Fence Demolotion Derby

We're kicking off work on our backyard with a bang...literally. Today is side fence demolition day. We are finally getting rid of the annoying 6ft high fence seperating our driveway from our backyard.

Assuming we knock the whole thing down today, we will be tilling soil and doing an expansion to our irrigation system within the next couple of weeks.

When we are all done we're going to replace the fence with a 3 ft Cape Cod Fence that is more in keeping with the house.

The Story of the iPod

On the web, the story of the creator of the iPod, Tony Fadell, in Father of the IPod with links to many more tidbits about it's genesis here and there.

It has some pretty interesting tidbits.

The technology behind the new $50.00

Thanks to Jason for this one.

Here's a cool interactive look at the features of the new $50.00 bill. I think it is only a matter of time before the Greenback goes to 100% full color like most of the currencies around the world. They are harder to counterfeit.

Carmel Valley Circa 1993

Why I don't blog about the Web Much

I get this question a lot, "Why don't you blog more about the web and user experience? Aren't you resp. for the User Experience at the company you work for? Surely, you have insights."

Once and for all I will answer this question with a definitive answer.

When I got involved in the Web back in 1995 it was the brave new world with limitless possibilities. There was a level excitement and exploration that was not only floating around, but encouraged at all levels. I caught the bug and nurtured that interest into something that I now make a good living off of, but the excitement is gone.

Yes, I have done a lot of things on the web both professionally and personally. I do develop things that have an impact on my firm's Global User Experience. I have the job that I wanted when I set out on this weird path 9 years ago.

However, the web is not the brave new world that it once was. Before the Web, the "Cool Thing" was 3-D, before that it was CD-ROMs, etc... For one reason or another those mediums matured and the adventure dried up.

I liken the situation on the Web to the dawn of the PC age...it was hot, exciting, and a lot had yet to be done, but in the end the industry matured. Similarly, the same thing has happened with the web. User Experience, Usability, and Information Design are all very important, but the challenges (at least on a personal level) are not huge anymore.

The reality of things is that most of the problems have been solved in one way or another. Think about it. Suppose you are having a problem with displaying a search results screen with disparate pieces of information. Chances are someone has solved a similar problem in the past. That is the reality we live in on the web. At the same time it also removes the "challenge" in solving a difficult problem (which I really enjoy) from my job.

On another level, I simply have been doing something that I love for far too long. You can only eat, sleep, breathe the Web Cool Aid on a constant basis for so long. I liken it to being in the midst of Steve Job's "Reality Distortion Field," but for the web. When you are in it for a short period of time you can believe that you will change the world in a small way, but after awhile that reality really is screwy. 9 years of being involved on the web is a long time. Sooner or later you get tired of it and start to look for the next big thing.

So, nowadays I work the web from 7 AM to 5 PM. Think about UXP, write and design stuff for the web, and then go home. My other interests then take over and thus a higher level of focus in my posts.

I have a strong background in Outdoor activities, Photography, International Relations. I am starting to reconnect with those things as I start to recharge my batteries and look for my "next big thing." Thoughts of helping developmentally challenged children have come to mind recently as a possible move.

Where I will ultimately land I really don't know. However, I am a User Experience Architect for the time being, but my blogs no longer reflect that. I just drank too much of the Web Cool Aid for too long

SUVs are not made for Hauling

Whomever uttered the argument that "SUV's are good for hauling stuff" should be shot. Yes, they are good for going off road (assuming you have and use 4-Wheel Drive), and they also good for camping and hauling people. SUV's can also be quite good for the occasional trip to Home Depot.

However, under no circumstances are they good for transporting large trees to/from a local nursery that is less than 3 miles from my house. Chalk it up to male stubbornness, but I tried and failed in my attempt to fit a 10 ft. Silver Leaf Maple into my Honda Pilot. I managed to get 6 feet of the thing inside, but the rest of it hung out and drooped off the side of the bumper.

SUV's can haul stuff...indeed. What they should say is that SUV's are good for hauling stuff only when you absolutely don't have to haul something. Hah!

Needless to say, we managed to get the Maple tree to our house by other means.

Fiery Kite Crash...Film at 11.

As most people that know me well are aware, I am a big Sport Kite fan. It is an activity that I use to blow off a lot of stress in my life–family stress, work stress, etc.

With my moving to Tracy in the last year I have been able to go out and fly on a regular basis. In many respects it is my release after having an especially crappy day at work. Things going especially crappy? Well, then it is time for me to go home and "Fly a Kite."

That has been the case for me this week. Sadly, each day has been crappier than the last. So I have been going out every day this week to fly my 2-Line Sport Kites up the road from my house. Unlike my job (which is in a total state of chaos) I have total control of the thing and make it do all sorts of crazy stunts. It puts my life into perspective and everything back into balance.

That's cool, except that I managed to break one of my favorite Stunt Kites. These kites are not your cheapy cheapy kites of old. They start at 50.00 and work their way up. So on that level it sucks. On another level, I broke my favorite Stunt Kite. It was also the first one I bought when I started this hobby. That makes it hard from a sentimental perspective.

I didn't eve know I broke it until I tried to launch it again. In one futal attempt at a take off I couid see that in a fiery crash earlier that a vital nylon support strut had been broken. It literally is a .35 cent part, but that brought down a $75.00 kite permanently (or until I can find someone in the US that will sell me a replacement part).

I am a little bummed, but as they say "a Captain never goes down with the ship, they just transfer ships." I'll be bringing out the rest of my fleet and taking to the skies this weekend.

If you are in the area, just give me a ring. We can fly together and relax.

Record labels want to raise online mp3 prices to $3 per song

With the recent news that CD sales are plumetting AGAIN, it appears that the record companies and the RIAA want to raise the price of mp3 single sales from .99 cents to $3.00/song to compensate.

If they think this is something people are going to just swallow, they are dead wrong. Hell, at $3/song I could be persuaded to return to Peer to Peer file swapping for my music instead of purchasing them from the Apple iTunes store.

Here's the article.

Top 100 Bay Area Restaurants

Even though I moved out to Tracy back in September, I still find myself in the City and the Peninsula on a very frequent basis. Call it the need to be in the middle of the "Action," or the need for good restaurants.

Here's this year's list of the Top 100 Bay Area Restaurants.

I can proudly say that I have been to several of the restaurants on the list.

The end of the CD

Jeff Veen has an interesting commentary on how he stopped buying CD's and never looked back.

I think it is an interesting perspective as well. I did something very similar to this over 3 years ago when Naptster was hot. In many respects I have sampled and bought more music than I did when I was in College (back in the day when I averaged 5 CD purchases a week). All of this with thanks to the Newsgroups and online music sales that allow single song purchasing. Everything I own now is in a digital format and gets played more often.

Time for a new iPod

Well, it finally happened. After 3 years, 100K+ songs played, and several thousand hours of use (12+ hours a day, seven days a week), my 1st generation iPod is terminally ill.

It has gotten a lot of use...been used for music, a large hard drive for files, books on tape ala Audible. I was actually quite proud of the fact that I have not been able to kill the thing after 3 years.

In any case, my iPod starting locking up consistently after an hour of use during my trip to Humboldt. It was doing this before the trip, but the issue has become more constant. The only solution when this happens is to do a "Hard Reset" on the thing. When you are not driving this is just a minor annoyance, but when you are driving at "Art Speeds" on the Highway it is darn right dangerous.

So, I have caved in. It is time to replace the thing. Now the question comes up with A) How am I going to pay for it, B) iPod Mini or iPod on Steroids, and C) Capacity. I thought about the other MP3 devices on the market, but frankly once you have had the best you cannot go back.

Humboldt

Going behind the Redwood Curtain.