SWG Goes to Google

Super Web Group spent the evening of April 27th at Google Learning about how they’re using a controversial programming language called AJAX.

There has been a lot of talk recently (among programmers) about AJAX. It’s a programming language that consists of JavaScript, XML and DHTML and has been around for a while but is finding new favor among cutting edge companies, such as Google.

If AJAX takes off and browser and server protocols are standardized in a way that makes it an easily testable, secure and browser-compatible language, it will change your web experience 110%. The main benefit of AJAX web applications is that they make asynchronous calls to the server, which creates a more seamless and exciting web experience. That means the application back-fills information and basically breaks the browser window into components.

Traditionally, when a browser open’s a web page, it calls one static HTML page of information from the server. This has been referred to as load time. With AJAX applications, many little calls are made at various times as a visitor interacts with a web page so that it feels as if there is no load time for a more seamless experience.

The downside is that AJAX basically makes the browser do things that it wasn’t really intended to do - it pushes the medium. And, the medium pushes back.

One of the biggest differences between an AJAX application and most poplar web applications is that it is a client-side dominant application. What this means is that first it downloads the entire application to your desktop and stays open to receive and send information. While having an application on your harddrive makes for smoother transitions, it poses security risks because it's hard to validate senders/receivers due to its asynchronous model.

And, as we know, client side applications are plagued by incompatibility because there is no way, currently, to standardize browser protocols.

Finally, the whole application has to be very carefully and painstakingly tested for each component on each page to assure that the narrowly defined audience of browser it’s targeting will actually be able to process the application.

As with any fun and interesting web application, it will exclude the majority and only work for a slim minority of web browser and platform configurations. Also, IE and Netscape, Mozilla, FireFox, AOL and other browsers are slow to make updates to accommodate the latest technology, so for those reasons mentioned above, we’re sticking with Microsoft’s ASP/.NET just a little bit longer.

2006 Kitsap Small Business Conference How to Succeed in Business was a Success!

If KCCDC hadn’t put fliers out at WSTPA’s monthly meeting, I might have missed a jewel of a conference. Imagine this, you’re a small business owner looking for financing only to be asked by Joan Broughton of Evergreen Community Development to explain why to representatives of Washington Mutual, Kitsap County Community Development Corporation (KCCDC), and Community Capital Development. You’d probably do what I did and quickly gather your thoughts and then tell your business’ story and what you hoped to achieve with financing.

What happened next, after my 15 minute breathless monologue was even better, each representative gave me his or her feedback – a dream come true for a small business owner. How often do you have access to let alone the undivided attention of respected professionals, such as Robert Watson from Washington Mutual, Roland Chaiton from Community Capital Development, Joan Davis from KCCDC/Washington Mutual, and Joan Broughton from Evergreen Community Development, among others? Died and gone to heaven.

I don’t know how many conferences you’ve been to, but I have never gotten such personal attention and too often feel like just another faceless attendee, even if I have the opportunity to “ask questions at the end.”

One of the best parts of going to any business conference is learning about other businesses I might never have heard of otherwise. One such business is Island Green Clean, a brand new environmentally-friendly cleaning service that started on Bainbridge Island in January 2006. What a great idea. Everyone wants a clean house and many of us feel just a little guilty for using Tilex to get the mold out of tile grout. I found out from the business’ owner, Jill Paull that vinegar is a mold repellent. Tilex is history! Email her at islandgreenclean@yahoo.com.

The conference really pulled together many of the tools a small business owner needs to continue to grow their business from business plans and QuickBooks to financing and pricing products and services. And, I learned a lot. I had no idea that Evergreen Community Development specialized in SBA 504 loans (actually, I had no idea what 504 loans were). As it turns out, 504 loans help small business owners grow their business purchasing property and/or new building construction. As luck would have it, that is exactly what my husband and I have been discussing lately, buying a building to grow my business or building a small office space on our property.

Also, I learned from Carolyn Crowson, CPM, of Washington State’s Office of Minority & Woman’s Business Enterprises that if I certify my business as woman-owned I get a 2% reduction on interest on any business loans. Wow! I’m off to sign up for certification now.

The conference ended with a steady stream of door prizes, Jill Paull walked away with a gift certificate for SunGrax design services (perfect for the new business owner!) and a book on starting a business. I won a book called the Ultimate Small Business Guide – perfect.