View the new and improved site at http://www.co.chippewa.wi.us/.

Here is a list of what’s to come:

• MapFoo: Online map creation and management tool
• Code Name ‘Klovera 360′: Online platform for delivering our high end virtual tours
• Code Name ‘Klovera Player’: Robust video player for websites. Many features including tracking playback in Google Anaytics.
• Code Name ‘DAS’: Online system for accepting, organizing, sharing and following up with job applications. Designed to make human resource manager’s life much easier :)

Check back soon for updates!

A few Augmented Reality Experiments…

A real estate virtual tour for a Victorian home in Wisconsin. This is a basic tour with minimal features.

Please use the controls at the bottom of the tour window or click and drag to look around.

Note: There are hotlinks in several of the doorways that lead to the other rooms.

View it full window here

To rotate the product click and drag.
(You may also use the left and right arrow keys on your keyboard after you click on the image)

I’ve been receiving inquires similar to the above over this past week since the launch of our new website. This post will explain both the reasons that prompted the change and an explanation of the word itself.

Why the change?

Previous to Klovera our business was known as Dynamic Digital Media. This name never set well with me, it was too long, unoriginal and the domain name was terribly long (www.dynamicdigitalmedia.com). From the beginning there was always some desire for something better.

Over the years ideas for a new name would come and go, but overall, to be worth changing, the new name would have to meet the following criteria:

1. Short (10 letters or less)
2. Unique
3. Memorable
4. Domain name must be available
5. Must be symbolic of or a metaphor for values of the business
6. Must easily be made visual (ie logo)
7. and most importantly, Alexis must approve :)

About 6 months ago the name ‘Klovera’ popped into my head. In my mind the meaning of the word was: ‘In clover’ which suggests wealth, prosperity, luck, luxury and comfort. These are the things always kept in mind for the clients we work with and for the business itself. We help our customers prosper with knowledge and current technology and as a result so do we.

It was short, unique, memorable and symbolic. ‘Clover’ is easy to make visual and the domain name klovera.com was available. The last test was to run it past my secret source of creativity, my wife and business partner Alexis.

Now Alexis doesn’t easily approve anything and is very open with her opinion and experience. She has an unique perception of things and an uncanny ability to visualize that I have come to trust. Upon presenting the name she approved almost immediately! All my criteria were officially met!

Over the last 6 months (in the time allowed between projects) we have been working hard to re-brand the website and refine our offerings. We have experienced a great deal of growth over the past year and as a result are re-forming the business to a corporation this year (Klovera, Inc.). The timing for the change couldn’t have come at a better time.

We are very excited about the new name and it has given us a renewed sense of organization and purpose. We look forward to continued growth going forward and establishing the Klovera ‘brand’.

Thinking about re-branding or coming up with a new business name?
Here are a few resources to get you started:

• 5 Rules for Choosing a Business Name
• Choosing a Business Name
• How to Name Your Business

1. Microsoft themselves have warned people to stop using Internet Explorer 6 and 7 immediately due to security risks (January 19th, 2010).
2. Google stopped supporting ie6 on March 1st, 2010.
3. YouTube killed support for ie6 on March 13th, 2010
4. Many others companies, designers and developers are following suit…

In addition to security issues, ie7 (and more so ie6) requires an immense amount of additional work by designers and developers to ensure websites and applications appear and function the same as when viewed on up to date browsers. This increased development time results in extended completion dates and increased cost.

As of this blog post Klovera will no longer support ie6. All new projects will display a message similar to the one being used at YouTube encouraging visitors to upgrade or switch browsers.

Please do your part to put a stop to these issues and upgrade to the latest version of Internet Explorer or even better, switch to a far superior browser like Firefox! Below are a few more options:

If you are at work and do not have this option, please forward this article to your IT director.

What others are saying:

• StopIE6.com
• Stop Using IE6, IE7 NOW, warns Microsoft
• Web citizens trying to kill Internet Explorer 6
• IE6nomore.com
• Latest Google results on ‘reasons to stop using internet explorer’

Custom virtual tour created for a condo in downtown Milwaukee, WI.

Controls:

• Click and drag to rotate your view.
• [command] or [control] will zoom out.
• [shift] will zoom in.