Yes, Viriginia, You Can Be a Designer & Developer (and an architect/engineer)

25 Aug 2011

My lovely partner, Queenellen, came across this weird posting in the "help wanted" section of craigslist.

I realize that the poster was attempting to clarify some concepts, but naturally, the posting rubbed me the wrong way. Clearly some designers can not program nor develop, and some developers should never be allowed near a pen, but to say that the two are mutually exclusive is patently false. For us, design and development are part-and-parcel of the same process. Likewise, many architects are also capable civil engineers.

Lest you think I'm merely tooting my own renaissance-man-horn, I point you to the designer/programmer/developer Maeda -- whose Java applets of the late 90s are the sine qua non of high-level design combined with high-level programming. See his website and work by following the link below.

Visit Maeda Studio »

Pepsi Schmepsi

14 Jun 2010

One of my children apparently came home today raving -- again -- about the utterly lame "new" Pepsi logo. Actually it's not that new, but every time that silly sail shaped thing is seen on a billboard, upset feelings occur anew.

What seems to irritate this particular child the most is the crucial piece of knowledge -- imparted by dear Father -- that the ad & branding company was paid millions to spiff up the Pepsi logo. And then they made it worse. My child said "That's a ripoff. They should give the money back!".

And no, I'm not making this up.

Offshore Drilling for the Masses

31 Mar 2010

Coming soon to a beach only fifty miles away!

"I like coffee; I like sludge!"

healthcare for the miniscules

23 Mar 2010

What's a sole proprietor to do? Pay the fine? Pay the insurance company? Move to New Zealand? Hmm...