We at WSG are proud to congratulate three of our valued clients who were honored by Metroland Newsweekly as Best of the Capital Region for 2010.
Grappa 72 was honored as the “Best New Restaurant.” (WSG was equally honored to create Grappa72.com.)
“Armand and Tia Lule have subtly transformed the old Carmine’s Restaurant in both ambiance and menu, combining the best qualities of traditional Italian and modern elegance. Fresh ingredients like house-cured salmon and crisp greens sparkle, and the wine list begs you to forego the usual California cab for an adventure in zestful Italians.” (Source)
Mark Thomas Men’s Apparel was honored as “Best Men’s Clothing” store. (WSG was equally honored to create MarkThomasMensApparel.com.)
“Mark Goldfarb and Tom Fagan know how to do men’s clothes right. From the minute you walk through the door you feel like your in a an old-world environment that harks back to days of the classic haberdasheries. They carry quality lines such as Pal Zileri, Corneliani and Jack Victor, as well as an amazing collection of sportier clothing, shoes and accessories. Whether you’re just starting your career, running a top law firm or coaching basketball, Mark Thomas will have you looking like a millionaire.” (Source)
Fred Dicker of Talk 1300 AM was honored for hosting the “Best Political Radio Show.” (WSG was equally honored to create Talk1300.com.)
“New York Post state political editor Fred Dicker’s show is a perennial winner. He breaks news, gets interesting (and powerful) guests, and lets the listener know where’s he’s coming from. And his “music Friday” segment, where he plays everything from 1940s pro-Stalinist ditties to 1910s anti-immigrant tunes, is a hoot.” (Source)
We are proud to work with these three clients, and we wish them nothing but continued success.
Barracuda Networks today released their 2010 mid-year security report, and they’re looking askance at some big names. For one thing, the headline on Barracuda’s site reads:
Google Crowned “King of Malware” – Has Two Times More Malware than Bing, Yahoo! and Twitter Combined
So, search with care, friends. We encourage you browse the report and see what they mean.
The finding are worth a read, and you can get through the report quickly. The payoff is learning things like: of every 100 Twitter users, 90 have less than 100 followers. (I’m in that top ten percent, if you’re wondering, and so is the WSG Twitter account.)
UPDATE: A picture of the car is here. Can you say E-Love Bug?
This is a must read, if only to see what the headline really means. I found it as a press release on IBM.com.
IBM Provides Smartphone Data Services for Solar-Powered Robot Car Journey From Italy to China
Here’s the first sentence. I dare you not to click through and read it:
MILAN, Italy - 26 Jul 2010: The VisLab Intercontinental Autonomous Challenge (VIAC), an epic 13,000km journey from Parma, Italy to Shanghai, China using unmanned, solar energy powered vehicles, aims to showcase the benefits of green transport. (Full article here.)
I hope it looks like this, but I doubt it.
Creative Commons rights owned by http://www.flickr.com/photos/smoo/
The following is an internal instant message conversation between myself and out CIO Paul Kulp regarding the news that ModX, a content management system we’ve worked in and discarded, was releasing a new version with high hopes. We prefer Drupal, by a mile, if you’re asking. And if you’re asking, drop us a line to talk about it!
justin: http://www.cmswire.com/cms/web-cms/web-cms-modx-revolution-targets-drupal-joomla-markets-008104.php
paul: They’ve got a long ways to go to catch up to Drupal in my eyes
paul: and 3 yrs seems like a long time to get a new version out
paul: especially since it was in beta when i did my eval for IVCF
justin: like 2 years ago?
paul: yeah
paul: when i was doing the eval for us – i had to choose between the Evolution and Revolution platforms
paul: not a good sign
If you’re an eBay seller or buyer, this is good news for you. Today, Research in Motion (RIM), the makers of Blackberry smartphones, announced a new, integrated eBay application for its platform. The creatively-named eBay Application for Blackberry will all users to:
“…search, bid, buy and check their eBay buying and selling activity virtually anywhere. The application leverages the BlackBerry® Push Service to allow users to be wirelessly notified of the status of eBay listings in real-time.” (Source)
If you’re bidding on auctions all the time or selling lots of stuff on eBay, this probably means you will be happy. Unless, of course, you are already way too obsessed with watching the clock tick down to the end of an auction, in which case this means your addiction can now be mobile in nature. The value add with this application will be the integration with native features of the Blackberry, such as contacts and calendars, plus the ability to have this at your fingertips without toting around a laptop.
The bigger picture here is that RIM knows the Blackberry must, must, must make the transition from business use, which it dominates, to the fun side of life where the iPhone and Android phones are more prevalent. This is a stab in that direction. I tend to think of antique dealers when I think of eBay, as well as thinking of the cheesy look of the site. So combining eBay and Blackberry seems somewhat off, but I get it. What would be interesting shopping integration would be Amazon integration for Blackberry, complete with media downloads. Hm.
As we said earlier today, the W in WSG is for World Cup these days. So much so, that I felt compelled to purchase one of those awesome horns you hear in the background at all the matches. That’s right -- my very own vuvuzela!
For about $13, inclusive of shipping, I have in my hands a little piece of the World Cup. If I blow it in my house, my wife is sure to send me straight to the proverbial dog house, but it just might be worth it. I wonder how people would react if I tooted the horn in a pub, or other public place? Perhaps that will follow in an upcoming blog post.
What do you think? Is the vuvuzela annoying, or fun? Leave me a comment to let me know!
If you don’t know what this piece of red plastic is all about, Wikipedia says it best:
The vuvuzela (English pronunciation: /vuːvuːˈzeɪlə/, also known as lepatata (its Tswana name) and stadium horn, is a typical 65 cm (2 ft) plastic blowing horn that produces a loud, distinctive monotone (B♭3, the B♭ below middle C) note. A similar instrument, known as the corneta, is used in Brazil and other Latin American countries. Many types of vuvuzela, made by several manufacturers, may produce varying intensity and frequency outputs.[1][2] The intensity of these outputs depends on the blowing technique and pressure exerted.[1]
The vuvuzela is most used at football matches in South Africa.[3] It has become a symbol of South African football as the stadiums are filled with its loud and raucous sound that reflects the exhilaration of supporters.[2][4] The intensity of the sound caught the attention of the global football community during the 2009 Confederation Cup in anticipation of South Africa hosting the 2010 World Cup.[4]
Vuvuzela 101 from Goal.com:
We’re all keeping up with Team USA’s run in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, and it is fair to say that we’ve caught the fever. So if you hear some loud cheering or noise coming from the conference room at 4 Interstave, it might be in moments like Landon Donovan’s dramatic game-winner in the 91st minute today.
Google Voice numbers are no longer invitation only. The big G announced today that the service would be available on demand for Google ID holders. I’ve had a GV number for a while, and we were just able to beg/borrow/steal an invite for a client to use on their new site.
What’s Google Voice, you ask?
Before you click through to this story on the business success of ICanHazCheezburger.com founder Ben Huh, try and guess the amount of money the guy makes and how many sites are a part of his Cheezburger Network. I can haz some moneys, Mr. Huh?
Commercial and industrial painting contractor Frank J. Ryan and Sons, in concert with WSG, today launched their first web-site – RyanCommercialPainting.com. A forth-generation family-owned business, FJR & Sons stands atop their field, and now they have a web presence to match.
We were genuinely impressed to learn about the accomplishments of FJR and Sons. From their impressive client list, to the projects they’ve completed, their imprint is all over the Capital Region – Albany, Troy, Saratoga and beyond. If you’ve lived in this area for any length of time, you can be sure you’ve seen their work: The College of St. Rose in Albany, NY, the EMPAC building in Troy, the Sagamore in Lake George, NY, the LL Bean store in Albany and the Rensselaer Rail Station. FJR and Sons is also certified by the EPA as a lead-safe firm. Co-owners and brothers Bob and Steve Ryan were a joy to work with, and we look forward to continued work on their site.
The project included a custom design by our Creative Director Danielle McMahon, and is running on open-source content management system Drupal.
