When it comes to creating a color palette for a website, as a designer, I would work in Adobe Photoshop to find the right combination. Which made me wondered if there were any online color pickers.

I found one a few days ago called Color Combos. When in the section called ComboTester, you can add columns and pick color combinations with the color picker, similar to the one in Photoshop. There is also a library of color combinations if you are too lazy to pick colors.

It would be nice if Color Combos added a login feature where you can pick your colors and save them in organized folders.

Here I am on a Sunday afternoon sitting in a local coffee shop enjoying a mocha while I wait for my oversized comforter to dry in the local laundry mat. I have Mac laptop with me, it jumps on the free coffee shop wireless access point and I’m on the net.

Out of curiosity I view my local network and behold I see a computer called REGISTER. With just a basic knowledge of Windows authentication I click on the REGISTER and log in with the username ADMINISTRATOR and I leave the password blank. Boom, access to the local cash register with all the credit card data a hacker or ID thief would enjoy.

I understand that the vast majority of people are clueless when it comes to setting up wireless networks, so I ask myself… “do I talk to the manager? The owner?” And then I wonder about the legal ramifications.

I feel it is my duty to tell someone how to fix the security hole but with the general lack of understanding over wireless networks will the person I tell misunderstand my goodwill and consider me a hacker, trying to steal their data?

I’m sure I’m not the only one out there who has faced this dilemma.

So many times I’ve been in sales meetings fielding questions about the size of our company (5 people). Often the client has the perception that the larger the agency the better. Here is my contribution to put this myth to rest.

First let’s set a few assumptions. We are talking about designing and developing a corporate level website or web application, I’m not talking about enterprise applications which several teams are working on various facets of the project, i.e redeveloping NASDAQ.com or Amazon.com.

Size will always be an issue to the customer. I don’t care if your company has 5 or 80 people. There will always be a competitor larger then you. Truth be told, many larger agencies will use teams of 3-7 people to design and develop the project.

I have yet to find an interactive agency using a team of 10+ people at least 50% of the time on a single corporate website redevelopment project. Small teams are nimble, responsive and they communicate easily without meeting 24-7.

Prior to Imulus, a few of us worked for the interactive agency, Refinery, outside of Philadelphia. While at Refinery we successfully tackled projects which spanned from movie websites to Fortune 500 clientele with teams of no more then 6 people. Teams of 3-7 people are small and nimble, that is why they work so well.

The other myth I often run into is that a small company cannot develop as quickly as a larger firm. Again, simply untrue. Given the fact that most teams are 3-7 people, development usually takes the same amount of time regardless of how big the agency is.

Lastly, the myth about number of projects active at any one time. The perception is that a small company is easily overwhelmed by just a few clients; whereas the larger agency can handle a greater demand. Again, untrue.

Regardless of size, any company is going to need to find continuous revenue. There crux in the difference between any agency is how well they balance the workload between current work and new work. This however is not easily evaluated by the prospective client. It comes down to a personal level and the trust the prospective client feels with the selected agency.

We are looking to put together a group of beta testers at large. If you are interested in beta testing our work before we release it to the public please send an email to us at beta@imulus.com

37Signals has done a tremendous job building a project management application for the masses with BaseCamp. We use it religiously at Imulus; to communicate with our clientele on a regular basis. While there are several free alternatives available on the web (see list below), why do people continue to pay 37Signals for an application they can install for free?

1. Intuitive Interface
You are more apt to use a product which is intuitive and easy to interact with. Having used Microsoft Project for several years, I understand this well. Microsoft Project works well for project managers and other users with Microsoft Project, yet the PM is only a fraction of the development team. BaseCamp is accessible by all, including the customer. It gives one window into the project development which is seen by the entire team.

For it to be usable by everyone, including the client it must be intuitive. Not just geared for us tech heads or project managers.

2. No Setup Hassle
For a product to have mass appeal it must be easy to setup. These free applications usually require developers to install and configure. Whereas BaseCamp uses a simple wizard to move the customer through the setup process and instantly into a working environment in just a few minutes.

3. Free Upgrades for Life
The subscription business model has tremendous appeal for the non-technical customers. No need to re-install, re-license, or patch the software. Pay the monthly fee and keep using the service without headaches.

4. It Just Works
In the year we have been using BaseCamp we have had zero noticeable downtime and no errors. This makes for a pleasing user-experience.

Yet there are always those of us who would don’t love the idea of a monthly subscription, and for those people I offer these alternatives to BaseCamp.

• activeCollab http://www.activecollab.com/
  PHP based. Free, clone of BaseCamp with some tweaks.
• dotProject http://www.dotproject.net
  PHP based. Free, but the interface needs alot of help.
• Copper http://www.copperproject.com/
  PHP based. Nicely designed. More robust then BaseCamp and geared more for the project manager.
• TasksPro http://www.taskspro.com/
  PHP based. Well built. Feature rich but geared more for the project manager.