It’s easy as a Web developer to critique the tools you use or try. So that’s what am doing here, and the victim is Microsoft Expression Web.

I’ve been using Microsoft Expression Web for fifteen minutes, and here’s the hiccup that should have been fixed in Beta, if not pre-Beta. I have the directory and files I’m working on open in both Dreamweaver and Expressions.

I have cut and saved a new image from ImageReady to be inserted into the file. Expression’s helpful auto complete brings up a file-select box to grab the image and…wait, where is it? It’s no place to be seen. Is there a “refresh” button? No, not even on their folder view. Maybe I saved it to the wrong place? But hold on…

I switch to Dreamweaver, and viola and without refreshing, there it is!

So there it is - it seems Microsoft Expression Web can’t access files that aren’t added after the directory is opened. This is a staple feature of Dreamweaver; so simple and necessary, I never even considered it a feature. Er, for Microsoft Expression Web, maybe this is a feature?

I just finished listening to Tom Kelley’s “The Ten Faces of Innovation.” Kelley is the General Manager of IDEO, one of the World’s foremost innovation and ideation consulting companies. The book discusses IDEO’s 10 faces, or personas which are utilized in their projects to gain a full, insightful and original view of any challenge, situation or problem. (more…)

I’ve noticed there is very little research out there discussing the appropriate time to post a blog entry or newsletter. I’ve noticed on several occasions that the timing of our blog entries and the timing of an email broadcast seem to have a huge effect on readership, open rates and overall impressions. (more…)

There are a few programs which I run across and say, damn… nice software. Wufoo is one of those instances. Wufoo is a bit of an odd name but then again so is ours. Essentially Wufoo allows people to quickly create web-forms which validate text, track statistics and and customize the look and feel of the form. (more…)

ProtectMyPhotos is a excellent option for backing up those all important digital pictures. I can’t stress enough how important it is to back-up your documents, files and photos. My neighbor had all his child’s baby pictures on a hard-drive which crashed, and now he holds that drive in a safe place until he can inexpensively restore the contents. (more…)