Community

We've been pretty busy with a couple of big projects. One spins off websites for a local provider of branded sites for clients throughout the US. Another is involved with Drupal theme integration and infrastructure architecture for a large design firm in a nearby state. (An agreement won't let us divulge too much online on this last one. Drop a line if you'd like more detail.)

Also, just wanted to send out some love to our favorite Drupal Host: Hot Drupal. Check out this email they recently sent out about their green hosting. We love their service and philosophy. Also, they compare quite well to some of the bigger boys who host Drupal for some of the larger projects we're working on. Keep up the great work Steve and Brian.

Holistic Solutions, Inc.
Dear Customers,

It's been a while since we have sent out any e-mails with news and updates. We wanted to send out a quick note on two items.

First it's been almost a year since we moved into our new offices in downtown Asheville. We're happy to say with three months left on our lease we are looking into options for a larger office space elsewhere in downtown Asheville! This is very exciting for us. Things are going well.

Second, for the last six months or so in place of buying carbon offsets we are now purchasing renewable energy offsets for the power we use for our servers. It's mildly more expensive than carbon offsets but we think renewable power is a better option than carbon offsets and presents less problems. The company we use avoids large hydro-electric due to the controversies surrounding it.

That is all.

As always, Thank You!

Holistic Solutions // HotDrupal

Speak out for the free and open internet!

Take action to keep the internet free and open. Google and Wikipedia among many others who pride themselves on providing free and open content are against the SOPA and PIPA legislation in their present form. Did you catch Wikipedia and Google blacked out?

See more details on SOPA at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:SOPA_initiative/Learn_more (which is not blacked out) and on PIPA at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PROTECT_IP_Act. See the inside conversation in the Drupal world at http://drupal.org/search/apachesolr_multisitesearch/sopa. We urge you to contact your representatives and make your opposition to this legislation known. Making your view known to Patrick Leahy might be helpful as he's one of the lead sponsors of PIPA.

I spoke to one of Leahy's staffers today and he told me that he didn't know why Google and Wikipedia were blacked out. He said PIPA would only effect overseas companies. After looking at the PIPA bill more closely and research on Wikipeida it appears he's wrong:

Search engines—such as Google—would be ordered to "(i) remove or disable access to the Internet site associated with the domain name set forth in the [court] order; or (ii) not serve a hypertext link to such Internet site."

See the detail in the bill at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PROTECT_IP_Act#cite_note-13, etc. Think of how much work it would be for Google or any hosting service (GoDaddy, HotDrupal, 1and1, your_host_here) to pore through all their content and remove links to "rogue sites."

Also see http://www.savetheinternet.com/pipa-whiplist for PIPA supporters and the lowdown from the Huffington Post.

Just put in place a server with a Linux Debian base system with a Koha library system installed for the Pringle Herbarium at UVM. This work is part of the Tryon Library at the herbarium.

On the right, see the Tryon's in this great shot from the 1950s with their cat Boriwog at the Missouri Botanical Gardens.

I was happy to work with Dr. Michael Sundue on this project. He will be maintaining and configuring the library system and populating the library with all the great unique publications that the herbarium has to offer.

This is a great example of Open Source in action:

• Solid Debian Linux base system
• Robust Koha Integrated Library System
• Cooperation between Academia and Unix/Linux
• Sharing Academic resources through the Tryon Library

This solution gives the Library a solid base to build on and expand and it keeps their costs low. It allows them to handle things themselves and they can always call for support if they need it. Libraries are some of the oldest Open Source institutions out there and we're happy to be a small part of this project. Go Pteridophytes!

You can lead a horse to water ...

With Google Analytics, you can see if the horse got to the water. You can't see if they drank ;-) I recently was looking over an Analytics report for a client who runs a farm with a CSA (community supported agriculture program). They're trying to get people to sign up for their CSA for this season. I helped them with a few formatting details as they fine tuned the page describing their CSA offering for this season. They've been busy this winter updating their website with all the cool and unique things they're doing at their farm.

Check out their traffic spike day after the Farmer's Market:

The details will remain confidential, but the relative spike is clear. What does this mean? It means they got a big jump in visitors on the Sunday after the Farmer's Market. They were handing out flyers with their website URL at the market. Analytics also shows they got lots of traffic to the page describing their CSA offering. This is the horse coming to the water.

The website can't sell a CSA share, but it can definitely give potential customers more information and tell them what differentiates you from the other guy. In Face to Face Burlington, it's the Farmer that will sell the share (or not).

The website can help the horse appreciate how cool and refreshing the water is, but it can't make him drink.

I'm at DrupalCon Chicago with about 3000 other Drupaleros. Had to drive through the big storm on Monday to get to Albany first! It was quite an adventure. The Chicago architecture is awesome: cutting edge design from the 1920s that still is stunning.

Great party last night at the Field Museum. Check out the Drupal crowd hanging out with Sue the Trex.

Drupal is alive and well. More DrupalCon attendees, more sponsors, more exhibitors, more growth. There's lots of excitement about Drupal in mobile devices, HTML 5, Drupal 7 and much more.

I saw my old friend Ryan, who is now helping run Commerce Guys: http://www.commerceguys.com/. I remeber meeting Ryan some years ago when he was building an ecommerce system part time for his boss, a refridgerator salesman. This system went on to become http://ubercart.org. He's come a long way since then. He now jets back and forth to Paris to meet with investors! You gotta love the power of Drupal and Ryan's hard work and big smile.

I got a great walk up Mount Royal in early this morning. Saw the sun rise over Montreal as jogger sand bikers jogged and rode by. It was a good way to start the day with some fresh air before a lot of hacking and sitting and listening to presentations.

Great keynote by Walkah on the open web. There are about 300 people in attendance.

Drupal is alive and well and the community is strong. See all the details on Montreal DrupalCamp at http://www.drupalcampmontreal.com/.

I was sorting through a list of cards while cleaning out my wallet and came across Nicko's card. Nicko runs East Hill Tree Farm in Plainfield. Check out http://easthilltreefarm.com/ for a great simple site with some super design elements.

The logo and graphics in the block print style fit perfectly with Nicko's focus: "to reestablish the garden of Eden." The site communicates clearly. It has directions to the nursery prominently featured on all pages. The main navigation elements are simple and uncluttered.

The Old Spokes Home is a great old bike shop in Burlington's Old North End. We are proud to announce that we just went live with their new web site! Check out http://oldspokeshome.com for the new Old Spokes Home online.

The OSH has lots of great new and old bikes on display in the shop. They do great custom work on new and old bikes. The new website highlights some of the incredible museum pieces that the OSH has. I think they're the most extensive bike museum in the Northeast.

The OSH had a nice website before we did the overhaul. The new site has more graphic flair than the old site, maintains the unique antique look and feel, but also has space for the new and updated material. The new site is also simpler than the old and should navigate more smoothly for site visitors.

It's been a pleasure working with Glenn and Chris on the website and we'll make sure it serves them well into the future. Swing by and check out the bikes and the shop!

Found this gem on the VAGUE list. If you're interested in Open Source in VT. Check out their site and get on their mailing list.

I think RMS looks really sweet in this picture. Anybody who's met him in real life knows he's not always so mild mannered. He's an Open Source revolutionary. What can you expect? Is it just me or does he look like Jesus? Check out his online personal at http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/bos/533096562.html

Also on the VAGUE list "Open Source Software and Open Standards Policy and Guidelines" for the State of Vermont (see attachment!). In these times of economic crisis could the state be coming to its senses?? Open Sourcers rejoice!

Progressive Party candidate Emma Mulvaney-Stanak won the Ward 2 election in Burlington last year!

We helped Emma get a site up quickly that communicates her message well, lays out her platform and allows others to get involved and contribute. Working with Emma's campaign team in a fast and efficient manner, we sketched out a Drupal site for Emma and trained her team on how to update the site and add new information easily. The site helps Emma communicate clearly and readily and get her message out to voters and supporters.