Category: General
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Back From Vacations
I’m back from my 2015 vacations and ready to talk about Windows 10 and Mac OS X El Capitan. In a nutshell, Microsoft and Apple have created very refined operating systems that will make your life easier. Windows 10 is a nice release that simplifies user experience while bringing back old features such as the Start Menu. The…
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Information Science > Computer Science
We are no longer coding primarily for “computers” in the strict sense of the world. Post PC devices including smart phones, tables, IoT sensors and devices, wearables and smart appliances all point to a future were computers take a back seat. In light of the many shifts taking place since the last couple of decades…
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Managing Gridlock
Gridlock is a common situation for traction-less startups. Your ratings on the App Store are falling, there’s no growth in your monthly visits and revenue couldn’t be more stagnant, so what do you do? What can you do when VCs are pushing one way, employees on another and competitors won’t let you move forward (via…
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Attention to Detail
Attention to detail is key. We have been highly conditioned to evaluate things according to their superficial qualities and, in all fairness, in an increasingly virtual world, superficiality and reality often collide. Be fanatical about details. Go over each screen at least fifty times (literally). Sit down with designers and work on color coordination, branding, alignment, and…
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Model-View-Controller and the Separation of Labor
Few architectural choices are more critical for your project’s success than MVC (model view controller). The idea being that by separating code into three separate entities, the application can grow more naturally and be easier to update. To give some context around the premise for MVC, here are the words of Trygve Reenskaug, one of the first MVC practicioners: I…
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Less is More
Instead of trying to pack yet another feature into your app, why not refine and polish your product? Simplicity is an asset because it increases engagement and customer retention. Thinking in terms of excellence, in terms of quality and not quantity is a recipe for success. Simple products are more likely to fit into your…
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Clash of Giants: Apple vs Google
Google and Apple are chasing the same customers from seemingly orthogonal angles. Apple wants a design conscious, privacy guarding customer with a refined taste and a fat credit card. However, Google is content with just about everybody as long as they open up their lives to the borg. Free vs paid, open vs closed, client…
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Don’t Wait for Internationalization to Pursue the Hispanic Market
America is a multilingual country. With over 50 million Spanish-speaking citizens, and a wide presence in American culture it’s clear that America has a multilingual side. Now taught in most schools and present in American street names and culture, Spanish is becoming a new language for commerce all around the country. However, most businesses only translate their…
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Can Startups Learn From Comparables?
A pivotal change is taking place in Startup land. Business stories and models are being open-sourced along with a plethora of metrics and financial data, courtesy of services such as CrunchBase, Tech in Asia and Mattermark. With these relatively new tools you can now benchmark your performance against that of the industry and other probably similar…