In a recent ad pushing Internet Explorer 8, Microsoft compares IE6 to nine year-old milk. And who wants to drink that?!?! 2010 definitely marks the year Web developers’ realized their dreams and IE6 was sacked. And that’s great news for Web site owners too. The current browsers (IE8, FireFox 3.6, Safari and Google Chrome) all render Web pages more reliably on screen, which means developers don’t have to create special tweaks and workarounds to get their web pages to look the same on multiple Web browsers. It also means there should be less calls and emails asking, “Why does my Web site look different on my computer running IE6 and the other one?” And, “What do I do if I can’t get my 3½” floppy disk to eject?” {I hate that one.}

The milk cartoon image you see at left is in transparent PNG format. That might not mean much to you, but to a Web developer trying to get it to display properly in IE6 it means a headache. Suffice it to say, transparent PNGs allow developers to craft graphic elements that smoothly lay atop others and look great because PNGs can consist of thousands of colors. In the olden days GIFs were used for this purpose and could only contain 256 colors (of which 216 we’re considered cross-browser and cross-platform “safe”).

Less work for the developer means less cost to the client, plain and simple. Clients can afford some additional interactive or Web 2.0 features, or that marketing money can go toward Search Engine Marketing (SEM) efforts like banner ad buys or Google AdWords.

A recent convergence of client concerns, and my niece heading off to college, prompts this post about Google Docs. The relevant questions I received included:

“What is this new .docx format and why can I only open it on my work computer?”

“Seriously Uncle Dan, do I really need to spend money now to buy to Microsoft Office 2007 ??? C’mon, it’s like 2010. WTF?!?!” {To my sister-in-law: “‘WTF’ means….errr…..’What time’sit in France?’”}

“I’m working for a virtual company and everyone works out of the house. How do we share documents easily?”

The elevator pitch on Google Docs is that it’s like having free, online copies of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and other apps that you can easily share with others. Sharing means collaborating and editing without emailing back-and-forth and potentially losing track of which version is which (“Do you have the new version or is at home on my hard drive?”).

Now you can even store documents of any file type in your Google Docs account and organize all files within folders. So if you’re a Realtor, for example, you could have one folder than has photos, a spreadsheet on mortgage loan options, a PDF with forms to sign, etc.

A good introduction is here on the official Google Docs blog »

360Village has launched a new web site for the Pleasant Hill Community Foundation, a non-profit charged with raising money for projects benefiting the Pleasant Hill, California community.

PHCF projects include recreation and park improvements, College Park High School contributions such as the football stadium scoreboard and hurdles for the track team, as well as scholarship and awards for public servants. The Foundation is supported by donations and their new web site makes it easy for people to contribute online via PayPal.


All web site design and development services, including professional photography, were donated by 360Village.

A mock funeral was held online recently by Web developers seeking the demise once and for all of Internet Explorer 6. The rightfully maligned Web browser is unfortunately still sucking in air thanks in large part to the proliferation of Windows XP. Since IE6 came with XP, and Microsoft screwed up with Windows Vista, many users are still running IE6 while they wait for others to suffer with early adoption of Windows 7. In other words, they might not upgrade to a new browser until they upgrade their operating system. Keep in mind that Web browsers are free to download and use, and there are several excellent choices for both Windows and Mac computers alike. Nonetheless IE6 installations are everywhere, especially in the corporate world, even though it was superseded by IE7 back in October 2006 and again by IE8 one year ago.

Small business owners need to be aware of what they’re paying for when it comes to Web site development services. Web developers may or may not pay attention to the functionality of the sites they build when it comes to older browsers. Depending on the features built into a site, some may not work as expected on older browsers. Small business owners need to put their Web developers on notice from the start as to the degree cross-browser (and cross-version) functionality is expected. Such enhanced performance of sites will likely come at a price and a seasoned Web professional should be able to help the business owner determine how to get the most bang for the buck.

360Village has launched a new web site for Diablo Hills Golf Course & Greenery Restaurant in Walnut Creek, California. The web site features professional photography to show potential golfers and diners the wonderful Robert Muir Graves golf course and the fantastic food served in the restaurant. Diablo Hills Golf Course is an ideal 360Village client in that they have a great product, outstanding service, and a need for outside assistance in showing it all off.

As a nine-hole golf course Diablo Hills is pretty unusual in that it’s a “full-fledged” golf course that just happens to have only nine holes. Most golfers have come to accept that nine-hole golf courses are no comparison to the front or back nine at an 18-hole facility. San Francisco Bay Area nine-hole golf courses are frequently less than challenging. Diablo Hills Golf Course is on par with its 18-hole cousins in that it has multiple par four holes and even a par 5. Holes are challenging with multiple bunkers, especially the finishing hole. It’s definitely one of the Bay Area’s hidden golf gems. Check out the photography, and definitely the Interactive Golf Course Map on their web site.

Kobe Japan Restaurant contracted with 360Village to launch the web site for their new Sushi, Steakhouse, Sports Bar Restaurant in Pleasant Hill, California. Kobe Japan’s owners spent a good deal of time and money creating a beautiful, inviting atmosphere and needed an end-to-end solution to show it off online.

360Village photographed both the restaurant itself and many of the outstanding dishes along with one of their teppanyaki (hibachi) chefs in action preparing a meal on the grill. The web site puts the bulk of the photographs right on the homepage via a scrolling gallery that gives users the option of enlarging the photos. The design is completely inspired by Kobe Japan’s logo, which was created prior to the web site project getting started. The logo’s “wave” element was translated into the background of the top header graphic to give the user a subtle sense of being underwater. The wave was then excised from the logo and used elsewhere on the web site as a standalone graphic design element. 360Village utilized a popular third-party “lightbox” script to present the enlarged versions of the photographs in a professional manner. Such third-party scripts are not only low-cost or free to utilize, but their plug-in-play implementation saves clients considerable expense.

In cases where a businesses services are pretty obvious and don’t need a lot of explaining (e.g., a restaurant) the use of professional photography to tell the story is strategic and highly effective.

Visit their web site at KobeJapanRestaurant.com and prepare to get hungry!

360Village has completed an Interactive Guide to the Mount Diablo State Park featuring 360° virtual tours, photos and a live Google Map base. The Mount Diablo Interpretive Association (MDIA), a non-profit park advocacy group, hired 360Village to photograph key features of the park such as the Summit Museum, picnic areas and campgrounds, and customize a Google Map to display the information.

Those planning visits to Mount Diablo State Park can easily identify the two major routes to the north and south entrances as well as points of interest. It’s hoped that the Interactive Guide can benefit visitors coming to the Park from outside the area and local residents who will likely find there is much more to explore in the park than they realize.

      Client’s site: Mount Diablo Interpretive Association

      Project site: Mount Diablo State Park Interactive Guide

360Village is doing more videos for small businesses to showcase their services on the Web. Dunn Company came to 360Village to get help marketing their concrete demolition services, both in print and online. 360Village shot video at a recent project site where Dunn removed an old swimming pool, concrete block retaining wall, and a tile patio with cover. Adding a simple voiceover with company founder David Dunn completed the project and created a very effective selling tool for Dunn Company.

The video is hosted by YouTube for strategic reasons: (1) YouTube handles the bandwidth and keeps the Dunn Company web site from getting bogged down with viewers; (2) YouTube is able to measure bandwidth of individual users and stream video to them at the appropriate quality/compression so that iPhone users on a 3G networks get a lower quality video than those with a wired broadband connection; (3) by adding tags and a keyword-laden description to the video, people searching videos on YouTube and the web will find the footage more readily.

You can watch the demolition in action on Dunn Company’s YouTube Channel »

360Village has launched an Interactive Guide for the City of Dublin, California showcasing its many public art installations. The guide features a customized Google Map (a.k.a. a Mashup) showing the art locations and then provides still photos and/or Total 360° images of the pieces. Still photos were then combined with a professional voiceover and presented in video format. Customizing a Google Map and using still photos to produce a video keeps costs low, expedites completion and makes for an entertaining user experience.

Check it out on the City of Dublin Web Site »

Thanks to those of you who attended today’s Brown Bag Lunch sponsored by the Pleasant Hill Chamber of Commerce. I was able to cover a lot of ground in terms of Online Marketing topics in a relatively short amount of time. Please feel free to contact me with follow-up questions and feel free to download PDF copy of the presentation to review at your leisure.