SupportDetails.com

I was directed to this site from a newsletter I get from SitePoint.com (@sitepointdotcom).  It really is a simple and fantastic resource for getting the browser details from your customers/clients.  Whenever they report a problem with viewing a website or an online application, this website makes it ridiculously simple to gather critical customer data about their O/S and browser.

The screenshot on the left shows the type of information you will be able to gather.  Click the image to view full size.

I know that this will be a very helpful resource to us, and should be to all designers/developers out there who need a quick way to gather this information.  It sure beats guiding an individual over the phone or email on how to check for all of this!

Check them out at SupportDetails.com

I was forwarded an excellent article from a Twitter friend the other day, called The Next Wave of SaaS.  The article does a great job of explaining how SaaS functions, its benefits and why it is becoming so important to business large and small.

Excerpt:

By Jim Frome – CIO.com

Mon, May 25, 2009 — Network World — Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) has gone from a curiosity to the mainstream in just a few years as businesses turn to the technology to take advantage of the inherent economies of scale. Yet that’s only the beginning.

hab.la works with your IM client

A couple of weeks ago we went to the TechNow 09 event in Royal Oak, Michigan.  It was a conference, presenting and promoting information and technology based business / entrepreneurs in Michigan.  One of the presenters was hab.la, a company that has created a great method of providing click to chat technology on your website.

Now, there are a lot of click to chat services out there…so what makes hab.la different?  Well, for one, the service is free.  For another, and this is most important to me, their service connects directly to your IM client, whatever it may be.  I use iChat on my mac, and the hab.la service connects directly to iChat.  This way I don’t have to download and install yet another desktop client on my mac, nor do I have to have a web browser open at all times in order to have the click to chat functionality available on our website.

A really great feature of hab.la is also the fact that my iChat shows when someone enters my site, and if they click to chat with me, I can see as they move from page to page within the site, allowing me to know what they are looking at as I chat with them.

If you are looking for a click to chat system for your site, definitely check them out at http://hab.la.  You can also follow them on Twitter at twitter.com/hablagroup.

We have started using Ring Central as our phone provider.  Rather than have a dedicated, physical phone, we decided to get virtual phone numbers, which we can then manage and have forwarded to which ever number we choose, whether land line or cell.

Ring Central

After looking at numerous services that provide this functionality, we ended up settling on Ring Central.  One of the main reasons is the ability to have extensions for your number.  And, you can have multiple virtual numbers that can all be managed in the same way.

One cool offer that Ring Central had, was the ability to get a vanity toll-free number.  Yes…vanity…we are vain   However, the ability to get 877-U-MUTINY was just too much to resist.

Code Spaces

We have just started using codespaces.com, and so far, I am highly impressed.  Beyond the Subversion hosting, they offer the ability to create multiple projects, and each project has its own complete area.  Features include forums, wiki, document storage and task management, in addition to the subversion functionality and hosting.

The only thing I would like to see added here, is a time tracking system, even though I know it isn’t technically a part of the system…but they have offered so many other features, that that would be the icing on the cake!

Photograph of the cards

Well, we received our first set of business cards from the printer this week, and I cannot tell you how happy I am with them!

First, about the design….I love it….but then, I designed it   But in all seriousness, we wanted to have a business card that stood out from the crowd, one that had a little extra umph….it’s always good to get noticed!  After reading many blogs about business cards, and what ideas other people had, I came up with the thought of making one that looked like a playing card.  So, we have a business card that bears a resemblance to a playing card, but still carries on our theme.

Finding an online printer that would print in full color, and with rounded corners on the card was a bit more tricky.  There are quite a few that do it, but the cost was pretty high.  Finally, I came across Business Card Planet.  They offered the full color and the rounded corners, and their price was definitely acceptable.  We gave them a try, and boy am I glad we did!

When the cards arrived, I was so excited!  I opened the boxes and took out a card, and was immediately impressed.  The card has a hefty feel to it, and is full gloss on both sides.  I have to say, this is one of the nicest feeling cards I have yet to see.  Kudos to Business Card Planet!!

Below you can see the design.

Business Card Front

Business Card Back

As a web-based software development company, we come across a lot of other web-based services. We use some of them. We would only recommend a company/service, that we ourselves use and appreciate for it’s value.

One recent service that I would HIGHLY recommend, is Clarity Accounting. We started using Clarity after starting up MutinyWare, and have been using it to handle all of our accounting needs.

Clarity has done a phenomenal job at providing an online accounting system that is functional, efficient, user-friendly, and beautiful! Not too often do you come across a system that has all of those features, but this one does. I honestly cannot say enough about it, other than to recommend it.

I looked at a lot of other accounting systems, and found most to be either much too complicated for a small business, or not nearly complicated enough. Clarity has found the perfect balance. In another life, I used to be a bookkeeper for a company I worked at. Since then, other than to track invoices, and keep receipts, my bookkeeping skills have been severely neglected and restricted. When I started using Clarity, I thought at first that it would take a ton of re-learning, however the system has proved to be so intuitive that my lessons and skills came back quickly, and with little pain.

For any small business or freelancer out there, you can’t get better than Clarity Accounting. Their prices are extremely reasonable ($10/mo or $100/yr). Also, I can’t help but mention the fact that their site is very well done, and I love reading the Clarity blog!

Huge congrats to Clarity for doing it right!

Visit Clarity Accounting here: http://www.clarityaccounting.com/