amazingcube.com

I know it’s been a while since I blogged and it’s going to be a while longer before I start posting regularly. Watch this in the mean time.

I am both stunned and yet not surprised by the recent announcement that support for Netscape web browsers will officially end on February 1, 2008. While I have always had some version of Netscape installed on my machines, I have never been much of a Netscape user, only opting to use Netscape for testing purposes and just plain curiosity when new versions were launched.  However, once I converted to Firefox, I immediately gained a healthy respect for Netscape.

Some see this as a victory for Microsoft, that Internet Explorer has finally killed off it’s long-time nemesis.  However, I do not believe it was Microsoft that killed Netscape.  Really, with both Netscape and Firefox sharing the same guts, it was Firefox that ultimately killed Netscape.  And let’s face it, Netscape was essentially a skinned version of Firefox anyway:

Recently, support for the Netscape browser has been limited to a handful of engineers tasked with creating a skinned version of Firefox with a few extensions.

Oh well, for now I am quite happy to use Firefox. With Netscape’s demise, I will potentially have one less browser to test against in the near future and the world wide web has a more consolidated alternative to Internet Explorer. Fare thee well, dear Netscape. Go get Firefox today.

I told myself that if I were ever to acquire an iPhone or iPod Touch that I would blog with it. It’s Christmas day and I find myself holding this beautiful black slab of technology in the form of an 8 gig touch and have decided to give mobile blogging a try. I am sitting at my desk holding the iPod, tapping out a message and while this task would be much easier with the full-size keyboard sitting inches away from me, I cannot help but be absolutely blown away by the elegant interface of this little beast!

I had much lower expectations for this touch keypad especially given the sausage-like nature of my fingers but the accuracy is incredible. When my meaty digits do find their way to the wrong place, the auto correct is reliable almost to the point of being scary. One could even develop an unhealthy reliance on this feature. I am fighting the urge toward that bad habit.

Okay, so the experience is not ideal for long-winded posts but it is still pretty hot. My shoulders are feeling a little sore as I wrap this post up but that could be less from the awkward thumb typing position and more from the fact that there is also a new Wii in the house. I have such high hopes for the future of technology in this very moment…

Having just approved the comment from AndyAndy that my blog was indeed boring (4 months since last post???) I decided to start a list of excuses for why I have not posted in so long.

I have been reading.

• The Inmates Are Running The Asylum by Alan Cooper
• Don’t Make Me Think! by Steve Krug (a re-read)
• Making and Breaking the Grid by Timothy Samara
• The Elements of Typographic Style by Robert Bringhurst
• Thinking With Type by Ellen Lupton
• My RSS Feeds (Yanko Design, Gadget Lab, SimpleBits, Zeldman, & A Brief Message)
• Also, HOW Magazine finally pulled its head out and started sending my magazine subscription

I have been working.

• I performed all manner of CSS trickery for Pearson’s second version of Course Compass
• I am now focusing on some UX/ID (finally) for Course Compass
• I have been conferencing
• I have been documenting my conferencing
  
• I did some design for UGA’s Sakai pilot
• I helped troubleshoot some of Georgia Tech’s Sakai enhancements
• I did some quick designs for my pal WebChuck
• I am in the process of ripping ESG Utah up by the roots and completely overhauling everything there
• I have blogged elsewhere
  

I have been fathering.

• I have been yelling at cheering for the twin’s at their soccer games
• I have been wondering if wife’s French-Canadian roots have completely diluted any aggressive German football (read soccer) genes in the twins
• I want to know when Kindergarten started assigning homework
• I want to know what’s with the policy to put twins in separate classes (Two different teachers, two completely different homework assignments)
• I have been supporting the Dysart Unified School District by buying snow cones every Friday afternoon when I pick the boys up from school
• I think I will continue to purchase said snow cones through January if AZ weather trends continue
• I have been giving the Princess (daughter) anything she wants (just ask Daddy, sweetheart)

I have been procreating.

• I have been told the baby is due on January 3, 2008
• I hope they stick to the scheduled c-section date of December 27, 2007 so I get the tax break
• I am scheduling my frontal lobotomy soon

One day I hear about this blog called Daddy Types which is sort of daddy/designer oriented blog filled with content that I find interesting. That is almost worth my own blog post but let’s get to the issue. So Daddy Types mentions this contest over at Kid Robot (a site that I already knew about) involving the customization of the Mini Munny Mobile. So I headed over to Kid Robot to check out the contest details, became smitten with the idea of entering, and did something I rarely do with situations like these. I whipped out my credit card, made a personal vow that I would enter this contest and then made my very first purchase from Kid Robot; the blank, white Mini Munny Mobile which would be my foundation for my contest entry in the Mini Munny Mobile Custom Car Show.

Several idead popped into my head about what my customized Munny would look like including turning him into a sweet version of “Ocho”, a.k.a. Herbie the Love Bug. Good thing I didn’t go that route because someone entered a Herbie-inspired entry ahead of me. Then I thought what would be the first thing I customize on my own car? Duh, the wheels! I thought 22″ spinners might do the trick, but then thought probably lots of others would share this idea. Then I thought, instead of going lower, why not higher? Yes, I knew I had found my idea.

So as I got to the task of cannibalizing a toddler’s Tonka toy for a chassis and wheels for my Munny Mobile, I started to think of colors. That is when it occurred to me that I had been seeing a lot of black-on-black trucks lately and they always manage to turn my head and put envy into my heart. I figured it would be a gamble to have everything on the truck painted solid black, but I figured if any of the contest judges caught my vision, it would be well worth it. I added contrast by using both flat and gloss black appropriately (flat on the tires and chassis, gloss for the body, etc.).

Next I had to think about my Munny character. My first idea was mullet, cowboy hat and a Def Leppard t-shirt. I almost went that route until I envisioned hand painting Old English text across his back in the form of a tattoo. I ditched the mullet and cowboy hat idea but not before purchasing fake hair and a miniature black cowboy hat from the local crafts store. While painting the eyes, I decided that pupils are totally overrated. It’s all about the whites of the eyes, and I do mean ALL.

One interesting situation came up with one of my sons when he saw that I had painted the previously stark white Munny with a coat of glossy beige. “Dad, why did you paint Munny brown?” he asked. I told him that some people have brown skin. His reply was “Oh, we have brown skin dad!” We are as caucasian as caucasians can be, but we have been swimming quite a bit this summer and the Arizona sun has baked us to a golden tan. Looking at mine and my son’s arm, I said, “why yes, yes indeed.” I decided to skip the lesson on society’s labels, political correctness and diversity. To my kids, skin color is like hair or eye color. Some people just look different, end of story.

Back to Munny, check out the pictures and leave a comment or two. Win or lose, it was still such a nice change to work on something tangible and totally non-digital for once. I will admit that I wished for an ‘undo’ button on more that occasion while I was doing all of the hand-painting. Licking your finger and trying to rub out your mistake is much less effective.