Are you on a Mac 5-14 hrs a day? Need to find some tools that will help you be more productive? Check out the deal at Macheist

Some of my favorite apps for web development like CSS Edit, Snapz Pro and Pixelmator are in the bundle, as is 1 Password and Speed Download and a bunch of other nifty treats. You’ll get a huge deal ($49) on buying the bundle, and 25% of the sale goes to a charity of your choice.
What are you waiting for? Quit reading this blog and get thee to MacHeist!
Oh, but do it soon, the offer expires in 12 days.

Have you been meaning to work on your 2nd or 3rd language but never get around to it? No more excuses people. There’s a new site just in beta that can help you learn French, Spanish, Mandarin Chinese or Brazilian Portuguese, as well as many others. Check out Mango. C’est tres web 2.0!

Ergonomic evaluations on your workstation can be expensive. So can NOT doing an ergonomic evaluation. When you spend 8-12 hours a day sitting at your desk you need to think about ergonomics before you start to get sore.
Can’t afford to bring in a specialist right this second? No problem. Spend a few minutes on the Ergotron site, use their free evaluation tool and you could be a big step ahead of Carpal tunnel in just a minute or two.

The one laptop per child foundation believes that empowering children in developing nations by providing them with laptops in their schools and networking them with the rest of the world can help these children advance their own societies.

The OLPC Association focuses on designing, manufacturing and distributing XO laptops to children in lesser developed countries.
Besides providing the laptops of course, there must be a program to educate the children and teachers on how to use this as a tool for learning. ULPC formed a team to work with countries to develop their own learning teams. The goal is to help each country develop a deeper understanding and richer practice in using laptops for learning. The first workshops in countries will be in Ethiopia, Ghana, Rwanda and Nigeria during October 2007.

Unfortunately the organization is caught in a catch-22 situation. Governments don’t want to make the investment in an un-proven model, and the model cannot be proven unless the investment is made to get the XO laptops into the hands of children around the world.

How can you help?
Well if you are an educator or software developer. You can volunteer.

Or you can buy your child a laptop and get one for a child in who perhaps needs it a little more.

Starting November 12, One Laptop Per Child will be offering a Give 1 Get 1 Program for a brief window of time. For $399, you will be purchasing two XO laptops—one that will be sent to empower a child to learn in a developing nation, and one that will be sent to your child at home.

\So when you’re thinking about buying your kid a computer for the holiday, perhaps you can also think about how you can make a difference, with that one purchase, that could drmatically alter the future of another child, far away.

Every time somebody tells me that Flash is just an animation tool, doesn’t
index in the search engines and nobody has it on their machine I have to wonder
what cave they’ve been living in. It’s true, for some Flash is not the right
method of delivery. Some Flash websites ARE all about what the designer can do
with it rather than useability. At Tatu Digital we try to fit the client needs
with the right tool, whatever that is. Many of our clients are looking for
strong visuals, dynamic content and interactivity, so for many Flash is the
right answer.

Flash is being used by innovators in many realms of the web. It can be a
database interface that is flexible and user friendly.

Let’s just look at how people are using Flash to find music online. Some of the
best interfaces are Flash front ends.

Tell it the mood you’re in, and target="_blank">Musicovery will find the tunes for you. I said calm and
positive and I’m listening to Curtis Mayfield. Click the icon under his name
and I can buy the music from Itunes or Amazon.

Want to get more specific? Learn new music in the genres you like?

Go to name="pandora, discover new music online" title="pandora, discover new music
online" target="_blank">Pandora and enter the name of an artist. Pandora
will search the Music Genome project and come back with artists that fit that
profile.

Fine Tune works in a
similar way. Pick an artist from the list and they’ll create your playlist. You
can even use the player on your blog or website.

Oh, and if you think Flash doesn’t get indexed by search engines, read this.
As for the “nobody has the plug in” excuse, read this.

San Francisco Women on the Web, a community of 1,800 professional women (and more than a few good men!) in web development, e-commerce and related technology, is hosting an employment fair with a twist.

The first Career Advancement Networking for Women on the Web (CANWOW) mixer will provide area employers with the opportunity to meet highly qualified candidates in a relaxed social setting. Whether you’re looking for a hard-core expertise in Ajax, C++ or SQL, or technical writers, graphic designers or Web 2.0-savvy marketers, this is the must-attend event of the season.

When: Wednesday, March 7, 2007, 6:00 – 8:30 pm
Where: The Bubble Lounge, 714 Montgomery Street, San Francisco
Who should attend: Recruiters, Hiring Managers, HR Professionals
Cost: $25 for hiring professionals (our members attend for free, so you’ll be assured of a good turnout) $30 at the door
What you get: Special non-member job posting privileges to our online community until 4/1/2007, an event badge identifying you as an approved recruiter/hiring manager, and a unique opportunity to meet our particularly qualified community.

Tickets are available online at
http://www.acteva.com/booking.cfm?bevaid=128283

Sponsorships are also available – please email Anna Billstrom at
sponsor@sfwow.org for more information

San Francisco Women on the Web sfwow.org

You know, we’ve been doing more and more product demos and e-learning pieces. We enjoy the opportunity to help people strategize how best to show off their products in demos of all types and flavors. We also like the challenge of creating an new e-learning tool, whether it’s a simple tutorial or training piece ora a full on suite of e-learning courses.

While we will continue to turn out new websites (like the new Ritz and Hess Collection sites), we really look forward to growing Tatu Digital in all kinds of directions in 2007.

Take a look at some of our more recent projects on the Flash Learning website.

Hey, and stay tuned for more tutorials on cool little tips and tricks from the Tatu Digital team!

I can’t believe that it’s been almost 10 years since San Francisco Women on the Web was born.

In the early days it was WebGrrls which was a group I really just got involved in before people started leaving and formed SFWOW.

At the time Tatu was just getting off the ground and I had a lot to learn. I started hand-coding HTML in 1993 but the web was exploding now, and there was so much to learn.

SFWOW was a font of knowledge and my tech questions were answered by some of the best and brightest in the Bay area. As time passed I found that I w2as answering questions too. It’s great to be able to give back to the community that has nurtured my growth as a developer and business owner over the years.

In the early days the networking events were legendary. Craig’s list was young and Craig was a great supporter of SFWOW too. He often came to the networking events and the Wowsers supported him too.

Tech workers in the San Francisco area, and soon in the North and South bay, knoew that they’d find great contacts at a PIM (platform Independant Mixer) and have some fun to boot.

Over the years I gave back to the group as events co-ordinator, List Mom, co-list Mom with Kayla the amazing, and even served on the steering crew and a hectic and wonderfully enriching year as director.

SFWOW is an amazing group of over 1800 women working in the bay area. If you’re in technology andv you’re not a member, take a look at the website then join us!

Did you ever find yourself tearing your hair out trying to figure out what the font is in the logo?
Your client may never have known and the designer burned all of her files in a fit of pique.

No longer a problem. Scan it in and upload it to “What the Font?!” from myfont.com. Not only will the site usually get a god match (even with treatments and drop shadows) but it’s likely to introduce you to new fonts in the same family.

Most fonts are linked to samples and character maps and available for downloads or purchase broken down by type and platform.
Way cool.

This year Tatu Digital Media has chosen to make our mark by taking those typical dollars spent on fruit baskets and chocolates and donating them proudly to Chefs for Humanity.

Chefs for Humanity is a group of dedicated chefs who have fed many mouths, raised lots of spirits, and collected funds to support the people hit hard by the Katrina Hurricane.

This year Chefs for Humanity has set it sights on a bigger challenge. Working closely with UNICEF, Action Against Hunger, Habitat for Humanity, and other groups, they will educate and feed thousands in 2007 and beyond.

The black and white truth of it is, we want to help those who are unable to help themselves. We are asking all of our friends and associates to take a moment and consider supporting this worthy cause with us. It’s easy.

Go to http://www.chefsforhumanity.org Give a little or give a lot – give the gift of hope. Then spread the word.

We wish you and your family a very happy and safeholiday season. We look forward to working with you again in 2007. Janet Fouts