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Wednesday 18 July 2007
Feeling (& Dialing) Alright
... I have a new Blackberry (my first) and I am not exaggerating when I say it has fundamentally changed how I spend my days and 95% of those changes are for the better. For example, I have not spent the last 3 days in a panic because I've spent a total of 17 hours without power (and thus no DSL internet access) because I can use my Blackberry to check my email as I wait to find out about a big project I just bid on.Monday 16 July 2007
A B - - E F G
Less than 2 weeks after I returned from the States, from where I went to an Apple Store 5 times in two months, three of the keys on my Powerbook computer stopped working. Because my name is Isahrai and that's how things work in Isahrai-town.Sunday 29 April 2007
My Bad
I take full responsibility for the fact that not only was isahrai.com down over the weekend but also a dozen other sites I manage and host. But really, if I try hard enough, I can still find reason to blame it on my former residence, otherwise known as the Apartment from Hell. Actually, it's not that hard: my ex-neighbor stole my wallet --> I had to order a new credit card --> I forgot to replace my billing information with the new credit card for payment of my hosting fees --> the accounts were suspended due to failure of payment.Saturday 10 March 2007
Back-ish to School. Or, What I'm Going to Do on My Spring Non-Vacation
I came across a beautifully designed website and I started thinking, "huh, I wonder how they do this?" It began as one of those esoteric questions where you think about the marvels of technology and rays/beams/ions of energy and information and thought flinging itself through wires, cables, and computer chips to create cohesive, interactive, and functioning products, in this case a website. As I looked at the site, though, the question became more concrete: "no, really! how do they do this?"continue reading "Back-ish to School. Or, What I'm Going to Do on My Spring Non-Vacation" »
Wednesday 07 March 2007
On Customer Service
As Bev and I prepared to build our business, we encountered a lot of unknowns. One thing we did know is that we want to provide stellar customer service. One of the first tasks on our To Do list was to create a system that would give our clients constant access to their files, our work on their case, and our knowledge database. We chose to implement Basecamp to organize our launch plans and to house our future projects. Not only were we giddy with the organization euphoria, but we ensured that we could deal with customer service issues immediately and with full disclosure to clients living in the States, Canada, Europe, or just across Zihua Bay.Perhaps it is all of this preparation that has made me acutely aware of customer service issues in companies I've dealt with... but Jeez Louise! I don't understand how companies that employ modern technology to sell their products don't use the same modern technology to communicate with people who buy their products when problems arise.
Sunday 25 February 2007
Considering Craigslist
In addition to having profiles on several freelancing websites, I use Craigslist to find a lot of my project work. It's hit or miss. I've found some of my most satisfying projects there and I've also found a lot of BS. When applying for any work I find listed there, I make sure to include my rates listed in the very first correspondence because the expectations vary so much. I once wrote someone looking for a 40 page website including e-commerce functionality and quoted my rate as $100/hour. She wrote back and said "Wow, that's great! I thought the website would cost at least $200 to build!" Uhhh... even the cost of the software needed to make a shopping cart costs more than that. When I emailed her to politely inform her of her misunderstanding, she wrote back to accuse me of being a scam artist. So I didn't build that site. Ironically, a year later, the website still isn't up.Thursday 22 February 2007
A Pixotic Pause
Part of my plans for the next few months includes work on a projects that will require me to have a professional grade camera. I've once again done a flurry of research and agree with the common belief that you buy for the lenses and for the future, not just for the camera body.Monday 18 December 2006
4.0
Some people seem to think that this re-design of isahrai.com is version number 17. It's actually only number 4. First there was the black, red, and white art deco monstrosity that I need hypnosis to forget. Then the soothing, albeit clunky, olive green and brown website that mostly served as a place for me to post horrific poetry (it so happened that my life was a bit horrific at the time so the poetry had its place). When I moved my blog - and the rest of my website - over to Movable Type last year, I pretended to be under the influence of French Provencial design with blues and yellows. And pinstripes! Pinstripes that I loved but that have no place in a life of thai pants, tattoos, and flip flops.The whole point of Isahrai.com 4.0 is ORANGE.