Lifehacked
Last week we released a multiple currency billing feature for our product, CurdBee - making online billing a possibility for more clients worldwide.
Word started to spread and the overall response was pretty positive, with more feedback and requests coming in for support for more currencies such as the South African Rand and the Swedish Krona. Thanks for all the comments! As always, we’re on these feature requests, and are looking forward to implementing some of them soon.
While Lakshan analysed what people wanted the most, and decided which feature to hack up next, our friend Seanwrote to me saying he got the opportunity to meet a friend at LifeHacker and mention Vesess, and Curdbee.
Since we knew Lifehacker had a strong business related readership, consisting of many SME owners and online entrepreneurs, we were crossing our fingers for a post about Curdbee - we knew it would give us the right exposure, with the right people.
Then, it happened. There was Lakshan doing his nightly twitter round before bed, when suddenly the hits started rolling in. Two hundred new accounts in less than an hour. Bookmarks on del.icio.us leading to more viral traffic. More hits, more sign ups. You guys were all over us.
Boom. A little after midnight local time, our server died.
Of course, Lakshan was on it. Doubling the RAM, he rebooted, and we were up again in under an hour. Since then, everything has been pretty smooth, even with our sign ups going through the roof yesterday. Curdbee should be chugging happily along now, but if you have any complaints, comments or feedback, please feel free to drop us a line.
In conclusion, we’d just like to say - thanks Sean, thanks Lifehacker, and thank you everyone who signed up - you really made our day!
Global Billing
We launched CurdBee as a simple billing solution for SMEs and freelancers. Today, we take that goal to the next level. With this latest CurdBee update, we’re going global.
After launching CurdBee in June, the ability to bill in other currencies was one of the main feature requests we got. Pounds, Euros, Yen and Kroners were some of the currencies requested, and we roll out this update with support for all of them, and then some.
Apart from setting a default currency, you can also specify currencies on a client by client basis, making it possible to bill Europe, North America and Asia all at the same time (yes, support for the Sri Lankan Rupee and the Indian Rupee are included).
Listening, learning, evolving – that’s what Vesess has always been about, and we believe these values are reflected in this quick update to a service you have come to know and love. Keep those comments coming, and watch as we bring you more and more of the features you’d like to see.
Happy global billing!
The Bee
Today we are proud to announce the launch of our maiden product CurdBee. While regulars will know what it is, new readers will be pleased to find out that it’s a simple and efficient tool to bill your clients and get paid online.
During the early days at Vesess, we had just a hand full of clients and it was only I who really worried about sending invoices and collecting the money before our bank account dried up. Being a start-up, we couldn’t afford to spend much for a great accounting application such as QuickBooks, even though it was not that expensive in the big scheme of things. As far as I can remember, this was around the time 37Signals shifted gears and went from web design to web apps, with some cool yet simple ideas.
In any case, in the early days of Vesess, I had a spreadsheet along with a .doc file with our sweet logo on top, and it was this which I used to send invoices (and rather good looking ones, if I may say so myself) to our clients. The process was simple - copy and paste the client details from the spreadsheet, type in the amount, and use one of the free PDF converters to finish the job.
One of the actual invoices we sent in August 2004. Still looks nice and simple, doesn’t it?
Some of our clients thought we are using cool software and a couple of them actually inquired. Then again, a few discovered the truth when they noticed some stupid mistakes only a human can make, such as the total being different to the cumulative value of the items. 
As we grew, the number of clients we handled started to increase, and more invoicing was required as some projects now involved monthly payments, others quarterly billing, and so on and so forth. This prompted us to consider developing a system to make life easy and save the unnecessary time we spent on manual billing.
So, one evening, I started to sketch a simple application which could allow us to send invoices directly via email. Thanks to Laknath who joined Vesess during that time as an intern, we solved the issue in couple of days with just a few lines of PHP.
The first iteration of our billing app. From adding a client to modifying an existing item, everything is handled on the same screen using AJAX.
Towards the latter part of 2007, we thought it’d be a good idea to work on a few products aimed at Small Businesses (SMEs) globally and perhaps let our developers start on some pet projects as well. With these ideas in mind we ran a survey to capture some of the problems faced by SMEs and find ways to overcome them using simple web apps. The number of respondents was quite satisfactory and to our surprise, we found that a good majority were interested in web apps which would help them in their accounting, billing and cash collection activities.
As our resident Ruby on Rails addict, Lakshan was well suited to re-engineer our simple in-house billing application using the new web application framework. Although we haven’t done anything particularly new or revolutionary with this application, we know that there are enough people out there, looking for a simple, hassle-free solution that will make their lives easier. CurdBee is for them.
The awesome invoices that The Bee creates. Start sending professional invoices today.
From the Boiler Room
So the application is released, you’ve signed up for an account, and are happily sending invoices to all and sundry. Knowing our readership, however, many of you are going to want to know more about how The Bee came to be. Yes, we do read your minds, dear readers. It is thus with great pleasure that we present a short interview with Lakshan, the CurdBee lead developer and hacker extraordinaire, who will tell you more about just how this baby came together. Go on, have a read - you know the inner geek in you will thank you for it.
Lakshan Perera was the lead behind CurdBee, and was responsible for putting the application together from scratch. A student at the University of Moratuwa, Lakshan has been with Vesess for a while now, and in essence embodies the spirit of Vesess - small teams, big ideas, and people with a passion for what they do, all merged together by rapid Vesessination. Here, Mahangu sits with him for a small chat about everything CurdBee.
Tell us a little bit about how you planned for this project, and why you chose RoR as your development platform
CurdBee was actually the brainchild of Lankitha. At first, it was designed to be a solid billing solution for Vesess, but later we realised this solution may have a general appeal as there are many small businesses and freelancers like us. We didn’t wasted time on writing specs and went ahead with rapid prototyping.
There was no better framework for rapid web development than RoR, so the choice was obvious. RoR’s has a rich plugin set which covered all the requirements of the CurdBee so that gave more confidence on the framework.
What challenges and obstacles did you face when designing an application for the web?
The main challenge was deciding on what features and capabilities the app should have. We wanted the app to be minimal yet effective. We always tried to look at it from the perspective of the end-user - how clear is the process to him, how could he perform the task at hand easily, and what information he’d want to see and which info he’d rather have in the background. This was not simple as it seems and it’s definitely a continuous process, and is not over just because the application goes public.
Different users has different needs and see things differently. Building an app which could cater to all levels of users is the main challenge, and that’s the goal I’m still striving for.
What is your coding setup like? What tools do you use, and what times of the day do you do most of your work?
I normally prefer lightweight tools over IDEs to get things done. Actually IDEs aren’t resoucre hungry and controls your coding process too much. I love the flexibility of just a text editor (gedit) and terminal. This style of development is greatly supported by RoR itself (actually they recommend it - following the pragmatic programmer’s concept). Apart from that I had Firefox opened throughout the development period for previewing the app, but that’s obvious.
For source code management we went with Git - it really proved how productive it could be. While I work with the backend, Amila was working on the front-end design. Both concentrated only on their local versions and and once we were happy with a revision we could push it to the repository. The rest was taken care of by Git, which simply merged the changes without any conflicts. Also, using Capistrano with the git repository made releasing these updates to the live site a breeze.
Regarding working hours, I tend to prefer short stints than late night hackerthons. Mostly, my work task oriented. I decide in the beginning at the day which tasks I’m going to complete today and try to finish them by the end. I concentrated on one task at a time, so it never exhausted me and allowed me to stay focused throughout.
When looking at the development process for CurdBee, where did the other Vesess team members come in?
Well, Vesess is a small team and each member leads a separate project. When one project is ready to come out of its cocoon, the whole team gathers around and ensures the safe delivery of it. Actually if not for Lankitha’s brainstorming, Amila’s sweet templates, and Mahangu’s enganging copy, CurdBee would not have been the app you see today.
Any parting advice for young coders looking to write their first web app?
A web app is not a Christmas tree, so don’t try and decorate it with all the little snippets and libraries you know. Try to keep things simple and always stay focused on what you’re building. Don’t try to overdo the app to show your coding supremacy.
Also, don’t reinvent the wheel. Reuse code wherever possible. If you can find a plugin to simplify a certain process, use it.
Look for design patterns and try to follow them, but don’t cargo cult - that means don’t just copy and paste other people’s code without understanding it. Code found on Dzone, Pastie or on developer blogs is not always correct. Always be aware what you are doing so you know where to look if something goes wrong. I actually made most of these mistakes, so I’m talking from experience. 
A Happy Ending
Well, that’s the story of The Bee. Please visit our forums or drop us a line, and let us know what you think. A big thank you to every one who took part in the beta programme, and we hope you enjoy the app!
Vesessination
A couple of weekends ago, the Vesess team took a much needed breather, and headed out for a weekend away from work, email and reddit. As a team with a lot of virtual members, the time we get to spend together in meatspace is limited. Although we’re used to always being in touch via email and IM, the weekend at Sigiriya was a chance for us to really engage each other IRL, and find out what makes each of us tick. From Python, to GNOME, Rails, and beyond, a lot of what we talked about was based on what we do.
Sigiriya, the ancient royal fortress that our coders use as inspiration when designing our data security policies.
Boring? Not in the least. What’s different about talking shop with a geek in his or her spare time is that the issues and projects that surface will most often be personal ones. From quick hacks used for everyday productivity, to complex applications written for class, I learnt a lot about each of our interests on this trip. It didn’t have to be just tech either. From general business sense, to global warming, rising oil prices, and the recent food shortages, I listened a lot, and learnt a lot.
As a recent graduate, I’d call myself lucky to be at a place like Vesess. While most people my age are filling out twenty page forms, and sitting in on meetings that last for hours and never seem to go anywhere, I get to push my ideas, voice my opinions, and interact with some genuinely talented people. In $BIGFIRM, I would be a PR junkie, a drone who spewed out manufactured, corporate prose. Over here at Vesess, I get to set the textual style and tone for each project. I get to design the flow of information, and map out where it goes, and how it is consumed.
Then, I think of our hackers. In a large company, they would be junior programmers, churning out line after line of code according to a specification they don’t even get to see in its entirety. Here at Vesess, they conceputalise, design and put together entire applications.
Lies, you say? Nay.
In fact, one such application is currently in private beta. Something which Lakshan, our resident RoR guru, wrote from the ground up, CurdBee is a great example of a pet project going prime time. While all the initial planning and hacking took place in his head, the entire team eventually pitched in to make it ready for the world at large.
CurdBee, a result of rapid Vesessination.
This, in essence, is what we call Vesessination - a single idea brought to fruition by everyone, working together. At Vesess, that’s essentially what’s we’re about. Small teams, big ideas, and a lot of experimentation. Well, that’s all for now, folks. Tune in next week for some quality time with Lakshan’s new baby.
People to People
As geeks, we’ve been using P2P software for years. Starting with Napster in 1999, and the plethora of different filesharing networks that followed, right up to torrents, which we all use and love today, we’ve seen the technology being used for a number of worthwhile causes. Thus, when Sean came to us with his plan to put it to use in the real world, we jumped at the chance.
Today, after a lot of thought and hacking, we’re proud to announce the launch of p2prescue.org, the web hub of what Sean describes as a U.S.-based, not-for-profit organization working to raise awareness about and deliver support to Sri Lanka. At a time where NGOs and aid organisations are a dime a dozen in Sri Lanka, it was an experience to work with a group of people who were approaching our nation’s problems from a different angle. People have needs, and indeed, people have always had needs, and always will. What makes an aid effort stand out from the rest, however, is how they choose to approach these needs.
Focused on enabling sustainable development through training people, and creating jobs, Sean dubs the organisation’s approach P2P, or People to People. In a world where organisations are becoming increasingly bureaucratic, it is good to see one that is choosing to interact at the grassroots level. It is a good reminder to everyone that aid is not just about money.
The P2P Rescue Shop, powered by WP e-Commerce
From a technical point-of-view, the Shop portion of the site is an important one. Using the free plugin WP e-Commerce, we setup a virtual shopping cart via which visitors can choose to purchase the items that Sean’s various P2P projects have created. At the moment, the Tsunami Birdhouses seem to be hot, and rightly so - made entirely from items salvaged during the December 2004 Tsunami, these creations are a real life example of using what you have, one of P2P Rescue’s main dictums.
Socially, the Voices section is certainly the website’s most striking feature. Taking the form of a weblog, this section is where the people behind P2P Rescue have their say. From status updates from Sean himself, to stories of how the bird houses were made, this is the face of P2P Rescue, and is certainly what our readers will find most interesting. If you’ve never been to Sri Lanka, and are curious about what it’s like, the Voices section is a great place to wet your interest.
All in all, we learnt a lot from P2P Rescue. As a web organisation ourselves, its novel approach to communication in the real world made us challenge many of our own ideas and preconceptions, and helped us realise that no matter where you are, the only constructive way forward is indeed People to People. In any case, that’s enough from our end. Let’s hear what Sean Kelly has to say about the project.
Left-to-right: Sean Kelly, Her Highness Alexandra Princess of Denmark, and Michael Parayno.
Vesess: In a region where many countries were affected by the December 2004 Tsunami, why did you choose Sri Lanka in particular as a base of operations?
Sean: My thinking on this wasn’t clear in the beginning. I knew I wanted to employ and train people to create items from salvaged tsunami items to help raise money. But such wreckage was, of course, available anywhere and everywhere. I originally considered Banda Aceh because of how severely destroyed it appeared in aerial video/photos. It seemed soon enough, however, that Aceh was already getting incredible attention.
Before I was too far in with my planning I heard from a former colleague, Francesca Koe, who was just beginning to work with an international team on a reef-restoration, memorial, and scuba project in Sri Lanka. After a few discussions, I decided I would join her and others in Sri Lanka to see if I could assist with raising awareness around their work. That was mainly the deciding factor.
Even before my first trip to Sri Lanka, however, I felt the plans were ideal. I knew very little about the country and figured few others in America did, either. I thought my experience as a writer would be put to good use not just in describing existing funds, but in showing the world the wonderful sides of a country I myself was just coming into contact with.
Vesess: What are the advantages of peer-to-peer, or as you put it, People-to-People communication and interaction, when compared with more traditional aid and rescue deployments?
Sean: If you are aware of network technology structures, the client/server approach involves (for example) one server passing data between multiple clients. The server has most of the power. This, to me, seems a great deal like how major aid organizations operate with regard to donors. The organization (server) holds most of the power and ultimately decides where the money goes. The donors feed the server their money but have limited decision-making powers.
The P2P model doesn’t differentiate between clients and servers. Everything is equal and the true power of a P2P system is how each “peer” works with the next. The idea struck me as a major change of approach in the business of giving aid or adopting “social change.”
In my view, the aid organization, volunteers, donors, and even the beneficiaries of aid are all equal and impact the system. In this view, the organization is extremely receptive to outside action. It is dependent upon it too. If this “network of equals” fails to act, the system collapses entirely.
This has proven to me an innovative way to view aid–at times it was Sri Lanka that contributed most to the system by way of hard work and creativity. At other times, people in Sri Lanka flagged and suddenly people in America re-focused. The P2P model allows for waves of inspiration as they come naturally in the process.
Vesess: As a technology company, it was interesting for us to see p2p being used in the offline sphere. How and why did it work in real life?
Sean: It is still a work in progress, of course. I think there is tremendous potential to the idea as a model for empowering people. But it is an ideology that is threatened by two major influences: the situation of the world as a whole and the willingness of all involved to strive for equality.
With regard to the latter I have discovered that major aid agencies often don’t adequately seek input from the people they are helping or their donors. They often give as an authority. A power over donors or beneficiaries. Donors, too, don’t seem all that interested in equality. They donate based on a level of guilt that is satisfied purely on handing over some money and then forgetting about what happens to it, rather than following it to its end. And the receivers of aid are often just that. They receive without being motivated to put something back into the system, to create their own equality.
And of course, the overall state of world health is a hugely mitigating factor. Striving for equality and social change requires effort and concentration, and the world is enduring am incredible level of suffering at this time in history. Just think of Hurricane Katrina, Darfur, Zimbabwe, the price of food, a looming worldwide recession, various sad and unfortunate wars and human rights abuses.
For the P2P model of social change to work, it needs all communities in all areas to strive for some semblance of equality.
Vesess: In your opinion, is it possible for a social system, online, or offline, to sustain itself without a distinct hierarchy of control? In other words, is p2p communication sustainable as a political system?
I think if you follow the ideology far enough down the line it is conceivable. I believe it works, bit by bit, on a small scale. But for it to be effective on a global scale would require a major change to human nature. Do we, as humans, really want to strive or equality? The increasingly large gap between haves and have-nots, the billionaires and those living off a small bag of rice, suggests we don’t. I should add that by equality I am not suggesting socialism or communism or some other political model. I’m not suggesting fascism either. Socially and politically people need guidance. There will always be gaps separating people by strengths and weaknesses. But in the world of social change, I think striving for greater equality and being open to learning both from those people who have more AND less than you has tremendous value.
In that sense, I consider myself directly in the middle. I am learning from myself and other people who, like me, are just trying to do their best. Yet I am open to learning, and have learned, incredible lessons from the donor who would hand me his/her hard earned money and the impoverished Sri Lankan who shared his King Coconut.
Vesess: What advice would you have for anyone looking to setup a similar initiative?
Sean: You said your readers are pretty tech savvy, so let’s stick with the technology world for a moment. There are thousands of small aid organizations, each often repeating the work of the next. That’s like thousands of P2P networks. There’s one clear answer to how they can be more efficient–through APIs. Developing standard ways of connecting them all together would certainly go a long way toward creating greater efficiencies between organizations. Connecting P2P Rescue to, say, a pertinent segment of Unicef efforts, a small team in Sri Lanka, a network working on parallel efforts in the Philippines, and so on, could see enormous rewards on all fronts. Shared assets and contacts. Faster mobilization. Those are some obvious examples.
The reality, however, is in my experience attempting to work with major aid organizations in and out of Sri Lanka, I continued to bump into closed (proprietary?) systems. Yes, I HAD located and met with and assessed sites needing a total of 309 homes along the southwest coast. I offered my full support and resources to cooperate in rebuilding programs. But I was turned away for a variety of reasons–political, religious, bureaucratic.
Perhaps some of the reasons were legitimate. But tell that to the family of six living under a corrugated tin roof with no bathroom facilities. The very idea behind P2P Rescue is essentially, if you have resources to spare to a place where resources are needed, you are part of the network. You don’t need to be Christian, for example. You just need to be willing to get your hands dirty for the benefit of another.
Thank you Sean, and P2P Rescue, for everything you taught us during this project. We’re sure you guys are going to do great things in Sri Lanka, and South Asia. Good luck!
Filed under: Business, Code, Design
Free At Last
At Vesess, we’ve always prided ourselves on our commitment to Free Software. A quick glance through our projects will show you that much of our work is based around FOSS solutions like Wordpress, Drupal and MODx.
Therefore, to us, this announcement we’re making today is just another footfall in the right direction. For a while now, all Vesess production machines have been running GNU/Linux, and with the launch of Vesess v5, we are proud to say that it will be our platform of choice from now on.
We will not be upgrading to Vista.
We will not pass go, we will not collect $200.
We will use a Free operating system.
Why? Well, there are lots of reasons.
First and foremost, it’s the right thing to do. In an age where proprietary software and software patents are crippling creativity, we refuse to use a locked down OS to do what we do. At Vesess, we’re in the business of sharing information, not restricting it, and thus GNU/Linux was the obvious choice when it came to picking an OS.
Secondly, it’s good business sense. Yes, you heard that right. Morals and ethics aside, Free Software makes for good business. All the CMS software we use is Free, both as in speech, and as in beer. With a wide support community, and hundreds of plugins developed by people just like us, the Wordpress, Drupal and MODx communities have all the support we could ever want. Why pay through your nose for overpriced (and often outsourced) tech support when you can get what you need straight from the horse’s mouth. Not to mention, there are often thousands of said horses.
Thirdly, it’s safer to run GNU/Linux. Everytime we take on a new client, we make a commitment to secure and protect more data. In today’s world, an organisation’s web presence is of utmost importance to them, and that’s why security is one of our biggest concerns here at Vesess. Our servers have always been powered by GNU/Linux, and always will be. No other OS out there can match the stability, flexibility and ease of use of a good server install of GNU/Linux, and no other OS has such a low turnaround time on security patches and fixes. We run GNU/Linux on our servers because we have no room for lapses in security, and after years of experimenting, have found that it’s the only way to ensure a secure web experience for all our clients.
So, in terms of ethics, business sense and security, Free Software makes a lot of sense, and we’re proud to announce today that we’ve officially made the move into the light.
Now on to the fun stuff. Here are our individual setups, and what we do with them.
Lakshan
Our resident RoR hacker, Lakshan currently runs Ubuntu 7.10, the most recent release of the Ubuntu Linux OS that has become so popular over the past few years. On a day to day basis, he uses Firefox and Gedit for research and development, along with Pidgin, Transmission and Amarok, for recreational purposes. In the console, he uses OpenSSH and git to keep the Vesess development servers running smoothly.
Amila
A veteran slicer and dicer, Amila uses Dreamweaver and Fireworks running under wine to handle all the design and coding he has to do. Having experimented with several other tools, he finds that he still works best with the Macromedia products. His favourite non-development tools include xchat and qBittorrent.
Laknath
Laknath, our PHP guru, frequently uses Gedit, Firefox 3, kTorrent, and Evince. Having got sick of Vista a while back, he now runs Ubuntu exclusively. While waiting for his favourite plugins to be released for Firefox 3, Laknath also looks forward to seeing Free, working drivers for nVidia video cards.
Mahangu
A Free Software zealot, Mahangu runs Debian Lenny, the current testing release of Debian GNU/Linux. Our resident writer, he makes use of vim and Ice Weasel on a daily basis. A console guy through and through, he uses fetchmail, Mutt and exim4 for email, and irssi via SSH for IRC. As far as moving pictures go however, it’s Deluge, and VLC all the way.
Well, there you have it - how the Vesess production team uses GNU/Linux for fun and profit. Got questions? Post them in this thread, and we’ll do our best to answer.
Filed under: Business, Free Software, Team
Number Five
Hello and welcome to another iteration of Vesess.com. We know we’ve been silent for a while, and we’re sorry, we really are. However, no posts does not necessarily mean no work. Behind the scenes, our crack team of code monkeys have been working overtime. So, as Vesess v5 launches, we’re also readying ourselves to release a brand spanking new project that’ll roxor your soxors (or boxors, depending on your persuasion).
What is it? Well, we’re not ready to reveal all just yet, but here is a wee hint to base your speculations on.
Now, on to the design. At Vesess, we’ve been through five redesigns, and think that we’ve finally found one we’ll be sticking with for a while. Simple, elegant, and easy on the eyes, Vesess V5 draws your attention to the content, which is after all, what we really want you to see. Indeed, at a time when websites are getting bigger, bulkier, and definitely more complicated, we’re proud to be going in the other direction.
According to tradition, a website should be static, and only redesigned once or twice a decade. Well, this is a myth, and an annoying one at that. We believe that a website is a dynamic entity, and that it should live, and breath and grow, just like an organisation. One year ago, we launched Vesess v4, and today we’re proud to have you with us as we take another step in to the world wild web.
Listen, create, evolve. This is what we continue to do, and as we launch v5, we’re really hyped about all new things we have planned for this next phase of Vesessination. Till we post again, the Vesess crew wishes you good speeds, and safe browsing!
From Web D to Web Apps
As our more regular readers may already know, Vesess began as a web design firm. What can we say? It was the early 2000s, and web design was hot. If there’s anything the Internet has taught us over the past half-decade, however, it’s this - things change. And that’s exactly what we have done.
As you may have noticed, we set the tone for this shift in focus a while back with our Vesess.com v4 design, by changing our tagline to design + code. What are we saying? We hired some code monkeys, and well, things are paying off, chum! We’re not allowed to talk specifics yet (Lankitha does terrible things to people who leak info), but rest assured that the first line of web apps from Vesess is just around the corner.
What kind of web apps, you ask? Social networking? Well, sorta. Think of it as social networking for small businesses. A matchmaking service for startups. Is it just an extension to gowebplans? Well, it’s an extension, but not just an extension. As we said earlier though, that’s about all we can say for now. There is, however, one small favour you can do for us.
Fill out this wee survey, and help us understand what you, as a small business owner, want from a web app aimed at making your life easier. What do you get from it? Well, we’re all out of cookies, but how does 25$ sound?
25$ for filling out a survey? Yes. And no, we do not require your Credit Card number to verify your personal details.
Filed under: Business
Death to the trees
During my formative years, I read a lot. From Enid Blyton books to short stories, and longer novels, I always had something made of dead trees in my hand. I had an active imagination, and books appealed to me because they allowed me to create a and inhabit a world of my own, even if it was just for an afternoon.
I would form parallel lives for myself, existences in which I would be a cop, a pirate, a skydiver. Books were not just entertainment to me. They were a far bigger part of my life.
Then, as I came in to contact with the Internet, I began to look at reading in a different manner. Did I read? Of course. I mean, find me a web junkie who doesn’t read. I read, and I read a lot. A lot of crap, it turns out. One of the biggest drawbacks of having a strong online life is that you constantly have to be up to date on the latest trends, memes, and lulz (epic or otherwise) to stay in the game.
You can’t, for example, have someone send you a lolcat, and not know what it is. That is Internet geek suicide. So, we, the geeks, obsessively refresh our feed readers throughout the day, looking for that bit of new information. In the real world, knowledge is power. On the Intarweb, having seen the latest youtube video first is enough to put you ahead of the rest.
Anyway, I digress. Today, I cleaned out my room. It was the first real cleanup it had received since I finished my secondary education, and believe me, it showed. After wiping away layer upon layer of dust, I stacked everything in to marginally neat piles, and began to sort through them one by one. What did I discover?
I had a lot of books. In fact, well over fifty percent of my room was literature. From Sue Townsend to Romesh Gunasekara, my room was full of books. Now, I would love to say that I had read most of them, and a few years back this would have been the truth. Looking at my stack of books now, however, I say with shame that I’ve read less than a quarter of them.
Is this because I’m a slow reader? Far from it. When I get started, it’s hard to stop me. Why, then? Why did I have so many unread books. Did I not like reading? No, I loved reading, and going through every one of them was on my todo list. After Slashdot of course.
And there lay my problem. Looking back at my five or so odd years of spending a lot of time online, I realized that I had wasted hours, days, and perhaps even weeks and months, reading some moron’s sarcastic comments about the latest linux distro. I had wasted time listening, and arguing with my fellow netizens about issues that would have never concerned me in the real world. Who cares if vim is better than emacs (which it is, make no mistake about that)? What does it matter if that dude on IRC just doesn’t get the difference between your and you’re? To be honest, who cares? Not me. At least not now.
After much thought and internal debate, I’ve come to the conclusion that the series of tubes killed my reading habit, and I’m going to do my best to recultivate it. Starting now, I’m going to read less tech news, and devour more literature. I’m going to read less blogs, and read more of the books that have shaped humanity in general. Now don’t get me wrong, I love geeky cat macros as much as the next net junkie. I’m just going to try and have more epic lulz while reading Bill Bryson.
Starting now, I’m going to make a conscious effort to spend less time online, and read more text straight from them good old dead trees. What about you? Think you can close that feed reader and go pick up a dead tree book right now? Try it, I dare you.
Filed under: Life
Not Inventing the Light Bulb
A while back we launched Gowebplans. We had put a lot of work in to it, and thought it would work out. It didn’t. Weeks after launch and we didn’t have any new clients. It was a little disheartening, especially since we put a lot of ourselves in to the service. As a small business, we know how hard it can be to make it online. We wanted to help, but we were obviously doing something wrong.
The old Gowebplans site
So, our coders went back to coding, our designers went back to designing and our executive team sat back and thought about what went wrong. Finally, after a lengthy analysis of our strategy, we decided that it needed some changes.
A few months later, and here we are, ready to try again. Now, if someone were to look at all this negatively, they’d say that we failed. Of course, we like to think along the lines of Thomas Edison.
We found a way not to run a web development service for SMEs.
We made a few mistakes, we pushed a few wrong pixels, but we’re here to try again. A lot of time and effort has gone in to this site, and our hope is that our new strategy will make our services more attractive to other small businesses.
Gowebplans, revamped
It may surprise you, but in the process we have learnt a lot about our sphere of business, and have found new tools and methods to serve SMEs better. We have expanded our services list to meet new demands, and are proud to present you with a stronger, and more robust web platform than our first offering. Our conclusion? Though it can be frustrating, not inventing something is sometimes as good as inventing it, and what you learn along the way will often far outweigh the time spent rethinking a strategy.
When something goes wrong, there are two main ways to deal with it. You can either ignore the problem, and continue to live in a crumbling house, or you can grab your pencils and paper and go back to the drawing board. It may take a few thousand sketches, but you will eventually understand what is wrong. It is also very likely that you will find a fix along the way.
So, even as we give this a second shot, we hope that Gowebplans will help other small businesses out there by giving them another opportunity to put themselves online. Tried once and didn’t get what you expected? We know the feeling. This time try a web plan from another small business - a company that has faced, and is still facing many of the struggles you have.
Think big, start small, keep trying.
Filed under: Business
