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March 1st 2010
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Business
Ninja Turtle Office
Note: I am cross posting this article here on my own site, but the original is over at the Viewzi corporate blog.
Playing Midfield
Note: I am cross posting this article here on my own site, but the original is over at the Viewzi corporate blog. Feel free to leave your feedback there.
I have just rounded my second month working at Viewzi as a front-end developer, and wanted to share why I enjoy this position.
RFP Coaching
As a freelancer, you will inevitably receive the occasional vague, obscure, or otherwise secretive request for proposal also known in “the biz” as an RFP. In an ideal RFP, the prospective client divulges enough information about a potential project in order for you to respond with an appropriate price estimate. At the very least, this is project scope, budget and timeline.
However, this is not always the case. Sometimes there are cryptic RFPs like the one described over on Airbag – Scope.
Questions on Content
I was recently asked a few questions about clients and how to get them to provide content. Matthew Smith, who is one of the moderators over at the Textpattern forum, is putting together a series entitled Clients and Designers, and asked me and a few others to contribute our thoughts. Here are mine.
*We’ve spoken before about the client supplying all the content for a site you are building. What does that process look like for you?
Artificial Intelligence
Drivers Wanted
Driving home from my family’s house after Easter got me to thinking about how much control we relinquish to machines and pointless man-made processes. There I was, zipping along the highway with cruise control on, to make sure I wouldn’t get a ticket.
New Local Business
Microflare, Inc.
Tonight, my wife and I were watching television, and as usual were chuckling at the local advertisements. Most of them were typical, for car dealerships, no-credit loans, etc. However, when I saw a commercial with a sharp looking businessman speaking in web jargon, it actually grabbed my attention…
Great news for you! Microflare has officially come to Boise to help your business with all of its E-technology needs. Most websites don’t work, because they’re not well-planned, and don’t focus on customer’s needs… – - “Microflare, Inc.
Agile Workflow
History Lesson
I was doing some reading for a seminary class, and came across an amusing story about the British army. They were looking to improve upon their cannon firing efficiency in battle, and were in a transitional period from the old paradigms of war to more streamlined methods. So, they hired a consultant of sorts, to get them up to speed. Here is a quote describing the funny situation, taken from page 124 of the book Social Change, by Robert Nisbet…
bq.
Dropping Slow Clients
When to Fold ‘em?
Currently, this is a decision that I am wrestling with. Typically, I am pretty selective about the projects I accept, so that when I am working on freelance stuff, I can do so with maximum efficiency. Last year though, against my better judgment, I let my little brother convince me to do some pro-bono charity work.
Writing Good Copy
It Ain’t Easy
Communication is a difficult task. This is something that pops up periodically, and is a topic that is constantly on my mind when I am writing about myself, particularly in résumés. We as designers are committed to having clean, semantic structural markup, but are we as concerned about writing intelligibly? We communicate visually, but often neglect grammatical focus.
I dare say this is an area that is commonly overlooked among website crafters. Far too often, I see designers or programmers, award-winning even, writing up tutorials which barely make sense.
Orchestrating the Web
A Bit of Trivia
Here are two facts about me that you may not know: First, I am a big Star Wars fan, and secondly I have played the trumpet since I was in the 2nd grade. So what? Well, I just wanted to give you a frame of reference for this article, to know where I’m coming from. I’ve always been a big fan of large orchestral pieces, such as the Star Wars and Jurassic Park soundtracks.
Recently, an article over on QuirksBlog got me to thinking.
Me, Elsewhere
icons via Komodo Media
Disclaimer
The thoughts and opinions expressed here are mine alone, and are not necessarily shared by any other living person.