Super Ginormous

Category: Work

I spend most of my day at PowerServe. These posts touch on life around the office.

  • The Truth Behind the Outlook 2007 Change and What You Can do to Change it.

    Outlook 2007 Screenshot

    Yes, Microsoft Outlook 2007 is going to use Word as it’s rendering engine… but hope is not completely lost. Microsoft is prepared to listen. This article is a follow-up to a post last week on this very topic…

    read more | digg story

    In response to the post on the CampaignMonitor Blog, I had this to say:

    I think this irritates me more, to be honest with you. The fact that Microsoft conciously made this decision to improve messages sent from one Outlook user to another Outlook user is a cop-out.

    Yes, I realize that a lot of businesses use Exchange Server, so this change will apply to them… but what about those of us that don’t use Exchange Server? What about those of us that email users on other platforms? What about those of us that don’t use POP accounts, and only strictly use webmail accounts?

    To me, this just escalated beyond just being a major concern for legitimate email marketers to a full-scale war on interoperability with other email clients/systems. By making this choice, Microsoft is making it very clear: use our product, or your email will be screwed up.

    It’s good they are willing to listen, but it’s like they completely ignored any of the feedback they received on Internet Explorer… My only hope at this point, is that 1) Microsoft adopts a “quirky” mode to allow for standards-based email; or 2) let users decide which rendering engine to use…

  • Pandora’s Box

    In the beginning there was Text, and it was good.

    I’m still in awe about how much residual traffic I’ve gotten as a result of the conversation going on about how Microsoft Breaks HTML Email Rendering in Outlook 2007. The story, in various forms, has appeared on a number of sites. If you were to trust the comments on Digg, most people (it seems) would prefer that we revert back to a time where email is text-only. I don’t disagree that HTML emails can be evil, but there’s an inherent problem in wishing us back to the Stone Ages of Email: People like HTML email.

    Yes, HTML email is abused by spammers. Yes, Incredimail sucks and so does “email stationary” in Outlook and the like… but if HTML email didn’t work (for spam or even legitimate correspondence), and if people didn’t want their messages to look *gag* “pretty”, there wouldn’t be a market for it.

    HTML Email is here to stay, and that is why I am so irritated over the fact that Microsoft has taken to course action they have with Outlook 2007. Why break something that worked fine in older versions? Why take away something clients have come to expect?

    Software should be improved from version to version. The choice to use the Word rendering engine in Outlook 2007 was probably predicated by a desire to avoid further anti-trust lawsuits… but that’s unexectable.

  • Open Letter to Microsoft

    Dear Microsoft,

    Last year, you introduced Windows Internet Explorer 7 (IE7) upon the world. Designers everywhere celebrated the fact that you had finally stepped up to the standards plate. IE7 isn’t perfect, but it’s much better than what we had to work with.

    Pretty soon, Outlook 2007 will be moved out of beta. One might assume that it, like it’s predecessors, would use IE for rendering HTML emails. (I know that I had.) But you know what? It doesn’t. It uses Word 2007 instead.

    I know, I know. There will be lots of people out there that say HTML emails suck, and they’d be right. It’s probably safe to say that most spam email is of the HTML variety. But that shouldn’t be a problem for you, Microsoft, because IE7 should take care of any security issues that might arise, right?

    HTML emails are a fact of life. Introducing another rendering engine to the mix makes life difficult for businesses like the one I work for. Email marketing is not our primary focus, but a lot of our customers want to stay in touch with their customers via email newsletters.

    I shouldn’t have to worry about basic CSS stuff being supported in Outlook – stuff like background images, floats, stylized unordered lists, positioning, etc. should just work – but now I do.

    Word 2007 is a word processor. Despite the fact that HTML can be generated from documents created within it, doesn’t make it a logical choice for rendering HTML – that is what Internet Explorer is for. Furthermore, this decision puts my confidence in IE7 in serious jeopardy: If you won’t even use it, why should I or anyone else for that matter?

    It’s probably too late, but I hope you’ll reconsider this decision.

  • Pick Any Two

    We used to have a sign up in our offices at PowerServe that read:

    For service that meets your needs, choose two of the following:

    • Quality
    • Speed
    • Price

    Let’s face it, we’re a culture that expects all three. We want convenience, high quality, and extra low prices. That’s why Wal-Mart is so popular – because for most people Wal-Mart is an ideal place to shop for them. But you’re not going to get all three. You’ve got to give somewhere.Wal-Mart is convenient, because you can get all the stuff you need (and don’t need) all conveniently in one place. No problem, right? Wrong. Wal-Mart is a victim of its’ own success. Because so many people shop at Wal-Mart, there are more customers in their stores. This equates to longer lines when you want to check out. Right? That $.29 cents you saved doesn’t seem like much when you factor in that you had to wait 10 mintues to check-out at a busy store. Their automotive department is a prime example of this problem. They offer oil changes for less than anyone else out there. They’re using quality motor oils and whatnot, but when you go, you’re pretty much guaranteed a wait. Just because you can get an oil change for $29.99 doesn’t help the fact that you’re going to lose 2 hours of your time while you wait for a tech to get around to your car. Is saving a few bucks more important than your time?Tonight, I went to a Jiffy Lube and spent a little more for an oil change. Know what happened? I pulled my car in right away, and they had my oil changed, truck vaccuumed out, lights checked, tires refilled, air filter changed, in 10 minutes. I had 6 people working on my car at once. By the time I went to the waiting room, I had an associate approach me in order to check out. (I didn’t even have the chance to sit down.) Yeah, it cost me more by going to Jiffy Lube, but they didn’t waste my time. They provided great service right away and it’s more than worth it to me to pay a little more for the service because of that.I like saving money, but I hate wasting time. (Sorry if this is random… I wanted to get some thoughts out on this before I went to bed tonight.) 

  • Merry Christmas from PowerServe

    We decided to do something a little different this year… Merry Christmas

  • CFMAIL and Dynamic Message Content

    Pardon me while I put on my geek hat. I’ve been hitting my head up against a wall trying to figure out the best way to dynamically include content into an email using ColdFusion.

    I tried the most logical solution first, define the URL with the data I wanted and pass that onto the SEND script.

     <input type="hidden" name="msgString" value="http://example.com/msg/test.cfm?subject=Hi&sender=joe@example.com&recip=john@example.com" />

    Then, I converted the string to a variable I could more easily work with…

    <cfset msgStr = "#form.messageString#" />
<cfmail to="user@example.com"
 from="user@example.com"
 subject="Hey there!"
 server="mail.example.com"
 type="html">
  <cfinclude url="#msgStr#" />
</cfmail>

    No luck. ColdFusion choked on the dynamic string everytime. When I tried to define the string as a variable and parse it with CFOUTPUT, ColdFusion choked again.

    So, I thought, why not try using CFHTTP to grab the data, and then have it render into the body of the email I wanted to send.

    <cfhttp resolveurl="yes" url="http://www.example.com/#form.messageString#" method="get"></cfhttp>
<cfmail to="user@example.com"
 from="user@example.com"
 subject="Hey there!"
 server="mail.example.com"
 type="html">
  #CFHTTP.FileContent#
</cfmail>

    BINGO! That worked. In retrospect, it seems pretty easy to do it this way… but I couldn’t get it to work right for quite some time. Now it works right, and the client should be happy.

  • How would you describe your job?

    How would you describe your job to a complete stranger?

    I’ve often wondered – and struggled – to come up with a good answer myself. Here at PowerServe we’re all multi-taskers. One moment I’m a Designer, another I’m a Creative Director, another I am a Project Manager of sorts. We all wear many hats, and that’s one of the cool things about PowerServe: you encounter new things every day.

    • I’m a web designer.
    • I’m a graphic designer.
    • I design.
    • I make things pretty to look at and easy to use.
    • I help businesses improve their business.
    • I get paid to play.
    • I help others to grow as designers and coders.
    • I meticulously write valid markup.

    I think my favorite would have to be “I get paid to play.” Jobs aren’t supposed to be fun, right? It wouldn’t be called “work” otherwise. So I feel rather blessed to have a job where I feel like everytime I’m creating a site for a client in Photoshop, or messing with code in Dreamweaver, I’m playing.

    A recent conversation I had with a friend and former coworker gave me better insight on how to describe what it is that I – and others in my profession – do. It’s easy to tell someone you design websites or business cards. Most people get that. But many people trivialize our profession because the tools to make websites or business cards or whatever are available to anyone, regardless of their level of skill. Would you trust the maintenance or repair of your car to just anybody? Of course not. You might save a few dollars by going to Mechanic A, but if he doesn’t fix your car correctly, it could end up costing you more money to repair your car when you bring it to Mechanic B. Hindsight is 20-20. I get that.

    Website design and development is like working on a car. A really beautiful car that is ugly under the hood isn’t going to be winning the Indy 500 anytime soon. An ugly that runs like a charm is going to do well. How else do you expect sites like CraigsList to prosper?

    Anyway, I digress. How would you describe your job?

  • We’re Hiring (Again)

    I posted this on the PowerServe blog and figured I’d mention it here as well. We’re looking to bring another programmer aboard. Here’s a brief summary on what we’re looking for. More details can be found at: jobs.powerserve.net.

    We’re looking for another full-time programmer/analyst. Must have one to three years of experience developing web-based, database-drive systems using ASP and SQL Server. B.S. in Computer Science (or related field) preferred. Strong problem-solving and organizational skill srequired. Must be proficient in ASP, VBScript and JavaScript. Must have experience with SQL Server, MySQL, and MS Access. ASP.Net, COM/DCOM, ADO, XML, Crystal Reports, a plus. PowerServe offers competitve salaries and benefits. For immediate consideration, please email your resume to Jeff Partl. For additional on this position, please visit: jobs.powerserve.net.

    At this time we are not considering candidates for sponsorship or relocation; candidates must be both local and eligible to work in the United States.

    Salary commensurate with experience and skill level.

    Please Note: Resumes will only be considered if sent via email. Walk-ins and phone calls not accepted. Thanks.

    Please Note: Resumes will only be considered if sent via email. Walk-ins and phone calls not accepted. Thanks.

  • Painting

    Man, I had a busy night last night. PowerServe will be moving into a new building in a week and a half, and we’ve been doing some painting before we move all our stuff in.

    I was at our new office last night until 9:30pm putting the finishing touches on the room. We opted to go with 4 shades of blue in the Creative Services office. I wasn’t sure how it would turn out, but it’s come together nicely. We’ve got some lime green as an accent color, and semi-gloss white for the trim. The fun thing about painting – especially when you do something a little different like we’re doing – is seeing it all come together at the end.

    It was important for me and the rest of the creative team to create an environment that was unique to our new offices. I think we’ve succeeded. In the next couple of days, I will try to add some pictures of the finished project onto Flickr. There is still some detail work to be done, including the addition of some green “designs” that tie all of the walls (and the PowerServe brand colors) all together, but that will be done soon enough.

    We’re excited about the move. We’re moving into a building really close to where we’re at now. The new space will provide us with more room, more flexibility, and most importantly – room for growth. I’ve loved the office we’ve been in since I started working here over two years ago, but it no longer meets our needs like it once did.

  • Site Update

    Things are going to be in limbo on the site for a little while. I’ll continue posting when I can, but I am not sure how quickly I will be able to incorporate the new design I am working on into WordPress. Your patience is appreciated. In the meantime, I may switch to the Chaotic Soul WP theme by Bryan Veloso, but I’m not sure.

    Site Stability Issues

    From time to time, my site has been getting MySQL errors. I finally figured out what was causing my site to have so many issues as of late. It had to due with low disk space on the primary drive on the server. My site is hosted on a seperate drive on the server, but the MySQL database was on the main drive. We cleaned up the drive a bit, deleted a bunch of old log files – and presto, no more problems. I wish all problems were that easy to fix…