Adam Howell dot org

Wifi brings in the suits

Adam — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 16:37:29 +0000

Wherever there’s free wi-fi and coffee, there will be binders full of shady sales pitches, suits and ties having day-long meetings to brainstorm out of the box solutions to hitting this quarter’s sales goals and earnest people doing their best to ignore the Kenny G and make that one last, loud, annoying sales call.

Trivial notes about NFL logos

Adam — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 04:34:03 +0000

I’m going through all the NFL logos on SportsLogos.net for a personal project of mine and came up with a few observations during my work:

Oldest logo still in use: Steelers (1963) — Dallas is a close second (64)
Coolest old logo: Chargers (61-73)
Stupidest old logo: Steelers (60-61) — slipping on a high steel beam shouldn’t be this fun
Ugliest old logo: Packers (51-55) — the redesign wasn’t much better
Ugliest “team of the past” logo: Houston Oilers (60-71)
Most inclusive logo: Chiefs (63-71) — they included half the lower 48 in this thing
Logo that looks most like Radioshack’s current logo: Redskins (70-71)

Design blogging ain’t what it used to be

Adam — Tue, 27 May 2008 21:12:45 +0000

I read a lot fewer design blogs than I used to, and one of the big reasons — even bigger than lack of time — is because there’s a lot less good content out there that needs to be kept up with. Designers just aren’t blogging like they used to.

Why? My guesses are 1) social networks like Twitter and Facebook and 2) web design has stalled and it’s just not as much fun to write about as it was 3-4 years ago (there’s also probably a 3) of blogging in general isn’t as close knit or rewarding as it was a few years ago, which I’m sure is another big reason Twitter has taken off).

To test this theory I came up with 10 design bloggers who’ve been blogging since 2004 — when web standards adoption really took off and everyone was writing about it, sharing tips, tricks and their latest work. I wanted to compare the number of blog posts they’d written up to this point in 2004 to the number of blog posts they’ve written so far this year.

I know this isn’t a scientific study or anything, but here’s my quick count:

Andy Budd, 2004: 80, 2008: 16
Dan Rubin, 2004: 24, 2008: 3
Eric Meyer, 2004: 89, 2008: 33
Jason Santa Maria, 2004: 30, 2008: 6
Keith Robinson, 2004: 137, 2008: 8
Mezzoblue, 2004: 67, 2008: 8
Molly, 2004: 71, 2008: 42
Simplebits, 2004: 56, 2008: 14
Stopdesign, 2004: 30, 2008: 4
Veerle’s blog, 2004: 113, 2008: 28

So, on average these still popular design bloggers have written about 75% less this year than they did in 2004. I guess it speaks again to just how interesting web design’s gotten these last few years.

Google Sites launches to the world

Adam — Thu, 22 May 2008 17:02:03 +0000

Last night we expanded the launch of Google Sites to, well, everybody. Here’s the Techmeme and Blog Search coverage.

Solo no mo’

Adam — Mon, 12 May 2008 15:35:27 +0000

I’m now finally, utterly, painfully convinced — after trying for years and years — that going solo with a side project that’ll eventually make enough money that you can quit your dayjob — while doing said dayjob fulltime — is virtually impossible. And very, very close to flat-out impossible.

Times two if you have anyone who cares about you and relies on you — and would like you to speak to them at least once a day — like say a wife or a toddler.

Maybe I’m just not smart enough. Or maybe my dayjob is just too demanding. Or maybe, just maybe, you really do have to go into a new business venture with your entire self — and the entire selves of a few others — in order to make it a success.

You win this one PG. Well played, sir.

Developing with Google App Engine, Part I

Adam — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 14:34:55 +0000

Developing with Google App Engine, Part I — the first of two articles I’m writing for Vitamin about GAE — is up. It touches on the basics of GAE through the building of the super simple Startupdown, “where startups throw down.”

Chuck Berry Remembers Call From Cousin About White Kid Playing ‘Johnny B. Goode’

Adam — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 10:50:34 +0000

Chuck Berry Remembers Call From Cousin About White Kid Playing ‘Johnny B. Goode’. The Onion 1, Rest of Mankind 0.

I want my Fireworks CS3

Adam — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 09:12:45 +0000

I bought Fireworks CS3 last night. I’m still waiting for my activation email. Seriously? What, are they hand processing these things?

FaxIt Nice

Adam — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 19:18:56 +0000

I found something like FaxIt Nice once a long time ago and could never find it again. Finally, don’t have to pay monthly or go to Kinko’s for my once or twice a month fax needs.

Googolopoly

Adam — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 09:12:03 +0000

JotSpot is down in the bottom left between Writely and Blogspot. It’d be Vermont Ave. in the regular game. Box.net obviously meant it as a critique of Google’s “web monopoly,” but I just like it for nostalgic reasons.