The French designer created as a gorgeous cabriolet, that looks like a very expensive model and offer the taste of a future production car.
2. Suzuki Concept Kizashi
Suzuki Kizashi concept is characterized by grace and dynamism and is powered by a 2.0 liter turbo-diesel , with 6 speed sequential and all wheel drive.
Suzuki Concept Kizashi
3. Ford Verve Concept
The is the next generation of Fiesta and we expect to see it as soon possible on the roads.
Ford Verve Concept
4. Nissan Mixim
is the most updated vehicle and is also a distinctive coupe, powered by Nissan Super electric motor and the lithium-ion batteries.
Nissan Mixim
5. Honda Accord Tourer Concept
has an interesting design and viability, having a lot of interesting accessories, like: flush door handles and cameras in place of mirrors.
Tourer Concept
6. Mercedes-Benz F700 Concept
The concept has the DiesOtto , which runs on petrol, but also using the diesel style compression-ignition to burn fuel, more cleanly and efficiently.
Mercedes-Benz F700 Concept
7. Opel Flextreme Concept
is an and also has a small diesel linked to a generator and not to the wheels and it will burn 1.5 liters at 100 km and emits 40 g/km co2.
Opel Flextreme Concept
8. Peugeot 308 RC Z
This looks exactly like the Audi TT. It is made from aluminum and polycarbonate allow elements and want to appear as soon as possible on the roads.
Peugeot 308 RC Z
9. Renault Laguna Coupe Concept
The most impressive thing about the is the wing doors, which makes the concept to look as a pleasant surprise for everybody.
Renault Laguna Coupe Concept
10. Volkswagen UP
UP is a micro-sized car, with , rear engine, four seats and impressive interior space.
So I'm working on a proposal for some funding for studio space in Peckham, although form filling's not my forté...
I'm also arranging a DVD audition of the capabilities of the with a view to exhibiting at the on the South Bank this winter. I'm really hoping that they like the look of the Gas Organ, as Frost Fair is being organised by , an organisation that I used to do some design work for when I worked at The Forster Company.
And hopefully I'll be booking in Elephant & Castle for our February Gas Organ performance arts party (29th February is pencilled in).
On another note, Steve Mac's 'Beautiful Seedy' exhibition will be kicking off with the PR launch. Another February 2008 event, but it will require a LOT of planning, a huge press assault, plus a new (beware of the current site, but I've linked to it anyway!), photo shoots aplenty and a heap of time infront of Final Cut Pro editing new video clips for the web site (that's Lou's job, not mine thankfully as I'm utterly useless with FCP!).
But do check out as they run lots of *free* courses to encourage women to get into digital media. I'll be doing a Final Cut Pro course soon, so I'll have no excuse to be a FCP idiot anymore!
I've just taken on the Review Bookshop web site design and build. I'll be beavering away for the next few weeks in a web design cocoon. I'm expecting to emerge around November!
I can't wait to get started on the 'Gus the shop dog' web page, he's going to be the star of the site!
Free Stock Photos, Images and Textures from Kave wall
The look of website is cool,eye candy meets simplicity here.Images are categorized well,with unique categories like-Tatoo,smoke,geological.Check them out at
PUTTING a small business online used to be a relatively simple matter: buy the domain names that matched your company’s identity, set up a Web server and send out a press release and a few e-mail messages. No more.
These days, a Web site may not even be the best place to start promoting your products or services. Instead, you can consider setting up a blog, participating in social-networking communities like and creating a storefront in virtual worlds like Second Life to get the buzz going.
“We launched our company in May 2006 with a blog, not a Web site,” said Jody DeVere, the president of , an advice site that helps women find car showrooms and repair shops that are friendly to them. “Our blog has been the driving force of our branding effort and become the way we find our readers and our customers.”
Earlier this year, AskPatty created a virtual coffee shop at the online community site Second Life, where people can swap tips and stories. That move turned out to be a gold mine for the company. “The women in Second Life are the ultimate power Internet users, and are very comfortable doing business online,” Ms. DeVere said. “Plus, it is a very cost-effective way to reach lots of people.”
The good news is that there are many sites that act as hosts for individual and corporate blogs at no cost. The three largest and most popular are WordPress, ’s and Six Apart’s .
Any of these services is fine for most small businesses’ needs, said John Patrick, a former vice president for Internet technology, who is a consultant and a member of several Internet companies’ boards.
The important thing is to develop a lively and attractive Web presence, Mr. Patrick said, and to update it often. “You want to have an active and ongoing online discussion with your customers and suppliers,” he said. Pick topics that can be informative, and don’t shy away from controversy, but address it head-on, he continued, adding, “You want to give customers a recommended course of action and make them feel like they have a direct channel to your company.”
An active blog helps draw visitors to a corporate Web site and can improve a company’s search rankings, said Tristan Louis, an Internet consultant who is a blogger himself and an expert on Web technology. “Blogging isn’t just about promoting you or your business,” he said. Instead, he recommended that corporate blogs focus on a niche or industry segment and become an authority by publishing advice and commentary on it.
Once the blog is up and running, its reach can be extended by using so-called syndication tools — provided by the blogging sites — that generate “feeds,” to which customers can subscribe. Feeds are notifications that tell you when new content has been added, like comments and posts. Given the work involved, many businesses now have staff members whose responsibilities include maintaining Internet activities like blogs and online storefronts.
“The old ways of hiring a public relations firm and putting out press releases just don’t cut it anymore,” Mr. Patrick said. “Today’s businesses have to be more hands-on, grass roots, interactive and maintain this flow of continuous communications.”
Besides having a person responsible for online communities and communications, businesses must strive to develop a more conversational approach that includes everyone from the chief executive to the mailroom clerk. More than merely participating in social networks like Facebook and , that means answering e-mail, too.
In addition, corporations should make use of e-mail distribution lists (also called Listservs or groups) to stay in touch regularly with their customers, employees and suppliers. Running such lists used to require software that was sophisticated, expensive and quirky. Now there are popular services sponsored by (), () and Google () that offer free distribution-list programs.
What a company should not be doing is spending lots of money on dot-com speculators, buying specialized software or even paying for the services of Web developers.
As Ms. DeVere said: “A new business doesn’t have the money to build a brand and pay for advertising. The biggest investment is your time, and these tools require a lot of that, but they can really pay off.”
does anyone know if hits on rss feeds constitute a hit on a blog. for example, i read about ten specific blogs everyday and plenty more random ones. the thing is, i read them through an rss feed reader called bloglines. i was wondering if those reads are counted as a hit on the blog. if not, how can i tell how many people are actually reading my blog daily?
set list for last night:
1. come and listen (david crowder band)
2. here is our king (david crowder band)
3. all we need (charlie hall)
4. enough (chris tomlin)
5. beautiful lord (leeland)
Web design firms have emerged as a fast growing client base for the free e-commerce applications offered by FastCommerce.com. The FastCommerce e-commerce system is easy to set-up, easy to use, and is offered at no or low cost. There is no risk to start, and in return web design firms get a state of the art, high performance ecommerce system to use as an additional product offering to drive revenue.
Small business design firms have been quick to sense a new and potentially lucrative business opportunity. Traditionally, web design has been only a part of a total ecommerce operation, a small part of the total software needs of the small business entrepreneur looking to sell online. Small business online retailers have traditionally used a number of diverse software programs to successfully run an ecommerce company. As e-commerce applications move to the web small business online retailers have greater access to single-system e-commerce services. FastCommerce.com is a powerful, low-cost Web 2.0 version of this new model.
FastCommerce.com has all the tools a small business needs to sell online. By simply signing up, online retailers have access to a full suite of tools that include an online store, online product catalogue, shopping cart, auto-email responder for order and shipping confirmation, as well as back office tools for order capture and processing, account maintenance in addition to automatic shipping calculations for USPS, USP and FedEx. Paypal will soon be offered as a payment option, and credit card transactions can be set up on the site through authorise.net.
But the FastCommerce.com ecommerce tools are free up to 250 products. By simply signing up, web design firms can quickly master the tools of setting up a complete online store, and then offer it to their clients as a service or product. Small business online retail continues to grow at an astonishing pace, and the FastCommerce.com ecommerce webstore has all the tools that small online retailers need to be successful.
The FastCommerce.com represents a new tool for website designers to offer to their established client base looking to extend their e-commerce capabilities. "We are finding the website designers have lots of clients require updates to their ecommerce systems" says Charles Han, FastCommerce.com CEO, "By simply learning the FastCommerce.com system, they can revisit their clients with a powerful and inexpensive ecommerce solution. For lack of time, many online retailers will be looking to third-party providers to set it up. And because it is easy to set up, and low cost, it is win-win."
I recently was issued a speeding ticket in Virginia; I was on my way home from my grandmother's living "wake" with one thought on my mind -- go to the bathroom and get more coffee.
I was pulled over in clear weather and little traffic on I-95 for doing 84 in a 65. Long story short, when I went online to pay my ticket, I find that my speeding offense is a CRIMINAL CHARGE, a Class 1 Misdemeanor; actually called Reckless Driving. So let's see. That puts me in the same boat with those who have been charged with:
possession of marijuana
petty larceny (shoplifting)
assault and battery
stalking
bad checks
DUI (DWI) Drunk Driving
domestic assault
driving on a suspended license
Oh, and filing the serial number off a firearm.
Ok, so I have to admit -- my first reaction after the initial shock of being slapped with a criminal offense for this was:
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! Cracking down on speeders is one thing, but not applying the same standard across the board for other criminal offenses is hypocritical at best. I am a person who firmly believes in accepting responsibility for your actions and dealing with the consequences. If I made the choice to speed, then I should have to pay for it. However *screeech! * [works best if you think of the sound like a record needle being scraped across the vinyl... ]
However? There is no however. However is a copout. I made the choice to speed, I have deal with the consequences. Do you not have to obey the rules if you think they aren't fair? So you obey when it's convenient but not when you are looking forward to the French Vanilla creamer at the next TA Truck Stop?
How does this apply to business? Marketing? SEO? Customer service? Because you make choices. You make choices every day and you deal with the benefits of those choices. Longterm, choices become habits and habits govern our lives. Are your choices based on solid character or on a whim depending on which way the wind blows? How much do you really think about it when you press a little harder on the gas, or sleep just a little longer when you press the snooze four or five times, or when you skip your evening workout because you weren't working efficiently that day? Do you pick up the q-tip you tossed into the trash that didn't quite make it?
Think about it. Make your choice. Go in with your eyes wide open. Oh, and don't speed in Virginia or ... unless you are hunting raccoons before 2 a.m.
Just in the last couple of days I have read no less than three articles that all bring up something I have felt for a long time: Web professionals who refuse to update their skills and insist on using outdated methods can no longer be called web professionals.
Some will call me an elitist for saying that. But think about it. Why should web professionals not be required to know their craft? I find that attitude – which is held by many in the industry and by many more outside of it – insulting to those of us who work hard every day to keep up with current best practices.
I am very happy to see others voicing their opinions on this. Ian Lloyd has posted an interview with Andy Clarke at Accessify: . Here’s a quote that could have been from me:
There are now so many web sites, blogs or publications devoted to helping people learn standards and accessible techniques that there are now no excuses not to work with semantic code or
The gloves come off indeed. If you want to comment on that quote, hop on over to at And all that Malarkey.
I completely agree with what Andy says. There is no reason to call anyone who will not make an effort to keep their skills up-to-date a professional. Note that I’m pointing my finger at those who do not want to learn, not those who simply do not know any better, but are willing to learn about modern web design and development.
Molly E. Holzschlag follows up with , where she notes that:
The heart of the issue is simple: We must know our craft! And what we don’t know, we must be willing to say we don’t know and be open to learning
The key word for me here is craft. There are so many people working in the web industry that just don’t seem to care about what they do for a living. There are so many people that just do whatever it takes to muddle through or “get the job done”, which is a rather popular phrase used to defend outdated methods.
I don’t know everything about web development. Far from it. But when I don’t know something, I admit it and go looking for knowledge. Or ask someone who does know.
Finally there’s John Oxton, who delivers the following message in (certain words censored):
Phew - who knew that trying to make a few extra dollars from something you enjoy doing could be so much work?
My decision to start a web design business was not one that I took likely. My DB (dear boyfriend) has spent many hours listening to me bounce ideas off of him, and I'm sure he has had no clue what I'm talking about for the majority of the time. But to give him credit, he has done a terrific job of listening. Thanks, baby.
For all those who are thinking about starting their own web design business, I highly recommend buying this book at your local bookstore: . This book is the web design business bible. I picked up this book expecting to skim over it for ideas, and have wound up reading it word for word and taking diligent notes. Who knew I would still be taking notes after graduating college? I sure didn't.
Oh, I finally picked a name after weeks of agonizing brain storming - Jenni Rose Designs. I was initially trying to stay away from using my name, but everything else I came up with was either already taken or just didn't sound as good. Plus I am one of the lucky few who actually has a pretty middle name (and likes it!), so it works for me.
After picking a name, I immediately registered the domain and went through the process of having my awesome tech guy set me up with ftp access and email. And today, I slapped a "coming soon" graphic page up there so the process is coming along - ever so slowly, but progressing nonetheless.
I plan to finish Smith's book by the end of the week, and hopefully begin my self-training of Adobe Photoshop CS. I know the basics, but would love to understand it better before gaining clients. I purchased the monstrous book last week and skimmed over the first pages. I am definitely in for lots of hours of training. I may need to lock myself in the computer room in order to find that time. The Hands-On Training series of books are awesome if anyone is looking to learn a program. Months ago, I needed to learn Macromedia Dreamweaver quickly and purchased - what a life saver! They are a highly-recommended series of books.
