centre{source}
INTERACTIVE AGENCY
My favorite iPad Apps
After a few months with the iPad, I’ve settled upon my favorite apps (thus far). I could go into deep detail as to WHY I like each of these, but I decided to save you the preaching. However, you should always remember that the value of many apps is how well you learn them & incorporate their value into your work flow. The best example: Evernote. You either get it (and love it) or you don’t - kinda simple. So, without further adieu, here’s my list:
When few support the many…
One of my team mates, Will Acuff, shared one of the best ‘fundraising’ pitches I’ve heard in a long time - and it comes from NPR no less. Its effectiveness isn’t so much about ‘why’ you should give, but more about the shameful nature of selfishness when it comes to the internet. We, as avid internet users, enjoy so much and pay so little. Music, Movies, News, etc - all enjoyed for hours & only paid for on the backs of so few.
Here’s a great part…
“I just want to be frank this week… you don’t have to give. 93% of you hear me ask for donations and you get the podcast week after week and you never give… and if you don’t give this time, I’m not going to pretend, nothing bad will happen. The podcast is going to be here next week, someone else will give. That is the rational, truthful fact of the situation”
CentreSource sets future trends | Smashing Magazine
When Jason O’Brien created http://BountyBev.com, he did it as a labor of love & it shows his passion for beautiful design & layout. Well, it seems that Smashing Magazine also agrees - they feature his design as one of the design trends of 2010 (Design For Delight). Check it out!
iPad: The first 72 hours
I decided to purchase the iPad as my travel companion in anticipation of a conference I had to attend in Chicago. I don’t own an iPhone (still love my Blackberry Curve), but I do own an iPod Touch and a Mac (converted from Windows 2 years ago). Thus, I’m not an Apple Zealot but I do appreciate gadgets and technology.
After HEAVY usage over the past 72 hours, here are my thoughts:
Most awesome spam ever!
As the owner of an Interactive Agency, I feel like I’ve seen everything on the internet. Well, today I realized that I can still find myself surprised :) While checking my email, I saw a piece of spam & in the short time it took for me to go for the ’spam’ button, it actually caught my attention.
Instead of explaining why, let me just post the message below and say for the record: I want to encourage Spammers to add more ’stories’ to their messages. Its not like I can get you to stop, so you might as well entertain me if you’re going to pollute my inbox. Plus, it makes me feel like I actually got a little ‘personal reading’ in for the day :)
If Architects Had to Work Like Web Designers
Chip sent this to our team and I couldn’t keep myself from sharing it with the world. If a client read this, they’d instantly say “I don’t do that…” but in fact, most of them do. Only in the context of a REALLY ridiculous example (like below) does it become clear just how rough web design can be. I have my own theories as to why this is (Buy a mac, be a web designer!), but I’ll save that for another post :)
By: Unknown
January 10, 2002
Please design and build me a house. I am not quite sure of what I need, so you should use your discretion. My house should have somewhere between two and forty-five bedrooms. Just make sure the plans are such that the bedrooms can be easily added or deleted. When you bring the blueprints to me, I will make the final decision of what I want. Also, bring me the cost breakdown for each configuration so that I can arbitrarily pick one.
Taking your own medicine
One year ago, I concocted the idea of gpsAssassin - a location aware game played on your mobile device. It was a long journey, but we (myself and Jackson Miller) finally took our little side project and officially launched it into the AppStore.
Now that we’ve completed the project/journey, I’m humbled and reminded of how difficult it is to actually develop and launch a ‘finished’ product that others will use on a daily basis. We do this for clients every day, but its easy to forget just how much goes into a project beyond the raw idea and development.
Awesome Open Source Software
In preparation for my presentation (Try some Open Source…. Everybody’s doing it), I’ve compiled some of the best offerings in the land of OSS.
Utilities
Firefox (http://www.mozilla.com) - Browser
Azureus (http://azureus.sourceforge.net) - BitTorrent
FileZilla (http://www.FileZilla.com) - FTP Client
CLAMWIN (http://www.clamwin.com) - Open Source Anti-Virus
TightVNC (http://www.tightvnc.com) - Remote computer control
Try some Open Source… Everybody’s Doing it
As the founder of centresource, I’ve always been tasked with choosing solutions that yield the best ROI - period. To that point, Open Source technologies have become an integral part of our business and as a result, also our personal lives. We don’t choose/use them simply because they’re free (in fact, some cost money) - we use them because they represent an excellent solution to an existing need.
Digital Nashville asked me to speak on the subject at their next Education Series. You can see the invite on Facebook (here) or on the actual Digital Nashville site (here). I’ll go through a variety of scenarios where Open Source technologies provide a wonderful solution - ranging from work-related to fun!
Homework for an Interactive Strategist…
Since we’ve been doing more strategy, it has become more and more necessary to formalize our ‘ramp up’ process for new strategists. Our strategist typically herald from the marketing side of the world & combine their knowledge with practical elements of technology. This dual-combo makes for a powerful strategist.However, there is a BIG difference in doing one interactive project during a marketing career & actually being a qualified Interactive Strategist. As such, we put together “homework” for our planners and strategists to answer that at least give them some basic familiarity into combining traditional business with the world of interactivity. Here are the questions we ask…