W. Mark Felt - the former number two guy at the FBI in the ’70s - has been confirmed by The Washington Post to be “Deep Throat.”
I doubt it will do much to help bolster flagging print subscriptions.
Filed under: Politics
While I balk at their hilariously weird “lifestyle coach” kind of approach to helping you develop “missions” and “values” to orient your “compass” with regard to organizing your life, there’s no disputing that the Franklin Covey Plan Plus addon for MS Outlook is a great tool. It extends the standard suite of Outlook tools and introduces ways to more effectively prioritize and link tasks, projects, and calendar items. The projects are new. It’s really fucking cool.
Unfortunately the thing is $99. I’m still playing with the 30 day trial to be sure it’s really gonna fit the bill, but so far I love it. Now, if I can just get me some more methylphenidate. It’s been six months since my last ’script ran out.
Filed under: Geek Stuff | Personal | Work
Does is ever strike you that that world is simultaneously an abosolutely horrible, downtrodden place and a place of staggering beauty and infinite possibility?
Yeah, me too.
I mean, yeah, me neither.
Filed under: Personal
I swear, the next time I hear someone ask a client “How accessible do you want your site to be?” I’m going to scream. There is this misconception pervasive throughout the web-dev-consulting-design field that, at some point, you have to sacrifice design or function in order to accomplish some nebulous holy grail of accessibility compliance. For more on compliance, what it is, and what it should be check out Malarky’s post, “Wearing badges is not enough.”
It’s understandable. Prior to the availability of CSS, this was more or less true. These days, there is no excuse to build a site that is not accessibile. Really…It’s not some twisted fundamentalist in me that’s saying that. It’s just the me that codes HTML and CSS. It’s the part of me that spends hours turning a Photoshop design into a streamlined, zero-to-sixty in less than five seconds, complete with a wheelchair lift and assistive steering controls, rocketship of a web site.
Here’s where we shoot ourselves in the foot everytime: The part in the development process where the design gets turned into HTML templates which are, in turn, dumped into a content management system (don’t even get me started on what those things do to my beautiful HTML) by a developer who has neither the time, inclination, or desire to keep an eye on what happens to the code, has become an afterthought. The role of HTML-coder is the first thing to be outsourced. Usually to a designer or developer who cuts HTML in their spare time to help pay the bills. The reason that this happens is simple. Most folks start working on web sites doing everything. They design a site, cut it up, and build it out. As they get more experience, they specialize. Usually in programming, design, or the part I totally don’t get: strategy. Coding HTML is a rung in the ladder that most people see as an inconvenience to overcome rather than a skill to master.
This is where I am now. I’m under orders to freelance out the HTML work at my company. If we were a little bigger I could probably make an arguement to keep it in-house. We’re not, so I can’t.
It’s a fucked up catch-22. I work at a compeny small enough to maintain a culture that I find rewarding and healthy. One in which I’m not just a cog in a machine. But at the same time, the cog that I care deeply about isn’t valued. I’m still trying to figure out how to make it work. More later.
Also of interest from Mr. Malarkey on this subject:
On a shoe-string
Panning for gold
And from A List Apart:
What Is Web Accessibility?
Filed under: Accessibility | CSS | Work | XHTML
Breakfast is the finest meal of the day. It’s a partly cloudy Sunday morning and I’m cooking hashbrowns, toast and scrambled eggs for the demons. J is in Arizona and it’s just the three of us. The birds are chirping through open windows and all is well with the world (well, inside these walls anyway). I always think of my friend Laura when I make hashbrowns. How she always ordered them well-done when we all went out to breakfast in Seattle. I strive to cook hashbrowns that would satisfy Laura. The Coastal Kitchen certainly never could.
Ruby and Brian are getting hitched. And they’re doing it for all to see. It’s a cool idea, this ‘open source wedding’ idea. And here is my link to Brian and Ruby’s Geek Socialist Love. Congrats Brian and Ruby!!
Filed under: Geek Stuff | Personal
It think that I may hate DC. Or maybe DC hates me. For the past two weeks I’ve been nearly unable to breathe and coughing constantly. Doc has me on shitloads of medicine that doesn’t seem to be doing anything. It seems that the further I get from Oregon, the less happy my body is. Fucking East coast.
So, now I’m off to take the kids to the zoo. That oughtta finish me off.
Filed under: Opportunities