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.

Digital Fruit Small Business Conference

So, with a tenative date set in the middle part of June (I still have to discuss the exact date with the business that has been gracious enough to host this event), the Digital Fruit Small Business Conference will begin.  Seating starts at $20 a business, and attendance is limited to the space available, about 45 seats.  If you are a small business in the Grays Harbor area and are interested in attending, contact me via email at andrew@digitalfruit.biz and let me know how many will be attending from your business.  Thanks for your interest and support.

New Month, New Posts

     So, I know that the month of April was a slow month for the blog, and, sadly, a slow month for Digital Fruit.  But it was still time well spent.  The time in study and R&D was well applied, and some new projects and products are stemming from that time.  So sorry I didn't type much here, but let me just say, there was typing.
     So, I thought I would just step in and say my peace for today, and let everyone know we aren't dead.  We're not even resting.  Soon, we'll have things ready for you to view and play with.

Digital Fruit Now an Intel Technology Provider

     As of yesterday morning, Digital Fruit has become an Intel Technology Partner and will begin training on Intel specific products and services.  So, if you have any questions about Intel processors and main-boards, feel free to ask any of our Digital Fruit Tech representatives.

Website Update

     Hello everyone!  This is Andrew again, and I'm just dropping in to let all of you know that DigitalFruit.biz is getting a huge overhaul over the next couple of days.  Check back in regularly to see just whats going on.
     Till then, catch you on the flip-side!

Diagnostics

     So, Digital Fruit is in the middle of acquiring new diagnostic hardware.  With these new tools we'll be able to more accurately assess computer problems that aren't readily visible.
     We will be investing in a power supply tester, a PCI post card, and network cable tester.  With these tools, finding problems, even with small networks, will be made much, much easier.   So, in our attempts to bring more quality to our customers, we will press on in acquisitions of the tools we need to make this work.

Help Increase Web Presence

     This is a call-to-arms, a request for assistance, the gentle nudge of a friend.  Digital Fruit is in the middle of a campaign to increase its web-presence, and anyone who frequents this site, please, link either to digitalfruit.biz or digitalfruitblog.blogspot.com.  Any link will help, but if you post about something you read on the blog, or something cool you see on the site, and tell other people about it, that helps a whole heck of a lot more.  So please, help your local neighborhood tech geek, and pass a link.

Checking In

     So, just checking in and making sure I keep all you fans out there updated to the goings on of Digital Fruit.  I'm in over my head, but here's the news.
     First, the Eeble cartoon is coming along fine.  I haven't had much time to do more animation, but character development and scene setup have progressed smoothly.
     Second, Epic, though still behind schedule, is moving along.  I'm getting help now with composing the score, and with story development.  We're working to polish it up and make it really shine.
     Thirdly, the tech side of things has been booming, with calls coming in daily.  This probably contributes to the delays in the other projects, but that's okay, its money now to fund projects later.  Some nasty bug cropping up on this end though, so watch your online habits carefully.
     Fourth, my learning of the 3D suite Blender is coming along nicely, and I'm finding that once I've found some research material, the learning curve isn't as steep as I originally thought.  I'm going to try and enter into some CG competitions here soon, and maybe Digital Fruit will get some kudos.
     Finally, web site development of digitalfruit.biz is kind of at a standstill.  All the studying I've done in Javascript has been hampered by the fact that I can't get any of my own code to work on a website.  I'm going to have to redouble my efforts and start from the basics again, going over everything until the problems with my designs become apparent.
     So, that's all for now, I'll write again with another update.

Digital Fruit Website

     Well, I have to say I'm impressed.  After a lot of work, and some real frustration, the Digital Fruit website is coming together nicely and is starting to show some real promise.  The design and color combinations are clean and simple, and I think it is pleasing to the eye, not overly cluttered (which I was afraid of because I'm guilty of that from time-to-time).  I'm thinking that with a little more time, the application of some javascript and PHP, this site will be right up there with some of the bigger pages.
     And yes, I am indulging in a little bit of narcissism here, but its late and I've put a lot of work into this page, so I guess I feel justified.  If you'd like to see for yourself, head on over to digitalfruit.biz and tell me what you think, positive or negative, I'll take it either way.

Quick Blurb 1

     Just a quick blurb:  Both the Digital Fruit website and the Split-Shot Charters Website will be overhauled in the upcoming days.  This may cause some erratic behavior out of these two sites.

Senior Options

     Another quick idea for company development and business decisions.  I've been considering, at least temporarily instating a senior's referral program, where seniors that are retired and on social security will be able to gain vouchers for referring other customers.  These vouchers would make them eligible for a free tech service.
     How they would get these vouchers would be to apply for the program either in-store or on line, then when a customer would come in and say that so-and-so had referred them, they would be put on the mailing list for one of the vouchers.
     So, what does everyone think?  I'll be waiting for comments on this one before I really make a decision.

Things Waiting in the Wind

     Well, things are finally coming together, and we are gearing up to build something big for Digital Fruit.  I don't want to give too much away, but we will be moving the majority of company operations to a new website, though this blog will remain where I come to make announcements and talk business with the customers.  But I just thought I would log in and help build up the anticipation for everyone.  Look forward to this next Thursday, 6-17-2010.

2010 Numbers Are In

     After much work and anticipation, the Digital Fruit 2010 Cell Phone Survey has been completed.  I'll list the results here (the results are out of 324 active cellphone units):

1. Verizon with 186 units, taking 57.4% of the total market share in Gray's Harbor.
2. AT&T with 53 units, taking 16.4%.
3. Sprint/Nextel with 32 units, taking 9.9%.
4. TMobil with 27 units, taking 8.3%.
5. US Cellular with 14 units, taking 4.3%.
6. Virgin Mobile with 5 units, taking 1.5%.
7. TracFone with 3 units, taking .9%
8. Newcomer Consumer Cell with 2 units, taking .6%.
9. Boost mobile with 1 unit, taking .3%.  Tying with...
10. Newcomer Straight Talk. 1 unit, .3%.

     And that is the truth of it.  This being the third year that this information has been compiled, we here at digital fruit have noticed a 10% slide away from Verizon, and it leads this blogger to wonder, where did they all go?  When ten percent of the total market share slips away from a single company, you have to wonder why and where it went.  I plan to investigate into this matter with some interview and questions about what the cell phone market in Aberdeen looks like.  So if any of you run into me on the street, be ware! I might just be coming to question you...

6/23/2010 P.S.  If anyone would like to view numbers from before Digital Fruit was officially founded, I do have those on record.  If you would like to view them, send your request in an e-mail to sehamon@gmail.com

Celebrate With Us

     Well, according to Google it is national small business week.  This is good for Digital Fruit, and for my wife and me, because it seems to be giving us opportunities for extra exposure to the media.  Google and the US Small Business Administration have developed a website with resources to help out small businesses.  This has pointed me in the right direction to get some help with developing this apartment operation into something at least a little bigger.  And thanks everyone for your posts about the idea I proposed for our business plan.  All of these are reasons to be celebrating.

Putting Out Ideas For Business Plans

     I know at this point that my customer base is small, and that the viewership on this blog is smaller, but I've decided go out on a limb and try to get feed back from customers.  I'm trying to best find a way to combat the eventuality of inflation.  I don't want to have to suddenly increase my prices and drive away customers.
     So, as I was thinking about this today, I figured that I would try just raising the prices of all tech services by a dollar a year.  Just one dollar.  Enough to start making a difference in income, but not enough that it will bother customers.
     I realize that this idea may need adjustment, which is why I'm asking for the input of Digital Fruits customers and concerned parties.  So, if you have any ideas, post some comments.  Ideas are always welcome.

Um, Wow, Its Been a While

     If the title of this post is not enough explanation, I don't know what is.  The progress of Digital Fruit as a company is coming along great, which is why I haven't been able to get online and type up new blog posts.  It is kind of nice to get back on and just address the people that are reading the blog, instead of trying to recommend something or write a tutorial.  I'm just here today to give a quick update.
     Well, on the power production front, we've successfully generated enough power to start charging batteries, and we are still working on building a proper controller circuit.  We are also working on building a three phase alternating current windmill that will produce a much larger amount of power.
     On the software front, I've regressed back to study after a run in with some design problems with the Epic video game.  I've no idea why my current running model is failing, (and causing my computer to crash), so its back to study for a little while, then probably back to the drawing board.  Humbling experiences like this are always good for building skill as a programmer.  If you learn how to fix it now, you'll know how to fix it later.
     And on the tech support front, things are going swimmingly.  This has been our busiest month to-date, and it seems the tech support idea will be the driving financial part of Digital Fruit until the software section can really take off.
     Digital Fruit is also jumping on-board as a participant in the Ubuntu development community.  I personally am not a capable enough programmer yet to really contribute code, but we are helping with documentation and artwork until there is enough coding skill in the company to provide code.  And with my personal experiences with Ubuntu 10.4, as owner of Digital Fruit, I've decided we will make all of our software cross compatible between Windows, Mac, and Linux as far as that is possible. (Games written for Windows in DirectX will pose problems until I have a better development team behind me, then we can work on multiple versions at the same time.)
    And so, that is the state of Digital Fruit for the month of May, 2010.  Until I get more news, talk to you later!  ~ Andrew Petersen

Smart Phone Wars

     The world seems to be in the midst of a war of the smart phones.  It goes without saying that the start of the conflict came when the iPhone stepped in and knocked the blackberry from its amazingly high perch.  But now it seems that the tech world is riddled with smart phones, with new ones coming out every day.  And it isn't just a competition between Blackberry and iPhone, plenty of faces are showing up on the scene, both old and new.  Motorola, Google, HTC, Palm, and others are all making headway into the smart phone market(or at least trying to).  But is it really so important to have a phone that can do everything else as well?  Are these devices becoming an integral part of our modern society? 
     I'm posing that question to you, Digital Fruit's customers, on the eve of our annual cellphone exposure poll, to find out if you feel that smart phones are really where its at.

More Hope

     I may be being a little too optimistic, but I may be on the verge of a demo of Epic within the next week.  I've been looking over what code I already have, and the amount of workable images, and if I really set my mind to it, something viable should be up by the end of the four days off that I have from my other employment.
     This would be big, a huge first step in the workings of Digital Fruit if we could just get a working demo of something up on the net.  I'm excited, and I'm hoping that this will work.  I'm going to try and find something for hosting, and I'll post the link soon so that I can share this with the readers.

Updates Galour

     I realize that I've been all business and no heart.  So here is an update on the goals and workings of Digital Fruit's project list.
     Epic:  We are currently reworking the story line and working up more images for use in the actual game, not just promotional or conceptual.  I'll have some new colored frames up on Picasa soon, so make sure to check the blog.  I'm also trying to get some of the music started for this, but that might be a little premature, as not much of the game is done, and audio is usually the last thing applied to these projects.
     Eeble cartoon:  I'm still trying to figure out just what I'm going to do with this one.  Its a fun learning experience, but I'm not sure where to classify how far in development it is.
     Power Production:  Chugging right along.  I'm still working with the controller circuits so I don't blow something up, but everything is going fine.  And I've bumped up the voltage of the test model to nine volts, meaning at peak power it can power most standard, battery-operated devices in peoples homes, or at least charge the batteries of said devices.
     Computer Support:  We've had no complaints in this department so far.
     Web-Site Design:  I recently updated the Friendly Paws Grooming website.  It has a lot more presence now, not looking so visually simplistic, and I'm working up the javasript needed to make all of the working parts smooth and enjoyable.
     Well, that covers just about everything around the board.  If you have any questions or comments about any of this, feel free to leave a comment on the blog, or just drop me a line over e-mail.

Quick Note on Power

     Well, the word power means many things.  This time we are focusing on two of them.  First, the meaning as it applies to electricity.  Digital Fruit is taking steps to advance our production of power as I've stated before.  And the second meaning, as it applies to knowledge.  I've obtained material that will allow me to study basic and digital electronic circuits.  It's been fun getting to play with all sorts of new circuits, and that I can see new parts that I haven't gotten to work with before.  I'm hoping that this recent investment made in the name of progress for Digital Fruit really will yield fruit, and that I'll be able to use these experiences to help other people.  So for now, signing out.