SEOs Fight Fat For Charity - Like Reality TV but not. Watch us. Laugh at us (privately, please don't hurt our feelings on purpose). Bet on us. Support us. Cheers us on. Hope that we raise lots of money for a charity. Be there. We're putting it all on the line for your entertainment pleasure. 🙂
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Outsourcing. That's a word that is fraught with fear but tinged with curiosity for many, including me. I want to be able to utilize the cost-savings of outsourcing, especially to places like India, but I worry about getting ripped off. Bob Massa understands that fear and is hoping he can overcome it. He started an outsourcing company in India, and he hopes to make it work for everyone involved by not making anyone pay until after the work is performed. That definitely takes some pressure off. He's got lots of available services. I might be needing some soon, so for the first time ever, I'd be comfortable trying this whole outsourcing thing. I know Bob and trust him, so I'll give it a shot. Still working on my widget idea in my head, but once I know what I want it to do, I'm gonna see how well Bob's team can pull it together. Bob explains his outsourcing company's strategy here. Good concept.
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Am I the only one having issues with Firefox and Gmail? Gmail crashes Firefox 90% of the time. It's getting really annoying. Is there some memo I missed on how to stop that from happening?
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Collaboration and group effort is a pretty cool thing. Think about how that can help your business sometime.
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This has been a random stream of thoughts on a random kind of day.
Regarding Gmail/Firefox crashes, I also see them. I’ve even had them occur on a new install of Firefox before installing any plugins, so I’m willing to bet it’s something odd in the Gmail javascript.
I learned by lots of trial and error that I can keep Firefox running if I click “Older version” before I do anything other than read incoming messages.
Yeah, I see the Firefox/Gmail crashes ALL THE TIME. Very irritating – I’ve actually taken to using the IE Tab add-on in Firefox to force Gmail to always open using IE. Saves me a lot of trouble.
weird, i am running gmail (g apps for domains version though) in ff and am not having any problems. runs round the clock. also have 15 add-ons.
nice note on bob’s service, thanks.
good luck to all those in the fight fat for charity, nice idea!
Donna, check if you have FireBug installed — you need to disable that for Gmail (you can still use it for other sites). With it disabled, my Firefox is pretty stable for me, I often have several Gmail windows / tabs open.
John, I already had FireBug disabled for Gmail, but I went ahead and got rid of it completely. That *might* have done the trick. So far, no crashes, but it’s early yet. We’ll see.
Hi Donna, here’s something else you can try with web-apps that you use regularly: run them in a separate, “no-addons” instance of Firefox. That way you don’t have to miss out on the neat plugins and add-ons available for Firefox but can still make sure that these apps run with as few interruptions as possible.
Good idea, John. Hadn’t really thought FF would run as two separate instances, but I’ll check that out.
Add me to the group finding problems with Firefox and Gmail. I run with FireBug disabled so that’s not a problem. Gmail just is always incredibly slow in loading. I’m not sure I want to open yet another instance of FF just because Gmail is the one causing the problem.
Before becoming a web developer, I was in the manufacturing sector. This sector has been devastated by outsourcing. I remember thinking when I was younger, that I wanted to be in a business that made something concrete and had a stable future. Oh well.
I have now gone full circle and think that outsourcing is good IF the country will eventually become an open market that will start to buy our goods and services. Outsourcing to India is cool but I wish everyone would stop buy from communist countries (China) that may never be a reciprocating partner.
Outsourcing is a wonderful idea but why not try right here in our country. I run a virtual office and find it really hard to compete with India and my prices are very reasonable, especially when the client keeps me on retainer. I also offer Free hours to new clients.
If the ROI is right, that works for me, Vicky.
Hi Donna,
Outsourcing. It can be a good or bad practice. The one thing that has saved me many problems has been *escrow*. It’s definately worth the effort, and keeps everyone happy.
I’ve found that you can never provide too much information as well, although in doing so you need to be careful not to overdo it or you can drive costs up.
Experience is also a biggie. No matter where you source your talent, you need to be sure they have experience – either by way of a local ratings system, or by way of direct references. ALWAYS check references. I’ve made the mistake for expedience, and paid for it more than once.. it can drive your timelines down the toilet.
Pricing – India sounds good. At first. But you’ll quickly find that (qualified) bargains are hard to find. Indians can be opportunists too.
And finally, communication. Watch the time zones. Nothing like jumping on messenger at three in the morning.
A complimentary scoop of randomness for you. 🙂