Author Archives: allanwoodstrom

Studying for the GMAT and #OWS

Over the past 20 days, I’m estimating I’ve spent close to 75 hours studying for the GMAT. I’m not trying to brag, but really, my knowledge of quadratic formulas and figuring out how many different combinations there are for four out of ten people to be appointed to a committee needed some brushing up.

To make the time for this activity, I’ve had to let go of a few normal activities, most notably watching television. In some ways this has been a blessing, but in other ways I have often found myself irritable, grumpy and tired of doing math problems that seem to have little or no relevance except for the fact that someone, somewhere with a higher salary than mine thinks this will be a clear indicator of whether or not I will be successful in an MBA program.

Now that is off my chest, I have had to really motivate myself to keep going. One of the largest motivators for me, beyond my family, has been the occupy wall street (#ows) movement.

Sounds odd right? But I have been reflecting upon what it must mean to be a part of that movement and what they are fighting for. To me, and I think it might be different for everyone involved, but I think this movement is about the inability for a regular guy to work a regular job, such that he can afford to raise two kids.

In applauding their efforts, I wish some of them would realize, as I have, that education is the key to change. Take all of the time spent protesting and spend it on studying innovation and new job skills. The results of such actions would be amazing.

And to that end, I am going to keep truckin’ with the 60-day GMAT study guide and hopefully prove that I am worthy of the highest level of education Minnesota has to offer.

20 down, 40 more to go.

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Get your website tablet optimized

This “Black Friday” tablets were everywhere. In many cases, they were selling for well less than a couple hundred of dollars.

My hunch is that in the coming months we’ll see a further explosion of tablet web visits.

That means you should have your website optimized for tablet visitors, but don’t be scared. It is actually quite simple. All you need to do is set up your website with separate stylesheets which are activated depending on the size of the visitors browser. Here’s a full article from css-tricks.com on how to pull that off technically.

As you begin working on tablet and mobile stylesheets I recommend copying and pasting from an existing stylesheet and revising it. More specifically:

  • Eliminate any and all flash, as Apple doesn’t support it
  • Keep as much content as you can in one or two columns
  • Eliminate any large images. To do this simply add to the bottom of a img class on the stylesheet {display: none;}
  • Make sure you are using html5 and css3 for color formatting and gradients. It’s a much faster load this way.
  • Reshape your main navigation buttons. Consider adding some rounded edges on buttons and corners. It gives the site have a more modern feel.
  • Don’t be afraid to cut stuff out.
  • Test and retest and make a note that as you design, you should be able to play with the window size of computer’s web browser to see new stylesheets take.

If you have further questions, check out a forum for web developers and please share any other good tips you have.