2-Miles: ARC approved

When we moved to the Jacksonville area from Connecticut, everything looked so foreign to us. Every house and neighborhood appeared to look the same, it was all uniform and stepford wife like. We just could not understand the vast difference driving from one community development to the next.

Now, almost 2 years later we have grown accustomed to the area. We now see all the differences and understand property value and locations a lot better. We recently bought a house and are in the process of adding on. Part of the process requires that we go through the community board for an Architectural Review. As we were walking our tow miles today, we went past a house with an ARC approved sign on it. They have now completed their renovations, they added a pool with a screen enclosure to their house. They also ripped out the concrete walk-way ad replaced it with pavers. My wife commented that she saw in the community Web site that someone was getting sited for violating their ARC approval. We think it was these folks as it seems they had partially ripped out their driveway and only partially placed pavers in its place. It looks quite silly that they have distastefully only done part of their driveway with pavers and the rest of the area with concrete.

This got me thinking that this would have never happened in CT. Everyone up there takes care of their home, however, if someone wants to add or remodeled their home, they don't have to ask the neighbors for permission, they simply hire an architect and do as they wish. It is nice to have the freedom to do whatever you want in your own property. However, there is something to be said to limiting what color you can paint your house or what monstrosity you can keep away from being added.

The bottom line is that regulations are good to have. It keeps the neighborhood looking right. We are moving to one of the best communities in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL. I want to ensure that my investment increases in value. As long as the board doesn't abuse its powers or steps in to cause too much grieve, then so be it. Our government has plenty of regulations in place and it hasn't done too much harm to our freedoms. As for me, I'm just glad that our house received an ARC approved stamp at today's meeting and onwards we go deeper in debt with our addition and remodeled.

Labels: 2-mile, Connecticut, Design, Jacksonville, jax

2-Miles: Earth Day

With Biggest Loser season 7 now winding down to the end, it seems like Tara can't loose a challenge and will take this thing to the end. With that said, I think people have now become very health conscious and the whole world is hype up on losing weight.

This past Wednesday my colleagues decided to start a 2 mile challenge. That is, the folks who decided to join have to walk 2 miles a day, seven days a week. These two miles were imposed to motivate folks to step out of their daily life and comfort zone. With summer coming it seemed like a good idea. I typically run 3 miles four days a week and this seemed like the perfect thing to get me out of the house every day instead. My wife has decided to join me and we use the time to wind out the day and stroll down the neighborhood and beach.

I started thinking that there are so many different things that we observed on our daily life and as such, I decided to document in this blog the things I come out at me as different during my two miles.

As a celebration today being Earth Day, I started noticing while walking on the beach, that sometimes we disrespect our planet and our fellow cohabitants by polluting and trashing our share space on this Earth. We started our walk this evening a few minutes past 6 and as the sun started to set and the beach started to become more desolate, I notice the garbage people leave behind. The photo here depicts a bottle cap left behind from a sprite bottle. The bottle was gone, but the cap remained. So the people having this drink decided that they would pick up the bottle and leave a cap behind. Something this small could easily be picked up and swallow by one of the many dogs that are walked thereby leading to indigestion, or worse, death.

The bottom line is that there are so many things that we can do to change ourselves and our environment. It is the little things and details that set us apart. Do your part and start picking up after yourself. That 10 seconds it takes to pick a bottle cap can save our planet and a life.

Labels: 2-mile, biggest loser, Design, exercise, Florida, Jacksonville, photo resizing, photoshop

Viva Las Vegas

Great designs are something that folks look upon in astonishment and amazement. There is no greater design than that created by Mother Nature. I just flew in to Vegas for the 2009 Parker College Chiropractic Seminar and had a great experience with my flight. I can honestly say that this has been the best experience I have ever had on an airplane and with airport security, that's not saying much considering I have had a lot of awful experiences. This time I flew Delta and save the $15 dollars to check in one bag, I have no complaints, they took off on time both on my original and connecting flight and treated me first rate.

Back to design, the beauty of it all lies in the view from the plane. Due to the early nature of my travels, I left Jacksonville at 6:40AM, I was force to a nap and some peanuts for snack. Delta now has individual TVs in each seat head rest a la Jet Blue, with TV being offer free and HBO series and movies at a $6 premium. While I had a window seat, I kept the window covering down for the majority of my trip. Not only for my napping time sake, but also as to not disturb those seating near me. Contrary to popular belief I can be considerate ... sometimes. However, 30 minutes out to landing time as the announcement came from the pilot, I open the window covering to reveal a magnificent view of the Grand Canyon, the Vegas desert, and carvings made by rivers that could not come close to that which mankind has ever design. I don't have the words to describe what I saw, but you can judge for yourself on this photos.


The bottom line is that even those who are not designers can appreciate what nature has design for us. Those of us who do design can learn a thing or two on the beauty of simplicity provided to us. If we reach to nature and appreciate all the clean lines, we too can design a thing or two which would leave other breathless and speechless. A colleague reminded me that "what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas"; for me the only thing that happens in Vegas is work and I surely would like to leave that behind, wish me luck I'll be throwing some coins into the slots.

Labels: Design, digital photography, Jacksonville, Las Vegas, Web Design

Paypal Integration

I recently have been setting up an ecommerce site from the ground up. One of the task at hand was to incorporate Paypal as a method to the checkout process. Paypal offers many ways to do this. From APIs that process the credit cards on your site to passing off variables over, to simply adding a buy now button on each product.

I opted for a middle of the road option at first, which they label _cart. HEre is the code:
<br /><form target="paypal" action="https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr" method="post"> <br /> <img alt="" border="0" src="https://www.paypal.com/en_US/i/scr/pixel.gif" width="1" height="1"> <br /> <input type="hidden" name="add" value="1"> <br /> <input type="hidden" name="cmd" value="_cart"> <br /> <input type="hidden" name="upload" value="1"> <br /> <input type="hidden" name="business" value="businessowner@business.com"> <br /> <? $count = 1; while (!$db->EOF()){ ?><br /> <input type="hidden" name="item_name_<? echo $count; ?>" value="<?php echo $db->DisplayInfo("Name"); ?>;"> <br /> <input type="hidden" name="amount_<? echo $count; ?>" value="<?php echo $db->DisplayInfo("TotalPrice"); ?>;"> <br /> <input type="hidden" name="quantity_<? echo $count; ?>" value="<?php echo $db->DisplayInfo("Quantity"); ?>"> <br /> <? $count++; $db->MoveNext();<br /> }<br /> $db->MoveFirst(); ?><br /> <input type="hidden" name="currency_code" value="USD"> <br /> <input type="hidden" name="lc" value="US"> <br /> <input type="hidden" name="bn" value="PP-ShopCartBF"><br /> <input type="image" name="Paypal_Checkout" id="Paypal_Checkout" src="https://www.paypal.com/en_US/i/btn/btn_xpressCheckout.gif" alt="Checkout with Paypal" /> <br /></form><br />

This option allows you to gather your products in your shopping cart and send each item to be listed individually on one invoice in the Paypal site. The problem is that this option does not allow the developer to submit discount or coupons.

This posed a major challenge as the site I was building makes use of coupons and other special promotions such as free shipping based on benchmarked dollars spent.

The solution, set the cmd hidden field to _xclick and pass all the items in one description field. It's not as pretty or user friendly as the previous solution, but you then only have to pass Paypal a total amount which includes all discounts, tax, shipping charges all in one line.

<br /><img src="https://a248.e.akamai.net/sec.yimg.com/i/us/smbiz/p/checkout_or_paypal.gif" vspace="10"> <br><br /><form name="_xclick" action="https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr" method="post"> <br /><input type="hidden" name="cmd" value="_xclick"> <br /><input type="hidden" name="business" value="businessowner@business.com"> <br /><input type="hidden" name="currency_code" value="USD"> <br /><input type="hidden" name="item_name" value="<?php echo $db->TotalColumn("FullDetails") ?> "> <br /><input type="hidden" name="amount" value="<?php echo $db->GrandTotal() ?>"> <br /> <input type="hidden" name="image_url" value="http://www.dbboutique.com/images/Logo_Small.jpg"> <br /> <input type="hidden" name="no_note" value="0"> <br /> <input type="hidden" name="cancel_return" value="http://www.site.com/failure/"> <br /> <input type="hidden" name="return" value="http://www.site.com/success"> <br /> <input type="image" name="Paypal_Checkout" id="Paypal_Checkout" src="https://www.paypal.com/en_US/i/btn/btn_xpressCheckout.gif" alt="Checkout with Paypal" /> <br /></form><br />

The bottom line is that as you are developing Web sites you will be thrown several curves. You will encounter a multitude of problems. The best thing to do is to go at it, do some research and thing of simple solutions. Don't get wrap up on the problem, the best solutions are simple, effective, and best of all easy to code.

Labels: cms, CSS, demonstrations, Design, Paypal, Web Design, Web Development

Cuil

Cuil is officially launched and the buzz is in, the word, Google should be afraid. I don't think Google has anything to worry about as of yet. So what if the founders of Cuil where key engineers at Google. So what if Anna Patterson orchestrated the latest algorithm that Google is supposedly currently using.

I test drove cuil, I think they offer a great interface for the results, but I don't see where their claims that their algorithm is much more sophisticated than that of Google's. I found it to be quite inaccurate. Don't get me wrong, I'm far from being Google's fan. I think Google is quite sophisticated and offers great search tools that have been gamed and manipulated by scammers and skeemers to skew results. I'm still able to find solutions via my queries, that which I tried on Cuil and was unsuccessful.

I recently read a book that stated that just because you have the technical know how on performing a specialized task, does not mean you have the skills needed to run a company. Anna was the architect of Google’s large search index, but is she simply a search technician and coder or does she carry the ability to run the business while having other create and manifest her vision?

The bottom line is that many more powerful companies have try to take the Giant down and the giant is yet to loose. The numbers don't lie, Google has 50% of the search market share, while Yahoo possesses 20%. These numbers sound familiar, they should, think Coke and Pepsi. Others like MSN, AOL, LIVE, ASK carry the difference in the search engine space. Another search engine that had a big debut was Mahalo. It came out with an interesting concept of taking the machines out of the equation, but the buzz quickly ceased and I doubt that it will ever produced or come to full fruition. I won't hold my breadth on Cuil, but I'm glad to see competition as it will only make Google come out with a stronger search product. My prediction is that Cuil will be cool for a week or two.

Labels: Design, Google, Search Engine, SEO

Div Container Width

I have become a great fan of CSS and fluid design for the past couple of years. Tables are a thing of the past. The problem is that even though most Web designers have evolved, browsers have not.

You see browsers are put together by coders, developers if you will. Those types only understand 0 and 1s and have very little time to worry about nuances that pesky designers would devote their time to calculating. One of those nuances are containers like div.

Originally designed to serve as layers, again for Web and Graphic designers, div have become very useful as not only can they float and be positioned, but they serve as containers for content on the Web page.

Here comes my issue, I been having some problem fitting the content on a multi-column site. After some quick Googling, I came across a forum thread explaining that the total outside width of a div box is the sum of the values for the following properties:

margin-left
+ border-left-width
+ padding-left
+ width
+ padding-right
+ border-right-width
+ margin-right
= total occupied width of any {display:block} type box

This makes no sense to me. Although Firefox does follow standards and many accuse Internet Explorer of breaking rules and misbehaving; IE6 and IE7 follow rules much more closely to how designers work. When I designed a page I typically render it in Photoshop, then I translate the work into HTML and CSS. When I measure my drawings in Photoshop, IE follows suit, while I have to more intensely calculate when it comes to Firefox.

The bottom line is that it is unfortunate that browser creators can't come together and be unified so that we, as Web designers, don't have to patch holes cause by the multitude of browsers. Perhaps one day the W3C will succeed in unifying browsers with coming up with standards and rules. As for me, I'm just waiting for Google to come out with their own browser, take over the world, and keep making us drink their cool-aid, until then, I'll keep plugging the holes and hope to stay afloat.

Labels: CSS, Design, dreamweaver, Google, Search Engine, SEO, Web Design

Embed fonts on your Web site

Recently, I have been thinking about design and the nature to code safely on the Web. As designers we typically choose to use Web friendly fonts like Verdana, Times New Roman, Arial, and Trebuchet MS.

Designers, however should not let browsers inabilities to carry a vast array of fonts interfere with their designs. Michaelangelo would not have sacrifice the roof of the Sistine Chapel due to lack of a smaller brush, so why is it that Web designers so often sacrifice bandwidth and turn to background images or heavy downloads to convey their message; not to mention the lack of search engine friendliness involved in presenting picures and images instead of text.

I sought out a clear answer on how to embed fonts on a site without the need to sacrife speed or SEO. Back in the late 90's both Netscape and Internet Explorer were fighting grounds for the title of browser reign supreme as such both came out with unusual plugins and font rendering programs, however this was but a mere patch and band aid on the problem as fonts were translated to images solving only the small side of the equation. I don't blame them as SEO wasn't a hot topic in those days and Google was but a silly word some guys thought of to represent their brand.

In today's Web, where Search Engines are the hot club were your name must be on the list, it is crucial to create SE's friendly sites. to do so, the @font-face construct must be utilize.

Here is a simple example courtesy of the css czars at A List Apart:

@font-face {
font-family: "Kimberley";
src: url(http://www.princexml.com/fonts/larabie/ »
kimberle.ttf) format("truetype");
}
h1 { font-family: "Kimberley", sans-serif }

"Those familiar with CSS syntax will recognize the last line. The @font-face construct may not be familiar, however it’s easy to explain: as the “Kimberley” font is requested, the font file is fetched from the specified URL. The syntax is described in the CSS2 specification.

To avoid long lists of @font-face declarations in the style sheet, they can be hidden using @import" like so,

@import url(http://www.princexml.com/fonts/larabie/index.css) all;
h1 { font-family: Goodfish, serif }

The bottom line is that you should not limit yourself or set the bar too low, there is always a way to solve the problem. Problems are easy to come by, but securing an answer is where the intellectual matter comes into play. Don't let the ineptitude of todays' browser interfere with the future, just make sure that you gracefully prepare your site for degredation or for those living in the past. To appreciate the true power behind css, please refer to the Zen Garden project.

Labels: brand, cms, CSS, Design, dreamweaver, Features, jagged images, photo resizing, Search Engine, SEO

Teabagging

Teabagging is a slang term for the act of a man placing his testicles, specifically the scrotum, in the mouth or face of another person, often in a repeated in-and-out motion. The practice vaguely resembles dipping a tea bag into a cup of tea.

I first heard the term on Howard Stern and his filthy unrated show.

Most recently however, someone told me that simulations of teabagging are often used in video games. Sure enough, a quick Google search turn up a Wikipedia entry describing that simulations of teabagging are often used in video games, specifically first person shooters such as Counter-Strike, Resistance: Fall of Man and Halo, the last of these in which it is sometimes referred to as the "Halo Hump" or simply "corpse-humping". "Teabagging" is performed by repeatedly crouching down - a common movement in FPSs - while on top of an enemy corpse. The act is a form of victory dance to show ownership and to humiliate an enemy player.

I was not only left with my mouth wide open in disbelief, but with a sour taste for these types of video games. After all, I have young nephews and friends with small children who enjoy these games. The rating of the games may note that the game is inappropriate due to violence, but this is more than just violence, it is simply inappropriate sexual behavior, these games are to be rated NC-17, not just M for mature audience.

The bottom line is that although I'm far from a prude, I think that when it comes to the young minds we ought to draw some sort of line. I recently made a statement on how I disapproved of the computer age. I think what started out as a great method of communication and idea sharing has let to corruption of our society and a loss for moral values. What thinks you?

Labels: content management, Design, Google, video, Video Games

iGoogle Themes

Last year Google introduced iGoogle, an addition to the Google Web site that allows customization, thereby creating an individual homepage for each user. You can login to your personalized page via the iGoogle top right menu on the Google homepage.

Not only do you get to use the predefined gadgets, but you can add your customized RSS feeds or create your own gadgets via the Web developer tools.

Today I noticed that Google was featuring theme images for the iGoogle homepage. It got me intrigued and I starting browsing the many themes available. Thus far I had been using the beach theme which changes it looks depending on the weather and time of the day. However, there are many other themes available. You can even give it a world and create your own themes. I haven't experimented yet, but hopefully I will be giving it a whirl soon.

The bottom line is that Google chooses to keep improving every product, first came iGoogle, then came Google Tabs, followed by Google Themes, now iGoogle social networking via design your own themes, user rating, user comments and FAQ. This company knows how to get things going and keep going. Google guys, forget American Idol, you are my new idols.

Labels: Alexa, CSS, Design, Google, RSS, Search Engine, Social Bookmarking, software, techniques, Web Design, Web Searches

Instant Information

The Web is designed as an avenue for providing and finding information, yet many media companies insist on holding back on their content until after their publication is released to the market.

This is a fatal mistake, folks who read periodicals are not the folks tuned in to the Web. A once a month read is not bad, but what about the media junkies who just can't get enough, how do you deliver to that audience?

Some companies don't even bother to put their content online, while others drop 20 to 30 articles onto their site typically on a random fashion and without any organization. To most publishers, their Web site is but an after thought, designed to serve as an advertisement to drive subscriptions for the periodical. Other simply place news and press release items, but leave their readers hanging with original content living strictly on the print pages.

The bottom line is that in today's world the business and money is online. Publishers can save millions of dollars by turning their periodical into digital editions first. That is, release the content to the site as it comes in. Use the print medium as a place to publish the most important stories/articles. Showcase a variety of product and product release, while driving the reader to the site to see a list of all items. Use the medium as a way to sum up the news for the month, but the site as a way to keep the reader vested and interested in checking that site often to see the goings on of the profession.

The reader benefits because:

1. they can reach all the content instantly on the Web site
2. Monitor the RSS feed in their favorite rss reader
3. Get a weekly newsletter with all new content via email.
4. Get a monthly filtered view via print.


The Publisher benefits because:
1. More viewers to their Web publications
2. More viewers means a higher CPM for their Ads
3. A inherited CMS (Content Management System) for their Print Publication
4. A better staffed editorial team that is cross trained for Print and Online
5. Less crunch time, since the articles are pre-edited.

and many more benefits. Now go on and designed a great site with proper navigation.

Labels: advertising, Alexa, content management, Design, RSS, Web Design

Dreamweaver Max CPU Bug

Recently I formatted my laptop because I thought I caught a virus. I'm very careful, I had Symantec Antivirus and Microsoft AntiSpyware installed, yet my computer seemed to start crawling after a few minutes of working. Since I work on the Web, I typically have Dreamweaver, Photoshop, and Outlook running all the time, with 2Gb of RAM, I figured I should be able to do so without much problem.

I reformatted and things seemed better, until recently when my computer went back to timing out for about 30 seconds every time I'm coding in Dreamweaver. I opened the task manager and shut down every program but Dreamweaver. I noticed that my CPU was maxed out at 100% and yet no other process was taking CPU time. It then back down to 1% and then back to 50%, 60% etc, without me doing anything.

I did some quick googling to find out that Dreamweaver has a nasty bug in it that is yet to be addressed, let alone fixed, by Adobe. It seems that if you stay connected to a site after a while the ftp functionality takes over by sending packets out and maintain the connection. The temporary, band-aid, fix is to disconnect from the site and only connect when needed.

The bottom line is that Adobe, the most respected company in Web and Graphic Design, ought to address this issue or at the bare minimum inform register users of the bugs so that they don't waste valuable billable time chasing down their errors.

Labels: adobe, Design, dreamweaver, Joomla, macromedia, Web Design

US Budgetary Problems

I'm very concerned for our nation. It seems we have spent so much money with the War in Iraq that the president is now eating just Hot Dogs. It's detailed inthis reuters story that McCain paid a visit to Bush in the white house to secure the president's endorsement for his candidacy.

When Bush mention he was having a hot dog for lunch, McCain proceed to request the same. He didn't want to question the president's dining preference. Seems to me that if McCain is to run the country he needs to be more a leader than a follower.

"He said he was having a hot dog, so I had a hot dog," McCain, referring to Bush, told reporters on his campaign plane during a flight to Florida.

The bottom line is that we seem to have run out of leaders and everything has boil down to a pissing contest in which whoever has the less flow of garbage in their trail is set to win. Where have the days of good leaders gone? If you are as undecided as I am, you can login to http://www.votehelp.org/ and see how your preference on "the issues" match up to the current candidates.

Labels: Design, Florida, Politics, reuters, Web Design

Philosophical Question

I was discussing a topic with a colleague which I cannot longer remember even thought the discussion took place less than 24 hours ago. But today I read this story, it describe the use of robotics and technology where researchers are in the mist of creating a system that could allow people to feel textures and shapes of 3-D designs created on computers -- without any kind of mechanical equipment.

"Carnegie Mellon University researchers announced that it could soon be possible to feel objects created on computers through a touch-based, or haptic, interface, without using gloves, similar equipment, or force feedback. One lightweight moving part floats on magnetic fields and simulates various sensations people experience when they touch real objects."

"We believe this device provides the most realistic sense of touch of any haptic interface in the world today," Ralph Hollis, a research professor in Carnegie Mellon's robotics institute, said in a news announcement.

The philosophical question comes into place when it comes to the design aspects of the device. Does this mean that the pimply nerd can design the girl of his dreams and then feel her up? Does it mean we no longer need to keep pets captive as the unit will allow us to pet one thereby securing the comfort of the animal?

The bottom line is that sometimes we stretch and push technologies past their limits. Why are we able to create sensations, design 3d elements, have a robotic companion at home, but we still cannot cure cancer, prevent viruses such as AIDS, or design a world where children don't go hungry?

Labels: 3D Design, chemistry, Design, Entertainment

Women are equal to problems

Since the dawn of time women have been declared as problems. If you believe in the design explained in the bible, where a God created man and then woman, then woman sinned and caused a lifetime of damnation by eating the apple, then you can certainly understand why women are designed to be a lifetime of problems for the male specie.

I received an email from a friend today mathematically proving that women are problems.

Here goes the algebraic proof:

1. To find a woman you need time and money.

Woman = time x money

2. As we all know, Time is money.

money = time

3. With some substitution based on the two statements above, the formula is rewritten as:

Woman = money x money

Which in turn is the same as:

Woman = (money)²

4. Since day one we all being thought that money is the root of all problems

money = √problems

5. Therefore

Woman = (√problems)²

6. Lastly we solve and as you can see Woman equals problems

Woman = Problems


The bottom line is that we were always thought, since we were little boys to adulthood, that women will get you in trouble. Think about it, when you were young, way young, you found that girl next door icky. You, as you came of age, progressed to think that she was cute. You then tried everything you could to get her attention, think about it; how often were you grounded for staying out late, doing stupid things, etc... You finally got her, she was all into you, you were thought about the birds and the bees, you didn't listen to your parents, and you rushed thought things, next thing you know she was nothing, but trouble. Lucky for me my wife is nothing but a gem, no trouble at all. I can't wait to see the proof that men are the problem, after all, the nightly headaches must come from somewhere.

Labels: Design, Freedom of Speech, initiative, techniques

Las Vegas

Las Vegas, or Sin City as it is also known, is an amazing place filled wiht fun and excitment. I had the pleaure to visit the Disneyland for adults this past week. I stayed outside of the main drag, better known as the strip. I was attending the Chiropractic Event of the year!

I stayed at the Las Vegas Hilton, which I have to say is by far one of the worst places to stay at in Vegas, not only is on the remote side of town, but has very little to offer. The casino is quite small and the help is useless, save a bartender or two.

I was out working at a chiropractic conference, as it relates to the filed I'm currently working in. As a side note, we were debuting our newly redesigned site, www.chiroeco.com, craftmaster and build from the ground up by yours truly, check it out and let me know what you think of it. I digress, as I was saying, I didn't get to explore much except for one day. After the six hour exploration that let us through the Venetian, Caesar's Palace, The Wynn, and Palazzo; I can only express the grandiose of design and my desire to revisit. I arrived in Vegas with $40 and left Vegas with $40, that's not to say I didn't gamble, I just played wisely and walked away with my socks still on. I enjoyed about 7 hours of gambling, but the most fun was hanging out with my cohorts and exploring the Vegas strip.

While out at the conference I lost my virginity, my chiropractic virginity that is. I have always been leary of alternative medicine, and have preferred the traditional medicine. I have to say that this conference made me a believer. I have been battling a debilitating and rather aichy shoulder, I'm happy to say that after a 10 minute massage and a two minute Chiropractic adjustment, I feel like I'm a teenager again. I put the shoulder to the test at the gym today and I'm happy to say that I'm still pain free and would recommend chiropractic to anyone who asks and those who don't ask. Is like I always say, try everything at least once before you turned it down, because you will never know otherwise.

The bottom line is that to enjoy Vegas you don't have to gamble, there is plenty fo fun to be had and plenty of sights to see, all free, unless you account for the taxi rides, diner, and drinks, but those were payed by my employer, Thanks Joe!

Labels: Design, Entertainment, Gambling, Las Vegas

Package Design

I have always been intrigued with design, specifically package design. There are so many ways to present an item, and yet so many designs exists for items of similar fashion. For example, I have at my desk to soda cups. One is from Longhorn, a steakhouse restaurant chain in the Jacksonville Area, another is from Daily's, the local store in the Shell Gas station. They both served as drink holders and hold the same amount, yet one is skinny in the bottom and the other one is straight up tall.

I can only imagine the meetings that took place to come up with each one of those designs. The arguments taking place, "no that's not going to fit in a standard cup holder", others stating, "have you any idea how long the straw is going to have to be?"

The bottom line us that there are many creative individuals in this world. You see them as inventors, marketers, advertising agents, and many other fields. I hope to one day come up with something as brilliant as these designs a friend forwarded in an email:

Labels: Design, Jacksonville, jax, Web Design

Tech Sales Person

Every once in a while I know I shouldn't answer my phone, but I'm a senior member within my organization and I pride myself on addressing everyone's needs even if it mean being on the phone for an hour discussing the latest blogging strategies or working out a marketing and design plan with someone.

Since I only deal on the phone with VIP I seldom purposely send them to voicemail. This morning my phone rang, I quickly looked around the office and notice it wasn;t one of my colleagues calling. I thought about letting the voicemail pick up the phone, but my thoughts quickly died and I answered the phone. What do you know, it was this account manager who has been calling me once a month for the past 6 month. Even though I keep reminding him that I buy and deal straight with Dell he insits on calling. I decided to throw him a bone and make his day by telling him that I'm looking for a couple of desktops and four laptops. At first, he thought I was going to go with my usual, I'm all set, we're in a recession, etc, but he did a flip back when I told him what I needed. He even remember that I only buy Dell and told me that they recently partnered with Dell and he could get me better deals that the Gold level account I have with Dell. I though he was the real deal, a sales guy that actually listen and remember my needs.

I just received an email and all he quoted me was IBM and HP. Don't get me wrong I think those are fine brands, but I only buy Dell, not because I like them. As a side note, I should mention that I'm very dissapointed with Dell recently and have receive nothing, but grieve with the new Desktop and Laptop I purchase two month ago. The only reason why I buy Dell is because of our corporate account with them. I digress, my point is that out of the five quotes I received, none are for Dell computers.

The bottom line is that as a salesperson you need to be sharp. Not only should you be able to get through on the cold call, but you have to pay attention and remember what your customers tell you.

Labels: Customer Service, Design, Jacksonville, techniques

Albino Whitetail Deer

A colleague sent me this and I thought it interesting enough to share. Here goes:

This was sent by a man in Rhinelander, Wisconsin

A very eventful day around here... A once in many lifetimes experience! I saw this lil' feller run out in front of a car-- thought it was a lost baby goat. Stopped to get it, and WOW!! A real Albino Whitetail Deer. Just hours old, but doing fine. No Momma deer around. Another car nearly hit it in front of me ....

Well, he is THE neatest thing any of us ever saw. And such a 'freak of nature', that only 1 in more than a million are even born. He took his bottle of food, followed us around the house, doing great So, we called the Zoo &Fossil Rim, who were both interested, but we're going to send him to a Rehab farm. Maybe he will make it in captivity somewhere and be appreciated. So rare... Sure wanted to keep him tho. but, not the thing to do. And not LEGAL either. Here are a couple of pictures to show you. He was snow white, pink eyes, ears, nose and hooves. Kids called him POWDER. He was SO small. That is my shoe lying beside him... WOW..how cool is that??

The bottom line is that there are many strange and unusual animals around. This is proof of what mother nature could bring us. In this day and age of climate challenges and changing, it is nice to see that some surprises are still good.

Labels: Design, digital photography, jagged images, Snow

Blogger, Remember Me

I blog regularly using Blogger as my platform. I think its design is user friendly and have just enough features both in its "Compose" and "Edit Html" panes making it one of the easiest textboxes / HTML editors. I have use a few in the past like FCK editor and HTMLArea, but these type of editors offer the user too many options.

I also enjoy the "labels" area and, the recently added, save now button.

Google is known for designing simple to use, yet very powerful interfaces. Most importantly, they provide these free of charge.

The only beef I have so far is that the "remember me" check box in the blogger homepage never remembers me. I have cookies enable and other Google sites, such as youTube, Analytics/Urchin, iGoogle, and Gmail seem to remember me just fine.

The bottom line is that I'm very surprise that a powerful company like Google with unlimited resources has left this small detail sly. I understand that Blogger didn't start out being a Google company, but in the two years that I have been using the site, this has never worked for me, regardless of browser. Oddly enough I googled this topic tonight and didn't get too far in finding a resolution.

Update to previous entry: I received a Halloween Joke from a colleague, here it is:

A man was walking home alone late one foggy night,

when behind him he hears:

BUMP...

BUMP...

BUMP...

Walking faster, he looks back and through the fog he makes out the image of an upright casket banging its way down the middle of the street toward him.

BUMP...

BUMP..

BUMP..

Terrified, the man begins to run toward his home, the casket bouncing quickly behind him

FASTER...
FASTER...

BUMP...
BUMP...
BUMP...

He runs up to his door, fumbles with his keys, opens the door, rushes in, slams and locks the door behind him.

However, the casket crashes throught his door, with the lid of the casket clapping...

clappity-BUMP...
clappity-BUMP...
clappity-BUMP...

on his heels, the terrified man runs.

Rushing upstairs to the bathroom, the man locks himself in. His heart is pounding; his head is reeling; his breath is coming in sobbing gasps.

With a loud CRASH the casket breaks down the door.

Bumping and clapping toward him.

The man screams and reaches for something, anything, but all he can find is a bottle of Robitussin!

Desperate, he throws the cough syrup at the casket... And, the coffin stops!

-- Thanks Mike.

Labels: Blogger, Design, Google

National Association of Photoshop Professionals

Three jobs and four years ago, my boss gave me a copy of Photoshop User Magazine. It was full of tutorials, opinions, and tips and tricks for Photoshop. At this point I had just started using Photoshop. Previously I had use the Corel suite of products and had picked up the GIMP, a free Photoshop want to be piece of software.

A year went by and I had forgotten how useful the magazine had been. After all I did not have a subscription and was relying on my boss to toss the magazine my way from time to time.

Recently, my employer suggested that we all pick out a few magazines to see what other publishers did and see if we could pick a thing or to to introduce onto our magazines. Being in the graphic design business, I selected very appropriately Photoshop User Magazine. I didn't realize at the time that this was the magazine I had been reading a few years back, but turns out that NAAP (National Association of Photoshop Professionals) has very good SEO and as such off to subscribe I went.

Two weeks went by and I received my NAAP membership. What gives? I subscribed to Photoshop User Magazine and all of the sudden I received a huge membership package to NAAP. I didn't realize that my subscription came with a membership. At first I thought it was a scam, I was very leary. If you know me, you know that my first reaction to everything is that it is some sort of scam. Turns out it is not a scam.

I logged in to the NAAP site, after 30 seconds of trying to figure out how to register as a first time visitor, I realized that my NAAP member number is my username and password. I proceed ahead and started to check out some of the tutorials. Since I been playing with graphic/photo editing software for over 10 years now, everything seemed like a waste of time. Then I clicked on to tips and tricks and all of the sudden the value of this "free" membership became a full blown, jump up and down, exciting. I can tell you that the magazine so far is great, but is nothing compare to the site. They have so many helpful tips and have explore the nook and crannies of Photoshop. I have been on the site for 30 minutes now and have already learned about five features that I never knew existed.

The bottom line is that if you are a graphic designer, web designer, or a mere Photoshop hobbyist you can't afford not to become a NAAP member. The membership is $99 ducats and this will be the best one hundred bucks you would have spend. There is so much to be learn from this site that it is not available in the free space. Trust me, I'm just a NAAP member and not affiliated with them. Hell, they don't even offer a referral program, but I think it is well worth it.

Labels: Design, digital photography, photoshop, Web Design

St. Augustine is old but has lots of style

The communities in St. Augustine are designed in such a way that you feel like you are in the middle of no where, yet you drive out of the community entrance and there are shops, bars, and plenty of nightlife.

This past weekend I finally got to go out and get to see what's around nearby the new digs. This new chapter is very interesting. There is a lot going on and yet feels like there is not much. Within ten minutes I can find an outlet store center with over 200 shops, mostly top name designers.

Five minutes past the outlets, I can find downtown St. Augustine. There is a lot of history there. I didn't arrive downtown until after 4p.m. on Sunday. Everything closes there early, but what I saw I enjoyed. St. Augustine is the first city in the United States. There was a demonstration happening near the Castillo of San Marcos, a Spanish fort designed and built in the 1600's in an effort to guard the city. The old fort help the Spaniards keep a hold of Florida from the Brits for many years. During the American Revolution, this fort was a British stronghold, and later it served as a battery for the US Coastal defense system.

This fort is now one of the major tourist attractions in St. Augustine. They happened to be having a very nice demonstration of how the Spaniards dressed and weapons used while I was visiting. They fired off riffles and a canon. The later was quite loud and although we were forewarned to cover our ears, one could still feel the body rattle and shake, enough to skip a beat. All and all a very interesting visit. I will need to come back and see more, a lot more.

The bottom line is that when you find yourself in a new location, it is very important to drive around and get to know the area. Not only do you get to see a lot of interesting stuff, but when it visitor season opens, otherwise known as "the relatives are visiting", there are plenty of ways and places to keep them out of the house.

Labels: demonstrations, Design, visitors

Cold Day in Hell

In life is always good to maintain a good sense of hapiness. Many studies have shown that laughter is the cure for all. We are design to enjoy pleasure. There is no better pleasure than a good joke, especially one like the one below based on a true chemistry mid term question given by a professor from the University of Washington.

Enjoy!

Bonus Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic (absorbs heat)?

Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law (gas cools when it expands and heats when it is compressed) or some variant. One student, however, wrote the following:

First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So we need to know the rate at which souls are moving into Hell and the rate at which they are leaving. I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving. As
for how many souls are entering Hell, let's look at
the different religions that exist in the world today. Most
of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell.
Since there is more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell. With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially.

Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell because Boyle's Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell has to expand proportionately as souls are added.This gives two possibilities:
1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until all Hell breaks loose.
2. If Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes over.

So which is it? If we accept the postulate given to me by
Teresa during my Freshman year that, 'It will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you,' and take into account the fact that I slept with her last night, then number two must be true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and has already frozen over. The corollary of this theory is that since Hell has frozen over, it follows that it is not accepting any more souls and is therefore,
extinct......leaving only Heaven, thereby proving
the existence of a divine being which explains why,
last night, Teresa kept shouting 'Oh my God.'

THIS STUDENT RECEIVED AN A+.

Labels: chemistry, Design, joke

How to get into college

A while back I remember watching a film by with a similar title as this post, How I Got Into College, at the time I thought this was a fairly cheesy movie with a young man stressing over SAT scores.

With today's technology Anthony Edwards character would not have stressed so much about the test and perhaps would have focused his attention more on improving his chances with the girl.

All this pondering came about from reading a story on Reuters where they detailed how three Chinese men design a low tech, by today's standard, way to help a student cheat in the very competitive university entrance exam. Apparently 10 million Chinese high school students compete for just 5.7 million available university sits in all of China.

The plan was simple, use microphones and ear pieces to communicate questions and answers between one student and others hire to sit outside the building with computers handy and ready to provide answers.

Good thing we don't yet have this problem in the states, then again, me being a college professor, I would probably be making much more if we had so many more students in the classroom.

I haven't have the need catch students cheating in exams in my class before since all my test are electronic and questions are individually randomize. However, a while back I heard of other professors having problems with students text messaging answers via their mobile phones.

The bottom line is that we live in a very competitive world where people are always designing new ways to get ahead. I can't say I blame the fellow trying to make his way into college, but I thing it would be easier for the person to apply themselves to studying instead of designing ways to cheat themselves into college. After all, if they have to cheat to get in there, what will they do to ensure a successful college career?

Labels: college, Design, test, university

Advertising is out of control

First there was Superbowl ads, then incorporating animals into ads, the latest, incorporating ads on eggs.

Reuters is reporting today of a new marketing campaign design towards consumers buying eggs. This, the first of its kind in Japan, will feature stickers posted onto eggs in supermarkets. Ramen Noodles is spending $58,000-$66,000 US dollars on the promotion of it's new chicken ramen instant noodles product.

As we know this kind of campaign is very targeted and promotes good brand recognition. If you don't believe me, then let me postulate this question, what brand of bananas do you buy?

The bottom line is that in the US we have informed consumers to death and it's always refreshing to find someone using a new design and approach to brand and market a product. Although, the sticker on food items is not new, I haven't seen this kind of cross promotion in the market place before. Very ingenious, but does it affect the quality or sanitation of the eggs, only time will tell when we heard of the sticky bird flu.

Labels: advertising, brand, Design, eggs, reuters

USB, so many uses, so little time

I have given up to the hype and have recently started to track digg.com as a source of learning the latest and greatest in the world.

You may have noticed that I also recently added the digg, delicious, and slashdot icons on all my entries. I'm still working out the bugs to make the integration flawless, but I'm getting there.

Back to the topic at hand, the whole reason for bringing digg up is that I came across this USB use today and thought, what an inventive and curious thing the human mind is, check it out.

The bottom line is that need is the mother of all inventions. Now if I could only figure out what it is I need maybe I could make billions selling it to others who may need the same.

Labels: Design, gadgets, Key Drive, USB