straight from the mac

Brutal Honesty

khdesigns — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 10:47:15 GMT

This is less of a useful post, instead it is more of a rant and rave, a pet peeve if you will. As my web site indicates I am working towards my Masters degree in Computer Art and New Media. Recent communication problems with the school had me scheduled for a rather large presentation/review this week, instead of next semester. Last month I was made aware of the mistake and I promptly told both my adviser and a University contact of the mistake. I then told a third person about the mistake a week later after she had left me a message, asking where my portfolio was. With three people at the school well informed that my presentation had been moved to the following semester, I thought this would finally solve the problem. This week, the morning of the (wrongly) scheduled presentation, a flustered coordinator called me and asked why "nothing had been submitted for the presentation at 2:00 today. " So, for the fourth time, I told a fourth person the actual date of the presentation. What is going on? Where is the communication? How can any business, yet alone a University, function with this much lack of communication?

Had the tables been turned and I was not in constant contact with the school, I would have been judged as irresponsible, unprofessional, unwilling, difficult, or plain out lazy. So how I should I be judging the school? I went out of my way to email my adviser to inform her about the error. I emailed two other individuals, promptly, to keep them informed. The coordinator, I actually called because she was flustered and worried what the review committee would think of someone that didn't show up for the presentation. Apparently it is only a one way street. I need them more than they need me. Quite frankly it sucks for those of us who actually do possess good communication skills, a professional work ethic, and an eagerness to learn. Any yahoo can lie in an interview, that is evident.

This isn't just about school. It just so happens that this event was the straw that broke the camel's back. I have worked for companies in the past with the same communication problem that seems to be plaguing my school. The interview process is long and tedious, trying to find that perfect individual. Good communications skills are usually listed first, followed by professional, eager and hard working. Once in the work place, you can't help but wonder if anyone was hired based on that same criteria.

I recently read a blog that was very good. It raised a good question. If people were this honest on their cover letter, would that be positive or negative for the potential of landing the job? I got the following quote from Grid App Systems Blog. It is a cover letter for a Systems Administrator position. I am working on my revised cover letter as we speak.

"I've been bouncing boxes for Uncle Sam 2.5 years now in some of the most god-awful places on earth. I've racked servers during indirect fire, maintained contact with a bird while our vehicle was shot up, mastered the finer art of the many uses of duct tape and how it applies to IT in a warzone. I've put up racks in Namibian provinces while cheetahs and jackals watched me from 100 yards away, I've even chased an ostrich who tried to steal my CAT5 from the box. I've worked on military projects where the dotmil PM/leadership had a more difficult time making decisions than my wife. I've danced in the Red Zone with Iraqi locals after a support call to a Forward Operating Base. I've mastered the chemistry of the 'essential caffeine stack' and I debunked the myth that if you untie your belly button, your butt will fall off (it won't!). I've been shot at, shot up, blown up, broken and put back together again; from Baghdad to Namibia and from Sudan to Djibouti. I strongly feel that I have the skillset, experience and thick skin to take on the world of IT in the greatest city on earth."

Getting more bang for your buck!

khdesigns — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 18:13:18 GMT

So you’re thinking about joining the World Wide Web huh? Well you are about to be blown away in the vast array of possibilities. The web is the most logical, common, and economical way to advertise today. Yes, I said economical. Think about it. What are you trying to accomplish with your site? Inform people? Sell goods and services? No matter which way you are leaning, the benefits far out-weigh the expenses.

The average small business owner runs ads in newspapers and radio campaigns. Some go the extra mile and buy thirty seconds of television time that may or may not be seen, ever. Radio campaigns are paid for by time frame. To advertise during one special event can cost upwards of $75. For one event! The newspaper isn’t much better. A black and white ad with restricted size can run in a newspaper for one week costing approximately $100. That is insane. The web is wide open. If you have to buy a domain and hosting, obviously that is an added expense, but usually they are bought in years instead of weeks, and I have never seen them sold in hours.

If you already have a domain and hosting, or it is provided to you, consider yourself lucky. The only cost to you is then the development and designing. This can be considered expensive at first but consider the above paragraph. A web site lasts as long as the hosting plan. There are no size limitations. The page is full color and can be interactive. Let’s see a newspaper ad interact with the user. The page can be viewed by individuals from all over the world and not just limited to the range of radio waves and print media.

What am I getting at? The web is the way to go. Businesses that aren’t on the web yet are losing out. Hundreds of millions of people surf the World Wide Web daily, those are pretty good odds that a few new people are going to stumble into your neighborhood daily, that otherwise wouldn’t have. Having a professional, inviting, and user friendly site will not only make your business look better, but may also catapult you to the next level. I know it has for me.

Want an iPod?

khdesigns — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 20:40:52 GMT

    An iPod is an iPod unless the iPod is a iPod touch in which case it is an iPhone that isn’t a phone. Make sense? Apple just came out with the new line of iPods. I will admit I am an iPod junkie and I plan on getting a new one, but why would anyone in their right mind get the new iPod touch? I am going to give you a little insight as to what is the best deal if you plan on getting a new iPod.

Fact: Apple released the iPhone at a price of $599, and now less than six months later it is down to $399. The new iPod touch is eerily similar to the iPhone in more ways than just its appearance.

    The price of the iPod touch, just like the iPhone, is grossly overpriced. You can visit apple.com to see for yourself, but the new iPod touch is a max of 16 GB (roughly 3500 songs) for $399. Why would anyone spend that kind of money on an iPod when the new, obscenely huge, 160 GB (roughly 40,000 songs), iPod classic is $349? I am no math major, nor do I claim to be, but an iPod classic is $50 cheaper and can fit 36,500 more songs. Apple is banking on those people that must have the newest, latest, and flashiest gadgets around, and it works.

    The iPod touch does have Wifi capabilities but I would not sacrifice 36,500 songs and an extra fifty bucks for Wifi and a little more sex appeal. The iPod touch does look sexy, just like everything else Apple designs, but the iPod classic has also had some upgrades in both design and functionality. Longer battery life (40 hours music, 7 hours video compared to 22 and 5 for iPod touch), changed interface, capacity (80GB or 160GB and its size (thinner) are the major ones.

Fact: Apple eliminated the smaller, 4GB, version of the iPhone from their product line. Apple very rarely cuts anything from their product line without first trying to make modifications.

It doesn’t seem to matter what Apple does anymore. Whatever they design is sexy and people will buy it no matter the price. It has happened a couple times before. Those people who waited in lines to get their hands on the iPhone the day it came out, are now out the $200 they could have saved by waiting a few months. I for one am going to wait on the iPod touch until they can increase the capacity and lower the price. For now I will be content with 40,000 song, 40 hours of playback and an extra $50 in my pocket.

References:
http://www.apple.com
http://www.macworld.com

Google Does it Right

khdesigns — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 11:16:31 GMT

Google has become one of the World’s newest “Superpowers.” No they don’t have weapons of mass destruction. No they aren’t a communist country, but they are only the world’s most popular search engine. While Google keeps creating new and innovative ideas and web projects, the rest of us are just sitting here wondering how to get a job there. Google has pioneered the way the Internet is searched and well, to tell you the truth, they are pioneering the way to run a business too.

Fortune Magazine has just named Google “The Best Company to Work For,” and why not? Google takes care of their employees by living by the saying, “Give the employee everything they need at work and they never need to leave work.” Google supplies employees with FREE on site/in house dentists, daycares, doctors, eye doctors, restaurants, gyms, transportation, the list goes on and on. So what that they have an endless amount of money, that is beside the point.

Google doesn’t just give back to the employees, but they also give back to the community. What Google has just recently done for the City of Mountain View, California is make the whole city a WiFi hot spot. That’s right, they are providing wireless Internet to all of Mountain View. Now, I am sure Google is getting something out of this, like a whole mess load of user tendencies and stats, but that is still pretty cool. Do you think that this practice will be supplied in other communities too? Sure the initial setup is expensive to buy equipment, hook up access points all around town, and security, but think of small communities. What would give a small community more publicity than citywide Wifi? If finances are tight, you could always charge residents a small fee every month to cover expenses. Not a moneymaking project within itself, but it would be something to brag about.

RSS feeds

khdesigns — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 22:07:30 GMT

Just thought I would let everyone know that the blog is now open. I have started this blog in hopes of informing people as to what is going on in the world of web design and computer graphic design. I will explain new technologies, terminology, answer questions, as well as share some random thoughts.

I have been getting quite a few people asking about RSS feeds and why they are so great. For those of you who have no idea what an RSS feed is, you're not alone. Let me try and explain this as easy as possible.

What is RSS?
RSS, stands for Really Simple Syndication. We all know what Syndication is right? Well, an RSS feed syndicates information that is updated frequently, that is why many news sites use them. News is information that changes all the time.

How does it work?
In order for you as a user to use an RSS feed, you need to have what the industry calls an "aggregator." All an aggregator is, is an RSS reader. Now, most new browsers have a built in reader. You can tell by clicking on an RSS icon . New browsers will display the feed instead of the code, which is what old browsers will display.

Anyone with an account with Yahoo, Google, MSN, AOL, etc. also has access to a reader. Many time with such sites, you can customize the look of your account page, once logged in, to whatever you want. If you have problems finding a reader within your account, more often then not if you type in "feed reader" on the site search you can find a suitable one. Once you have a reader you can "Subscribe" to a feed using that reader. Once you subscribe to a feed, every time that feed is updated with new information, so too will your feed reader.

So what is the big deal?
Well, the big deal is that this is a new, fast, and efficient way to streamline information. You can subscribe to multiple feeds on multiple different site and manage the content from one central location.

Last example, I promise. My homepage is Google. Every time I get on the internet, Google is the first page I see. I login to my account and I see an ESPN Baseball feed, a news feed, a web tech feed, and a couple of feeds that I manage. Therefore, I don't have to go ESPN to check the scores. I don't have to go to CNN to check the news and I don't have to run out and make sure the the feeds that I manage are working properly. I have them all on one page.

Try is out. You won't be sorry you had the patience to learn about this new technology.
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