ThickToast ~ a newsletter about our experiences with 37Signals software

Fix for Treacle

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 17:29:33 +1100

If you are a user of Treacle, the BaseCamp to SQL Server backup utility, use the following link to find Garry's email address and he will send you a scrip to allow you to link Comments to Milestones and ToDo items. The script changes the Comments table.

Databases In The Cloud

Tue, 3 Mar 2009 09:08:04 +1100

Here are two news topics related to the availability of relational databases in the cloud and one of the stories is from Microsoft and the other is about virtual MySQL databases.

The Story of BaseCamp

Thu, 5 Feb 2009 09:28:09 +1100

We use Basecamp for our projects, it is a no fuss program that doesnt change much. Here is the story.

Amazon SimpleDB

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 08:44:45 +1100

Interesting perspective on Amazon SimpleDB product, I thought the same when looking at this space a while back

Cleaning Up Your Web Pages with Expression Web

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 14:33:36 +1100

In this video, I show you how expression web can cleanup the messy code on your website.

Steve Ballmer on Microsoft in the Clouds and the Next Version of Windows

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 08:26:16 +1100

Microsoft is getting much more focused on the online environment, here is what their boss has to say about it.

LinkedIn Group For Basecamp Managers

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 08:23:30 +1100

I have setup a LinkedIn group where Basecamp Managers can link up. Search LinkedIn.com groups for BaseCamp.

Garry

Executives Of Large Companies Are Sharing the Same Enthusiasm

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 10:24:18 +1100

Article on cloud computing and its pitfalls and an interesting legal note on LinkedIn and contact detail ownership.

Microsoft Web Services Tool

Fri, 8 Aug 2008 09:09:20 +1100

My MaxOut blog has a link to a video on Sharepoint Designer. There are details on using Web Services as a data source in this new tool.

A Letter About Cloud Computing

Thu, 3 Jul 2008 17:05:34 +1100

Do you care about cloud computing?

To The Editor

I am an Access MVP and have written/helped with 100s of Access databases for clients. When I started managing other Access developers all of whom had their own laptops and houses, my own business world disintegrated into an Outlook muddle and things like timesheets became critical and rarely arrived on time. So I went looking for a cloud solution and struck on basecamphq.com. It was so easy, up and running in an hour. My developers up and running on new projects even faster than that. Compare that to setting up terminal server which is a whole lot of work and then you have to convince people to log in through a firewall and the email model really sucks. So I love cloud computing for my own business and I am sure that others who try will too. But there is a downside, customisation is real tricky. So yes I agree, the clouds are approaching fast but once in the cloud, your business better fit the model or you are not going to be able to fine tune your business model at all and that wastes any savings that you might make. Garry

Web 2 Security Session

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 06:13:29 +1100

This webcast will focus on Web 2.0 technologies, understanding the risks involved, and steps to eliminate or mitigate the risks and securely leverage Web 2.0 to find and retain customers, and drive business.

That All Elusive Piece of Information

Thu, 5 Jun 2008 19:10:58 +1100

I was asked the other day about the search engine that popped up in the middle of my screen by magic (I pressed the Ctrl key twice). Here is a little bit of information about that tool "I use google on the web but more often I now use google desktop to find information on my computer . Things like what did I last type to someone, where is invoice xxx, did I save something about YYY for future reference. These searches are instant and they include searching emails without opening Outlook and I can read the answers without opening outlook. If I cant find it on my computer, I then search web from the same google interface. All in all its a masterful knowledge base tool.

Office Live

Mon, 12 May 2008 20:35:53 +1100

Share your documents online, create lists and tasks in an environment that seems to integrate readily with Microsoft Office. Yes its office live and it should be reviewed in any online sharing scenario.

Updating Data "In the Cloud" ~ Part 1

Tue, 6 May 2008 16:31:52 +1100

In this article for DatabaseJournal, I describe how you can use an Access Database and VBA to manipulate a Web 2 application called Highrise, a customer relationship management (CRM) tool from the highly successful Web2 company, 37Signals.com

Programming Web2

Fri, 2 May 2008 08:49:51 +1100

Interesting article on programming in the Clouds

Google Yanks its new Campfire Product

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 15:13:10 +1100

After complaints from 37 Signals, Google Aps withdrew a product that looked like 37Signals campfire product.

ThickToast is included on the Basecamp Extras page

Thu, 28 Feb 2008 10:59:39 +1100

Thicktoast, our product line for processing Basecamp XML exports is now being shown on the basecamp extras page.

Gubb ~ A Web site that specializes in lists

Sat, 9 Feb 2008 17:59:11 +1100

If you want to make lists with dates, this may help you out. The Application Programming Interface looks pretty good to. The linked page shows the features of this free web service.

Basecamp has 2 million users not 1 million as stated.

Wed, 6 Feb 2008 14:34:31 +1100

This and other very positive feedback on Basecamp 4th birthday page. Also some great shots of the original interface. Neat to notice an application where the UI gets easier rather than harder.

FogBugz

Fri, 1 Feb 2008 08:00:22 +1100

An interesting online project management solution for software developers.

HighRise ~ First Impressions

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 10:30:31 +1100

Just started using Highrise an hour or so ago and well it is very easy to use. Initially the fact that tasks are not based purely on specific dates is really neat ie Next Week, Later on. See http://www.highrisehq.com/help/tasks/#recurring_tasks
I also like the way that you can email to Highrise and it will setup a contact for you.

On the negative I am not sure that I like the fact that you will have contacts both in Outlook and Highrise and Basecamp as well. Spreading stuff around is always fraught with danger.

Lets see how I like it in a week or two but the good news is that you don't need to enter your credit card to try it out and you will arrive at a first conclusion in an hour or so.

One Week Later
I am really enjoying the Highrise tasks setup, my focus on customer relations (CRM) is improving from the Outlook tasks and Calendar approach. The key to this is having at least two Internet home pages, one of which is Highrise as this forces me to have a look. There is also an email that arrives at the the start of the day to tell me about my tasks.

How to setup projects

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 08:43:03 +1100

BC user asked "It doesn’t seem to be possible to create subprojects. For instance, we have a large conference we organize, but then have separate topics with different contractors – marketing, content, etc. Right now they appear to all need to be individual projects to keep contractors in their portals and not on the rest of it, correct? But then you can’t track it all under one project heading.

Garry's Answer This may help a little. In your main dashboard, projects are currently sorted as follows

My Company (This is ones without a primary company)
ProjectD
ProjectE

Company NameA
ProjectA
ProjectB

Company NameA
ProjectF
ProjectH

So we name our projects as follows (and local machine folders)

My Company (This is ones without a primary company)
Proj03
Proj04

Company X
Proj01
Proj02

Company Y
Proj05
Proj06

c:\vb123\proj01
c:\vb123\proj02
c:\vb123\proj03
c:\vb123\proj04
c:\vb123\proj05
c:\vb123\proj06

Garry Robinson
MS Access MVP
http://www.thicktoast.com (to see your basecamp on your PC)

DryToast now has multirow viewers for Basecamp

Tue, 15 Jan 2008 19:57:28 +1100

Drytoast will now has easy viewers for the data that you have downloaded. This will allow you to copy and paste multiple rows, create filters to help searching and other things that you find hard to do online. There are also easy hyperlinks so that you can get to the correct online tabs once you identify something that needs tending to. See link for a picture.

DryToast now loads XML backup from Zip file

Tue, 15 Jan 2008 19:57:28 +1100

Drytoast will now unpack the zip file that packages the XML backup from Basecamp and loads it into your Access 2002+ database. The link shows you a picture of this.

When you download from basecamp, do you have problems saving the file in the correct location

Fri, 11 Jan 2008 18:17:50 +1100

When you download from basecamp using Internet Explorer, do you have problems saving the file in the correct location. This article from Microsoft explains how to fix that problem.

Also I found that I can save a step in saving the files from basecamp by putting shortcuts to the folders on the desktop.

How we use Basecamp from 37Signals to run our software business

Fri, 11 Jan 2008 10:34:16 +1100

A year ago I decided that it was time to crank the business up a bit and start using more contractors. When the work starting rolling in thanks to my more pro active marketing, so did the emails and files and the time sheets came in different forms. Quickly I felt like I was losing touch with my clients and projects and the Inbox took far too long to organize. Here is the story about how we used BaseCamp to help out...