The Addictive Future 12
The future of Addictions is something I’ve been meaning to talk about for a few days now. There have been many feature requests (by email, IM, and comments on the two posts, and I’d like to thank those who took the time to make such requests), all of which have been generally accepted as additions to Addictions 2.0 (yes, I’m jumping to 2.0 rather than 1.5 or some other BS versioning convention).
Addictions’ original intent, though probably not made as clear as I could have made it, was to provide a way to show the readers of a blog the author’s (intentionally singular, I’ll explain in a moment) current interest in fields of entertainment — those being games, books, movies, and music. Addictions 1.0 (which I’m bumping 1.0-RC2 to) fulfilled this intent with ease, and then some. However, the people request more, and I’m curious to see where this goes, so I’m going to continue building on to it until it becomes unnecessary or futile.
Some things you’ll see in Addictions 2.0 will include:
- Archiving of past Addictions;
- The ability to have multiple Addictions in one field of entertainment (for example, your top 5 books);
- A more uniform way of placing images (especially useful for people who use theme switchers); and
- Interaction with Amazon’s Web Service, so the user doesn’t have to manually input links
Now earlier, I said that the original intent of Addictions was for a singular author blog. At the time, I did not anticipate the use of Addictions in a blog where there are multiple authors, simply because I normally work in a single-user system, and therefore think in those terms. However, following a user’s request for such, I have decided to separately launch work on Addictions MA 1.0. Addictions MA will have the same codebase as Addictions 2.0 (though it may have limited support for some features), but will be more geared towards multi-author systems in features and will be easily labeled as to whose addictions are whose.
Features for Addictions MA will include the codebase and features of Addictions 2.0 (but with some limiting of the multiple addictions feature) while offering individualized addictions and distinct labelling of them, using what is now subtitles in Addictions 1.0.
So, that’s the Addictive future, as I see it. This should all take a few weeks, so keep watch here, it’ll be here before you know it. I’m extremely excited about this, not only because it’s going to test my PHP knowledge, but also because of the great features we’ll be able to enjoy from this update.
Professionalism: A Decency Lost? 6
Ed.’s Note: Before I get into this, I would like to say that this post is not pointed at anyone in particular, so if you feel like I’m talking about you and singling you out, get over it; this is just a general— albeit disturbing— trend I see in my professional dealings.
Recently, I’ve been involving myself in several projects involving groups of people, both online and offline. In all of these instances, a fair amount of professionalism is an unspoken necessity. However, I’ve found in all of these projects, that many people lack the trait— or that their level of professionalism is lackluster at best.
I find my self sitting there, wondering, then, if that is what the future holds: bickering, instead of making decisions; fighting tooth and nail, instead of compromising; being off-topic, off-color, and flat out rude, instead of focusing, and doing what needs to be done.
And while I know most of these projects don’t have the corporate background where people would typically derive their professionalism (since they need it to make a living, most of the time), it’s still an important asset in any project, I think. Without it, projects quickly go into a nosedive, and— as I, and many others, have encountered first hand— it’s very hard to pull out once you’re in that dive. No one wants to be in that situation, especially with a project they put their heart and soul into.
Being professional, being open-minded, being decent about everything, and willing to compromise— these are all keys things in any project, yet so many people lack the ability to perform in those aspects. Maybe it’s a lack of training, or experience, or know-how, but either way, it should be common to anyone involving themselves in-depth with a project, yet…
So, to address the title of this post: is professionalism a decency lost? Well, not yet. Do I think it’s going to be? Not in a corporate setting, no, too much money is on the line there; small projects, however, and Open Source projects, they, I think, will suffer from this plague of immaturity and closed-mindedness. Those who do it for the love of doing it, with little or no money, but with big dreams— they will suffer, and it will be tragic, and sad, for them. C’est la vie.
Freshly Pressed 18
Recently, I was invited by a good friend (Hi, Michael ;D ) to join a new “startup,” so to speak, with an interesting concept. It’s like any web dev/design startup, where people hire us to build and design a site for them, we get paid, and we do what we love. However, this start-up had a twist: its primary focus was building sites around Wordpress. I, obviously, took the job.
Freshly Pressed, as stated above, focuses its design efforts around Wordpress. We will offer professional-quality Wordpress themes for a fee, as well as hiring out for more customized sites. This is seemingly, though not a completely original idea, the only business of its kind surrounding Wordpress. We hope this will bring about amazing results. The people we have brought in are yanked straight out of the Wordpress community (mostly from the Wordpress IRC channel) and know what they’re doing. I am proud to be involved with this project, and with the help of my colleagues, hope to bring this startup from an idea to an amazing success.
New Section in the Portfolio 10
Just as a note, a new section, Current Projects, has been added to the Portfolio. This will be a constantly updated list of projects I’m currently working on for various clients or for myself. Some projects will, of course, be omitted from this list, depending on whether I’m bound by an NDA or not. However, the list will be a fairly accurate look at my current workload, and should provide a look into what’s to come from the Milk Carton Designs camp.
Help Desk Fundraiser: Final Report 6
So we had, today, what should be our last report to the PTSA regarding the Help Desk Fundraiser. It had a few hitches, mainly me not being good at public speaking and stuttering a bit and fumbling for words. However, I think it went over well, not to mention the Principal and Chairwoman both stood up for the idea to nay-sayers, which really only included one woman. So, with that all said and done, and with all questions asked, they said they wouldn’t know how much money they have to give us, so we go again next month and hopefully get us a nice check. Mm. G5 here we come.
Falling Into the Groove 7
If you visit here often, you may have noticed a lack of updates, but a lot of updating of the actual site, including new features. There are a few reasons for this:
- I’m still trying to get into the groove of exactly what I want to do with this blog. I haven’t quite settled with myself what I want to write about (i.e.: should it just be a web design and development blog, or should I have some personal stuff, too?). This is probably the most prominent of the issues.
- I’m busy. Between school, a girlfriend, and other projects (eg.: Exile), it’s hard to find time to write full posts on here.
- I’m lazy and anything I want to actually blog (by “blog” I mean posting a link and saying “omgwtf this is great!!!!!1111oneoneoneoneshift+1,” y’know, the old sk00l definition) I just stick in my “Link Blog,” which is actually just a plugin for Wordpress to … “import,” I guess you could say … my links from Del.icio.us (I’m a tool to blogging trends, it can’t be helped, but atleast I can admit it).
So you get the point. But I’ll re-emphasize that basically the most prominent reason is that I’m still trying to fall into the groove of what I want to do with the blog. I’m here though. I’m always here. Always doing stuff behind the scenes (hey, hey, lookie that, the colophon was updated for Version 2).
Help Desk Fundraiser: Makin’ Money 0
So. The PTA meeting went well. They said it was a very good idea, well laid out, etc. etc. etc. Currently, we’re in the process of finding other sources of moneys, mostly from local businesses. The local CompUSA has graciously taken $500 off a G5 if we get it from them, and if we sport a tiny banner for them, which is fine. So, that takes us down to ~$1000. We’re still awaiting word from another company that I could’ve done a better job pitching the fundraiser to, but eh. Almost there :D .
Help Desk Fundraiser: The Proposal 12
So, as I mentioned before, I’m organizing this fundraiser for Help Desk at school. So, if you were at all curious, check it out here (PDF).
Update
Doc P said he’s going to forward the PDF to the PTA for consideration.
Projects 5
So I got umptillion projects to do. So, I’ve got this Mal á la tête article to work on, along with my own endeavor to write an article for Design In-Flight or A List Apart (the latter I doubt I will get in since it’s ALA, the former being new and more… tempting as a way to get my name out there). Also, I have Exile in the wings, if anything comes of that. Of course, you know, I have this site, which is always evolving and changing and my constant project.
Now only if I was being paid (someone hire me, for the love of all that is good).
Update
Add another to the list: I’m organizing a fund-raiser for help desk to get a better server comp. for Info-Freeman.
