Facebook; you, like me and 120+ million others, are using it. It's a great way to re-connect with people and to keep up with existing real-world friends at a glance. For better or worse, you can get all of the info you want on your "friends." For better- those friends that you don't have time to have real conversations with over a beer, etc., if, for instance, you have a newborn baby at home, or are not in proximity to. For worse: those folks that constantly remind you why you don't make the effort to have that conversation over a beer.

You know the type: in real life, their conversations are really just "look at me- the things I do / places I go are just fabulous...!" In FB, it's equally annoying and in black & white, "feed" form and it NEVER ...

Is there anything worse in life than a trip to the MVA? Tooth extraction? Trephination? Taxes? They all pale in comparison to the inefficiency that governs the vehicles clogging our roads and idiots piloting them. How is it that we can create (and celebrate!) razors with more than one blade (with aloe!),yet we can't find a way to automate this process? If a private business ran in this manner, they'd be bankrupt/asking for a federal bailout. We can't blame the everyday joes behind the counter- they get paid the same no matter what and you better believe they are going to get out that door by five. No, it's the process that's to blame, more so, it's the desire to keep government large and bloated under the guise of providing jobs. Imagine what we could do by cutting out thousands of ...

One thing that attracted me to technology those many years ago was the promise of a paperless world. I was drawn in after my first BB session '85/'86...hooked like a digital crackhead. To my young mind, I was simply amazed @ people sharing ideas in some distant magical world! Of course, the magical world is now where ideas and civility go to die, for the most part, but, I can still get excited by it. It's the little things, really.

Digital documents and distribution methods make more information available to more people. At best, this information is highly available and readily update-able. This was the promise of the internet and I believe it continues to deliver on this promise. Partially out a want to be more Green™, but, mostly for efficiency, I seek out ways to make my life void of paper ...

I really need to understand what people mean when they say "productive member of society." Where are the units of measurement for this sentiment located so that I can firmly grasp where folks that spew this phrase are coming from?

You probably heard on the talky box or ear-hole unit about the 16 year old Baltimore-area resident that is on trial for murdering his mother, father, and 2 siblings when he was 15. They say he "just snapped" and shot them all, then, calmly sat down and played video games, or something to that effect. This week, the lad's lawyer's had him plead guilty to get some sweetheart deal- something like two 25-year consecutive terms where he could get the possibility of parole is 26 years, I think. This horrific incident and subsequent case aren't my, point, however. What is at hand ...

Nothing drives me crazy more than web sites with poor user experience/interface. Typically, these sites are not professional in caliber and don't last long if they are in any way used as revenue stream. With user experience design, you get what you pay for. Poor user experience = no repeat users. What boils my blood, to that end, is a site that has decent UX on the whole, but purposely implements bad UX in the name of stretching dollars. Let me explain...

Niche sites, which are, at most, glorified blogs with a few writers, by and large, derive income based on traffic. They seek to provide content that will keep users coming back and to, hopefully, attract new users. The more volume a site has, the more the site can demand in ad dollar percentages. Most sites stick to the tried and true ...

The interface is nice... does the job, and, it IS free! Why post from my phone? For me, my laptop is more of a hub to develop on, edit pics, etc...the phone is about digital communication- taking what you need with you and doing what you want where & when you want. Freedom...what can't Apple do? (a better touch type interface with copy & paste, maybe?).

Post iPhone edits: Not liking how the image gets inserted after the post...had to fix that...might switch to writing a custom PHP filter to pull it out at render time or use jquery...stay tuned...

One of the unique challenges with the web is that it is a portable, scalable medium. Ideas that work in X pixel ratio don't always translate in larger or smaller spaces. We (and the industry on a whole) are striving to make our site(s)  snap to mobile - or any other "space" where users access content-  seamlessly, as content viewers dictate how and where they access content. [Tangent: SHOULDN'T it work that way? Shouldn't I be able to access content where and how I want? Books, music, etc...just replace content = art] This juxtaposition of ideas in limited pixel space becomes increasingly relevant in our user-centric world and I am just fine with that.

The preceeding is more of a pre-amble; what is at hand is how to explain to designers used to a print world that the web is living and ...

Today we had to re-assign the Colonel (our cat Deaner) to a new post on the Eastern Shore. We call him the Col. because he thinks he's a military security cat and he meows with a Southern drawl...oh, and he has OCD. I never thought I have a pet with human issue, but, the vet told us it was somewhat common and, given he behavior, he has it real bad. He has a pattern that he must follow or he freaks out- check window #1, then #2, etc., etc...tuck in the kids, go check the windows again and on-and-on. If he is interupted in his routine, he sprays certain spots (he's neutered, but, stress makes him spray), if he sees other animals outside, he sprays. We had him on kitty Valium, but, it seemed to make him worse and didn't really seem ...