Archive for May, 2008

I’ve lived in Southwest Michigan for all of my life (except for that year(+)long stint in Florida and almost a year in Tennessee) and would say that I am aware of a number of different organizations/events/people in this area. However, I would consider myself to be a newcomer to the area as a designer, and I’ve had a rough time finding others like me. As a result of my search, I’ve noticed a lack of cohesion in the design community–actually I’ve noticed a lack of a design community.

I’m certainly not implying that designers do not exist in this community, just that they’re not organized. In particular, I want to know who my local competition, or help, is and I want to work with them to create a better web in our area.

I want to announce, on here, that I have officially launched the Web Professionals Group of Southwest Michigan.

The Web Professionals Group of Southwest Michigan will be organized with the purpose of connecting web professionals to one another, as well as connecting them to potential employers/clients; also, the potential exists for this to serve as a resource for employers/clients to find web professionals.

But what is the group right now? It is an idea. An idea that needs a vehicle, a community, and a lot of planning in order to develop and thrive in a way that will benefit Southwest Michigan.

The researchers analyzed published data on 829 physical systems–such as melting glaciers and warming waters–and 28,800 living plant and animal systems stretching back to 1970.

All of the systems have shown documented changes over the past few decades. – John Roach

Apparently it is inconceivable that something like a glacier might change in a matter of decades; it is inconceivable that a “living, breathing entity”, like the earth, would not remain in the same state for an eternity, but would in fact change.

I wonder what those documented changes are, because few real examples are given to let me experience the sense of awe and wonderment at the radical changes taking place. Whatever happened to global cooling (that is now explained away as not having any scientific consensus behind it)?

I was reading the ‘Since you Asked’ column over at Salon–which is basically a dear Sally type of thing–and this particular letter had a self-described atheist adamantly refusing to understand or tolerate the creationist views of his devoutly Christian friend.

The problem was not so much with his views, although you got the sense that yeah maybe it was a problem, but it was with the fact that the school the Christian friend works at had requested that he teach young earth creationism (essentially the creation story in the Bible) in his science class–oh, the problem was also that he taught his kids the same thing. The writer likened this kind of lesson to “child abuse”.
What?

When did one of the pillars of western culture become child abuse? And when exactly did 21st century science become pre-modern Roman Catholicism, in that every thing that might be in contrast to its views is heresy? Bring on the reformation.

So, why the influx of links and quotes, where did they come from, and why are they there? 1. It’s new content, 2. They came from me via the internet, and they are there for…

Yeah those things are a handy new feature for me. It makes it a lot easier for me to introduce new content, especially when I don’t always have a lot to say, which is about the only reason I added them.

There will still be ‘blog’ entries, like this one, mixed in with the quotes and links–tidbits of information I find to be useful. The asides will continue as information that is a little less easily digested but are more detailed links to those interesting bits.

So, the breakdown is as follows:

1. Blog entries – standard fun writing
2. Quotes – quotes from people or websites I find interesting
3. Links to items like news, or tutorials, or design ideas

Nothing special or fantastic to see here, move along.