Blogs

The power of the individual is astoundingly unlimited and it is the individual upon which our world's future relies. The institutional powers that be are lost as demonstrated throughout history and we are reminded again by the recent debt ceiling debacle in Washington.

Over my decade and a half of web development I’ve seen clients become increasingly more savvy about basic web concepts and available technologies.

More and more I’ve been getting pushback from prospective clients about Drupal. “Oh – I’ve heard there’s a steep learning curve” or “the back end is so confusing”.

This speaks to a problem not endemic to Drupal, but to specific developers. It doesn’t need to be that way.

I recently discovered an employee of one of my clients was using the user id "admin" for access to their company's website administration panel. The password? "admin123"

Not exactly secure. Unfortunately not all that uncommon. Business owners and office managers often overlook the need to periodically discuss - and enforce - password policy with their employees. Many organizations don't even have password policies. (Does yours?)

Nobody likes to change diapers. Nobody likes to change passwords. but change we must.

Passwords get stolen. They get cracked. People stand behind you and look over your shoulder (quick - turn around!).

It's best practice to periodically change passwords - especailly for your most important passwords - banks, credit cards and your sock of the month club membership.

You Gotta Have a Gimmick.

[ELECTRA]: If you wanna make it, Twinkle while you shake it.
[TESSIE TURA]: If you wanna grind it, Wait till you've refined it.
[MAZEPPA]: If you wanna stump it, Bump it with a trumpet!
[ALL]: So get yourself a gimmick and you, too, Can be a star!

From You Gotta Have a Gimmick from the musical Gypsy

For those naysayers claiming America is in decline, I say “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet”.

Technology and globalism are bringing people together in ways never before imaged and it up to us to find creative ways to communicate more effectively finding common ground to both bridge and celebrate differences.

I stopped by the local Quickie Mart where I sometimes buy coffee. The two clerks were in the midst of a shift change and were speaking to one another in a tongue with which I wasn’t familiar.

The Google way, according to Google Creative Lab ECD Robert Wong, is about "more listening, less talking; more feeling, less thinking; more doing, less promising; more inventing, less polishing."

The latest attempt to revolutionize social media is ShoutOmatic (http://shoutomatic.com/).

This is the audio version of Twitter. Record a short message (30 seconds or less), post it on the web for all to hear. You can also tweet it, share it on Facebook, download it, e-mail it or, watch as I use it to slice through this aluminum can without dulling the blade.

After listening to several shouts, including one from John Oates (sans Hall), I greet this innovation with a resounding yawn.

Contact-us forms are de-rigueur. Everybody else has one on their site so why shouldn’t we?

But what about those sites that ask everything including your hat size and what color socks you wore yesterday?

The more your visitors have to work to contact you the less likely it is you’ll ever hear from them. Even if you’re not requiring they fill out all the fields, perception is reality. If that form looks too demanding or too intrusive most of your visitors will pass.

Dear Metropolitan Opera,

Thank you for the gorgeous Metropolitan Opera Season Calendar for 2010-11! The photo on the front cover of Bryn Trefel as Wotan is arresting.

I’m a huge fan of Sondra Radvanovsky so I immediately thumbed through to see if she’s performing and sure enough – page 17 – Puccini’s Tosca – (not the best photo of her, though). And nice shot of Natalie Dessay as Luccia Di Lammermoor with her dress all bloody. And they’re doing Rossini’s Le Comte Ory – Juan Diego Flores is dressed as a nun.