Hot summer updates!

Friday, July 30, 2010

As if Barcelona's (and Chicago's) sun wasn't hot enough, we managed to churn out some pretty hot updates of our own:

  • ConceptFeedback got feedback trifecta;
  • BisonOffice has it's product feed on Amazon.


ConceptFeedback's trifecta of feedback is finally complete with the latest addition of Expert Feedback. Expert Feedback gives you access to website reviews from a hand-selected panel of experts in the fields of design, usability and marketing. The process is simple: choose which areas you need feedback in, select how many experts you'd like in each category, and receive a detailed, professional critique.


  • Certified Experts - Hand-picked experts with proven experience and solid credentials
  • Educated Advice - Feedback based on time tested principles and real-world experience
  • Actionable Feedback - A concise written report with visual annotations
  • Satisfaction Guarantee - Great ideas to improve your website or your money back


Not to be outdone, BisonOffice managed to get it's product feed on amazon, rendering thousands (OK, a bit less) of orders the first day.

Who could have known that X-Acto X5082 Basic Knife Set with Wood Chest would be a bestseller? Probably something to do with Dexter Season 4 almost out on DVD. Or maybe that school starts soon...

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Google and DevBridge Sitting in a Tree

Monday, July 12, 2010

I’m just going to go out and say it – Google mentioned us on their code blog! Next up – we take over the world, turn all fast food restaurants into video game arcades! Since pigs aren’t flying just yet we’ll have to be satisfied with being mentioned by the organization we look up to as we toil away under the hot Chicago summer sun.

The post on Google code blog was about a component that Tomas (who has been absolutely annihilating me in chess) wrote, and I quote:

“The WebFont Loader was designed to make it easy to switch between different providers of web fonts, including Google, Typekit, and others. The Ascender module provides users of the FontsLive service with enhanced controls over how web fonts are handled by various browsers.

The WebFont Loader provides developers with advanced features to manage how web fonts behave, establish better consistency across all browsers and even set the fallback font size to more closely match the web font, so content doesn't reflow after loading.”


While all other creatures of any significant intellect are hiding in the shade or splashing in pools of cool water, DevBridge is pumping out code like it’s five dollars a gallon! AscenderFonts.com has received a bucket of new features that include sample text generator, product reviews, and product galleries uploaded by users. Morris launched GreenAkridge.com and missed the World Cup finals because he was busy visiting friends in the mountains! ConceptFeedback.com is launching Private Tools this week and Expert Feedback next week, spearheaded by Gedas as the developer. We are also nearing completion of the ServiceBridge project which will allow mobile technicians to use iPhones to interact with their ServiceCEO software. Ant last but not least, TripBaltic.com is going through final beta stages before the official launch – good work, Tim! As you can tell our development team is anything but slacking this fine summer month of July.



Speaking of slackers, Martin took a trip out to Lithuania in June and hosted a DevBridge developer get together at his father’s ranch. The rag tag bunch had all kinds of fun that’s considered illegal in most developed nations, such as throwing shiny spheres around, eating a whole leg of a pig, and relaxing in a “kubilas”, which is like a Jacuzzi except made out of wood and is usually filled with hairy men. Overall it was “great success” and it is sad that the American part of the company could not all be there.



Brilliant ideas are born out of necessity. Some smart man might have said that before or perhaps that isn’t really an accurate saying, but our new Tomas resolved an increasingly aggravating accumulation of unwashed cups in the office with a suggestion of ordering coffee mugs with employee names on them. My suspicions of rapidly replicating semi-intelligent cup infestation aside, a group of men computer developers simply do not possess the superpowers needed to battle disorder and lack of cleanliness. We created the cups and decided to make it a tradition which will record a little bit of history about the company with each release.

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