Behind the Scenes at ActiveRain

One of the best things about working here at AR HQ is that everyone here knows something different.  In a young company, it's important to have many people who can wear many different hats, because we don't have that extra staff who can fill in gaps when someone is missing like the larger corporations who hire "one extra".

Naturally, though, I rarely look at my coworkers to find out what their paperwork quota is, in honesty.  Instead, I prefer to learn new, interesting things.

This brings me to our South American developer, Diego Algorta.  Diego's an interesting man; he came to visit us not long ago, and I met him for the first time.  My impression was that he was somewhat soft-spoken, but kind and with a good sense of humor.  I'm completely amazed at Jon's ability to choose people who have such good temprements to work with us here at AR.

Lately, Diego and I have taken up IMing one another just to say hello.  I started doing this because I didn't want him to feel so disconnected, as that was sort of the impression I got through a few conversations with him here and there.  I think he does it because he's polite (haha.  I'm a handful!).  In any case, I'm about to divulge one of the biggest secrets about me EVER...

...I almost failed my Spanish courses in college.  I know, right? ME!  Me, Miss Straight-A, analytical, reasonable, to the point, and very, very smart ME!  I almost failed one of the supposed easiest languages to learn.  All because I can't remember how to conjugate. Grr.  Yes, it's a bit of a sore spot for me. 

So during Diego and my conversations over the IM, I've been poking at him to teach me this and that about spanish.  So far, I have some of the greetings down (those are easy, in my opinion), and I'm getting some vocab, but I thought I would share one tidbit of our conversation to show you what a dork I am to prove my point about language.  Diego is, of course, so very, very patient with me.  You can tell the man has kids, just by how he speaks and goes over things.

For the record, I was trying to say: I am enjoying my coffee, but I think my grammar is still bad with this sentence.

Here is what actually happened:

Claire: Bueno dias, Diego.  Como esta?

Diego: Buenos días, Claire. Cómo estás?  Muy bien, y tú?

C: Bien, gracias.  Estoy gozando de mi cafe, pero pienso que mi gramatica es mala cuando digo eso.  (it took me all weekend to put together that sentence)

D: wow! impressive!

C: How'd I do?

D: well... it's enough... but... I'd say:  Bien, gracias. Estoy disfrutando mi café, pero creo que mi gramática es mala al decir eso.  Only "problem" would be the word "gozando".

C: gozando - enjoy?

D: gozar is, at least here in argentina and uruguay, used with a more "sexual" intent.

C: Oh goodness.  Lol, I don't enjoy my coffee that much!!

D: LOL!

 

There you have it - a lovely example of how badly I do at this whole verb thing.  Apparently, 'Gozando' is only sexual where Diego's from (jeez, what luck do I have?), but it would be okay to say in Mexico or Spain.

*SIGH* I'm so confused...

If you did...you probably heard from me in the last couple days!  If you didn't hear from me, please go check the junk filter on the email address that you signed up with.

Those of you who DID respond to my email know that they're going to get a surprise in the mail very, very soon!  Wahoo!  I just wanted to map out a few short things to consider when waiting on this special surprise:

• A TON of people are on the mail-out list - nearly 200!!  So please be patient.  I'm doing the mail-outs in between my normal work.
• DO NOT --- I REPEAT: DO NOT --- reply to any blog post with your personal information or a request to send your shirt.  You request will not be answered (in fact, to protect you, it will probably be deleted!  You don't want random people knowing where you live, do you?).
• Follow the instructions in the email I sent out.  If any information is missing, you get kicked down further on the list.  That means that your shirt may not be available when your request comes to the top of the queue.
• Please don't call in with your t-shirt request; you'll make me crazy!  Just respond to the email I sent.  I'll get it, I promise!

Thanks for helping keep me sane!  Your shirts will be in the mail as I tackle this massive list and try to unearth my office from this pile of boxes and envelopes.  Honestly, I feel like Santa (Mrs.?) Claus... where are my freakin' elves?

Today's question is posed by Jeremy at /myrtlebeachblog.  Jeremy asks:

Q. In honor of Talk like a Pirate day which is today, I wanna know which staffer would make the best Pirate?  Also, who can do the best Arrgh!

A.  Hmm.  Looking at the Gents, I'm sure that if Jerry had a pegleg and an eyepatch (or even just an eyepatch) he would, hands down, look the part.  I'm pretty sure it's the long, black hair, the lankiness, and the height.  The best Arrrgh, though?  I'd have to say that's Glin - he's the only one here I've actually heard utter a frustrated "ARGH!" at something.  In some ways, his Arghs remind me of John Arbuckle (a la Garfield) or Charlie Brown.  I don't know why I get the nostalgic note from him.

I apologize for the lateness of this particular spot (it is, afterall, Tuesday) but I was hoping there'd be some more piratey questions rolling in.  To my dismay, I got NUFFIN!

I'm going to go back to being buried in a pile of Localism shirts while trying to make sure that everyone gets the proper size at the proper address.  Ta! Signing out :P

Good morning, my bleary-eyed, coffee-deficient friends.  I think we're all caught up on the OFF questions from the last two weeks, except for one or two leetle questions.  So time to come up with something new!  What do YOU want to know about today?  So far, still, Broker Bryant is winning the Most Outrageous Question award by considering man boobs!

Q. Does ActiveRain really have a developer in a far place called Uruguay in south america? really?! Damn! that's cool!

A. Why, yes! AR DOES Have a developer in a far away place called Ur-gonna-stay, because OBVIOUSLY, Diego Algorta, we can't get you to move to Seattle (yet, hahahaa. We will assimilate). For those of you who are not familiar with Diego, he is our Superman behind the framework of ActiveRain; he stomps our bugs, fixes our screw-ups, and basically does all of the stuff that none of the rest of us knows how to do. He doesn't blog, barely makes a peep from his AR profile, but every now and again, we get a ninja-like comment on one of our posts from him, and we know he's still alive (and thus, should be paid).

Also:

We pillage, we plunder, we rifle and loot.
Drink up me 'earties, Yo Ho!
We kidnap and ravage and don't give a hoot.
Drink up me 'earties, Yo Ho!

Yo Ho, Yo Ho! A pirate's life for me.

We extort, we pilfer, we filch and sack.
Drink up me 'earties, Yo Ho!
Maraud and embezzle and even hijack.
Drink up me 'earties, Yo Ho!

Yo Ho, Yo Ho! A pirate's life for me.
Yo Ho, Yo Ho! A pirate's life for me.

We kindle and char, inflame and ignite.
Drink up me 'earties, Yo Ho!
We burn up the city, we're really a fright.
Drink up me 'earties, Yo Ho!

Yo Ho, Yo Ho! A pirate's life for me.

We're rascals, scoundrels, villans and knaves.
Drink up me 'earties, Yo Ho!
We're devils and black sheep, really bad eggs!
Drink up me 'earties, Yo Ho!

Yo Ho, Yo Ho! A pirate's life for me.

We're beggars and blighters and ne'er-do-well cads.
Drink up me 'earties, Yo Ho!
Aye! But we're loved by our mommies and dads!
Drink up me 'earties, Yo Ho!

Yo Ho, Yo Ho! A pirate's life for me.
Yo Ho, Yo Ho! A pirate's life for me.
Yo Ho, Yo Ho! A pirate's life for me.
Yo Ho, Yo Ho! A pirate's life for me.

Omg, I've gotten SO many questions about how I made Google Documents do backflips for me and post a form to this website.  Google has been a fantastic wealth of amazing tools over the past few years, and I've pontificated often and liberally about how they've improved my life, my blogging, and my ease of use of the internet.

Now, my friends, I share it with you.  This is, by no means, the RIGHT way to do it, this is just the CLAIRE way to do it.

Follow along, from the beginning:

1.  Open up: http://documents.google.com

2.  If you have an account, sign in using your username and password.  If not, register.  It's FREE! (my favorite price!)

3.  A new page will load, and you'll have a nifty toolbar across the top with the following menus available: New, Upload, Share, Move to, Hide, Delete, and More Actions.  Click New and Choose "Spreadsheet" from the dropdown.  (Note: Yes, I know Form is also an option, but I choose Spreadsheet.)

4.  You'll get a new window with a brand spankin' new spreadsheet. Woot!  Use each column for each question or piece of information you need (Name, Age, Location, etc.) and type the name into the space provided for a header row, which is directly under the A, B, C... column markers.

5.  Along the top of your spreadsheet, you'll see tabs that are marked Edit, Sort, Formulas, Form, Revisions.  Click Form.  The text in the blue bar under these tabs will change, and you will see a link for "Create a Form" in bright blue hyperlink text.  Click that.

6.  A new, smaller window will appear, giving you some options.  Title your form by overtyping the line that says "Untitled Form" (I'm calling mine Geo Locator Form).  You'll see the titles of your columns appear in the next few form spaces under your title.  Between the part where your column names appear and your Form name has been typed, there's a box with some instructions to include any helpful text.  You can fill that out, but it's not necessary.

7.  This is where it gets a bit tricksy, so follow along carefully.  When you over your mouse over the different topics that you entered in your columns, the subject becomes highlighted in orange, and to the veerrrrry far right, three boxes appear: a pencil (edit), two linked squares (duplicate), and a trashcan (for...trash. duh!).  Click the pencil to edit any of these options.

8.  I want to make all three of my Name, Age, and Location questions required, so on each, I do the following:  Click on the pencil.  New options will appear - your question title is the name of the column on your spreadsheet.  It should already be filled in, so don't touch it unless you want it to change!  The Help Text is something I never use, so don't know how to use.  The Question type is how you want to let your people answer - in this case, for me, I just need simple text.  If I wanted to give you more room, I could pull down the dropdown and choose paragraph text, allowing you to see everything that you're entering.  You can also do multiple choice, checkboxes, and ratings.  After that, I'm going to click the little box that says "Make this a required question", then I'm going to click done.  A little red star should appear next to each one that I click that "required" box on.

9.  After you're satisfied with how your form will look (it will look EXACTLY as it is displayed in this smaller window), choose "Save" at the top right until it greys out, then choose "More Actions" next to "Save".  Choose "Embed" off the drop down.  Copy the jarble it gives you that looks like 'net code.

10. Go to ActiveRain, log in, and open a new post for your blog.  (If you've already written a post and you've saved it as a draft, go to step #11)  Type up your post like normal, save it as a draft.

11.  Immediately go back and click "edit" on your post, then choose the "HTML" tab that appears below your title.  It will ask you if you really want HTML, and you click the affirmative option.  Your screen will soon fill with jarble.  Here's the key: DO NOT PANIC.  It's supposed to do that.

12.  Go to the bottom of the jarble and hit enter to put a space between the jarble and where you're going to insert the code for your Google Form (remember, you copied it in step #9!).  Paste that code after the space.  Go down to the "Visibility" option on AR and change it from Draft to Public, then hit Post Blog Entry just like you would for any other post.

When your post comes back up, you'll have a shiney new form in it, just like this:

FOR ADVANCED HTML USERS ONLY:

13.  Before you publish this form like in the last step, change the width of the iframe to 100%, the height to 850, and add inside of the iframe tag "scroll=noscroll". This will set it so that users can see the whole blasted thing and there's no scrollbar that they have to use to move it.

Questions? Let me know! I'm always around.

If you were in the vicinity of Northern Bellevue today and thought you may have heard Sinatra professing his universal love for his girl (whomever Mrs. Sinatra was), you weren't imagining things.

Jerry, sitting at his desk this morning, started singing, "Fly me to the Moon", which happens to be one of my favorite Crooner songs.  I get it stuck in my head ALL the time, especially when I'm doing folding socks and undergarments (I have no idea why; it must be a subconcious thing. This is just random fact #838847 about me - I sing Sinatra while folding laundry), so the moment he started off with that lead line, I was there with him, singing it under my breath.

Five minutes later, I was still singing it.

Jerry admitted that he only knew the first few lines of the song, so of course, I pulled up Youtube and cranked ol' Frankie up.  The office was pumping out the oldie vibes of the very smooth style Mr. Sinatra sang with shortly thereafter. 

The people in our office have some very eclectic musical tastes, but I have to say that it warms some small part of my heart to find out that I'm not the only one on the "I heart sinatra" bandwagon. For your listening pleasure, I've embedded it here so you can play it in your own offices (the song that was heard around the country, anyone?)...

Ah, another quiet Wednesday morning, folks.  The office is empty, the blog is up and I am typing.  Hopefully, the coffee will be done soon.

So what gives? Where's the gossip? Am I aliiiiiive? 

Yes, yes, and yes! I LIVE!  It's just been a moderately crazy week here in my office this week, and I hate to say this (because everyone says this), but I'm feeling a mite under the weather, and have been for a couple weeks now.  I have no clue what's wrong with me, but i'm guessing it has something to do with the clog-dancers practicing at 2am in the apartment above me while I try to sleep.

Gossip #1: Bob's in HI to participate in a panel and discuss all the good things that AR is and why the internet helps real estate businesses.

Gossip #2: Rich is in LV attending RE Blog World this week starting tomorrow.

Gossip #3: I had to find an obscure Fred Meyer parking lot yesterday when poor Jon's car just decided to stall out.  And he's busier than I am! Doesn't our technology realize that we have things to do?

Gossip #4: Our veep of product development, Jorgen "The General" Hahn, has moved to the state and now works under the same roof as us. GASP!

Gossip #5: We keep getting questions about what's going on in Orlando this fall - can you keep a secret?  So can I!  This gossip girl will tell you ALL about it when the time is right!!

Gossip #6: Being privvy to Jon's calendar, I get to see all the interesting partnership meetings he attends with other companies, and although I am definitely not going to promise that there's more to come -- more features, more new toys, more exciting AR add-ons -- I will say that knowing Jon, there's more to come.  I don't know how he sleeps at night with the way his brain races around (and he doesn't even have cloggers overhead)!

That's it for now - pretty tame gossip, isn't it?  To answer a question from OFF:

Q. What do you feed Brad to keep him so cheerful? Is it commercially available?

A. We keep Brad securely locked in a heavy-duty chicken-wire cage, feeding him only the best parts of corn stalk roots and beetle bellies.  Obviously, it's the chemicals in the beetles that make him chipper; the corn stalk roots just keep him regular.   Okay, okay, actually - I don't know WHY Brad is always cheerful, except perhaps that's the way he was built.  He has a lovely wife and family, he does a fantastic job here at AR, and I suspect that he's chosen the things in life that make him happy, so he's able to share those happinesses through his attitude toward you guys when he helps you.

Until tomorrow ;)

I say that with a question mark because I hardly think I'm the most interesting character here at HQ, but according to the Open Forum Friday spreadsheet, y'all want to know a thing or two about this redhead.

Forward and forthwith....

Q. how young you are....you could be my daughter:)) How much do you make a week?:) I need another income in my life:) just kidding.

A.  This November 15th, I'll turn 25 - Gah!  A whole quarter century!  Why did you have to remind me, Mr. Bloom? WHY?!  I won't say how much I make, because I think that's slightly unprofessional, being that my coworkers read this blog; it's enough to sustain me, which is the good news, and I will say that Jon is reasonable in his payrates.

Q.  Claire -- How are you and everyone else at AR going to vote this November? In the spirit of the Declaration of Independence...who has the courage to sign on the line where they stand?  :)

A.  I can't speak for anyone else here at RainHQ, but I, myself, am a very strong supporter of Mr. Obama.  I have been a Young Democrat for many years now, and I constantly help run polls and do knock-and-drops on doors to spread the word.  Again, I try to keep politics separate from work, but you asked the question, Kevin!  I firmly believe that America is made up of its people, not its politicians, so when I put someone in office, I want that person to be a man or woman of the people.  I'm afraid I just cannot stand behind Mr. McCain or Ms. Palin this year - what an unfortunate duo they are.

Q.  Why do you only use your last initial in your name, Clair?

A.  Although that particular story is very, very long, suffice it to say that I've met, lived with, and worked with many morally-debased people in my life.  One of the former companies I worked for has been shut down by their underwriters, due to "alleged" stealing from their clients.  My ex-stepfather is an evil man.  I have a former boyfriend who went into stalker mode on me after committing domestic violence against me and mine.  I'm never afraid to speak of these things, so please don't think you've offended me.  The bottom line is that Google is dang good at what it does, and in most of the social applications that I participate in, I use one of many nom de plumes to fly under the radar.  Because I actually WORK for this one, I needed to use my real name, but only gave you an initial as my last in hopes that Google wouldn't squeeze me too tight if someone came knocking.

And one more, just to keep things light...

Q.  I want to know if Jon really has/or had a VW Bus?  I absolutely love that "hippy van" on his blog header :)

A.  Lol, no.  Jon drives a very hugenormous BMW SUV.  I could barely see over the steering wheel, myself, but it's a nice car!  The steering wheel moves all by itself when you turn on the car, which HAS to be the most awesome feature of that darned vehicle.  I can't tell you how many times I've banged my knees getting into a car.

So there you have it, Open Forum Friday answers.  Tune in on Friday for the next opportunity to submit questions, and the answers will appear the following Monday on my blog http://behindthescenes.activerain.com.  Until next time, signing out!

Update: My apologies to those who have come by earlier today and put in a question - the spreadsheet was wonky for a few minutes, but I fixed it!! If you got an error, you're free to give it another shot now. Thanks!

Good morning, everyone!  It's about that time again - time for Open Forum Friday!  Last week, we answered the question about whether Bob gets his brows professionally done; this was a question asked FOURTEEN times!  I guess Bob is a popular topic!

That said, I suppose I should divulge some other answers about Mr. Stewart, asked by readers a week ago:

Q. Did Bob eat all the pickled asparagus?  And who ate the last cashew?

A.  As far as I know, Bob doesn't like pickled asparagus; the briney concoction was actually requested by Glin, our Graphic Designer.  Rumor has it, however, that Mr. Stewart confiscated an entire jar of cashews all for his own.  I'm sure he did it for the good of the office ;)

Q.  Who cusses the most at AR?

A.  Brad Andersohn answered this question this week on R.A.I.N radio while interviewing Bob, Rich and Jon on air.  You should go over and check it out, although I would have a very good argument to the contrary of their opinion (I cuss probably too much, and everyone looks at me owlishly when I do, as though they're surprised I know THAT bad word!). 

Q. Who has bigger man boobs, Rich or Brad?

A.  Broker Bryant, you are a bad, bad man!  I'm only answering this because I needed something to get back at Brad with (apparently, my internet-to-spreadsheet Google Form has caught on cause now he's using it too!) ;) I've never had the opportunity to compare Rich and Brad side by side, but from what I've seen, they're both very fit men and lack man boobage.

ONWARDS!

September 11, 2001 - I was still a college kid, attending on a government grant.  Mostly, I blew off my classes because I already knew what was going on.  I was also a big geek, and spent my mornings gaming before my morning classes.  So where was I at 6am?  In front of the computer.

Suddenly, it scrolled across my screen:  Omg, did you see that?  Do you have the news on?  Quick!  Turn on ABC!  We're being attacked!

I had visions of the cliche scene from an old WWII movie, of states being blown sky-high, men in trenches, and gunshots fired on both sides.  But no, when I turned on the news, there was nothing more than the cowardice of a left hook to America's jaw on the screen as a plane carcass burned high, pushed through the first tower at the World Trade Center.

As the second plane hit and people gasped and pointed, tears started running down my face.  Even 3000 miles away in Washington State, the overwhelming sense of violation, hurt, anger, and yes, even hate, washed over me and the worst part was that, as a strong woman who has muscled through every hardship life has thrown at her, all I could do was sit there and cry for the atrocities inflicted upon us as a nation.

This was my first introduction to the world.  I thought that my streets were mean.  I'd learned long, long ago that not everyone who smiled at me was my friend.  I thought that I'd struggled, that I'd lost.  That I'd been abandoned at times.  But the feeling of emptiness that spilled out of me with my tears left me hollow as the death toll rose and the brave men and women in our armed forces, police forces, and firefighting forces risked life and limb to pull as many out alive as they could.

Some, they couldn't save.  I don't hold that against them.

I try to keep work separate from life; I try to keep politics away from both, and I certainly try to keep religion out of it.  Touchy subjects have no place in polite conversations with people you barely know, but on September 11, 2001, I realized how stupid it is for us not to band together, how ignorant it is not to want to make your community better, how horrible it is for us to live in our own little bubbles and not care what goes on outside our nuclear family.

We had, for so long, been so centered on our selfish little lives that we forgot that the real enemy is not the neighbor, that it is not the principal who had to talk to you AGAIN about your child's tardiness, that it is not the boss that you work for who won't or can't give you better insurance.  In truth, our real enemy is ourselves.  It's our tunnel vision.  Our inability to see beyond and to spend even five minutes concerned with the rest of the world.

I am a big proponent of protecting our people first; it's a political view all my own, and I state it very clearly as a disclaimer: The opinions represented in this article are the product of one person's own mind and not the views of the ActiveRain as an entity.  I hate that we're told to live in fear of these other people who "might attack at any moment *GASP*".  I hate that we're asked to tell on one another like naughty school children.  But the one good, really good, message that came out of 9-11 is very, very simple:  It begins at home.  Safety begins at home.  Love begins at home.  Education begins at home.  Life begins at home.

We are a ONE nation, and we CAN take care of ourselves, but we need to start in the base, in the homes of every child in every state, and teach them properly.  We need to reach out to our communities and take action to make sure they're safe.  We need to get involved with charities and take care of our families who are in honest need due to tragedy and disaster.  We need to think outside of our safe little bubbles and selfish wants and care...for once.  We NEED to care.

September 11, 2001, was a horrible event where so many people lost their lives or loved ones.  I've visited Ground Zero and saw what was left of our beautiful towers.  I've thrown my lot in with the Red Cross to help those who need it, cut my hands taping up boxes and spent my gas to get them to where they'll do the best for those recipients.  I've held a little girl through her daddy's funeral as she wept; she wasn't mine, but for that day, for those hours, I kept her warm.  I'm no hero; I'm just another citizen, just another person in our nation, who has taken the time to care.  I urge each and every one of you to find a way to care, even so many years later.  There will always be disaster, there will always be little girls who need to be held.  Find something to care about and please, get involved.