I realize that, since a pretty good portion of the people who come here are web-designer-types, this graph doesn’t really represent the population at large:

But in any case, it’s refreshing to see such a high percentage of visitors using Firefox.

If you’re still using Explorer, find out why I like Firefox better.

Note: The above image is from my beloved MeasureMap.

A very belated welcome to the Godbit Project!

Godbit is all about shining the spotlight on great church and Christian websites. It’s an awesome idea – let’s show the world that church websites aren’t all crummy. In fact, there are some really great ones out there that we can throw the spotlight on.

Godbit is the brainchild of Nathan Smith of SonSpring Design. Nathan has done an enormous amount of work to advance the quality of design and marketing in the field of Christian ministry, and it was an honor to be asked by Nathan to be one of the contributing authors for the Godbit Project.

If you haven’t already, go check out the Godbit Project.

Seriously, it’s ridiculous. I should stop. I’m checking my MeasureMap account about every half-hour now. Not only is it useful, it’s nice to look at too. And easy! Look how they present the information in a way that makes a whole ton of sense:

I have been very impressed with MeasureMap. It’s not even released yet, but it’s already everything I need for keeping knowledgeable about traffic to my blog. And so easy to use and understand!

We also use Google Analytics, which provides an incredible amount of information, but I still find myself checking MeasureMap more often than I should. It’s just that useful.

What do you do when you get in a design rut?

Rob Soulé is talking about this in a very helpful article over at Godbit.

A while back Garret Dimon posted a great article about how to receive inspiration from design without ending up copying it. It’s an awesome idea – you just take mini-screenshots of bits and pieces of design that you like, and paste them into a collage. I’ve been using this method successfully for a while now. Not only is it fun to do, but you end up with some cool collages.

Here’s one that I recently did for a design:

One of my favorite books is by my old teacher Dr. Henry Cloud, author of the Boundaries series.

Dr. Cloud’s “Principle 5: Act Like an Ant” basically boils down to this: successful people are able to keep the big picture in the back of their mind while focusing on the next step that is before them. It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the scope of what you’re trying to accomplish, like an ant undertaking the building of an anthill. But go to work on just what is next, just what you can carry, and it comes together piece by piece.

I love the passage in Luke 4:43 where Jesus says “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.” What’s fascinating to me is that here is Jesus, the Son of God, the guy who changed the world, and he’s focusing on just “the other towns”. Taking things one step at a time – acting like an ant. It’s a great lesson when things start getting overwhelming. There really isn’t anything you can do that is much more effective than to just concentrate on the next important task.

Finally… a Ruby on Rails conference! Check out RailsConf 2006 In case you’re wondering, Rails is the stuff we’re using to make CrossConnector.

I’m also going to be at South by Southwest in Austin in March. Get in touch if you’re planning to be there too!

Well, I finally bit the bullet and upgraded to Tiger. Why, you say?

Well, it turns out CrossConnector is going to be running on an Apple Xserve, and I wanted to make sure we have everything up-to-date when the big day comes.

We’re excited to announce the launch of the brand new Neighborhood Homework House website!

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It’s always a nice boost when people you respect recognize a project that you’ve worked hard on. Our Covina Vineyard project (which we did work hard on, boy I tell you what) was recently featured in several graphic design websites:

• Godbit
• CSS Beauty
• CSS Mania

We were so sad to hear of Peter Drucker’s passing. Peter Drucker was undoubtedly the most influential figure in business in the 20th Century, though most of his writings were decades ahead of their time. Peter Drucker has been an inspiration to me, and I am grateful for his life, his teachings, and the profound wisdom that he leaves behind. He will be missed.

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Are we being disruptive?

I sure hope so. Back in October Mike Rundle talked about the power of disruption in his article Show Me Disruptive Startups. Am I just trying to rock the boat and disrupt everyone’s day? Not exactly.

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