Start-up…

Wed Dec 7

Starting your own company is a duanting prospect. But fortunately, there is plenty of help out there. It seems to me the things you need are:

  • A lot of drive, passion and guts
  • A really good idea (or two, or three)
  • A sensible approach (read a lot, expect things to be tough)
  • A bit of luck

It certainly isn’t for everyone.

Get mashing…

Tue Dec 6

ProgrammableWeb - make your own mashup.

Power to the people…

Tue Dec 6

For the third time in a little over a week I’ve read an article that stresses the importance of simplicity. In this case, D. Keith Robinson says that people are more important than technology; that providing something that just works is better than providing something with all the bells and whistles.

The message is slowly getting through. I need to simplify.

Update: The Odeo guy agrees.

What’s in a name?…

Tue Dec 6

I have lots of ideas for web applications. Lots and lots. And some of them might even make money, too. But what to call them? All the cool domain names went years ago, so another tack must be thought of. Enter Firewheel Design, who offer some advice on picking your Web 2.0 name.

So, the only question for me now is what should I choose out of these:

Gimboo, Reemayke, Drufus, Eegeeneet, Trafoo, Boonoo, Slapaflapper…

Dawn of a new developer…

Mon Dec 5

The ever-helpful Ajaxian.com recently brought my attention to this article on JavaWorld.com which discusses the great possiblities and pitfalls if the AJAX phenomenon. Basically, as Peter-Paul Koch says, who will build the new AJAX applications?

It’s a good question. After all, people with “designer” on their name-badge are generally graphics/CSS type people - more than 10 lines of any scripting language scares them. But people with a “developer” hat on generally look on JavaScript as a poor substiture for a ‘proper’ language such as PHP (or ASP, or ASP.net, or Perl, or Pyton etc etc). Gross generalisations, I know, but pretty accurate from the webheads that I know.

However there is a new breed of web developer who are taking up the challenge. Developers who write applications, but who specifically write applications for the web - taking advantage of the massive graphical possibilities of this medium. Designers who care about usability and accessibility, and whose sites aren’t hideous to look at.

It’s an exciting time.