And here's what we got:
Holy hell, a personal post! You know what that means everyone: Corey doesn’t have anything specific to write about, but is guilt-ridden enough to write something in an attempt to rid himself of the self-loathing that he’s now feeling.
Thankfully, I’ve got enough random crap to talk about, that it will actually seem like I’ve somehow planned this post. I should at least be able to get back to my regular schedule for posting stuff now that I’m in school (somebody quote me on this when I’m studying my brains out and abandon the schedule once again.)
Side note: Do you say “skedual” or “scheduel”? I found that after watching far too much Doctor Who over the years that I’ve been converted to saying “scheduel” instead of skedual.” Ruined me, I tell you.
I happened to get some tickets to Evil Dead The Musical for last Saturday…that is, the Saturday that just passed. We were off to the side, and just outside the “splatter zone”. With a surprisingly small amount of props (though the ax, the 12 gauge, the chainsaw and the Necronomicon all make their appearances) and almost childishly simplistic sets, Evil Dead The Musical blew me out of the water with wit, energy, and so much homage that it almost hurts.
I’m almost at a loss for words to describe this stage performance. Fantastic, B, Sparse, Electrifying, Camp, Entertaining, Rude, and I’m sure I could think of more were I willing to dedicate more time towards the effort. Suffice it to say, it’s a great night out and it’s probably the best 40 dollars (for two tickets) that I’ve ever spent.
Seriously, it’s so white that it actually seems to give off light itself. It stands out so harshly against the rest of my room because it looks so clean and minimal. It’s like a work of art sitting on top of a rubble pile in Chernobyl. It’s so clean and pristine that I feel like I’m sullying it every time I lay my grubby fingers on it.
Some of you may be wondering why I’d now be a Mac owner. Those of you who know me know that I’ve never been a fan of Macs generally speaking. I find them overly simple, their mouse scares and distrubes me, they have some extra keys, and Mac users tend to be just so damned snooty. Have I sold out?
That’s right, I’m school-bound once again. Two more years of weird sleep schedules, assignments, cliques, teachers, and too many people walking around in pajama-bottoms.
Joking aside, I’ve decided to go back to school for Graphic Design. Over the past two plus years, I’ve felt that though I’m reasonably good at programming, it’s not really what I want to do for the rest of my life. I’ve had a good run at my current place of employment, but I feel that it’s just not the direction I want to go in the long-run. You see, as I worked along side everyone I constantly felt myself obsessing over certain points; namely UI design, usability, and common sense in design.
Finally got the new design up, though I will admit that there are still some tweeks that I’ve got to address. I’ve got the design stable enough that I’m comfortable releasing it now. I’ve lost enough sleep on this damned thing already, so some small things I’m not overly worried about
This design has been in the works for at least a month now, though probably longer. I made sure I didn’t rush into the markup, and so there was a lot of time spent in Fireworks tweaking things. Once I was finally happy with the design – which took a while – I finally moved everything into HTML which was …fun.
So I’m making this post while blatantly aware that some of my readers will probably have no Idea what I’m talking about. If you’re one of those people, just nod your head and pretend to listen.
A while back I came across a little website called 9rules. As it turned out 9rules was very much similar to Digg.com, Design Float, Mixx, and so on. It was a social hub where ideas were exchanged, participation was rewarded, and all was well. Somewhat of an opportunist, I took advantage of 9rules and their content submission to help my site gain some popularity (I’m sure I gained nothing from it) by submitting my design-related posts to their ever-flowing river of content.
I admit that this is a bit dubious in nature, but it is a white hat way to get your name out there, and that’s something I’m still working on doing. Hate me if you want, but that’s what I used it for. I regret that a little in retrospect, because they had a good community, and I chose to throw my stories into the pile instead of participating and making it better.
The lamenting has a point, so stick with me.
So I’m nearing the end of my first major project. Well alright I’ve had many projects in my life, but this was my first professional project. I was … many things in my project: Lead Developer, Lead Architect, Psudo-Business Analyst, Negotiator, Trainer, Mediator, Whip-cracker. The list goes on.
As the project is finally winding down, I feel it prudent that I write down some of the nuggets of information that I have gleaned from the experience.
Follow along and learn with me as I half-rant life tips.
I despise scope creep with every part of my being. To me, scope creep is comparable to nails on a chalk board, or having my hand slammed in a door again and again and again. It is the ruiner of projects, products, and I’m sure I could find some way to tie it into how Rock and/or Roll music is obviously ruining society. It takes what would in most cases be a solid project, a solid time line, and solid analysis, and tosses them all to the winds.
A quick, simple, and generalized definition: Scope Creep is when someone (yourself or otherwise) adds new functionality, features, or other additions while still expecting your project/product/whatever to still be due by the same time.
I did these a couple weeks ago with the idea of doing a whole series of them. I still might, actually. In any case, I give you 2.0 Wallpapers. They’re all in 1280 x 1024 format, but You can shrink ‘em down if you’re really feeling it.
And with that I am going to lay down, because my head feels like it’s about to explode.
Yes I’m aware that this is a bit of a cop-out post, but I made a bonus one on Friday so that’s my excuse.
G’night.