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Mind Mapping Tools and iPad – A Perfect Fit

July 31, 2010 by Brian Hurley 4 Comments

I am a big fan of mind mapping tools.   My favorite tool has traditionally been Freemind, a free tool that works across Windows and Mac.   I recently changed over to using XMind and have been exploring mind mapping tools on the iPad.

Mind mapping is one application that seems to be exceptionally well matched to the “touch” environment of the iPad.  Adding nodes, moving around relationships, arranging the mind map graph display … are all much easier to do using “touch” then the mouse.   Two mind mapping applications currently available on the iPad are:

The most promising of the two is iToughts HD.   The features that set it apart from Mindnode include:

  • Dropbox saving/importing for mind map files
  • Ability to collapse child nodes
  • Version recovery
  • Ability to assign icons to nodes

Found another “touch” mind mapping tool?  Let me know!

Best practices, Business, Entreprenuerism, General Interest, How To's, Information Technology, Innovation, Trends
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GUI Mockup Tools Part 2

July 30, 2010 by Brian Hurley 1 Comment

Two new mockup/wireframe design apps are now available for the iPad that are worth taking a look at:

My initial impression is that iMockups is the better of the two at the moment… but since I just started to play with them I will reserve judgement for a few weeks.

In general I find that doing a wireframe mockup on the iPad is a more fluid experience then using computer-based tools… it is going to be interesting to see how apps like this develop over time.

Best practices, How To's, Innovation, Trends, Web 2.0
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Tools to Review Graphic Asset Designs

March 26, 2010 by Brian Hurley 0 Comments

The following are web-based design collaboration tools for creative professionals whose final product is visual, e.g. design, application interface, graphics, advertisements, branding, video animation.   These tools allow graphic assets to be reviewed and commented on by team members and/or customers as part of a review process.  The tools are all online and hosted services.

Service URL Price
Notable http://www.notableapp.com/ $24 – $199/month
RedMark http://www.redmark.com/ free, pay services in future
ConceptShare http://www.conceptshare.com/ $24 – $99/month
Best practices, General Interest, How To's, Web 2.0
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Social Marketing Titles

January 11, 2010 by Brian Hurley 0 Comments

I was doing some research and noted that there is a wide range of titles people and companies are using related to social media marketing:

  • Social Media Gurus
  • Viral Marketing Gurus
  • Internet Marketing Gurus
  • New Media Marketing Gurus
  • Digital Marketing Gurus
  • Social Media Stars
  • Social Media Marketers
  • Social Media Consultants
  • Social Media Experts
  • Social Media Strategists
  • Social Media Agencies
  • Social Media Companies
  • Social Media Marketing Specialists
  • Internet Marketing Specialists
  • internet Marketing Agencies
  • Digital Marketing Agencies
  • Digital Marketing Strategists
  • Social Media Researchers
  • Social Media Product Managers
  • Community Managers
  • Social Computing Strategists
  • Social Media Strategist
  • New Media Program Management
  • Digital and Multimedia Communications
  • Community and Social Media Operations
  • Online Communications
  • Advanced Marketing Systems
  • Online Marketing Strategist
  • Collaboration, Intranet, Communication and Innovation
  • Consultant for Social Media
  • Web Experience
  • eMarketing Manager
  • Public Relations and Social Media Manager
  • Emerging Marketing Channels
  • Content and Community
  • Social Technology
  • New Media Marketing and Web Strategy
  • Web Marketing
  • Interactive Media Manager
  • Inbound E-mail Operations and Blog Outreach
  • Product Engagement and Community Development
  • Digital Product Strategy
  • Digital Strategies
  • Community Marketing Manager
  • Emerging Channels Specialist
  • Community and Blog Strategist
  • Community Evangelist
  • Social Media Producer
  • Media Relations and Blogger in Chief
  • Community Manager and Content Strategist
  • Community Manager and Editor-in-Chief
  • Blogger Outreach
  • Online Community Manager
  • Blog Editor
  • Chief Blogger
  • Online Community Moderator

Some trends on job titles with “Social Media”:

Anyone seen any other titles?

Business, Ecosystems, Entreprenuerism, General Interest, How To's, Marketing, Microbusiness, New Media
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How to Market and Publicize iPhone Apps

November 26, 2009 by Brian Hurley 1 Comment

The following table provides a list of sites that provide reviews and directories for iPhone applications. Many accept submissions for review, some are automated:

Website Link Submission Link
App Store Apps submission information
App Craver submission information
148 Apps submission information
App Safari submission information
App Advice submission information
iPhone Application List submission information
Native iPhone Apps submission information
Apptism submission information
App Shopper
App Rater
App Bank submission information
iPhone Hacks submission information
TAP Download submission information
Slap App submission information
App Album submission information
AppStruck
The iPhone App Review submission information
iPhone Apps Gallery submission information
AppVee submission information

A great blog with survey stats from iPhone developers on what works and what doesn’t – iPhone App Marketing: What Works (and What Doesn’t)?, some of key findings from the blog’a survey:

Marketing Techniques Employed

The two most common marketing practices were:

  • publicizing their app on forums (employed by 71% of respondents);
  • and creating a supporting website for the application (66%).

Other common techniques included:

  • Making frequent updates to their app to increase App Store visibility – 57%
  • Offering a “lite” version of their paid app to stimulate trial – 57%
  • Submitting their app to review blogs – 57%
  • Soliciting user reviews within the App Store – 51%
  • Making price cuts to stimulate demand – 43%

Other techniques tried by a minority  include:

  • Purchasing advertising on other websites – 14%
  • Purchasing Google AdWords to attract buyers – 14%
  • Purchasing / trading for in-app advertising – 14%
  • Hiring paid Public Relations help – 11%
  • Search Engine Optimizing (SEO) supporting websites – 11%

Marketing Technique Effectiveness

Despite the broad array of marketing techniques employed by developers, relatively few were reported to be worth the investment of time and money. On a 3-point scale, from Most Effective (valued at 3 points) to Least (1 point), five techniques received an average rating greater than 2. The leaders (including the average rating / number of responses) include:

  • Paid PR – rating 3 / 2 responses
  • Offering a Lite version – 2.58 / 12 responses
  • Submitting to app review blogs – 2.4 / 10 responses
  • Making frequent updates to increase App Store visibility – 2.3 / 10 responses
  • Soliciting user reviews – 2.01 / 7 responses

Three other techniques were judged to be somewhat effective, including:

  • Cutting price – 1.88 / 8 responses
  • Posting to forums – 1.8 / 10 responses
  • Creating a supporting website / landing page – 1.63 / 8 responses

And three were viewed as the least effective (at least among the small population who had tried them):

  • Keyword advertising (Google AdWords, etc) – 1 / 2 responses
  • Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – 1 / 2 responses
  • Paid advertising in apps (AdMob, etc) – 1 / 1 response

 

——

What do you think drives app downloads the most – share your opinion and see what others think - http://www.communitypriorities.com/appmarketing

Best practices, Entreprenuerism, General Interest, How To's
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The Entrepreneurial Effect

October 7, 2009 by Brian Hurley 0 Comments

I am involved in a new book that is now out.    Members of the local Ottawa tech community have gotten together to produce a new book called “the Entrepreneurial Effect” with the foreword by Terry Matthews. It is a collection of practical lessons learned.

The book is meant to be a knowledge source for those decisions we face as we start and grow our companies, for example, the real story behind risk and investment, how to pick resellers, selling in China, and the only reasons to consider M&As.

It is also worth noting that all the authors have donated their knowledge.

All proceeds of the book will go to support student technology entrepreneurship!

Get implementable advice and support a great cause.

Check it out at: www.entrepreneurialeffect.com

Stay tuned for information on the book launch date which will be on an upcoming evening.   It will be an evening worth going to.

Best practices, Business, Canada, General Interest, How To's, Innovation, Local Start-ups, Microbusiness, Networking, Ontario, Open Source, Opportunities, Ottawa, Ottawa Start-ups, Regional Economic Development, Sales, The Code Factory, Trends, Universities, Venture Capital
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GUI Mock Up Software Tools

August 1, 2009 by Brian Hurley 3 Comments

I spent some time recently looking at GUI mock up and associated requirements management applications.  I grouped the tools into three categories: general purpose tools that could be used for mock ups, specialized tools oriented towards mock-ups and simulation, and hosted services for mock-ups and collaboration with teams and customers.

iPhoneExamples

My research so far has identified the following -

General Tools for GUI Mock Ups

Specialized Tools for GUI Mock Ups

Relative to requirements management, I have never been a big fan of specialized tools (and there are a lot of them on the market, many with big price-tags) and have tended to favor tools such as MS Word, FreeMind mind mapping, Excel and powerpoint as means to capture, analyze and organize requirements.

Still some more research to do,  so if anyone has any suggestions based on their experiences please let me know!

Also see:

UPDATE:

HELLO THERE!

Are you an experienced User Experience designer?  Drop me a line (brian@purpleforge.com) – we are always on the look-out for good people to work with on new projects at Purple Forge.

Like Zombies?  Take a look at this!

Best practices, Computing, Creative Class, General Interest, How To's, Information Technology, Innovation, Open Source
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Wii – a platform for innovative product development …a Cool Idea with Loads of Microbusiness Potential

April 19, 2009 by Brian Hurley 0 Comments

The Nintendo Wii and it’s accessories represent a new platform with a lot of new opportunities for entrepreneurs to develop derivative products from.  

A case in point, Johny Lee at Carnegie Mellon University has developed and posted working designs and software for a low-cost interactive whiteboard based on the WiiRemote and a PC.   You have to see it to believe it -

Software for the Wiimote Whiteboard is freely available

Links to this and other Wii related projects he is working on is available at this location.


Best practices, Computing, Creative Class, Ecosystems, Entreprenuerism, General Interest, How To's, Information Technology, Innovation, Jobs, Local Start-ups, Microbusiness, New Media, Open Source, Opportunities, Ottawa, Ottawa Start-ups, Regional Economic Development, Talent First Network, Technology, Trends, Unemployment, Venture Capital, Web 2.0
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Corporate Blogging Applications and Guidelines

March 4, 2009 by Brian Hurley 0 Comments

I came across the following set of blogging guidelines that companies have published for their employees -

Some common uses for social media/blogging inside corporations include:

  • Process information and training
  • Frequently asked questions (FAQ) and support information
  • Commonly used resources, URL’s to applications, documentation, contact information
  • Corporate new-hire training and indoctrination
  • Online reference
  • Product information and training
  • Support communities of practice
  • For professional consulting
  • Peer to Peer knowledge transfer,  e.g. across divisions
  • Membership interest groups
  • Leveraging professional team to learn from each other
  • New results distribution
  • Performance support, e.g. reminders
  • Share best practices and to poll other members
  • To teach staff tools they need for success in the workplace and world
Best practices, Business, Entreprenuerism, General Interest, How To's, Innovation, New Media, Trends, Web 2.0
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Making Technology Happen

February 28, 2009 by Brian Hurley 0 Comments

I have the first and second edition of this book on my bookshelf.  It is concise, practical advice for starting and running a technology/knowledge-based company… and it is written by a local tech leader – Denzil Doyle!   For those trying to figure out where to start and what to do I recommend this book as a good place to start reading.

Making Technology Happen describes in detail the techniques used to identify and exploit technology and how to build and manage a technology-intensive company around that technology. It covers such activities as ‘go-to market’ strategy development, general management, investment analysis, organizational development, and competitive market analysis – all from the perspective of a technology-intensive enterprise. It is used by governments and technology transfer professionals across North America, as well as by entrepreneurs and business executives


Best practices, Business, business incubators, Canada, Commercialization, Creative Class, Economy, Ecosystems, Entreprenuerism, General Interest, How To's, Innovation, Jobs, Microbusiness, OCRI, Ontario, Opportunities, Ottawa, Trends, Unemployment
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Project Sun Spot… a Cool Idea with Loads of Microbusiness Potential

February 25, 2009 by Brian Hurley 0 Comments

Sun has developed Sun Small Programable Object Technology (SPOT).  It’s an experimental platform to inspire developers to build the next great toy, sensor, communication device — who knows — using Sun technology.  The Sun SPOT devices make include a flexible hardware platform as well as the software and tools to make it easy to innovate, experiment, and prototype whatever a developer can imagine.

The Sun SPOT Device is a small, wireless, battery powered experimental platform. It is programmed almost entirely in Java to allow regular programmers to create projects that used to require specialized embedded system development skills. The hardware platform includes a range of built-in sensors as well as the ability to easily interface to external devices.

This little platform is full of potential for “Creative Class” people to base a microbusiness on.

Jobs, Entreprenuerism, Ottawa, Regional Economic Development, Ontario, Canada, Economy, Opportunities, Commercialization, General Interest, Trends, Business, Information Technology, Open Source, Ecosystems, Microbusiness, Creative Class, Web 2.0, How To's, Unemployment, Innovation, Computing, Convergence
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What IT/Tech Certifications Have Value Relative to Salary and Job Opportunities?

February 24, 2009 by Brian Hurley 0 Comments

There are a vast, and increasing, number of technical certifications available.  A big question many people have is what is the value – if any –  of an individual spending the time and money to obtain a certification.  Will the certification increase prospects for employment?  Will the certification increase the salary of the holder?

A study published by TechRepublic “2008 IT skills and salary report“, gives some insight into the salaries of various certification holders:

averagesalaries

TechRepublic also published another report identifying the following IT-specific certifications as being the “Top 10″ relative to increasing employment opportunities:

  1. Microsoft Certified Technical Specialist (MCTS) or Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP) (formerly MCSE)
  2. Microsoft Certified Architect (MCA)
  3. Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)
  4. Systems Security Certified Practitioner (SSCP)
  5. GIAC Security Expert (GSE)
  6. Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE)
  7. Cisco Certified Security Professional (CCSP)
  8. Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE) and Red Hat Certified Architect (RHCA)
  9. Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL)
  10. Certifications for Special Situations (including VoIP)

CompTIA has a comprehensive list of IT/Technical certifications.

Jobs, Nortel, Entreprenuerism, Ottawa, Regional Economic Development, Ontario, Canada, Economy, Opportunities, General Interest, Trends, Business, Best practices, Information Technology, Ecosystems, Microbusiness, Creative Class, Web 2.0, Networking, How To's, Unemployment, Innovation, Computing
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Looking at More Trends…

February 17, 2009 by Brian Hurley 0 Comments

The “power of the crowd” is pretty cool relative to using data mining on large volumes of data to discern trends and to infer/derive new related data.

Google has the ability to present information on trends related to Google search terms.   An interesting application of this capability is Google Flu Trends, which correlates search terms related to the flu and accurately predicts the incidence of flu in US states -

Click to go to Google Flu Trends site

Click to go to Google Flu Trends site

Does anyone know of other “power of the crowd” types of trend analysis tools/sites on the web?

Data mining, How To's, Information Technology, OHIP, Opportunities, Public Health, Trends
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Recommended Joomla Extensions

February 13, 2009 by Brian Hurley 0 Comments

Some of the best Joomla! content management system add-ons are listed below:

A complete list of all available Joomla! 3rd party extensions is available at http://extensions.joomla.org/

Best practices, Content Management Systems, General Interest, How To's, joomla, Microbusiness, Open Source, Web 2.0
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JoomlaPack Website Move from a Godaddy Website Hosting account to GoDaddy Virtual Dedicated Server Account

February 10, 2009 by Brian Hurley 0 Comments

I like playing with technology as a hobby, including virtualization, Web 2.0 technologies, networking, etc.   If you don’t know what Joomla, or Virtual Servers are – you can move on to the next post.

If you are using GoDaddy Website Hosting, you may want to upgrade to the more flexible GoDaddy Virtual Dedicated Server (VDS) service. The following steps are intended to provide guidance to how to use JoomlaPack to simplify the transfer.

  • Prepare a backup of the shared hosting site to be moved using JoomlaPack

  • In the VDS Master cPanel, configure and compile PHP to match the needs of your website applications, e.g. Multi-byte String Handling

  • In the VDS Master cPanel, create a new account (new virtual server) with the associated domain name <vdstargetdomainname>

    • If possible, if you have a xxxx.com domain, get another xxxx.net, xxxx.info of the same name and use that as the domain for the target VDS virtual server so you can keep the other site active while you do the transfer, then you can change the DNS records to point the old domain to the domain of the target VDS virtual server (and you can park the domain on top of the target VDS virtual server using the VDS Master cPanel) the old domain name once the transferred site is up and running

  • In the VDS Master cPanel, ensure the target VDS server’s root account <vdsrootuser> has “wheel” authorization to allow su for chown functions

  • On the target VDS virtual server make a .htaccess file with “Options All -Indexes” to turn off directory browsing by anyone while you are doing the install

  • Connect to the target VDS virtual server using SSH and use ftp to transfer the JoomlaPack backup archive to the target VDS virtual server public_html folder from the shared website hosting account

  • Upload kickstart.php to the target VDS virtual server into the public_html folder

  • In the target VDS cPanel, create the Joomla databases and associated database user/password, create any 3rd party databases and associated database users/passwords

  • Open your webbrowser http://<www.vdstargetdomain.xxx>/kickstart.php and restore files and databases per JoomlaPack restore instructions

  • SSH into the target VDS virtual server and “su”.

    • Update the owner and group of the files “chown –Rf <vdsrootuser>:nobody public_html”

    • Update permissions to 775 (or 755 if you apps will take it) using “chmod -R 0775 public_html”

    • Selectively change permissions of folders according to the recommended Joomla security guidelines and as required by any installed Joomla 3rd party extensions

      • If you are using the JSN Imageshow Pro extension, you will need to ensure that WRITABLE (CHMOD 777) {joomla_root_folder}/modules/mod_jsn_imageshow_pro /jsn_imageshow_pro

  • Connect via webserver to the Joomla administrator back-end of the target VDS virtual server :

    • Update hard file paths in configurations of various Joomla extensions such a JoomlaPack and DOCMan

    • For non-Joomla applications, ensure you go to their configuration files (e.g. config.php) to change database name, database login info, root directories

    • Update any Joomla 3rd party extension license files that are linked to IP address

  • Check the target VDS virtual server php.ini configuration to ensure settings for upload_max_filesize match configuration needs for any Joomla 3rd party extensions such as DOCMan, e.g. upload_max_filesize = 8M

  • If you had SSL certificates on the original hosted shared site you will need to revoke the GoDaddy SSL certificate and generate a new one for the Master VDS cPanel. Also note that if you want to use https on the target VDS virtual server you will need to use a dedicated IP address for that VDS virtual server (rather then a shared IP with multiple hosted domains)

  • In the Master VDS cPanel, remove “wheel” privileges from your target VDS virtual server <vdsrootuser> account

Best practices, How To's, joomla, Networking, Open Source, Web 2.0
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