Posts Tagged ‘personal’

Don’t Be a Me-Monster

If you your lips would keep from slips,
Five things observe with care;
Of whom you speak, to whom you speak,
And how and when and where.

If your ears would save from jeers,
These thing keep meekly hid;
Myself and I and mine and my,
And how I do and did.

If you your lips would keep from slips,
Five things observe with care;
Of whom you speak, to whom you speak,
And how and when and where.

If your ears would save from jeers,
These thing keep meekly hid;
Myself and I and mine and my,
And how I do and did.

— Author Unknown

Photos from our trip to San Diego

A couple of weeks ago we took a family vacation to San Diego, CA. Instead of flying out there, we decided to drive, which at first doesn’t seem like a very smart or efficient thing to do, but we made the road trip part of the vacation, so it actually turned out to be a blast.

In the slideshow below you’ll see sites we saw on the road to and from through Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California as well as the fun stuff we did in San Diego. LaJolla Cove, Laguna Beach, The Zoo and Legoland highlighted our time in SoCal. Driving through Tonto National Forest in Arizona and seeing the Palo Duro Canyon in the panhandle of Texas on the trip back home was unforgettable.

San Diego is a beautiful place, but there’s no place like home.

Leaving Rosetta Stone

After 2 tours of duty over the past 4 years, I am leaving Rosetta Stone. Some of you may not be surprised, as I’ve been looking to make this move for some time now.

I started working at Rosetta Stone on the web team in 2006. Since then, I’ve learned a lot about web development and I’ve learned a great deal about myself. The company produces an absolutely top-notch product and I’m sure they will continue to be successful. But for me, it is time to move on. Read the rest of this entry →

Becoming a Web Designer

Recently, someone emailed me asking for advice about how to start a career as a web designer. After taking some time to organize my thoughts on the subject, I thought I’d share them here.

What I love about the web design field is that it doesn’t require any special certifications, formal education or any other traditional qualifiers. Everyone who has ever decided to start a career as a web designer has probably taken a different path to get there. The route I followed to get where I am today is unique to my life choices and circumstances. So it would be ridiculous to say that there is a preferred path or that one way will work better than another.

The great thing about it all is this: you get to choose the path! However you get there, here are some tips that might help along the way. Read the rest of this entry →

Welcome to the Future

So, this is the future, huh? Admittedly, there’s a lot to be thankful for and amazed by these days, but …

Where’s my spaceship?

When I was a kid — maybe 10 or 11 years old back in the mid ’80s — I would fantasize about the future. I thought that the year 2010 was almost unseeable. Were we lucky enough to make it that far, there were two things I was sure I’d have: a flying car/spaceship and a jet-pack. Read the rest of this entry →

My Top 5 iPhone Apps

I’ve had my iPhone for almost a year and have downloaded countless apps for it since then. However, there are a few “must have” apps that I would be hard-pressed to live without.

twitterrific Twitterrific. Loads of great features, easy to use. No complaints at all. I love this app.

ESPNESPN. I can’t remember if this is a downloadable app or just an iPhone-optimized website, but either way its the app I use the most, no question. If you’re into sports and you don’t have this on your iPhone, get it now!

ESPN ScorecenterESPN Scorecenter. What can I say? I’m a sports information junkie!

Byline Byline. Excellent app for reading RSS feeds subscribed to from your Google Reader account. Simple, but elegant.

Super Dial Super Dial. One-touch dialing for the numbers you call most.

 

I use every one of these apps every single day. Without them my iPhone experience would be somewhat unfulfilled.

It goes without saying (I hope) that these “can’t live without ‘em” apps are in addition to the ones that come with the phone, like Maps, Safari, Phone, Camera, Mail, Calendar, etc.

What about you? Any apps I should consider adding to my “must have” list? Do tell.

Foundation Fireworks

Cover of Foundation FireworksLast year I had the good fortune of writing a book called Foundation Fireworks CS4 about the graphics creation software Adobe Fireworks, a subject near and dear to my heart. The book is finally published and I’m long overdue in posting something here to promote it. Read the rest of this entry →

Traversing the Bermuda Triangle

Good, fast and cheap. Any project that aims to satisfy all three is as doomed as an aluminum canoe in the middle of the Bermuda Triangle. Perhaps you’ve been involved in such a project. It can be frustrating, stressful, uncomfortable and downright painful.

So if you are ever dealing with a client that is asking you to do all three, point them to this graphic and ask them to choose which two aspects are most important to them. Then, point out what they get when they choose those two. Read the rest of this entry →

WebVisions in Portland

I made the trip to Portland, Oregon today to attend the WebVisions conference that starts tomorrow. This is the first time I’ve been to Portland and so far it seems like a nice enough place. The conference is a bit unique in that its a combination of workshops and speaker sessions.
Read the rest of this entry →

How I Manage My LinkedIn Network

The other day I received an invitation to join someone’s LinkedIn network. This was a person I worked with at a previous company a few years back. I declined the invitation because I didn’t really know the guy. He worked in a different department and I don’t even recall a one-on-one conversation we ever had. Read the rest of this entry →