Archive for August 2004

Today is the last day How to Start a Business Blog
and Build Traffic is on sale for $7 and it won’t see this price again for who knows how long. The link takes you to an article that gives you a taste of the report. Businesses are already benefitting from blogs. Get caught up ASAP with the report.

Update: OK, so you can still get the report for $7 after August 31 due to a technical glitch. Who knows how long it will be before it’s fixed.

Had surgery late last week and lost more blood than expected. Thankfully, no transfusion. Considering I have low blood pressure, I’m very tired. The pain is not bad – it’s the tiredness that got me. Thanks for all your well wishes.

Update: I did neglect to mention the surgery reason. Trust me — not something you announce on the Internet. I hope this is it for surgery for a long time. I had three of them last year. 0 before that unless you count LASIK. And this was the fourth. I do have to have another as part of this one, but it will wait a few years.

PowerPro v3.8
http://powerpro.webeddie.com/
Win 95/98/NT/2000/XP
Free

[Command launcher] Run commands, programs, and system configuration all from a button bar. This is a tough program to describe because it can be customized many ways to suit your needs. Karen Carter, who recommended this program, finds this program is indispensable. She says, “It will replace many separate utilities, and can be configured in almost unlimited ways. It has extensive help files, plus two user groups on Yahoo.com for extra support/assistance.”

When I opened the program for the first time, I was overwhelmed by its options. Taking baby steps, I picked two of my frequently used commands and added them to the task bar. On my desktop are a few one-click icons for running a command. I moved these icons into PowerPro and the desktop became less cluttered. Speed up the computing process by taking advantage of the hot key and mouse action items.

Tick tock, the program ran scheduled items right on time such as registry cleaning programs, back ups, and reminders.

I rarely used CAPS or SCROLL LOCK, both of which could be disabled with PowerPro. I could also create virtual desktops and send keystrokes when running a program. The Web site shows menu examples to give you an idea of how different implementation can be per desktop. If the program looks familiar, it was formerly known as Stiletto.

In sum, PowerPro is a task bar, keyboard macro, and program launcher rolled in one. Although the site has not been updated in over a year, the program is worth looking into if you’re looking for a tool to do all of these things.

Jennifer Niederst follows her recently released Learning Web Design, a book for those just starting Web design, with an updated Web Design in a Nutshell that takes novice to intermediate designers to the next level and is also useful as a desktop quick reference.

Many buy such books and end up never opening them or maybe a few times before it’s outdated. I admit I’m one of those people, but not when it comes to the Weasel (picture on the cover) book. This is the book the professor assigned for one of my first Web design classes and it is responsible for my learning tables, CSS, and knowing when to make a graphics file .gif or .jpg.

It’s the most well worn Web design book I have in my collection and the only HTML book I ever bought. Thankfully, there is little that’s changed in the format of the book because it wasn’t broken. Niederst takes the appropriate steps to update it and expand the sections that are more relevant today such as HTML 4.01 and new versions of browsers including Netscape 6 and Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.

Expect an entire orchestra of instruments relevant to Web design, along with the specific details and tricks you should know. It may seem a bit much that Niederst covers HTML, CSS, SSI, graphics, multimedia, JavaScript, DHTML, XML, XHTML, WAP, and WML. However, she appropriately magnifies essential things while the advanced or “you may want to explore” topics are touched upon to give an idea of how it works with suggestions for further reading

The book starts off by addressing the biggest challenge of designing a site that looks good in every browser and version. “Designing for a Variety of Browsers” has a two-page chart of various browsers and versions for the Windows, Macintosh, and UNIX environments, showing what each supports and doesn’t support.

The next chapter covers another source of frustration for designers, “Designing for a Variety of Displays.” If you monitor your Web visitor stats, then you’ll probably notice that no size leads the majority especially with WebTV, handheld, and cellular devices accessing the Internet. There are screen shots of browser and system measurements and tips for designing for various displays.

Chapter 26, “Flash and Shockwave” explains what it is, advantages and disadvantages, introduces you to the Flash interface, adding a Flash file to a Web page, and integrating it with other technologies. Flash is a whole different animal and the book gives you the big picture of how it fits with designing Web pages. The following chapter on SMIL covers the same basics.

Part V addresses the advanced technologies including JavaScript, DHTML, XML, XHTML, and WAP and WML. It’s useful to have these all close together at the end of the book to help you figure out which you may want to use for a Web project.

As useful as special characters can be, I never remember what to type to make the symbol appear, though I know these now. Finding the special character chart is the only complaint I had from the original edition and not even the index helped me find it, so I had to tab the page. This has now been remedied with one of the best improvements of moving the special character reference chart to the appendix for speedy access. Other appendices in the book are listings of HTML tags, attributes, deprecated tags, proprietary tags, and CSS compatibility and support.

As your design skills and knowledge grow, there is always a question that prompts you to open the book and get your answer. It holds true today as I retire the worn out book with a loose page thanks to a certain child and happily replace it with its new younger sibling.

Highly recommended.

Title: Web Design in a Nutshell, 2nd Ed.
Author: Jennifer Niederst
Publisher: O’Reilly
ISBN: 1593270321
Date: October 2001
Format: Paperback
Pages: 640
Price: USD$29.95
CDN: 44.95
UK: 20.95

When I received the Tungsten T3, I was instantly happy with it except for one thing — the Graffiti. I had to unlearn years’ worth of the original Graffiti to use the T3. To date, I still can’t remember how to do punctuation. If I had the T3 first, then the Grafitti is great for a first-timer, but not for us long-time users.

You can return your PalmOS device back to its original Grafitti with this trick, but you need to find someone with a Tungsten T or Sony Clie with OS 5 to make this work. Using Palm m515, m500 or anything with the original Graffiti will not work. Thanks to Hong Kong PalmOS expert, Brando, for the instructions to restore the original Graffiti.

If you don’t have access to the Tungsten T or Sony Clie, there are other options. See PalmInfoCenter for details. I have not tried this since I don’t have access to either device. Remember — backup and you’re on your own. No blaming me if things go wrong.

1. Download a handheld file manager like FileZ so you can view the files, which are stored in the ROM. If you use FileZ, tick the ROM box.

2. Use a handheld that has the original Graffiti system installed (Tungsten T or Clie). Look for the following files using FileZ:

* Graffiti Library.prc, size: 30k, creator: grft
* Graffiti Library_enUS.prc, size 22k, creator: grft

3. Beam or copy the two files to the target handheld you want to change from Graffiti 2 to the original.

4. Perform a soft reset (press the device’s reset pin), and the original Graffiti should be ready to go.

Notes: Procedures has been tested with a Tungsten T. Successfully installed Graffiti over Graffiti 2 on a Tungsten T2, Zire 71, Tungsten C, and a Sony Clie NX80V. Other models that run Palm OS 5 should also be compatible. Even after the replacement, the write anywhere on screen feature of Palm OS 5.2 still functions. The on-screen Graffiti reference also reverts back to the original guide.

Restore Graffiti 2
If you want to restore Graffiti 2, you must perform a hard reset, so backup the data first. A hard reset it performed by holding the power button down during a reset. This restores the handheld to its original factory state, and will wipe out all of your installed programs and data, so make sure you have a recent backup on hand.

Another restore option from Ben Combee who provided this tip to revert back to Graffiti 2 without a hard reset. However, this does not work with the Sony Clie UX50.

1. In Filez, go to the Details form for each database. Change both the name and creator code of each one.

2. Soft reset your device.

3. In Filez, delete the two databases, then soft reset.

At the end of the copy isn’t Oz or anyone singing about rainbows and bluebirds. I’ve been studying long copy and what makes it successful. Read Follow the Long Yellow Copy.

Having blogged for over four years, I’ve watched blogging grow and change. Blogging tools can do a lot for a business. Like everything in a business, blogs have to be evaluated as to whether or not it makes good business sense to spend the time to implement one and commit to regularly updating it. Is a blog right for your business? looks at the factors in making the decision as well as how to get going so it is successful as soon as possible.

All this is in the August eNJ. Remember the announcement that something is coming this week? It’s here! It’s the first “notes,” an e-report! If you like the blogging for business article and you’re ready to leap with a blog, this report provides you with the tools and details to start the blog and build traffic.

In reference to the report, Billy McDermott says, “Finally, a definitive guide to blogging! I strongly believe blogging will eventually replace e-mail because of its open source architecture and ease of use. You cannot spam a blog or infect it with viruses. Blogs today are where the Internet itself was in 1995 – the year it went commercial. The 13 suggestions you recommend on page 12 to submit your blog are worth the price – plus more. My hit counter is going crazy today. Thank you, Meryl. Just great! Really, Really Great!”

The special price of $7 is only good for one week before it retails for its regular price. You can get a feel for the report by reading the blogging article.

Note: This is an interview I conducted with Joel. He was so kind to provide long and clear explanations that I decided to leave them alone rather than make it into an article. The beginning and end are my comments and everything in between his Joel. Thanks, Joel.

Estimation is daunting in Web design with its many variables and the differing for each project. If I could teach everyone one thing about estimation, it’s this: the shorter the tasks, the better the estimate. I tell people to break every schedule down to tasks that are between 4 and 16 hours. If you have a task on your schedule that says something will take a week, it probably means you haven’t thought enough about that steps are involved and you’re pulling the estimate out of thin air. If the requirements indicate, “We need a logon module,” then how long will that take? Aw geez, maybe a week, you guesstimate. Thin air. Back to reality, think about what’s involved in the logon module and break it into manageable tasks.

* Create user table in the database (4 hours)

* Develop a way to enter new users (2 days)

* Ability for users to get password emailed to them if they forget it (1 day)

* Create logon page (4 hours)

* Add password checking capability (1 day)

* Add back-end security (2 days)

* Add HTTPS server (1 day)

* Build code in every page to check that the user has logged on (2 days)

That adds up to TWO weeks. The guesstimate means trouble just for this one requirement. Imagine under-guesstimating for more and finding the project way behind schedule.

By thinking about small tasks you get an estimate, which is not only more precise, but also vastly more accurate. Of course, the client doesn’t know everything that’s needed while working on the requirements.

For the first 11 years of my career, I went around assuming that clients somehow know what they want and our job was to pin them down, maybe by writing a super-detailed spec and getting them to sign every page of it (as some have suggested).

You can try that; it won’t work. It’s too hard to envision the whole system working together until it works together. You’ll start to notice all kinds of things that you thought were requirements, which you never use, and all kinds of things that never occurred to anyone, least of all the client, which turn out to be ultra-crucial.

Manage your client relationship in a way to give you room to frequently adjust even in the middle of the project. I approach handling requirements by suggesting to the client that I’ll start building the minimal system that implements some of the requirements and show the client how it works. Afterwards, decide on which requirements to add next even if it’s not on the original list of requirements. Deliver the next product with the added requirements and continue the process until the system works as expected.

This approach allows repeatedly changing direction while the client learns about the system and how it serves his needs. Requirements that seem important may turn out not to be needed, thus saving money. Regularly delivering functionality builds the client’s confidence in the developer’s ability to stay on track.

Unfortunately, this process doesn’t help with estimating the cost of the whole project before starting. Work through this by explaining that you’ll keep adding and delivering features that have the biggest ROI until we’ve run out of features that are cost effective.

Expect the client to keep requesting more features beyond the budget. When it happens, demonstrate the cost is higher than the budget and it’s time to prioritize. Be ready for politics. The person signing the check
is usually not involved in the project activities.

Here is where the incremental system works since you and the client
address the higher priority items first and keep adding to it until you
run out of time and money. By then, you’ve proven yourself by regularly
delivering functionality.

What do you think? How do you estimate? How accurate is it? I’ve been reading about Galorath’s SEER-SEM estimation tool and hear great things about it. Has anyone used it?

Bio:
Joel Spolsky is a software developer in New York City who has worked at Microsoft, Viacom, and Juno Online Services. Currently, he runs his own company, Fog Creek Software, which makes CityDesk content management software. He is the author of Joel on Software: (long subtitle follows and I am avoiding carpal tunnel – grin). Apress, August 2004.

It’s a sad state when another elementary school Web site steals bandwidth from yours by linking to the image instead of downloading it and putting on its own server. The school can have the image. I don’t care. Ah, so I had to teach them a lesson, hence the screen shot.

Only the black font is my image. My school has a gift wrap fund raiser just like every other school does. Originally, I wrote, “I’m stealing bandwidth from another site,” but the site resized the image I had and it looked terrible. So I changed the height and width and shortened the phrasing. It does the trick, you think?

Paul said I should’ve put something more colorful to get the school’s attention. Hey, I’m a mom… I’m not going to go nuts here. But he didn’t mean n@ked pics or anything.

The Internet may have opened worlds for businesses and consumers, but it has also created a public relations nightmare for businesses. Forums, opinion Web sites, blogs, and anything that is publishable can smear a company’s name in moments.

Remember, “Yours Is a Very Bad Hotel” presentation that described one customer’s bad experience with a hotel chain? Hotels are run by humans. Humans make mistakes. It’s how you handle the mistakes that can make the difference in customer service. Since the hotel’s employees didn’t try to help the customer overcome a bad situation, the customer lashed back and bloggers blogged it.

If the hotel is on top of its game, it would unleash its crisis management (also known as reputation management) team to salvage its reputation while it can. It’s possible for a company to overcome bad PR and come out ahead as in the case of PG&E (California’s Pacific Gas and Electric company).

Another strategy is to use Internet monitoring to monitor online articles regarding a company’s activities to prepare for negative publicity. Some go further and monitor chat rooms, newsgroups, and online discussion forums.

It’s like the story of the town gossip who spread false stories about its people. One day, he felt terrible and went to the chaplain [Rabbi, pastor, priest, or other &mdash take your pick] to ask for forgiveness. The chaplain said,”I will forgive you, but you must do something first.”

“Take a feather pillow, cut it open, and scatter the feathers to the winds.” The man thought this was a strange request, but it was a simple enough task, and he did it gladly. When he returned to tell the chaplain that he had done it, the chaplain said, “Now, go and gather the feathers. Because you can no more make amends for the damage your words have done than you can recollect the feathers.”

The same can happen to a company without a crisis management plan in place. It’s possible to survive the crisis and thrive as PG&E did. Don’t expect Worldcom to pull out of its Enron-like mess. Fraud is not excusable. And Martha Stewart? She has hired a public relations strategist firm in an effort to do damage control. It’ll be worth watching to see what happens in her case and how the PR firm attempts to save her reputation. Did you know there is a recall on one of her products? Adds fuel to the fire, doesn’t it?

Jonathan Bernstein publishes an excellent newsletter on this topic called Crisis Manager. Here’s an interview with Jonathan.

Discussion: Has your company dealt with a crisis? How did your company handle it?

IT pros talk about “those end users” all the time, much like athletes talk about their opponents in the locker room after a game. But IT pros also talk about “their own,” often because of their — ahem — “unusual” ways of handling end user calls.

VoIP (Voice over IP) technology is gaining popularity for obvious reasons; it saves money and it has more features than the plain old telephone. A reader asks what a company needs to do when considering the technology for implementation.

Both of these features along with a new question for you are in the The Remediator Security Digest — August issue.