Operating the Collectionist

So, I have been doing a lot of work setting up a system that I affectionately refer to as the Collectionist.  Its a series of websites overseen by an umbrella website that will have single sign-on and the ability to track, grade and potentially monetize peoples collections of stuff.  And by that I mean anything collectable.

While not quite up and running yet, there is a mountainous amount of work that needs be completed before even a drop a bucket of what this web system will be capable of is up and running, so I'm spending a lot of my free time tinkering and tweaking in attempts to get this system operational.  Check back regularly to see updates.

The main page can be found here:

www.collectionist.info

Till next time, I'll catch you on the flip side.

Here Again

My how time flies when you're having fun.  Its been a while since my last post, and we've been busy.  I'll have to catch up with everything in a later post, but for now, the web business is doing well and Digital Fruit continues to march forward with it's goals.

One thing I will mention is that I will be putting an order in soon for more solar panels to move things forward towards our goal of being self-sufficient in our power use.  I'll be adding between 200w to 400w of power production, and I hope to be able to move into a kilowatts worth of production before the year is out.

Also, I've been doing a lot of work on further developing web programming skills, and soon I should have some updates to the Digital Fruit.biz website.  Along with some cosmetic things, the back end will be improved and I hope to be able to do more with dynamic content on the site.

Sale

So, just another quick note, Digital Fruit is doing installations of Ubuntu for $20 a forty dollar discount off of our usual OS installation price.  Contact us any time if you are interested.

Ubuntu 14.04

Just a quick note for those who didn't catch it, Ubuntu 14.04, the next Long Term Service release is out.  We hear at Digital Fruit highly suggest upgrading your Ubuntu systems soon if you haven't already.

Javascript Update

Just wanted to post a maintenance post that we have updated some of the javascript and PHP functionality on the Friendly Paws Grooming website, repairing some of the parts that didn't function.

New Websites Being Made

So, Digital Fruit is now building and maintaining three new websites.

http://www.pogcollector.info
http://www.petersensminiatures.info
http://www.youngrepublicansgh.org

So go ahead and check them out when you get a chance.  I'll try and keep you excited with more new web offerings soon, so stay tuned.

A Quick List of the Sites Digital Fruit Currently Maintains

http://www.digitalfruit.biz
http://www.recoveryridersmc.com
http://www.friendlypaws.co
http://www.libertysteeth.us
http://www.tcgindex.info

Web Design

It seems like too many designers these days have this idea that web design is all about what's trendy now.  They get caught up in buzz words like parallax scrolling, and the latest javascript library.  And with the invasion of mobile web devices, designers have given way to minimalism, using almost nothing on their sites to ensure mobile compatibility. When did design become anything more or less than design?

When I took design in college, we all started in the basic design 101 class.  Engineers, fashion designers, retail consultants, web designers, everyone.  And that was when I learned my first big lesson in design:  Its the same for everyone.  Design is honestly the magic art of knowing your audience, and playing to them.  Our professor in that class, Erik Sandgren, said that even after all these rules and principals he was teaching us, it ultimately came down to what the client wanted.

Which is where I'm going with this post.  Web design today seems to be suffering from too many arrogant designers who think they know what is best, and that anyone disagreeing with them is just an idiot, including the client.  Why, just today I was searching a web design blog to find any suggestions on how to achieve a certain layout, and in the comment sections of an article found a gentleman on the warpath about the some of the suggestions.  His argument was that two of the ten bullets on the list could be achieved without using javascript, a staple of web design, and not something outlandish or difficult.  Other commentators pointed out that it was to ensure backwards compatibility.  And this gentleman just responded that he doesn't care what the client wants or says, that is the way its supposed to be done, if people weren't going to update, it wasn't his fault.

So, if you are planning to get into web design, I would beg you to consider this; web design isn't about trends on the web, its about bring the best of the web to your clients and their visitors.

Till next time, catch you on the flip side.

DFSBC 2014

Due to some serious personal issues I was trapped in in 2013, the Digital Fruit Small Business Conference 2013 never got off the ground.  But as Digital Fruit is always committed to the health and support of small businesses, we will be working again this year to bring you the best information and skills to help your small business thrive.

Set for mid-June, with an entry cost of $25, Digital Fruit and our small business sponsors will be hosting this event and networking opportunity for two sessions.  As a firmer date is established, I'll post location and times, but if you are interest, there is no reason you can't RSVP now.  Any questions or reservations can be submitted to me at andrew@digitalfruit.biz.

As always, thanks for your interest, and we here at Digital Fruit hope to hear from you soon.

Your Favorite Industry Day

So, I felt compelled today to drop a quick note and let people know a little bit about ads running on small sites for there favorite companies.  Most people just see internet ads as an annoyance, something some terrible porn company or hacker has cleverly laid to trap you.  But the majority of ads, especially on small sites, are legitimate ads, and they serve a purpose.

Most small business sites host ads because it creates a new revenue stream, an extra source of money that can help to lower costs and keep them in business so you can enjoy their products and services.  They are picked by the company that puts them there because they feel that it is something their customers are interested in.  Or in the case of Google's ad network, with a little tweaking, the ads are custom tailored according to where and what you, the viewer, actually visit on the internet, in an attempt to get you to the very site you need to see.

But there is a problem in the modern world of advertising.  More and more people are falling prey to the stigma that all online ads are bad, and so they shouldn't click on them.  So as a tech guru and a small business owner myself, I would ask you to please, please support small business, and if you see an ad on their site about something you are genuinely interested, click on it and maybe earn them a couple of bucks.  I mean, pennies add up, ya know.  So that's my plea for today, so until next time, catch you on the flip side.