Instapaper - Awesome

This is simple web app that I use all the time. I see a page I'd like to read but time is short so I click the link and Instapaper stores it for me to read later, either on my desktop, laptop or iPhone.

Really, really good. http://www.instapaper.com/

279 Days to Overnight Success

This is a great document, very informative, honest and a very easy read.

http://chrisguillebeau.com/3x5/overnight-success/

www.artenscience.co.uk
Quality Commercial Software and Custom Software Development

[NSConference] 16-17th April 2009

http://www.nsconference.com/index.html

www.artenscience.co.uk
Quality Commercial Software and Custom Software Development

Snow In My Garden

Nothing to do with Programming or Arten Science or Technology. I just wanted a record of my garden covered in snow :-)

A Great App: Seasonality for Mac

I've just found this application from Gaucho Software, Seasonality.

If you are at all interested in Weather they you are going to love this. I'm running the trial version at the moment but I can see a payment heading to the developers very shortly.



Click the screenshot for a larger picture. Beautiful. Which is more than can be said for the East Midlands weather at the moment :-)

www.artenscience.co.uk
Commercial and Custom Software Development

Idea to Product in 30 Days ? Realistic ?

Many months ago just for fun a bunch of developers got together for a '30 Day Challenge'. Take an idea to a product within 30 days. I participated as best I could as I was half way through a product but also needed to setup my new company, website etc. It was a lot of fun and made interesting reading, seeing the problems that were faced and overcome was very enlightening.

The concept itself received a lot of (in my opinion unwarranted) criticism from certain people who basically said that it was impossible to finish a successful project within 30 days. This is, being blunt, crap.

I suppose different people have different ideas about what makes a successful product. I have come up with the following possible definitions for a 'successful software project':

Completed On Budget, On Time
Achieved the Defined Objective
Makes a Profit
Quickly gains customers
No Show-stopping Bugs
Positive Independent Reviews
Gains Industry Attention

Based on those definitions of 'successful software project' I have to say that I have released several projects this year that have all been done in under 30 days, and have all met most if not all of those criteria. Non of my projects will set the world on fire, none of them are 'killer applications', none of them are the most complex applications ever and I am not the worlds greatest programmer.

All of my software though has been profitable and has happy customers. Really, is there much else needed ? Is it possible to take an idea from inception to product in 30 days. Yes, of course it is.



NOTE: Just after posting this original post I saw this over on Bob Walsh's 47hats.com :
'Does Steve Cholerton sleep? Guess not: his microISV Arten Science just released another product: R10Cipher - a cross platform encryption tool for Mac and Windows.'

The truth is that yes I do. I also ride my motorcycle, watch TV, read books and magazines, do bespoke development and security work and lots of other stuff. It is perfectly possible to work hard but still live a good life AND develop a product in 30 days :-)

www.artenscience.co.uk
Honest Expert Independent Technology Advice for Business

Arten Science Dedicated Server

I’ve just moved Arten Science onto a dedicated server. Within the next day or so all the DNS changes will be replicated and performance will increase. There shouldn’t be any problems but if the worst happens and you do experience a problem, please contact us as support@artenscience.co.uk

www.artenscience.co.uk
Honest Expert Independent Technology Advice for Business

Webclip - Superb !

One of the features of Mac OSX Leopard and Safari is the Webclip. I’ve ignored it until recently and now having used it I can say it really is great.

Basically Webclip allows you to select a portion of a webpage that you are interested in, and that gets updated. To avoid going and manually checking for these updates you can select the page area and assign it to your Dashboard, where it is a mouse click away and constantly refreshed.

Some examples of use:

Google Analytics Graphs
Twitter Followers
Software Download Statistics

I have used it for all these purposes and more.

To use Webclip click the webclip button on the toolbar of your Safari browser and then select the portion of the page that interests you. When you have defined the area you need, click the Add button shown at the top right of the page.

That’s it. That portion of the page is now visible from your Dashboard.

Very Simple, Very Cool :-)

Below is an image as shown in my Dashboard from the MacUpdate Developers Account which I setup yesterday.



www.artenscience.co.uk
Honest Expert Independent Technology Advice for Business

Updating My Website ...

I’m doing some work on my website at the moment, there is too many words and not enough clarity. I need to get the point across about what I do on the homepage, no fuss, no hassle. I AM STEVE. THIS IS MY COMPANY. THIS IS WHAT WE DO. Marketing is definitely a talent - I was at the back of the queue when when god gave out that particular ability I think.

Hence my purchase of the ebook ‘MicroISV Sites that Sell’ by Bob Walsh of 47Hats.com.

What an excellent read ! I’m definitely going to be taking some of his ideas on board. $20 well spent I think :-)

www.artenscience.co.uk
Honest Expert Independent Technology Advice for Business

Interesting Recommendation !

I had a recommendation come through from a client recently. I couldn’t use it for obvious reasons. I’ve shown it below with name and project detail deleted to protect the guilty :-)

I have had the misfortune of working with Steve on a significant [Deleted] solution. Steve showed a consistency and quality which is unusual with many IT Contractors, and I have worked with a significant number of them to base this opinion on.

It was a misfortune because the rest of our IT Department had to step up to the mark, otherwise he would have made us look like amateurs.

I would have no hesitation in recommending him to anyone.

www.artenscience.co.uk
Honest Expert Independent Technology Advice for Business

Lucky to be a Programmer

Gustavo Duarte just wrote a great post entitled: ‘Lucky to be a programmer’ It’s a good read and very true. Those of us who love what we do for a living are very lucky and just like Gustavo, I love what I do.

"Love is, above all else, the gift of oneself." - Jean Anouilh

www.artenscience.co.uk
Honest Expert Independent Technology Advice for Business

New Dedicated Help Desk Forum !

Ian Landsman, author of Helpspot has setup a new forum dedicated to help desk and customer support. There’s only a few members at the moment but give it your support and it could turn out to be a valuable asset. The forum is here.

"You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don't try." - Beverly Sills