I know that the background may not display properly in an iPhone. I’m going back and re-reading a couple articles that were graciously suggested to be by a friend. I’ll hopefully have that issue under control. The background is fairly big, I needed to maintain the look, so it wasn’t pixelated, load times may vary. Google Gears helps out a lot, but I’m looking into optimizing it a bit more.

If you’re on anything bigger than a 1280×900 monitor, you’ll see the background-color. I don’t, didn’t and don’t plan to design for anything larger than 1280×1024.

Another anti-spam plugin has been installed and it works. I use it on my blog and I don’t get anything I don’t want as far as comment spam goes. What I do not see, won’t kill me.

Ethan has an awesome video over at URN, and it cracked me right up. Certainly made my day when I saw it. I suggest it if you want, or need a good chuckle.

YouTube is having a major malfunction of some sort. Yesterday, after putting a serach query in, it redirected to a Dell banner ad. No wonder I hate Dell. Now today, it just does not want to load the site at all. I am wondering if it is me or if it is the fact that perhaps YouTube became too big for the interweb’s britches? Or my connection sucks. I am thinking the latter.

I’m doubting the decision to use both Spaz and/or Twhirl as Twitter/Friendfeed desktop clients, they’re both good, but I want something a bit slicker, so I am going to give Snitter a try. being a avid reader of Jonathan Snook for what seems an eternity (a few years now), I don’t question the product because of the name behind it. As I type this entry out, I fired it right up and it works smooth… A donation will be made soon.

and… after going through the interface, I have chosen my bread and butter desktop Twitter client… muah!

As for this site… it is a matter of getting work up as soon as I complete the projects I am doing to add to the Work page. Much more to follow, stay tuned.

http://six03.com/qa/html5.html

No, it does not validate if you must know and if you’re a validating fool, I’m not as much anymore. There are header tags in the code which are throwing off the validator.

2008

Webmaster Jam Session: http://2008.webjamsession.com/

Web Design World: http://webdesignworld.com/

—-

2009

@media2009: http://www.vivabit.com/atmedia/

dconstruct2009: http://dconstruct.org/ - Down at the time of this writing.

AEA2009 Boston: http://aneventapart.com - TBD/TBA

http://wordpress.org

and as luck would have it, I overwrote the default theme I had been working on, hence the change in the layout. This is why you should not work on anything web related when you have had no sleep and are really, very tired.

I’ll also be travelling soon for about a couple weeks, so posting will be sparse and I will probably be somewhere without a good internet connection or even non-existant. Pictures to follow, until then… ciao!

EDIT: The comment form has been fixed, in most browsers I have tested, I have not tested it in the evil IE6 as of yet, stay tuned for the comedic part of the show. New background image to come.

Well it dawned on me that in life, you want to be treated to an experience like no other when you go out, go on trips, or even be treated to a good experience when you’re shopping or dining in a restaurant. Which brought me to thinking, apply this to the web. Imagine myself, as the user, imagine myself as I would want to be treated when I go out. To the best experience possible.

Which brought me to the story of the local eatery (a very popular chain of eateries that have been made popular by a certain individula who lost an enourmous amount of weight on this chain and its’ “diet”). I entered hungry, wanting a sandwich to fill me up, and I usually receive one from this place. Though to day was somehow different.

It was dry, the service was as well, it lacked and there was no knowledge from the young woman behind the counter as to what she was doing (although she may be a wonderful person, her service skills lacked). I thought to myself on the drive home, “What if I were to offer that same experience to users when I design and build websites?”

No one would go to them. Either that or, the 1.6 seconds you have to grab a user’s attention will not be grabbed and they will be on their way. So was the case for me in this eatery. I wanted to just walk out after a short period of time because the service wsa horrible (nevermind the fact the manager had his iPod on and was attempting to sing, while on the floor, a huge mistake indeed).

Long story, short… take the time to think… would you, while designing and building a website, want to face the same experience I did in the eatery? Or think back to a bad experience at some place you have had. Would you want your users to experience the same with your designed sites? I know I am thinking a lot more clear on user experience thanks to Andy and his presentation.

I started writing this yesterday and have given this more attention again today. I wanted to write a very in-depth post about my experience and maybe “twist an arm” and if someone out there, even if it is one person reads this, goes to an AEA event and then writes back and says it was worth it, then it really was worth taking the extra couple days to write this.

I got out of my “9-5″ job at 7:30 in the morning, went home, wanted to catch an hour or so of sleep. I caught 30 minutes. So I proceeded to go get ready and left for Boston. Now mind you, I don’t trek out very much with the price of gas and because a third shift job just sucks the will to live and the life force out of you. I did on this day, as I was looking forward to this event.

So skipping over to when I got to the Marriott (after getting lost in the projects of Roxbury and all that good stuff that usually happens when i venture down to Boston) I forget the credit card and start to freak. Calming down the solution was found, all was good, but not after my first impression with Jeffrey Zeldman was probably one of psychotic insanity (if there is such a term.)

I finally (after 2-3 hours of calls and instructions to fax over information so I could use the credit card) got to relax in the room, on the 34th floor. Big huge bed. BAM! Out like a prize fighter.

Day one I meet Jeffrey again, we chat and had lunch together it was great. I got to talk to Bruce Lawson and Eric Meyer for a bit as well during breakfast, things were A LOT better. Went in and sat through the presentations, immersed in them all, mingled during breaks, took photos, had photos taken with speakers.

One thing. I went up to my room to relax for a few minutes before the Opening Night party… I made the mistake of laying down on the big, huge comfy bed I had… out like a light. Damn.

Day Two, more of the same. Mingling, eating, listening. Asked questions, got a book from Kimberly Blessing, tried to win a copy of Adobe CS3 if I got picked for a website critique from Jeffrey… unfortunately, that didn’t happen and 5 out of 6 of the people were Mac users… Scott Fegette, I will (GLADLY) take a copy of the PC version if you feel the need to get rid of some!!!!

Of who I met. Everyone was great. I probably came off as a nervous tool, with nothing better to say and with a look like a 16-year-old rock band groupie, wide-eyed and drooling.

Jeffrey Zeldman, Marci Eversole… made me feel welcomed and hopefully forgot about the fact I was acting like a raving lunatic on Sunday.

Jeffrey was very accomodating and I had the chance of a lifetime to sit down and have lunch with him and talk and he actually liked the site. Handed me some useful information that I will be working on shortly as well. Autographed his book that I bought for me and we chatted and I kinda stalked him… no i did. Sorry Jeffrey!

Eric Meyer. What can I say. Awed in the prescence of another guru I have followed for a long time. very friendly and witty. When i told Bruce Lawson he saved my life with conditional comments, they both joked about how it was so proprietary. After the two kicks in the gut (j/k) I laughed, it was funny and yes, it was a stupid thing to say. I should have went with, “FIRE!” Yes, Eric, I’d rather have your name in my book rather than oh, let’s say “Julio Iglesias” as your signing.

Bruce Lawson, friendly chap. Small guy. Him and Jeffrey, both small… or am I just tall (more on that later). He and I chatted a bit, nice guy all around. Saved my life with conditional comments, but as Eric Meyer put it, it was proprietary… so I don’t know if that was a good thing to say? Bruce is a friendly guy though, and his site states he prefers Guinness, so any guy who likes Guinness is alright in my book (as it is my preferred beverage in alcoholic nature of choice).

The speakers. All great and accessible. Although I didn’t ask a lot of questions, I did let the ones I have followed know that I have been a sort of “fan” for a long time. I figured they already had to field all the questions from 499 +/- other attendees. my favorites? All.

Kimberly Blessing gave me something to shoot for. A Standards Manager job.

Ethan Marcotte gave me a refreshing way to make sure to communicate between coder and designer (a chore in itself for most of us).

Jason Santa Maria gave me a new thought on design and presentation.

Jeffrey Veen made me think of data visualization. Made me re-live 1974 all over again, and how to incorporate users into user experience. I would have loved to have sat down with him at the bar and had a beer, but I had to leave Boston that night, as I had to get back to my “reality” that is my full-time job. Jeffrey is 6′6″, taller than me (one of two I really got to chat with) I felt short for a change… a really nice guy.

Jared Spool gave me a new perspective on navigation and the need for clear and conciseness when it comes to users finding their way around a site. He’s also one hell of a speaker and hilarious.

Christopher Fahey gave me insight on style and art direction when it comes to interactive design and to think about form and function.

Andy Budd opened my mind on user experience. I never thought about using everyday trips to a store or restaurant for example, as a gauge for user experience. Like my trip to an eatery, which I will describe later. One of the people I have looked to and read his books, he’s one of those that has helped me understand CSS a lot better.

Doug Bowman make me think about scaling. Will a site reach 10 people or 10 million? Is it ready, willing and capable? He also made me think of i18n (internationalization. 18 letters between ‘i’ and ‘n’). make sure your site is ready for such a throng of an audience.

Luke Wroblewski made me understand the user experience a lot better. Opened my eyes to what UX and UI is and gave me a peaked curiosity into UX/UI design.

PPK made me realize that yes, Javascript really is simple and unobtrusive. Explaining it clearly, very clearly.

Eric Meyer just gave me new ideas on creating my own CSS framework and a reset stylesheet and a better understanding of browser behaviors. He also was very approachable and friendly, taking the time to talk to me just as if we had known each other for awhile. One of the people I have followed, it was an honor to be able to just “hang out” and talk. He even signed his own name to the AEA book that we got as a guide to follow.

and Jeffrey Zeldman gave me the experience of a lifetime. A figure I have been following and admiring for years, not only did he make me feel welcome and having lunch with him was the ultimate honor. Jeffrey showed me that it is alright to let people know what you do and to let you do it. That indeed, the web is not print and that people (some people) need to realize that, that it is alright to say, “This is what I do, let me do it and you will be pleased by the results.”

I met others like Christopher Schmitt, whom, I had talked to at lunch(?) on day One. Totally being the space cadet that I am and not realizing it was him who wrote the CSS Cookbook from O’Reilly. I was able to win a copy of “Adapting to Web Standards” so when I get some time I am going to sit down and read it.

So my experience with meeting people in my chosen career path, my “Yoda’s” if you will. People I have followed and people I will follow and learn from hopefully. Everyone I spoke to that I just listed was abosultely nice, approachable, friendly, and has had or made a huge impact on what I do and will do in web.

I can’t thank them all enough for what they have done, what they have taught me and for opening my eyes and mind to what they spoke about. Two days of just “talking shop” really has made a difference and gave my batteries a much-needed recharge. I feel like there is so much to do and can be done, hopefully I can apply what I have learned and make good.

To anyone thinking of going, even if it is a trip from your area, I suggest you do it. There is no other experience ( to date) that I have had that has made such an impact on me personally. I’m not really one for the huge venues, with throngs of people numbering the thousands, but 500 people or so there, it felt more personable and you actually had access to pick the minds and mingle socially with the speakers.

This is something I will never forget. So thank you all who spoke and were involved in the planning and organizing.