Since some of the family was going to be out our way, and some already live in Bethesda, we decided to join the party and head to DC for the long weekend. I have to tell you, the drive; not a lot of fun - the weekend? Was great.

We hit the road around 1:30 Wednesday, and it took us something like 6.5 hours to get there. Pretty straight-forward, nothing too crazy. Donovan never did take a nap really, and he was about ready to go insane by the end, but it wasn't that bad. He did this little diddy (I have a video to post too) of his ABCs, and it's damned funny. He tried to go really fast - and did a good job all things considered. I will post it shortly.

There's not a lot to report from the weekend, Thursday we all got fat and happy, and it was gooood.....

Friday we goofed around and went to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum by Dulles. It is pretty cool, lots of planes, some rocket engines, space capsules, and a full-size replica of the Space Shuttle Atlantis. I took some pictures, but as this place is insanely dark, they all suck rocks. My little Sony just doesn't have a manly enough flash to get the job done in these situations. Oh well. I have to say it too, their main website; not too bad. Their online exhibit sections? Now, there's a prime example of complete rubbish. You've got to be kidding me? That's the best our country can pull off for the National Air and Space museum? We need a new National Web Designer obviously....

After we got back to the house on Friday the kids promptly relaxed, and then all exploded around dinner. I swear they ran in circles, periodically changing trajectories, for at least an hour. No joke. It was hilarious. Then Dylan started coming up to everyone so they could rub his tummy. WTF? Where that came from I couldn't tell ya.

Saturday we hit the mall, and walked around for something like 5 hours. It was a good time, and the Donovan had a really good time. I say Donovan, because Dylan was Captain Grumpy face all day. Didn't want to get out of the stroller, wouldn't get his picture taken, and didn't want to walk at all. About 2-ish, we stopped for food, and then it was all good. Grandpa walks out with 3 bowls of ice cream and Dylan's eyes shoot out of his face as he perks right up, and grabs the chocolate and proceeds to stuff his face. I guess he was just a pint low, cus' after that, he was happy as a clam - doing his typical yappin all the way back to the car, and all the way back to the house.

The day was awesome, and I got off a few good pics while in DC. The pres came back on Saturday, and we saw the helicopters fly in and drop him off at the White House. The World War II Memorial was new too since my last trip, and it's pretty amazing.

Sunday we blew town and didn't stop until we made it to Hershey, just the other side of Harrisburg (the State Capitol don't ya know) and took the kids to Hershey to see the lights and ride a few of the rides that are still open this time of year. It's a pretty cool park with lots of rides for both the young crazies and older psychos alike.

It was nice to get out of town, and see some of this state that we have lived in for 4 years now - it's pretty pathetic when you think about it, we haven't gone anywhere really. I'm hoping to change that in the near future.....

Papa Roach, (hed) p.e. & Stealing December tear down Mr Small's

Last night Jeremy, Amanda and I went to the Zippo Hot Tour show in Pittsburgh (actually Millvale - but Pittsburgh is a bit more accurate), and I have to say it was awesome. Being the trio of coolness that we are, we got the VIP treatment, including some swank badges. The line up is Papa Roach, (hed) p.e., and Stealing December. All of these bands are awesome and they tore this place down!

See what you're not getting here is Mr. Small's is a converted Church - so it is indeed Small. Tiny actually. There is no backstage. There are dressing rooms and the like up stairs, but it was all they could do to get all of their gear and lighting crammed onto this tiny stage that would about 1/3 the normal size of even a small venue. The place could probably hold no more than 1,000 screaming freaks, and that's hemorrhaging people.

So we meet with the tour manager, Jodi, and she takes us back early, shows us around, and swag's us up. Nice! Everyone likes free $h1t! So we kick it for a while, and just hang while we wait for Jacoby to show. In the mean time Brandon, Stealing December's Lead singer, rolls out and we chat it up a bit. I also got to hang with Michaelangelo a bit at the swag counter. These guys are great, this couldn't have happened to a better bunch of guys - I mean come on! Who gets this chance so young in life and career? So after a bit more hanging out look like a bunch of old guys at a concert, we meet Papa Roach along with some other folks for the meet and greet. These are cool, I mean, I'm not sure what I was expecting - but it wasn't at all what I was ready for. After the meet and greet we went upstairs and hung out a bit. These guys are really down-to-earth normal dudes - and great musicians. I don't care what anyone says - these guys freakin' rock! Oh yeah, and you! That crazy b!otch impersonating Jacoby's wife on myspace - get a life of your own you psychopathic trogladite.

The show was awesome, and I'm not sure how anyone could have asked for a better show. Stealing December tore it up and kicked the night into gear with a great selection of tunes, and I can't wait to see what else these guys come up with in the future - this is a good band. They had a great stage presence and put on an excellent show - much better than a lot of some of the so called big-name bands I have seen in the past.

So (hed) p.e. takes the stage next, and I had not heard these guys before last night, and they are impressive. They go from punk, to regee, to I don't know what. It's like having 3 bands rolled up into one. The all tore it up, and Jahred has an amazing range - this was a totally unexpected result for what I thought they were going to be like. I got to meet Jahred briefly after their set, and he too, is just a great guy. They started their set with a rendition of Everybody Look What's Going Down  [Originally by Buffalo Springfield) - and it was awesome. In retrospect I should have sprung for a mic for my iPod and recorded the damned show!

Thanks to everyone who facilitated this evening, Jodi you rock! If you haven't checked the bands, do it now! Either on MySpace, or their actual websites, especially Stealing December - those guys are awesome and I wish the best of luck!

With so many articles floating around the web, so many sites, blogs, eNewsletters, etc, dedicated to Development and best practices; how is it that there is so much horrible software developed? If everyone knows what not to do, and can easily identify a project that will be laced with scope creep from 20 paces, why does this issue of what not to do still invade every aspect of post-project analysis?

There's no easy answer to this, and I don't pretend to know one either. So what the hell am I writing about then? Simple. Maybe it's time people (read developers) stop writing about how to not make bad software and put their money where their mouse is. It's easy to find information on Software Development, hell this Google search revealed 83 million links. One would think that there would be a couple of pearls in that pile. How much effort is wasted on writing an article than 10,000 other people have written? Why is your any better than the other ones? You could probably make that argument for me too - but hey, I like to write so step off!

The idea

It's time for the development community as a whole to belly up to the bar and take some responsibility for the chum we toss overboard.  Stefan Sagmeister has issued a challenge to the design community in the form of a question:

Can design touch someone’s heart?

If you don't know the name, I would say to you that you should - and you have most likely seen his work. There was an interesting interview for Scene 360, and scan Google for more results and information. Stefan is arguably one of the most influential and important designers of our time. His designs, philosophies and teachings are important, insightful, and relevant to large groups of people on a global level. I had the opportunity to sit in on a presentation he gave at the last Flash in the Can in Toronto, and that hour plus was easily worth the entire price of admission.

Without being too much of a coat-tailer, can the same question be said to Software Developers? Not exactly, and that's not really what I am aiming at. It's the idea that I am grasping here.

There is a misconception that the Managers and Project planners and stakeholders are the ones with all of the power, the ones holding all the keys. If you really sit down to think about it - it's not true. It's a commonly accepted fallacy. The same holds true for designers and developers alike here; everyone needs to get paid, and in order to do that one must keep their job and/or clients. Well, duh.But how long do you think you can keep clients and grow as designer/developer if all you do is maintain the status-quo?

With great power comes great responsibility

Both designers and developers share a common goal, defined separately through the medium in which they work - they both endeavor to meet a set of requirements given to them by a client [or manager] which constitutes a project. How they choose to meet those requirements is generally up to them. Whether or not a decision is made to challenge the preconceptions and misconceptions about how things should look or function falls squarely on the shoulders of no one else. I know I risk getting labeled as a snobby, elitist - but so be it.

It is your responsibility to educate the client on the best practices, standards, and accepted conventions of how things are meant to function, as well as fight the good fight when asked to create something that does not fit within the guidelines. Far too often the project is sacrificed in order to placate whoever is placing demands on the project, in order to simply finish it and get paid. My job as a designer is creating web-sites that work well for the target audience, and fit within the client’s needs. No small task, but there it is. If I fail to show a client that what they are asking is not good for them or the users of their site - then I flat out failed at my job. It is my responsibility to make them see how their decisions affect the outcome of the project, both positively and negatively.

The Challenge

Is it possible for Software Developers to change the paradigm under which they struggle

I believe it is. Question why features are being inserted into an already feature rich application. Force people to ask questions why something is being developed a certain way, or better yet - ask why it isn't being developed by the established standards and practices.  I never said it would be easy, but if you can take more than half of the items on this list and say we do that, then it's time to nut-up and take action. Just try not to get fired in the process....

I was going to open with a beautiful product shot of the electro-turd itself (turd only because the Brown color, which I would probably buy - but it is kinda ugly), maybe even in action, but after reading an article and seeing this photo on flickr, I decided that this was meant to be.

What's this chicks deal? I get the error screen, and she's writhing in pain? WTF? I particularly like the notes on the flickr post. hehehe.....

So there's lots of good stuff on the Zune site, but don't download the Theme. Now to be fair, it is probably due to the fact that I have WindowBlinds installed; but it dorked my puter' hard! Aced explorer, jacked my theme straight in the pooper, and made it real hard to even restart my aging desktop. So I would recommend not installing it, I mean it looked cool - but it didn't do my desktop any favors.

I was readin' Digg earlier and it was pretty much what I expected. A bunch of Apple fanboy's slaggin' the Zune and poppin' off to the Microsoft fanboys who in turn start slaggin' the iPod and poppin' off to the Apple fanboys. Wash, rinse, repeat. That's the kind of crap that makes me read Digg only once or twice a week anymore. Worthless articles with no intrinsic value get to the homepage, and folks just use the comments as a platform for spouting off innaccurate and juvenile quips about how whatever they like is better that what is covered int he article. Generally having very little or nothing to do with reality or the overall quality of the article/product they are bashing.

The Zune player isn't going to kill the iPod, although one would hope it will give Apple some badly needed competition in the market.

And what's up with this shot too while I am thinking of it? Last time I checked my feet don't really have anything to do with playing my iPod - so what are they trying to sell me on with this shot? Dunno.... Interesting marketing anyway - seems like they learned more than just UI design from Apple....

The other day at the Grocery Store, Donovan saw this poised defiantly on the shelf and wanted to try it - so, being the ever-adventurous Papa I am - said:

Sure, what the heck - it's only $4 bucks

Any way, so we get this edible puffer fish looking thing home, dice it up, plop on a plate and giver er' a whirl.  Mmmmmmm... tastes like a citrus banana fruit. Whole lotta show - not a lotta go. I was a bit disappointed for how goony it looks, I figured something that looks as unique as this thing should have a bit more of a unique flavor - not taste like a banana.

To top it all off, Donovan wouldn't even try it once he saw how green it was on the inside. Figures eh? Dylan wasn't going for it either. I guess I will just have to take it work and eat it for lunch - freak out the yokles.....

Spiderman is the best damned Super Hero ever!

I don't care what anyone has to say on this matter. Unless it goes something like:

Spiderman is the best damned super hero ever!

You are wrong.

So, in case you are new here, Spiderman 3 is set to release next May and tonight just after CSI, they released a full-length trailer on CBS(and about a bajillion other stations) and directed the slathering hordes to go to iFilm for their HD fix online. I watched it, 3 times - and as if I couldn't wait before - I have joined the before mentioned slatherers now. OMFG! I want to see this movie.

I even just polished up another wallpaper just because I'm such a loser fanboy. You can get 2 versions of it:

• The o' so swankin' 1680 x 1050 widescreen [cus' my 20 inch Dell rocks yur arse]
• Or the more pedantic 1600 x 1200 version

Your flavor is up to you, and your technological choices reflect upon the quality of your geeky soul - so choose wisely.

Check out the Wallpapers section too while you're at it, and see what else I have slaved over - it's fun. Plus I feel like a rebel. Flippin' the mouse finger at the man!