Great, so now I have this whole new site with a fresh layout and an more efficient way of adding stuff. Why not make use of it. There’s often too many small things that I wouldn’t want to highlight or write as a single short blog post (what, me being short?! when has that ever happened?) so here I was thinking (yes, it happens, on occasion!) why not combine those small bits into a more regular update post. I can’t predict what these (hopefully) regular updates will contain but you’ll just have to wait and see. In this post; development bits, home office bits, photography bits, and some world news that’ll make you either laugh or shake your head.
Build an iMac INTO your desk!
This is really amazing and fun. Dave Jansen has a cool article and videos about how he built an iMac into the actual desk. I think it’s a really fun idea and can see the usefulness and ergonomics of it. It’s like having a surface screen. Check it out at http://davejansen.com/articles/custom-build-desktopia/
Home Office Forums
An initiative by James Blanksby, a forum for home office setups. I’ve seen a lot of forums that have a thread about people’s setups but not yet a dedicated forum for one yet. There’s not a lot there so if you have a home office you’d like to share and discuss, head over to http://homeofficesetups.freeforums.org/
Photography
Better known as the ‘father’ of 3D Studio and 3D Studio MAX (i.e. 3dsmax), Gary Yost has launched his online photography portfolio. It’s always good to see amazing photographs from around the San Francisco Bay Area and California in a broader sense. But I have to wonder what’s up with all the serious photography going on with us “3D old timers”. Maybe we all (and that, of course includes Gus Grubba as well) discovered that playing with virtual light is fun but that playing with real light has yet to be matched by computer generated images. We’re getting there with photo-realism but frankly I’d rather grab a camera and play with real light than spend hours at the screens to simulate light. Anyway, go and check it out at http://www.garyyost.com/
Development and Communication
Jeff Atwood is right. And I’m sure he doesn’t mind hearing that. In his latest article Jeff writes about tricking fellow programmers into writing better. I know what you’re thinking, “writing better code!”. Well, you should always try and write better code. But what is even more important is being able to write to communicate, preferably not in code. I couldn’t agree more with what Jeff is saying, actually, since a lot of my own consultancy work consists of being able to communicate complex technical matters in ways that can be understood not just by the people that are part of the technical team. Not something that many programmers started out wanting to get into, though, and Jeff is right when he wrote:
In defense of my fellow programmers, communication with other human beings is not exactly what we signed up for. We didn’t launch our careers in software development because we loved chatting with folks. Communication is just plain hard, particularly written communication. How exactly do you get better at something you self-selected out of?
Do you know where Egypt is? Fox News doesn’t.
I saved the funniest for last. I don’t think I even have to comment on this but somehow the folks at Fox News have a hard time figuring out where Egypt is on the map. The ability of TV news (ahum) channels to constantly re-order borders and nations is really beyond description. Well, see for yourself…
Let us know what YOU think!