Customer Paradigm's Blog

My 3.5 Year Old Has Her First Laptop

2008-05-06T20:48:00.003-06:00

On Saturday, my 3.5 year old daughter got her first laptop. It arrived by UPS, sent by her Zadie (grandfather). It's a small little laptop that is part of the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project at www.Laptop.org.

It's still not a final verison of the product that will be released around the world, but it's still a very impressive piece of technology. It uses 5% of the power consumption my PC laptop uses, and has a screen that rotates around 360 degrees. It can be used in direct sunlight, and has a video camera and microphone for recording audio, photos and video. It can connect to the web, and has some basic stripped down programs like word processing, painting and other simple games.

Right now her favorite is the number guessing game. It comes loaded to have someone guess a number between 1-100, but I've changed it so that it's using numbers between 1-10. If the number you choose is too high or too low, it tells you so that you can continue guessing.

Pretty cool for a $188 machine that runs Linux and a new display layer called Sugar. It still has a few bugs, but it's a pretty impressive little laptop. Crazy stuff...

Homer Animation

2008-05-06T16:39:00.002-06:00

Ryan is too lazy to post this so I am... If you like the Simpsons check this out:

Homer Simpson Animation

My new favorite site

2008-05-02T15:38:00.002-06:00

A potential client just told me about this site... it's a place that lists all of the phobias: http://phobialist.com/

A few of my favorites:
Apeirophobia- Fear of infinity
Arachibutyrophobia- Fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of the mouth
Cyclophobia- Fear of bicycles
Porphyrophobia- Fear of the color purple
Syngenesophobia- Fear of relatives

... and my all time favorite:
Triskaidekaphobia- Fear of the number 13

The Ultimate site to Celebrate Earth Day, forever

2008-04-17T14:17:00.003-06:00

There is not a day that goes by in which you should not be utterly gracious for all that the mighty Earth has given you, and continues to give you successfully, each and every second. As human critters, we need air, water, pressure, cookies, and the companionship of other critters. Since it's apparent that the Earth is going to hell in a handbasket (let this be news to you global warming naysayers out there), it's time we start taking care of the mother of all things fabulous, the great Turtle Island, this luscious third rock from the sun.

One GREAT way to be nice to the Mother is to step lightly and become aware of your rate of consumption. For a pertinent example, we can stop sucking the gas like an addict and hop on our bikes to our next local destination/s! And, when you start biking, you'll need a fabulous messenger bag to carry all of your stuff: laptop, cookies, greens, colored pencils, etc.

Now, there are messenger bags, and then there are messenger bags. Arguably, they're really not that different: put in stuff, place bag over shoulder, go. Timbuk2 and Crumpler and Patagucci all make stellar renditions of such retailed (and essential!) goods. (DISCLAIMER: I happen to have a T2 bag (of 8 years now. very nice.) and I do love it, even though I'm not big enough to schlep all my stuff - a rare problem for regularly sized people.)

BUT when their websites are pitted against each other, only one brand surpasses your most unexpected expectations and comes out leagues ahead of the others, who are left in the dust of superior web-design skillz.

And the Winner is:

[insert drumroll here]

www.crumplerbags.com

I sigh the great sigh of being rendered speechless. Is this not the most creative site ever? for messenger bags? I mean, the chain pulling, the noises, the buttons to push, the moving parts, the games, the secret links -- It's the greatness that we should all aspire to. BRAVO to the Sputnik Agency for their utter brilliance, wit and insanity.

An Ode to Error Messages, in 5-7-5

2008-04-17T11:33:00.003-06:00

Monday morning, a friend E'd me with Haiku Error messages. For lovers of Haiku, and for those who despise losing data under any circumstance, these capture the essence of frustration and disbelief at this shortfall of the technology that (seemingly) runs our lives. (What would we do without email? Without the interwebs? OMG, [shudder/cringe] let's not talk about it...)

Here are the Haikus from this site:

Your file was so big.
It might be very useful.
But now it is gone.

The Web site you seek
Cannot be located, but
Countless more exist.

Chaos reigns within.
Reflect, repent, and reboot.
Order shall return.

Program aborting:
Close all that you have worked on.
You ask far too much.

Windows NT crashed.
I am the Blue Screen of Death.
No one hears your screams.

Yesterday it worked.
Today it is not working.
Windows is like that.

First snow, then silence.
This thousand-dollar screen dies
So beautifully.

With searching comes loss
And the presence of absence:
"My Novel" not found.

The Tao that is seen
Is not the true Tao-until
You bring fresh toner.

Stay the patient course.
Of little worth is your ire.
The network is down.

A crash reduces
Your expensive computer
To a simple stone.

Three things are certain:
Death, taxes and lost data.
Guess which has occurred.

You step in the stream,
But the water has moved on.
This page is not here.

Out of memory.
We wish to hold the whole sky,
But we never will.

Having been erased,
The document you're seeking
Must now be retyped.

Serious error.
All shortcuts have disappeared.
Screen. Mind. Both are blank.

Another Haiku-making contest was held on this blog: http://archive.salon.com/21st/chal/1998/02/10chal2.html

SOTW: spring greening

2008-04-15T15:53:00.003-06:00

Things are unseasonably warm, there are dead zones in the ocean, everyone's favorite Al has a new talk on Ted, and Earth Day is just around the corner. Green is the new black. Check out these sites to add some daily green to your daily 'surfs, and as Mr. T says: remember to eat your [organic] greens.

http://grist.org/ Considered by themselves as a Beacon in the Smog, Grist is a Fab Resource for the latest in Eco-News. Always pertinent, Always witty. And, everyone loves Umbra.

http://www.treehugger.com/ Tips and bits about all things Green. From food and clothes, to technology and how to green your dog's [ahem], to interviews and the latest news and views, it's all there.

http://iamelephant.com/ Boulder's own indie mag of sustainable delights now has a new site that's updated daily.

http://noimpactman.typepad.com/blog/ This man is an enviro-hero for his low-impact oath.

http://www.storyofstuff.com/ Where does your stuff come from? and where does it go when you're done with it? This documentary/site will make you think twice about what you buy, and what you toss...

http://www.dougfine.com/farewell-my-subaru/ What is it really like to live off the grid? Is it really possible to live off the grid AND have electricity and the interwebs? YES, indeed it is. Just as this dude. it's totally rad.

http://www.pangeaorganics.com/ A local Boulder Company that pledges to produce enviromentally sustainable products and containers. They have pioneered the compostable-plantable packaging: All of their packaging is "planted" with seeds, making it plantable come spring. (I will have a TON of Basil this year if anyone likes pesto...)

http://www.gengreen.org/ Ever wanted to work at a eco-minded company? GenGreen is just the place. Green Collar workers don't always have to deal with important service industries of the future...

http://www.patagonia.com/ The Company that Pioneered organic cotton goes green all over (and there's a store in Boulder! It's like Heaven... so dreamy). While no store is perfect, some try harder than others. Patagonia ensembles can go from the trail to the wall, and back to the streets for din-din -- and then, on to any weddings you may have this summer. Always cute, always fresh, always trendy, always eco-cool.

The Infinite Web of Health & Wellness

2008-04-07T16:07:00.002-06:00

I've made and consumed a gargantuan smoothie everyday since High School (1995-1999). Sometimes two. Each year, with each non-passing health fadIt's a long held fantasy of mine to have a smoothie/juice/organic vegan cookie shop on Pearl Street (or, in North Boulder, next to a book store and a yarn shop). But I don't want to run it forever; I just want to start it and watch it keep going, like the energizer bunny. I've had friends ask me why I'm not a lifestyle coach / nutrition consultant because of my innate ability to be a health-nut with out being an extreme nut (though, that is up for debate in certain circles). I simply tell them: "Would I have to go back to school for that? I mean, I'd rather learn something I did't know..." [long] Sigh. Oh, the problems that arise when you feel healthy and buzzing and ...omnipotent. (j/k)

So anyway, Here are some sites that are good for you, or spread the good-for-you-news:

When Kris Carr found out she had a rare form of liver cancer, she upped the ante on her life and charged ahead with her alterntative ways to maintain and achieve superior health and wellness, and well, to just get out and live, dammit. Her site http://www.crazysexycancer.com/ is the online spotlight for her documentary of her journey that has inspired and amassed a community of other canser babes and boys, as well as non-cancer folks. Her blog is another blog that I check daily: http://crazysexycancer.blogspot.com/ and was the original informal forum for her buzzing readers. NOW, the blog community has moved into another space in the ethers of the web called http://www.my.crazysexylife.com/ -- the official forum for Crazy Sexy Canser followers. It's a place for tips and tricks for thriving in this round of life, and to be inspired by all of the fabulous contributors.

I learned of the following two sites from the CSL blog. The first is called the Urban Zen Initiative, started by Donna Karan (of DKNY), who's mission is multi-fold: to enhance well-being, empower children and preserve cultures. You can explore the sites many amenites here: http://www.urbanzen.org/our_initiatives.php?animate=1

Animal Lovers and Veggies Unite!: The Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary's website is so fun and furry and fresh and fabulous, and serves a good cause that protects those among us from being, well, served: http://www.woodstockfas.org/index.shtml.

A Good Mix: Music & Colorado

2008-04-04T13:26:00.003-06:00

As spring is springing this time of year, the hills are alive with the sound of music (from the birds, mostly). And so are the blogs and the concert venues and the myspace music pages. Music festivals are being launched, the Red Rocks line-up is in queue and tickets sought after. It's only a short road until summer's melodic hum quenches the winter silence along the front range.

As a guide to all things musical, magical and rad (for Coloradoans and those across the globe), I must start this post by introducing y'all to the Fuel Friends blog and it's accomplished, smart and stunning Blogess, Heather Brown. http://fuelfriends.blogspot.com/ Because of this wonderful blog, which is usually the first thing I check every day, my ipod has never been more sated with such a wide range of rockin & mellow music, all equally fabulous and ahead of any trends.

One of the fellows on the local Boulder scene has become a fast favorite of mine: Gregory Alan Isakov. I refer to him as The Gregory. He is at once folky and a medley of other fabulous sounds. Together with his band, The Freight, they make the most beautiful music that stir the soul in the most pleasantly surprising and placating ways. And, I give equally high praises to his website: http://www.gregoryalanisakov.com/ Creative and intimate, with a touch of whimsy and nostalgia and memories of memories. If you're around the Boulder bubble on April 17th, check out his show at the Boulder Theater.

I became been a fan of Denver's own Stuart Davis via his episodes on YouTube, and recently, from his latest album, Something Simple (which has been featured on the new movie Drillbit Taylor (with my personal favorite: Owen Wilson)). All this recent emergence of newness and growth from this artist has also resulted in a new website, that truly rocks visually and functionally (be sure to scroll down below the foundation). http://www.stuartdavis.com/

One of the most adorable band websites that I've ever seen (and wish I had, honestly) belongs to the 'Lucky' band Nada Surf, who's latest CD is as rockin as their star-struck, cricket chirping website. This makes them popular in my book: http://www.nadasurf.com/

Design Rap

2008-04-03T11:53:00.003-06:00

I found this a few months ago... but I figure this exemplifies the culture here at Customer Paradigm the best. Enjoy!

Design Rap

Variation on a theme of pirates

2008-03-31T13:33:00.005-06:00

So this Pirate walks into a bar...

And, well, I forget the rest of it, but the punchline had something to do with it's 'driving me nuts,' and I must confess that pirates, in all their inherent sovereignty and dazzling sea legs and their love of rum (all good things come from rum, including, but not limited to, Dark and Stormy's and White Russians, and the best: the non-alcoholic (but, inspired by rum, indeed) the Calm before the storm: Ginger beer and lime juice) and their confidence in the rough and untelling waters of the ocean, [ insert other pirate myths and occasional lingo here ] really drive me nuts. As in, I, like, love them. Especially Captain Jack Sparrow, but that is another blog for another Depp, I mean, Day.

So, one night a couple weeks ago, my special K (who is not a pirate, unfortunately, but I don't hold that against him) was watching this Documentary on the TED conference -- an invitation only type of thing for presenters of all levels of superior-smartypants, and $$pendy tickets only for audience members who don't live month to month -- that celebrates ideas worth spreading. Now, while we normally watch such conspiratorial and expose films, such as "Who Killed the Electric Car?," that all too often bring me to tears of frustration and upset my stomach in regards to many governing bodies which shall remain unnamed in this post, this film filled me up with hope and a momentary feeling of inner calm, knowing that if all else went to crap due to the aforementioned governing bodies, and Canada refused to take us all in, all the smart people in Berkeley, CA, have enough smarts and imagination to save us. AND -- the best part is, esp. for those of us who live month-to-month but can still afford high-speed internet -- all of the TED Conference talks are online! (long live the beauty of the interwebs!) You can check them out here when you need a new way of looking at things, a new perspective, a paradigm shift, a sense of hope, a heartwarming cry, a little 20 minutes of roaring brilliance to light up your life or day: http://www.ted.com/

So, one of the first talks I watched was Dave Eggers TED Wish speach from the '06 conference(?). It was fabulous, as was he, and he looks a bit like a pirate. His exuberance and passion bubbled through him and all through his speach about his pirate shop/tutorial center in SanFran. I highly recommend watching the vid, but moving on to point of this blog entry, the website for this pirate shop is stupendous, and well, it shivered me timbers: http://www.826valencia.org/store/

Overall, the site is the epitome of the modern day buccaneer, who's deck shines with the elbow grease of stunning rambunctious creativity. Here, you can buy t-shirts that warn others of the perils of scurvy, or purchase books written by the students that have finished their homework early and contributed to the center's collected works, or read the FAQ's, laugh through the gallery of signs and view with wonder on the world of Karl, the blowfish. But perhaps the BEST part of this site, is the store log. Go there. Be Brave. You won't regret it matey.

To top off the trifecta of sites that celebrate the sailors of the seven seas, and especially for a pirate stamp for your toast (but not available on the inflatable toast, yet), check out Archie McPhee's online wonder emporium ('toys, gifts and novelties made by magic pixies'): http://www.mcphee.com/categories/pirate.html. It's a good place to spend any spare pieces of eight.

Now, Where's me Ayepod?

Site of the Week (or, SOTW)

2008-03-31T13:30:00.001-06:00

First, a brief history of the SOTW:

The SOTW started during our weekly project meetings, where we all get together for a company wide pow-wow around our massive conference table in a room pimped out with mellow colored walls and a projector, projecting the world-wide innertubes onto the white board like a message from the future.

Jeff, the big kahuna of the C. Paradigm, would call the meeting to order by asking us if we had seen any notable sites from the past week that would be worth checking out and stealing ideas from, I mean, marveling at. The cheeky and effervescently witty Ali, who obviously isn't as busy as the rest of the company, or is a much superior & efficient worker-bee than the rest of 'em thus resulting in more "free time" during the day for such activities like surfing the series of
tubes we all know as the 'net, always had a random & fabulous site to share. Her offerings to the meetings are so handpicked, and rare in their brilliance, form and function, that they are met with tense expectation at each meeting: "What will she think of next?" "Can anything top the Crumpler website?" " OMG"

The SOTW celebrates creativity (including, but not limited to those endeavors that walk the fine line of that which is creative and also a wee bit nutty) as the highest art and, at times, a flirtation with the divine (as all great art truly is), and, of course, technological execution. The flashing of the glimpse of genius is not the same as Adobe Flash, per se, though, sometimes it's a close call. (But, these 'flashings' certainly have nothing to do with flashing someone out your car window
while heading East on I-70, because who knows -- you might know those being flashed, and what then? Oh, the shock & embarrassment...). It takes mad-skills to wow our socks off, and thanks be to the man beind the curtain that flip-flop weather is just around the corner.

Here at CP, it's our sole or soul duty, depending on the day, to make the web a safer and more beautiful place to surf. The SOTW is our way of handing out Gold Stars to those interconnected citizens who have used the web for its greater good, have taken the Oath to Only Support Un-canned Ham Acts(or become veg if that suits them (xtra gold stars)), and who have figured out how to mesh art and smarts with all things online & virtual, so as to carry web 2.0 and beyond into a beautiful and sustainable community of highest inspiration and service, and furthermore, so as to unite the global (and interplanetary??? who knows...) sphere by sharing music, story, art, information, services, skillz, colored pencils, and truly rad ideas to the wired, global populace.

So, via the www and the sanctity of the blogosphere (located just past Pluto, in case you were wondering), the site of the week, as choosen and discussed by the C(p) Team (not to be confused with the 'A' Team, although that sometimes happens, and that's OK) will be broadcast on this here URL each week, same bat time, same bat channel.

I've been called a "Web Guru" by the NY Times Style Section

2008-03-29T19:10:00.000-06:00

It's always great to wake up to a Google Alert that describes you in the NY Times Style section as a Web Guru :)

So that and $3.00 will get me a latte, but it's still fun

Site of the Week

2008-03-26T17:57:00.003-06:00

I was in NY this week, so we didn't have our usual staff meeting. But my favorite site of the week is http://www.hardtofind800numbers.com. What a great resource when you're trying to get through to a real person.

BTW, if you do a Google search on:
Please have a real person contact me now

Please have a real person contact me now

... guess who the # one search result is? We try to be easy to get in touch with vs. hiding the numbers out there :)

In New York, Hacking Free Wi-Fi

2008-03-26T17:02:00.003-06:00

I'm back at the airport in New York... a quick trip to the city for a meeting about a customized event registration system for a large religious organization, then off to meet with Random House's publicity team for my wife's new book, God in the Wilderness. Her book is coming out on April 8, and we have our fingers crossed that they won't cut an article that's supposed to be in this Sunday's NY Times Travel section. I also got to meet clients I've worked with for more than five years, but never actually met in person... crazy how the Internet can draw people together.

Okay... the last part of this rant and rave is that I'm using a free wi-fi signal at Jet Blue's airport. They have a 1 hour time-out on sessions. However, if you look at the URL it looks something like this:

https://jfkb6hotspot.jetblue.com/cgi-bin/hotspotlogin.cgi?res=popup2&uamip=10.0.0.1&uamport=3990&userurl=&redirurl=http%3a%2f%2fwww.jetblue.com&timeleft=3600

This is an example of using poor programming and leaving configuration variables visible in the URL string. Instead, I just added another zero to the 'timeleft' variable... increasing it from 1 hour to 10 hours of time. Since I have 983 emails downloading since I last logged into email this morning, it's nice not to get cut off :)

Here's to hacking wi-fi :)

Avoiding the Pitfalls of Outsourcing Your PHP Programming Work

2008-03-20T09:32:00.001-06:00

Avoiding php programming outsourcing pitfalls

How to outsource your php programming effectively.

By Jeff Finkelstein, Founder of Customer Paradigm

If
you're looking for a way to have php programming done for your website
(perhaps for a content management system, a customized blog, or other web application
that needs to tie into a mySQL database), you have several different options.
All have advantages and disadvantages, and many of them will depend on your
budget.

Before outsourcing your php programming project, we'd recommend looking
at the following options, so that you can understand which approach will work
best for you.

Option A: Hire A Full Time PHP Programmer.

The most expensive way to go is to hire a full time php programmer to work
on your website applications. If you are a large organization, this is sometimes
a good way to go. But more likely, you don't have enough php programming to
keep someone busy on a full time basis.

Pros for Hiring Full Time PHP Programmer:

Hire a full-time php programmer allows you to have maximum control over their
schedule and tasks. They can attend all of your meetings, and are on-site on
your location.

Cons for Hiring Full Time PHP Programmer:

It's expensive to get a top notch php programmer that has years of experience
working with many different types of applications. Such a programmer can be
tough to find, as well as keep long-term. It can be a big commitment if you
don't have full-time work for them to do. Programmers like challenges, and need
to be supervised, both of which require a fairly technical person to manage
them. If you try to bring someone on who is learning php as they go, they'll
spend 10 hours learning how to do basic tasks that an experienced php programmer
can fix in 30 minutes to an hour.

Option B: Hire A Part Time (Freelance) PHP Programmer:

This option allows you to use a php programmer on an hourly or project basis,
but not have to worry about a full time commitment. This allows you to still
invite the php programmer into meetings and communicate effectively.

Pros for Hiring Part Time / Freelance PHP Programmer:

You don't have to make a full-time commitment, and you can often get someone
with well-rounded experience (because they are working on several different
projects at the same time). Like a full-time PHP programmer, they can attend
all of your meetings, and are available on-site at your location.

Cons for Hiring Freelance PHP Programmers:

You still need to have someone who is somewhat technical manage and supervise
the freelance php programmer. You are "stuck" if they go on vacation
if something breaks, or if another client has a big project that takes up all
of their time. Many people decide to freelance between looking for permanent
work, so that by the time you get someone trained and up and running on your
php web applications, they have one foot out the door and are looking elsewhere.
You can get really, really lucky and get a great php freelance programmer. But
there are a lot of mediocre ones out there that masquerade as talented ones.
I've found that many tend to talk a lot of technical babel and jargon to hide
the fact that they don't know how to accomplish a programming task (such as
modifying an ecommerce system). And not to be overly stereotypical, but I've
also found that some php programmers tend to feel like the world owes them something,
and that they are entitled to be paid lots of money for doing very little work.
And there's also a huge range of talent... what a top-notch programmer should
be able to do in an hour, another less experienced php programmer might take
a full week. When I'm hiring programmers for my team, I ask a few basic questions
on the phone, to gauge their basic skill set. Those that don't pass don't get
called into the office. If you want a list of the questions that I use, feel
free to contact me using the form below.

Sorry to sound jaded, but I know a lot of people that have been burned using
php programmers. I'd say we get about five calls every week from people who
tell us, "Our php programmer just left, and we need someone to help finish
this project. Can you help?"

Option C: Hire Overseas PHP Programmer:

This option is often attractive from a price perspective. You will spend much
less per hour on someone who lives and works in a country like India, China,
Russia or Poland, and knows how to do php programming. But if you are going
to go this route, it's best to keep several things in mind, proceed with caution,
and keep the total cost of the project in mind (including the time you need
to spend communicating with someone overseas and managing the project).

Pros for Hiring Overseas PHP Programmers:

The price per hour can be really cheap for an overseas php / mySQL programmer.
It's usually in the $10-$18 per hour range, depending on who you talk to. Sometimes
it's even less. There are more people graduating from engineering colleges in
India than are graduating from college in the entire United States each year,
and many of these outsourced, overseas programmers have strong math skills to
help break down complex programming problems.

Cons for Hiring Overseas (India/China/Russian) PHP Programmers:

There are many cons for directly hiring overseas php programmers... and I'd
again recommend caution before you go down this road:

Time Zone Issue. Most of the overseas programmers (especially
the ones at a low price) are not going to be working during your business
hours. This means that you either have to wake up really early or stay up
really late. Or you send a lot of email that isn't answered for 12-18 hours
or so.

Lost Production Cycles. Because you're not on the same
time zone, and someone is working on your php / mySQL programming project
on the other side of the world, if something doesn't work, and you send an
email about the issue, it can take a long time for them to take a look at
it and fix it. And then, if they don't get the fix done 100%, it's another
day of back and forth. This one reason alone is cause for caution.

Language Barrier. English is not usually the first language
of a php programmers in India, China, Russia or Poland. It's usually their
second or third or even fourth language. It can be tough to communicate complex
concepts via email or instant message with someone that doesn't understand
how your php web application will be used in the real world by users.

Communication Issues. You're not going to be able to sit
down at the same table with an overseas programmer to discuss your php project.
If you are more of an "ideas" person and want to leave all of the
intricate details for how a web application programming project should work
to your programming team, you might be disappointed.

Project Scope Issues: Just because you have a good feel
for the scope of the project doesn't mean that an overseas programmer will
be able to translate your non-technical thoughts, scope of work documents
or flow diagrams easily into php code that works.

Technical Skills. Just because you're outsourcing you php
project, you want to make sure that you have technical understanding of the
project itself as well. lf you're not very technical, it's easy for programmers
overseas to make assumptions that cause the system to be needlessly complex
or not work how you want it to.

Testing. Unless you get someone really good, you're going
to have to spend a lot of time testing their work to make sure it works as
you intend it to. This can be extremely frustrating.

Yes Men / High Power Differential. It's unfortunate, but
you likely won't get someone who says "no" to a sub-optimal suggestion
you might have. I've been told more than once that I've gotten the job with
a client because we were willing and happy to disagree with them over aspects
of a project. But if you outsource to someone who lives in an emerging country
like India, Pakistan or China, their culture is usually based on a "high
power differential." In sociology circles, this means that the boss (you)
tends to have a lot of power over the employee (them), and the employee fears
dissent at all costs. And so whatever you say, they will do. Even if it doesn't
make a lot of sense, or there is a much better way to accomplish the php programming
task.

Your Project Management Time. If you're outsourcing your
programming overseas, a good rule of thumb is that you'll likely spend about
1 hour of your time managing, communicating and testing the php code for every
3-4 hours that they work on it. For a one-day (8 hour) programming project,
this might mean you spend 2-3 hours testing and managing it.

Company vs. Freelancer. If you are working with a freelancer
overseas, all of the issues I mentioned above still can apply (i.e. not available
if other big projects come in, or if they are looking for full time work)

Total Project Time. It might be that you're paying $15
per hour for php programming to an overseas programmer. However, if it takes
an overseas programmer 4 hours to accomplish something (and includes 1-2 hours
of your time to describe what you want, type it out into an email, answer
a few questions, test it, send back comments, etc), you've just spent 6 hours
of time. If you are paid $50,000, then your rough hourly rate is $25 per hour.
So you've now paid: (4 php overseas hours x $15 per hour = $60 + 2 of your
hours @ $25 per hour = $50, for a total of $110 for the short project, and
50% of the cost of it is your time. If you make more than $50k per year, then
the equation can change quickly. When you add up everything, you need to make
sure that the math works out in your favor.

All of the cons aside, outsourcing a php project overseas can work if (a) you
find a solid overseas programmer, and (b) you're willing to put up with time
zone issues, language barriers, communication difficulties and spend a great
deal of time proactively testing and managing the project. But it can be a big
source of frustration for many people as well, who don't have the time and desire
to manage a project. The biggest thing that I hear time and time again is how
much work it takes to outsource.

Option D: Hire A Company Specializing in Outsourced PHP Programming:

Of course I'm a bit biased with this option, as I think it's the best one,
and it's also what we usually offer to our clients. But after spending years
helping companies do php programming, I've found that for most organizations,
hiring a company like ours can be a cost effective option. Why? While the hourly
price is more, the total project time, including your time, is greatly reduced.

Pros for Hiring A PHP Programming Company:

The pros for hiring a company that specializes in PHP programming include having
a dedicated project manager that can "translate" your ideas into clean,
workable code. The company can work with you to figure out exactly what you
want to accomplish. Your project manager will speak your same language, is on
your same time zone, and doesn't take 18-24 hours to answer your emails because
they've gone to sleep on the other side of the world.

Other reasons to hire a company that specializes in php programming:

The company is not just made up of one freelancer who might be tied up on
someone else's project, is looking for a full-time position, or is flaky and
leaves halfway through a project.

You'll save a significant amount of time managing the project.

You don't need to have strong technical skills in order to get a php programming
project off the ground, or to manage a technical programming team for a mySQL
database / php application.

Project Scope can be easily defined, but modified and changed as the situation
necessitates.

But the biggest reason to hire a company that specializes in outsourced php
programming is that if you find a good company that is passionate about their
work, they will disagree with you. And it's usually over things that you might
not have thought were important. My team often makes polite suggestions to clients
when things don't make sense, or could work more smoothly a different way.

Cons for Hiring A PHP Programming Company vs. an Overseas Programmer:

The price per hour or per project may be a bit higher at a company vs. the
hourly rates you might pay someone who lives overseas. If you are a highly technical
person, don't mind all of the cons for communication, time zones, testing and
have a lot of time on your hands, this might not be as good of an option than
going direct. If you decide to go with an overseas programmer, make sure you
have a clear understanding of what you want to accomplish (down to suggestions
on how to set up a mySQL database or specific php programming functions), so
you don't fall into any of the outsourcing pitfalls for php programming.

We hope this helps!

I hope that you enjoyed my thoughts on php programming pitfalls, and how to
best go about getting php programming accomplished. If we can help you with
any of your php programming needs, please call John Rush at 303.473.4400 x 17
or fill
out this form to have him contact you now.

Best Advertising Campaign I've Seen in a long time

2008-03-19T12:51:00.003-06:00

This is the best form of customer-centric thinking we've seen in a while. March Madness Basketball season... What a great "excuse" for men to sit on the couch for three days. A Vasectomy clinic has been pitching the March college basketball season as an ideal time to get snipped... and they've been slammed as a result :)

Websites of the Week

2008-03-19T10:40:00.003-06:00

Here are our websites of the week... what we're looking at this week:

http://www.ted.com/
(Really amazing stuff, according to Ali)

If you need hope or inspiration for anything, please check it out :)

Vector-based realistic art:
http://basangpanaginip.blogspot.com/2006/07/worlds-most-photorealistic-vector-art.html

This image is not a photo, it's actually a completely rendered Illustrator file:
http://www.illustratorworld.com/users/p/pi/pisan/a1336.jpg

Enjoy!

Canon 580 EX II Flash

2008-03-13T12:45:00.003-06:00

I just got the Canon 580 EX II Flash for my digital EOS camera, and it's amazing. I'm loving the built-in bounce reflector, and the fact that it will work with all of my lenses (including a 10-20 wide angle, Lensbaby 2.0 and 3.0 and telephoto lens) is amazing. It's taking photography to a whole new level!

12 Strategies for Effective Email

2008-03-12T14:49:00.003-06:00

Twelve Strategies for Effective Email

By Jeff Finkelstein

Most people do not send effective email messages. I know. I spend a lot
of time analyzing email messages for our clients, and measuring and tracking their
effectiveness.

Whether you send large email newsletters or just use email to communicate with
friends, colleagues and customers, following these twelve strategies will make your
email more effective.

So, here’s my list, compiled and crafted from years of experience and quantitative
analysis of tens of millions of messages we’ve sent out for our clients:

1. One Main Message Per Email

The most effective email messages have one main idea or concept. I spent a summer
as an intern at the White House, helping to read and answer the mail. The writing
staff taught that the strongest messages were ones that didn’t distract people
with extraneous information.

I’m sure you’ve received a message from someone that has eleven different
ideas and thoughts that ramble from paragraph to paragraph.

So if you’re like most people (myself included), you’ll just leave
this complicated message for later, and focus on another email or task that’s
much easier to accomplish.

Before you start writing a message, write down what you’re trying to communicate.
Or at least think about your message before you start writing.

The most effective messages are ones that are crisp, clear and concise.

2. Keep it Short

If you’re like me, the phone rings off the hook, people walk over to your
desk to ask you a question, and other people are instant messaging you. And then
your cell phone starts ringing. It’s enough to make anyone a bit crazy and
give you Attention Deficit Disorder.

Our collective attention spans are very short. People simply have too many distractions to wade through a really long email. You might think they need all of the information.

But when people are faced with dense blocks of text, many people’s eyes
glaze over. And then they ignore the entire message.

And thus, the most effective email messages are short. Two or
three short sentences in length. Perhaps a couple of bullet points. And perhaps
the short message is followed by supporting material, an attachment or a link to
more information on a website.

Enough said. I’ll try to keep this section short.

3. Keep it Relevant

I believe that attention is the most important asset of any business or organization. What do I mean by this? If your messages are relevant, your recipients will pay attention to what you are trying to say.

If your messaging is not relevant, however, you’re quickly going to find
that your messages are filed in the "I’ll get to these later" pile.

If you send email that isn’t relevant — they will quickly
stop paying attention to your messages.

It’s easy to get into a mentality where you want to send everything to everyone. And with email newsletters or mass broadcasts, it’s not that expensive to do. However, once someone feels your messages aren’t that important, they will simply stop reading them.

4. Reply Early & Reply Often

With the huge volume of spam, it’s tough to know if your message got through. Right now, four out of every five emails sent over the Internet today is spam. With so much junk, it’s easy for your message to get lost, trapped in a junk mail filter, or simply piled up in someone’s ever-expanding inbox.

So you start to worry when you haven’t heard back from someone that you
emailed a couple of days ago. Hmmmm, you say. Did that person get my message? Should
I send it again? If I do, will that bug them? Am I being too pushy?

So when you’re on the other side of the email message, it’s really
important to reply early and reply often.

What you’re doing is letting them know you (a) received the message
and (b) that you care. Even if you’re not able to take action on
their message right away, replying back with a quick message indicates that you’re not ignoring them.

Replying early to a message could be as basic as something like this:

Bob-

Thanks for sending this over. I'll work on this later today.

Thanks,

Jeff

We’ve found that replying early and often dissipates a lot of anxiety and
tension, and allows the person who sent you a message to know that they don’t
have to worry about it.

5. From Line

The single most important part of an email message is the From line. If the person
you’re sending to doesn’t recognize your name, your message will be
at best skipped over. At worst, it will be simply deleted without opening.

Most email programs show a friendly display name instead of the plain email address.

The From line of your email (friendly display name) should have your full
name and organization in it.

For example, when I send out an email, my from line reads: Jeff Finkelstein – Customer Paradigm. When someone receives an email from me, it’s pretty clear which person named Jeff the message came from. And if they don’t know me, but know my company instead, they won’t completely ignore my message.

But at least a couple of times per week I get an email that was meant for someone
else named Jeff, but works at a different company.

The culprit is that many people have only their first names listed in the friendly
From display line. Most of the time the messages aren’t too racy, but with
email programs that automatically fill in an email address when you start to type
a first name, it’s easy to email the wrong person something that could be
seriously career limiting.

6. Subject Line

After the From line, the subject line is the second most important part of an
effective email. If you forget to include a subject line, your message is much more
likely to go into a junk mail folder, or just not be opened.

Email marketing professionals live and die by subject lines. A good subject line will sum up what the message is all about, but still entice someone to open the message, read it, and take action.

Personalizing a subject line with your company’s name or the recipient’s name or other information can also lead to higher message open rates.

Including the company name in the subject line can increase open rates by up to
32 percent to 60 percent over a subject line without branding. (Jupiter Research)

7. Personalize Each Message

Except when being called into the principal’s office, everyone likes being
called by their name. In this impersonal world of email messages, people
like to know that you know who they are, and that you care about them as a person.

Nothing is worse than a highly demanding email that is sent without being addressed to someone by name and is out of context. A message that starts: "Can you
make these changes ASAP?" puts you on the defensive right way. You might think:
Why should I care if they are in a hurry?

It’s so much nicer to have a message that begins with: "Jeff – I
hope you’re doing well. I just found out that we’re going to be mentioned on the front page of The Wall Street Journal tomorrow. Can you make these changes ASAP?"

Wow. I’m much more willing to help someone who personalizes the message
to me, and gives me a non-threatening reason why this needs to really be done by
tomorrow.

8. Always include your contact information

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve not returned a call promptly
because I didn’t have someone’s contact information readily available.

I’m sure you’ve had the same experience. Someone emails you to please
call them. But they didn’t give you a phone number, and there isn’t
one listed in their signature line. You then have to dig through past emails, look
in your address book, Google them, and still you aren’t able to find their
direct line.

In this age of iPhones, Blackberries and cellphones, it’s rare that I have
a phone number memorized.

I know this is a simple and basic thing. But so many people don’t follow
it. If you want someone to respond to you, you’ve got to make it as easy as
possible for them. Same thing goes for leaving a voice mail.

So many people rush through their phone number, making it virtually impossible
to write down the number without having to go back and listen to their message a
couple of extra times. Ideally, you should always give your phone number, say it
slowly, and repeat it twice so that someone can write it down and then make sure
it’s correct.

Effective emails always include a signature line with contact information. You should include your contact information in every new message or every message you reply to.

9. Strong Call to Action

In direct marketing or email correspondence, most of the time you want someone
to take a specific action when they receive your message. You might want to set
up an in-person meeting, or have them click through to a website to read more. Or
respond back and say, "Yes, let’s go ahead with the project."

The most effective email messages always have a strong call to action,
telling the recipient what you want them to do.

I’m sure you’ve received long, rambling emails from people. And by
the time you get to the end, you don’t really know what you’re supposed
to do (if anything). Is this a message that is just nice to read and have for future
reference? Or do they want me to actually do something?

Email is a low context medium. It doesn’t transmit behavioral clues like
voice inflection that might otherwise indicate what you want a person to do. So
it’s important to be direct and ask what you want the other person to do.
It sounds basic, but it’s a key to effective email.

10. Paste Links & Get on the Same Page

How many times have you felt that the person receiving your email just isn’t
on the same page as you? A lot of times it’s literally true. You might be
thinking that they are looking at one page on a website, when in fact they are looking at something completely different. I know I’ve been frustrated by this in the past.

Simple pasting a link into an email is the best strategy. Again, it seems simple,
but it can mean the difference between confusion and clarity.

It’s also easy to do, and takes very little time. In your browser, simply
copy the website address (i.e. www.CustomerParadigm.com)
and paste it into the body of the email message. On a PC, the Control-C shortcut
will copy; the Control-V will paste.

Sending someone the exact link to the website page you are discussing
gets everyone on the same page.

11. Use Folders & Filters

If you’re like me and you receive a lot of email, you can use folders to
store messages from different people or clients.

In most email programs, you can set up automatic rules (often
called filters) that will place all messages from Joe into a specific folder.

That way you can review all of the messages Joe sends over to you, reply to the
ones that need attention, and not have to spend the time moving the messages from
the inbox to another folder when you’re finished. All of the messages addressed to info@customerparadigm.com, for
example, go to a different folder that I don’t check as often, because people
who send to that address are usually trying to sell me something.

This one strategy has made me amazingly more efficient at dealing with the large
volume of email I receive each day (usually about 950 messages per day).

12. Know when email doesn’t work

Pick up the phone instead...

Email remains one of the primary ways that businesses communicate internally among
their staff, and externally with their customers, suppliers and other stakeholders.

However, make sure you recognize when email is losing its effectiveness. It’s easy to hide behind email when we don’t want to speak to a scary client or
team member. I’ve been guilty of that as well when I have a million things
going on. But sometimes a three minute conversation can clear up the confusion inherent in five days of back-and-forth email messages.