Today is BlogDay, a fun exercise where bloggers around the world post an entry recommending 5 blogs. A great way to share new experiences.

Here are 5 of my favorites:

I love Stop Motion (ilovestopmotion.org): Simple and clean way to watch some of the greatest Stop Motion videos created out there.

Robert Scoble’s Blog (scobleizer.com): One of the most informative sources of technology and entrepreneurship activity out there, especially in the Silicon Valley area.

Smashing Magazine (smashingmagazine.com): Are you a digital designer looking for inspiration? This one’s for you.

37Signals’ Blog (37signals.com/svn): 37Signals is a Web company from Chicago with a very focused point of view, always making the Web a better place by sharing ideas and experiences on their blog.

Toni Mascaró’s Blog (tonimascaro.com): Innovation, marketing, and so much more from this entrepreneur in Barcelona.

One more thing… if you are in Palma de Mallorca or plan to visit soon, check out Cafe y Más (cafeymas.net) to find out about some of the best hidden cafe spots in the city. You won’t regret it.

Happy Blog Day!

When IB3 first contacted me about recording this we needed to come up with a location, and I’d like to thank Andreu Llabrés for letting us borrow the very same room where we first recorded the 24 hour Timelapse of Palma de Mallorca’s Bay video. What better location to talk about timelapse than this one (it certainly beats the views from my office).

Big thanks to Maribel Rincón for some great photos from the interview.

I made the switch to Google Apps a few years ago, and even though it’s still missing a few “power-user” features I became used to with Microsoft Outlook and the Office Suite, I’ve never looked back. I’ve even helped and supported many of my corporate clients to make the switch as well, and have yet to come across anyone within their quarters who missed Outlook enough to switch back. On the contrary, most comments I hear are about praise to the efficiency and mobility they gained in their work.

What caught my attention about this letter is how well thought out is their approach. First there was an official Blog post about it, and now this letter (I included the full version below) stating clearly why they are doing it, when it’s happening and which Applications are being affected. I also like the fact that they are providing a note within their apps for users of these older browsers, so that they are reminded of the change.

As we move forward with innovation in the Web industry (and we do it fast!), most of us will be faced with similar situations, and as much as we believe in the innovation, it is still important that we take our users and customers into consideration. Not every one is as fast at keeping up with the pace for multiple reasons, and we need to ease them into change and show them how to do it. This way we avoid facing rejection or losing customers.

Here’s the full letter in case you’d like to read it:

Dear Google Apps admin,​

In order to continue to improve our products and deliver more sophisticated features and performance, we are harnessing some of the latest improvements in web browser technology. This includes faster JavaScript processing and new standards like HTML5. As a result, over the course of 2010, we will be phasing out support for Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 as well as other older browsers that are not supported by their own manufacturers.

We plan to begin phasing out support of these older browsers on the Google Docs suite and the Google Sites editor on March 1, 2010. After that point, certain functionality within these applications may have higher latency and may not work correctly in these older browsers. Later in 2010, we will start to phase out support for these browsers for Google Mail and Google Calendar.

Google Apps will continue to support Internet Explorer 7.0 and above, Firefox 3.0 and above, Google Chrome 4.0 and above, and Safari 3.0 and above.

Starting this week, users on these older browsers will see a message in Google Docs and the Google Sites editor explaining this change and asking them to upgrade their browser. We will also alert you again closer to March 1 to remind you of this change.

In 2009, the Google Apps team delivered more than 100 improvements to enhance your product experience. We are aiming to beat that in 2010 and continue to deliver the best and most innovative collaboration products for businesses.

Thank you for your continued support!

Sincerely,

The Google Apps team
Google Inc.
1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
Mountain View, CA 94043

Have you “gone Google”? What do you think of their approach?

Here’s a quick and useful compilation of the best articles that I found this past week.

Note that this is only a very small selection of the links I shared online and the best way to keep track of all of them is simply to follow me on Twitter: @franklintello

What’s next in Web Design

The Maturation of Social Media ROI

HD Timelapse tour of Vancouver City

How to Better Engage Facebook Fan Page ‘Fans’

Google Is Changing And It Will Affect Your Site

First Impressions of the New Apple iPad

Creating a Web App from scratch

No More Websites. Only Publishers

50+ Beautiful Websites with Great Colour Schemes

Tour of Madrid in 3D with Google Earth

Want to see more interesting links? No problem! Keep track of what I share online by following me at @franklintello

I care about a clean energy future and as Google says it best, “this is a commitment that starts at home”.

Now, I am convinced that there are many issues and reasons why we should pay more attention to our environment, and in the process help to preserve what we have. As a photographer I love nature and snapping photos of the beautiful places our planet has, but this is not the only reason for me personally. As a business owner, I am also forced to look after the financial benefits of every step we take in business, and here’s what I’d like to share with the business owners who believe being sustainable is just for hippies: if you become greener and make clean energy one of your top priorities in your business strategy, you can become even more profitable than you are today.

Gone are the days where looking into clean energy initiatives was innovating. There are multiple technologies today that can help you find ways to become more efficient and they are here to stay.

I’ve had the pleasure of working with some of the most clean energy conscious businesses over the past few weeks in Europe, especially in Germany where it’s become a top priority for the government, and I have seen up close the financial benefits adopting these initiatives has brought each of these businesses, not to mention how much better they all sleep at night.

There is still much to be done in this area in Europe and the rest of the world, and I personally invite you to take a minute to research what you can do in your business to reduce your carbon footprint, or simply look for ways to become more energy efficient in your office. This is an area where even the smallest of efforts matter, such as changing your light bulbs for more efficient ones, or improving the insulation of your building/home. And don’t just do it because it feels right. Do it because it also makes sense from a business standpoint.

Today is Blog Action Day and the theme is Climate Change. It’s a great initiative and I am glad to see so many bloggers around the world participating, in addition to some of the largest media companies getting involved as well.

I personally am committed to riding my bike more often to get around town, as well as helping people understand how they can improve the quality of both their personal and business lives by becoming more energy efficient. Also, in my businesses, I am making a commitment to work exclusively with like minded people and businesses who also do their part in cutting their carbon footprint down as much as possible. It starts with us individually, but it’s as a group that we can really accomplish something great in our future.

Here are a couple of videos that I hope you enjoy.
 

 

 
Thank you for the ear time and tell me what you think about all this.

-Franklin

1. Be helpful: We all have problems, and if you can stop for a moment and listen to your customers and approach them with solutions, they’ll be grateful and remember you for it.

2. Extraordinary Customer Service: I know it’s been said before, but this time, get everyone in your company involved. Make it a personal goal of every department. If you are remarkable in the quality of your customer service, you will earn the respect and appreciation of your customers, and next time they need anything, they’ll think of you first.

3. Forget about Marketing. I know it sounds crazy, but please just bear with me for a moment. There are too many companies out there wasting their money on ads, when they would be better off focusing that effort and money on developing relationships with their customers, in reaching out to them, and in being helpful. The fact is that if you do what I’ve listed here today, you won’t have to do any marketing. Your customers will do it for you. And in today’s world, that’s more powerful than any ad campaign.

Thank you for listening, and please get in touch with me and let me know what you think. Until next time,

-Franklin