mxuribe's recent activity
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Comment on All the good email clients go to hell in ~tech
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Comment on Hosting a company website on our own? in ~tech
mxuribe Link ParentIt is great to hear that your web designer/dev has been thinking and planning some of the same stuff! Also, it is really helpful that they are part of marketing; so they can understand both sides...It is great to hear that your web designer/dev has been thinking and planning some of the same stuff! Also, it is really helpful that they are part of marketing; so they can understand both sides of the coin so to speak.
As far as the ways of working, hey, we've all gotten bit by project "gotchas". The only reason i know enough even to suggest such ways of working is because i have tons of scars from the past. Some times we get so deep into something that we don't lift our heads to see what might work better for some circumstance, etc. We're all human. But, as my dad would say during my time playing little league baseball: "no worries; just shake it off, and get back in there"! :-)Happy to take any other questions along the way! :-)
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Comment on Hosting a company website on our own? in ~tech
mxuribe Link ParentThanks for this info...and apologies for the length of my response below... So what i understand from the above is very roughly: your org wants to act as a funnel - or use this added website to...Thanks for this info...and apologies for the length of my response below...
So what i understand from the above is very roughly:
- your org wants to act as a funnel - or use this added website to serve as funnel mechanism - for your visitors/prospects to discover various relevant events, across the different, relevant geographies.
- they want to use the funnel to provide the value, but also track visitors for further marketing purposes. (sorry i know "tracking" might be considered a dirty word, but its kind of what is needed for understanding user activities....excuse me while i put my tinfoil hat back on. )
- you actually have some of this activity tracked but it is siloed.
- the overall experience for your visitors likely would/could be broken across 2 websites - one is the marketing and the other the CRM one (the CRM for functional purposes).
- but of course need to track across these (and any other web properties, email campaigns, presumably text/sms, and mobile if ever dip toes there, etc.)
If i've captured the rough goals accurately, this is great because you seem quite clear on what is needed. Please don't take that the wrong way. Its surprising how many highly intelligent people i work with who miss the whole point of efforts/projects, and then after lots of time, money, and effort are expended find ourselves heading in wrong direction. Glad to see you're laser-focused, and of course this (hopefully) makes your discussions with your leaders and peers easier; that is, by keepoing everyone's "eyes on the prize". :-)
Allow me to address the easier question you asked about managed providers for WordPress. They very much exist, and the benefit of course is that your org would be paying them to handle almost all maintenance for the lower half of the tech stack. That leaves the top half like design, template, plugins, and user management (assuming other folks maybe in marketing might eventuall handle the content, etc.), and maybe a few tiny other things. While there could be ongoing work involved in admin and plugin updates, the design stuff might be work up front, but very little thereafter...which is to say, leveraging a managed provider is a bunch of setup work, and lots less work thereafter....that's the money your org is paying to them. Years ago WP Engine (https://wpengine.com/) were considered the gold stanard of managed WP providers...I honestly do not know if they;re still the tops, or where they fit in quality-wise. I'm sure there are plenty others nowadays, but i can'd recommend one off the top of my head. But a quick search engine scan can manifest a few i'm sure. Also, Wordpress.com actually has paid plans that sort of provide the same service as WPEngine - in that you pay them money to not have to manage the bottom half of the stack. Again, a quick search could help you find other equally good and well-priced providers.
As far your preference to having 2 separate sites....without me knowing other aspects of the effort (e.g. budgets, preferences of other stakeholders, peers, etc.) its hard for me to fully 100% advise...but at glance from your notes, i agree with you that 2 sites would be the way to go....to start with. I'm going to disclose my bias here. I'm the type of person who at the start of all projects inform everyine that we will produce "good enough" outcomes in order to achieve faster delivery dates...Why? Because ALL conventional projects are always late and over budget in the digital world...and if we arrive at end of first phase faster, we can know exactly what direction to pivot to next for phase 2, and we have budget leftover to spend for phase 2. But if orgs try to spend too much time to "get things perfect" on the first laucnh...then get ready for circa 1970s/1980s project management and low quality outcomes. This "good enough, but fast" approach has become my preference after almost 30 years of working on web and digital projects at big companies, and seeing so many failures doing it "the perfect way"...so mileage may vary if my assumptions do not apply to your org's stakeholders, etc. But my experiences across all areas - and especially when i spent the year in nonprofit world - is to get something good enough out into the world, reflect and review how it does, then start short and sweet further iterations going forward - this helps with people feeling good that stuff got done, and it lowers volume and complexity of work (which helps avoid team burnout). If i'm going to "win" or fail, i want to know as soon as possible, and then react quickly and accordingly. The startup world uses this to respond quicker to market conditions, i have used it successfully to get stuff done faster, and cheaper, with less effort, and be nimble for any issues that come up.
Anyway, back to the 2 site approach. This would be a good idea to start with because it makes any integration easier, or as you noted mayb not at all - if can convindce them to keep the sites separate. Then after launch and some time of review, can look at how that separate site approach helps achieve the org's goals, or not.
Now, for the tracking of activites, platforms like Google analytics and other related web analytics services would be the basic building block. There are numerous mechnaims such as inserting pixels in emails that tie back to webpages on either sites, or using special links (like those that have all those characters at the end of the URL) in email that "ping" google analytics to show that a visitor clicked a link from an email, and on and on, etc. Google analytics and all other similar services have countless tutorials on how to set these things up and manage such campaigns...However, i'm going to stop here and state that while i know you might like to be a tech jack of all trades...this "campaign setup and tracking" is really something that needs to be thought through way in advance in collaboration with someone, say, in marketing - assuming your org has someone who handles that. Why? Because a rookie mistake with ttracking is that some tracking mechanism gets added to some steps in flow, but then one step is missed, and the measurements produce lots less value, or maybe the wrong reports are setup, etc. For exampe, if there is an email campangin that is setup, and then the email body is set to track the clicks, and the landing page is set to track activity, but then some button to register for an event is NOT tracked...well, sure you can collate this web tracking data with the CRM registration data, but now you've created manual work or a possible gap in between steps in the overall snapshot of the visitor. Is it the end of the world? No, though many orgs have you believe its horrible. But, it does in fact create gaps in future reporting...so it behooves whomever wishes to track activity to talk through all the steps that are desired to be tracked. Think of it like a director for a film talking everyone through all the story boards to explain the difference movie scenes, etc...and then everyone comments on what should/could be added in, etc. Here again, while discussion and planning should be had, you can still plan things in a way to deliver only steps 1, 2, and 3 for launch, but later after launch subsequently add additional tracking after steps 4, 5, and 6. This keeps the initial sequentioal steps of tracking in tact and avoids gaps there, and only later in those secondary fast phase 2 iterations can more latter tracking steps be added.
By the way, Google analytics and other similar service often have tons of report options - its quite silly really, and most business do not need that much data or reports. These services often also allow for setting up reports and then automatically having them emailed to relevant stakeholders. It might actually be worth it to play with any free offerings on a test website, and see what stuff looks worthwhile, etc...and again, there are a plethora of tutorials for you or for your designer or better yet for the marketing folks in your org. The more fiolks in the org that can see the value - and by consequence think what they might want to track - the better everyone will be aligned for the overall "new website" project.
I should mention also that if your CRM provider already has some sort of mechanism that can be used as an equivalent og google analytics but via some plugin of theirs...maybe consider engaging in discussion with them to see if they have an offereing for a separate marketing website. I don't know if this is a sensitive topic, but worth an ask if only to see what tracking options might exist with them.
Finally, i can't stress enough about the way of working, preferring smaller scopes of projects in order to get something good enough out the door. The older ways of trying to get all scope and details included in the first launch, and getting them all perfect for that first launch is no longer good for many orgs. When i worked at the local United Way, they operated like this, and being a nonprofit their bugets are always massively constrained for projects...But when i showed them how to think like this smaller and more frequent deliverable style project managemrnt (yes, yes, its a variation of "Agile" and "lean" management but no one cares about these names except for big money consultants)....Well, this approach fit them perfectly....it helped cope with the small budgets, it made everyone involved empoewered that they were involved in an exciting effort, and seeing something come to fruition faster (or pivot quicker and with less damage/problems because issues are encountered much sooner that traditinal ways)...made everyone fell, well, happier! Is it perfect, and does it work for every org? No, definitely not, and maybe its not appropriate for every single project or org...but i've been hard pressed to see this approach fail for anyone. Of coures, you know your org, and could be the best judge here. :-)
I'll stop here, because i threw so much out here. Happy to keep answering questions, providing feedback. If its easier via email for you (instead of via Tildes), here's my name and email address:
Mauricio Uribe email = mxu@uribe.cc (that is, .CC and not .COM)I hope this helped! Thanks!
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Comment on Hosting a company website on our own? in ~tech
mxuribe LinkHi @JCPhoenix I think some of the feedback from others here is really good, and i encourage you to review and absorb their comments if you haven't already...because i think what is being asked by...Hi @JCPhoenix
I think some of the feedback from others here is really good, and i encourage you to review and absorb their comments if you haven't already...because i think what is being asked by your org might be bigger than they realize (and certainly comes with big risks and headaches for you/your team)...or maybe the org asking for this are not exactly understanding what they need from you, or maybe they don;t exactly know what they want either. Here's what i mean: why do they want a website? Is it because they want to what amounts to a marketing website that is mostly static content, and simply promotes activities and tries to stir up signups for newsletters, or maybe pushes visitors to a separate donation capture web portal, etc.? Or, do they legit want to re-platform everything from CRM, donation capture, marketing/promo content, etc.? I think ultimately understanding what really is the goal/intent of the website from the org's perspective may help you tons.If the goal - for example - is to NOT replace the AMS, and instead have new website be used as "marketing website", then pick a provider like managed WordPress or others and then just proceed. I know you stated that you have a web designer, but then you mentioned they could handle API calls...? If this person does not want to be a developer, and their strengths are designer, then stick to managed wordproess or something similar....this allows your designer to stick to what they like/what they're good at, and maintenance is minimal - since your focus would be upgrading (or temporarily disabling!) any plugins, and worrying less/nothing about underlying hosting stack/environment. Or, another example could be that maybe the org has 2 websites - one for marketing which can be based on a managed service like Wordpress or the like - and this website merely allows for users to navigate to the separate/secondary website which might be the AMS provide one or maybe some other managed provider that supports directly - i don't know - functions like donation capture, etc. In other words split up and somewhat outsource the functions of the web experience and associated goals to different managed providers; your team handles the marketing site (via providers like wordpress), and AMS or other providers manage the other website, and so on. If this sounds expensive, its not. Well, that is, they are plenty of reasonably priced managed providers for non-profits - depending entirely on the ultimate goals that the org has for the desired website(s). Basically, a discussion on the ultimate needs/goals of the org should drive any further discussions.
After almost 3 decades of work in technology and almost all of it working for medium and big enterprises, i spent about a year and a half working at a non-profit - directing a regional United Way non-profit through their entire digital transformation during the pandemic...so whatever type of non-profit you work in, i assure you there are plenty of options for you. ;-)
If you wish, feel free to reach out to me privately (send me message within tildes), and i'd be happy to answer any other questions you might have. Good luck!
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Comment on I'm looking for a project management tool similar to gantt but... different in ~tech
mxuribe Link ParentI get ya now. Well, at least you're well-versed in your scenario, so know what does not work - which is important to know/learn. :-) Chin up, and good luck! :-)I get ya now. Well, at least you're well-versed in your scenario, so know what does not work - which is important to know/learn. :-) Chin up, and good luck! :-)
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Comment on I'm looking for a project management tool similar to gantt but... different in ~tech
mxuribe LinkIt sounds like you might benefit from a kanban approach...Notice i said "might" and also said "approach", and not a specific tool. Others have mentioned trello and Ms Planner, and for me they...It sounds like you might benefit from a kanban approach...Notice i said "might" and also said "approach", and not a specific tool. Others have mentioned trello and Ms Planner, and for me they really are really good for kanban, and in fact, in my opinion they're really great at general ToDo/task managament - separate of projects and separate of kanban. That being said, before you committ to a tool, would be good to ensure you and your team would be comfortable with a partoicular approach...Not just agile vs waterfall, etc...but, i mean in general. Could an excel do what you need? Very likely yes...and maybe you can keep using an excel to establish a good approach...then when everyone is bought into a particular "way of working", then can be in better position to pick an appropriate tool.
I'm going to push for you to really consider the kanban approach - i'm totally biased of course...so please take with a big grain of salt. I should clarify, that i do NOT suggest to adopt kanban to the letter. My opinion is that any and all project managament methodoligies are taken way too serious, and become religious fundamentalist things that people must adhere too or die...I say, pick and choose only the good parts from various approaches for what best suits you and your team, and toss out the rest of each methodoly that does not help you/your team. Kanban - here i go again trying to sell! - seems to wokr well if used very loosely because it helps techies see what's in the works at a glance, and it helps non-techies get a "dashbaord" view also of whats in the works...buyt, again, i suggest kanban in the loosest way that helps you, and not prescribes inflexible religouis ceremonies. Maybe talk to your team and run a mini workshop to play with fake tickets, fake projects...to see if they think it will work for them too. I hope that helps!
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Comment on Simple Mobile Tools bought by ZipoApps (company offering apps with ads and tracking) in ~tech
mxuribe Link ParentThanks for sharing this @petrichor! I had no idea Google made/offered a separate photo gallery from their Google Photos! Not so sure that i will use it...Kind of the reason i was using Simple...Thanks for sharing this @petrichor!
I had no idea Google made/offered a separate photo gallery from their Google Photos! Not so sure that i will use it...Kind of the reason i was using Simple Mobile Tools was to avoid using Google stuff...but, hey I asked for options, and now i have other options. Thanks again! :-) -
Comment on Simple Mobile Tools bought by ZipoApps (company offering apps with ads and tracking) in ~tech
mxuribe Link ParentYeah, thanks, I saw that...but just wondered if there wasn't maybe a different alternative. Nothing against the person who is forking this...i just figured, well, there must be something else out...Yeah, thanks, I saw that...but just wondered if there wasn't maybe a different alternative. Nothing against the person who is forking this...i just figured, well, there must be something else out there....right? :-)
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Comment on Simple Mobile Tools bought by ZipoApps (company offering apps with ads and tracking) in ~tech
mxuribe LinkIn addition to the noted fork (https://github.com/FossifyOrg), are there any other alternatives - in particular an alt. to Gallery and Calendar - that folks can suggest?In addition to the noted fork (https://github.com/FossifyOrg), are there any other alternatives - in particular an alt. to Gallery and Calendar - that folks can suggest?
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Comment on Simple Mobile Tools bought by ZipoApps (company offering apps with ads and tracking) in ~tech
mxuribe Link ParentCrap, I had paid for the pro versions of Gallery and Calendar...Not because the apps were the world's most awesome solution to everything under the sun, but because i was trying to support the...Crap, I had paid for the pro versions of Gallery and Calendar...Not because the apps were the world's most awesome solution to everything under the sun, but because i was trying to support the developer at least through the most minuscule of costs. (I would have easily paid much more sinvce the apps bring tangigle value, and since i thought i was paying a person/small business, and not some heartless large enterprise)...But, dang it! Now, i have to look for alternatives.
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Comment on Windows 10 end of life could prompt torrent of e-waste as 240 million devices set for scrapheap in ~tech
mxuribe LinkHeadline: "Millions of Windows Laptops Originally Headed to Landfills Now Help Save Business, Bridge Digital Divide" "...By leveraging various open source Linux distributions and various open...Headline: "Millions of Windows Laptops Originally Headed to Landfills Now Help Save Business, Bridge Digital Divide"
"...By leveraging various open source Linux distributions and various open source virtualization tools, millions of Windows laptops - originally expected to become ewaste - become fully repurposeable for consumers and all manner of small businesses. Not only has this grand repurposing helped avoid ewaste, but many consumers save money by avoiding to need to buy more unnecessary computers...Furthermore, operational costs are saved by millions of small and medium businesses by the mere practice of......"
<awakens from dream/sleeping> Whoa, what happened!?! Awww, man, that was only a dream about linux and helping with the digital divide! Dang it!
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Comment on New job quandary in ~life
mxuribe Link ParentTotally agreed!!!...his recommendation was taken very seriously. That's incentive to be a good student - show up, pay attention, ask questions when you're uncertain, do the homework, and you might get a golden ticket...
Totally agreed!!!
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Comment on In general, which laptop maker (OEM) provides the best compatibility for Linux desktops in terms of driver support and things like wifi, bluetooth, power efficiency, etc? in ~tech
mxuribe Link ParentThanks so much; very helpful and informative!Thanks so much; very helpful and informative!
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Comment on New job quandary in ~life
mxuribe Link ParentHey @Heichou I think @patience_limited said it best here (beyond their already great, solid advice above)! Not only are local community college classes great, often not so expensive, and relevant,...As far as growing from where you are now, your local community college is your best friend - comparatively inexpensive cert courses, taught at work-friendly hours, usually by people who've had some skin in the game.
Hey @Heichou I think @patience_limited said it best here (beyond their already great, solid advice above)! Not only are local community college classes great, often not so expensive, and relevant, but also instructors can be a great opportunity for networking - the people kind not the technical kind. ;-) Instructors know people who know people, so can be a good connection to getting to know others, which is good for socializing yes (and/or comiserating too), but also for getting future opportunitirs/jobs.
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Comment on File structure difference between NAS and cloud storage in ~comp
mxuribe LinkHi @valar, I'm going to assume that you are NOT in any hurray to complete this...so with my assumption out of the way, can i suggest the following? Before beginning, make sure you make backups of...Hi @valar, I'm going to assume that you are NOT in any hurray to complete this...so with my assumption out of the way, can i suggest the following?
- Before beginning, make sure you make backups of everything....and by backups, i mean follow the sage old advise of 3 backups, ideally on 2 different media (or maybe 2 different machines, etc.), and 1 backup being offsite.
- Now, you should choose which space - either NAS or onedrive - should be considered the main/master source for records. I would choose NAS, because being more local, research or viewing files as well as applying any changes (including running any scripts) will be much faster than reviewing and changing things against the cloud files on your onedrive.
- Then, start thinking only high level how you wish to organize the new hierarchy of ALL of your files...the intent is that you will establish a rough estimation of a hierarchy, and over much time, you will arrive at a direction for how to organize things, and then of course keep things in sync between the NAS and onedrive.
- For example, take all image and video files and whatever directories they currently exist in, and move them under "media", and have a separate folder for files that are NOT media files. This gives you 2 massive folders.
- From there, start slowly creating sub-hierarchies that make sense for you.
- Then, stop for the day...Sure you can run another backup (to ensure that nothing is lost)...but stop fiddling with hierarchies for the day. Move on to something else, and plan to come back to this work another day, etc.
- My approach is slow, but if you caught my nuance, basically this gives you a bit of a zen habit, sort of like slowly tending to a garden; but you're curating your local digital garden.
- At some point, you will make a decision on what exact hierarchy you wish to have to organize all your files, and then treat this evolved hierarchy as the main/master source of truth...and over time - at least i hope like it happened for me - this will give you calm and give your brain something soothing to do on a daily or weekly or whatever cadence basis. ...but also an evolved organization for how your files are stored.
- When you feel that you have made some progress - this is entirely based on how you feel you have made progress - then, look to the other place (for example if you started on NAS side, then now look to the onedrive files, etc.)...and then start aligning that second place to be the same hierarchy as the original/first place.
Beyond the zen aspect, you'll stumble upon duplicates and can decide how you wish to handle that. Are they true duplicates or different versions of the same file, etc. Without any rush, things become easier to deal with. After you have a more establish direction with your hierarchy, then - if you wish - you can start thinking if its more efficient to start scripting things...but, if there's no rush you can also just take your time....Again, use this as an exercise both for tidying things up but also as zen thing. Finally, assuming you keep backups along the way, then nothing is theoretically lost. I hope this helps!
EDIT: Made minor spelling corrections.
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Comment on In general, which laptop maker (OEM) provides the best compatibility for Linux desktops in terms of driver support and things like wifi, bluetooth, power efficiency, etc? in ~tech
mxuribe Link ParentAh-ha, ok, thanks that helps! Yeah, i had not known until recently that system 76 really just rebranded clevo laptops. (Not sure if still the case, or if the case for all their models, etc.) But,...Ah-ha, ok, thanks that helps! Yeah, i had not known until recently that system 76 really just rebranded clevo laptops. (Not sure if still the case, or if the case for all their models, etc.) But, yeah, that's good to know. While i really want to support companies that put linux first - like system76 - i also am not in a position often to willy-nilly spend my hard-earned money on products that aren't super up to snuff. ;-)
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Comment on In general, which laptop maker (OEM) provides the best compatibility for Linux desktops in terms of driver support and things like wifi, bluetooth, power efficiency, etc? in ~tech
mxuribe Link ParentHi @PuddleOfKittens Curious, would you care to provide an anecdote or details aroiund why you wold choose Framework considering you're an owner of a system76 laptop?As a system76 laptop owner, ditto.
Hi @PuddleOfKittens Curious, would you care to provide an anecdote or details aroiund why you wold choose Framework considering you're an owner of a system76 laptop?
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Comment on Mastodon is the good one in ~tech
mxuribe Link ParentMy hope for the future is to move farther into self-hosting land for this (social media) and many other services...but to the extreme point that "self-hosting" transforms into direct peer-to-peer...My hope for the future is to move farther into self-hosting land for this (social media) and many other services...but to the extreme point that "self-hosting" transforms into direct peer-to-peer paradigm...in cases like where there is minimal or almost no "server" involved; thus avoiding the need for complex self-hosting maintenance, etc. Now, to clarify, the "self-hosting" that i mean would need to be extremely minimal to empower tech and especially non-tech users to be able to very easily self-host things. Wjhat do i mean? Well, for example, the matrix.org (messaging network) folks are literally trying to develop the matrix standards in the direction where there will not even be a need for a home server at all in order to send/receive matrix messages, etc., and basically "house" both clients and servers within the single, same application, etc.! The idea seems crazy (and maybe not easy to do), but in my opinion, would empower many users to adopt more federated applications, and by extension give users more freedoms and at the same avoid encumbering them with typical self-hosting overhead. Of course, my wish here is quite idealistic...but i am not alone in this wish. ;-)
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Comment on I've been looking into self-hosting, what's the best cost-efficient option? in ~tech
mxuribe Link@venn177 Over the years, I have traditionally hosted several static websites as well as a personal instance of NextCloud on small virtual private servers offered by the likes of Digital Ocean,...@venn177 Over the years, I have traditionally hosted several static websites as well as a personal instance of NextCloud on small virtual private servers offered by the likes of Digital Ocean, Linode, Hetzner, etc. Several months ago i moved my nextcloud instance to my own homeserver (hosted from my home)...mainly because for my small family the meek performance of small virtual servers on some "cloud provider" were sufficient from performance perspectiuve...but i kept running out of storage space (think: family members loading up their big photos, files, etc.). Well, nowadays i keep the static websites on the same legacy cloud provider, and host nextcloud from home...and my nextcloud server lives on a small old desktop that i simpl,y maxed out the ram...so its leagues more powerfful than what i was getting from cloud provider and tons more storage...though now i have to pay minuscule electricity (again, its a small efficient desktop, and not some rack-mopunted server). My cloud provider monthly bill got cut in half! Now, as others noted, if i really wwanted to sacve more money, i could move my statuic websites to be hosted on free or almost free options like Github pages or CloudFlare, etc...but my cloud provider costs for these websites is low enough, that i think i have found a noice balance of some cloud hosted things and some self-hosted/home-hosted things. Maybe consder if you can do a hybrid approach (both on cloud and on-prem...like enterprises sometimes do)? Reach out if you jhave any questions. Good luck!
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Comment on XML is better than YAML. Hear me out... in ~comp
mxuribe Link ParentYes, but when i read that in my feeble mind, it comes across like, well, "...In a world where we now have drills and drill bits, we never need to use a screwdriver!" ...Which i know you're not...Yes, but when i read that in my feeble mind, it comes across like, well, "...In a world where we now have drills and drill bits, we never need to use a screwdriver!" ...Which i know you're not saying exactly...but that's how interpret your statement. And, of course, anyone who has the use-case for a drill and drill bits knows very well that we can NOT complete projects without both drills AND screwdrivers. With all apologies. ;-)
I've heard a few times* that Gnome Evolution is the email (groupware?) client result of Apple Mail and Outlook having some sort of tech baby. Honestly, i've only loaded evolution like once or twice in my almost 20 year usage of linux...so can not seem to recall its look-and-feel and UX to agree with the validity of that assessment or not. (I'm not a fan of either Apple mail nor outlook, so have no interest in validating this)...But i mention with the hopes that if what the handful of people i heard state what they stated...maybe it can help you or others find that goldilocks of an email client.
For me, I'm a multi-year user of thunderbird...and while its ok, i agree it has some flaws. But, it seems toi be the best of the hot garbage that are the rest of the email clients. I'm holding out for a world where matrix (or something like matrix) rules all messaging in a unified approach...maybe there will be a matrix client that can allow for "higher velocity" messaging a la chat (and maybe shows the UI with lists of people), but also allow for a UX for "slower messaging" like email (with the traditional email list of messages)...but all within the same software. Maybe i'm crazy but i have a feeling there are a grouop of UX / designer people out there who can solve something like this - since i think the underlying matrix protocol can accomodate the very different approaches to messaging. Who knows? Maybe we'll see in the future.