Nth Penguin Blog

Advanced Query API (in javascript!)

We're seeing a lot of downloads of our current WW.DataServices version. Those people are enjoying a tool that automatically builds their back ends for them, including a SOAP Web Service layer. That's just the beginning though. This upcoming release (soon, I promise), has much more. In this post I just want to briefly describe the Query API, which is a series of new web methods in the...

Running a Zero-Infrastructure Company, Part 2e: Social Networking at the Shop

Dice.com, ZyQuest, Local Universities, LinkedIn and Social Networks What would a consulting business be without staff, and quick ramp up times to boot? When we were suddenly faced with needing to expand our capacity from 3 people to 7, we tried Dice.com (which got us nowhere) and our good friends at ZyQuest. We needed people that were very hard to find. ZyQuest delivered. John Moss (you can't...

Running a Zero-Infrastructure Company, Part 2d: Webstuff of our Shop

Browsers: Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari and Chrome We're a web-application development firm, so we have to stay up on the latest browser challenges. That being said, we could fill many, many, MANY more blog posts about reasons for and against different browsers. Or you could just Google for this info. If you're not in the web-app business, just pick one and stick with it. Pick the one that...

Running a Zero-Infrastructure Company, Part 2c: Not-so-Hardware of our Shop

EFax & Vocalocity We did manage to avoid a fax machine, sort of. Instead, we setup a multi-purpose scanner/fax/printer and EFax. The scanner software from HP allows us to scan direct to a PC hard drive over the network. We can then 'fax' that to anywhere, and receive faxes to our inbox to avoid printing them out. We only use it for signatures. Vocalocity is still a new endeavor for us – when they...

Running a Zero-Infrastructure Company, Part 2b: Collaboration for our Shop

Collaborating without Microsoft Office: GoToMeeting, OpenOffice, Google Apps and MS Office 2007 (okay, you're not really getting away) Sharing information and communicating down the long-hallway posed a significant challenge. It could have been very expensive – except that as a startup we drink the Fruity Frugalistic Kool-Aid™ every day. GoToMeeting – our choice for sharing screens and...<