Category: Burningbird

Categories
People Writing

Head First into Kathy Sierra

Recovered from the Wayback Machine.

I received an O’Reilly email update today about a new edition of Head First into Java just hitting the streets. I had reviewed the Head Into series a while back, and particularly liked the EJB book.

Seeing the book notice today reminded me of the discussion on the O’Reilly ETech conference and the 9% solution. During this, I got into a comment exchange over at David Weinberger’s post with one of the attendees at the conference, Kathy Sierra. Kathy is none other than the author of this series.

I was remiss in not linking to Kathy at the time–probably because like all magpies, a bright new shiny caught my attention and there I followed. However, I thought the book announcement was an excellent opportunity to rectify my ommission. If you haven’t chanced by Kathy’s weblog, Creating Passionate Users yet, you really should; she’s brought her “Head Into” use of fanciful and colorful graphics, and her very active, positive writing style into her weblog and it’s a fun mix. Most importantly, she’s a ‘longform’ writer, and we need more of these!

Well, along with women in technology that is.

Categories
Burningbird Photography

The shop

The Shop: Update.

I installed both Coppermine and Gallery photo management software, and after playing around, I decided to stay with Gallery. Coppermine is nice, and a very clean interface. However, Gallery, with it’s themes and pages of configuration allows me to have more control over the interface.

I uploaded just a few test photos, but they won’t necessarily be in the collection when I’m finished. I have to also go through all the photos and decide which to display. Let me know if you want to help me go through several hundred photos.

My business model for the Shop is based on seeking revenue from many different avenues. I’m going to LuLu for a calendar–the Water Mills of Missouri. I may also do one on my recent Florida trip, and call it One Ticket Please (just like the book that is now making its way around from place to place).

For goods, I have a store at Café Press. It’s a hacked mess now, and the images haven’t been refined for their use — but it was fun to play today. That’s when I got the idea for the limited edition of Burningbird refrigerator magnets. Other goodies too. Not a thong, though.

I’m focusing on my Missouri photos, as I can’t help thinking a regional collection could be the best avenue for revenue. We’ll see.

Finally, at Tinfoil Project itself, in the gallery, I’m following a model that Bill Grant is using (yes, pretty Alley Spring photos); except rather than using email, I’m either going to connect in a Paypal shopping cart, or I may interface directly to OsCommerce. I think the PayPal solution is better, at least right now. OsCommerce is a big, complex app.

What I’m doing different from Mr. Grant is that I am providing a web page image for no charge — free for personal web sites to use as long as they provide a link back. The reason for this is to hopefully start generating interest in the work. A larger, high resolution image is then available for sale, for royalty free use by the buyer.

I’m providing prints through my local development studio, though I won’t be charging as much. I’ll also provide an option of a ‘photographer’ print: hand printed by me and signed. I know–aren’t I special?

I’m banking that my photos–not all, but some–are good enough. Or, at a minimum, you’ll all want one each of my limited edition magnets.

Suggestions, as always, welcome.

(And now I return to regularly scheduled writing…)

The link to the old Tinfoil Project photo weblog can still be accessed for now; but the weblog is going away. I’m replacing the photo weblog with a photographer’s How-To weblog, covering digital photography and tools. And in this site, I will be putting the Google ads back up, since the topic is so focused on photography.

The photos will be in the Gallery software, and once I redesign the new weblog, it and the gallery and the stores will all be linked from a main page.

I thought you all might find the progress–how the software evolves– to be interesting, which is why I’m pointing all these sites out now, even hacked as they are.

Categories
Burningbird

Compromise

Most people liked the change to the serif fonts, but not all. So I took the Delacour route and have implemented a style switcher.

Hopefully you’ll see the default of this weblog when you load the page the first time. If you don’t let me know, or move to the bottom of the page and click one of the style buttons: serif or sans.

The style switcher does cause a very small lag in load times, which is why I didn’t want use it. But if some of you are having a hard time reading the serif fonts, the lag will just have to be something we live with. Some tweaking of the common bits out into a third stylesheet that is loaded automatically should take care of most of this.

update

Looks like everything is working nicely now and for those who want the sans-serif they now have that option.

Categories
Weblogging Writing

Telling a story

Loren Webster has taken his new addictionfascination with PhotoShop and combined it with philosophical reminisces of cars he’s owned into a set of really lovely posts, beginning with this one about a boy and his Studebaker.

I like every form of writing I find in weblogs, being more interested in the person and/or work rather any specific type, but there’s a special place in my heart for writings such as this: works that add art or photographs or poetry or music, sometimes with asides from history or linguistics or philosophy; all mixed in, subtly, with personal views and a little personal history. It’s the type of writing I love to do most, and enjoy reading whenever the whimsy strikes any of you. Even within the technology writings, I like those that sprinkle humor and humanity among all the angle brackets and arguments of which is better: Part A or Part B.

But as Anil Dash wrote recently, someone somewhere will say this isn’t weblogging. And though I think we can safely say that not everyone loves Anil (”Just joking Anil! Truce!”), he’s hit it dead on when he writes:

One good sign that a community is maturing is that some of the earlier or more influential members start trying to dictate how it should be done. Use more bold letters! Don’t use comments! Insert more pictures! Whatever the rule, it’s generally being used to assert authority over the nascent community, or to defend some arbitrary choices that have been made and are now being questioned.

This came up this weekend in another context, circumstances and participants withheld to protect me, because the lord knows if I don’t watch my butt no one else will; and as usual it grates on me and saddens me because we put a great deal of our creative effort into works that shouldn’t even exist according to these people. Worse, to some of these arbiters of great weblogging, doing so demeans the seriousness of this medium, yada yada yada.

Every year there is a new crop of people going out into the world armed with formal concepts and rules about how this all works; and every year we then have to follow along behind, tagging the clean, careful concepts with the purple and red graffiti of revolt and trashing the rules like the anarchists we are.

I have contributed to a book on weblogging in the past, but if I were asked to write a “Weblogging for Dummies” book now, it would look as follows:

Chapter One:

Page one:

“Begin.”

Now I’ve just saved you all a lot of money, which you can soon spend on limited edition “Burningbird” refrigerator magnets. Collect as many as you can; trade ‘em with your friends.

And stop by Loren’s and share your own car story.

Categories
Burningbird

I am the center of the Burningbird universe

As you might also notice, I’ve finished my all about me bar, which is now under the main title on all the pages.

The Feed Me page lists all the various ways to feed the bird, including hiring and sponsoring. I may have pulled ads, but I am open to sponsors–especially if its a product I can get behind. I’m still adding to the Writings page, but it gives a sampling of my work. The Resumé page is very detailed, and very long–much longer than normally recommended. However, a few years back, it wasn’t unusual for me to be working two or more consulting jobs, writing for a couple of publications, and working on a book, all at the same time. The resumé tries to cover all the different types of work and technologies I was involved with at the time.

I’ve also had people say they like my longer resumé and others say they don’t. Such is life — I’d rather give people too much, than too little.

(I think you can also see why no company will hire me for a permanent position–not with that much consulting and independent contracting behind me.)

Besides, I think it’s about time I started selling myself, rather than indulge in the all too typical female modesty, with all the disclaimers of “Aaw shucks, it ain’t no big thang”. If I continue, I’m going to female modesty myself right out of a car, computer, and Net connection. Then where would you all be? There’d be this dead void in your syndication feed lists where the Bird used to be.

Of course, having said all of this–I would like feedback on the pages. Especially that resumé page. What think? Does it help? Or hurt? I may be stubborn but I’m not mulish, and if it’s too long, or provides way too much info, I’ll cut it back.

update

Thanks to the kindness of those who have left comments, I have made extensive edits to the pages.