solidhex.com

How Design Can Save Democracy has been generating a lot of buzz lately. After all, it has been roundly recognized that some folks found the 2000 General Election butterfly ballots confusing, so why not let designers address the issue?

That’s a good start, but why stop there? Why not move voting online? We can already do our taxes online and that’s much more sensitive and private data then a hacker finding out which gum flapping bag of hot air I voted for. What could possibly go wrong?

I suppose a malicious user could game the system to vote for a particular candidate or proposition multiple times. But someone could also steal your Social Security number from your online bank account, open a bunch of credit cards and retire fat and happy in the Cayman Islands.

Since no one keeps their politics private anymore anyway, what about tweeting our votes? People already plaster stickers of their favorite candidate all over their hybrid’s bumper like it’s the local basketball team so why not increase the exposure to millions of users rather than just a few fellow motorists? And while I am on that topic, it’s safe to remove those Kerry/Edwards stickers now. You know who are.

With that voting mess all sorted out, we can now focus on something much more important - the release of Firebug 1.2. If you’ve been using one of the beta versions (1.2.0b1-15) with Firefox 3 I highly suggest you update now and start enjoying the good life.

Sensei Resig has a write up about it over on his cyberspace if you want the lowdown.

Eh, this probably seems inexplicably lame to the casual observer, but Teddy Ruxpin is something of a cult hero around the office. Maybe we just have too much time on our hands…

Slowly but surely, I am finally starting to make some tweaks around here. Firstly, I’ve updated the blogroll list, but I am taking (what I think) is a unique approach; I’ve either met or worked with everyone on my blogroll list at some point or another. I am doing this for two reasons:

1. It will help me remember everyone I’ve met during the course of the year at conferences and meet-ups.
2. It makes me look more important than I actually am.

And by met, I mean in person, face-to-face. I think this will encourage me to introduce myself to more people. In the interest of full disclosure, I basically stole the idea from Jeremy Keith’s bedroll. He takes it one step further by actually requiring a stay over night and a bouzouki serenade, but that’s more than I willing to extend myself at this juncture. Speaking of Jeremy, he is not yet on my list, even though I’ve had iChat conversations with him a couple of times and sat next to him at a panel or two, it’s not kosher per my strict sidebar-linking guidelines. For everyone else on my list, it’s a sure bet I’ve either talked geek with or work with them.

Other minor tweaks as well as vast re-aligns are coming shortly as I find time. But let it be said, I am really committed to improving this site. Where did all this zest and vigor come from? I’ve been a front-end web developer, full time, for the last four years at Fluidesign. I’ve been tinkering on the web for eight years. It’s been a long time since I’ve done anything other than client work. Plus, I want to give a little back to the web community at large if I can. I’ve learned countless time saving tricks and bug fixes from everyone else, and it’s high time I bring something to the table other than my own hungry, fat stomach.

This, without a doubt, has been my busiest December ever. It included a trip to Web Design World 2007 in Boston, temporary relocation from my apartment due to mold infestation, an office move, client work and of course Christmas and New Years. Don’t mistake that for complaining mind you, I just never realized how many fun-filled activities could be jam-packed into one calendar month.

Due to the benevolent nature of my employer, our office is officially closed from now through January 2. It truly is the most wonderful time of the year. It would have been more pleasant to kick off my vacation without the flu, but hey, can’t have your cake and eat it too, right? Even if I were to eat said cake, it probably would taste like Styrofoam anyway.

This is all a very long winded way of me wishing everyone the best for the holidays and the coming year. And speaking of the coming year, perhaps I will finally actually do something with my bit of cyber real estate - I’ve been rocking the default WordPress theme for about, oh, four months now?

My major flaw has (always) been that I will hash and re-hash a layout or design or CSS file about 10,000 times only to then either banish it to the recycle bin, or just store it my archives. When I saw Dan Cederholm speak a few weeks back in Boston, he made reference to the book Let My People Go Surfing by Yvon Chouinard, and the notion of an 80 percenter. Perhaps I need that more philosophical approach to my work. I might actually get something done!

My plans of relaunching with a fresh theme have been derailed oh so slightly by a crazy work week. No excuses. Always play like a champion. Currently, I split blogging duties between solidhex and The Company’s internal blog. Said company blog will become public in the very near future. Imagine my embarrassment if my personal site isn’t up to date by then.

In keeping with true geek fashion, I have left the title of my first post as is. Consider it a nod to all the ones who stood before me. Those of you not familiar with programming parlance might not recognize the above catch phrase. Typically, it’s the first script you write in any programming language to get a feel for the syntax. It’s not particularly clever or cute anymore, but it’s kind of a tradition.

If you are really interested - even though I can’t imagine you are - you can read all the gory details via Wikipedia. This counts as your ‘learn something new everyday’ bit, so you owe me one.