I haven’t written a post in over two years but to be fair, life happens. So cliche I know… So what’s happened?

I started a new job

I started working at Buddy Media in 2011 which has since been acquired by Salesforce on August of 2012. It’s been really exciting and challenging learning about new technologies and how to scale application and infrastructure. I really feel it’s important to challenge yourself everyday. That’s how we grow as individuals and improve our skill-sets. So do yourself a favor, try not to remain stagnant in anything you do. If you aren’t being challenged, it’s time for something to change.

An atheist professor of philosophy speaks to his class on the problem science has with God, The Almighty. He asks one of his new students to stand and…..

Prof: So you believe in God?

Student: Absolutely, sir.

Prof: Is God good?

Student: Sure.

Prof: Is God all-powerful?

Student: Yes…

-Steve Jobs

People that think they can change the world, actually do!

There are many variables that are instrumental to the failure of a startup. Having a failed startup myself, I studied and analyzed my thoughts and actions during this period to see what I did wrong; and what I could have done to improve the process of beginning and maintaining my startup. I wish I would have been more knowledgeable or had a mentor to coach me through some of the surprises and feelings I encountered but, sometimes the process of learning is a lonely and difficult one, and one that you’ll never forget. So, I would like to share some of the insights that I’ve gathered from my journey and hopefully, you won’t make the same mistakes I made.

My first mistake

I was 22 years old and not thinking large in terms of starting a full scale business. I always knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur, but lacked the knowledge of starting, running or even owning a business. One thing was certain though, I wanted to be a free man. We all want that freedom; freedom of money to buy what we want, freedom of time to go to the gym, spend more time with our families, kids, friends, travel, etc. Although all achievable, freedom doesn’t come easy; it’s something that you have to work hard to attain.

For an online retailer, choosing an e-commerce software platform is one of the most important decisions. Depending on the size of the business, the key requirements could vary from robustness and scalability critical for large retailers to the need for simplicity and flexibility for small store owners. Perhaps it is the ability to effortlessly meet the diverse needs of disparate audiences that has made Magento one of the fastest growing e-commerce applications globally. Already, the Magento e-commerce suite has carried out over US$25 billion in transactions via the 30,000+ merchants who rely on this platform, including some from the Internet Retailer Top 500 list. No wonder then that the platform continues to receive international acclaim, most recently from well known research organization Forrester Research which highlighted Magento as ‘unique’ among various e-commerce technology providers.

One of the key contributors to Magento’s rising popularity as the platform of choice is its ‘flexibility’ and the control that it puts in the hands of the online merchant. Unlike some of the other ‘closed’ or even open source e-commerce platforms, Magento does not place restrictions on business flows and processes. With over 1700 Magento extensions already available (and counting..), technology complements the business rather than business being shaped by the limits posed by technology.

Here are some of the best Magento extensions that I’ve come across.

• Magento Live Chat – This free module will provide LiveChat support in Magento.
• Fontis WYSIWYG Editor – This extension gives you the option to enable a JavaScript WYSIWYG editor to specified admin pages. Currently available editors are: TinyMCE and FCKeditor.
• Lazzymonks Twitter – Displays Twitter updates in the menu and allows updates from within the admin panel.
• Events Calendar – With this extension, you can display an events calendar on your website. Events are stored in the database. You can also display the upcoming list of events quickly by calling a block in your template.
• Blog – Full featured blog extension for Magento.
• Raffle – This module gives you basic functionality to run your own raffles.
• Customer Groups Configurable Catalog – This extension enables you to hide categories and products from customers depending on the customer group.
• Exploded Menu – Replaces the standard single column drop down with a multi-column dropdown featuring 2nd and 3rd level menu items.
• Velite Magento Superstage – Functionality, intuitive interaction and product presentation with really high detailed images are the main features.
• Magento EasyLightbox – This small extension will help to install Lightbox widget. Installation and configuration will take approximately 5 minutes. No files are replaced and no codding experience needed to install!
• Magento Exploded Menu – Replaces the standard Magento menu with a multi-column drop down menu system.

I’ve worked with Drupal in the past for several projects and have come across some modules that have become my favorites. Here they are:

Recently I obtained a copy of Magento Beginner’s Guide by William Rice from Packt Publishing. This book is great, I would recommend it to any new or existing Magento store owner. It servers as an excellent reference guide for experienced users and a great beginners guide for new store owners.

Magento is the world’s most evolved e-commerce solution and runs on the Apache/MySQL/PHP platform. From one installation, users can control multiple storefronts, all sharing customer and product information. Magento’s templates and themes enable users to customize the look and feel of their store, even optimizing it for mobile phones. Extensions enable them to connect Magento to a large number of payment gateways and shipping services.

I purchased an iPhone about 2 months ago and I must say I love it. The only gripe I would say I have with this beautiful machine would be the Multi-media messages or lack thereof. This is something that Apple and AT&T really need to address. For a phone with all of this great technology to lack a feature that most basic phones come standard with is horrible. Anyway, (I needed to vent) here are a list of some really cool Apps that I’ve come across and use: