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Archive for the ‘Toolbar Heroes’ Category

Toolbar Heroes – Terry and the Tools

Tuesday, May 25th, 2010

With the minor delay for the launch of www.toolbarheroes.com (due to us wanting to make it even cooler), we’d like to unveil our first hero and our first tool that he’ll be accommodating.

Terry

Illustration of Terry Toolbar

We had our illustration expert Brian from Hartoworld create Terry for http://www.toolbarheroes.com. His superpowers are currently unknown (other than a lycra fetish), but they’ll see the light of day when you least expect it.

The First Hero

Screenshot of the Percentage Calculator tool

Our first hero is the Percentage Calculator. It works with JS enabled or disabled and does the most simple of tasks, that of calculating percentages in numerous ways. We’ve also looked to optimise the tool as much as possible by using sprites, compressing & optimising code and using CDNs. We were originally planning to write our own JavaScript library specifically for this project. With time constraints this changed and hence our beloved jQuery 1.4 was given a run out.

The Coming Soon Heroes…

Two other heroes are currently in development: the file size convertor and typical measurements. We’ve got a lot of plans for www.toolbarheroes.com and will be looking to launch at least one new hero per month from June onwards. Other superheroes like Terry will also be making an appearance later in the year. In the future we’ll post up sneak peaks on dribbble.com, once I’ve earned my creative badges in the community.

What’s the schedule for the Rosslyn applications?

Sunday, February 14th, 2010

As you can see at the bottom of our site we currently have 5 applications listed. Here’s a vague scope for the applications, as well as the schedule for development.

  1. White Label Points
    This will be our flagship application. A points based incentive platform for Predicted closed beta release is late 2010.
  2. Monkey Off
    A fun little mini app that utilises Twitter (yes another one :) ). The application will act a problem solver for the community whilst utilising different platforms with a fun, intuitive interface. The monkey himself is currently stock but we’re getting Brian THE illustrator to produce an uber monkey shortly. Basic launch March 2010.
  3. Toolbar Heroes
    A simple “everyday tools” site and set of plugins. The tools will have the function for calculations, translations and randomness. From there you’ll be able to export the data into the required format and structure ready for the integration with your system/data. Basic launch May 2010.
  4. Gig Reflex
    The progression of a site developed a couple of years ago. We scrapped the initial version as we needed a rethink. The rethink brought lots of ideas to the table. We’re keeping these to our chest right now and being even more vague :)
  5. Gamer’s Pledge
    A charity application that integrates with gaming sites and charity systems to bring a more positive message to gaming, as well as a more structured method of fun. Anyone who has experienced Xbox Live will understand how it’s full of very unlikeable people (or how I call them: cretins), and finding a good community makes it the experience it should be. Development and networking will be started in August/September.

We’ve even surprised ourselves for how vague these descriptions are. We’ll keep you posted on the blog with updates for each application. Monkey and WhiteLP being the priority.

What's Been Said/Read/Dev'd

From the Blog

Users are ruthless. (JL)
August 24, 2010

Here’s a few points to consider when planning your next web site.
Your web site maybe creating the ‘first impression’ of your business.
Think about it, would you answer the phone ‘no, go away!’? Exactly!
Would you put up a neon sign next to the M1 saying ‘its easier to get a quote from our competitors who are [...]

Who we’ve been working with

  1. Travelport
  2. John Wiley & Sons
  3. Commvault
  4. SBK Healthcare
  5. ConSol Partners

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