Dual1dentity

Life has a way ...

2007-04-05T13:40:00.000-07:00

... of providing reminders now and then that you should keep up.

Adaptive Path is looking for interaction designers and, of course, I don't have my website done or my portfolio online. ARGH! Ah well, I'm not a San Francisco local anyway, so until there are cries for IxD's in the Portland area, I've got a bit of time.

Note to self: Get your website done ... NOW!

My new blog is finally here!

2007-04-02T14:42:00.000-07:00

Check it out ... My Curious Life (www.mycuriouslife.com)

Now the pressure's on to post regularly ...

Phoenix Rising ...

2007-03-21T14:28:00.000-07:00

Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, this blog IS coming back after a year-long hiatus ... believe it or not. I've got a new domain and a bunch of ideas coming together that should result in a site that:

1) I'm actually willing to associate myself with;
2) Has some samples of my ideas/sketches/work;
3) Can act as my online resume and portfolio; and
4) Actually gets updated on a regular basis (more frequently than every 12 months).

News (and linkage) coming soon ...

Floral Arrangements

2006-02-27T16:45:00.000-08:00

I've been intrigued by ma.gnolia lately and how it compares/contrasts to del.icio.us. Ma.gnolia claims to be more socially directed, but other than a pretty interface, I'm not seeing it. And while my friend Ryan really dislikes the ma.gnolia domain name, I find it clever, though not really practical (magnolia.com would be much more realistic for mass adoption).

So, in a fit of design frustration, I took 10 minutes to revamp the ma.gnolia UI using Photoshop and elements already in their site to make it more useful to someone like myself.

I'm forwarding a copy of this to the ma.gnolia guys ... we'll see if anything comes of it. I know they're probably getting a ton of feedback and there are a dozen other parts of the UI and pages that could use a bit of a reorganizing, but this is a start.

As time allows, this may become the first of many UI redesigns on this blog ...

ID Wanted (and I ain't talking identity ... )

2006-02-16T20:56:00.000-08:00

Okay, I feel a bit like I've hit the proverbial bottom of the barrel as far as job opportunities go ... being a budding interaction designer is tough.

I have yet to find a job posting that doesn't end up expecting you to be one of the following:

* (insert adj here) Designer (more like an insanely great graphic artist who runs their own studio on the side and just does some web work on the side for a pittance to pass the time)

* (insert adj here) Architect (specifically a gilded programmer who has 10 years of experience in languages that are only 2 years old, not to mention being capable in a dozen others, and has an idea that a good application should have a good interface)

* (insert adj here) Engineer (a vaguely technical person who is part project manager, part programmer, and another part usability whiz, who's only willing to do this part-time on a 6 month contract for a super-secret startup in Juneau that's only able to pay once they secure their funding)

Somehow, it doesn't seem that anyone out there is looking for a chap who's got an interesting mix of experience in everything from HR systems to graphic design and database design/mining to web application development, who has a degree in spoken languages and developmental psychology who has built a progressive career of taking complexity and simplifying it for the audience at hand (part educator, part designer, part architect, part artist).

For once in my life I feel like I'm at a point ahead of the curve ... lots of talk about design and usability in the world, but everyone gravitates toward paying for expensive consultants and design firms to come in and "quick fix" their product or service. Where are the companies brilliant enough to realize that they need to incorporate a good (interaction) designer in all that they do ... from their consumer products to their internal services and systems? This isn't a blast-it-all-we-need-a -design-philosophy-to-fix-this type of patch job, this is something that you do as a core principle ... listen, understand, define, build, refine.

If you're a company interested in obtaining this kind of talent, drop me a line, I'd love to talk to you.

More new stuff coming ...

2006-01-30T14:57:00.000-08:00

One of my partners at Fourio, Ryan, came up with a great idea to map out all of the “Web 2.0” companies from a variety of lists scattered across the net.

The result was the Web 2.0 Innovation Map ... a growing collection of 200+ cool websites and the locations that spawned them (yes, a great many are in California, but New York and Dallas have good showings, too). And thanks to ranking on Mark Millerton’s Top 10 Innovative Web Applications of 2005, we didn’t even have to shamelessly plug our own NetworthIQ into the list … it made it on its own merits. :-)

Anyone out there with feedback, feel free to send it to the whole Fourio team at info@fourio.com or make a comment on this entry. We live for the comments!

The super-secret 1.0 release of NetworthIQ is coming soon, too. I can’t wait!

See more progress on: Start my own business

Visualize Web 2.0

2006-01-30T11:28:00.000-08:00

Well, I have to admit I work with some pretty bright individuals. One of my partners at Fourio came up with a great idea to do map the locations of the innovative teams developing popular Web 2.0 apps ... a Web 2.0 Innovation Map. There are over 200 websites listed so far, and plenty of room for more. Outside of California (duh!) there are a number of creative pockets scattered across the U.S., as well as some talented teams in Canada. And of course, our pet project, NetworthIQ, is on the list as well.

Check it out and send your comments to us ... and if you've got a great Web 2.0 app out there not on the list, send us your details!

Web Addiction ...

2006-01-05T22:15:00.000-08:00

Man, I thought I'd spend some time this evening catching up on postings to 43things, 43places, and in my blog in general. Over an hour later I'm realizing that I've barely put a dent in all the places I've travelled to around the world and thanking my lucky stars that I got the opportunity to do so earlier in life.

If anyone's interested, you can see my travel destinations in 43things as schism.

Frustrating!

2006-01-05T18:36:00.000-08:00

Okay, I’m a closet Interaction Designer, wanting desperately to actually be able to practice the art and science of ID, but somehow it ALWAYS ends up that people think I do Graphic Design (GD).

INTERACTION DESIGNER does not equal GRAPHIC DESIGNER

Yes, I know my way around Photoshop, thank-you-very-much, and yes, I can edit photos, create images, and have an eye for beautiful graphic works, BUT I AM NOT A GRAPHIC DESIGNER!!!

Interaction Design, by my definition, is the design of the interaction a person has with an object, whether that be a website, an application, a device or a place.

If anyone out there wants a bit o’ free ID work, I’m game at this point. I need to build a portfolio of work, and I can’t do that while trying to explain why the world needs ID … instead I’ll show them what’s possible. :-)

See more progress on: become an interaction designer

Running Just to Catch Myself

2006-01-04T11:07:00.000-08:00

The holidays were a great time for some rest and reflection ... and as I pondered my goals for 2006, many came to mind, but I think MMB hit the nail on the head with her Goal #3 for 2006, "Relax more and spend less." So I'm shamelessly adopting it as my big goal for 2006.

As for the title of this post, if the name doesn't explain itself, listen to the song of the same name by Mark Schultz from his Stories & Songs album.

Here's to a new year and new chances to relax more and spend less.

SOLD!

2006-01-03T00:40:00.000-08:00

Okay, I've been praying and hoping for what seems like the longest time (only 4 months, really) that our former home would sell so that we could get back on financial track, and finally we got an offer on the house. I can't tell you how much I've cringed ever time I've had to write a check for that additional mortgage payment. Ugh!

Now we just have to hope that the inspection goes well, the financing turns around quickly for the buyers and we get our money so that we can really kick off 2006 with a financial bang!

NetworthIQ on eHub

2006-01-02T10:21:00.000-08:00

It finally happened ... an interview from months back finally made it up on Emily Chang's eHub. While I'm not thrilled with the picture of the Fourio team, the interview itself is a nice overview of who we are, what we're doing with NetworthIQ, and where we hope to be in a year.

If you've never checked out Emily's site, take a peek. It's a great opportunity to learn a bit about companies and websites that are doing new and interesting things ... and it's very likely that a few of the sites on her list will be the big names on the web a few years from now.

Time is the enemy

2005-10-13T21:52:00.000-07:00

Talk about your crappy blogger! Here it is, almost the middle of October, and I haven't had an entry since September 21st!?! Ugh! How humiliating!

I guess I'm just fighting the clock on everything these days ... and when I do have some time, all I can think of is just kicking back and trying to catch my breath, rather than catching up on all of the other things sitting and waiting for me ... like this blog. :-)

Well, here's the entry for today, and a commitment to try and be more routine about this blog ... here's to new starts and that fabulous thing called "tomorrow"!

I Love New York (and the Times)!

2005-09-21T22:21:00.000-07:00

Okay, it's been under wraps for a bit in the NetworthIQ shop that our illustrious leader, Ryan Williams, was interviewed about NetworthIQ for the New York Times many weeks ago ... it's been killing us waiting to hear if and when the article would be published and whether or not we'd even get mentioned. Lo and behold, it definitely got published and wow, did we get a few visits from curious people all over the world! What's really cool is seeing the print version (thanks to Neville for scanning it)!

I have to admit I became an instant addict ... hitting refresh every 10 seconds on the little stat page I have that monitors the user count and usage statistics on NetworthIQ ... every blip on the radar made me jump ... hitting 1,000 users today was the ultimate icing on the cake.

Now the pressure is on even more to get the rest of the new, super-secret features out on the NetworthIQ site ... break out the cola and the Red Bull, it's gonna be one heckuva ride!

There's No Place Like Home

2005-09-16T11:30:00.000-07:00

Well, we finally made the move and survived the whole experience, despite the fact that we're still sitting on two houses now ... one we're living in and one that we will shortly be listing, hopefully in order to sell it before the first mortgage payment kicks in on the new one. I hate the idea of juggling all this financially, but the idea of missing out on the house of our dreams (at an interest rate that was pretty darn good) and timing things with the start of school (making it easier on the kids) ... well, it kind of forced my hand.

What's really amazing is how much different I feel when I come home now ... despite the boxes and laundry pile and mess in the living room. Our new home is so much lighter, more open, yet more cozy and comfortable ... and I didn't have to lift a hammer even once to do a home improvement project. This is our third house, and the past two have both been "fixer-uppers" ... fine when you have no children or just one or two, but when you have a family like ours (6 kids, 2 dogs), the idea of yet more home improvement projects becomes incredibly daunting. The relief of that pressure alone is worth the trouble of the move. :-)

So, here's the question to the masses: How many of you have juggled a house purchase like this, buying one before selling the other? (And I'm not talking on a contingency...) What kind of problems did you run into? Regrets? Advice?

I'm banking on the strong sales market in my area right now and the good interest rates to make this whole thing happen smoothly ... on top of the fact that the home we're selling is something of a rarity in the area it's in (large square footage, recently updated, larger yard, yet under a critical dollar ceiling for the new construction just up the hill).

With the move now over, I'll try to post more often in between unboxing the things of daily living ... and post on our Vonage phone service and Verizon FIOS high speed fiber internet service, both of which have proven to be quite amazing.

Hood To Coast

2005-09-01T12:22:00.000-07:00

Okay, that whole "time-shortage" post from over a week ago nailed it spot on ... where has all the time gone?

Part of the issue was the 24th Hood To Coast Relay ... the largest relay race in North America. What a rush! This is the fifth year I've participated, and it has yet to disappoint. Our team placed 294th out of over 1,000 teams, finishing the 197 mile relay in just over 26.5 hours with an average pace of 8 minutes per mile. I hadn't trained as much as I should have, and I'd gained some weight since last year (ah, the Thanksgiving pies and Christmas cookies did me in), but managed to make it through my segments of the course. Here are some photos from a couple of team members ... Photo Set A / Photo Set B.

On top of that, the final preparations for the house move have made it interesting around the house ... "Now, where did the utensils go? Are they in the box in that pile, or did they get moved over here? So, who wants pizza?" :-)

As part of the move process I've ditched standard telephone service in lieu of VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) phone service and, I have to admit, I've been very impressed already. I signed up with Vonage and their site, service and ease-of-use have been fantastic. If you want a referral, let me know and I'll send one your way ... highly recommended. I'll also be using Verizon's FIOS fiber internet services at the new place, so more feedback on that coming soon, too.

NetworthIQ is still going strong, and we have a number of new features to add in the coming weeks ... ideally in time to get out of beta sooner than later. Our first ever newsletter comes out in the next few days and we're hoping to see more activity as we remind everyone that tracking your net worth is a monthly (or more frequent) exercise ... an exercise that can help keep your finances healthy (or at least keep you consciously aware of them).

All for now, yet always more to come ...

If Time is Money, I'm Broke!

2005-08-19T13:09:00.000-07:00

Desire <> Ability
(translation: just because you want to do something doesn't mean you'll be able to) ... in my case, this means that no matter how much I want to be involved and engaged in things, my time limits my ability ... you can't do something well that you don't have time to do at all.

Between my kids' activities & school, my day job, my evening job (NetworthIQ), my interests in books (hey, shout out to TurboBookSnob), my love of comics, my involvement in the school board, my fascination with interaction design (Cooper rocks!), and the need to keep up on XHTML/CSS/JavaScript/C#/.NET/Photoshop ... well, it just seems like I'm always on the move these days ... heck, I'm even moving in real life ... new house to accomodate the growing family and save me from the endless home improvements that have also been on my to-do list (the new place is NOT a fixer-upper, like the past two have been).

So, the question then becomes, why the heck should I start blogging? And now of all times?!?

I guess there's no easy answer, other than that my passion has always been to make things as clear and simple as possible in the midst of chaos ... in my work as a web application developer, in my growing work as an interaction designer, and in every other job I've done (database analyst, HRIS specialist, desktop support tech, network engineer).

Writing is my outlet ... (okay, 'nuff deep introspection for today!)

Getting a financial IQ test

2005-08-18T08:34:00.000-07:00

It sounds kinda corny, but it's amazing what a wake up call it is to actually figure out your net worth ... especially if you're in my age bracket (30-34) and just waking up to the fact that, yes, you WILL become like your parents some day and that, yes, you ARE getting older and that thing called "retirement" is not quite so far away as it once seemed, so the time is now to start planning for it.

NetworthIQ was my wake up call ... this project, built with a couple of developer friends, was designed to be a social financial tool for tracking your net worth and comparing it to the net worth of others in various demographic categories. In the process of building the site, I started investigating my own net worth and realized pretty quickly that I have a long way to go in order to be where I want to be when I retire (or retire early if I dream really big).

You can check out my public profile on NetworthIQ and see what you think ... I'm making a commitment to update my net worth info at the end of each month, and to start spending less (and making smarter purchases) while saving more.

Had to start somewhere ...

2005-08-17T16:23:00.000-07:00

Okay, never mind the fact that I'm only years late to the whole blogging thing ... let's just say that, while I haven't been blogging, I've sure read a lot of blogs ...

Welcome to the start of something good (or so I hope).