More Halloween Fun!

Today at Your Plan B Company we watched It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!

"I gotta rock!"

Watching this television special is one of my favorite Halloween traditions.
What are some of yours?

Some Halloween tradition and history resources:
history.com/content/halloween
wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween
halloweenishere.com/history.html
halloweenmagazine.com/history.htm
halloweenhistory.org
jackolanterns.net/traditions.htm
halloween-website.com/customs.htm
everythinghalloween.com/traditions

And in case you need a Charlie Brown fix right this minute, try this from youtube!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Counting Down til Halloween!

Today at Your Plan B Company we carved pumpkins!


see more photos!

Some Halloween resources:
pumpkin-carving.com
pumpkinmasters.com
familyfun.go.com
kids.nationalgeographic.com
zombiepumpkins.com
bhg.com
marthastewart.com

And if you need to carve a pumpkin right this minute, try one online: carveapumpkin.bhg.com

Happy Halloween!

ASP, JSP, PHP, COLD FUSION, RUBY ON RAILS etc

What do all these acronyms mean?
And does your site need them?

Here's a quick list to help you communicate with your web team:

ASP = Active Server Pages
Also known as Classic ASP or ASP Classic, was Microsoft's first server-side script engine for dynamically-generated web pages.

CFML = Cold Fusion Mark up Language
The pages in a ColdFusion application include the server-side CFML tags in addition to HTML (XHTML) tags. When a browser requests a page in a ColdFusion application, it is automatically pre-processed by the ColdFusion Application Server.

CSS = Cascading Style Sheets
A style sheet language used to describe the presentation semantics (that is, the look and formatting) of a document written in a markup language.

HTML = Hyper Text Markup Language
the predominant markup language for web pages. It provides a means to create structured documents by denoting structural semantics for text such as headings, paragraphs, lists etc as well as for links, quotes, and other items. It allows images and objects to be embedded and can be used to create interactive forms. It is written in the form of HTML elements consisting of "tags" surrounded by angle brackets within the web page content.

JS or JScript = Javascript
An object-oriented scripting language used to enable programmatic access to objects within both the client application and other applications. It is primarily used in the form of client-side JavaScript, implemented as an integrated component of the web browser, allowing the development of enhanced user interfaces and dynamic websites.

JSP = JavaServer Pages
A server side Java technology that allows software developers to create dynamically generated web pages, with HTML, XML, or other document types, in response to a Web client request to a Java Web Application container (server).

PHP = Hypertext Preprocessor
Is a widely used, general-purpose scripting language that was originally designed for web development, to produce dynamic web pages. It can be embedded into HTML and generally runs on a web server, which needs to be configured to process PHP code and create web page content from it.

Rails or RoR = Ruby on Rails
An open source web application framework for the Ruby programming language. It is intended to be used with an Agile development methodology which is used by web developers for rapid development.

XML = Extensible Markup Language
As of 2009, hundreds of XML-based languages have been developed,[3] including RSS, Atom, SOAP, and XHTML. XML has become the default file format for most office-productivity tools, including Microsoft Office, OpenOffice.org, and Apple's iWork.

There are many more! Google and Wikipedia are great resources for learning what the web terms mean. If you have any questions or want to discuss what might work on your website, please feel free to email me anytime!

Ways to manage all those passwords?

Looking for a non-electronic way to manage your passwords?
Try an address book and a pencil :) It works great!
Enter the website name alphabetically then include your username, address and date you set up the account. We suggest using a pencil to make your annual password updates easier. Keep the book at your desk and maybe you shouldn't put a label on it saying PASSWORDS ;)

There are many different electronic ways to do this too:
http://keepass.info
http://www.roboform.com
http://www.cp-lab.com
http://www.clipperz.com
http://www.passpack.com/en/home

As always, keep your passwords a good mix of letters and numbers.
Change them often! And DO NOT use your child's names, birthdays or pin numbers. Use different passwords for each online account you access. Keep those passwords difficult for others to guess! For a great resource for safe online activity, visit http://www.staysafeonline.info

Holiday Print pieces? Holiday enewsletters?

The holidays are sneaking up on us... and we want you to be prepared! Avoid the last minute rush of holiday cards or enewsletters by designing them now!

Need Custom Holiday Cards? DavidB can do almost anything from a standard corporate greeting to something a little offbeat.

Want to update your holiday enewsletter?
Give your Constant Contact or Virtual Response a fresh look now by using a custom layout. JameyB can set this up for you.

Interested in something completely different? Maybe an online Flash game or message that your mailing list can interact with? Let us dream up something for you! Just wait until you see what we are doing for Your Plan B Company :)

Now is the time to get the designs in motion. And to begin cleaning up your mailing lists whether they be online or snail mail.

Give DavidB a call to discuss your upcoming print piece.
Or JameyB a call to talk enewsletters!
Call 773-665-2552

Happy Woman Road Warrior Day!

The purpose of this day is to recognize and honor the nation's traveling businesswomen.

Woman Road Warriors are accountants and artists, techies and team builders, entrepreneurs and educators. They cover millions of miles each year to maintain that all-important in-person presence in the often impersonal and increasingly global business world.

Simultaneously, many are also moms, coaches, wives and homework advisors, keeping busy households nurtured and on schedule, even from the other side of the world.

To excel as a woman road warrior today is to be an expert on many levels: an expert at your business, an expert at traveling, a wizard of scheduling and enough of a technical expert to stay in communication with text messaging, laptopping, PDAing and cell phoning colleagues and family.

Doing business on the road means measuring the trade-offs of time, money, flexibility and comfort on an everyday, sometimes every hour basis. A successful Woman Road Warrior knows when to make a command decision and when to delay for further thought or options.

Woman Road Warriors are masters of time--changing schedules, meeting deadlines, accommodating a working dinner, getting up early for a breakfast meeting--all the while keeping track of time zones and time frames when family and other home-base requirements need attention.

This is a day to salute their persistence, flexibility, stamina and style.

Head over to WomanRoadWarrior.com to enter your travel miles, browse the "Heard it in the Exit Row" blog, and join the new online community!

YPBCo MEMBER PROFILE: David Birdwell, Vice President and Art Director

If you didn't know already, DavidB loves cameras (and photography and photoshop)!

From his Nikon N2000 to his Olympus SP570UZ. From his mini poloroid to his 4 lens 3d camera. To his Fugi F30 and his cell phone camera, he is never without one! His theory is "you never know what you will see", so he always has at least one camera on him. And clients are asking him to handle the photography for them. Everything from MicciMicci bags to Alumni marketing to special events with clients, DavidB can be seen with his camera in hand... and his photos wind up on the web.

"Creativity is a mental and social process involving the generation of new ideas or concepts, or new associations of the creative mind between existing ideas or concepts. (thanks wikipedia)" And DavidB does just that and more! From winning a create-a-character with Warner Bros to having his pin designed for a special interest group to being chosen as the official alumni photographer for Beloit College's annual homecoming events, he is our go-to-guy for mock ups, designs and layouts....and photos!

Your Plan B Company is proud of our team, our artists. Each one of our team members exercises their creativity not only in the office but outside of it as well. We believe it is essential to problem solving, design and development. You can see more of DavidB's creativity through the YPBCo client portfolio, as well as his ongoing uploading of thousands of photos at his Flickr site!