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Could .XXX domains hurt your brand?

Tue, 10/18/2011 - 10:45 -- by The Queen Bee

The upcoming launch of the .XXX top level domains may be a boon for those in the adult entertainment industry, but it could prove to be a potential headache for those who are not. The possibility that someone could pickup microsoft.xxx or google.xxx and then abuse the existing brand is very real. Fortunately for these mega-corporations, they are protected under a special "Sunrise" clause. As holders of US Federal Trademarks they can block the purchase of their brand-based .XXX domains.

But what about the rest of us?

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Why RFPs are (mostly) Evil

Mon, 10/17/2011 - 09:26 -- by The Queen Bee

Does RFP stand for 'Request for Proposal', or 'Request for Pain'?

I'll start off by saying that I get it. I understand why RFPs exist. In theory, they are useful tools for ensuring that only qualified vendors apply and that they are all telling their stories in a uniformly understandable fashion. But in practice, they are evil time sucking devices that cause vendors (and clients) to waste huge amounts of time, and cause clients to choose vendors based on the wrong criteria (i.e. price). Not all RFPs are this evil, but about 99% are, at least in the web development world.

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Incredible new iPhone Features!

Tue, 10/04/2011 - 11:00 -- by The Queen Bee

Today Apple is hosting a press conference to talk iPhone. Presumably they will be announcing the new iPhone 5 and perhaps an upgraded version of the iPhone 4. By the time this article is published, all will be known. But talking about things that are based on fact are not nearly as entertaining as those that are based purely on speculation and conjecture.

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Google+ For Business

Thu, 09/15/2011 - 07:00 -- by The Queen Bee

There are probably a million other posts out there telling you what Google+ is and how to use it. In fact, I just searched "google+" on Google and it shows over 14 Billion results. At the end of this post you will find some links to articles where the authors have done a great job explaining what Google+ is.

My focus will be on my impression of Google+ and its features and what application Google+ has for you; the wonderful local businesses of Calgary.

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Copy and Paste Copyright Infringement

Tue, 08/16/2011 - 08:21 -- by The Queen Bee

There was a website that popped up in Italy in 2009 that looked suspiciously like our own. Same 'grunge' background, same menu, same CSS... heck, it was our website. This site was in Italian only and promoted tourism to a local ski hill. The lazy purveyors of the site had simply "leeched" our site, and changed content. Ridiculous.

So how did we find out about this? Google Analytics.

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Gamification; the hot new trend

Mon, 05/30/2011 - 14:31 -- by The Queen Bee

Ever heard of gamification? If not, don't fret, as you're not alone. It's an emerging trend in the world of programming and development. In its simplest terms, gamification is the use of game play mechanics for non-game applications. It is making applications function and behave similar to video games. The thinking behind this is that it gets and keeps consumers more engaged.

To further explain it, here are a few examples:

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Inaugural Speaker Series Event

Mon, 05/30/2011 - 14:16 -- by The Queen Bee

We are proud to announce the first in hopefully a long line of Speaker Series events. These free events are designed to be quick, informal, lunch hour training sessions. Topics will include sales and marketing, entrepreneurship, human resources, emerging technologies, and more. These sessions are informal and highly educational. Lunch is included, and networking is, of course, encouraged.

The topic for our first session will be "Third Generation Marketing", and our presenter will be Greg Williamson. Here's a quick overview of Greg's presentation:

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