Google, you’re so good to us

It’s been a great day. I just got home after watching the Mumlers for the first time in the most hospitable dive bar in Missouri (it’s non smoking). I opened my email and learned that Google just slashed its additional online storage fees! This is great news! I was about to have to pay $50 for the third year in a row to support my Picasa addiction. Instead, for $20 I get 80 gbs of additional storage.

This is wonderful timing considering my increasing dependence on Google Docs and the growing draw of the new DROID. Or am I actually more lured by Verizon…nah, it’s probably my disdain for at&t. The point is that Android 2.0 may be tempting enough to finally cut the cord with my iPhone. Decisions, decisions…

In case you don’t have Google additional storage but you do have a Gmail account or a Picasa account, you really need to hop on the bandwagon. How can reject 20gb of additional storage for 5 bucks a year?! Time to bust out that digital camera and start sharing pictures as they’re meant to be shared — not as email attachments.

Radiohead strikes again

On March 2, 2008 I downloaded thirty six amazing tracks for $5 (nin’s ghosts i-iv: still available for $5 on the nin site). A few months earlier I downloaded Radiohead’s In Rainbows and Saul Williams’ The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust for free. Musicians were finally winning, I thought to myself. Unfortunately that was short lived. The online distribution model did not change the tide of the music world. So much for thinking that artists would no longer burn and package a ton of albums that would then be thrown into armies of trucks and shipped to the far corners of the world. So much for a future with one less genre of giant cardboard cutouts telling us what to buy.

How times had changed.

For years I was set on not buying media from iTunes. I had all the CDs I thought I wanted and didn’t think it was worth dishing out $1 a song if I didnt get the media in the mail. Over time I did buy a few songs and episodes that I had to have it at that moment.

In 2008, a few months after getting my Zune, I broke down. My roommates’ convinced me that it was pretty pointless to not have the Zune service since they also had Zunes. They couldn’t forward great songs without going to a third party service like Grooveshark, which of course, they were unwilling to do. We tried to share songs over the Zune’s wifi, but since I didn’t subscribe to the service, I could never get the songs they sent. Looking back on it today, I don’t know how I lived without it. I ‘rent’ over half of my music collection for a few bucks a month and also get 10 free downloads. Well worth it.

Today I listen to Porcupine Tree and Pink Floyd on my Zune and my Karma Police Station on Pandora on my iPhone and can’t remember the last time I bought an album. There are a couple albums I am going to buy on the Amazon Marketplace (Metallica’s Black Album and DJ Dangermouse’s Grey Album) as soon as I get around to it.

A few hours ago Radiohead released a new song online: Harry Patch (in memory of). Even though the single song they released is a little pricey, the proceeds are for a cause. Maybe if this song takes off more musicians will think twice before sending another dozen tracks to the plastic factory.

Update: Girl Talk released his latest album following the In Rainbows Method – pay what you want to download. http://bit.ly/13zmaN

RescueTime Version 2.0

About a month ago I realized that my RescueTime dashboard was no longer listing any of the time I spent on either my desktop or laptop. Tony Wright immediately suggested that I had changed my password online but had not updated it on the client app, thereby leaving the log of the work tracked sitting on my computer. Since the client app only has an online dashboard, I was sure it was something wrong with the tracking software, not the reporting software. The solution to my problem was as simple as logging in with my correct password and non of my time worked was lost.

Tony also told me that a couple months ago RescueTime released version 2, complete with tray icon notification and more advanced reporting tools. If RescueTime is as useful to you as it is for Nate and me, you should really download the newest version at RescueTime.com. If you haven’t used RescueTime, I really suggest downloading it and checking it out…now to work on a product review, to highlight the awesomeness of this app. Thanks Tony for creating such great app!

Open Letter to Napa Non-Profits

Unfortunately last year I didn’t hear about Craigslist’s Bootcamp for non-profits until it passed. Here is the letter I just sent out to all the Non-Profits and Non-Profit service companies I have in my rolodex (err, Gmail history — I’ve never owned nor intend to own a rolodex):

Hi Napa Non Profits,

I meant to send this announcement out earlier. Below is an email reminder to sign up for Craigslist’s Boot Camp — a series of workshops designed to help bay area non profits reach their audiences. The workshops cover a range of topics from strategic planning to locating opportunities in this economy and social entrepreneurship  (you can see all 24 workshops here: link). I think this is a great opportunity for any Napa Non Profit. Please forward this to anyone else you think may be interested.

For more tips on how to make the most of your resources or improve your non profit, you can follow us at: www.atlasbay.com or our twitter account.

Alejandro Oyarzabal

Excerpt from Craiglsit Boot Camp email:

BOOT CAMP IS ONLY FOUR DAYS AWAY - REGISTER NOW! Breaking news: Key team members from AllforGood.org (an open source application created by volunteers in the tech world that allows you to find and share volunteer activities) will be doing a special session: Smarter Service in a Web 2.0 World: Introducing All for Good Presenters: Adam Sah, Jonathan Greenblatt, and Susan Nesbitt Learn about how your organization can use All for Good, a new open source platform that helps distribute your volunteer opportunities across the web and on social networks. All for Good engineers and co-founders will provide an overview of the platform and related Apps, walk through steps for you to get started today, and give a sneak peek at upcoming features. So join us, Craig Newmark, Arianna Huffington, Ami Dar, Michael Krasny, and thousands of others this Saturday as we join forces to build stronger and healthier communities. See you at Boot Camp! -The Craigslist Foundation Boot Camp Team For questions or help with registration, please email: bootcamp@craigslistfoundation.org.

Chrome needs a new search

Since Chrome was released, my web browsing habits have reached new heights. I’m constantly running at least 5 Chrome windows with at least 5 tabs each on my three monitor setup (as I write this on my single monitor laptop I have 75 tabs open between 7 chrome windows — the laptop has been on for at least 2 weeks).

A minutes ago I tried to find one tab with a very specific website and realized I couldn’t find it right away (this is the first time, I can usually find it within 5 seconds). A Chrome solutions would be ideal. Otherwise MS could help by adding a search feature to windows 7 to allow me to search through all open instances of a single app. Meanwhile, I guess I’ll open a new tab and take care of it the old fashion way.

Billco Pics by Lacey Haslam

One of the things that most excites me about AtlasBay is the opportunity to approach my favorite businesses with the tools and knowledge to help them communicate with their clients. Last year we were on track to build a website for Billco’s Bar and Billiard’s in Napa. Unfortunately, as the economy started crumbling, Billco’s cancelled their plans for their site. Fortunately, by that point we had already been able to get Lacey Haslam into the bar and capture some great pictures. I figure we might as well post the pictures to show off how well Lacey was able to capture the subtleties that make Billco’s a local favorite.

Non-Profit Marketing and Branding

Like most industries these days budget cuts are a fact of life for non-profit organizations. With the market down, donors are holding back or reducing annual grants and donations to non-profit organizations. To help reduce the effects of these cutbacks it is more important than ever for non-profit organizations to efficiently and effectively utilize every marketing dollar that is spent. Atlas Bay has collaborated with the designers and branding experts at Kalidoscopoio to provide web design, branding packages, and marketing materials for many non-profit originations. Through this collaboration we are able to bring our clients a diverse set of skills ranging from branding to computer programming.

In recent years we have seen the power of the internet. Politicians used websites, social networks, and viral campaigns to raise record amounts of money from individuals across the world. Non-profit organizations have collected millions of dollars from individual donors on Facebook and through PayPal Donations. With traditional funding sources drying up, now is the time to make sure your organization is using these new resources effectively.

One of the most recent projects designed and created by our partners at Kalidoscopio was for Universitarios para el Desarrollo (The Association of Universities for Development). The Universitarios para el Desalrrollo is a joint project between teachers, students, and professionals that promotes development and social responsibility in Argentina. The organization has been active in their mission for nearly 20 years and has helped thousands of young people become better and more productive members of society.

Kalidoscopio was tasked with designing the association’s website to highlight the values, results, and current information about the association, its members, and the communities. Working closely with members of the association’s staff Kalidoscopio designed an attractive and functional website that enhanced the overall brand of the organization.

The overall design of the website focuses a great deal on photos and personal stories. As you can see in the image above the page header is a custom font with three photos showing the user snapshots of the programs. The website features the traditional elements such as a blog, photos, videos, general information, and contact details. The website differs from most non-profit organization websites in one important way: it is always changing.

Powering this website is a content management system that allows any authorization  individual within the organization to post updates, change text content, and more through a simple web interface. Unlike most non-profit organizations with static content on their sites visitors will be enticed to return to this site regularly for important news and updates. Furthermore, visitors can remain constantly connected by subscribing to RSS feeds for updates directly from the organization.

In designing the site, Kalidoscopio chose to feature various personal stories, photos, and quotations from individuals who have been involved in the program. These stories bring a personal touch to the site and really invite the user to get involved or donate to the program.

The last, and perhaps most interesting component of this website is the social networking focus. In today’s get-it-now, instant-feedback world it is important for all organizations to connect to their users. Tools like Facebook and Twitter are quickly become just as important as the telephone or email when it comes to communicating with your customers.

Non-profit organizations that miss the bus on these new tools to connect with their communities, clients, and funders will soon find themselves trailing by more agile and responsive organizations. The non-profit organization industry is an important and competitive one and every organization must constantly improve to stay ahead of the curve.

With the intention of staying more in touch and better connected Kalidoscopio and Universitarios para el Desarrollo decided that it was important to prominently display the organization’s Facebook groups right on the front of their homepage. By encouraging visitors to join these groups Universitarios para el Desarrollo will stay more connected and more responsive and be able to better serve their clients.

If your organization is looking to update their brand, website, or simply to become more engaged with your clients and community give us a call. We would love to help you help others.

Product Review: DropBox

For the last 6 month I’ve been using DropBox (www.getdropbox.com) for all my file sharing and backup needs. The app does a great job with version control and has been crucial for sharing files with others.

The only problems are noticed are that:

1. Sometimes the interface can be a little confusing — it’s too simple. I think they should box some stuff in a little bit. It would be really nice if they also incorporated FB Connect and allowed you to invite any of your friends to view certain files.

2. You cannot share sub folders: you are only able to share the root folders. This isn’t a big deal though.

3. The url of the files uploaded to the Public folder don’t work on my computer. They also aren’t working on my brother’s account. I’ll have to look into this a little more — I doubt it doesn’t work for anyone.

All things considered, this is a great app. The free version is more than enough for most users. Companies or people that really need their files online can pay $100/yr for 50gb of online storage that automatically syncs to any computer that has the client installed.

New Google Features for Non-Profits

In the past year, and especially the past month, Google has made great progress developing and expanding its suite of online software and tailoring these tools for IRS registered 501c3 Non-Profits.

Google for Non-Profits: www.google.com/nonprofits/

Google Aps: This is Google’s full software suite, simplifying complex administrative tasks like creating or disabling users that previously required either an in-house computer guru or a full Microsoft deployment (for larger organizations). This suite comes complete with email (6 gb), online document storage and editing, and messaging tools. Once properly configured this is a very user friendly intranet. You can expand this functionality by expanding this intranet using Google Site. To learn more about Google Aps, click here. To learn about Google Sites, click here.

Google Doc’s Spreadsheets/Forms: Although these have been free and available for a while, a few weeks ago Google added a couple new features:

• Freezing Columns: This may seem pretty simple but while working with CyberMill I found that it was really important when using a spreadsheet as a simple database.
• Forms: Instead of only inviting users to have full administrative or view-only control, now you can create a spreadsheet and share it as a form that only accepts data.
• Notifications: A pretty important tool when collaborating with multiple people on a single spreadsheet that sends a user an email whenever anyone changes a spreadsheet.
• Charts and Reporting: I have not yet had an opportunity to play with Google’s reporting tools but they appear to range from standard graphs to Key Performance Indicator gadgets that can be added to your intranet.

To sign up for Google Docs, click here.

Google Checkout: Stop paying PayPal any money to profess donations online. Sign up for Google Checkout, verify your 501c3 status, and copy and paste their button to accept online donations free of charge. Click here to Apply.

Google Grants: This program permits Non-Profits, excluding religious or political organizations, to post free ads online using AdWords (Google’s commercial ad program). Click here to Apply.

Expressions Blend 2 taking shape

Microsoft just released the December Preview of Expressions Blend 2. One improvement that caught my eye is the new font embedding functionality to ensure that all audiences can see Silverlight and WPF applications as the designer intended them to be viewed. Ah yes, technology functioning as it should. A full list of improvements is included on the download site. MS Expressions Download site.