New technology is always fun!

Forrest June 23rd, 2009 2 Comments

The new interface is up, and we’ve all had a chance to catch our breath from an exciting update. I thought it would be a good chance for me to talk about some of the neat technology that has been added to the Smibs Network and Doorbell.

This is what utilities look like with the new windowing system.

This is what utilities look like with the new windowing system.

One of the more obvious changes are utilities. We’ve launched our first two: a message center utility, and a centralized task list. Both of these aggregate information across all your accounts, and let you work with that information from anywhere in Smibs via the navigation bar. This magic is performed by the windowing script I wrote about a few months back. You can drag, resize and adjust columns. We even carried over some tricks like holding down shift to select multiple messages. After working with desktop browsers, our interface should be really intuitive for users.

The next trick is less obvious, but even more useful. While Ajax is great for loading data from the server without reloading your webpage, the back button stops being useful. Doorbell used to jump back to the Dashboard when you pressed the back button. I am now proud to announce that we no longer suffer from this annoyance. Thanks to a handy tool called HistoryKeeper, we can now use JavaScript to add items to the browser history in the form of anchor tags. This may result in a messy url, but now Doorbell keeps track of your history for more that 4 items. Once you have browsed through several contacts, groups, or opportunities you can use the back button to search through a true history of your browser.

We’ve had a lot of fun building Smibs and Doorbell, and hope that you’ll have as much fun using them. Login, check it out, and let us know what you think. We love feedback.


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Resisting monoculture, supporting polyculture

Paul June 18th, 2009 1 Comment

On Sunday, June 14th I attended an event commissioned by the Arts Council on behalf of the city of Edmonton where local musicians were invited to compose songs about sustainability. That’s Edmonton for You! was held at Louise McKinney Park just south of the Shaw Conference Centre. Sustainability… kind of an interesting topic for local musicians to explore, but in today’s uncertain economic climate, definitely worth exploring.

It was nice to see the city acknowledging and supporting the arts by sponsoring the event. The reaction was great, the outdoor venue inspired thoughts of community building and sustainable growth. Music producer and master of ceremonies, Trevor Anderson insisted that we should “resist monoculture and encourage polyculture”. He encouraged the more than 1,000 people in attendance to become active members of society and broaden their attitude towards arts by experiencing multiple events of different styles and involving themselves in community arts and culture. logo-bg

By embracing the idea of “polyculture” you  will inevitably meet new people, discover cool events, be inspired by new ideas and  gain access to exciting opportunities. By being an active participant in society, you not only benefit others but undoubtedly will find your life enriched as well.


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Keywords: finding a balance

Stephanie June 15th, 2009 No Comments Yet

I recently came across an incredible set of articles about keyword maximization on Copyblogger.com. There is no way I can top Brian Clark’s summarization of why keywords are important, how you can discover what keywords can impact your blog, and what effects they have on your traffic, so I will refer you to his handiwork:

Click here for the Copyblogger.com tutorial on keyword research.

I think every blogger can learn a lot from Brian’s suggestions.

But one point that he doesn’t cover in his articles is the fine balance between too many and too few keywords. I’m also interested in keyword usage on webpages, where I think the frequency of keywords can just as easily break as make your browsing popularity.

You can request a free keyword ranking report from seo.com (search engine optimization.com)

You can request a free keyword ranking report from seo.com to see where you stand against search engine heavyweights.

For example – while the average web surfer will likely come across your homepage more easily with the help of keywords, if an excessive amount of marketing jargon awaits them they might be less inclined to stay and click around.

I doubt there are hard and fast rules for how much keywording you can get away with without your homepage sounding identical to the top ranked search result for your niche market.

Do you have a keyword strategy? Is there a magic formula for focusing on keywords while still maintaining your own unique marketing brand?

As someone who spends a lot of time trying to maximize the quality, clarity and relevance of my marketing copy, I’d like (read: I need) your input.


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artsScene Edmonton - part three

Paul June 12th, 2009 No Comments Yet

Further SmibsTV coverage highlights young entrepreneurs and community leaders who were in attendance at the artsScene event launch. Episode includes interviews with Alana Williams (artsScene organization committee), Kristi Sainchuk (owner of Ginger Apparel), Cam Linke (organizer of BarCamp/DemoCamp), Denise Lefebvre (visual artist), Amedeo Pagliuso (owner 29 Armstrong), and Kris Harvey (The Collective).

Check out Amadeo, 29 Armstrong and other businesses this Saturday June 13th as they host the “Al Fresco Block Party,” which begins at 4:00 pm and is located at 104th street and 102nd avenue. Expect to find a variety of food, beverages, and entertainment as the businesses on 104th street showcase themselves in a block party style event that will be a night to remember.

Also look for Cam Linke as he hosts BarCamp this Saturday June 13th from 10:00am to 5:00pm on the 6th floor of the Edmonton World Trade Centre. If you’re interested in the tech community this is definitely an event you dont want to miss. In the spirit of the Smibs Network, it’s also a great forum to meet creative professionals, share ideas, experiences and potentially collaborate on current and upcoming ventures.


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artsScene Edmonton - part two

Christy June 10th, 2009 No Comments Yet

Paul Steier of Smibs talks to Poet Laureate and performing artist Cadence Weapon (Roland Pemberton) at the artsScene launch event. They discuss corporate involvement in the arts, how the arts scene in Western Canada is perceived and how he found success as an internationally recognized recording artist.


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