Recent Posts

My use of Twitter has changed over time, as has my enjoyment of it. I had idly been making some notes about it, inspired by a thoughtful post from A Bite Of Sanity, and then today a Twitter question from Chris Brogan made me decide to post it. Examples here are real tweets from my timeline: 1. Newbie - figuring out if it's OK to jump in and follow people I don't know. Will they yell at me? 2. Stalker - You mean I can hear what John Gruber and Eric Meyer are saying? And I don't have to come up with something intelligent to say back? Sweet! In this stage I didn't make many tweets, just followed a ton of people and watched the tweets roll by. 3. Shy Kid At The Party - making awkward observational statements, hoping someone will start a conversation. It didn't work, as I wasn't really offering much of real value. Example: "Going to see Spiderman 3" 4. Self-Promoter - talking endlessly about the projects I'm working on, attempt at self-marketing I guess ... But this doesn't invite 2-way communication, and it didn't improve my Twitter experience at all. Example: "Back to...

The other day I was setting up my fiancee's laptop in our living room and plugged in my old "service-issue" Dell two-button mouse to do some casual Web surfing. I hadn't used that mouse in months, and right away I knew something was wrong. My first thought was "Hey, this thing is broken" but I realized I've just come to use my mouse a different way since I got my Logitech MX Revolution. I have to admit that I was first drawn to this mouse because it looks flippin' sweet; it's like some kind of Batmouse. (Not a rodent that swoops down and eats itself, more like something that Batman would use. With his Mac, of course.) The sweeping flanges on its sides and black/gray glossy/matte materials with the chrome wheel buttons are downright cool-looking. But it's a different feature of the mouse - and you wouldn't guess it at first look - is what sets it apart. The scroll wheelis a heavy piece of cast alloy that has two gears: a traditional "clicky" scroll-wheel gear and a free-spinning, smooth gear. The thing about the smooth gear is that the scroll wheel is heavy enough that you can...

from Craiglist "re: Graphics person able to bring my logo to life ($100)" I didn't write this, it's a reprint that someone emailed to me.It is not my purpose to bash the OP, or call them cheap or whatever. I realize that you might not have a large budget to get the type of work you need. Probably have no idea what the current rates are, and what goes into a logo package. I'm sure there's someone out there who will "bring your logo to life" for $100. That person is not me. That person isn't most designers with any real talent and skill. And this isn't just for you, Mr. do-my-logo-for-a-hundred-dollars, this is for everyone who devalues the work of good graphic designers. If only "designing" was my job, life would be so much easier. Here's why: When a potential client comes to me, basically asking the same thing you are, I tell them my price. Never less than $400. Of course, I get scoffed at, and am told any number of things including: My nephew/cousin/brother-in-law/friend, whoever, has Photoshop, and said they'd do it for $xx or free. Why should I pay so much for you to...

I had to vent a bit on Twitter the other day; I am so fed up with hearing the Web 2.0 elite waste their time on petty arguments, that i abruptly jumped into a one-way conversation of Dave Winer's. IMHO Dave is a visionary (albeit sometimes a bit cranky) that I respect very much, and even though I tried to make that clear, I still should have separated the issue that was bothering me from the conversation that set me off. The conversation, unfortunately, was picked up by some site called Eye on Winerand published. Apparently they are like Dave Winer's personal Valleywag. If I were Dave I would be flattered; they obviously put a lot of energy into this site. I attempted to comment on their post, even registered and tried to post my own comments, but for whatever reason the site refuses to approve my post. OMG really? If you're going to publish my tweets out of context, at least give me the opportunity to express my perspective...right? If not, I felt it needed to be said...so here we are. So...this needs more than 140 characters so I decided it's time to start my own blog. Yes,...