Some recent posts at the 37signals Product Blog:

New in Highrise: Inline editing of notes and emails
Here’s a new feature that will make editing and deleting Highrise notes and emails a lot faster: Inline editing. Now when you hover over a note or an email in expanded view you’ll see an “edit and trashcan” link appear to the left of the note. Clicking “Edit” will allow you to edit the note or email inline. This saves two page reloads and a good 10 seconds of back and forth.

Pulse is a new web-based cash flow management tool that integrates with Basecamp
“Say goodbye to unmanageable spreadsheets, and hello to an intuitive interface with the power to quickly manage and evaluate your income and expenses. Pulse makes tracking the health of your business simple, accurate and efficient.”

Happy Cog livens up Basecamp with cool avatars
“In the past year or so I’ve been noticing a funny thing during our kickoffs with new clients. We briefly show them Basecamp and talk about how we would like both companies to use it during the project. When we get to the People page their demeanor completely shifts, they see a slew of our avatars staring back at them. We just used them because we though they were funny, but for new clients unfamiliar with Basecamp, it has the added effect of breaking the ice for them. Rather than ‘oh, great new software to learn,’ it becomes ‘hey, we can have fun with this.’”

Some recent postings at the 37signals Job Board:

Ning is looking for a Developer Advocate in Palo Alto, CA.

GoMobo is looking for a Marketing Director in New York City.

Digg is looking for a Senior Web Designer in San Francisco, CA.

Alpinist Magazine is looking for a Web Developer in Chicago, IL.

St. Louis Magazine is looking for a Webmaster in St. Louis, MO.

R/GA is looking for a Senior Flash Developer in New York, NY.

Cars.com is looking for a Web Designer in Chicago, IL.

Ripe Digital Entertainment is looking for a Ruby On Rails Developer in Los Angeles, CA.

Westin Consulting, LLC is looking for a Web Designer / Information Architect in Denver, CO.

Einstein Industries Inc. is looking for a Rails RockStar in San Diego, CA.

Yoonew is looking for a User Interface Engineer in New York, NY.

The Sherwin-Williams Company is looking for a Corporate Senior IT Analyst/Programmer in Cleveland, OH.

DigitalAdvisor is looking for a Software Engineer in Cambridge, MA.

More jobs…

These are just some of the recent jobs posted on the Job Board. The Job Board is linked up on over 1,000,000 page views a month on some of the industries most highly regarded sites. If you’re looking for a design, programming, copywriting, or IT executive job, take a look.

Laptops designed by 7-9 year-olds

“Both heartwarmingly personal and frighteningly tied to pop culture. A close study reveals keyboard buttons assigned to ‘Barbie.com,’ ‘best friends’ next to ‘friends,’ ‘HP [Harry Potter] trivia,’ and ‘werd games’ as well as ‘rily werd games.’”

How to write magnetic headlines

“On average, 8 out of 10 people will read headline copy, but only 2 out of 10 will read the rest. This is the secret to the power of the headline, and why it so highly determines the effectiveness of the entire piece. The better the headline, the better your odds of beating the averages and getting what you’ve written read by a larger percentage of people. The Magnetic Headlines series will provide you with concrete guidance that will have you writing better headlines in no time.”

New Scientist: Top 10 bizarre experiments

“Here are 10 of the bizarrest experiments of all time – which, it must be said, mostly fall closer to madness than to genius.” #1: Elephants on acid.

Why I hate Twitter

“There’s more of a chance that my dog will type Ulysses than that I’ll get an intelligent Twitter message… Why? Because WRITING IS THINKING. Good writing reflects good thinking. It’s why we go through multiple drafts of anything… to get to what we REALLY want to say. (And, for many writers, to discover what it is they really want to say… most of us don’t know what we think until we start writing.)” [via zk]

Getting started with IMAP for Gmail

“IMAP offers a more stable experience overall. Whereas POP is prone to losing messages or downloading the same messages multiple times, IMAP avoids this through its two-way syncing capabilities between your mail clients and your web Gmail. If you’re trying to decide between using POP and using IMAP with your Gmail account, we recommend IMAP.”

The case against hyperblogging

“Words have relative values. Someone who talks a lot has less value to their words than someone who rarely speaks. But when that quiet person speaks, people listen. When you publish 20 posts a day, your individual posts lose value. And when you finally do have something important to say, it gets lost among the clutter. Your signal to noise ratio is too low.”

Some recent posts at the 37signals Product Blog:

Campfire keeps Eli Duke in touch with friends/family while in Antarctica
“[Campfire] is completely idiot proof and SO easy to use. I can’t stress that enough. When people (mainly my parents) clicked on the URL for the chat room, all they had to do was type in their name and click ‘Sign In.’ That’s it! They didn’t have to download anything, they didn’t have to learn how to use new software, they just typed in their name, clicked one button, and they were ready to chat.”

The view from Antarctica.

New Highrise features: Quickcard, rename tags, bulk import delete, and more
1) Quickcard. 2) Bulk import delete. 3) Rename a tag. 4) Add contacts to a case without having to write a note about them.

Hovering over the Quickcard icon will reveal that person’s contact information.

SimplifyThis and Basecamp: Easily invoice your customers and get paid faster online
1) Allows users to invoice Projects and To-Dos. 2) Extends the Basecamp data model by keeping an hourly rate for Projects and To-Dos. 3) Allows users to add time entries in SimplifyThis or from SimplifyThis Google Gadget and sync them back with Basecamp.

Learn more about SimplifyThis’ Basecamp integration.

Book: "Testify! How Remarkable Organizations are Creating Customer Evangelists"

“We asked organizations to tell us how they’re creating evangelists for their cause, product or service. From the submissions we received, we selected examples from companies that represent software, sports, education, non-profits, training, and free agents.”

Don’t outsource your user support

“On the contrary, put your best people on it. People love getting a personal response from somebody that knows what they’re talking about. You’ll reap the benefits in trust, patience and tremendous value in terms of feedback to the process of continually improving the user experience.”

The evolution of MSNBC.com's redesign

“It helps to have design buddies. In this case, we called on Cameron Moll, Greg Storey and JD Hooge to clean up our latest sketch. Solve this problem. Keep that. Make this work. Explore. Each influenced our final design.” Cameron chimes in on his involvement.

Profile of “The 4-Hour Workweek” author

“just pull the plug. Crawl out from beneath the reams of data. Stand firm against the torrent of information. HIS methods include practicing “selective ignorance” — tuning out pointless communiqués, random Twitters, and even world affairs (Mr. Ferriss says he gets most of his news by asking waiters). Work crisis? Pay someone else to worry about it — ideally in Bangalore. On a bet, [Timothy] Ferriss even hired low-paid, high-skilled workers abroad to find him dates online. (It worked.)”

The power in revealing unpleasant truths

“My fish monger in Grand Central has started placing signs in front of each fish. They describe exactly where the fish came from, whether it’s healthy and how endangered it is. You’ll never see fine print saying ‘previously frozen.’ They don’t have any fine print. The first few times you visit the stand, it’s actually off putting. It takes the romance and pleasure out of buying the fish, because you realize that there’s a cost to it. The meat guy across the way doesn’t have pictures of cows being slaughtered, does he? But after a while, because the information is out there, because smart fish buyers already know some fish is endangered, the signs give you power. They allow you to make smart choices. They send a message to the customer about the honesty and intent of the seller. They build trust.”

“Browsing for new internet experiences” (Financial Times article that mentions 37signals)

“Some argue these developments are moving faster than users really want. Mr Fried at 37signals says they are a product of the competitive race among technology companies, not a response to customers’ needs. ‘I think that to say you should work everywhere is a sad notion,’ he says. ‘You should work at the office, or at home.’ Eventually, internet access will extend everywhere, turning all applications into ‘live’ services – but for now, he says, enjoy the freedom while you still can.”

Some recent posts at the 37signals Product Blog:

Highrise refinements and improvements
We pushed a series of refinements and improvements to Highrise we think you’ll like. 1. The daily digest email that lists your tasks for the day now includes contact information. 2. We’ve added a “Skype” option to the phone number data type. 3. You can now enter the “About this person” text as part of the new person creation process. 4. You can reveal more of the “About this person” text in the sidebar without having to go to a separate page.

Inspiration for customizing the colors on your Basecamp account
If you’re looking for some color inspiration, check out COLOURlovers.com which breaks down interesting palettes by HTML color codes (you can also download as a palette for Photoshop, Illustrator, etc.). You can view the site’s top palettes of the month. Color Inspiration from the Masters of Painting features palettes from Da Vinci, Picasso, Monet, etc. Other idea starters: Colors of the Top 20 Magazine Covers, Autumn, and Color in Science: Microscopic Photographs.

One year in Basecamp with Seventh Degree and Full Sail
“We’ve used Basecamp to manage the Online Classes project for Full Sail. The collaboration has been awesome between the IT, Education, Curriculum departments and many others. The video below shows about a year of use of the messages tab of the LMS Development project, one of over a dozen other projects related to this same effort.”

Element Fusion uses Basecamp to manage its line of web-based products and client projects
“One unexpected way Basecamp has helped us has been in front-end sales. Our sales team demonstrates our ‘project portal’ to prospective clients during the sales process and it has really turned out to be a major selling point. Clients are very impressed with the system which reinforces our commitment to communication and customer service. So, Basecamp adds practical value to our company which, in turn, drives revenue to our business. If anyone out there has not considered using Basecamp as a selling point for their services, we highly recommend it.”

Flare: A site-specific browser for Windows/Campfire customers
Windows users: You can now download Flare 0.4, the first self-updating, stable release of Flare, the site-specific browser for Campfire. Flare lets you stay logged into a room in your Campfire account and notifies you of any new messages.

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Satisfying UI design is often illogical

“Usability tests and theories about interaction are tools. Very useful tools, but still just tools — not purposes onto themselves. The real goal is user satisfaction, and some of that is really illogical and messy.”

The new Tumblr looks impressive

“It’s been six months since we launched Tumblr 2.0. We’ve spent a lot of time looking at the ways you’ve been using Tumblr, want to be using it, and could be using it. Today, we’re delighted to show you the culmination of all your feedback and support. The most powerful and simple application we’ve ever built.”

More on email vs. RSS

“As much as I’d like to see RSS replace email, it’s just not going to happen overnight. RSS has to become brain dead simple to use. When the soccer moms, myspace kids, construction workers, and grandmothers can use RSS, commercial email will give way to RSS. Because RSS is a lot better.”

Book: “The Architecture of Happiness”

“It’s the architect’s task to design buildings that contribute to happiness by embodying ennobling values. While he makes no claim to be able to define true beauty in architecture, he suggests some of the virtues a building should have (illustrated by pictures on almost every spread): order combined with complexity; balance between contrasting elements; elegance that appears effortless; a coherent relationship among the parts; and self-knowledge, which entails an understanding of human psychology, something that architects all too often overlook.”

Dean Kamen previews new prosthetic arm

“Inventor Dean Kamen gives a 5-minute talk about the extraordinary prosthetic arm he’s developing at the request of the US Department of Defense, to help the 1,600 “kids” who’ve come back from Iraq without an arm (and the two dozen who’ve lost both arms). Kamen’s commitment to using technology to solve problems, and his respect for the human spirit, have never been more clear than in this deeply moving clip.”

Some recent activity at our internal 37signals Campfire chat room.

RSS vs email

Media descriptions

Some recent posts at the 37signals Product Blog:

New Highrise feature: Public tasks
Now you’ll find a checkbox when creating/editing a task that says “Let everyone see this task.” Checking this box makes the task visible to everyone in your Highrise account. So if you have a task to get done, and it’s not private in nature, you may want to check the “Let everyone see this task” so everyone else can see what’s on your plate. It’s entirely up to you.

Kayels offers ideas on how to use Backpack
“What do I use Backpack for? What don’t I use Backpack for? I’m going to go scan my list of pages and give you some examples.”

Layer Tennis uses Campfire as back-channel during matches
The participants use Campfire as a back-channel to discuss the match while it’s going on. Chris Glass, one of the players in a recent match, gave a behind-the-scenes look at what it’s like to “play” and praised Campfire as a better alternative to IM for group chat.

Basecamp is “a great tool for virtual project teams”
“Collaborating with other team members — or our mutual client — used to be a challenge before we discovered Basecamp from 37Signals. Basecamp offers a safe, secure, inexpensive hosted service to coordinate our activities. It’s lightweight, easy to use, and works well for both Windows and Mac OS X users across a range of browsers.”

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Pat Riley on "the disease of more"

“In his book ‘Showtime,’ Pat Riley unveiled ‘the disease of more’ and argued that ‘success is often the first step toward disaster.’ According to Riley, after the 1980 Lakers won, everyone shifted into a more selfish mode. They had sublimated their respective games to win as a group; now they wanted to reap the rewards as individuals, even if those rewards meant having to spend way too much time at Jack Nicholson’s house. Everyone wanted more money, playing time and recognition. Eventually they lost perspective and stopped doing the little things that make teams win and keep winning, eventually imploding in the first round of the postseason. So much for defending the title.”

15 unfortunately placed ads

Context changes everything. (Kinda NSFW?)

Why the iPhone Will Beat the Blackberry (and why power users can mislead)

“Get over it: power users are a minority, and while they point the way to the future, they tend to be disappointed when the rest of the market catches up with an inferior product that has a lower barrier to new users.”

Military wants tech partners to “get real”

Advice to civilian innovators seeking military sales: “Do it quick, and make it cheap because conditions change.” [tx EC]

Can Adobe really shift to web apps?

“It is very plausible that Adobe can have (less powerful) online versions of its most popular software aimed at the consumer market within 10 years, but I think it will be a long time before professional users are comfortable using completely online applications for critical graphic, video, animation, and programming work. Matching the speed and complexity of Adobe’s offline applications online is more than 10 years away, in my opinion.”

Alan Cooper on design engineering

“Software builders struggle to integrate design into their process for two basic causes: 1) programmers have never learned to follow a design, and 2) their day-to-day responsibilities forbid them from doing so. I also believe that these reasons can be understood and vanquished.”

UnitedVisualArtists does lights/visuals at Chemical Brothers show

“We augmented the Chemicals’ touring set with a constellation of powerful lights around the square, and created a set of generative, realtime graphics for the show finale.”