This too shall pass.
I remember seeing this movie first in a middle school science class. I saw it again in my Math for Liberal Arts course when attending Warren Wilson College. I’m glad to see it has surfaced on the internet, and is free to view.
The film is a 10 minute journey that boggles the mind. I’d love for someone to make an updated version that reflects discoveries made since the original was made. Still, this is totally worth your next 10 minutes of life.
Need some free software to get something done? Check out I want a freeware utility to… where the list of over 400 applications keeps growing. Many of these I use often.
Now you can double your pleasure with “I want a Firefox extension to…”. A great way to learn why the world’s best web browser keeps getting better.
With many of the applications and extensions on those two sites you can then carry your life on a thumb drive or ipod, which is always cool.
An update for Firefox was released today, bringing it to version 1.5.0.4. I suggest you go get it if you don’t use Firefox, or use the auto-update feature (Help > Check For Updates) in Firefox if you do.
Harvest is a really frigging cool web-based time tracking application. I have been toying with the free demo account and am going to set up a full account when I am done writing this. If you do any sort of freelancing you should check it out.
Today I launched a site I have been working on for a publisher called Enlightened Ink. Glad to see it get out of the starting gate.
After seeing my golf balls slice off to the right every time I hit them last week, I started wondering about The Perfect Swing: Reality or Myth?. Check out all the links to tips at the bottom of the page.
Former AFCCC co-worker Jason seems to have latched onto the wonderful world of blogging quite nicely, putting together a great site for his family.
For you web developers, Vitamin seems to be coming along quite nicely, with great articles from some of the web’s leading minds. And it looks cool too.
Dell has started shipping their higher resolution laptops using a default 120dpi setting for the display. While this helps the readability of text on these systems, it makes an awful bug in Internet Explorer 6 rear its head. What happens is that IE tries to upscale gif images in addition to fonts, thus rendering them very pixellated and jagged. This frustrated me for about a week recently, until I learned the reasoning. If you want to remain at 120dpi but not have the problem, there is a registry hack you can use.
Man, oh man, I want one of these USB turntables so I can finally convert my record collection to digital format. Actually, just to be able to hear some of my old records on a nice system would be great in and of itself.
Adios.
These are some applications (free and not free) that I have been using a lot, and that I would now consider myself unable to live without. All of them are web-based in that they are accessible from the internet and can be logged into from anywhere. This makes working from home, from the office, and from the coffee shop a breeze.
Backpack – http://backpackit.com/
This application is excellent for anyone doing any sort of project management, freelancing, or collaboration. I was skeptical at first when I signed up for the free trial, but then I realized the power after using it for a few weeks. I was hooked when they lowered the price of the mid-level package.
Backpack allows you to set up projects (Pages, as they call them) for each of your projects. Each of these Pages has to-do lists, Notes, file uploads, the ability to share this content with someone, Writeboards, and more.
One of my favorite features is the Reminder feature, which will send you an email and/or a text message on your phone when an event is about to occure. Also, there is the ability to send an email to Backpack and have it be added to a Page automatically. Pretty darn cool.
TimeTracker v2.0 – http://www.formassembly.com/time-tracker/
After trying numerous time-tracking apps that run off my PC, I landed at the TimeTracker web site. I can now set up projects and keep track of how much time I have spent on each. Slices of time can have notes appended to them so I can keep track of what I did during any given time. This makes billing clients for work I have done a breeze. Oh, and it’s free!
ForPerfect CInvoicer – http://www.forperfect.com/seo/cinvoice.php
This is an online billing/invoice system that you have to download and install on a web site yourself, but it does everything I need it to do, albeit a little confusing. I wanted a tool to keep track of client invoices, send out reminders, send out recurring bills automatically, integrate with Paypal and 2checkout, and be reasonably easy to use for clients. This does it all. Configuring it to look and act like I wanted took a little time, but once it was done everything is running smoothly.
It costs $39.95 and requires a little MySQL knowledge to install it. There is a live demo on their web site (linked above).
HipCal – http://www.hipcal.com/
I have talked about HipCal before, and I still love it. It is more feature-rich than any of the other online calendars I have toyed with. For a while I thought 30Boxes was going to trump HipCal, but when their developers showed a lack of interest (if not a defiant stance) in enhancing the repeatability of events, I gave up on them. They are shooting themselves in the foot if you ask me, but I digress…
HipCal rocks, and after their first couple of rocky months (bugs, server issues), things seem to have stabilized and I am enjoying the free calendar a lot. It will send me reminders of events, and has a simple to-do list on the side.
Netvibes – http://www.netvibes.com/
Netvibes keeps getting cooler and cooler. It’s a ‘start page’ of sorts that allows you to customize the layout and content to your liking. You can add your favorite RSS feeds, widgets, email interfaces, and more. They just launched a major upgrade that has a ton of great features. I have tried other similar start pages, but they all suck and are clunky compared to Netvibes.
Summary
That about wraps it up.
I am currently at An Event Apart in Atlanta. It’s almost noon, and I am finally online. The storms that ripped through here last night wreaked a little havoc on the network here at Turner Field, but thanks to some dude sitting at my table, I am currently accessing the Web through an SSH tunnel running off his server somewhere. Everyone else here, crouched by their laptops, keep eyeballing us enviously, wondering how we did this.
I haven’t gotten to meet Eric Meyer yet.
Anyway, the day is half over and so far has been quite interesting. Eric Meyer started off this morning talking about the impending release of Internet Explorer 7 and what it means to web designers. Specifically, he spoke about CSS, bugs, and things that will be fixed. Generally, the news is all good.
Still haven’t gotten to meet Eric Meyer.
Following that, Jeffrey Zeldman got up and walked us through how he created branding narratives. This was especially helpful for me since I am venturing into the world of working for myself (as of today!). There was a lot of good discussion about client relationships, conducting business, and the flow of a project.
After a short break, Jason Santa Maria got up and walked us through his process of redesigning the A List Apart web site. Eric is currently up there talking about how he took Jason’s design, and converted it to a CSS layout.
Haven’t met Eric Meyer yet.
This is great! Check back later for an afternoon update.
Afternoon Update – 3 PM
Zeldman is ripping into the copy on LuLu.com as an example of how one can improve the writing on a web site. Pretty funny stuff.
Still haven’t met Eric Meyer.
3:50 PM
Todd Dominey is speaking in regards to starting your own business, attracting and keeping customers, making things work smoothly, and keeping things in order. He is using his freelance business and the Flash-based photo gallery he created to illustrate these points.
And no, I haven’t met Eric Meyer yet.
4:15
Woohoo! I just met Eric Meyer and got him to sign my copy of Eric Meyer on CSS for me. He commended me on my choice of the Sharpie Ultra-Fine Black pen.
Final Update
Made it back home at 10:30 pm. Whew! It was quite an Event, and I am glad we made the trek. I’m sure I will have more to say about it here soon.
Others who are liveblogging this event:
CSS Insider
Flickr Group for An Event Apart
Jeremy Flint
Caught in the ho-hum doldrums of life on the cube farm? (Believe me, I know how you feel). You need to contact the Bureau of Workplace Interruptions (BWI), a seemingly service that will use mail, email, the phone, or suprise visits to provide you with a little bit of harmless, in-good-humor motivation and self esteem.
Reading through the Public Archives of documented interruptions on the site will give you an idea of what you can expect: anything from a recipe for Tofu BBQ Wings to the challenge of a workplace rap battle via email.
I haven’t taken the step of actually registering for the service, but from what I can tell, it is free, and you can tell them the best channels upon which to interrupt you so as not to upset your boss.
Still using Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser on your Windows machine? Stop already!
With the most recent critical, unpatched security exploits running wild, reports are coming in regarding otherwise innocent web sites silently installing malicious programs that steal your passwords and other sensitive information.
Do yourself a favor and install Firefox or Opera, both free browsers that provide a much better, safer Internet experience. There is no reason not to do this now, unless you like other people having access to your computer and everything you do on it.
If you are still using Microsoft’s Internet Explorer on your Macintosh computer, well, you are missing out on the Internet as it is today. This browser is not subject to the same exploits that the Windows version is, but it is no longer updated or supported by Microsoft, and doesn’t take advantage of many of the newer features of the World Wide Web as we know it. You too can upgrade to Firefox for free.
A buddy from one of my favorite online geek hangouts, the Broadband Reports Web Developer board, has been collecting VW commercials on his site for VW lovers. I’ve always been partial to VW’s, having learned to drive in a ’67 Beetle, and their commercials area good reflection of their uniqueness in the auto industry.
This is my last week at my current job, and I am excited. The future is wide open and I am looking forward to trying to make it on my own. I have been working hard at drumming up some web design business, and have 6 sites I am currently working on. I also have a few other irons in the fire, and will write more about those as they (if they?) develop.
Next week is the big week: An Event Apart is on Monday (though I am waiting to find out if I still get to go since I won’t be an official RSIS employee anymore, even though it has been paid for), and Dinosaur Jr. is on Friday. Been looking forward to this for a loooong time.
The National Federation for the Blind is suing Target for having an inaccessible web site for blind people. This is good. If all goes well, this will lead to the private sector having to take greater responsibility for their web sites and creating them to be accessible to people with disabilities. Section 508 compliance isn’t that hard to achieve.
My favorite registry-cleaning tool EZCleaner is no longer free. Well, you now have to subscribe to their web site to download the ‘free’ software. However, I found a couple of great utilities that easily take its place. So without further ado, here is my updated list of free Windows utilities software that everyone should use:
Know of anything I missed? Leave your comments.