Posts Categorized: Uncategorized

From Our Desk To Yours: Online Organization

In previous installments of From Our Desk To Yours, we’ve talked about collaborating with remote teams and some top tips for managing relationships with customers – as always we like to find and use the best tools for our purposes and implement them, with a little planning, as simply and effectively as possible.

As a company that develops products that enable people from all over the world to record video and audio from their computers, we’ve spent lots of time talking to remote workers at Applian and elsewhere about how to get things done away from the office.

What we’ve learned is this: the tools that empower instantaneous access to information and communication with others are the same tools that bury us all under unmanageable masses of stuff. Just as in the days of pen and paper (reams and reams of paper!), today’s most effective workers, be they remote or on-site, are those who can organize the deluge of documents, communications and information we all create as we work digitally. Finding your paperweights – those tools that will not just get your head above the rising waters of your inboxes but actively help you turn all that unorganized stuff into useful, accessible, insight-precipitating business intelligence data – has never been more important.

Here are some hopefully helpful tidbits on how to stay in control of your work data:

(more…)

Dr. Wilson’s Possibly humorous Distraction – Vol 11

Our superstar UX lead here at Applian, Dr. Jeffrey Wilson, PhD, spends a lot of time analyzing debug logs from customers. He likes to give customers a quick 2 minute video to test record so that he can keep the logs small. So he frequently searches out these short video clips which end up playing a vital role in the data logging procedure. Needless to say, he sees quite a few videos (and other types of media).

This month, Dr. Wilson actually received this video from a recent customer. He thought it was good enough to share. Below a fictitious (or is it?) account of college soccer as it gets down to the ever-dramatic penalty shots. So good it makes our face hurt. Enjoy!

Dr. Wilson’s Possibly humorous Distraction – Vol 10

1415219903_full.png

In the immortal words of Jon Bon Jovi, “Shot through the heart, and cupid is to blame”, or something like that, right? It is that time of year again when the holiday cards and candy bags turn various shades of light red. So sit back, unwrap a few (red foil covered) Hershey’s Kisses ™, and watch an innocent Valentines Day prank in this month’s PhD post.

Dr. Wilson’s Possibly humorous Distraction – Vol 8

We’re just getting over our sugar hangovers and have finally tossed out those moldy scary pumpkins (they looked so good though!). So in remembrance of one of our favorite holidays, here’s a hilarious prank video featuring one of the best pet costumes that should only be used to terrify pedestrians. Enjoy your distraction for the day and if you have any funny Halloween pet costumes, we’d love to see them! Post them up on our Facebook or Twitter.

Dr. Wilson’s Possibly humorous Distraction- Vol 7

Dr. Wilson back here.  Well, I wasn’t actually gone.  Deb REALLY wanted to do a post on balloons, so while I was out training, she snuck in that last entry.  “Training?” you ask.  Last Sunday I competed in my second 1/2 Ironman distance triathlon – Steelhead 70.3. Translated, I swam 1.2 miles in Lake Michigan, bicycled 56 miles, and then ran a half marathon (13.1 miles).  If you think that is crazy, Shellie has done a few full Ironman races.  I might be that crazy in 2015.  Between work and family, we manage to squeeze in a lot of miles of training.

This week’s video is a bit of a classic, turning around the patterned: “Sh*t” + athletic activity + “say”.

Dr. Wilson’s Possibly humorous Distraction- Vol 6

Dr. Wilson's Possibly humorous Distraction

Debbie here. Dr. Wilson is taking a little break from distractions this week. So, I’m happy to step in and post one of my favorite finds. As a hot air balloon owner, crew-chief and pilot-in-training, I watch a lot of ballooning related videos. But, I’ve never seen anything like this before. Riding IN a hot air balloon is an incredible experience. Now imagine riding ON TOP of a hot air balloon. Yes…you read that right. Check this out:

Dr. Wilson’s Possibly humorous Distraction – Vol. 5

Dr. Wilson's Possibly humorous Distraction

Weird Al Yankovic is the king of parody. His newly released, grammatically correct version of “Blurred Lines” called “Word Crimes” has racked up over 2 million YouTube views since yesterday! If your…I mean you’re a grammar snob, you’ll be sharing this video everywhere. It’s just two t0 too  perfect.

Dr. Wilson’s Possibly humorous Distraction – Vol. 3

Dr. Wilson's Possibly humorous Distraction

Today, we are doing SCIENCE! Did a parent ever warn you not to stick a soda in the freezer? Sure, that may have been a rhetorical question, but what about sticking a can of soda in liquid nitrogen? NurdRage on YouTube does all kinds of science experiments … and you should probably let him do them instead of trying yourself.

Oh, and if you are having trouble downloading YouTube videos with Replay Media Catcher 5, make sure that secure http (https) is not being used. See here for more information.

Dr. Wilson’s Possibly humorous Distraction – Vol 1

Dr. Wilson's Possibly humorous Distraction

Our superstar UX lead here at Applian, Dr. Jeffrey Wilson, PhD, spends a lot of time analyzing debug logs from customers. He likes to give customers a quick 2 minute video to test record so that he can keep the logs small. So he frequently searches out these short video clips which end up playing a vital role in the data logging procedure. Needless to say, he sees quite a few videos (and other types of media), so now we’ve given him an opportunity twice a month to share in his…. umm… work habits.

To get the ball rolling, here is his first video suggestion. Movies, especially science fiction movies, tend to have plenty of logical inconsistencies. The YouTube channel, How It Should Have Ended, gives their take on alternate endings for MANY movies. So, without further ado, sit back and enjoy a new look at a classic.

We hope you enjoyed this first installment of Dr. Wilson’s Possibly humorous Distraction. See what we did there with the title? Dr. Wilson PhD. Get it?