Bluelime Media Vancouver Web Development

Using the Web for a Good Cause

Christine — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 03:36:12 +0000

A few days ago, while under the weather, Darren thought about the future of Soap Operas. This reminded me of something similar which I consider to be out of date. I’ve often wonder why charitable organizations insist on calling me at home to ask for money. Personally, I just treat these organizations the same as telemarketers. Tut, tut you say..I know, I know, but I just don’t like being disturbed at dinner time and thus refuse to donate to anyone who requests by phone.

Raising money is tough, but the Web seems to be a pretty effective means. I’m just wrapping up the most wonderful book I’ve ever read called “Three Cups of Tea“. At the end of the book, the authors lists how we can continue the work started by Greg Mortenson and how we can help. Of course spreading the word about the book and letting everyone know that they should read it is the best way, but visiting their website and the charitable organization’s website, are other ways to get further information. Additionally, by following the link on their website, all purchases of the book and all other Amazon purchases will generate 7% of proceeds to the Central Asia Institute. Kudos to Amazon!

Other organizations have made it quite easy for users to create profiles and raise money. Just a few weeks ago, a friend mentioned that he was participating in a 24 hour yoga relay to raise money for kids suffering from Aids and HIV. He simply sent an email, I clicked the link, inserted my credit card details, and now my name and contribution amount appears next to a thermometer on the charity site. Easy as pie.

My friend Karis, sent me an email just a few minutes ago telling me about the Animal Rescue not getting enough daily clicks on their website to get free food donated to rescued animals. I’m not sure logistically how this works, but simply by clicking the link, the site is able to raise money. This kind of button as been used on many charity sites.

These methods of raising money seem pretty good to me. Do we still need “telemarketers” calling us at home?

Web Directions North returns in February 2009

Christine — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 22:34:07 +0000

This year, Web Directions North moves to Denver Colorado - a hub city for many airlines, and a non-stop flight from all over North America. And the skiing’s not bad either. The conference is on February 4 and 5, with workshops on February 2 and 3, and the now legendary ski trip February 6 and 7, in Breckenridge, the most popular ski resort in North America.

I’ve attended the previous 2 conferences in Vancouver and would recommend it to anyone wishing to freshen up their web development skills.

Spam vs. Ham

Christine — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 02:31:04 +0000

Akismet is probably one of the best WordPress plugins out there. Since my first installation of Akismet, 14,732 spam comments have been caught and eliminated. Today, Akismet 2.2 was launched and along with the usual bug fixes, came stats. The stats provide you with a graph showing how much spam was caugth per day and a yummy pie chart with spam vs. ham! Personally, I would have called it nifty pie chart, but whatever, this is so geeky; I love it!

Bluelime Media has Moved!

Christine — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 20:10:56 +0000

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…..

Team BC launches new site

Christine — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 20:06:19 +0000

Every four years the Province of British Columbia assembles a team of athletes, coaches, managers and mission staff to represent the province at Canada’s premiere multi-sport events - the Canada Winter Games and Canada Summer Games. They represent the best in BC and are known as Team BC. The Team BC program is more than British Columbia’s best; it is also about building excellence. For some athletes, the Canada Games are a goal along the way to what they hope will be success in sport at major multi-sport Games including Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The previous Team BC website lacked in visual appeal, was quite difficult to navigate and consisted of old-style code which made for difficult maintenance. Working in collaboration with Miin from the Ascent Group we developed a site map, re-organized all of the content and created two new websites. Users wishing to know more about Team BC can use the main Team BC website while users wishing to follow a certain event or look at past results, can navigate to the Game Site.

We hope that during the Canadian Summer Games 2009, these websites will be a great resource to all of the Team BC members and wish them best of luck.