My own piece of the Internet
 
Category: <span>technology</span>

Category: technology

Random default thumbnails for Yet Another Related Posts Plugin

I installed the Yet Another Related Posts Plugin (YARPP) and was frustrated by the stripey default thumbnail that was displayed if a post didn’t have a featured image. Unfortunately for me, this was quite a few. So what I ended up with was: Pretty ugly. So I did some pretty basic hacking and created a pretty awesome (just ask me) way of displaying random thumbnails if there isn’t a featured image associated with a post. Here’s what it looks like: Before I continue I need to offer a disclaimer – I am no coder so if you find anything here …

Why no one uses Google+

At the last count Google+ had 90 million registered users, 60% of whom “engage daily”. Whatever that means. The other 40% are wondering what the hell they can use Google+ for. Except of course the SEO bunnies who are using Google+ to jack up the rankings of websites. The jury is still out on both Google+ and the SEO benefits. So how could this happen? Google have been promoting Google+ heavily, they have linked it into their search pages, their lucrative ad network, and CEO Larry Page has been touting the platform in earnings calls as growing rapidly and one …

How to stop your outsourcing going off the rails

Every startup or startup wannabe has outsourced development work to India, the Philippines, or Eastern Europe. It is more than half the cost of having it done in Australia or the USA the savings mean more funds to direct to building your business. It’s easy right? Well no, outsourcing can be a world of pain if you don’t get it right. I have outsourced small development projects and here are some tips to stop it going off the rails. 1. Define your scope clearly Make sure you define what you want very very clearly. The combination of language barriers and …

The social era

Collaborating with people through shared purpose creates advantage because it allows everyone to work towards a shared goal. When people know the purpose of an organization, they don’t need to check in or get permission to take the next step, they can just do it. When people know the purpose, they are not waiting to be told what to do. With shared purpose, alignment happens without coordination costs. Shared purpose makes customers and team-members more than transactions and payroll recipients. It allows us to “tear down that wall” between who is “in” or “outside” the firm creating a more permeable …

Build your team with blogging

A mate of mine was telling me that he blogs all his meetings to inform his team about what’s happening and what he is promising clients. He works in a large healthcare network with thousands of staff so stakeholder management, transparency, and cost control is very important. He told me that the blogging meant he didn’t have to repeat conversations and everyone was kept informed. I reckon this is a nifty way to use social media tools to manage a team. It’s inexpensive, easy to use, and easily allows for team engagement. Sure Basecamp works great for project management and …

Getting the most out of technology

I spent some time yesterday with a bloke who ran a web design business that has built a great platform covering all the bases for a small business website, from brochure to feature rich online store. I can’t disclose the name of the business but there were a few things that impressed me about their approach and it wasn’t their technology. Don’t get me wrong, their technology is great but it doesn’t set them apart from the multitude of businesses with mature web platforms like Adobe’s Business Catalyst, Yola, Weebly, Wix and BigCommerce. Their tech does all that you would …

Poor old Malcom Gladwell

Malcom Gladwell must be wondering what went wrong. In October 2010 the award winning New Yorker writer penned a piece that tried to address the hyperbole about so-called twitter revolutions and suddenly he was the most hated man on twitter. The response was spectacular. Twitter erupted into outrage, Biz Stone co-founder of twitter responded with a thoughtful but dense piece in The Atlantic Monthly that promoted twitter as a force for fostering relationships and creating meaningful change. For Stone the power of twitter lies in its ability to empower people through communication. He finishes his defence with: Rudimentary communication among …

WebCentral launches new web hosting plans

WebCentral have launched a fantastic new range of web hosting plans for Australian techies and  small businesses. The most exciting feature of the new hosting plans is a 99.99% uptime guarantee. This guarantee puts the stability of big business hosting within reach of small business at a very reasonable price. No other Australian hosting company offers a similar guarantee in the shared hosting space at this price. Under the covers, the hosting platform has been radically over-hauled.  The platform is now built on Windows Server 2008 technology and offers .NET developers .NET 4.0 technology as well as the latest builds …