What made EVRD a success was the platform and our ability to add features and content quickly. Built on WordPress, and very customized features, EVRD was able to do many things that we were unable to do with Everything Random (a tumblr built website).

The success was a double edged sword. What was a fun website and side project, turned into the most time consuming and resource intensive project we had. It became more about cleaning code, server maintenance, and database fixing, rather than updating and creating content.

Rivik Media has a responsibility to our clients to provide the best service we can. Spending time and resources on a side project is not currently in anyones’ best interest. So today, we are putting EVRD.net on sabbatical. Until a time when we can devote more energy to the project, and build something really great for everyone. Everything Random, and all the other fun sites we do (perfectlyawesome.com, quotey.net, etc…) will continue as usual.

Thank you for all your support of EVRD.net over the past year and half.

First, we have the original Rivik Media t-shirt. The same shirt worn by Jason Sadler of iwearyourshirt on our day back in 2009. It is the first shirt we over got our staff, and a shirt I probably wear more often than I should. It’s my personal favorite design.

Second, is the Everything Random t-shirt. This is a new design for Everything Random. In the past, we have always used the EVRDnet branding. It also matches the Rivik Media design quite well.

There will be more designs to come, and we will be giving away a few in the coming weeks. So be on the look our for that.

One final note, because I couldn’t resist with a baby boy on the way. The Rivik Media onesie.

The new deign needed fit our philosophy, simple is better. That doesn’t mean just taking everything out. The site still needed to function and be the face for Rivik Media. Here’s a look at our thought process.

The old website was one of the first sites we built. Built by our entire team; Adam, Stephen, Andrew, and Matt. We all had our own input to the design. The design was based on what other ‘big’ companies were doing. Full of information and examples of our work. We really wanted the site to show everything we did.

old rivikmedia.com home page

This version of the website was multiple page, used flash, and had a portfolio database attached. It was a big website for a company that strived for simplicity.

A year later, we built a splash page for the website. A very simplistic design that would greet users when they came to the site. The design, as you may be able to tell, was inspired by our business cards.

old rivikmedia.com splash page

It was a nice, clean design, but if you clicked through you were taken to our original website, with detailed information and our portfolio. It was a temporary solution to the first impression our website made. Putting a simple front page on an overall complicated website.

There had to be continuity. A website that was as simple as our splash page, but could contain all the important information of the full website.

The new website is only one page. Coded in HTML5 and CSS3, users are able to navigate to different section on the page. Never showing more information in a section than you need.

new rivikmedia.com

We also did away with the contact form. Our old contact form seemed to be flooded with spam. Almost all of the clients we work with contacted us directly, either through phone or email. We encourage potential clients to email us. Why restrict what you have to say by the fields allowed in our contact form?

So that’s about it, a shiny new website we hope you enjoy. We’ll be continually improving it. Achieving a simple, minimal website is never  an easy task.

*side note: the entire blog coding and most the main site coding was done on an iPad using Textastic. Who said the iPad wasn’t made for development?

Want to be part of a growing start-up company and get in on the ground level?  We are looking for a part time intern to work directly with our lead developer on front and back end development. The position is project based, and the candidate needs to be able to work independently with minimal direction. Candidate should be able to work well with virtual teams, meet tight deadlines, write clean/efficient code, adapt to client changes, and have a good sense of humor. Being comfortable with customer interaction, including support and documentation is a plus. Applicants should have experience with:

• HTML/CSS
• Javascript/jQuery
• Flash/Actionscript
• PHP / MySQL
• WordPress Theme/Plugin Development
• Apache (mod_rewrite / htaccess)

Interested candidates should send their resume and any applicable work they’ve done to jobs@rivikmedia.com and we’ll set up a time to talk.

EVRD is a self hosted wordpress site that  will become the new ‘main site’.  Wordpress allows for a large, feature rich, and organized site.  We will be creating new and (hopefully) better features on EVRD and allow for more user interaction.  You can check here or on the official EVRD blog for updates.

Everything Random will remain on tumblr and stay unchanged.  It will still be updated regularly and function the same as it always have.

*note: this is not meant to be a bash on tumblr in any way, so don’t take it that way.

When used in a browser, the two-finger swipe will move forward and back between pages. This method is way more efficient than moving the pointer up to the back button for a physical click. I was hoping to replicate some of the Magic Mouse functionality on my own mouse: The Logitech G5.

Out of the box, the scroll wheel tilts side to side to achieve horizontal scrolling in undersized browser windows. I wanted right and left tilts to render forward and back buttons in my browser. With a little googling, one download, and a couple minutes it was ready. And it is dead easy to do.

First download SteerMouse. This program adds many features lacking in the stock OSX preference pane. Below is the main window in SteerMouse. The first step here is to set button actions for your specific browser. I’m currently using Safari, so I chose that from my application list.

Next click on the ‘Tilt Wheel’ tab. This is where we set the button inputs for the tilting action. As you can see, I have already set mine in this picture. It will say ‘Same as Default’ on the first open.

Click on ‘Tilt Left.’ Here is where you add the keystroke. In Safari, page back is executed with ‘cmd + ['

Click OK and try it out. It should be noted that with some mice the command must be assigned to the button list, as seen in the first SteerMouse picture. It should also be noted that 'cmd + [' and 'cmd + ]‘ are page back and page forward, respectively, in Safari, Firefox, and Chrome.

I never thought I would be using this blog to host unboxing pictures of new toys, but hey, I’m going to do it anyway. I just got back from my local electronics store with an exciting purchase. I have been eyeing this little toy for a couple of months now, trying desperately not to close the browser tab it lived in. I grabbed it out of the bag and placed it gingerly on the kitchen table in front of me. Opening it the first time was such an enjoyable experience that I decided to repackage it and document it the second time around. So now I present to you the BookArc Desktop Stand. Enjoy.

Click on any picture to go the flickr page to see it larger

There are a couple pictures in the flickr set that I left out, click on any picture to go to the set and explore.

Andrew

While at the Internet Summit, I was sitting with a CEO of a publicly traded company discussing the benefits and downfalls of Facebook and Linkedin.  Had this been a year ag0 I’m not sure the conversation would ever have come up, but in a very short period of time the web has become a completely different place.  Facebook is connecting people in ways never dreamed possible and growing at an unimaginable pace.  Almost every person has a Facebook account and many businesses are creating pages as well.  What could be better than connecting with old friends, sharing pictures, and keeping up to date on whats happening (literally in real time)?  Well there is a downside as people begin to create this online profile of themselves.  Gone are the days when you could have an embarrassing night and it was forgotten about the next day.  Instead there will be 10 pictures and 15 posts on your wall about what you did for the world to see.  Granted you can control who sees what, but there is still nothing stopping others from writing anything about you and tarnishing your reputation.  This is where Linkedin comes into play.  Basically an online resume, Linkedin is a great way to network with friends, family, colleagues, and others without the distraction of pictures, comments, and applications.

So now the answer to which one should you use.  As any lawyer would say, it depends.  My advice would be use both for two different purposes.  Facebook is fun and a great way to catch up with people from all over the world, but keep your professional life out of it.  Build your connections and resume on linked in so that you can keep track of that invaluable network without burning bridges because of a random picture or comment.  At Rivik Media we all utilize both to their fullest and have yet to loose a business deal because of it.

As always, the internet can be seen by everyone so no matter who you think is looking at something realize that eventually anyone could see it.

Adam
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