When we argue over whether or not a programming language should have
types, we are not discussing a matter of fact. Instead, we are
participating in what [linguistic philosopher John L.] Austin would
call confessional language; what we are really doing is saying
something about ourselves.
...
Basecamp
Basecamp
02/13/2004 01:24 PM
Basecamp: Web-based Project
Management...: I got a private invite to this, and I signed up for
the free, single-project package. It seems solid. The interface is
very clean and intuitive.
Basecamp is a simple, hosted web-based service that lets
you manage projects and quickly create client/project extranets. It
lets you and your clients (or just you and your own internal team)
keep your conversations, ideas, schedules, to-do lists, and more in
one password-protected central location.
I would rap it for being being too simple, but what I've learned
about collaboration apps is that their success is 10% based on
functionality and 90% based on the enthusiasm and flexibility of the
participants.
Even a simple wiki or weblog can be a phenomenal project management
tool if the team members are enthused about the project. However,
even the single greatest project management in the world won't work if no one cares.
Face it: Microsoft Exchange has enough project management tools in
the default install for 99% of your projects. It's just very easy to
blame project failures on the lack of tools.
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Basecamp and Ruby
Basecamp and Ruby
06/25/2004 09:55 PM
Rails: So what was
the biggest shock of the Basecamp seminar? Finding out that it was written in Ruby. Yeah, that's right
— that Japanese language that you thought no one was using.
They've apparently put together a Web development framework for it
which they're releasing to open-source.
Rails is a soon-to-be-released web application framework
for Ruby. It's built upon well-understood patterns for web
development, which should make the seasoned web developer feel right
at home and the newcomer welcome.
The programmer guy had nothing but good things to say about it. He
claimed he was more productive with it in one week than he was with
PHP after five years.
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"Basecamp review"
"Basecamp review"
08/22/2004 07:54 AM
The Building of Basecamp
The Building of Basecamp
06/16/2004 01:08 PM
The Building of
Basecamp: A 1-day workshop on the building of a real-world web-based
application: Joe and I are heading to Chicago to attend this
workshop next week. We'll report on it after the fact and tell you
how it went.
Immerse yourself in the hectic process of concepting, designing,
developing, marketing, supporting, and maintaining a web-app used by
thousands of people worldwide. [...]
We'll take you behind the scenes of the development of Basecamp,
our popular web-based project management tool.
We've talked about Basecamp a bit here and
here
.
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"Basecamp Established"
"Basecamp Established"
04/03/2005 10:12 PM
a first peek at basecamp
a first peek at basecamp
01/08/2004 08:11 PM
it's already the best project management UI i've ever seen, not so
egregiously overbuilt as other apps
Fear, Distrust, and Basecamp
Fear, Distrust, and Basecamp
02/05/2005 09:16 PM
Open and
honest communication: Interesting comments from the creators of Basecamp on their users' tendency to try to hide things
from others.
One of the things that has surprised me most when talking with
customers who use Basecamp is how many people work in a culture of
fear, deception, and distrust.
[...] One of the top requests as of late is for a company to be
able to hide contractors from their clients. They don't want their
clients to know that third party contractors are working on their
projects. Anyway you look at that, someone isn't getting the whole
truth. It puzzles me.
I trust no one, and I thrive on conflict.
"The Building of Basecamp" Review
"The Building of Basecamp" Review
06/29/2004 03:48 PM
I've been putting off posting about The Building of
Basecamp because I was trying to get my hands on a picture.
Neither Joe nor I thought to bring a camera, and the workshop was the
first thing we did in Chicago, before Joe bought a disposable to shoot
thi
s great panaroma from the top of the Sears Tower.
Anyway, I can't find a decent picture, so here goes —
The biggest thing I pulled out of the workshop is that you don't
have to follow all "the rules" to make something great. When you
think about companies delivering services over the Web, you think
about...org charts, support staff, call centers, requirements
documents, functional specifications, etc.
37 Signals will blow this
perception apart pretty quickly. There are just three guys: Jason,
Matt, and Ryan. That's it. They don't even have a full-time
programmer. David works for them part-time. From Denmark.
They don't have bug tracking, or trouble ticketing. They have two
folders in AppleMail: "fixed," "not fixed." Jason spends a couple
hours a day answering support emails.
Most of all, these guys are laid back. Not to the point of
irresponsibility, but to the point where it's obvious they can
maintain a creative groove amidst the ridiculous grind of supporting
software. They talk about Basecamp as if they know they've already
done something wonderful (and they have — if you don't believe
me, believe these
people), and everything from here on out is just gravy.
They built Basecamp the way they wanted to. All of you guys stuck
in the corporate software trenches, can you imagine that —
building software the way you think it should be built, without stupid
restrictions? Can you imagine turning out something that was less a
product of the corporate machine, and more a...craft, that you put
together with pride like the prototypical old artisan in some rural
town?
As you can tell, it's been a while for me.
The bottom line is that they built what they wanted to in the way
they wanted to. They didn't get hung up on logistial or technical
hurdles — they just kept working towards a goal as if it was
completely reasonable and normal for three guys in a shared office
with no programmer to build something like this. Thank goodness no
one told them they were being ridiculous.
Which brings us to the workshop. It was packed with good
information. So much so, that I wish it had been a bit longer. A
day-and-a half would have been good, but I think we were displacing
some workers from the company they office-share with, so we ran from
10 a.m. to about 6 p.m. and glossed over some stuff towards the
end.
They divided the day up into sessions: Marketing, Programming, User
Interface Design, etc. They spoke for a while, then presented some
FAQs on that subject, then opened it up for questions. The four of
them (three guys from 37 Signals, plus the programmer who flew in from
Denmark) handled it as a panel discussion.
They got high marks on the presentation (done in Keynote, no less). They were
very
Larry Lessig-ish, in that each slide was just a sentence or two
and they spoke from there. No reading of bullet points, thank
goodness.
Questions were plentiful. The audience was thick with geeks (only
one woman, interestingly), and they didn't hold back. Most of the
questions were very intelligent, as were the answers, though sometimes
the questioner was asking something expecting a very pat answer, when
the truth was a little more nebulous.
Here's a sampling of some of the topics they covered. I'm just
scratching the surface here, as there's too much to cover and I don't
want to steal their thunder for the next time they offer this:
- Start everything with the screen design. The screen IS the
application. The screen drives the functionality, not the other way
around. The screen design is the requirements document. (I
know, I know — the hair on the back of your neck just stood on
end...)
- Get something built quickly. Iterate, iterate, iterate. Release
early and often. Plan a major feature upgrade within 30 days of
release.
- When designing a screen, find the epicenter — the main
section of the screen where the user's eye will be drawn first.
Design that and work outwards.
- Be honest with pricing. Clearly display the price, and avoid any
hidden fees.
- Avoid preferences. Preferences can be cop-outs to tough problems.
Whenever you have the user set a preference, you're having them make
a decision (Joel Spolsky's book is big on this too). It's more
challenging to come up with a solution, and mandate it. As a result,
Basecamp requires something like four fields to be completed and it's
ready to go.
You get the idea — there was enough of this that Joe filled
up a dozen pages in a legal pad.
One of the more valulable bits was at the end when the showed us
their mistakes. They had a half-dozen dead ends and time wasters that
they fessed up to, including what they called a "billing fiasco" into
which they sunk a dozen hours of work without checking with their
merchant processor as to the validity of what they were planning to
do. It turned out the processor wouldn't let them do it, and they
lost a dozen hours of the programming as a result.
Any complaints? A few:
- The chairs sucked. I'm 6'4", 280 lbs. and that chair was so
small it damn-near gave me a wedgie. And no tables — just rows
of geeks trying to balance laptops on their...well, laps. Early on, I
found a table in the back with a more comfortable seat.
- It was hot in the room. Forty people in one room will do that,
and I kept wanting to crack a window.
- While they presented frequently asked questions that they had
hyped in the promotional materials, they didn't always answer them
soundly. But, in retrospect, I don't know what I expected. For
instance, when it came t which platform to program in, I guess I was
expecting a sound answer — do it in this platform.
Looking back, this was just an unrealisitic expectation. What they
did was tell us what they did and why, which is really all you
can ask for.
- Again, the workshop was a bit too short. If it had been another
half day, the attendees would have come back on the second day with so
many questions that occured to them overnight. I thought up a dozen
on the plane ride home.
- It was hard to hear from the back. They did it sans sound
equipment, which is fine, but the Metro train went by the window just
to my right about once every 10 minutes. I should have said
something.
But I'm nit-picking now. None of this detracted from what was
otherwise a great presentation.
Finally, this discussion wouldn't be complete without talking about
the office: very cool for a hick from South Dakota. All
painted brick, open spaces, and hardwood floors. The prototypical
"loft" office space. The trendiness of it all was a little
over-whelming.
(Joe made a very astute comment when one of them started talking
about business mistakes of the past. He said, "I find it ironic that
he's talking about the evils of the dot-com era while he's standing in
front of a foosball table...")
37 Signals and their office mates are big, big Mac users. I didn't
see a single PC, and theatre displays were the norm. They had
gorgeous equipment lying around everywhere. It goes without saying
that they had an open wi-fi node running.
There was one bathroom, which meant there was a line, but it was
worth it when you got inside. The walls were lined with chalkboards.
The topic of the discussion was "Rejected
Names for Basecamp." Additionally, several people had written
backwards on the board behind the mirror so you could read it normally
in the reflection. Clever, no?
Lunch, incidentally, was fantastic. I had a turkey and avocado
sandwich on a hard roll that about made me cry. (And you wonder why I
was too big for the chairs...)
All in all, an excellent seminar on two levels: (1) the actual
information presented, and (2) the vibe you got from 37 Signals in
general. I came away with a very, "if they can do it, so can we"
attitude which will perhaps be the biggest benefit of all in the next
few months.
Something is coming from Sling & Rock. Stay
tuned.
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Basecamp: project-management web-app
from 37Signals
Basecamp: project-management web-app
from 37Signals
04/28/2004 10:20 AM
37Signals, a fantastic web-dev company, has produced a new
project-management app called Basecamp that looks like a winner. Not
only is it extremely pretty and easy-to-follow -- I'd expect no less
from the usability wonks at 37Signals -- but it's also open:
information flows out of the app as RSS and can be bulk-exported in
XML, so none of your precious project-management material becomes a
lever to lock you into paying the (surprisingly reasonable) monthly
rates.
Also nice: the option for iChatAV-based support, and 30 day free
trials.
Finally, there's a fit and finish here that makes it feel like
something much more stable than a just-launched product, for example,
Basecamp can be skinned to look like your internal website
and you can reference it with custom URLs that don't contain
any hint that your project is being hosted anywhere but your own site:
as the marketing bumpf points out, this is the kind of thing that can
give you appearance of really intimidating savviness to your clients.
Link
(Thanks, Jason!)
Basecamp project management service
launched
Basecamp project management service
launched
02/10/2004 03:00 AM
The design and usability gurus at 37 Signals have announced the
availability of Basecamp, a hosted, Web-based service that helps you
manage projects and quickly create client/project extranets...
Hero Builders.com
Hero Builders.com
12/17/2003 07:15 AM
Amusing and somewhat disturbing all at the same time .. Okay, I find
this really hilarous .. Action heroes for modern times .. truly
tasteless dot com .. bearded Saddam dolls .. these action figures ..
als Puppen erwerben .. make an honest buck ..
restherobuilders.com
track this
site | 5 links
Builders in a Strange Land
Builders in a Strange Land
06/18/2004 04:58 AM
The first settlers on Mars probably won't be dragging building
materials to their new home, so people are planning to make buildings
from what's already on the surface. By Mark Baard.
Self-Esteem Builders for $500, Alex
Self-Esteem Builders for $500, Alex
06/05/2005 11:38 PM
From the just when I started feeling good about myself department: So
my plane home to San Francisco is delayed for two hours and I manage
to get on an earlier flight as a standby passenger. It's only after
I've...
Chip builders go unleaded
Chip builders go unleaded
04/21/2004 10:15 AM
Personal Computer World Apr 21 2004 2:08PM GMT
How to create a user style sheet, or:
How to remove the Basecamp ad in Ta-da
lists
How to create a user style sheet, or:
How to remove the Basecamp ad in Ta-da
lists
03/14/2005 06:08 PM
User style sheets are powerful tools for changing the way that
browsers display web pages. Here's a short tutorial on how to create
them along with a very simple example.
Information Builders to help measure the
enterprise
Information Builders to help measure the
enterprise
05/25/2004 04:31 PM
Information Builders today unveiled its WebFocus Performance
Management Framework, a set of tools that it said will enable
score-carding through the enterprise.
Information Builders Shows the iWay
Information Builders Shows the iWay
06/01/2004 02:04 PM
Information Builders Inc. held its Summit User Conference here last
week, making several announcements, including a disclosure that its
iWay Software subsidiary is forging a deal with Sun Microsystems Inc.
Information Builders joins BPM fray
Information Builders joins BPM fray
05/27/2004 08:00 AM
Computer Weekly May 27 2004 12:28PM GMT
Lighting Systems: Illuminating New
Options for Builders
Lighting Systems: Illuminating New
Options for Builders
09/15/2004 10:57 PM
Constructech Magazine Sep 16 2004 3:24AM GMT
Information Builders CEO Talks on Making
Connections
Information Builders CEO Talks on Making
Connections
05/31/2004 08:35 AM
Gerald Cohen, CEO of business intelligence software maker Information
Builders, sizes up the state of the industry.
Book that explains Palm OS Handheld uses
for Builders
Book that explains Palm OS Handheld uses
for Builders
05/12/2004 07:03 AM
Mammoth found by Los Angeles builders
(Reuters)
Mammoth found by Los Angeles builders
(Reuters)
04/08/2005 03:27 PM
Reuters - Construction crews in a town near Los Angeles have uncovered
the
fossilized skeleton of a mammoth, with tusks, believed to between
400,000 and 1.4 million years
old, a paleontologist says.
Mammoth, Tusks Found by Builders
(Reuters)
Mammoth, Tusks Found by Builders
(Reuters)
04/11/2005 07:53 AM
Reuters - Construction crews in a town near
Los Angeles have uncovered the fossilized skeleton of a
mammoth, with tusks, believed to between 400,000 and 1.4
million years old, a paleontologist said on Friday.
Project Management: Bringing Builders
Back to Basics
Project Management: Bringing Builders
Back to Basics
09/15/2004 10:58 PM
Constructech Magazine Sep 16 2004 3:23AM GMT
Microsoft To Roll Out Windows Media
Center OS To System Builders
Microsoft To Roll Out Windows Media
Center OS To System Builders
07/14/2004 01:30 AM
CRN Canada Jul 14 2004 6:15AM GMT
Microsoft Expands Media Center Business
to System Builders
Microsoft Expands Media Center Business
to System Builders
07/13/2004 01:39 PM
“In August, Microsoft will dramatically expand the reach of its
Windows XP Media Center Edition software by providing it to custom PC
system builders for use in so-called white box PCs.”Excellent!
That means I should be able to get it from a reseller for my own
homebuilt system.
Information Builders CEO Talks on Making
Connections (Ziff Davis)
Information Builders CEO Talks on Making
Connections (Ziff Davis)
05/31/2004 09:51 AM
Ziff Davis - Gerald Cohen, CEO of business intelligence software maker
Information Builders, sizes up the state of the industry.
Grok Description matches for The Builders of Basecamp
GrokA matches for The Builders of Basecamp
The Builders of Basecamp
