About Joshua Flail

Joshua Flail is the Marketing Coordinator for Ripple, a managed IT service provider that puts Humans First™.

National Day of Civic Hacking 2013

By Joshua Flail

National Day of Civic Hacking is an event taking place June 1st and 2nd in cities across the US. NDCH will bring together citizens, software developers, and entrepreneurs from all over to collaboratively create, build, and invent new solutions using publicly-released data, code and technology to solve challenges relevant to our neighborhoods, our cities, our states and our country. The event hopes to demonstrate what’s possible when people work together to strengthen our society and our individual lives.

National Day of Civic Hacking will be unique to each city depending on that area’s specific needs. It might take the form of a block party, hackathon, brigade meetup - or something completely different. The goal of this year’s National Day of Civic Hacking is to get at least one city in all 50 states and territories to participate. Even the White House has pledged to get in on the action.

Read more about the whole event on the Hack for Change website. And if you don’t see your hometown on the list of participating cities, then get involved and sign up. Here’s a list of the event occurring in Ripple-supported cities:

Atlanta National Day of Civic Hacking
Saturday, June 1, 2013 to Sunday, June 2, 2013

NYC EDesign Lab Open Source K12 Education Hackathon Saturday, June 1, 2013 to Sunday, June 2, 2013
New York Rockaway Beach Civic Hack Day Saturday, June 1, 2013
NYC BigApps Closing Expo Saturday, June 1, 2013 to Sunday, June 2, 2013

National Day of Civic Hacking San Antonio
Saturday, June 1, 2013

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Ripple and ROWE: My Results-Only Experience

By Joshua Flail

Go ROWE! We talk a lot (I hope not too much) about how Ripplers love working in a results-only work environment. We really do. But there’s still a number of people I know who just can’t wrap their heads around the concept; let alone understand why I’d choose to write a blog post at 9PM on a Saturday night. Truth is, the ROWE experience is different for every individual. That’s the point. Focussing solely on results and not a timecard allows people the freedom to have a real, satisfying work/life balance.

As a content creator working for a b2b IT service provider, my schedule is a bit more flexible than say one of the guys on the Support Team. It’s their job to solve problems for our clients, most of which maintain a 9-5 schedule. So, Support tends to work those hours, though they’re certainly able to do the things they need to anytime with some simple communication. And, like myself, they can do most of what they do from anywhere including the office, their home or a park bench (provided they have a long enough extension cord). continue reading

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Favorite Websites: May 2013 Edition

By Joshua Flail

The net is a great resource for useful tools to help with everything from email management to finding a pet sitter. Ripplers are discovering new sites and software on a near-constant basis in an effort to keep up with the latest innovations and IT solutions. So, we’re sharing a couple of our favorite websites each month. Here’s our picks for May:

1. World Time Buddy

Who couldn’t use another buddy, right? Well, how about one that let’s you know what time it is, no matter where your other buddies are located? That’s what the World Time Buddy does. So, you’ll know exactly how late it is in South Asia before inviting your friends in Bangladesh to a Google Hangout. Oh, and this is one buddy that won’t ask you to help them move into a new place or pick them up from the airport. How’s that for a selfless friend? Thanks, WTB. continue reading

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Markerspace Open House in Atlanta

By Joshua Flail

Coders, creatives and entrepreneurs in Atlanta should be interested to know that Freeside hosts a free open house every Tuesday beginning around 7:30 PM.

Located in The Metropolitan warehouses, Freeside is the largest markerspace in the the southeast. We’re talking 6,000 sq/ft, featuring 3D printers, an electronics lab, a classroom, workshop, media lab, two auto bays, a ton of co-working areas and Ripple Free WiFi throughout the building.

Stop by on a Tuesday night to see what it’s all about, and consider becoming a member. The monthly rate is just 80 bucks ($40 for starving tech students), which includes a bunch of benefits like 24/7 access to the building, dedicated storage space, members-only wifi access points, etc. Even if you’re not sure you wanna join up, the open house nights are a great way to meet collaborators, creatives, and some really smart people doing some really cool things.

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Ripple Moves Into the ATV

By Joshua Flail

It’s an exciting and historic month for us Ripplers, and for Ripple as a company. As of last Monday, we are officially tentants of Atlanta Tech Village. We passed out some shirts during Free Lunch Friday to celebrate, and will be doing the same this week. Our buddies at DANGER printed these up super fast and they turned out great.

We’ll be sporting ‘Start IT Up’ shirts most Fridays, and handing them out to fellow members as we run into them. So, yeah. We’re stoked to be part of it all. If you’re an ATV’er and won’t be able to attend this week’s Free Lunch Friday, then come say “Hey” to the Ripple team in Suite 310 and grab a shirt. Don’t cost nothin’.

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Why Some Companies Are Scared To Go ROWE

By Joshua Flail

Many companies are beginning to see the benefits of enacting a results-only policy, but there are still some that are either confused about the concept, or simply afraid of what ROWE might reveal about their employees and how they manage them.

The most important aspect of a Results-Only Work Environment is the emphasis on personal responsibility. In traditional workplaces, the focus might be on how often someone’s in the office, or how many billable hours they submit to their clients. But being in the office and sending out statements doesn’t have anything to do with the actual work being done. The focus should be on the results of their work.

Managers in traditional workplaces assume that if they don’t physically see their employees planted in their seats for a solid 8 hours, then they’re probably not doing their jobs. In a ROWE company, everyone is trusted to get their work done wherever, however, and whenever they need to. They’re judged solely on the work they do and the results they get, nothing more. continue reading

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Advantages to Having a Flexible Workforce

By Joshua Flail

Smile, it's a ROWE! VPN. Cloud computing. VoIP. Telecommuting. These are all examples of how people can work where they want to, when they want to. Being a Results-Only Work Environment, or ROWE, we judge the performance of our employees on just one thing: results. It’s a simple philosophy that’s showing up in more and more industries, including some companies you might not expect. As more people become educated about the benefits of having and being part of a flexible mobile workforce, the traditional way of doing things will not only be considered unfavorable by potential employees, but also outdated and counterproductive.

Key advantages to having a flexible workforce:

• Attract the best: Today’s best and brightest workers are not chaining themselves to a 9 to 5 desk job. They know better, quite frankly. Companies that allow and encourage workers to telecommute will quickly find themselves with a better talent pool to choose from. Giving your employees the freedom to work when and where they want to not only brings in the best, but will change the focus from how often their in the office to the results of their efforts. People who aren’t self-motivated won’t last long in a results-only environment, and you wouldn’t want them working for you anyway.

• Discover new innovations: The human brain needs time to roam, to create and to innovate. The traditional office environment can often limit innovation rather than encourage it whereas a mobile work force can seek out inspiration where it exists. Don’t get us wrong, Ripplers love to be in the office with each other but sometimes the chatter of a coffeehouse or the comforts of home can be a welcome change of pace for the mind. continue reading

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The Coming Death of Check-in Services

By Joshua Flail

Foursquare isn't dead ...yet. Remember when you checked-in at every restaurant, event space, and heck even your house from your phone? If not, don’t worry. That trend is slowly dying before it ever had the chance to become something your mom and dad got into. Whew.

Foursquare was the leader of these kind of location-based apps, but has been on the declined popularity-wise for the last four years with a total of just 30 million users. The percentage of active users is unknown, but even with 30 million Foursquare falls way short of mainstream social media sites and apps like Twitter (about 500 million) and Facebook (over 1 billion).

Not to pick on Foursquare, as there are a number of similar location-based services that have or are facing a similar fate: Saga and SCVNGR haven’t really taken off as expected while Foursquare’s biggest competitor, Gowalla, has disappeared. Interestingly enough, new types of location-based gaming apps are, on a smaller scale, building slow but steadily-increasing user bases. continue reading

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New York Tech Day 2013

By Joshua Flail

NY Tech Day is like a massive science fair for entrepreneurs to exhibit their startups. This year it will be held on Thursday, April 25th at Pier 92, and will welcome 450+ startups, 10,000 attendees, Angels, Investors, VCs, Hordes of Press, Job Seekers, and Technical Talent.

The 2011 inaugural expo completely sold out New York’s Lexington Armory with 200 startups and 4,500 attendees, and this second annual NY Tech Day is poised to outstrip last year’s success. Oh, and the best part is that tickets are free. FREE!

If you’re one of our clients based in New York or will be in the area that week, then mark your calendar for the largest tech startup event in the world and register to attend today.

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Kick-ass Network Coming to the Atlanta Tech Village

By Joshua Flail

Homer Bartlett, Ripple IT Consultant

Now that Ripple is not only the official IT service provider for the Atlanta Tech Village, but also one of the first companies to take up residency in the 100,000+ sq/ft building (currently undergoing a complete overhaul) we want to keep everyone up-to-date on the installation of the new superfast network that Ripplers will be managing.

For the last several weeks, our man Homer Bartlett has been going back-and-forth between our current office in West Midtown and the soon-to-be Ripple headquarters in Buckhead to oversee the buildout of a Meraki network that will lie atop over a full gigabit of fiber optic internet bandwidth! To put that in perspective… well, let’s just say it’s a whole lot of bandwidth. This newly built network will be able to serve with ease the 100s of companies and thousands of visitors who will occupy the ATV each year. Homer was kind enough to explain to me just what the specs of this new network mean and how our managing the infrastructure will help keep IT costs low for occupants of the Atlanta Tech Village. continue reading

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