted By Automated Script
Thursday, December 4th, 2008 | Business, Hack, News, Promotion, eBay | No Comments
Apparently eBay’s in trouble for their recent $1 Holiday Doorbusters Giveaway, where they ‘randomly’ give out 100 gifts ranging from GPS devices, jewelry and even a new Chevrolet Corvette for only $1 (with a new item given away each day). The catch? eBay isn’t going to tell you what item is being given away each day or even what category it’ll be in….a plan that apparently was full of holes.
The contest was brought down to a screeching halt on Tuesday when hundreds of users began using automated scripts that would continuously bid on items for $1 in an attempt to secure the winning bid even before the actual auction page goes public. This then resulted in a large crowd of the more ‘honest’ users becoming furious at eBay for letting these rogue ‘script kiddies’ get away with cheating the system….evidence of which can be found throughout the eBay public forums.
The script in question is right now all over the internet. You can find it for sale on RentACoder for $20 or even for free in various forums.
Poor eBay.
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