Apr 30 2004

Design Fixes

Category: From My Life — Jeremy C. Wright @ 4:45 pm

I love putting up a new design there’s always so much you don’t expect to break ;)

Okay, I’ve made the menu look proper in Moz, added an “archives” button, which should work once the next Rebuild happens (takes half an hour… One of the curses of having nearly 2500 pages of content); I’ve fixed it so comments work.

On my list:

1. Fix footer in Moz (and some pages in IE)
2. Make individual posts and comments more ‘defined’ (like in the old design)
3. Get rid of crappy fonts in various places

A few people have said it’s too dark. Once I get this design nailed down, I’m going to try and do an alternate style which is similar, but lighter (same structure, different CSS).

I know it’s a change, and thanks to all the emails (already). Also, I do plan on dealing with the page length as well, don’t worry :)

Apr 30 2004

New Ensight Design Live!

Category: From My Life — Jeremy C. Wright @ 3:51 pm

Well, I couldn’t keep it hidden any longer.

The new design’s live!!!

It’s a bit of a change, design-wise. I wanted the site to look better, but not so ‘designy’ that the business readers would leave. We’ll see if I’ve achieved that.

There are definitely bugs, especially if you aren’t using IE6. Feel free to report them, but chances are I’m aware of them and working on them.

So…

What’d'ya think?!

Apr 27 2004

SlashNOT.org

Category: From My Life — Jeremy C. Wright @ 10:12 am

Finally, a cooler place to hang out than Slashdot… SlashNOT!!!

Apr 26 2004

He he he…

Category: From My Life — Jeremy C. Wright @ 5:54 pm

Step 1:

GO HERE

Step 2:

Laugh your arse off.

Step 3:

Reload the page.

Step 4:

Repeat.

Apr 26 2004

1000th Entry

Category: Blogging — Jeremy C. Wright @ 2:01 pm

There aren’t all that many milestones in blogging. Sure, early on I did some roundups at post milestones:

100
200
300

But, beyond that there haven’t been many blogging milestones (beyond 1,000,000 pageviews)…

So, I’ll indulge myself. 1000 posts! :-D

I can’t say that my blogging career has been quite as illustrious as Simon Willison’s after his 1000th post, but maybe this is a great time to thank some people instead of tooting my own horn. Or, maybe I’ll toot it after I’ve thanked people ;-)

Why I Started

I started blogging at Ensight nearly a year ago (that’ll be the other milestone to come…). When I started there were 2 bloggers I was reading, and really only two on a regular basis:

Jeremy Zawodny
Sterling Hughes (back before the move)

Odd, that me, a Windows guy, should be reading 2 of Open Source’s most respected writers. But, that’s what caught me about blogging. These were two people from a community I generally had little respect for (though I respected the developers). Reading their thoughts helped me realise something: Open Source’ers are people too. And, really, it’s a lesson I’ve never forgotten.

For me, blogging has always been about the individual. The communication. The relationship.

So, when I felt I wanted to meet new people in a free’er way than in the forums I was accustomed to, I took up blogging. Largely, it’s thanks to the two people above. So, thanks Jeremy and Sterling!

Stuff That’s Happened

It’s been good, fun. Here are some memorable moments (for me) that have happened while blogging:

- My son is born
- We get pregnant again
- I’m interviewed for the Washington Post (the AP subsequently picks this up and I’m quoted in more than 20 newspapers and 100 websites and forums and blogs) on the Google IPO thing
- I get a new job in Winnipeg
- I realise maybe this job isn’t for me and start looking for work at Microsoft
- Car gets total’d, get an awesome new car
- I have a hell of a lot of fun and meet some of the best people in the world.

I love blogging, I’m sure I’ll never stop (if blogging dies, I’ll just keep doing this for myself).

I think I’ll take a break for the rest of the day, and unveil a touch of a surprise tomorrow. A nice surprise ;-)

Apr 26 2004

Overcome Your Fears

Category: Business — Jeremy C. Wright @ 1:40 pm

A solid piece from The Occupational Adventure on overcoming your fears:

Fear, fear, and more fear! It’s stopping so many of us from living the rich, luscious, incredible life that is out there waiting for us.

Here’s an excellent article on the Coping.org web site that takes a look at fear, explores the impact it can make, and offers ideas on how to confront and overcome your fears (scroll down for some how-to ideas).

[ thanks to TOA for this ]

Apr 26 2004

Google Disclosures Backstory

Category: Business — Jeremy C. Wright @ 1:37 pm

Some days I hate being the Google authority on the Google IPO. Other days I don’t. Today is one of the latter.

John Batelle, Search Master, has a recent post on the upcoming Google IPO, going (quickly) through a little bit of the history of why the upcoming disclosure (3 days away) is now necessary, instead of earlier in Google’s history:

Google has hardly been lazy working to manage the timing of an eventual offering. Early on, it split itself into two companies, Google Inc. and Google Technologies, so that each would have fewer than 500 employees, according to a person who had been close to Google. That was important because the S.E.C. requires companies with 500 shareholders and assets greater than $10 million to file financial statements and most of the other information they would have to disclose in a public share offering.

Early in 2003, the two companies were merged, in effect setting the date of April 29, 2004, as the deadline for Google to make the required disclosure. (The law requires a public filing 120 days after the close of a company’s fiscal year, in this case April 29.)

Much of the post is pulled from a NEW YORK TIMES article

[ thanks to John Batelle for this ]

Apr 26 2004

JPEG Patent Issues

Category: IT Thoughts — Jeremy C. Wright @ 1:29 pm

I’d write about this, but Dave Shea over at Mezzoblue has done such a fantastic job that I don’t actually need to:

Forgent Networks of Austin, TX announced it was suing 31 major hardware and software vendors, including the likes of Canon, Apple, Adobe and HP. Mentioned in the article but not underlined in big red letters is the fact that since they’ve started ‘licensing’ this patent in 2002, over 30 companies have deemed it enough of a threat to pony up a combined $90 million.

[ read the whole article ]

Apr 26 2004

Real Politics: I Am Not A Serial Killer

Category: From My Life — Jeremy C. Wright @ 1:05 pm

Love it, had me howling ;-)

Presidential Candidate Bob Williams, part 1: Excerpts from Public Speeches
By Aaron Swartz on Politics

Today, I promise America that I will run a clean, positive campaign. I will not stoop to attacks on President Roberts. Instead, I want to tell the American people what makes me a good choice. I am not a serial killer. I have not committed any grisly murders. Nor have I coerced others to take the blame for my crime spree, so I could become President. Doesn’t America deserve someone like that?

…

I want to take the time to respond to some allegations from my opponent’s campaign. He’s said I’m calling him a serial killer. Nothing could be further from the truth. The fact is we just don’t know. But I promise you right here and right now: I am not a serial killer. America needs a safe choice: it’s clear what I am — and that is not someone who is a serial killer.

…

My opponent, seeing how my anti-serial-killer message has resonated with the public, has chosen to jump on the I-am-not-a-serial-killer bandwagon. But make no mistake: his so-called “promises” are just too little, too late. I have told you I was not a serial killer from day one. My opponent has issued nothing but wish-washy denials and personal attacks. That sounds like someone with something to hide to me, and I think you deserve better. You deserve to know what you’re getting, and you know that I am not a serial killer.

…

As you’ve probably all heard, my opponent, in an act of desperation, has gotten his attorney general to issue a statement saying, quote, There is no evidence that President Roberts is, or ever was, a serial killer, end quote. Now my opponent is using his own government resources to further deceive the public. The issue never was whether Roberts is a serial killer — it’s that he could be. This non-denial makes that even more clear.

…

Well, it’s election day. I think it’s pretty clear what the choice is ahead of you: a candidate who has been open and honest from day one, versus a candidate who has built a growing web of deceit and denial. America needs to send a clear message: we will not tolerate serial killers. So I ask that today you vote for me, the candidate who is clearly not a serial killer.
– from Aaron

Apr 26 2004

EA Games for XBox Live?

Category: General — Jeremy C. Wright @ 12:50 pm

EA Games has been a huge holdout for XBox gamers… Rumour has it we’ll be able to enjoy these games very, very soon.

Very, very cool.

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