I've hit a productivity slump, even with non-personal sites, in spite of the stock market going "BOING!" Is there a correlation? No. Was that a random statement? Absolutely. Should I find it mildly disturbing that I'm talking to myself? Probably, but I don't.
Just got a new job...might as well mention after the fact that I formerly worked for Ciber. I really enjoyed the work and the people and the company vision, and I'm glad I was let go on good terms. Honestly, I was, but I'd rather not mention the details here...that would feel...unprofessional. As would mentioning who my current employer is.
brian, everybody's favorite webdesignin' and backpackin' Tennessean (Tennessian? Tennessite?) just redesigned. Again. 100% DIV-powered, and looks even better than the last layout. Good stuff.
Yale Accuses Princeton of Hacking.
Things Other People Accomplished When They Were Your Age: this is the sort of site that will ruin that good feeling you get when you're being productive. Naturally, at the top of the list for my age was Bill Gates (founded Microsoft), followed by Scott Olsen (founded Rollerblade), followed by Mary Shelley (wrote Frankenstein, an entry that they cheekily appended with "...which was immediately successful."). Charles Lindbergh (learned to fly) and Jane Austen (wrote "Pride and Prejudice") also made the list.
Julius Caesar has a blog. And y'all thought he was dead. A really good read, actually, based on Caesar's Commentaries on the Gallic Wars, brought to us by Daragh Sankey. Link found via blogroots, a fascinating blog about...blogs.
July 2002 Archives
Just got a new guest map that hopefully won't delete old entries. Looking kind of empty (well, ok, very empty), so please leave your mark! You get these nifty little people icons, and you can add your country's flag...cool!
Work's been keeping me from putting much into this site lately...my "current project" is a couple months old, and I haven't cranked out any really good writing lately. I guess I have a good excuse...on top of teaching at Computer Tutor, I'm working on two client sites (including the Computer Tutor site) and a portfolio site. Two of the sites are coded in valid XHTML 1.0 Strict and CSS2...funky. I'm planning on integrating a lot of what I learn into the next version of TheThousand.net, which is coming...soon. hehe.
My little brother Tojo just started getting into web design. I wish my first site looked half as good as his does.
I probably would never shell out the dough to buy an action figure from kidrobot, but they sure look cool.
Did you know your optical mouse can double as a cryo chamber for a Lego man? Nifty mouse mod.
triglav is an online RPG made with—get this—Javascript. Graphics are lovely. Warning: addictive.
wrecked.nu: awesome portfolio. Impressive Flash coupled with a unique look...the typography in particular stands out as trend-breaking.
Homer Simpson is Canadian! Doh!
Jess, one of Jennie's talented hostees, just released a new layout. Amazing vector graphics.
Chihwaseon: Gorgeous site for a Korean film. While the main site is quite spectacular, the goldfish on the splash page is what really impressed me.
alex has a refreshingly minimalist site that actually has *gasp* readable type that's worth reading (funky...that sounded like a slogan).
*cut* When I originally posted this entry, there was a brief rant here about the lack of creativity on the web. If you really want to read it, it's here. Click your browser's back button to return to this entry.
Anyways, back to alex: the best part of her site is her strong, compelling writing. She herself admits that "I, after all, talk about shockingly bland things," which can be said about most bloggers. What makes her writing stand out is that it is articulate, pensive, and amusingly sardonic. And she uses Latin expressions. Latin expressions rock (as opposed to French expressions, which are just snooty).
I've got "Po' Folks" by Nappy Roots stuck in my head (hence the title of this post)...been a while since I've heard good rap on commercial radio...
*sigh* I love Blogger. Although I've personally moved on to Greymatter, I was struck this morning by Blogger's incredible ease-of-use and versatility as I set it up for a news feed on a site I'm designing. I'm also amazed at Blogger's impact as a social force...though I'm not quite the evangelist for the blog revolution that others may be, I can't deny Blogger's immense role in the "democratization" of information, as almost anyone with Internet access can have a voice (though not necessarily an audience) on the Web.
Wasabi ice cream? I'll pass, thank you.
SLURPING LIKE THE APOCALPYSE IS NEIGH. teeheehee.
Crazy Brits. Maybe I still have a shot at a music career.
well, I did the reformat last night...turned out alright, and the computer isn't acting up anymore (though I haven't really done anything to test it yet...). Unfortunately, I forgot to backup a folder that I simply named "Stuff." "Stuff" contained all sorts of random things that I've collected over the year and a half that I'd had this computer: pictures, movies, notes to myself, even memorable AIM conversations. I can't remember everything that was in there, but this is a pretty big loss. "Stuff" was so important to me, I guess I assumed it was one of the first things I had backed up.
On a happier note, I also went out and got this. *drool* Gonna be paying that off for a while.
solid has a nice portfolio site, control2x. really impressive work over there.
ed has a great-looking site. it's blue. I like blue. (my, aren't I deep tonight?).
The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation has just released concepts for the WTC site. Maybe it's just me, but I personally would've liked more parks and less buildings. I thought it was kind of interesting that most of the concepts featured twin towers.
tiffany is a professing Christian with a beautiful minimalist site. I love the way she tastefully uses color (multiple shades of green) to accent the site.
Born Magazine's You and We project lets you contribute words and images to a never-ending visual composition. Really cool concept.
Worm Path: Heeyeon Chang's navigation is cryptic and (some would say) non-intuitive. It has no clear purpose or message, and does not seem to follow any logical organization...yet, all that seems strangely appropriate. The site is visually gorgeous, and rather than leave it in frustration, the unique navigation compelled me to explore the site thoroughly. It was an experience much like the one I had when I first found staticlife, one of the sites that got me interested in web design.
Guess that's it for tonight...gotta get up early for a mandatory staff meeting at Computer Tutor. Yes, I designed the site. Yes, I know it's not yet fully functional. Yes, I know it's totally cool that it's all valid XHTML 1.0 Strict and CSS2. *grin*
Patrick Kalyanapu just released introversion3.0, and if I time this right, I'll beat all the major design portals in breaking the news...thanks, Patrick! It was definitely a long wait, but it sure was worth it. Looks awesome.
Unfortunately, my computer is freezing whenever I use his site...in fact, it's been acting quite erratic for several months now. I've tried all sorts of fixes (even re-installing the OS), and nothing seems to fix it. So...I'm gonna reformat the hard drive entirely.
I think I've backed up everything important, but I'm still holding out for a copy of Paintshop Pro. The copy we had at work has mysteriously disappeared, along with some other software...my boss is not happy. My mom kinda needs Photoshop for work, so she's willing to put up the money to buy it (yay!), but I think I'll gradually pay her back for it. Wow...I'll be one of like 3 people with a legit copy of Photoshop. Plus, there's a special offer at the UCD Bookstore: Adobe Web Collection (which includes Photoshop, GoLive, LiveMotion, and Illustrator) for only $370. Granted, that's a tidy sum of money, but considering that the package normally retails for $999, that's quite a deal. I don't particularily need GoLive or LiveMotion, but Photoshop and Illustrator for $370 is still a significant discount, even off of the student prices.
The only other thing that worries me about the reformat is DSL...I've done significant tweaking to get the fastest speed possible out of PacBell, and I'm hoping I'll be able to remember everything I did.
Whole lotta links: Jennie, Angela, and Brian all redesigned their blogs, and they all look good. Wow. Brian's is a tableless design...entirely CSS. Double wow.
trev has the best diaryland site I've ever seen. Lovely Flash work.
mark has a good series about making blogs more accessible to people with disabilities, without sacrificing aesthetic appeal.
Toby McGuire of DC Talk has a website for his solo venture. Awesome Flash work from tan270, a pretty funky-looking web firm.
Muse.Net: still not entirely sure how this works, but it sure sounds cool.
glorious day: minimalistic site with (somewhat) daily visual vignettes. looks nice.
IAMICON: strangely-titled site described as a visual representation of the author's life. Interesting.
Jakob Nielsen, who believes Flash is "99% Bad", probably would not like bionic systems: it takes over your entire screen. It spawns pop-up windows. It features cryptic navigation and lots of "unnecessary extras": animation, video, and sound. But boy does it look cool. Hehe. By the time I posted this, massive exposure has forced the site to temporarily shut down due to excessive bandwidth. Check back later.
Minimalist Web Project: for a guy who savors minimalist design like myself, this site is like a candy store: a listing of websites with minimalist designs. Incidentally, TheThousand.net was added to the listing a few hours ago. Thanks, Jarrod!
Naveed Usman: trippy. but lovely (ok, I've used that word WAY too much in this entry).
in8design: like the Flash work on this site...kinda similar to a look I'm starting to experiment with.
Big thanks to Bryan for the link-back.
So, I'm thinking about a major redesign, which I'd like finished by August 9th...TheThousand.net has been nominated for a Dotty Award, so having something up before the Evaluation Cycle would be nice. There are still issues with the current design that bug me (mostly related to usability), so I'd like to resolve those. I also want to integrate more Flash, improve my graphics skills, and hand-code the entire site...I'm working on three other sites right now, all hand-coded, and it's surprised me how easy it is to code an XHTML 1.0 Strict-compliant site. So look for a redesign soon, if I can find the time in my busy schedule to get around to it.
Geez...this is what's going on in my home country. Warning: the video I linked to shows REAL violence. You don't see anyone killed, thankfully, but there ARE bodies. View at your own discretion. Found via wanadoo.mg.
Since most of you won't understand what's going on, here's an explanation: what looks like a convoy of troops loyal to elected president Marc Ravalomanana are ambushed by soldiers loyal to incumbent president Didier Ratsiraka, who has refused to step down from power. While I normally don't espouse political views on this site, I should point out that Ratsiraka is a Marxist who counts Moammar Gadhafi of Libya and Saddam Hussein among his supporters. Good riddance.
It saddens me to see the fighting...there hasn't been any violence like this in Madagascar in my lifetime, and the idea of a civil conflict (I don't think it's quite escalated to a "civil war") between my countrymen grieves me.
In other news...
Boxes and Arrows is a great information architecture resource. Insightful articles about web design.
Mandatory Information: yeah, it's yet another design portal, but this one at least tries not to be a total "gee whiz, look at this site!" sort of deal. I appreciate their "Articles" section: it may not be their content, but at least it's real content.
avalonstar: you've gotta love his tag line, "where designers treat each other like human beings." Awesome personal site by Bryan Veloso. He comes across as a guy sincerely trying to do his part to make the online design community a better place, not by being vocal, but by doing what he loves to do and recognizing others who do the same. More power to him.
elgooG rorriM. Weird.
Pirated Sites redesigned. In Valid XHTML 1.0 Strict and CSS2, no less. Impressive.
rhythmic twelve: I wish that I could do the stuff rishi is doing at the tender age of 15 when I was his age. Heck, I wish I could do them now. All these kids with super talents are making me feel old, and I'm only 20.
