Blogs

Some days....you just do not feel like making another cold call. As with anything you do, some days you get tired of the task, am I the only one that goes through this..I do not think so!

So, when I have a day like that I have to find another task that relates to my job, that can interest me. I like research...poking around in the marketplace and seeing what kinds of new directions I can go with my message. Sometimes it works out very well and and when that happens, it adds to my education and adds to my perspective on the company.

"With search, users type what they want to find. With Ubiquity, they type what they want to do."

Yesterday Mozilla Lab launched Ubiquity, an interactive search tool that takes web usability to another level.

I often send documents to co-workers or clients in Microsoft Word format so that they may edit them. The pesky red underlines for supposed mis-spelled words and grammatical errors has bugged me for awhile. Well, I finally Googled it, and found out how to temporarily remove the red:

I'm not sure if they care or if they more concerned with damage control, but Network Solutions actually responded to a negative twitter post I made today. I really got a kick out of it, but since they are an online company it's nice to see that they are utilizing social media from a brand control standpoint.

Dallas based American Airlines settled their trademark infringment suit against Google this last week. The case was dismissed but the terms of the dismissal were not disclosed in the court records. Spokesman for American Airlines said, "We are pleased to resolve these claims on mutually satisfactory terms". Google representatives were not available for response.

Everyone has heard of the prophetic predictions of Nostradamus (e.g., fall of the twin towers), and maybe of even ancients making prophecies as it relates to technology. Although these prophecies are intriguing, a topic more interesting to me is the flipside, technology being able to predict the future.

Almost everyone communicates via email every day at work or in our personal life. Here are some tips to help you communicate in a better way.

1. The email subject should be detailed enough to give the recipient an idea about the email content without having to open it.
Using single words like 'Hi', 'Hello' or 'Help' often don't convey what you mean to say. Everyone's mail box is flooded so it is a good practice to choose a detailed subject. It also helps in searching the messages in the Inbox.

I'm always looking for novel and inexpensive ways to get user feedback, especially for our non-profit clients. Formal online survey tools offer organizations an in-depth look into the users' minds, but many are expensive and time consuming to create and execute. Here are a few crowd-sourcing sites I’ve found to supplement my user-research toolbox:

Ask500People

So, I just started working here and it's pretty awesome. My official job title is "Front End Developer" but my email signature says "Creative Designer," which I think I like a little more.

It’s official. SXSW 2009 Interactive is open for registration!

If you didn’t go last year, I recommend you get in early and get ready because over the next 7 months you will receive announcements about keynote speakers that will move you out of your Herman Miller Aeron chair.

Sign up early to get the best deal on badges and hotel prices.