Posted by mbos on Apr 22, 2009 in
Design & Development,
News,
Products 
Coming Soon!!
Sometimes it can be a real challenge working for yourself, and starting up a new company. One of our biggest dilemmas comes in the form of having too many ideas. We are always thinking, and finding ideas for new products, add-ons, functionality, etc. It comes down to prioritization. We have to prioritize our ideas into what is most feasible, most desirable, and what we have the time to do. Sometimes, we can jump off track a little bit when a client comes to us for a specific product. In that case, we change course as there is an engaged customer.
We did however have an idea come to us recently that we simply couldn’t sit on. Since we have recently become very involved in the Twittersphere, we quite quickly were hit with a couple of thoughts on things that could be done to improve our Twittering experience. As it is a relatively small application, we decided to jump on it, and the timing is just right.
Keep an eye out soon for the launch of this new application 
Tags: app, development, twitter
Posted by mbos on Apr 15, 2009 in
Design & Development,
General As I have been delving more into the world of Twitter, both for MutinyWare and personally, I have found a variety of very cool backgrounds, and was quickly faced with the necessity of creating my own custom backgrounds.
Trying to determine the best screen size, image size, and where to locate important information, quickly became important in creating my designs. Below I will detail what I have come up with, and also offer a Photoshop template to get you started to creating your own custom Twitter background.
Screen Resolution
Screen or Display Resolution is the size of screen that your visitors will be viewing your website/Twitter in. More accurately, is the actual pixel dimensions of their computer display.
From: http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_display.asp
The current trend is that most computers are using a screen size of 1024×768 pixels or more:
Date Higher 1024×768 800×600 640×480 Unknown
January 2009 57% 36% 4% 0% 3%
I typically design for the 1024×768 or 1280×1024 dimensions. Keep in mind that many people may have a widescreen display…such as I do. In this case, you need to make sure that your image isn’t square, but adjust the dimensions. Ex. 1280×800.
Twitter Specs
Note: The sizes below are approximate, but very very close to being accurate.
- The width of the Twitter space, including the side bar is 763 pixels.
- The space above the Twitter feed, where the Twitter logo and menu reside, is 71 pixels.
Photoshop design template preview
The Design
Below are some bullet points to keep in mind when creating the design.
- If you want to only use the left side for your primary image:
- keep in mind the resolutions
- you can make a smaller image, fading out the background to a solid background color to match your Twitter settings
- Remember that your design may be partially covered up if visitors have a lower resolution or resize their browser window
- The design is always anchored to the top left corner of the browser window
Here is a great site to get some inspiration, and see how others have done their backgrounds: http://twitterbackgroundsgallery.com/
When browsing the above samples, make sure to actually visit the Twitter site for those designs, and resize your browser window to see how the look is affected.
Here is a Photoshop template to help you get started! Happy designing!
Tags: design, template, twitter
Posted by mbos on Apr 8, 2009 in
General Last night we attended our first networking event, or rather, a Tweet-up. It was a last minute get together at the Royal Oak Brewery, and seemed to be a good way for us to gain experience in social networking….in person. I am very glad that we went!
Royal Oak Brewery
Not only did we meet a lot of very interesting people, I discovered for myself that doing this isn’t quite as difficult as I had imagined. As I am a pretty anti-social individual with a tendancy to become a hermit, this was a pretty big step outside of my box. I know this is something I have to learn to do, and I am sincerely happy that I did this. Not only was it not as terrifying as I had imagined, it was actually enjoyable.
A great thanks to all of those who took the the time to speak with us, to share thoughts, ideas and advice, and for listening to us as well. Sincere appreciation goes out to all who complimented us on our business card and company name/theme. Validation is always welcome! 
A couple of special thanks from myself personally: (hook up with them on Twitter)
@chrisbrogan (chrisbrogan.com) – a sincerely intelligent and down to earth individual, very kind and approachable, thanks for your kind words, encouragement and advice. A piratey “Arrggghhh” to you!
@gmblogs – I spoke quite a bit with 2 individuals from GM about General Motors and about social media in general. Christopher was great to speak with, and portrayed a real interest in how the general public feels about the auto industry and GM. Wendy was so personable and had some great advice to the novice social networker.
@coreyperlman – presented me with a copy of his book, “eBoot Camp”, which I look forward to reading and will post my thoughts here after I have done so.
@bethanylouise (rewarevintage.com) – for our cold but enlightening conversation outside, and for providing me with a venue for indulging in my OP obsession
To everyone else who attended, thanks so much for the conversation, advice, and welcome!
Tags: networking, social, twitter
