The numbers are in. I’ve thought about this thoroughly and in keeping with ArcStone’s nerdy roots, created an algorithm.  I added up productivity gains subtracted employee gripes and moans and then divided by hours logged.

(Gains – Gripes) / Hours = X

The clear winner for best technology investment in 2008?

Our switch to Google Apps for our company email, calendar and documentation platform.

Google Apps has five elements that you need to know about…

1. User Management – to secure access and set permissions for your team.
2. Email – in this case Gmail, which is Google’s fantastic web mail service.  Users can also use mail clients like Outlook or Thunderbird if they wish.
3. Calendar – An online personal calendar which may be shared with your colleagues.
4. Sites - An easy to edit wiki system.  Need a quick wiki to organize a project, or documentation?  It literally takes a non-technical user 5 minutes to create a new site and start adding content.  You can then restrict content to certain users or publish to the web at large.
5. Docs – an online productivity suite which includes a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation, and data collection application.   These have become very important tools in the tool box for us at ArcStone.  We use Docs for tracking basic spreadsheet information centrally like employee phone extensions and incoming leads, to collaborating on our 2009 business plan.  Google Docs also includes a slick form generation tool, enabling non-technical users to easily create online forms for surveys and similar data collection projects.  Google is clearly targeting Microsoft Office users, but I have to confess Google Docs still has a ways to go before replacing Office – don’t plan on using it exclusively.

And how much $$ for all these goodies?  If you have fewer than one hundred employees, the price is truly right. You pay them $0.  All it took for us was a DNS update so that Gmail started getting our our email and then some configuration / internal communication / training to make the transition.

Before you ask, no I’m not working for Google.  I just want to share something that’s working well for us.

If you’re an ArcStone client and you’re interested in making the transition to Google Apps, drop me a line.  If there’s enough interest, I’d be happy to schedule a group Webinar demonstrating how we use Google Apps and help you decide whether or not to make the move.

Next time you make a run for the border don’t forget to bring along all the old decrepit cell phones from your junk drawer. As our rock-n-roll programmer Shawn demonstrates, recycling your old phones is easier than ordering two bean burritos.

Taco Bell’s new marketing slogan is “The only thing greener than our guacamole is our phone recycling bin.” Although catchy, I think “The only thing greener than our guacamole is any other restaurants guacamole” would be more accurate.

All joking aside, it’s nice to see big companies making an effort to help out the Earth, which has given so much to them.

The traveling Star Wars exhibit “Star Wars — Where Science Meets Imagination” has finally come to Minnesota. I had the opportunity to check it out, and I can say it certainly lives up to the hype.

Patrons are invited to view original movie costumes and props, examine the incredible detail of model ships, watch exclusive behind the scenes clips, meet storm troopers, and even climb into the Millennium Falcon’s cockpit for the jump to light speed.

To get a small glimpse of what’s in store for you, see my photos above. I used Wonderfile’s tag sharing feature to create the interactive slide show. To start making and sharing your own slide shows for free, sign up for Wonderfile.

If you’re anything like me your daily digestion of web content can’t be contained in one browser tab. Between RSS feeds, work Intranets, gMail and other web applications, several tabs are needed, and flipping between them constantly becomes a carpal tunnel inducing nightmare.

The solution many choose is to setup a start page. Start pages are one page sites that aggregate data from many other web pages into a dashboard style display.

Google’s iGoogle is the most popular start page system, but I have started using a little known competitor that puts iGoogle to shame; Netvibes.

Keep reading for tips on setting up the ultimate start page and the secret to unlocking the start page’s hidden power.

(more…)

Poor Microsoft. They’re so desperate to get a better grip on the search market that they’re paying people to use their engine. It’s called the Live Search Trial Program. Yup – Microsoft’s new big bad search strategy isn’t a new algorithm or a better user interface. Instead, Microsoft is bribing you with prizes.

Nice try, Microsoft. I might have given your engine a little love just to win a prize, but I can’t even figure out how to participate in the program. Do I have to be a Hotmail user?

I’d rather try Blingo, powered by Google’s search engine (although Google’s universal search features are somewhat depreciated in Blingo’s interface). For 25 searches a day, you are automatically entered to win a prize on Blingo. When you refer your friends, any prize they win, you win as well.

Feel free to be one of my friends….

Millions of people have iPods, and the majority of them use iTunes to manage their music. As I have mentioned before, iTunes lacks some truly useful features, many of which users are pining for.

One major feature absent is the ability to copy music from an iPod to iTunes. This, no doubtingly, was left out of the feature set to keep users from sharing their entire music collection with everyone they know, and to keep Apple from being sued into oblivion.

Unfortunately, there are many legitimate uses for being able to copy music back and forth freely. Fear not gentle readers, because third party developers have come to the rescue.

I personally use Senuti, which has an interface almost identical to iTunes, except file syncing works in reverse (from iPod to iTunes). Senuti is Mac only, but there are many other options, and many are cross platform.

Enjoy your newfound freedom, but use it wisely.

Working late at night on a project, all alone, your cubicle can seem so much larger and more lonely. I suggest filling it with little paper friends from ReadyMech. They have many designs, catering to all sorts of tastes. All you need is a printer, scissors, and some tape to whip up a companion.

If you are skilled with the scissors, and have some time on your hands, I suggest making them all. Take a picture and send it to me; I will reward you with my personal kudos and a hearty round of applause.

Here is my new friend:

Finally. The New York Times Online will no longer require readers to subscribe to most of its content.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve googled for some news story and clicked on a promising result from the NYT Online, only to have to have my way barred by “you must be registered to view this article” or some such similar nonsense.

Under the old system, readers had to pay roughly 50 bucks a year to get their dose of the NYT online. Now they will only charge for a selection of archives between 1923 and 1986.

(more…)

Some time ago a friend invited to Goodreads, another one of these social networking sites where you open an account, add your friends, blah blah blah. As the name implies, this site targets a pretty strictly defined audience: bibliophiles. It’s a tool for book lovers to share their passion with their bookwormy peers — you can rate and review books and read through your friends rants or recommendations.

At the time, I wasn’t interested in adding yet another social networking site to my repertoire. Now that Facebook has a Goodreads app, I’m coming around. The app’s actions within Facebook are somewhat limited (Facebook directs you back to the Goodreads site to do anything more than rating a book), but it keeps my virtual bookshelves handy, and I secretly hope it guilts my friends into joining it too.

Current known competitors: Shelfari (I’ve heard the navigation isn’t up to snuff), Revish (which looks to be more text and less visuals), and LibraryThing (still in beta but doesn’t look bad).

I’m planning on using it to stay in touch with book group members while we’re all off reading the book of the month.

“There are two motives for reading a book: one, that you enjoy it; the other, that you can boast about it.” – Bertrand Russell

(Note to Austin — I think any one who reads Ulysses reads it for the latter reason…am I wrong? )

So you’ve bought the iPhone. Now you have to inform everyone your number has changed.

Or do you?

Not if you have a Grand Central phone number. The new web-based service will allow you to sign up for one number that you keep for life. It’s a pretty sweet service and as of this writing, it’s free, unless you have a gajillion phone numbers to unite. (more…)