Your Attention Please: Organizations We Support

If you’ve read any of our posts before you’ve seen the banners on the right… right? You haven’t? It’s okay. We forgive you. I forgive you, at least.

Now that we’ve addressed your lack of attention, let me tell you what you’ve been missing out on. There are a lot of organizations around the world doing good, from feeding and educating children to saving the victims of human trafficking. While there are many great options, we’ve chosen a few to support.

charity: water

Did you hear the incredible story about the girl who donated her birthday to raise money to build a well? Her birthday donation campaign raised over a $1 million after she tragically died in a car accident. That was through charity: water, a non-profit bringing clean and safe drinking water to developing nations. To date, they have provided 2,060,000 people with clean water.

Compassion International

Compassion was founded over 50 years ago to support poverty stricken children around the world. You likely know someone who is already a child sponsor through Compassion. Since beginning in 1952, they have helped 1.2 million children in 26 countries.

Hello Somebody

We recently heard the Hello Somebody story and loved it (and their cool watches). Through a donation or purchasing something from their store you can help children receive food, education, and development.

Sierra Club

Don’t you want a safe and healthy community, smart energy solutions, and to protect America’s wilderness? Then check out what the folks at the Sierra Club are doing. Founded over 100 years ago, they have been creating and keeping communities safe, exploring energy resources, and protecting the earth.

RVCA

PM Tenore, the founder of RVCA, has created a community for artists of all kinds. Original shirts from their artists can be bought at local skate shops and videos from their artists can be seen online. Through their creative expression, they’re giving back to the worldwide community by way of inspiration.

Now you know what those images to the right are all about. Click on any of them to visit the organization’s site to learn more about what they’re doing or how to get involved.

Do you sponsor a child or serve locally already? Tell us a little about what you’re doing whether it’s your own idea or supporting the vision of someone else.

My brain on a napkin — website ideas

Email, widgets, Excel charts, graphs, Basecamp messages, iPads — napkins.

How do you come up with your best ideas?

For me it’s sometimes methodical. I make myself sit down and try to think. To do that regardless of what kind of mood I’m in is what I’d call disciplined thinking, kind of like a writer who insists on writing and working every day even knowing that most of what he’s written will be scrapped at EOD.

But other times ideas come to mind when I’m not expecting them. I’m at the grocery store, I’m out to dinner, I’m driving across town, I’m sitting on the couch in pajamas. A few people know to be prepared for random thoughts and you know, carry around Moleskine journals for the purpose of jotting down thoughts to remember later, or maybe just to look cool. I try not to judge. But I’m not the type to carry a notebook. Of course, I’ve got my iPhone to type a note into, but I’m a clumsy typer on it and find it constricting. I like writing without lines, sometimes sideways up a page, and throwing in extra notes and arrows to connect the thoughts.

So I write on the backs of receipts, scrap printer paper, napkins, whatever’s within reach — so sometimes that only leaves my hand.

I tend to think that while creativity can and does thrive with a certain amount of discipline (i.e. a musician who is well practiced being able to compose brilliant things), there’s a place for random inspiration that’s brought about by a different, unforced environment.

heystac has a new website design in the works. And when we first met to discuss it, I took notes on the napkin pictured above. That’s where we started. We’ve had more formalized brainstorming sessions since, but the initial talk was over a burger and fries and brownie a la mode.

Whether you’re coming up with a new business plan or thinking through how your website might look, you can ask yourself a lot of questions. If you’re going about it in a formal, bullet point, iPad note way, maybe try disconnecting from technology and see what you come up with on pen and napkin.

What’s your process for brainstorming look like?

The Fall of Internet Explorer

The moment all web developers have been waiting for is finally here, sorta. As of October, Internet Explorer’s global market share is below 50%, the lowest it has been in the past decade. This is due in part by 6% of web browsing now occurring on mobile platforms such as smart phones and tablets.

What does this mean for you? Absolutely nothing, IE is still the most common browser and will be around for years to come. However to web developers a glimmer of hope shines as modern browsers continue to grow. It also reaffirms that mobile web use is continuing to grow and take over the desktop market.

Google Chrome is the primary browser benefiting from the decline of Internet Explorer while Firefox and Safari have stayed relatively steady. Safari continues to dominate mobile browsing with over 63% market share, while Opera is down to 18% and Android drops to 12%.  Checkout the original article and pretty graphics