For those of us who have more than ten website accounts in Google Analytics it’s a real pain clicking the “next” buttons to see all your numbers at a glance and get to your important sites. I’ve even renamed accounts to get stuff on (or off) the first page of the list. And then there it was. Just bookmark this URL:
https://www.google.com/analytics/settings/?hl=en#pagesize=35
Replace the 35 with whatever number you want (more sites = longer load time, slightly). Problem solved!
Update August, 26, 2010: Well as it turns out, the day after I posted this we got invited to a Basecamp project with another firm, and the note for the option to use an existing account is now to the right of the form instead of at the bottom. So, great!
You may have already heard of a Web app called Basecamp by a company called 37signals. Why didn’t you tell us? It seems pretty popular…
Anyway, its big feature is a lack of them. Some people complain about it, but they do pretty well. Basecamp is great for keeping your stuff organized internally (aside from whiteboards and a giant calendar), but it’s really designed for your clients. When you invite people (you can invite everyone you want on a project) they get a nice welcome email, sort of with the assumption it’s their first time using the service*. It’s designed to be easy to use from your very first time, it has to be. Just take a look at these shots that come up for each new project before you start adding things:
Your clients are happy, everything’s in one place, it helps you keep the ball rolling, and look pretty pro. Ever get 30 emails over a few days with bits and pieces of content? Writeboards. Seriously, that may be my favourite part.
*If it’s not, you can use your existing login info, it’s just really small under the signup form. Probably my only real complaint. Good thing I found it when I did, was running out of variations of my name.
Do you use Basceamp, or something else? What’s your take on it all?
Last time we asked Jonathan Frakes (aka Cmdr. William T. Riker of the USS Enterprise) what our next burger theme should be. His response? The Roswell Alien Burger. And what did we come up with?
Some may claim it’s just a weather balloon, but oh no, what we have here is 100% New-Mexican gray alien. Mixed with chopped jalapeno, onion, and hi there’s own fresh parsley, topped with blue cheese and bacon on a flying saucer bun. Oh yeah, and check out the secret alien cargo, a giant blue cheese-stuffed olive.
1lb ground turkey (for that gray alien meat)
2 jalapenos
1/4 large onion
1/4 cup fresh parsley
1/2 tsp ground cumin
4 slices of blue cheese
6 full strips of bacon
2 of the biggest olives you can find
Place turkey in a large bowl, chop jalapenos, onion, and parsley and add to the mix, and add cumin. BBQ at a low-medium temperature (around 400C) for about 15-20 min (keep an eye on them). Start frying bacon on low on the side. Add cheese a few minutes before they’re done. Serve on your favourite bun, the more flaying saucer-like the better. Serves 2, these are massive burgers. No replicators – all from scratch!
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If you’re a fan of spicy like us, this burger’s for you. Starting form scratch as always, we turn few simple ingredients turn into a delicious adventure.
Grilling to perfection, just a cheese-melting away.
And here we have it. The Mexican, aka Siesta Grande. A 1/2 pound beef patty stuffed with diced jalapenos, topped with aged cheddar, onion, tomato, and hi there’s own fresh guacamole on a lightly grilled kaiser. Served with a side of guacamole and chips. Best enjoyed with a cold cerveza.
Also, follow our web design and other tasty encounters on Twitter. It’ll be fun.
The last weekend in May brought us the second annual iHackathon (formerly iPhone Hackathon) for Charity, because yes, we had iPads this year! On the weekend they were released in Canada in fact, but a bunch of us had acquired them early. Quite possibly the highest concentration of iPads in HRM. But I digress…
The turnout this year was great, with twice the number of participants (around 30) in Halifax the Hub was comfortably full. We had Apps4Good founder Dale Zak leading a Hackthon in Saskatoon too. In total about 50 people participated.
All-in-all a great event. Four apps started in Halifax and three in Saskatoon (3x that of last year) and I think we had great progress for a weekend and a lot of enthusiasm. You can check out the Apps4Good site for info on each app and charities.
Taking what we learned form last year we wanted to hit the ground running with app ideas and teams ready to go in the morning. So the Tuesday before the Hackathon we put up a discussion board, had a meeting to flush out ideas and create a shortlist. Then on Friday we went over some new ideas, and rated everything on two main fronts: technical feasibility (whether we could do it, especially in a weekend and our free time) and market potential (who’s it for? do these people exist? will they buy it? etc).
The challenge now is how do we keep the ball rolling and work with everyone, now across two provinces and strategize together (or should we)? How do we efficiently finish the apps? I see a 37signals-esq approach – prioritize, iterate, focus on making things happen vs. making detailed plans for things to happen. It should be a unique experience, one I look forward to going into with an open mind and learning from.
And last by not least, big thanks to event sponsors in Halifax, the Hub for the space, Liquid Media, Economic & Rural Development, Innovacorp for food and MindSea shirts too, Beyond the Box Law for down-to-Earth help, and in Saskatoon Zu for food and VendAsta who provided space.
This is the third time I’ve sat down to write this, going from thinking it didn’t make sense to have a separate profile for your business, to you should probably secure your brand’s profile, to a challenge to do something interesting on the Internet.
We’re posing more questions than answers. Can having an inactive (or seldom active) account look poorly on your company? Is it more important to secure your place? If you’re in the marketing space does it look odd not to? Larger companies seem to be an easier answer as it’s probably part of someone’s job. But small businesses like ours I find are represented by the people behind them. Is the purpose to inform, get attention, to entertain? So maybe the better questions is what would you do with it that people would be interested in?
Observations? Thoughts?
Recently Eastlink bought out The Coast’s homepage. People got paid to make this happen and it doesn’t look like much thought went into it. The ads are static as you scroll down, too.
Dear The Coast: C’mon, you’re the cool one. Like, the hippest publication in Halifax. Of course you need to make money. I know times are tough for print, but you appreciate creativity, right? Innovate, don’t settle in light of a big cheque, protect your brand.
And Eastlink, I’m sorry, but that is the worst ad ever, from design to messaging. (and how much does “mbps” mean to your average customer, or the average Coast reader? I guess a lot according to your research, right?)
Eastlink, you’re the fastest around, aren’t you? Your whole campaign is based on speed. And I think you’re right. So why not have a challenge, something like the Halifax Internet Speed Challenge (ok, spend a few minutes on the name), then pose it as a question, like you’re seeking an honest answer for everyone. That much more aligns itself with The Coast I think. Do some tests around and directly compare yourself to the competition (Aliant?). If your service is fast why not prove it? I think that’s entirely feasible for you to do. In the end, you come out on top, as the fastest provider in town, maybe with +1 PR even.
Or something. That’s just a thought, and the mechanics of how it’d work wouldn’t be so simple, but it’s the start of something that’s an attempt to make everyone look better. Oh and if your screen isn’t 1280px wide (most laptop screens) it’ll cover over the ads. Larger screen? How about another.
