Some recent posts at the 37signals Product Blog:
Extras
New version of Ta-da Lists Widget released
Having problems with your Ta-da Lists Widget? Then go ahead and download v1.3, released today.
Case Studies
Getting the most out of Backpack as a GTD (“Getting Things Done”) solution
“For example, I’ve been invited to a special luncheon with the Internal Revenue Service in a couple of weeks, and they’d like me to bring along a few things (financial records and such). Before Backpack, it would’ve ended up with me emailing myself a pantload of PDF bank statements, then aggregating all of those emails under a specific gmail tag. Obviously, that would have gotten extremely unwieldy in short order. Now I have all of those PDFs arranged nicely on a few Backpack pages (where you can actually store the files, not just link to them), as well as notes about specific items, a picture of my daughter and a copy of the Gettysburg Address.”
Photographer calls Getting Real “one hell of a damn good book”
“When I first looked at starting out as a photographer I put together a shopping list of equipment that I MUST HAVE! Without this list I thought I would never start. It was £20,000 in size. And would have made me spend a huge waste of time doing cashflow predictions and presentations to bank managers and investors. Why did I not think my current camera would suffice, or my computer, or my printer. I ended up spending £700 on some studio lights a background and some business cards. Like that, I’m ready to go.”
R.O.Why! Marketing saves money and time with Basecamp
“I just want you to know that Basecamp is saving my business hundreds of dollars a month since switching. Used to use a huge, cumbersome, complicated and headache-producing project management & client collaboration software system that clients hated to use. And it was expensive. And did I mention that we couldn’t get clients to use it? It took a couple hours or more to set up a complex project. With Basecamp, I’m done – including milestones & tasks – in 15-30 minutes and every one of our clients uses it and loves it.”
Revixio, creators of CorePage, inspired and informed by Getting Real
“We had always wanted to work the way that was outlined in the book; getting the majority of the UI nailed down first, and using that as a blueprint for coding, rather than page after page of functional specs, so that part was an easy sell. In fact, as I spoke with others involved in application development that I told about this, they were jealous that their companies didn’t work this way. It not only made sense, but really allowed us to see things from the user’s point of view very early on.”30 sleeps creator: “Getting Real has played an integral role in my pursuit of happiness”
“A lot of people can identify bugs in their daily life, but stop short of authoring the patch. The Getting Real approach of building something that I want has imbued my work with a fire that is hard to light in any other way. And when you’re building to change the world, that kind of passion is a nuclear weapon.”
Buzz/press
Four reasons why Backpack is better than other organizational tools
Why Micheal Hickerson, Associate Director of the Emerging Scholars Network, thinks Backpack is great: 1) You can start using it for free. 2) It’s easy to use. 3) Multi-user features make it a great intranet. 4) It’s a simple way to make public web pages.
PC Magazine and Declutter It agree: Fight clutter with Backpack
“A good way to get inspired to clean up is by making lists. Backpack is an incredibly easy-to-use, Web-based organizational service that’s like having an online loose-leaf binder to use as you please, creating checklists, setting reminders, and embedding important files and links on the page. It’s so straightforward, intuitive, and versatile it wins our Editors’ Choice award.”
CEO suggests using Basecamp to encourage accountability and participation
“I chose Basecamp because it’s affordable (start with free), easy to use (key for both you as the CEO and your company), its features are constantly upgraded without interrupting my use, and 37signals, the company behind it, offer a host of complimentary services that integrate with Basecamp. It saved us hours of time and frustration, minimized disputes by documenting the conversations, encouraged accountability AND participation, rewarded everyone’s engagement with an easy means to participate in an open, transparent manner.”
Highrise “does all the hard work” parsing emails
“With Highrise, you blind-carbon copy a special drop box, something like dropbox@999999997.rkg.highrisehq.com. Again the app does all the hard work, determining who you are from the dropbox subdomain, parsing the email to determine where to file it it the CRM system, and associating the message with the right people and companies and dates.”
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Source: Signal vs. Noise
Original Article: http://www.37signals.com/svn/posts/1025-product-blog-update-gtd-with-backpack-getting-real-case-studies-updated-ta-da-list-widget-etc
Jaman, the San Mateo-based P2P Web movie service, is about to announce that it will be streaming selected movies for free. The movies play immediately in the browser and are supported by pre/post-roll ads. (The usual download-to-rent option remains available). Jaman is launching streaming with 100 ad-supported titles from its collection of over 3000 independent and international films. While other sites like Netflix are offering more mainstream titles, Jaman focuses on indie film and especially on the international and Bollywood market, which has a massive global audience (although not everyone seems to be a fan). But then, it also has old titles - here’s Audrey Hepburn in Charade. Ad-supported films are likely to tap into previously underserved audiences in areas like Brazil, Russia, India and China - where pirated movies are more prevalent - assuming they can get the broadband in the first place. In January Jaman managed to get distribution for its catalogue of American independent film onto TiVo DVR. The privately owned firm was founded by CEO Gaurav Dhillon who previously co-founded Informatica which IPO’d in 1999. Jaman backers include the Hearst Corporation.