Newsletter
October 2007

In this issue we talk about Web 2.0, the origin of the @ sign, Campaign Management and some more Distractions

Web 2.0 – Real Innovation or Hype 2.0?

There’s a lot of excitement in the IT world about “Web 2.0”. Is it justified, what is Web 2.0 and does it exist at all?

First of all there is no strict definition of what Web 2.0 is, and it certainly isn’t something you can upgrade to. The term Web 2.0 was coined by Dale Dougherty, one of the founders of the technical book publisher O'Reilly Media, in 2003 to cover a number of nascent technologies that allowed web pages to be more interactive. The idea was that a second generation of web sites would contain data that was continuously updated from other web sites.

The term became fashionable and broadened to cover a number of new technologies and of course lots of product vendors then started using it to describe whatever they happened to be offering.

So rather than arguing about what exactly constitutes Web 2.0, or discussing the technologies like AJAX and JavaScript that make it possible, here’s a list of sites and applications that show what the Internet experience will be like in a year or so’s time, in the same way that Amazon and eBay showed the way five years ago.

Google Maps – scroll smoothly around the world, zoom in and out and mix map and satellite data together on one page using a technology called AJAX (Asynchronous Java and XML).

Google Calendar – part of Google’s attack on Microsoft office, this fully featured diary is web-based and so removes all the complexity about sharing diaries remotely. The technology is JavaScript and is free. Which is why we embedded it in our CRM system.

Skype – if you are the last person on the planet who has not heard of Skype, this product allows you to call any other Skype user anywhere in the world from your computer for free, or to make calls internationally for pennies. Using a technology called VOIP (Voice over Internet) the quality can be patchy but hey, its free!

FireFox – the browser that is still taking market share from Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, it offers multiple tabs, the ability to suppress advertisements and better security.

Not many people know that

In the 6th or 7th century, Latin scribes saved time by shortening the frequently used word 'ad' (at, to, or toward) by stretching the upstroke of the 'd' and curving it over the 'a'. Today, their modest shorthand is part of everybody's e-mail address. In Britain, we call it the 'at symbol', but it goes by unusual pseudonyms elsewhere. South Africans call it the 'monkey’s tail'. In Bosnia, Croatia, and Serbia it’s the 'crazy'. In the Czech Republic it’s 'pickled herring'. The French often refer to it as 'little snail'. In Greece it’s 'little duck'. There’s no official word for it in Thailand, but it is popularly referred to as 'ai tua yiukyiu', meaning 'wiggling worm-like character', which makes telling someone your e-mail address in Bangkok a tad tiresome. (our thanks to our broadband supplier www.zen.co.uk for this unmissable article).

What’s new at Really Simple Systems

Since we launched our hosted CRM service at the beginning of the year we have been signing up new users and rolling out new functionality.

Campaign Management was launched in September and covers multi-stage campaign management and personalised emailing with click-through tracking and unsubscribe handling. Unlike other systems the whole process is built in without the need for third party applications.

We embedded Google Calendar in April to allow our users to share diaries with themselves and any other Google Calendar users. It's proved really popular with people who want to share diaries but don't want the complexity of rolling our Microsoft Exchange so that they can share Outlook.

New Really Simple Systems Hosted CRM Users

One of the many good things about delivering hosted CRM to small companies is the sheer variety of useful products and services you come across. Here are some recent customers whose offerings should be of interest to many:-
Clunk Click is one of the UK’s leading providers of secure data backup, restore and storage solutions.
IIZUKA can deliver custom solutions when packages aren't enough, but for a cost that is considerably less than traditional bespoke software.
Penrillian are experts in mobile phone software development, porting and consultancy,
Spring Digital is an Award Winning Design Agency specialising in web and e-commerce design and development as well as print and identity design.
Canby supplies environmentally friendly alternatives to plastic bags.
Using Rapid Intake's Flashform rapid e-learning development software you can dramatically decreases the amount of time and technical expertise needed to create interactive online learning courses.

While the boss is away

Coke & Mentos
Back in August, Fritz Grobe and Stephen Voltz made a video that demonstrates what happens if you mix Diet Coke and Mentos. In fact, what they create in the experiment resembles more a cross between a firework show and display fountains. The video became so famous that Mentos sales soared, although the Coca Cola company were less than pleased to see their brand hijacked. Watch the video on their web site, www.eepybird.com (if your browser can't play the video, try searching www.Youtube.com for "eepybird").

And just in case you were tempted to see what happens if you were to drink Coke and eat Mentos at the same time, you'd better watch PepsiGirl first.

White & Nerdy
From "Weird Al" Yankovic , the man who brought you the eBay song, our Head of Development's new favourite video, White & Nerdy. No, we couldn't possibly comment on why!