Archive for the 'Bluelime News' Category
Open Web Vancouver opens with a Pirate Party and a look at Women in Open Source
I must confess, I wasn’t expecting much from the Open Web Vancouver conference. I read the schedule, and perhaps the strong emphasis on Drupal turned me off, but I didn’t find myself salivating like I do when I go to An Event Apart’s website. And as the saying goes, you pay for what you get; so how good can a $150 conference be? Today’s conference proved me wrong.
This morning’s session was opened by two keynote speakers and left me inspired and eager to learn more about the Open Source community.
The first keynote was given by Rick Falkvinge on one of Sweden’s political party, the Pirate Party, whose platform is to reform laws regarding copyrights and patents and other civil liberties issues. The Pirate Party succeeded in gaining popularity and attention simply by using the Internet and very little money. In fact their campaign budget during the last election consisted of only $50K. As a result of the communication tools and methods they’ve used, they are now the political party with the largest percentage of voters 30 years old and younger. This of course as alarmed other politicians who have never been able to reach out to this age group.
Now that the Pirate Party has secured a seat in the European Parliament, it will be interesting to see if other political parties start discussing issues such as privacy and file sharing. Just like Al Gore has put Global Warming on everyone’s mind, Rick Falvinge is spreading the word about what needs to be done to create a better online world for all of us and he deserved the standing ovation which followed his presentation.
Following this great keynote, came Angie Byron who spoke about Women in Open Source or rather lack of. I was a bit surprised that this topic was chosen and discussed. I’ve been working as a so called “geek” for a over a decade and never experienced any sexism at work or conference and Angie admitted herself that until she started researching the numbers, didn’t think there was a problem either. Turns out the percentage of women in Open Source is staggeringly low. The reasons and solutions that were discussed were obvious and applicable to all minorities, not just women. At least they felt obvious to me, but a few hours later, I read about the incident at Flashbelt’s conference just a few days ago. It seems like a lot of boys think that the saying boys will be boys still stands and should simply be accepted.
Angie provided great advice on how to create a safe and inviting community and how to stop tolerating bullshit. The gem, for me, were her views on contribution to Open Source. Having worked with Open Source during all of my coding years, I’ve realised that I’ve used the stuff, but never really contributed. Providing contribution whether it be marketing, documenting, designing and of course coding, is a great way to empower yourself and feel like you are part of the team.
I look forward to learn more during tomorrow’s event.
The Challenge Series built on WordPress
I was very pleased to read a recent article on the WordPress blog about Ford choosing the WordPress platform for their new website: “The Ford Story“. This new website aims to show Ford’s commitment towards getting new, high-quality, fuel-efficient cars and trucks on the road and uses WordPress as a CMS to deliver a wide variety of static content, videos, photos, and dynamic updates.
I recently came to the same decision when building a website for the Challenge Series which is a celebration of the planning, design and building of Vancouver’s first sustainable neighbourhood – Millennium Water: The Southeast False Creek Olympic Village.
Published as an online book, the first of eight chapters was recently launched and, just like The Ford Story, uses WordPress as a CMS to deliver a wide variety of static content, downloadable documents and photos. Future issues will also include videos. When I was first introduced to this project, I instantly thought of WordPress as the CMS for this website, but wondered if perhaps Drupal or some other CMS might be a better platform. The design of the home page alone proved somewhat challenging and uses a large number of custom fields, but with proper training and the use of simple HTML, I think that the website is fairly easy to maintain and look forward to seeing how it progresses and develops. Finding out that companies like Ford also choose WordPress has convinced me that I’ve made a good decision.
Ask the Experts
Have you ever had a marketing, branding or web strategy question but were afraid to ask? We’ll be hosting our next “Ask the Experts” panel on June 3rd at the YWCA on Beatty Street, where you can come along and ask anything you want.
- Liz Gaige from Market Navigators will address marketing inquiries
- Mhairi Petrovic from Out-smarts will be on-hand to speak about social networking
- Ryan Thompson from Twin Fish Creative will provide answers about branding
- while I’ll be discussing web design and development.
These panels are casual and informal. Simply register, show up and join the conversation. Organized as round-tables, we like to keep these small, so that you have the chance to ask your questions and hear what others have to say. These are ideal for budding entrepreneurs, individuals wanting to launch themselves in a new venture or existing companies who may be stuck and not sure where to go next.
We are currently holding a 2-for-1 promo, so bring a friend or colleague along. Hope to see you there.
How green is your work place?
These days businesses not only have to provide needed services and solutions, they need to do it in an appealing matter. For most of us this “appealing matter” will include sustainable, viable, green solutions. Since 2001, Green Workplace has been working with organizations to track their resource consumption and reduce it. They’ve also implemented easy-to-use energy efficiency campaigns and delivered environmental skills training and education.
Located right here in Vancouver, BC, they are a great resource for small and large companies looking for solutions towards greener business.
Bluelime Media launches Framework Templates
For the past few years, I’ve been working more and more with WordPress as a Content Management System, in fact some of you might have noticed that I’ve changed my website content to reflect this transition. If you’ve looked into WordPress yourself, you will know that there is a huge, very generous community that provides online help, tips and tutorials and themes. These themes can be downloaded, installed on your server and you now have a different looking website. However, the problem with these, is that usually, there is always something that just isn’t right for us. Whether it’s the column layout, the width of the site, the header graphic, etc… Modifying the WordPress templates and the CSS can be challenging at times. It’s like trying to prepare a five course meal in someone else’s kitchen. They might have lots of pots and pans but they’re just not the right ones for you.
As the years have progressed, I found one template that I modified and used as my starting point, but I found myself doing the same things over and over. As a result I decided to create a series of new templates which are very basic. They only have the absolute necessary, are very clean, simple and easy to modify. You won’t find crazy function files with lines and lines of code, they only have one image and the colours are neutral.
The idea behind these templates, is that they should be used as your starting block. Once you have them installed, you can modify the CSS, add your images, required plugins and style them the way you’ve envisioned. I’m hoping that these new templates will be useful for WordPress developers, especially those who are just starting out and learning CSS and how to navigate through the many WordPress files. I’ve released the first three templates at www.framework-templates.com and will be releasing more as time permits. I’ll also keep a blog there where you can read about WordPress, templates and plugins.
Please check out the new site and let me know what you think.
Introducing Notch Hill Educational Products
Have you been searching for a way to help your child learn while playing a fun interactive game? Now you can, simply by spending just 15 minutes with Notch Hill Educational Products. These products are a great way to help your child build a strong educational foundation.
The products consist of a GamePak “The Nogs of Notch Hill” which is a learning program containing everything you need to help your child learn to read, write and sound the lower case letters of the alphabet and “Pam’s Patterns” which helps your child develop pre-alphabet learning skills, using simple pegboards.
Developed by Joan Thornton, these products were derived from a notion that children learn best whilst playing. While taking children for extra reading practice, Joan discovered patterns in the behaviours of the students who were struggling. She created games that practiced the skills the children were missing and began playing them with the children. The children loved the games, and began to learn fast in her care. Over the years she has given hundreds of children the gift of a solid academic foundation.
With the help of her daughter, Nicola Lott, the first Educational GamePak and a fun, informative website were recently released and plans are underway to create 8 more GamePaks taking children to a Grade three level in reading, writing and maths skills. Working with Nicola was very interesting and we wish them great success in their new business venture.
Bluelime Media in 2009
I don’t normally make New Year’s Resolution. Personally I don’t see the point. Every year I notice the same thing at my yoga studio. The classes are just packed with people for the first two – three weeks and then it’s back to normal class size. I’m sure that gyms have seen an increase in attendance in these past few weeks and slim fast an increase in sales.
Although I never make resolutions, over the holidays, I do think about the year and how I can improve things at Bluelime Media and every year, I do the same thing. I think about it and then do nothing…. So this year I thought I would put it up in writing and make myself accountable.
Keeping it small
When I first started web design, I normally thought that I would create a company, get office space, hire a few employees and increase to a half dozen people over the years. At least that’s what BNI and business coaches were envisioning for me. I realise now that that dream isn’t mine. I have no desire to grow and manage staff. I enjoying working by myself and like Dave Shae, happy to be the little guy. So I’ve removed my careers page and updated my about section to reflect this new direction. At least in writing it’s a new direction.. it’s always been like that in my heart.
Embracing WordPress
For the past 2 years, I’ve been building more and more WordPress sites and have come to the conclusion that it’s the best solution for me and for my clients. I’ve updated my home page to reflect this change and in the next week or so I’ll be updating the service section to inform potential clients, that this is what I offer. Not to worry though, I know people who can use Drupal, Joomla and flash, so if that’s your flavour, I will gladly refer you.
Work Less
This is the reason I never make resolutions… Ever year, I look back and think that I’ve worked much too hard… but when you decide to work on your own and refuse to delegate or resist offers of helps… then you end up with a lot of work. So I only have myself to blame. In the past, I’ve taken weeks off here and there and enjoyed the breaks where phone and Internet access is limited. This has worked very well for me in the past and I will keep doing this, starting this month. At the end of January, I’m heading out to India for a yoga trip with Christina Sell and Genevieve Gilbreath. I’ll take lots of pictures while I’m there, but won’t be putting them online until I get back. Doing so, would require finding an Internet cafe which could lead to peaking in my inbox.
Happy New Year to all of you and best of luck with your goals for 2009.
Registration for Northern Voice 2009 is now open
This year’s Northern Voice organizers have kicked the doors open for registration. This will be my third year attending and I highly recommend it to anyone wishing to learn more about blogging and social media. If you are at all interested in attending, I would encourage you to register soon, as past conferences have sold out in a matter of days.
Hope to see you there.
Help Landsea Tours Stuff the Bus
Working with Kevin from Landsea Bus last week , we successfully launched a new website for them by converting their new design into WordPress Templates. While walking through the website and demonstrating WordPress’s ability, Kevin mentioned their “Stuff the Bus” event. Every year the folks at Landsea Tour park their tour bus at different locations around town and the public is invited to come and “Stuff it” with blankets and warm clothing which will be donated to the St. James Community Service Society.
This year’s charity event promises to be even bigger and better with The Town Pants at Richards on Richards December 11th. Take a look at the poster for more info.
According to the March 11th 2008 homeless count, there are 2592 homeless people in Vancouver. If you have a spare jacket or blanket please come by one to one of their location and give generously.
Bluelime Media has Moved!
Following 6 years in Yaletown, the time has come to move our office and get “real” office space. Having worked with Zaui for the past several years, we couldn’t say no to their offer of shared office space. So as of Monday, you can find us at #607-318 Homer Street. You can still reach us at 604.561.6287.
This move may be temporary…. Rob just emailed me and mentioned that office space may be available. Perhaps my stint in Gastown will be short lived. We’ll keep you posted…..