Master of the System

Is it really hard?

2008-11-17T23:27:00.002-05:00

Is it hard to have a plan, and stick to it? Is it hard to listen to the truly important people? Is it hard to think ahead? Is it hard to do what you said you'd do?

What if it is too hard? What then?

As seen on qdb.us

2008-09-30T23:04:00.001-04:00

craig: If Not Me Is Nothing Then Visible = True

craig: my code is getting existential

chagster: thats awful

craig: i hope it's not having a GenericIdentity crisis =\

Learning (and Re-Learning) skills

2008-09-29T23:17:00.002-04:00

I spent the weekend working on a new personal web app for myself. It's going to be a recipe repository / meal planner / shopping assistant. I know, big plans.

To do this, I'm digging back into asp.net, C#, and SQL. I have not touched any of this stuff in well over a year, since I left MVI. It took me 3 days to work through a page that lets me enter a new recipe name and tag it with a meal type (dinner, breakfast, snack, etc.) However, I feel like I accomplished something major. I completely set up a SQL database, a .net server, and I was able to tie it together with code that I hope is not to horrible.

I remember some of the practices that my former co-workers and good friends taught me, but actually putting it into my code and doing it right is a different story. I hope to learn some of that again over the course of this project, and really build up my skill set to something approaching total world domination.

I'll hopefully be giving a talk at a user group meeting in a few months that my buddy runs. It'll be about coding HTML with good structure, and how to use the power of CSS to really make a website kick ass. I'll let you know more about it as I go. I'll be posting my thoughts and some samples up here as I work on it.

Oh, and you can read our wedding blog over at http://kristiandjosh.wordpress.com/. I gotta update that too.

Lots sure has happened!

2008-07-16T23:10:00.003-04:00

Wow, I just realized how long it's been since I last posted. I am now engaged, our company Prospero has been purchased by and integrated into Mzinga. I am also now thinkingi need to really get into posting again and I need to redesign this blog. Hopefully I follow through on this. Later!

Posted from my iPhone.

Talk amongst yourselves for a moment

2008-01-07T19:25:00.001-05:00

When a company is small (<15 employees), people talk to each other constantly, from the CEO on down to the interns. When a company gets larger, the interns may still be able to talk to the CEO, but not as often or easily as when the company was small. Why is this?

I believe that it's a few different reasons, and not just the ones I mention here. When you get a larger company, there are more lines of information to track, more people with different ways of communicating, and more ways for people to get upset. Some of the people aren't going to use the historical method of communication within the company (assuming there's been some stability in that arena). Some people are going to argue that the way people have been communicating is inefficient, which may be true, but instituting a change to "improve" communications may wind up alienating people, or fracturing the communication into a bunch of different methods.

Another side effect of growth is the apparent need to have the leaders in the company stop leading by doing and have them start leading by delegating. This may also create issues in the reasons why things have to be done a certain way. It's much easier to accept difficult decisions when you know the decision maker has to work under the exact same circumstances that you do. When you see your leaders suffering, it can create a kind of camaraderie. It can also create a lack of trust in their ability to lead, but that's another issue to tackle another time.

On the other hand, if you feel like decisions are being made without input from the people in the trenches, and you know the leaders and decision makers aren't doing the work themselves in the environment they create, that can definitely create a rift if there isn't a clear and consistent sharing of information. Typically that happens when management doesn't discuss the thoughts, ideas, and process that went into the decision, and how the decision can affect long term goals. Employees get upset, morale goes down, and a lack of trust in management may evolve.

But what if we turn that on it's head? Employees get upset, but don't talk to management? People talk amongst themselves, grousing, complaining, but never bring the complaints to the leaders. In effect, you get the Dilbert Syndrome. People stop caring, they don't work as hard as they used to, and management gets upset at the lack of enthusiasm from the employees. It's a dangerous cycle, and it can rapidly deteriorate into constant turnover and costs for the company.

How can we break these cycles? I've got a few ideas, but by no stretch of the imagination, all the answers.

Managers: Talk to your employees. Constantly. If they have an issue, it is your job to get to the bottom of the problem and fix it. There's always a solution, and always one you and the employees can agree on.
Employees: Talk to your managers. Constantly. If you have a problem, it is your job to explain it in as much detail as your manager needs to solve the problem. Be a part of the solution. If you don't give them input on the way to fix your work issues, they may not be able to fix it in a way that you are happy with. And then you have a new issue.
Managers: If you are aware of an ongoing issue, and you don't need an employee to come to you to explain it, just fix it. If you need guidance (and there's a good chance you do), talk to your employees to find out what you can do to help. No one is infallible, so by getting their input, you're more likely to solve the issue in a way that makes people happy.
Employees: Know that you're not going to be happy with every decision. It's a fact of life. If you were happy with everything that happened to you, there wouldn't be much a challenge to life and work, would there. Boring!
Managers and employees: Be honest with each other. Make keeping everyone around you full of information and assistance. This will help you and them stay happy, productive, and will help the company run smoother than it may be right now.

I don't run my own company, but I know that communication is key to things running well. I've experienced the difference on teams that always know what's going on internally, and teams that are run from the top down, without ideas being given a chance and team members not being given any free time or opportunity to self-manage.

Keep talking!

Blogged with Flock

New job, new tech, new thoughts

2007-12-01T21:33:00.000-05:00

So I’m really loving my new job. I’ve been there for about 4 months now, and I’ve really dug into the tech we use. I’ve been doing some fun stuff, with some really cool new clients. FOX, CBS, ABC, American Diabetes Association, even some fun Disney stuff.

We’ve got our base technology, which is what our boards, blogs, polls, etc. are built from. We’re now developing some new ways of presenting our data in a much faster, easier to use XML-based code.

I’ve been freaking out the developers a bit, because I keep asking them if we can make the tech do stuff that they hadn’t really intended it to do, but when we talk about it, they realize that it’s not a bad idea to get the code to flex its muscles a bit more. We’re really starting to have some fun with it, and I’ve been experimenting with some ways to use it.

I’ve mainly been using the new tech to build profiles for the boards and blogs, but I’m starting to pull it over to style the boards and blogs now too. An example of the profile can be seen here: My work profile. I spent about 3 hours to code all of the styles I needed to get this to lay out. I can now spend about 20-30 minutes on a profile to get them styled. All I need is a design!

On a somewhat related subject, my boss and other co-workers have started estimating projects based on who is working on it. They actually have estimated in “Josh Time” for how long it would take versus regular time. I am totally going to be using that fact when it comes time to get a raise. I think it counts in my favor, no?

Happy (but poor) customer

2007-09-13T20:56:00.000-04:00

So, last night my alternator failed. Just after I got off of Soldiers Field Road — right in the middle of the road. Call Liberty Mutual Roadside Assistance ($4 a year, like simple AAA service), very pleasant service operator. Here’s a rough transcript of the conversation:
Liberty Mutual: Are you and your vehicle in a safe place?
Me: Well, not really, I’m in the middle of the road at a busy spot.
LM: Ok, would you like police assistance? I’ll conference them on the phone.
Me: Great!
(Spoke with the police dispacher, said an officer would be along soon)
LM: Ok, now that we’ve taken care of that, let’s get towing set up. What’s your insurance info?
Me: (gives info)
LM: Ok, hold on a moment. (pause) The service call has been set up. You’ll receive a confirmation call with time estimate from us, and the towing company should also call you.
Me: Fantastic. Thanks a bunch.
LM: Not a problem, call us back if there are any other issues. (End call)

So far, so good. I hear from the towing company (Pro Tech, out of Waltham), they’ll be 20-30 minutes. I’m thinking no big problem, it’s not too late yet, and I’m really close to home, but it’s getting pretty dark, and you can’t see my blinkers very well since the battery is almost dead. Cops should show up soon though.

25 minutes later — No cops. A couple have driven right past me though. Ah, there’s the towing company. Stupid police, thanks, I don’t feel safe, but I guess you’re in a hurry to get to the Dunkin Donuts up the street. We get the car on the truck, he drives it to my apt, drops it in the parking lot behind, we’re good here. I’ll replace the part myself.

Next Day

Well, I went, bought the alternator, went to my dad’s house, borrowed his tools, and came back to Boston and got to work. Crap, I can’t quite get to that bolt. Out to the store, buy another tool, ok, now I can reach it. Crap, I can’t get this thing out, or the new one in. Ok, maybe it’s time to let the professionals have a whack.

I call NTB, they quote me $313 to put in the new alternator (labor only). Um, wow, ok. That’s a lot of money. Let’s call around, ok? Brighton Motor Services, 1/2 mile from my house, $85-$150. Laughs when I tell him about NTB. Promises it wouldn’t be anywhere near that price.

Next, I need to get my car there. I call Liberty Mutual again, and yes, the Assistance program will cover it. Sweet! I get the car to the shop, he takes a look at the position of the alternator, and says “Yeah, it’s definitely going to be closer to the $150 amount.” No problem I say, it’s still a whole lot cheaper than NTB. He said I’d have it back by tomorrow afternoon. I’m excited, and thank him for both the low cost and fast turnaround. His response? “Not a problem. I’d like to keep you as a customer.”

I’m just a Joe off the street, but he treats me as if I’ve been going there for years. It’s family run, him and his dad, with a bunch of mechanics. Small, only 2 bays, but dang, they move fast. I appreciate good service, and it’s definitely a place I will return to. And the gas is inexpensive too. And full serve, for the lazy days.

And did I mention that of the 30 years they’ve been in business, they’ve been members of the Better Business Bureau for the last 18? Gotta love it.

Rethinking blog designs

2007-07-31T21:53:00.000-04:00

I’m beginning to think that the typical blog design — mine included — are not made for the content. This train of thought has been prompted by Reviving Anorexic Web Writing. To give credit where it’s due, Cristos over at Live by the Chip has been saying for a while that due to the layout of the typical blog, as you read down the page, there is a lot of wasted space since there is nothing but the content, and it’s usually in the middle of the page in a narrow viewing column.

The challenge I’m going to try to tackle is to not only make the content pop out more, but see how I can minimize the empty, boring nothing that surrounds a post the further down the page you read. Studies show that if you write great content, people will read it, so how do you make the bottom of the page interesting?

If you have any ideas, please leave them in the comments, and I’ll be more than happy to start a conversation with you to come up with a great design.

Texas Chainsaw Revisited

2007-07-18T20:09:00.000-04:00

Ok, this was just funny. Like laughing so hard I can’t breathe.

I'm moving on

2007-07-18T19:12:00.000-04:00

Well, it’s been officially announced, so I can now write my post.

I’ve accepted a job offer, and I’ll be starting my new job on August 6th. The company is Prospero Technologies, way up in Littleton, MA. I’ll be the Social Media Designer there, and that means I’ll be putting together the designs and styles for blogs, message boards, and forums for our projects. They also have a blog, which I hope to contribute to once I get my feet wet.

I’m going to miss a lot of the people I work with, but I’m also friends with them, so I’m sure I’ll still see them outside of work. At the same time, there’s a great group of people over at PT, and I’m sure I’ll slide right in to the family there. I’ll post with more news soon.

The drunken uncle

2007-06-25T14:23:00.000-04:00

Internet Explorer 6 is like the drunken uncle who shows up, uninvited, to every party the family puts together. You expect him to show up, but you know it’s going to get embarrassing, and sometimes a little painful.

You want to be nice to him, because he is part of the family, but sometimes you just wish he’d go away. He can’t keep his beer in the cup or food on the plate, dropping random items all over the place, in everyone’s laps. There’s no apparent way to control him, short of tying him down to a chair. You never know what he’s going to do next, but you know to expect the worst.

Sorry for the rant, but this problem I'm trying to solve right now is a real bugger!

A win by a loss is not a win

2007-05-18T00:23:00.000-04:00

If there’s anything I hate more than losing, it’s winning by the opponents mistake.

7 games of pool later, someone beat me. And I mean they played better than I did and sunk the 8-ball while I still had another ball on the table. That’s a win. I hate winning when they have out-shot me but then strike on the 8-ball shot. That’s not a win. I definitely won a few games through skill, but of the 6 games I played, I should have lost the 3rd game.

I think the same holds true in business. A business doesn’t truly win when the competition screws up and misses a shot. Yes, they can get ahead and keep playing, but to be able to keep that streak going, they actually need to be better than the competition. They need to work harder, be more aggressive, and really push to do better than they may think is possible. It’s making that bank shot that you don’t feel you know how to make. It’s hitting the long ball resting on the bumper. Yes, there are going to be plenty of missed shots, but you can only learn to make those shots by practicing.

Here’s where it breaks down a bit. It’s a lot easier to practice pool all by yourself, without risk of losing to an opponent. If you’re the only one at the table, nobody can screw up your shots but you. In business, unless you’re the only one doing what you do, you always are playing against a (potentially more) skilled opponent. And even if you’re the only one in the field, it’s not going to last long in today’s digital world. What can help you are your clients. If you’re really good to them, in some exceptional way (which really shouldn’t be that hard), they will help you win the next competition. Even if they don’t realize they’re doing it.

So how often do you practice that bank shot?

I’m a big Star Wars geek

2007-05-13T21:40:00.000-04:00

And this is a riot!

The Hero’s Journey

2007-05-12T16:26:00.000-04:00

While reading my blogs, I came across a post about Spiderman 3 & The Hero’s Journey. Alvin Soon reveals how the Spiderman story, as well as Lord Of The Rings, are perfect examples of The Hero’s Journey.

The Journey is a 9-point recognition of the challenges and rewards of hearing a call to change, and the major steps required to effect the change and reap the rewards of following the call. It called to me, because I feel that I have started the same journey in my own life. I’ve heard and recognized the call, and I’ve begun to act upon it.

These articles and subsequent eBook version have gotten their inspiration from Joseph Campbell’s The Hero with a Thousand Faces, a book that studies myths and legends and realizes a common theme throughout them all. Soon has taken this and written an easy-to-read, concise, and informative series of articles that can help you realize and map your progress through your own experiences.

Having read the eBook, I realized I’ve been through this very journey at least once before, and I am currently doing so again. I’m currently between points 3 and 4, and step 4 (Crossing the Threshold) of the journey is quite difficult to pass through. I’ve found a couple of mentors, and I have been able to define what I’d like to do. Now I’ve begun to hit my first challenges to this, and I have to find a way to surpass them.

Lifelong or new?

2007-04-30T01:47:00.000-04:00

What’s more important? Creating customer relationships that last longer than you could hope for, or building a larger customer base? There are strong arguments for both directions, and I don’t think that either of them are more important than the other. I think that the answer should be based on where your company is at the moment, not where you want to be. I think we should be more focused on building stronger relationships right now, not getting new clients. Case in point: we recently pushed a new product out that increased our user base at the target company by a very large amount. I think we should focus more on increasing user base within our current clients before we try to gather new ones. The more people within a company that use our product, the more likely we are to keep our renew contracts, potentially for more money each year.

The more free products and services we can offer, the more likely we are to garner support within our current client base, and eventually, we can build our total number of company subscriptions to our “paid-only” services.

I know we offer “products” and “services” separately. I don’t think that we really have any real products. Everything we offer is a service. Access to reports that help users get work done faster. Events where we teach our ideas and foresights. Articles that reinforce our insights.

I say this because to me, a product is a physical object that a customer can take with them and use. Yes, the user can print our a copy of a report or article, but that is a capability of the services we provide. We are moving rapidly to the digital world, but I don’t think we have a clear plan on how we should do this. I think one of the first things we can do to help clarify it to both ourselves and our customers is to drop the artificial separation of products and services we offer, and really show them as they are.

Not pandering to customer wants

2007-04-30T01:40:00.000-04:00

To clarify my last post: I don’t mean to say that you should let your customers tell you when to do something new. I just mean that you should come up with new, interesting, bleeding edge products and services, and then offer them to customers when it seems to be the right time. But be ahead of the request. Pay close attention to what your customers are doing and produce before they ask for it.

When to stop, and when to go

2007-04-30T00:53:00.000-04:00

In business, you’re never guaranteed to succeed. It take hard work and hard decisions go truly get ahead. I’m no economics or MBA, but I get the basic concepts. You need to know when to stop doing what is not helping, or even hurting you, even if doing so upsets a couple of your clients. Every little (and big) thing you do will please a portion of your customers. One of the big problems with this idea is that if you decide not to carry that “product” anymore, you will upset part of your customer base.

The key to this is that if you are good enough all around, if the core of what you do is good enough, that in the big scheme of things, it won’t matter. Trader Joe’s is a good example. I don’t fully understand their way of managing product count or what they decide to stock, but I know what they carry changes to suit what they want to do. A good example are their Cinnamon Raisin Cookies. We used to go through a package of those in like 3-4 days at my office. They all of a sudden stopped carrying them. Did that keep us from going to TJ’s? Not at all. We shifted OUR purchasing habits to accommodate THEM.

We appreciate the quality of the product they carry. It’s a rare occasion that I (and many of my co-workers) dislike something they sell. They have great pricing for the items they sell, more likely than not better than your local Shaw’s or Stop & Shop. And to top it off, it’s many times organic or more healthy than the stuff you get at the other chain places.

My whole thought on this post started from this article about Australia and New Zealand Banking. The CEO and Director John McFarlane had an interview with Alan Kohler of Inside Business about their decision to pull out of Asia, and their subsequent renewal of business in that market. To summarize, they found that their actions in that market cost them more than they were willing to invest at the time, so they removed themselves from a market that was hurting them. Later, the market was found to be much more worth their time and investments, so they moved back into it. Sounds like good decision making to me.

Retreat when it makes sense, and forge ahead when it seems like a good idea. Your customers will let you know when it’s a good time to try something new. Maybe we should be truly customer-centric and really pay attention to what it is they’re really interested in, and what we can do to help them out. In the long run, yes, it can either make us a huge profit, or it can destroy us. But honestly, who can truly tell? ANZ went into Asia the first time thinking it was a great idea. Unfortunately, it was much too early. They realized it, and decided to pull back until it was something they (and their customers) were really ready for.

Thoughts from “Night at the Museum”

2007-04-30T00:38:00.000-04:00

It’s from a point made in the movie: Some people are born great, others have greatness thrust upon them. Maybe I’m one of the latter. I’ve never been sure of my position in this world, of what I was meant to do. Maybe this new position offering is something I should seriously consider.

I can’t go into details, since it’s not really a public thing as of right now. However, what it would enable me to do is build relationships, more one-on-one things than I have now. It may help me build “character” and “political capital.” I don’t know yet if it’s something I’d actually be interested in. It sounds interesting. I’d definitely benefit in ways from participating in that way. I just don’t know that it’d be a truly beneficial opportunity in the way I’d like it to be.

Maybe I am just scared of the risk I feel like I’d be taking. It’s certainly a new place for me to venture. Maybe that is my big Dip. I suppose I wouldn’t know until I went through it.

I sure do have plenty to think about this week, while I’m on my vacation. I promise though, I won’t do any actual work while I’m away from the office. :-)

Creating opportunities in a corporate world

2007-04-28T22:14:00.000-04:00

Talking with e over at pixelxpixel is always a though-provoker. I was talking with her about my lack of being able to figure out what I want to do with myself professionally. I have some big ideas about what I want to do, but I’ve not been able to figure out how to actually make those ideas a reality.

She pointed out that I am a relative newbie in the corporate business world (which is rather true). I have worked for corporations in every job I’ve had, but I’ve never been closer (in proximity) to the upper management than I am now. I used to think that proximity would be enough to be able to have my ideas and thoughts heard. I’m learning the hard way that that’s not true. At least not the way I’ve been going about attempting to voice my ideas.I’ve been pushing individual ideas to people, yet it feels like very few of them are actually understood and acted upon. I think e was on the right track with explaining why that is.

I don’t speak their language. I don’t know or understand their motives for choosing what they do or don’t do. I only know my perspective, and my reasons for having these ideas and why they would be good for our customers and our company.

As much of a pain as it would be to create one, a well-written and thought-out business plan is a great way to make my idea understood. I would need to prove to the company why it is in their best interests to follow this idea, and make it a reality. Money is king in the corporate world (yay, capitalism! in the words of Austin Powers), and being able to show how this could improve our situation is a great way for me to be heard.

I don’t mean to say that money is the only reason we do things at our company. Some people say that the company is trying to be more “client-centric.” Others want to be better than our competition. We don’t want to lose clients because we can’t compete. My feeling is that to become a client-centric company, we need to look past our competition. Not forget that they’re there, but to know what it is that they have to offer and that they probably have people that are just as good as the ones we have in-house.

To look past the competition, we need to not just make sure we do everything they do. In fact, I think that’s a good way to lose. I don’t think we need to offer the same kind of package they do. We should offer things they are either not capable of doing, or come up with some crazy new idea that they have not produced yet.

e’s perspective for me was this: show the upper management a plan, with the steps included, that will get us to that new point. Explain to them what we do great, what we should stop doing because it doesn’t do us any good, and how doing each of these things in a planned out manner can get us to where we want to be.

I have never written a business plan before, but now is as good a time as any. I want to be successful, and even though I don’t feel like the company is where I think we should be, proselytizing is not the way to get it there. I need to bring myself down to earth, and look at things from a different perspective. I may not like the way things look from there, but that may be the only place I can actually create change.

I don’t know that I can be successful in this kind of venture, but all I can do is try my hardest. I may fail, but I’m guaranteed to learn lessons along the way.

What’s the point?

2007-04-28T13:18:00.000-04:00

Ok. I understand it can be hard to start a conversation, or make someone laugh. Maybe that’s not the point here. But if it’s not, I have no explanation for this. A watch, completely covered in leather. You can't see what time it is. You can’t tell what the date is. There’s nothing you can do with this watch other than wear it and try to be funny when someone asks you what the time is. The first time. After that, it’s just stupid, and a waste of time (pun intended).

I guess maybe I just don’t understand “fashion’.

Improving the customer experience, one bullet point at a time

2007-04-27T20:47:00.000-04:00

It’s always refreshing to see companies doing things that simplify a user’s need to figure out what they mean.

Red Hat just reworked their Service Level Agreement (SLA)(screenshot). They took a 9-page document and reduced it to 1 page, with 11 bullet points, averaging less than 3 words per bullet. They essentially say that if they produced it, they support it. The situations they don’t cover are spelled out in clear terms, and are relatively few.

There are no confusing legal words, fluff, or other text that would make a lawyer drool. Instead, it’s written in very clear, well spaced, clean text that makes a UI designer drool. :-)

I wish there were more companies making life easy for their clients. There’s really no good reason for them not to, in my opinion. Transparency is what makes me want to do business with a company. Cost becomes less of an issue when I can easily know what they’re willing to do to make me a happy customer.

Of course, actions speak louder than words, so the act of providing service always will do more for proving themselves than just telling me they’ll do it. But this is definitely a step in the right direction.

20 Questions

2007-04-14T23:24:00.000-04:00

It’s so easy for me to second-guess my motivations and decisions. I’m really struggling with what my next steps should be. I’ve talked to a few people about what I want to do next at work, but I wonder if there’s even a place for me at this company.

I find myself being more accepting of situations at work than I probably should be. I think I do this because it’s incredibly rare that I can create change or fix a situation by pushing back and expressing my displeasure with it. Too many things are moving out of my influence, and I feel like I’m getting stuck with the short end of the stick. I’m not sure what to do with these conflicts I’m experiencing. I’m pretty convinced that no matter what company I worked for, I’d have to deal with the same junk, and it could be worse.

I’m working hard to keep myself out of certain situations in my personal life too. I think I tend to put myself into places that I’m “expected” to be in, whether I actually want to do so or not. I’m beginning to feel that sometimes choosing to do nothing at all is better than choosing to take an action that puts you in a situation you should not be in.

And of course it’s going to rain all fucking week.

Update: I just ran across a post on Lame excuses for not being a Web professional on 456 Berea St. This fits for me rather well.

Couldn’t have said it better

2007-04-14T14:18:00.000-04:00

“You know the world is going crazy when the best rapper is a white guy, the best golfer is a black guy,the tallest guy in the NBA is Chinese, the Swiss hold the America’s Cup, France is accusing the U.S. of arrogance, Germany doesn’t want to go to war, and the three most powerful men in America are named Bush, Dick, and Colon.”

–Chris Rock

Is it a wall or a void?

2007-04-12T00:28:00.000-04:00

Kathy Sierra has this graphic that shows how you can improve your customer’s passion for your product. She describes the barrier between what you are, what you can get, and what you could be as a wall.

I actually wonder if it’s a void, not a wall.

Let’s take this from a personal life perspective (because that’s where I’m coming from tonight). I think that for me, in my current point in my life, it’s not a wall I need to break through, but more of a void I’m trying to fill. I have a nagging feeling that I shouldn’t be trying to fill it, but rather bridge my way across it. It’s as if every time I throw a shovel of something into the void to fill it that I’ve taken the filler from somewhere else in my life.

I buy stuff to feel like I’m going to do better now that I’ve got this ‘thing’. But that means I’ve taken away from savings. Of course, it’s rather easy for me to rationalize spending money on things as an ‘investment’. But I’m not sure it’s always true.

I get bored or fed up with certain events in my life, so I stop doing that thing and move on to something else. Instead, should I try to improve that point? Instead of quitting, should I try to push harder to close the gap I see in front of myself?

I feel really frustrated at work right now. I feel like I could do so much there, but I’m afraid that I won’t be able to push hard enough to get the right people (see: people in Authority) to say, “Yes, Josh is right, and we really should go that route.” Maybe I’m just not organized enough. Maybe they don't feel like I have the experience and knowledge of a given subject to be accepted as a person to be listened to. I understand that I won’t have 100% of my ideas and suggestions accepted. The hard part for me is to deal with the fact that maybe only 1% will get accepted.

I don’t mean to say I have all the answers. Higher Power knows I don’t. At the same time, I work hard to learn and understand the world around me. I want to know how I can improve other peoples’ lives. I want to know how to become a person of note and to be seen as a guy that they couldn’t do without.

Maybe that’s my problem. Maybe I’m trying too hard to improve other peoples’ lives, instead of working on my own first. I feel like it’s what I need to do to bridge that void. But maybe I’m just misleading myself.

Almost here!

2007-04-07T20:36:00.000-04:00

I’m psyched! My new laptop should be here on Monday or Tuesday. It’s a Dell Inspiron 6400. I’ve been looking forward to being able to get work done but not be tied to a desk. My first laptop is going to finally let me do so! I’ll write again once I get to play with it.

:-)

Day 1: An Event Apart

2007-03-27T00:09:00.000-04:00

So the first day of An Event Apart Boston is over, and I have to say, it was as eye opening as I expected it to be. Granted, there was one presentation that was eye-closing, but that’s probably due to a combination of being after lunch and being boring as hell.

Eric Meyer is the one who’s presentation hit me the best. To loosely quote him: “CSS doesn’t care what you think and element should do.” He followed this by taking a boring old HTML table with boring old data, and then using CSS to make a pretty looking graph. This is not something I would have thought of, but it was done rather well, and it keeps all of the semantic markup you need!

There were some other things thrown in the day that were very good and educational, so I’ve got my mind working overtime right now thinking of the ways I can bring those lessons into my everyday work. More after tomorrow’s sessions!

Zipcar is awesome!

2007-03-25T23:31:00.000-04:00

I've had a great experience so far. I signed up on the 21st, was approved the 22nd, and had my card the 23rd. I was bored sitting around today, so I went online, found a Mini available from 8-11pm, and took it.

I can't believe that I can just go to a website, pick a time and a car to drive, and then wave my card in front of the windshield and drive away. The people who came up with this idea are geniuses in my book.

The Mini was a fantastic car to drive. It is zippy, handles fantastic for such a small car, and rides very smoothly. I took it out without a destination in mind, which is the best way to drive. I picked up a friend on the way out, and we listened to music, talked, and relaxed the whole way around. We made it up to Salem, and then coming back through Lynn we managed to get caught going in circles. Fantastic time.

Next Saturday I get to take a Volkswagen Rabbit down to see my parents. I can't wait to take that one out. It seems like it'll be a great ride.

Why isn't it automatic?

2007-03-22T23:03:00.000-04:00

I've was shopping around on the interpipes for some t-shirts/hoodies, and I found NoiseBot, which had some funny shirts on there. A little pricey, but not too bad.

Until I found this at the bottom:

Instead of just automatically giving you free shipping for spending a buttload of money on their site, they require you to enter in a code to get the free shipping. Why?

They're not nice enough to tell you at checkout time that you qualify, for no real good reason. I dunno. I feel like some things should be obvious to merchants, but for some reason, it's not. Even little things like putting the zip code textbox before the "City" and "State" fields, and then automatically filling out the other boxes based on the zip code entered. It shouldn't be hard to do so (and if it is, one of us — the USPS maybe — should set up a simple XML feed to grab that data for our servers to parse it). Enough rant tonight.

New blog design is now up

2007-03-16T00:39:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone,

Just in case you didn't notice, my blog has a new face to it. Let me know what you think of it, good and bad.

~Out~

[redesign] Newbury Comics

2007-02-25T14:04:00.001-05:00

So here is my first venture into the world of unrequested criticism and redesign of websites I would use more if they looked better and had better usability. I am going to explain what I don’t like about the site, and what I do like about the site, and then show you an updated version that I have Photoshopped up to show what it could look like.

I’m not going to spend more than 4-5 hours designing it, so of course there will be issues with my design, and incomplete ideas, but what I’m hoping to get out of this is a way for me to become better at getting ideas across, and to improve my own interface design skills. I can only get better if I hear from you all, so please, comment and tell me what you like about the new design, and what you don’t like about it. So, without further ado, I present to you, NewburyComics.com!

Current Design

Issues with site

Too busy
Inconsistent navigation
Too many options
Many items link to same generic page
- These can be consolidated
Sale ad sticks out, but as an eyesore

Good elements on site

Header is not busy
Simple list of items in header and footer
Search is immediately available on homepage
According to left nav, there is a large quantity of content available

Updated Design

Improvements

Cut down on clutter
Put only new and Newbury Comics specific merchandise links on the homepage
Changed “Music” to “CDs” to make area names more consistent
Moved “Gift Cards” to header with other navigation - not really the same kind of merchandise
Made separation of sections on homepage more obvious

Other ideas not shown

Make “New Releases” sections rotate
- Show 4 albums at a time, for a total of 12 or 16 albums
- Show same with DVDs

Unanswered/Unclear

Should top nav be dropdowns?
- CDs, DVDs, Posters & More
How can the sale item be made to be more prominent but still fit well with the overall style?
How can we better encourage the customer to sign up for the newsletter?

Changing my perspective

2007-02-24T23:11:00.000-05:00

Cris told me the other day that he noticed a kind of “Intellectual Explosion” in me over the last few weeks. I’ve begun to read some interesting books, and I’ve begun to get a few different ideas of what I’d like to do with my life in the next couple years.

I’ve had thoughts of starting my own small business, being in a “high-touch” customer service kind of position, and even thoughts of how I might be able to make changes at the current company where I work.

I don’t know if any of these would succeed, but that matters less than the road they can lead me down. I’m less afraid of not succeeding than of not making the trip to potential success.

You’ll be seeing the fruits of my labors soon on this blog. I’m going to be posting some interesting views over the next week. Keep an eye out!

Books I’ve been reading

Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by Chip Heath and Dan Heath

A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future by Daniel Pink

Small Is the New Big: and 183 Other Riffs, Rants, and Remarkable Business Ideas by Seth Godin

What are you going to do with your writing?

2007-02-16T22:32:00.000-05:00

Is it important?
Is it groundbreaking?
Is is it a phenomenal piece of commentary?

Does it need to be any of these things?

Seth Godin asks if what are you going to do with all of the things you write now that all of your real barriers are gone? Publishing? That’s what a blog is for — it’s free. Boss? In the world outside of your office, you are your only boss. Editor? You’d better plan on getting good at checking over your own work, unless you want people writing text updates in comments.

Sure, if you’re going to write a book about, say CSS, you’re going to need a publisher. But by that time you’re probably already a name, have a blog with a good subscription list, or have published before.

I’ve been struggling with the question of what this blog really should be about, what the main content stream should be. I still have not figured it out, but I feel a little closer to the answer each time I write. I think the point is that you should make sure that whatever you decide to write, you can’t blame a lack of posting or content on anyone but yourself. The only excuse at that point is lazyness.

Fallibility of groups

2007-02-04T09:49:00.000-05:00

Cris over at Live by the Chip just asked an interesting question:

Which is more user-centric: an interface designed from the ground up with user accessibility as its core construct? Or an interface that doesn't drive you immediately insane, yet makes its way to market 12 months sooner?

My gut feeling is to go with the former. I feel that the user should have the purest experience possible with a website or any other product. However, there are some obvious issues with this.

First, and most obvious, the interface designer (ID) is never going to be the only person making the decisions regarding the interface. There will always be interference and miscommunication about how things should be built.

Second, I don't believe that a pure site is entirely up to that same ID. The best site is going to be built with input from many different people. That input feeds into the best UX design possible.

I understand Cris' concerns about another hit to the work that IA/UX/ID people do, but at the same time, we only have so much ability to affect a given project. What we've developed during this project is still many times better and more powerful than what our clients have had to use for the last 3 years. I think that even if he and I were able to control everything we feel we should have, we would be coming up with other ways to better the system. Knowing us, we'd never be completely happy with what we've got.

I'm sure that one of these days, either working together or separate, we'll both be able to be in control of a project, and we'll build it exactly the way we want.

And then someone will tell us it's wrong.

YAY!

2007-02-03T21:11:00.000-05:00

Finally, the big crazy project is about over! We've got the entire weekend off, which is good, based on the amount we all drank in celebration last night.

Now is the time for us to do a ton of little bug fixes, style fixes, and the like. Hopefully we'll have some time to regroup and plan out the rest of the work required to finish off the entire site.

On the flip side, I'm really starting to get some great designs coming to life for Cris' blog and mine. I can't wait to have something that looks fantastic.

Ok, I'm still freaking exhausted, so that's all I've got for right now. Later!

Stickin' it to them

2007-01-28T00:21:00.000-05:00

Hey there, I know I'm a few minutes late on the post, but I've been caught up in trying to beat a boss on the new Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess game. I hate it when you're told to do something, and it sounds simple, and then manages to utterly fail your comprehension. Press "A" to grab the rolling rock. Um, sure. And what do I do when it just rolls right over me and/or knocks me into the lava?

Anyway, I bought a new book today, heard about it from the Signal vs. Noise blog. The book is titled Made to Stick, and it is a book that attempts to explain why some ideas blossom and some fail to make an impact. They open by asking the reader to read a passage about the old "drugged - ice bath - stolen kidneys" urban legend, then take an hour break, and then tell a friend the tale without looking back at the book. They then show you a corporate message - you know, those things that use words like "accountability", "factor", "categorical requirements". Then they ask to to tell that to a friend without a break, with the knowledge that it is almost impossible, due to the lack of concrete things that we can visualize.

They manage to get their point across using examples such as Army commanders, teachers, Nordstrom managers, and even the Jared commercials from Subway. I'm really looking forward to reading the book, and then passing it on to those who can make good use of the ideas I hope to find in it.

CSS woes

2007-01-13T21:10:00.000-05:00

So, as much as I love the power of CSS, it has really been killing me lately.

I've been tweaking the hell out of our website at work, and every time I change one thing, something else seems to break. I have to deal with supporting IE6/7 and Firefox, so my headaches are 3 times as bad as I thought they would be.

Now, I'm trying to be smart about the code I am writing, using conditional comments to make sure IE6 acts the way it should, but that hasn't solved all of my problems. It has helped, and I don't want to downplay the coolness factor that it is available for us to use. The question rises again, however — Why must we be forced to use them?! Oh, right. IE6 is like the rash that won't go away...

I'm going to be redesigning my blog soon, and I'm definitely going to use CSS, but to hell with IE6. The only browsers I'm going to even think about supporting are IE7 and Firefox 2.0+. And yes Cris, I'd be happy to do some CSS voodoo for you, but with the same stipulation: no IE6 support.

On the upside of life, my girlfriend is being great and is helping me by cleaning my apartment, and she made some fantastic chili for dinner tonight. :)

Later!

"Snap" to it!

2007-01-09T00:49:00.000-05:00

I ran across this earlier, by accident, but I really like it. It's a simple javascript addition to your page, and then this company "Snap" will snag a preview of the linked site, so that if you hover over a link you will see a popup with an image of the site in it. It's simple, but nice.

Snap Preview

Interesting Concepts of Visualization Methods

2007-01-09T00:14:00.000-05:00

So part of my job is to do wireframing, sketches, and otherwise figuring out all the ways to describe and show an idea to people. Now, for me, this is pretty much layouts for web pages. There are only so many ways to show the layout of a page - but sometimes one needs to get the idea of how the user is going to see the page, and use it. That is when some kind of other graphic can come into play. Explaining abstract and potentially confusing ideas can be difficult, but with the right graphic tool, it's possible to properly describe the problem with a minimum of difficulty.

Enter Visualization Methods

A Periodic Table of Visualization Methods

As you can see from the linked page, there exists a large selection of styles we can use. The hard part, is choosing not only which one to use, but whether it even makes sense to use one.

My company does a lot of presentations, and those presentations have a lot of these types of graphic representations in them.

And I'll leave it at that

Another Customer Service story

2007-01-07T18:48:00.000-05:00

I was reading my /. feeds earlier, and I found an article from PC World of a guy who signed up for a bunch of Web services and his experiences with the cancellation of said services.

Just Cancel the @#%$* Account!

I posted about poor customer service last night, and so this fits with that blog. It is nice, though, to see that he did find a list of companies with very little to no hassle when canceling.

My walk on Saturday night

2007-01-07T00:55:00.000-05:00

Check out my walk; it was nice

Global Warming, Cite Bite, and "Why do companies insist on treating their customers badly?"

2007-01-06T23:51:00.001-05:00

Global Warming

So today it appears we have set a new record high temperature: 68F — the previous high was 62F, back in 1913. Anyone who does not believe that the phenomenon of Global Warming exists and that we are currently experiencing it must be delusional.

Now, I don't believe it is all due to us homo sapiens sapiens (yes, I believe we are not the only humans in history, just the ones who won). I believe that global warming has happened before, and it is cyclical. Ice ages are cyclical, as are the reversing of the magnetic poles, among many other things that don't happen (and have not ever happened) in a single lifetime of scientists or other people who think they understand what is going on and record it. Just because we have not seen it happen doesn't mean that it doesn't happen.

Now, by that same argument someone can (and will) argue the existence of God. I personally have a major issue (actually, more than one issue) with organized religions and their twisted views of who God is, what He stands for, and the necessary things one must do to "guarantee" a place in Heaven. I honestly believe that there is a truth in each religion out there, but it's buried, and no religious leader is going to let the people know the real truth, because the lies (or obfuscations, really) are what grant the leaders their power, and no matter how pious one starts out as, power corrupts and it is a drug in its own right.

Enough about that — I think I've been reading too many "da Vinci Code" books lately.

Cite Bite

I ran across Cite Bite earlier while reading the LifeHacker blog a little while ago. Quite the cool internet tool; it's made to let you select a chunk of text on a site and open the site to your selection. Not only does it open the site to that bit, but it highlights it too. For those of you who use Firefox (and that had better be every one of you!), there is a plugin available as well. Yeah, I like it.

And finally...

Why do companies insist on treating their customers badly?

So at work, we're doing a full rebuild of our website, and one of the reports we use on the site utilizes a great visual reporting tool that builds nice graphs and maps. It's a great upgrade from the software we used to use on our old site. However, the company that sells it has some issues with the customer service they provide (or attempt to).

The report shows information in Canada, Mexico, and the US. However, the package we purchased did not include maps for Canada and Mexico, so when it was time to make the report, the developer contacted the company (which was between Christmas and New Year's, so some kind of delay could be expected) to request pricing for the maps.

A week and a half later (Thursday afternoon) the sales rep finally got back to us. He said the maps would be $300 each and would take a week to create from the day they received payment. In the meantime, since I have Adobe Illustrator, I found a couple good maps of the countries in question, and began tracing them. Now, the software to do the mapping uses SVG files, so they are very easy to create using Illustrator. Problem is, the maps cannot contain curves, due to requirements in the reporting software. So using Live Trace is out (but maybe I just suck at using it still). Anyway, while I'm working on the tracings (Canada sucks to trace by the way — just look at a map of Nunavut), the dev is trading emails back and forth with the sales guy. I finish the tracings by the time we got an email saying that they could "throw some more developers at them" and "have them next day" for us, and they'd be all tested "in-house." Of course, I don't know how they'd put more developers on creating the maps. It's an SVG, which is a glorified XML file.

Anyway, I built both maps in about 1.5 days worth of work, and we saved a bunch of money (I sure don't make $300 a day). We think someone got a slap on the wrist, because after we told them that we built the maps ourselves, they said that they'd do the best they could, in the future, to have SVGs made next day for us.

I come from a customer service background, so I feel like I have a good handle on what is good Customer Service and what is not. I like to pride myself on providing good customer service, even if doing so is a pain in the ass for me. I get paid to deal with stuff that other people shouldn't have to deal with. Making sure people's problems are solved rapidly and painlessly (for them) is the one of the key requirements for making sure you have repeat business from that client. If dealing with the problem is going to take some time, keep the customer aware of the process and make sure they know that it is being dealt with. If you cannot solve the problem for them, let them know, and try to give them another way to fix the problem, even if it means they talk to a competitor of yours. Of course, if that is the solution, you'd better get to work creating something that will solve that same kind of issue in the future, and be sure to let that client know that you have done so. They will feel like you have listened to them, and that alone may be enough of a reason for them continue (or resume) doing business with you.

Ok, if you have read this entire post, I congratulate you, and I appreciate your having spent the time to listen to my rambling. Please leave me a comment if you enjoyed the content and want to read more posts like it.

Morlocks vs. the Eloi

2007-01-02T02:25:00.001-05:00

So once again I've Stumbled Upon a website that I really enjoyed reading. Its main theme is the evolution from teletype to command line interfaces up through the GUI OS of 1999. It was written by a programmer who says he has worked on many different platforms, but also says his article is subjective. Therefore, read on with that bit of info in your mind.

Snagged from InTheBeginningWasTheCommandLine

Contemporary culture is a two-tiered system, like the Morlocks and the Eloi in H.G. Wells's The Time Machine, except that it's been turned upside down. In The Time Machine the Eloi were an effete upper class, supported by lots of subterranean Morlocks who kept the technological wheels turning. But in our world it's the other way round. The Morlocks are in the minority, and they are running the show, because they understand how everything works. The much more numerous Eloi learn everything they know from being steeped from birth in electronic media directed and controlled by book-reading Morlocks. So many ignorant people could be dangerous if they got pointed in the wrong direction, and so we've evolved a popular culture that is (a) almost unbelievably infectious and (b) neuters every person who gets infected by it, by rendering them unwilling to make judgments and incapable of taking stands.

Morlocks, who have the energy and intelligence to comprehend details, go out and master complex subjects and produce Disney-like Sensorial Interfaces so that Eloi can get the gist without having to strain their minds or endure boredom.

Yeah, sounds like some people I know. And also, there's a bit of my job in there as well.

Oh yeah, Happy New Year!

How non-programmers use documentation

2006-12-31T18:26:00.001-05:00

Using StumbleUpon I ran across this article a guy writing some documentation put together. He wrote it based on writing HOWTOs for the Linux community, but it really can be applied to almost any application, including the app we are working on at our company (the new website).

We still don't have any kind of help system in place (and I don't even know who's in charge of writing it or planning it). I know that it should be Cris and myself planning it, but who knows? This is a nice quick reference with a few important items that should be kept in mind when working on documentation for end-users.

Anyway, I'm planning on building a website that will host my blog(s) and also a nice easy way to view the recipes of stuff I like to cook. That way, my friends can have the same recipes. I guess it'd make sense to allow people to put in their recipes as well. I know that there are plenty of recipe sites out there now, but this way, at least at first, it's something my friends, family, and I can all work at together, and we can go to each other's homes and try the food and whatnot. I guess it's just a little more personalized than many of the other sites I go to for recipes.

Happy New Year!!!

Shopping, software, and snacking

2006-12-23T22:39:00.001-05:00

Ok. I've got my Christmas shopping done. I've gotten Xubuntu running on the iMac. And I had some really tasty treats at Cris' open home gathering earlier (his mom really is a terrific cook).

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, and I'll be going to Kristi's parent's home for the night, so that we can be with her sister first thing Christmas morning. Then after that we'll be going to my sister's new place for dinner, and then to see my dad at supper time or so. Busy, busy, busy.

I hope everyone else has a great holiday!

A deal has been made

2006-12-22T16:25:00.001-05:00

Cristos L-C said...
I'll cut you a deal, dude. Every Saturday, we both write a post on our blogs. After the post goes up, we write each other a comment about that post.

If you haven't posted commented by 8AM Sunday, you owe the other guy a beer ;-)

I'll accept the challenge!

p.s. Does this week count?

The goose is getting fat

2006-12-22T15:33:00.001-05:00

So Christmas is right around the corner, and I am finally on vacation! It's nice to finally take a break from the world, and just sit back and relax.

I've made some promises to myself, which shouldn't be all that hard to manage:

Go to the gym regularly
Eat better
Manage my money better
Learn some really cool recipes
Teach myself C# and maybe a couple of other languages
SELF-ORGANIZE!

That is all for now, but I promise to write more often. I know I have a few people who actually read this (which surprised me). I'll be sure to keep you all better up to date. :)

Small world

2006-10-30T23:34:00.000-05:00

At my company, we're working on a project that is an ASP.NET 2.0 workhorse. As I was just doing some research today to do some side learning (I don't do the heavy-lifting coding just yet - I'm more able to handle the client-side stuff), I ran across this book: Professional .NET Framework 2.0.

Now what's interesting about this book is that I know this guy. He grew up a street away from my parent's old house in Upton, and was good friends with my stepbrother. To top it off, I also just got a nice message from his fiancee, who I have not seen or talked to for the better part of 7 years. It's amazing, the changes people go through and what they've become and where they can go in such a relatively short period of time.

Connecting with my past always brings back good memories and feelings. I think I'm going to need to start concentrating more on finding and getting back with my friends and colleagues from the past years. =)

And as an aside, I'd like to say thanks to everyone who's offered their support and sympathies during these tough times my family is going through. Every family goes through them, unfortunately, and I appreciate that other people are this willing to help out.

Your About Page Is a Robot

2006-08-22T09:10:00.000-04:00

via A List Apart:

Like the rest of your website, your About page is a robot. You load it up with information, give it directives, and send it out to represent you in the world. Although forums, blogs, and other two-way forms of online communication help bring humans back into the equation, you’re pretty much stuck with the robot model for relatively static essentials like the About page—but you do get to decide what kind of robot you want to use.

Continue reading the article on A List Apart.

2006-08-20T14:38:00.000-04:00

As read on Overheard in New York

Geek #1: Let's just eat at Applebee's.
Geek #2: Dude, that's like the most expensive Applebee's in the universe.
Geek #1: Not "like". Literally, it is the most expensive Applebee's in the universe.
Geek #2: Ah, not so. In a constantly expanding universe, the probability approaches 100% that somewhere out there exists a more expensive Applebee's.
Geek #1: ...Let's just eat at KFC.

--Times Square

Value of work

2006-08-19T20:10:00.000-04:00

I've been doing lots of different things in the last year, and the work I am doing now was not anything I'd thought I'd be doing. The company I work for started a full website and infrastructure rebuild back in February, with me as the main HTML and CSS guru/writer.

We (at a very late date) hired an Information Architect, who began cranking out (read: I had to beg for them) wireframes to apply to our content. Now, as I understood it, he knew he had to speak to people within the company to learn what we do, what our content is, how it is currently modeled, and what we'd like to do with it on the new site.

Wow. Was I ever wrong.

We got enough ideas of page design to get us ready for our big announcement: to tell our paying clients that we were rebuilding the website to make their jobs easier by giving them better access to our content. That is, we thought it was better, until we put those pages in front of the clients at our big mid-year event. Oops. Let's try that one again.

This brings me to my current job. We fired the consultant. He had trouble working with a couple of the key people on the project, and just didn't seem to want to learn our whole structure and content model, or to take chances on changing them.

My co-worker C and I were asked if we could start working on the wireframing and content model. A good decision, since he and I maintain the old one every day we are there. A bad decision though, because we still had to maintain it while we started the new job of rebuilding it and wireframing it. Yeah, he and I are tired at this point.

We've been learning how difficult it can be to remodel content and a user's experiences with a site, especially when we don't have any real contact with the users. Add to that the internal agendas and politics, and you have one heck of a volatile experience. But an extremely educational one. We've since learned that we love doing this work, we make a great team, and what our strengths and weaknesses are. Theories have been born; hypotheses have been destroyed; ideas have been loved; ideas have been shot down.

We've been told how valuable our work is, but have not been given any extra compensation for it - that may be something that is taken care of once the project has been completed (not that it will ever be 100% done).

I don't know what will happen come January, since we launch the new site in December 2006. It will be an interesting time, and yet another educational experience. People will leave the team permanently, others will be deciding if the company is where they want to stay, and others on the team will not know of any other place to go.

I, for one, will be giving my future there a very close look, and who knows - I may find a hidden treasure.