In software, usability refers to the design of the interface that reflects an intuitive relationship between what a user wants to do, and how to do it. We are in the midst of the exciting redesign of one of our core services, ThunderTix, our online box office management system. In…
Agile, RoR, and the New Guy
Over the last six months, I began looking into Agile programming practices leading me to the Agile Austin users group. In April, Stacy and I attended our first meeting where we were fortunate to meet Nicholas Cancelliere–an active Agile Austin member, Certified Scrum Master, and agile instructor.  Nicholas joined our team on…
High Tech Mess
As a tech company, we’re supposed to “mind our Ps and Qs” among all things technical. (As a tangent, the term “Ps and Qs” refers to both diligence in your work or minding one’s manners. With roots in the old Brittish pubs and referring to “pints and quarts”, the term was used when too…
Where Profits Hide, Part I
“What items are we most profitable in?” Scott asked me that question a few weeks ago which set off a discussion about our primary project categories and the income derived from each: hosting related work (13%), ticketing software and customizations (13%), software development (43%) and website design (25%).  Then we looked at development…
Cool Flash Background
I recently told Ross about a desire I’ve long held to try a Flash background for our website.  I hadn’t seen it elsewhere, and I wasn’t even sure it was possible. Ross committed himself to the task, and sent me an email entitled, “I got it!” later that day. Take a peek at the…
It’s about me!
Recently, I was invited to share some thoughts about myself and this business with the local community newspaper. I thought this blog might be a good storage place for this miscellaneous data–just in case it never makes it to print. :) Name: Dawn Green Place and date of birth: Quincy, Massachusetts Family members and…
Drupal Logout Destination
Each time I logged out, I would be returned to a page that said, “You are not authorized to access this page. There seemed to be a conflict with the access control for anonymous users (which upon logout, I became an anonymous user) and accessing the logout screen which seemed…
Drupal Challenges
We have now created two sites using Drupal’s content management system. The jury is still out as to whether the application is worthwhile. Scott is a great programmer, and in many cases, I know he could build suitable applications in less time than it takes to figure out Drupal integration…
Managers, Leaders, and Bosses
I won’t allow my coworkers to refer to me as “my boss.” I can’t stand the term. The word “bossy,” from which boss is derived, is defined in Merriam-Webster as “inclined to domineer” and synonymous with “dictatorial.” That I am not! On Thursday evening, I met a few friends for…
Getting Lucky
There’s more than one way to get lucky, and we got lucky twice! We have two new and extremely talented guys joining our currently-estrogen-leaning office to give our ranks a slight testosterone tilt. The cool thing about our new team members is they are tailor made for this office and both fit my “perfect candidate” profile–passionate about…