Category: Business Process

One Question (2, sir)… *ahem*, Two Questions:

First off, is linking to a site from my site that really isn’t relevant ok merely because we are increasing our page rankings? I consider this a waste of time because the site that inquired (not the spam one, but a real company) that I link to them, some multimedia business I’ve never heard of in Oz. At first, I was like, “Fine, remove your link to me… see if I care…”. But then, I do tend to get a lot of my business from Google it seems, so maybe it’s in my best interest? All it would be is a link to their site, probably in a “Multimedia” category of my page. Is this morally and ethically ok even though the site itself really has nothing to do with my site? The end result, I think, is to boost page rankings. Am I not contributing to the same thing Blog spam is, or am I merely making a good business decision by doing so?

Secondly, I swore back when I was in college I’d never put a frikin’ banner ad on any of my personal sites. As an American, I get assaulted 24×7 with ads and marketing. The last thing I want to do is add to the overload that people visiting my site would get had I implemented even just the small Google Ad bar. If I’m not promoting something of value personally, then I feel it’s kind of stupid. Like, I have no qualms about putting a WinAMP, Flash Plugin, or DirectTV banner ad on my site, because I think all of them are cool, and relevant. Whether I make money isn’t the point; I support those products, I like those products, I use those products and can vouch for them. The Google Ads just seem like a way to get cash, and capitalize on the amount of traffic a website gets. Maybe it’s a wasted resource I’m not utilizing, but there are, to me, serious implications with putting a banner ad on my site, mostly personal. I don’t know…

I’m just looking for thoughts from the community (I know the Ozzie’s are asleep now, but I’ll wait).

Anyone know of any online collaboration processes? The goal is to allow two to many developers to work together on a project.

Read on for more details…

Even though I’m the editor, I was comissioned to write an article for the up and coming “premiere” issue of the MX Developers Journal. Been working my arse off after work, combined with school homework, with a bunch of talented writers to make it a fantastic issue, …really! I wish they had this stuff back in Flash MX; would of been a great timesaver.

At any rate, in the timeframe allotted which is eerily similiar to the Publishing Industries crack-smoking notion of timeframes for written works (which I guess they assume has no bearing on quality, and keep in mind I don’t have extensive experience, so it’s subjective in that regard), I managed to go all over the map when I started. Imagine that.

So, in my own re-assessment with a few industry peers to look it over, I’ve found I need to focus more on just one topic, better organize some parts, and extend a few more once I add my example Flash file. So, because of the first part, I’ve removed the entire first section which was about 2 1/2 pages of the 14 page article (Verdana 10pt – not the style for the mag, mind you), and decided to place it here in hopes someone gains benefit from it.

The article is about taking a complex, artistic design a designer has made for you, a completed “comp” (composition) and implementing it into Flash using advanced ActionScript programmers are used to using. It’s a hybrid approach of timeline and OOP which RAD (Rapid Application Developement) people will love, and sales will adore in knowing that the impossible is possible.

However, this part is about the process leading up to actual implementation. In going to school for leadership and management, I am constantly viewing the world in different glasses lately, so am focused on processes, and making them better to help better facilitate a better quality product for the customer. Naturally, if I had had that attitude before writing the first 3 pages, this snippet would be better thought out, but I started under the pretense of Java programmers coming to Flash, and going, “You want me to implement WHAT!?”.

At any rate, hope it helps someone!

Look for the technical, and real article in the next issue of MXDJ which will show you, through a real example, how to take an insanely cool and complex design, and implement it without sacrificing your OOP code.

Read on…