Archive for 2008

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N.C. looks at taxing drivers by the mile →

STOP THE TAXES.

They want us to drive less to waste less gas and burn less fossil fuels, but the unintended consequence of that is less revenues coming into the state and federal coffers, leading to the call for more taxes.

This is insane. Shrink this government, and shrink it now.

jQuery AJAX Form Submission

I’ve never been much of a programmer; and I’m probably unusually intimidated by JavaScript. I can’t explain its effect on me, considering what I’ve tackled with php (which, I suppose is arguably pretty simple and inefficient stuff), but it’s not something I’m proud of.

At any rate, this week I decided to tackle a bit of a problem that has been bothering me for as long as I’ve had the current design on my portfolio site.
The portfolio side of things exists as a single page site with work samples, a little information, and a contact form. The contact form would require that you reload the page upon submission in order to process and send the message, which always seemed like a jarring experience from a user interaction perspective.
In order to solve that problem, my solution was the ever popular: AJAX.

I’ve used some jQuery plugins in the past, so I was familiar with the framework; after doing some reading and thinking about compatibility with my current setup, I decided that jQuery’s built in AJAX implementation, and animation effects, would be just about perfect for my needs. Why? Because the jQuery framework is incredibly useful to me, as a designer, with little time for figuring out how to implement all of these fancy user interactions with JavaScript. Plus, it’s the framework I use for everything.

Read the rest of this entry »

For all of the advantages the web has with distribution of content, I’ve always lamented the handiness of the WYSIWYG design tools from the print publishing world. When I set out to redesign my personal website, I wanted to have some of the same abilities that those tools have, laying out pages how I saw fit, and that meant a flexible system for dealing with imagery.

— Jason Santa Maria, 24 Ways: Making Modular Layout Systems (SOURCE)

Auto bailout collapses in Senate →

Deal to move forward on $14 billion stopgap measure falls short, possibly dooming GM and Chrysler to bankruptcy.

I don’t know what to say. Is bankruptcy best? Will it hurt more than it will help? My job is tied to GM, what will happen?

If Bush pardons himself, it would be a stunning challenge to America’s self-image as the upholder of law and freedom… →

Pardoned? Pardoned for what? What do these people think he did, and do they honestly think he’ll be tried for it? People paint him as Hugo Chavez, or worse rather. Why? He certainly lacked oratory skill, but the man was principled. While those principles weren’t altogether very conservative he stuck to them…but come on? He committed no high crime. A lot of liberals think this guy is about to go pardon crazy…

Practically every day the government launches a massively expensive new initiative to solve the problems that the last day’s initiative did not. It is hard to discern any principles behind these actions. The lack of a coherent strategy has increased uncertainty and undermined the public’s perception of the government’s competence and trustworthiness.

— Oliver Hart and Luigi Zingales (SOURCE)

Beware of the man who works hard to learn something, learns it, and finds himself no wiser than before… He is full of murderous resentment of people who are ignorant without having come by their ignorance the hard way.

— Kurt Vonnegut

Happy Thanksmas

Enjoy your time with friends and family, don’t spend too much money (but spend enough to keep the economy afloat, right?), and don’t drink and drive.
Happy holidays.

Victory in Iraq Day: November 22, 2008 →

Unofficial declaration of victory in Iraq. From the looks of things, we have completed the mission and now it’s time to head home. Whether we leave any troops and build a permanent base is a discussion for another day.

There was a time when I no longer supported the war; before the buildup, when the war was becoming seemingly more gruesome and senseless, I questioned it. After the surge, and the change in strategy I began to see that resilience in the face of difficult situations was incredibly important, especially in light of the success of military operations in Iraq, and I apologize for my doubt.

And so I salute the troops and celebrate VI Day. But we must remember, there is still a war in Afghanistan to contend with.

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