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This is an example of a reporting console I built for the Scripps Interactive Newspaper Group that’s built out of Omniture reporting widgets, PHP, and JQuery.

We’re getting closer and closer to the day when laptops will be obsolete, and bulky netbooks will go the way of the 8 track. As the processors in new generation tablets (see the Motorola Xoom and it’s dual core power plant) catch up to laptop speed, and as cloud computing makes limited amounts of device storage bearable, it’s just a matter of time until tablets will be the new way to fly.

And while the iPad 2 may be the clear winner for now, it’s just a matter of time until their device crippling limitations leave them playing catch up.

As I see it, they have two options. Continue to hold back on features and slowly trickle teaser devices to the market, or actually make a device with all the features and options people have been asking for, and then come up with original innovations.

I’ve been working on a gigantic spreadsheet form for one of our sites, and I have to admit this one took me a while. To unlick all selected click boxes in an Excel 2007 worksheet, use this code:

Sub ClearAllCheckBoxes()
Dim ChkBox As OLEObject
With ActiveSheet
.CheckBoxes.Value = False
For Each ChkBox In .OLEObjects
ChkBox.Object.Value = False
Next
End With
End Sub

Twitching toes, and guttural grumbling.. B-Movies.com is officially back up. Visit us at www.bmovies.com for your “free b movie” fix. bmovies.com

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Of the nine years I’ve been using Omniture SiteCatalyst I’ve seen some major improvements, and a few reverts (we’ll talk about that some other time). Last year with the release of version 14 it finally appeared there was a new focus on user interface design. Slowly but surely Omniture is working out some of the major issues that have plagued the platform since release. But there are still some issues that really bother me. One of which is the practice of using generic variable naming. If you look at the JavaScript file that Omniture provides its clients, you see that all props use the following structure:

s.prop1
s.prop2

This works fine if you don’t share co-branded pages with another company that uses Omniture as well. In my job, I constantly battle with vendors who use Omniture and have an out-of-the-box implementation

Most recently a vendor used s.prop3 to pass search terms as “keywords”. We pass a site ID variable in s.prop3, so my reporting ends up in this case looking like this:

Site ID

TRN
AND
ABIL
bicycle tire
GHE
4 bedroom home jenkins ave

If our JS file is looking for a different naming convention beside s.propX then it doesn’t matter what the vendor uses. We’re in the process of changing our code to a custom varible like s_ews.prop1, etc. but this is going to take a lot of testing before we ensure we’ve not borked anything in the process. Why wouldn’t Omniture make everyone’s props unique at implementation and save us all a lot of time and effort?

Everyone who’s been on LinkedIn for a little while has experienced it. A colleague, subordinate, or even someone you met one time at a trade-show.. They cross that point of no return and ask you to recommend them. It may seem like a simple cordial task as menial as a comment about a person on their Facebook page, but if you stop to think about the context, LinkedIn is much more of a job reference.

LinkedIn is a very useful tool to work your network, it’s sole purpose is to connect business people. The navigation reads “people, jobs, answers, companies”. So with this in mind think about who you’re recommending.

If it’s a subordinate, a lot of companies have strict policies stating that only date of hire and title can be given. In this case a case could be made for termination of your employment.

Just like any other recommendation or referral, what if that person goes in with an assault rifle?

If you recommend someone, you’re vouching for them. Not just now, but years down the road. LinkedIn doesn’t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon, and it’s really hard to get these removed after you’ve completed them.

So the next time you think Frank in accounting seems like a cool guy and what would it hurt to recommend him on LinkedIn ask yourself “Would I take the time to write Frank a letter of reference offline?”