Gadget fast
2008 April 18
My iPhone and laptop will be unplugged starting Friday evening for two days. I've let the fog of distractions generated by these two devices grow too thick so for the next few days (much like China) they'll be turned off.
Capistrano rules
2008 March 17
I've grown tired of committing changes to my subversion repository, logging into my server, updating my live checkout, and restarting python processes. I finally decided to implement Capistrano and eliminate this repetition.
Aspen Simulator
2008 March 13
As much as I'd like to blog about my trip to Austin and SXSW last week I'm just too excited over the iPhone SDK goodies that dropped last Thursday.
Ah-ha Event Delegation
2008 March 05
Wrapping my head around things like OOP took months. It's not because I'm an idiot (I don't think) - it's just because I needed all the explanations to marinate before having an ah-ha! moment.
Going mobile
2008 February 18
Over the weekend, I decided to whip up a mobile version of Playground Blues. I walked into Broadway Cafe around 3pm on Saturday, and by 5:30, I had m.playgroundblues.com. Here's how it went down.
iPhone bookmark iconage
2008 January 15
If you're wondering how to control the icon that gets generated for your webpage with the new 1.1.3 iPhone release, look no further than Apple's iPhone Dev Center.
Flash, meet H.264
2007 December 04
Adobe just released Update 3 of Flash Player 9. This is HUGE. Streaming video is no longer a laughing matter. Streaming High Definition video will become common place and it starts today.
Django Basic Apps
2007 December 02
I've been working on abstracting some Django applications from past projects so they can effortlessly be plugged into future projects.
Django Sprint
2007 December 01
Armed with high levels of legally addictive stimulants, silver laptops, and brilliant minds Django will get even closer to 1.0 today.
Juggling Django settings modules
2007 November 06
If you find yourself juggling multiple Django projects and constantly changing the settings module variable, try this simple shortcut.
Care to scrum?
2007 October 17
We need more scrums and less meetings. A scrum is a 5-10 minute stand-up meeting. About 80% of the meetings I've ever attended have included at least five people. Any meeting over three becomes a presentation while one bloviates and others wander.
Trials of the I-70 commute
2007 October 15
A while ago I began working back in the big city while remaining in modest Lawrence. This required a 40 min. x 2 drive into the sun five days a week. It wasn't so bad at first, but the race through traffic and mass of incandescent gas started taking its toll.
Subliminal Culture
2007 September 21
Lately I've been reading more of Lev Manovich's Language of New Media. Manovich discusses the methods in which we access new media. He mentions some research done by Paul Virilio on the collapsing effect technology has on the distances between people and content. Before, if a person wanted to see the works of Da Vinci they'd have to travel to a book store or an art museum. With the advent of new media it's as simple as pulling up a browser.
Manually Compressing PNGs
2007 September 18
With the advent of some very clean hacks to make PNGs work in IE I've found myself working them into my designs more. Using them has allowed me to achieve some effects that were next to impossible with JPEGs and GIFs. The biggest hurdle in using PNGs is their file size. The export tools in Photoshop tie your hands behind your back, not allowing you to tweak anything that may lead to a more compact file. Until Photoshop adds some functionality I think I may have a handy solution.
iPhone dead; $30 rental?
2007 August 15
This morning I woke up on my own. Normally I hear little crickets chirping around 7am. This would be my iPhone letting me know it's time to face the coming day. This morning, no crickets. At first I thought, maybe the battery was flat, but that's not possible. I charged it the day before and didn't put it through any rigorous use. iPhone CPR commences.
Blueprints are not final
2007 August 10
So apparently a little framework called Blueprint has reared it's head, born from a few stylesheets that look very familiar. I'm somewhat conflicted with its release because I don't think it should be used. Don't get me wrong, it's great, but don't use it.
First impressions
2007 July 01
How does a machine have soul? We could try and answer by throwing around terms like usefulness, elegance and grace but all our attempts would sound prosaic next to the device I recently became acquainted with. Run and hide Crackberry, the iPhone is here
The waves of creativity
2007 May 17
There are a lot of environmental factors that go into fostering a creative environment. As creative persons mature, we become more in-tune with what works best for us when it's time to dream up new ideas and solutions. Some of us trek to coffeehouses while others listen to Bach, Satie or Mogwai. Whatever we do we're all essentially trying to achieve a certain state of mind.
Transmedia newspapers
2007 May 06
I just finished reading chapter three of Convergence Culture where Jenkins discusses transmedia storytelling. He focuses on the Matrix franchise and how it basically rewrote the rules for Hollywoods future. It got me thinking on my walk home from the coffeehouse, why aren't newspapers doing this?
LJWorld redesign
2007 May 02
So for the past five months or so we've been working on a redesign for the Lawrence Journal-World. For those of you that don't know, it's a daily newspaper that circulates the town of Lawrence, Kansas. It's quiet small compared surrounding markets which makes it very agile and free from shareholders and their evil agendas.