On May 1, Blogger will no longer support publishing to FTP, which is how I currently publish this blog. Sometime before then--hopefully this weekend--I will be migrating either to Blogger's hosted solution or to WordPress.
I've thought about shifting to a different platform for years. The reason I've stayed with FTP publishing for so long is that I felt comfortable and safe with two copies of my blog in existence: one in Blogger's database and one in static html files on my server. With this duplication of my content, essentially an automatic backup, I was confident that I'd never lose my posts. That made me reticent to change blog software.
Now that my hand is being forced, I'm leaning towards self-hosting. Frankly, I trust my webhost, pair, more than I trust Blogger's servers. This may be a misguided view, but in the eight or so years I've used both services, I've only ever had problems with Blogger.
The main uncertainty in my mind at this point is WordPress. I've seen so many WordPress blogs get hacked and wonderful content get destroyed, notably the several times it happened to Sushicam. If, after losing all my offline writing and photos in the fire, I lost all of this too, I would be completely decimated. I do not want to go through that feeling again. I want to continue to be able to travel back in time through my writing and remember what I used to think about and how I used to feel. This blog is really all I've got left of my life before August 2005. I can't lose it.
Obviously, I'm still thinking about what I want to do. But a decision will come soon, and then my blog will move. When that happens, the design will probably change.
I've also made a change to my photo posting recently. For awhile there I was emailing photos from my phone directly to this blog, to quickly and easily share what was going on. However, I was never really a fan of doing things this way. For starters, it saved the photos here on my server instead of on my photo site. For another, having a bunch of posts with nothing but one or two photos in them took up a lot of space and pushed text content--my thoughts, the real purpose of this blog--down the page.
So I've started using SmugShot again, the SmugMug application for iPhone. Now I simply send the photos I take directly to the proper album on my photo site. So far I've sent photos to February 2010 and March 2010.
When I switch my blog to whatever I switch it to, I plan to pull my latest SmugMug photos into the sidebar, so blog visitors will know I've uploaded new photos without having to scroll past them to get to my real content. I'm pretty happy with this solution and look forward to implementing it.
Once all these changes are in place, I plan to really get back into writing here. I miss it.
Showing posts with label design. Show all posts
Showing posts with label design. Show all posts
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
A little extra work
Two weekends ago I went on one of my photo adventures, hitting various scenic spots around the area and taking pictures. I spent a whole Saturday exploring and snapping, and then on Sunday I began processing the photos.
This time, rather than simply saving off the camera and uploading immediately, I tried editing each photo using some tricks I read about online. I was extremely pleased with the results; I feel like I've taken my first step out of casual pointing and shooting and into real photography.
First I evaluated each photo, rotating and cropping where necessary. Then I applied Image > Adjustments > Match Color > Neutralize, which I read about here on Sitepoint.com. I had used the other option mentioned in that article, Auto Color, before, but wasn't always happy with the results. Match Color > Neutralize really helped make the color of my photos look natural. I was especially happy with the Color Intensity slider, which helped me bring out color without affecting detail.
For most of the daylight photos, Match Color > Neutralize was very beneficial, but it wasn't necessary on all of them.
After rotating, cropping, and normalizing the colors, I went through a variety of adjustments. My friend Don posted a link on Facebook to this technique used by a photographer to enhance colors on his images. I ended up modifying the technique a bit, depending on the photo I was editing.
To begin with, I didn't use the High Pass filter at all. Most of my photos were shot in bright daylight, and all that filter did was cause weird halos that didn't add anything to the scene. However, I made heavy use of Blend Mode. I would duplicate the background layer, then change its blend mode from Normal to Soft Light (or, in a very few cases, Hard Light). Sometimes I'd Desaturate the top layer; other times I'd leave it the way it was.
I also fiddled with the opacity on the top layer to get the exact contrast and color pop I wanted, and on some photos I played with Curves and Levels to get richer contrast effects.
By the time I got to the last location, Thurmond Dam, the sun was setting. I had never managed to get a really good nighttime shot before, and I'm open to suggestions about shooting at night. For the shots of the dam from the Georgia side of the river, I propped my Nikon D60 against the side of a tree.
The editing methods listed above didn't work quite as well for the low light shots. High contrast tended to destroy the details and it was hard to pull out color without making the photo look grainy. I'll be interested to research and try out different techniques for night photography.
Any thoughts on the techniques I used for these photos? Do you know any shooting or editing tricks?
This time, rather than simply saving off the camera and uploading immediately, I tried editing each photo using some tricks I read about online. I was extremely pleased with the results; I feel like I've taken my first step out of casual pointing and shooting and into real photography.
First I evaluated each photo, rotating and cropping where necessary. Then I applied Image > Adjustments > Match Color > Neutralize, which I read about here on Sitepoint.com. I had used the other option mentioned in that article, Auto Color, before, but wasn't always happy with the results. Match Color > Neutralize really helped make the color of my photos look natural. I was especially happy with the Color Intensity slider, which helped me bring out color without affecting detail.
For most of the daylight photos, Match Color > Neutralize was very beneficial, but it wasn't necessary on all of them.
After rotating, cropping, and normalizing the colors, I went through a variety of adjustments. My friend Don posted a link on Facebook to this technique used by a photographer to enhance colors on his images. I ended up modifying the technique a bit, depending on the photo I was editing.
To begin with, I didn't use the High Pass filter at all. Most of my photos were shot in bright daylight, and all that filter did was cause weird halos that didn't add anything to the scene. However, I made heavy use of Blend Mode. I would duplicate the background layer, then change its blend mode from Normal to Soft Light (or, in a very few cases, Hard Light). Sometimes I'd Desaturate the top layer; other times I'd leave it the way it was.
I also fiddled with the opacity on the top layer to get the exact contrast and color pop I wanted, and on some photos I played with Curves and Levels to get richer contrast effects.
By the time I got to the last location, Thurmond Dam, the sun was setting. I had never managed to get a really good nighttime shot before, and I'm open to suggestions about shooting at night. For the shots of the dam from the Georgia side of the river, I propped my Nikon D60 against the side of a tree.
The editing methods listed above didn't work quite as well for the low light shots. High contrast tended to destroy the details and it was hard to pull out color without making the photo look grainy. I'll be interested to research and try out different techniques for night photography.
Any thoughts on the techniques I used for these photos? Do you know any shooting or editing tricks?
Friday, May 8, 2009
Here's where I am
Sorry I haven't written up my blog redesign process yet. I have been extremely busy at work and that has drained me for the rest of the time. All my projects are suffering because of it. But I'm not discouraged, really; I know that after this craziness is over I'll have more time and brainpower. Of course, I'm going to England in under two weeks, so it may be awhile before I'm back to a decent routine.
One thing that has been bothering me is the fact that the design of my blog right now is not the design I wanted. It's more like a design I conceived and never finished in 2004. When I put this thing together, the look was secondary to getting the structure workable. Now that I have the blog set up with an external stylesheet, I will hopefully be more easily able to change the look.
A redesign of this blog will need to take a backseat to other things, though: my website project with Mike, my webcomic project with Sam, the redesign of and new shopping cart implementation for my parents' business website, etc.
I'm also rereading (or rather, reading, since I never actually finished it) Getting Things Done. Hopefully I will learn some techniques to better organize my time and keep from stressing out over everything I want to do!
One thing that has been bothering me is the fact that the design of my blog right now is not the design I wanted. It's more like a design I conceived and never finished in 2004. When I put this thing together, the look was secondary to getting the structure workable. Now that I have the blog set up with an external stylesheet, I will hopefully be more easily able to change the look.
A redesign of this blog will need to take a backseat to other things, though: my website project with Mike, my webcomic project with Sam, the redesign of and new shopping cart implementation for my parents' business website, etc.
I'm also rereading (or rather, reading, since I never actually finished it) Getting Things Done. Hopefully I will learn some techniques to better organize my time and keep from stressing out over everything I want to do!
Sunday, April 26, 2009
New "Latest Links" item in right menu
I've added an item to my sidebar called "Latest Links". It pulls the 15 most recent items I've bookmarked on Delicious into this page. Now it's easy for you to see what I'm reading and looking at online.
I've been doing a lot more reading lately, and there are plenty of interesting things out there to share with everyone. However, I didn't want to become a link-poster on Twitter. Twitter's not about sharing links; it's about giving people a window into your life, and working on crafting succinct, evocative prose. At least, that's what I want to use it for!
In the old days I used to post link roundups here on my blog, but I didn't want to go back to doing that either. I often don't have much to say about a link other than a brief observation, and I don't think that warrants a blog post. If I do have a lot to say, of course, I'll post it...but I really don't have time to discuss the minutiae of everything I see.
Delicious suits quickly sharing content perfectly.
I first tried the service in 2005. Back then I was trying to use it to organize permanent bookmarks, not to share interesting links. I didn't really get it, and I ended up quitting pretty quickly. Now, though, I realize that it does exactly what I need!
You can find me on Delicious here.
I've been doing a lot more reading lately, and there are plenty of interesting things out there to share with everyone. However, I didn't want to become a link-poster on Twitter. Twitter's not about sharing links; it's about giving people a window into your life, and working on crafting succinct, evocative prose. At least, that's what I want to use it for!
In the old days I used to post link roundups here on my blog, but I didn't want to go back to doing that either. I often don't have much to say about a link other than a brief observation, and I don't think that warrants a blog post. If I do have a lot to say, of course, I'll post it...but I really don't have time to discuss the minutiae of everything I see.
Delicious suits quickly sharing content perfectly.
I first tried the service in 2005. Back then I was trying to use it to organize permanent bookmarks, not to share interesting links. I didn't really get it, and I ended up quitting pretty quickly. Now, though, I realize that it does exactly what I need!
You can find me on Delicious here.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Getting there
I'm pretty happy with this color scheme. I'm going to be working on the sidebar and top/bottom navigation, so those aren't final yet. I'm also going to be adding a graphical header. But I like how it's coming along :)
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Because they just can't stop messing with it
Twitter has done it again! Now the search is in the sidebar instead of up top, and trending topics are listed beneath it.
Click the image for the full wide screenshot.
Click the image for the full wide screenshot.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Webmaster Jam Session 2008, Day One
It's not quite over--there's still the informal gathering over at the Sheraton--but I wanted to go ahead and post my notes from the first day of the 2008 Webmaster Jam Session.
The following notes are organized by session name. They haven't been edited (much).
can you have a pretty design and still be accessible? try.
What accessibility means
don't create separate sites for each person...make one site that works for everyone
don't coddle, just remove barriers
accessibility is for everyone!
it doesn't mean plain and boring!
it doesn't take too much time.
Designers are afraid of the idea of designing for the blind. But you can use the same back-end code and create infinitely different designs.
The biggest problem with flash accessibility is keyboard controls. Build external controls. (You can use the API to control Flash externally)
Captioning and descriptions get indexed and help people find your video.
the answer is not to sell people on it...it's to just do it.
EXAMPLES:
http://icant.co.uk/easy-youtube/? <--put YouTube link here
http://www.csszengarden.com/
live.yahoo.com
blogdeafread.com/abcohende/2008/02/15/yahoos-live-deaf-chat-room/
Yahoo search - style the label on the radio button
Viddler allowed timed captions; YouTube is starting with annotations
"NUI" = Natural User Interface
Johnny Lee's experiments mentioned.
Haptic devices: feedback based on touch
Quote of the session: "For those I-beams that come flying at you."
Buzzword: metaperception
"I MUST have the secret to WEB 2.0!"
People try blogs without thinking about creating quality content.
Companies don't make viral videos; people do.
Trends don't necessarily translate into value.
People hate advertisers on social networks.
It's not about ADVERTISING. It's about bringing quality content to the user through avenues they alreay use.
Don't just slap social media stickers on old school advertising packages.
Social media is about people connecting.
Diversify. Create different places where ideas are talked about.
Who am I trying to reach? What are their interests? Reverse-engineer based on these questions, rather than general-interest "broadcast" ads.
"Socializing with purpose"
Stand Up to Cancer had lots of traditional promotion, but barely any online word of mouth. Came up with "The Virtual Standup" - getting people to submit videos of themselves saying they stand up. Had top bloggers participate. Twitter was a huge factor in the spread.
Obama's "open campaigning" - apply collaborative, Wikipedia-style approach. Puts message out on various platforms and lets supporters spread it. Video fact-checking. Twitter updates. YouBama - voters say what they want.
Cost effective way to build brands by letting people do the talking.
Find who's influential in the area you want to impact, and see if/how you can work with them.
I. Two parallels
A. CHRONOLOGY
Chess Chronology: Opening, middle game, end game.
Website Chronology: Information architecture, visual design, build.
First you develop a strategy. In chess you study your opponent; in websites you talk to your client about goals.
Then you work on tactics. In chess you decide what moves to make; in websites you decide where you want everything.
Finally you build. Find inspiration in the details. Be precise; you have few options. Cautious and clever people have the strongest endgame.
You don't think about just one phase at a time. You evaluate as you go.
B. OPPONENTS
Relationships you have with your client is similar to relationships with chess opponents. End users are too.
If you're playing chess well, you're controlling all the moves. You're guiding your opponent to their defeat. In design you want to guide users to the information they're looking for. Limit options, create a clear path.
With a chess opponent, it's a matter of creating problems for each other to solve...same thing with clients.
Chess opponents enrich each other, and so do design colleagues.
I. PRINCIPLES
A. CONTENT IS KING
You always have to keep the king/content in mind. You can get too excited about other things (presentations, the queen)
B. KNOW YOUR HISTORY
Studying what was going on in the world when chess games were played can tell you a lot about how people were thinking and why they made the choices they made. Make history relevant to design work, too. Understand how design develops in other times and how it develops now. Understand what time period you're trying to evoke.
Understand technical limitations in former time periods.
C. THINK AHEAD
Think several moves ahead--the decision tree. Possibilities. How would you repond? Future-proofing the site is an example. Think about what people may need down the road.
Jason Santa Maria - thinking ahead about navigation
D. DON'T GET TOO ATTACHED
A lot of chess players get enthralled by the queen...they'll shoot themselves in the foot to protect her, rather than the king. It happens in design too. You're sketching out ideas and you see something you like, so you run with it without continuing to sketch.
"If you see a good move, look for a better one." -Emanuel Lasker
E. WORK WITH A PURPOSE
"One badly-placed piece makes your whole strategy bad."
Notes on how he prepared the slides: Futura Light: geometric font, all line thicknesses the same. Associate multiple lines of text with what they share in common.
Intuition does play a role in design. We can't necessarily understand it. But if you try to examine your choices, it'll help you grow and determine your method/process.
F. OBEY CIRCUMSTANCE
Every move creates a whole new world. You can't decide all your moves at the beginning. You have to respond. It's the same with new clients.
Prefab solutions != design
People who are willing to rely on solutions they created in the past are just ripping themselves off.
G. PRINCIPLES ARE YOUR FRIEND. EXCEPT WHEN THEY'RE NOT.
Chess players seem to follow a similar path. Their ability is discovered and then they're groomed. These players know the rules so well that they know when the rules can be broken.
Web designers backgrounds are all different. No one went to school for this! As a result, approaches and attitudes are all different. It's polarizing. People are either too pedantic, or not pedantic enough.
Traditional graphic designers: "Rules?! You know who I am? I don't need the rules!"
H. THE JOURNEY IS AS IMPORTANT AS THE GOAL
Some chess players focus on one "fatal move". But all moves are related. Likewise, every step of the way in design is important, and they can all teach you something.
"What I do is not play, but struggle."
Process of elimination leads you to your finished product...but you learn from the stuff that doesn't work.
Learned lessons: Get half up front ;)
"Lose as often as you can take it."
III. REFERENCES
How Life Imitates Chess - Garry Kasparov
Pandolfini's Ultimate Guide to Chess - Bruce Pandolfini
robweychert.com
onwired.com - mostly good things, just a few nitpicky comments
[smushit.com can remove a bunch of unnecessary nonvisual information from website images]
icu2.com - can't figure out what the site is about; small navigation; text in images can be done with CSS; cute "warning" doesn't match site style.
www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/OHR/coop/ - no www redirect; no 404 page; color contrast issue in top right menu
unisoft.com - move page header, put "in partnership with" over S&T, clean up homepage
Didn't get to have a critique on any site I've done.
dbs.myflorida.com
I didn't have my laptop open and wasn't able to take detailed notes, nor did I send notes to Twitter. Here's the main thing I remember: you can use real-life objects to create patterns and textures. You can age materials with coffee and an oven. Colors set the mood. Contrasting hot and cold has great impact. Gradients are powerful when done well, especially gradients of different tones of the same color. Stay away from default styles. Use drop shadow colors that go with the existing colors, not black. Take photos or scans of real things to create designs.
The following notes are organized by session name. They haven't been edited (much).
Making Accessibility Sexy
can you have a pretty design and still be accessible? try.
What accessibility means
don't create separate sites for each person...make one site that works for everyone
don't coddle, just remove barriers
accessibility is for everyone!
it doesn't mean plain and boring!
it doesn't take too much time.
Designers are afraid of the idea of designing for the blind. But you can use the same back-end code and create infinitely different designs.
The biggest problem with flash accessibility is keyboard controls. Build external controls. (You can use the API to control Flash externally)
Captioning and descriptions get indexed and help people find your video.
the answer is not to sell people on it...it's to just do it.
EXAMPLES:
http://icant.co.uk/easy-youtube/? <--put YouTube link here
http://www.csszengarden.com/
live.yahoo.com
blogdeafread.com/abcohende/2008/02/15/yahoos-live-deaf-chat-room/
Yahoo search - style the label on the radio button
Viddler allowed timed captions; YouTube is starting with annotations
Universal By Design
"NUI" = Natural User Interface
Johnny Lee's experiments mentioned.
Haptic devices: feedback based on touch
Quote of the session: "For those I-beams that come flying at you."
Buzzword: metaperception
Going Social
"I MUST have the secret to WEB 2.0!"
People try blogs without thinking about creating quality content.
Companies don't make viral videos; people do.
Trends don't necessarily translate into value.
People hate advertisers on social networks.
It's not about ADVERTISING. It's about bringing quality content to the user through avenues they alreay use.
Don't just slap social media stickers on old school advertising packages.
Social media is about people connecting.
Diversify. Create different places where ideas are talked about.
Who am I trying to reach? What are their interests? Reverse-engineer based on these questions, rather than general-interest "broadcast" ads.
"Socializing with purpose"
Stand Up to Cancer had lots of traditional promotion, but barely any online word of mouth. Came up with "The Virtual Standup" - getting people to submit videos of themselves saying they stand up. Had top bloggers participate. Twitter was a huge factor in the spread.
Obama's "open campaigning" - apply collaborative, Wikipedia-style approach. Puts message out on various platforms and lets supporters spread it. Video fact-checking. Twitter updates. YouBama - voters say what they want.
Cost effective way to build brands by letting people do the talking.
Find who's influential in the area you want to impact, and see if/how you can work with them.
Design Lessons in Chess
I. Two parallels
A. CHRONOLOGY
Chess Chronology: Opening, middle game, end game.
Website Chronology: Information architecture, visual design, build.
First you develop a strategy. In chess you study your opponent; in websites you talk to your client about goals.
Then you work on tactics. In chess you decide what moves to make; in websites you decide where you want everything.
Finally you build. Find inspiration in the details. Be precise; you have few options. Cautious and clever people have the strongest endgame.
You don't think about just one phase at a time. You evaluate as you go.
B. OPPONENTS
Relationships you have with your client is similar to relationships with chess opponents. End users are too.
If you're playing chess well, you're controlling all the moves. You're guiding your opponent to their defeat. In design you want to guide users to the information they're looking for. Limit options, create a clear path.
With a chess opponent, it's a matter of creating problems for each other to solve...same thing with clients.
Chess opponents enrich each other, and so do design colleagues.
I. PRINCIPLES
A. CONTENT IS KING
You always have to keep the king/content in mind. You can get too excited about other things (presentations, the queen)
B. KNOW YOUR HISTORY
Studying what was going on in the world when chess games were played can tell you a lot about how people were thinking and why they made the choices they made. Make history relevant to design work, too. Understand how design develops in other times and how it develops now. Understand what time period you're trying to evoke.
Understand technical limitations in former time periods.
C. THINK AHEAD
Think several moves ahead--the decision tree. Possibilities. How would you repond? Future-proofing the site is an example. Think about what people may need down the road.
Jason Santa Maria - thinking ahead about navigation
D. DON'T GET TOO ATTACHED
A lot of chess players get enthralled by the queen...they'll shoot themselves in the foot to protect her, rather than the king. It happens in design too. You're sketching out ideas and you see something you like, so you run with it without continuing to sketch.
"If you see a good move, look for a better one." -Emanuel Lasker
E. WORK WITH A PURPOSE
"One badly-placed piece makes your whole strategy bad."
Notes on how he prepared the slides: Futura Light: geometric font, all line thicknesses the same. Associate multiple lines of text with what they share in common.
Intuition does play a role in design. We can't necessarily understand it. But if you try to examine your choices, it'll help you grow and determine your method/process.
F. OBEY CIRCUMSTANCE
Every move creates a whole new world. You can't decide all your moves at the beginning. You have to respond. It's the same with new clients.
Prefab solutions != design
People who are willing to rely on solutions they created in the past are just ripping themselves off.
G. PRINCIPLES ARE YOUR FRIEND. EXCEPT WHEN THEY'RE NOT.
Chess players seem to follow a similar path. Their ability is discovered and then they're groomed. These players know the rules so well that they know when the rules can be broken.
Web designers backgrounds are all different. No one went to school for this! As a result, approaches and attitudes are all different. It's polarizing. People are either too pedantic, or not pedantic enough.
Traditional graphic designers: "Rules?! You know who I am? I don't need the rules!"
H. THE JOURNEY IS AS IMPORTANT AS THE GOAL
Some chess players focus on one "fatal move". But all moves are related. Likewise, every step of the way in design is important, and they can all teach you something.
"What I do is not play, but struggle."
Process of elimination leads you to your finished product...but you learn from the stuff that doesn't work.
Learned lessons: Get half up front ;)
"Lose as often as you can take it."
III. REFERENCES
How Life Imitates Chess - Garry Kasparov
Pandolfini's Ultimate Guide to Chess - Bruce Pandolfini
robweychert.com
Website Critique
onwired.com - mostly good things, just a few nitpicky comments
[smushit.com can remove a bunch of unnecessary nonvisual information from website images]
icu2.com - can't figure out what the site is about; small navigation; text in images can be done with CSS; cute "warning" doesn't match site style.
www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/OHR/coop/ - no www redirect; no 404 page; color contrast issue in top right menu
unisoft.com - move page header, put "in partnership with" over S&T, clean up homepage
Didn't get to have a critique on any site I've done.
dbs.myflorida.com
High Style and Low Fidelity
I didn't have my laptop open and wasn't able to take detailed notes, nor did I send notes to Twitter. Here's the main thing I remember: you can use real-life objects to create patterns and textures. You can age materials with coffee and an oven. Colors set the mood. Contrasting hot and cold has great impact. Gradients are powerful when done well, especially gradients of different tones of the same color. Stay away from default styles. Use drop shadow colors that go with the existing colors, not black. Take photos or scans of real things to create designs.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
An appeal to programmers
Please minimize the use of database calls and dynamic content. If you have a page that's going to be loaded often but only changed frequently, only update that page when it's changed...not every time it's loaded.
Dynamic pages are nifty because changes are instantaneous...but that's really the only good thing about them. They will drive up users' load times and your bandwidth costs, and they're completely unnecessary. A nice static page that gets updated whenever there's a change is all you need.
Your website, or software, or whatever, should not check the database for changes to every element every time a page or screen with calls to those elements is pulled up. That's just ridiculous.
Would you like it if you had to rebuild an entire house every time you wanted to add, say, new windows?
You'd think this would be one of the things programmers learn. It's just common sense.
Dynamic pages are nifty because changes are instantaneous...but that's really the only good thing about them. They will drive up users' load times and your bandwidth costs, and they're completely unnecessary. A nice static page that gets updated whenever there's a change is all you need.
Your website, or software, or whatever, should not check the database for changes to every element every time a page or screen with calls to those elements is pulled up. That's just ridiculous.
Would you like it if you had to rebuild an entire house every time you wanted to add, say, new windows?
You'd think this would be one of the things programmers learn. It's just common sense.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Revelation
Did I ever tell you I hate web design?
It's probably obvious to those of you who've noticed I never change my blog template. Most designers change their templates all the time, trying new things. I've mentioned several times that I want to make some changes, but for the most part I've left it alone...not because I think it's perfect like it is, but because I dread going into the code. It's horribly out of date--it uses tables, for goodness' sake--and if I ever get into a serious redesign, I know I'm going to want to start over from scratch.
I'm not the type of person who can just use a WYSIWYG editor and be content. I have to mess with the underpinnings, make them the best that I know they can be.
That perfectionism makes me despise web design, because nothing is ever perfect. What works in one browser doesn't work in another. I can't always do what I want, either because I lack the coding ability, because it's unsupported by major browsers, or because it's simply impossible with the tools we currently have. To get certain effects I have to cheat and then be annoyed that the site doesn't live up to standards. I use JavaScript to do certain things, for example, and I just have to hope that the majority of site visitors won't have it disabled. There are so many factors to take into account, when all I really want to do is make a nice, pretty design.
Despite all this, for some inexplicable reason I keep taking on web design projects. What's wrong with me?
It's probably obvious to those of you who've noticed I never change my blog template. Most designers change their templates all the time, trying new things. I've mentioned several times that I want to make some changes, but for the most part I've left it alone...not because I think it's perfect like it is, but because I dread going into the code. It's horribly out of date--it uses tables, for goodness' sake--and if I ever get into a serious redesign, I know I'm going to want to start over from scratch.
I'm not the type of person who can just use a WYSIWYG editor and be content. I have to mess with the underpinnings, make them the best that I know they can be.
That perfectionism makes me despise web design, because nothing is ever perfect. What works in one browser doesn't work in another. I can't always do what I want, either because I lack the coding ability, because it's unsupported by major browsers, or because it's simply impossible with the tools we currently have. To get certain effects I have to cheat and then be annoyed that the site doesn't live up to standards. I use JavaScript to do certain things, for example, and I just have to hope that the majority of site visitors won't have it disabled. There are so many factors to take into account, when all I really want to do is make a nice, pretty design.
Despite all this, for some inexplicable reason I keep taking on web design projects. What's wrong with me?
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Okay, how about this?
I've lived with Apartment Arrangement Option 5 for two weeks now...and I've decided I hate it.
My goal was to create comfortable home bases for me and Sean while expanding seating areas for visitors. What ended up happening was Sean would sit on my couch to play video games or watch DVDs. If you remember, I moved his area to be against the wall. That ended up being fine for using his laptops, but not for just relaxing, so he'd lounge out on the big couch when he wanted to do that. I like sitting next to him, don't get me wrong, but if he feels like stretching out, there's no room for me.
Another problem is that the loveseat, along the wall next to him, became a dumping ground for stuff while serving zero purpose in terms of seating. It turns out it's just awkwardly placed, with no decent views of anything.
Yesterday I came home to find Sean and his dad sitting on my couch, and that made me fully realize how inconvenient the layout is. The couch offers the best view of the TV, so obviously guests would want to sit there...meaning I probably get cut off from my laptop, which I don't really like moving around.
It didn't solve the problems after all; it just shifted them.
I'd been unhappy for days, but that galvanized my need to do something. So I went back to my Photoshop file and messed around some more. A lot more. Until eventually, finally, I came up with Apartment Arrangement Option 10, a revision of Option 5.
See how Sean and I will have our own departmentalized seating areas? But we can both move to the main couch, directly in front of the TV, and snuggle together if we want. It's the best I could do, given our ridiculously narrow living room with its inconvenient doors and bizarro closet jutting into the room.
Sean's agreed to try it, but he said "Not today". ;> So we'll see how this does, here in a couple of days. Wish us luck :>
My goal was to create comfortable home bases for me and Sean while expanding seating areas for visitors. What ended up happening was Sean would sit on my couch to play video games or watch DVDs. If you remember, I moved his area to be against the wall. That ended up being fine for using his laptops, but not for just relaxing, so he'd lounge out on the big couch when he wanted to do that. I like sitting next to him, don't get me wrong, but if he feels like stretching out, there's no room for me.
Another problem is that the loveseat, along the wall next to him, became a dumping ground for stuff while serving zero purpose in terms of seating. It turns out it's just awkwardly placed, with no decent views of anything.
Yesterday I came home to find Sean and his dad sitting on my couch, and that made me fully realize how inconvenient the layout is. The couch offers the best view of the TV, so obviously guests would want to sit there...meaning I probably get cut off from my laptop, which I don't really like moving around.
It didn't solve the problems after all; it just shifted them.
I'd been unhappy for days, but that galvanized my need to do something. So I went back to my Photoshop file and messed around some more. A lot more. Until eventually, finally, I came up with Apartment Arrangement Option 10, a revision of Option 5.
See how Sean and I will have our own departmentalized seating areas? But we can both move to the main couch, directly in front of the TV, and snuggle together if we want. It's the best I could do, given our ridiculously narrow living room with its inconvenient doors and bizarro closet jutting into the room.
Sean's agreed to try it, but he said "Not today". ;> So we'll see how this does, here in a couple of days. Wish us luck :>
Sunday, May 4, 2008
New living room layout...maybe
Today I spent some time rearranging the second bedroom, which has multiple uses: guest room, office, and general storage facility. I want it to also serve the purpose of a workout room, so I was trying to clear a decent amount of space in front of the television. I was marginally successful; you can see pictures here. (Note that I do someday plan to put the Christmas decorations away...)
Doing that put me in the rearranging mood, and I decided to start thinking about how I want the living room to look. I found a floor plan of our apartment at the rental company's website and, armed with my trusty tape measure and Photoshop, added in all our furniture. Here's the current layout:
The big purple block is our couch, and the gray boxes in front of it are Sean's area. (Light gray is the floor where he sits; dark gray is the kotatsu.) The red blocks are the loveseat and chair, and the long, darker red rectangle is the coffee table on loan from Brooke. The big black rectangle is the TV, the big black square is the dinner table, and the smaller black boxes are the bar table and its chairs, the media cabinets, and a file cabinet.
It's actually a pretty decent layout, given the awkward utility closet jutting into the room and all the doors I have to work around. I really like the way it looks. However, it's inconvenient in a couple of ways. First, Sean is facing the back wall and not the television. This wasn't really a big deal before, but lately he's taken to sitting in my seat (the loveseat) to play video games on the TV, only to have to move when I get home. Secondly, having Sean's sitting area right in front of the largest couch means a lot of sitting area is wasted. No one who comes over wants to squeeze in and sit behind him, so the couch is limited to perhaps one seat, rather than three or possibly four. I am also somewhat unhappy with the placement of the bar table in the dining room; I kind of like it, but it annoys me that the stools aren't next to it, and it isn't serving its normal purpose.
So for about five hours I've been rearranging colored blocks, trying to discover a better arrangement. Here are the phases I went through:
Phase One: Too Awkward
This kind of works, but the loveseat is facing a chair that is at a 90 degree angle, which is bound to look ridiculous. Meanwhile, the chair is floating in the middle of the flow of traffic.
Phase Two: WAY Too Awkward
I thought maybe putting the TV on the opposite wall would help. It's a neat idea, but ultimately results in a Family Circus-style path through the apartment. I kind of liked the thought of having an artificial hallway leading to the bedroom door, but it's not really practical and possibly unsafe.
Phase Three: Ludicrous
Perhaps, I speculated, giving up on 90 degree angles would do the trick. This is the result. Ultimately the seating problem still exists and most of the seating has a very poor view.
Phase Four: An Accident Waiting to Happen
What if I used the TV as an artificial wall? Well, someone would knock into it, of course...especially given the small passageway between it and the loveseat. I liked the effect this closing-off had on the dining area, but that's about it. There still wasn't a very homey feel, and few decent views. Plus, Sean was probably too far away from the TV.
But then, finally, I came across this arrangement:
I'm not perfectly happy with it, but it feels like this is the best I'm going to be able to do. The TV stays where it currently is, to keep it in sight of most of the room. The loveseat rotates 90 degrees and moves to the corner; Sean slides up next to it, leaving enough room for him to walk around and for people to sit. The full couch becomes my seat, with the coffee table in front of it and plenty of room for others to sit, and then the chair rounds out the room, leaving an open area for the bar table. Sean's file cabinet ends up next to the loveseat and becomes a much-needed end table.
What's nice about this is that the flow of traffic isn't changed; people can walk in a straight line from the front door to the back door, which is optimal with this floor plan. I don't really like how the TV looks right now, but once we get a table for it I think it and the media cabinets will fill out the wall better.
Of course, I haven't actually moved anything yet...I'm so exhausted from thinking about it that I think I'll just relax for now ;)
Doing that put me in the rearranging mood, and I decided to start thinking about how I want the living room to look. I found a floor plan of our apartment at the rental company's website and, armed with my trusty tape measure and Photoshop, added in all our furniture. Here's the current layout:
The big purple block is our couch, and the gray boxes in front of it are Sean's area. (Light gray is the floor where he sits; dark gray is the kotatsu.) The red blocks are the loveseat and chair, and the long, darker red rectangle is the coffee table on loan from Brooke. The big black rectangle is the TV, the big black square is the dinner table, and the smaller black boxes are the bar table and its chairs, the media cabinets, and a file cabinet.
It's actually a pretty decent layout, given the awkward utility closet jutting into the room and all the doors I have to work around. I really like the way it looks. However, it's inconvenient in a couple of ways. First, Sean is facing the back wall and not the television. This wasn't really a big deal before, but lately he's taken to sitting in my seat (the loveseat) to play video games on the TV, only to have to move when I get home. Secondly, having Sean's sitting area right in front of the largest couch means a lot of sitting area is wasted. No one who comes over wants to squeeze in and sit behind him, so the couch is limited to perhaps one seat, rather than three or possibly four. I am also somewhat unhappy with the placement of the bar table in the dining room; I kind of like it, but it annoys me that the stools aren't next to it, and it isn't serving its normal purpose.
So for about five hours I've been rearranging colored blocks, trying to discover a better arrangement. Here are the phases I went through:
Phase One: Too Awkward
This kind of works, but the loveseat is facing a chair that is at a 90 degree angle, which is bound to look ridiculous. Meanwhile, the chair is floating in the middle of the flow of traffic.
Phase Two: WAY Too Awkward
I thought maybe putting the TV on the opposite wall would help. It's a neat idea, but ultimately results in a Family Circus-style path through the apartment. I kind of liked the thought of having an artificial hallway leading to the bedroom door, but it's not really practical and possibly unsafe.
Phase Three: Ludicrous
Perhaps, I speculated, giving up on 90 degree angles would do the trick. This is the result. Ultimately the seating problem still exists and most of the seating has a very poor view.
Phase Four: An Accident Waiting to Happen
What if I used the TV as an artificial wall? Well, someone would knock into it, of course...especially given the small passageway between it and the loveseat. I liked the effect this closing-off had on the dining area, but that's about it. There still wasn't a very homey feel, and few decent views. Plus, Sean was probably too far away from the TV.
But then, finally, I came across this arrangement:
I'm not perfectly happy with it, but it feels like this is the best I'm going to be able to do. The TV stays where it currently is, to keep it in sight of most of the room. The loveseat rotates 90 degrees and moves to the corner; Sean slides up next to it, leaving enough room for him to walk around and for people to sit. The full couch becomes my seat, with the coffee table in front of it and plenty of room for others to sit, and then the chair rounds out the room, leaving an open area for the bar table. Sean's file cabinet ends up next to the loveseat and becomes a much-needed end table.
What's nice about this is that the flow of traffic isn't changed; people can walk in a straight line from the front door to the back door, which is optimal with this floor plan. I don't really like how the TV looks right now, but once we get a table for it I think it and the media cabinets will fill out the wall better.
Of course, I haven't actually moved anything yet...I'm so exhausted from thinking about it that I think I'll just relax for now ;)
Sunday, February 24, 2008
The ultimate work(out) station
I want a new desk for work.
This desk needs to support two monitors, one CRT and one LCD, an oversize keyboard, and a phone. Ideally it would also have room for a printer or two and a way to keep the CPU itself off the floor.
The work surface should raise and lower so that I can either stand or sit.
The desk should have one file drawer and one or two miscellaneous drawers.
It should also have a fold-out treadmill and a fold-out exercise bike that will retract into the desk when not in use. Ideally the controls for these would be built into the desk, as would retractable hand grips.
I can almost picture how this desk would work. It would have to be at least L-shaped, if not U-shaped. The arm or arms would contain the exercise equipment. There are already products that can raise a monitor and keyboard; for this desk they would just have to raise two monitors at once. I'd prefer it to look snazzy, so instead of a product sitting on top of the desk, I'd prefer the desk itself be adjustable. That would ensure that there would be space for the exercise equipment to fold out and lock in, as well.
Okay, universe, you have your assignment. When can I expect to see this desk in my office?
This desk needs to support two monitors, one CRT and one LCD, an oversize keyboard, and a phone. Ideally it would also have room for a printer or two and a way to keep the CPU itself off the floor.
The work surface should raise and lower so that I can either stand or sit.
The desk should have one file drawer and one or two miscellaneous drawers.
It should also have a fold-out treadmill and a fold-out exercise bike that will retract into the desk when not in use. Ideally the controls for these would be built into the desk, as would retractable hand grips.
I can almost picture how this desk would work. It would have to be at least L-shaped, if not U-shaped. The arm or arms would contain the exercise equipment. There are already products that can raise a monitor and keyboard; for this desk they would just have to raise two monitors at once. I'd prefer it to look snazzy, so instead of a product sitting on top of the desk, I'd prefer the desk itself be adjustable. That would ensure that there would be space for the exercise equipment to fold out and lock in, as well.
Okay, universe, you have your assignment. When can I expect to see this desk in my office?
Quality time
Check out this fabulous fatherhood PSA from the Ad Council. (Click for full size.)
Nice.
Nice.
Friday, September 7, 2007
I saw the table I want on HGTV
So I have the TV on in my office today, and I'm flipping between the US Open and HGTV. There was a show where two 22-year-olds were buying their first house after living with their parents and saving up money like crazy. Neat story. The two of them had two inspirational decoration pieces that the guy's parents had brought back from Japan. One was a wood carving of a Chinese character that meant good health, good life, or something. The other was a painting that looked to be in the Chinese style, at least to me. The guy said he was definitely interested in "Oriental" designs--I think it's still okay to say "Oriental" when you're talking about decorating, but it seems weird to me.
The narrator kept referring to the new homeowners as "Grasshopper", as though kung fu had anything to do with Japan (I think the Shaolin monks might have something to say about that). Meanwhile, the designer decorated the kitchen cabinets with horrible renderings of Chinese characters, but at least he had a sense of humor about it--he mixed the traditional "honor" and crap like that with stuff like "candy" and "chicken".
The thing I was most interested in was the dining room, where they laid out bamboo mats to cover the ugly floor and then put in a low table. The designer made the table by hand, and he designed extensions for it so it could be used at a height that's normal for westerners.
I have been trying to figure out how to design a table with extensions for awhile now. I would prefer that the legs either fold out or be latched under the table, so the extra legs don't take up additional space in the house. I want either a black table, to go along with all my black furniture, or a more traditional natural wood, stained/lacquered? table.
It was neat to see someone actually doing something like what I want, even if in this case the extensions had to be stored.
I've also thought about putting down bamboo mats in my dining room, but it doesn't seem like it would work right with the kitchen entrance. Plus the chandelier just doesn't go with a Japanese style room, so I've been loath to decorate it at all.
Maybe someday when we move I'll have the Japanese-style dining room I envision :)
I also want a Japanese-style bath...
The narrator kept referring to the new homeowners as "Grasshopper", as though kung fu had anything to do with Japan (I think the Shaolin monks might have something to say about that). Meanwhile, the designer decorated the kitchen cabinets with horrible renderings of Chinese characters, but at least he had a sense of humor about it--he mixed the traditional "honor" and crap like that with stuff like "candy" and "chicken".
The thing I was most interested in was the dining room, where they laid out bamboo mats to cover the ugly floor and then put in a low table. The designer made the table by hand, and he designed extensions for it so it could be used at a height that's normal for westerners.
I have been trying to figure out how to design a table with extensions for awhile now. I would prefer that the legs either fold out or be latched under the table, so the extra legs don't take up additional space in the house. I want either a black table, to go along with all my black furniture, or a more traditional natural wood, stained/lacquered? table.
It was neat to see someone actually doing something like what I want, even if in this case the extensions had to be stored.
I've also thought about putting down bamboo mats in my dining room, but it doesn't seem like it would work right with the kitchen entrance. Plus the chandelier just doesn't go with a Japanese style room, so I've been loath to decorate it at all.
Maybe someday when we move I'll have the Japanese-style dining room I envision :)
I also want a Japanese-style bath...
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Magazine memories
I recently subscribed to Better Homes and Gardens.
My mom used to get this magazine when I was younger, back when the boys and I all lived at home and I shared a bathroom with Mom and Dad. There was always a basket next to the toilet filled with magazines that I would sit and read longer than necessary, and BH&G was one of those.
My favorite parts were always the floor plans and photographs of home and garden makeovers. I loved seeing the unique ways people would dress up their existing spaces. I still remember a tiny yard with a high wall that was transformed into an English garden, and what a strong effect that had on me. I learned then that you can do a lot with a little...even though it was years before my dreams of living in a mansion transformed into a quiet desire for a small, functional, pretty home.
There is a gorgeous little Massachusetts cottage in the June 2007 issue that was originally a boat house. That kind of coziness and simplicity really appeal to me now.
There's also an 850 square foot California house that serves as the first home for a young couple and their baby. The story boasts a floor plan, much to my delight.
The magazine is bigger than I remember. I don't know if it actually is bigger or if I've just grown accustomed to the size of Taste of Home, which is small enough to be saddle-stitched. BH&G is held together with glue, like a book. It made it a little more difficult to yank out all the advertising inserts.
But the size is a good thing, because it means I have plenty of reading for the basket in my bathroom :)
My mom used to get this magazine when I was younger, back when the boys and I all lived at home and I shared a bathroom with Mom and Dad. There was always a basket next to the toilet filled with magazines that I would sit and read longer than necessary, and BH&G was one of those.
My favorite parts were always the floor plans and photographs of home and garden makeovers. I loved seeing the unique ways people would dress up their existing spaces. I still remember a tiny yard with a high wall that was transformed into an English garden, and what a strong effect that had on me. I learned then that you can do a lot with a little...even though it was years before my dreams of living in a mansion transformed into a quiet desire for a small, functional, pretty home.
There is a gorgeous little Massachusetts cottage in the June 2007 issue that was originally a boat house. That kind of coziness and simplicity really appeal to me now.
There's also an 850 square foot California house that serves as the first home for a young couple and their baby. The story boasts a floor plan, much to my delight.
The magazine is bigger than I remember. I don't know if it actually is bigger or if I've just grown accustomed to the size of Taste of Home, which is small enough to be saddle-stitched. BH&G is held together with glue, like a book. It made it a little more difficult to yank out all the advertising inserts.
But the size is a good thing, because it means I have plenty of reading for the basket in my bathroom :)
Thursday, May 17, 2007
The new Geoshitties
MySpace doesn't like its profile pages to be legible, so it does everything it possibly can to ensure that they're not.
Right now I'm trying to use the new editor to add a nifty Live Free or Die Hard theme to my profile, but the theme isn't set up right. It puts black text on top of a black background! And when I try to use the editor to fix it, it destroys other parts of the code.
I keep going around and around with it and it's driving me crazy! I'm way too much of a perfectionist for MySpace ;P
Right now I'm trying to use the new editor to add a nifty Live Free or Die Hard theme to my profile, but the theme isn't set up right. It puts black text on top of a black background! And when I try to use the editor to fix it, it destroys other parts of the code.
I keep going around and around with it and it's driving me crazy! I'm way too much of a perfectionist for MySpace ;P
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Tidying up
I've made some changes to my sidebar.
In the Links, I have finally gotten rid of my old "Things We Lost in the Fire" Amazon wish list. It's been almost two years! I did, however, move the items from that list that I still want to have into other lists.
I've broken out "Reference and How-Tos" from "Nonfiction", and I've changed "In My Dreams" to "Electronics and Appliances". I've also added my "Games" list, which I'd created on Amazon awhile back but never gotten around to linking.
The wish lists are now grouped according to type, so my list over at Amazon.co.jp is with "Help Me Learn Japanese", "CDs" and "DVDs" are together, all the books--"Fiction", "Manga and Graphic Novels", "Nonfiction", "Cookbooks", and "Reference and How-Tos"--are in a group, and "Games" and "Electronics and Appliances" fall last.
I've also made some changes to Fun Stuff. My Twitter, Ficlets, Dandelife, YouTube, and MySpace profiles are all linked now. I've grouped these with other communities/sites I'm affiliated with. The next group of links are fun Flash videos, then Japan-related stuff, and finally various cool things, to which I've added NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day.
Finally, down in Comics, I've removed Bruno, which is over, Venus Envy, which updates so slowly that I don't even care about the story anymore, and Help Desk, which used to be interesting but is now just "meh", and I don't have time to read "meh" comics. (I don't think the content has really changed...I think I'm just tired of that kind of humor.) I have added Achewood, which I could never get into before but for some reason am finding intriguing now, and Evil, Inc.
I'm more and more wanting to redesign my blog template. I know so much more about web design now than when I first put it together. I'd like to keep the main features--the checkered background, the colors, even the style of the boxes around all the content, if not the boxes themselves. But I think the site could flow a lot better, and I would like to lay out my sidebar in lists. I mentioned before thinking it'd be a good idea to have the search as part of the header, and I'd still like to do that. I'm also interested in creating an archive drop-down up there. Of course, ideally, my design would be achieved through CSS, with none of this table garbage.
We'll see what happens as my ideas congeal. Hopefully this won't go the way of my fabled shift to WordPress.
(Speaking of which, I probably won't make that shift. Blogger has had its issues, but it works for my purposes. I like the fact that I essentially have a backup of my entire blog--the static files here on my server, and the Blogger database of my posts and comments over on their server. Plus, WordPress gets hacked regularly, which means I would have to update my software all the time. Also, one of the main features I found attractive on WordPress is obsolete these days. That feature is dynamic pages, and the reason they're obsolete is that they use too much bandwidth. So, there you have it.)
In the Links, I have finally gotten rid of my old "Things We Lost in the Fire" Amazon wish list. It's been almost two years! I did, however, move the items from that list that I still want to have into other lists.
I've broken out "Reference and How-Tos" from "Nonfiction", and I've changed "In My Dreams" to "Electronics and Appliances". I've also added my "Games" list, which I'd created on Amazon awhile back but never gotten around to linking.
The wish lists are now grouped according to type, so my list over at Amazon.co.jp is with "Help Me Learn Japanese", "CDs" and "DVDs" are together, all the books--"Fiction", "Manga and Graphic Novels", "Nonfiction", "Cookbooks", and "Reference and How-Tos"--are in a group, and "Games" and "Electronics and Appliances" fall last.
I've also made some changes to Fun Stuff. My Twitter, Ficlets, Dandelife, YouTube, and MySpace profiles are all linked now. I've grouped these with other communities/sites I'm affiliated with. The next group of links are fun Flash videos, then Japan-related stuff, and finally various cool things, to which I've added NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day.
Finally, down in Comics, I've removed Bruno, which is over, Venus Envy, which updates so slowly that I don't even care about the story anymore, and Help Desk, which used to be interesting but is now just "meh", and I don't have time to read "meh" comics. (I don't think the content has really changed...I think I'm just tired of that kind of humor.) I have added Achewood, which I could never get into before but for some reason am finding intriguing now, and Evil, Inc.
I'm more and more wanting to redesign my blog template. I know so much more about web design now than when I first put it together. I'd like to keep the main features--the checkered background, the colors, even the style of the boxes around all the content, if not the boxes themselves. But I think the site could flow a lot better, and I would like to lay out my sidebar in lists. I mentioned before thinking it'd be a good idea to have the search as part of the header, and I'd still like to do that. I'm also interested in creating an archive drop-down up there. Of course, ideally, my design would be achieved through CSS, with none of this table garbage.
We'll see what happens as my ideas congeal. Hopefully this won't go the way of my fabled shift to WordPress.
(Speaking of which, I probably won't make that shift. Blogger has had its issues, but it works for my purposes. I like the fact that I essentially have a backup of my entire blog--the static files here on my server, and the Blogger database of my posts and comments over on their server. Plus, WordPress gets hacked regularly, which means I would have to update my software all the time. Also, one of the main features I found attractive on WordPress is obsolete these days. That feature is dynamic pages, and the reason they're obsolete is that they use too much bandwidth. So, there you have it.)
Thursday, February 8, 2007
Look at that weird thing
I've added a Twitter box to my sidebar. (I also moved the search box to the top. Now I'm thinking I'd like to put the search into the header somewhere, but I'll worry about completely redesigning my template later ;P)
Twitter is basically a quick way you can let people know what you're up to. Now I won't have to put one-line posts on my blog anymore!
Don't worry; I'll still do it. But maybe not as much?
Twitter is basically a quick way you can let people know what you're up to. Now I won't have to put one-line posts on my blog anymore!
Don't worry; I'll still do it. But maybe not as much?
Thursday, February 1, 2007
Look, I'm on the new Blogger!
And you can't tell!
That's because I have a custom template that doesn't include any of the new Blogger stuff.
At some point I'll have to fix that...
Edit: Oh dear god look what they do with the post labels! Yes, definitely need to do something about that...
That's because I have a custom template that doesn't include any of the new Blogger stuff.
At some point I'll have to fix that...
Edit: Oh dear god look what they do with the post labels! Yes, definitely need to do something about that...
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