Katie and I recently watched Crash. Katie ad I liked the movie alot. It was a study on people’s motivations and the cause/effect relationships people have. It shows how someone becomes the way they are, especially in irrational moments.

However, there was one scene. The one with the little girl. Both Katie and I YELPED when it happened. We almost started crying. I couldn’t breath. And when the reality was revealed, I felt this overwhelming sense of relief. I couldn’t think straight for the rest of the movie. I think they should’ve ended the movie on that scene.

I gave the movie overall a 4/5 but I gave this one scene a 10 out of 5. Best scene in a movie, ever. Even better than when …dare I say… Leroy caught the bullet in his teeth. I said it. Ugh, I feel dirty. But it is true. Although you might need children of your own to truly feel that scene in your gut. Not sure.

I just finished The Paradox of Choice. Somewhere in the middle of the book it switched from being an information architecture/usability/psychology book into a self-help book for coping with depression. All good interesting stuff, but I was given the book by a usability expert and thought it could have been more targeted for my needs.

The next book, given by the same person, is The Wisdom of Crowds. Basically, it states that UNDER CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES (repeat that disclaimer), a group of people can actually be much more accurate that individuals, no matter how smart the individual. It has wide ranging implications. I just started it, but it seems viable.

These kinds of books, “Theory Books”, as I term them, usually get boring somewhere in the middle of the book. Guns, Germ and Steel was like this. I get the theory, and even accept the theory, but then I have to suffer through 100 more examples and proofs. Most of these books could be a lot shorter.

After this one, I have the 2005 political book Katie got me, which is actually really enjoyable. Then back to Katherine Graham’s autobiography. Lots to read. Thank goodness for CalTrain.

Lately Jared is being very sweet to me, although I hear not so sweet stories from Katie. This morning he said, “Daddy, I have something special to tell you… Thanks for throwing me on the bad, I liked it.” I said, “Your welcome, you are a good boy.” He replied, “No Problem!”.

I like that he is saying Thank You and that he is being a good boy, however, I don’t really get the “No Problem!” thing he keeps saying. Why is he saying it? Like being a good boy is not a problem? Of course, being a bad boy IS a problem. It just strikes me as odd.

I was recently, at work, given the book, The Paradox of Choice, to read. It confirms many anecdotal stories and observations I have had about human behavior and decision making.

A long time ago, I heard a report on NPR about a study that said, “People who research decisions and review many alternatives are usually UN-happier with their decision than people who make “gut” decisions. The reason, says Barry Schwartz, has to do with basic human pschology; our aversion to loss, regret and avoidance of responsibility. Decision-making, says Napolean Bonaparte, is the most difficult skill to master and therefore, the most valuable.

This education gives me better insight into why certain web designs work better than others. It also bolsters my world view that information architecture is one of the most important design tools we have in the 21st century.

More on this later, but here is some advice…make more gut decisions. Don’t think about the alternatives, they will only make you upset.

Vice President Dick Cheney: I am the most powerful
vice president in the history of the US! I rock! I can get away with anything! I rock so hard.

Karl Rove: Hmmm, you never shot anyone. Aaron Burr
shot Alexander Hamilton while he was VP and got away with it.

Vice President Dick Cheney: Aaron Burr? Bastard! Hmm.
I bet I could shoot someone and get away with it.

Karl Rove: No way, dude. You would get caught.

Vice President Dick Cheney: Wanna bet? I am the all
powerful Dick. I can shoot anyone I please.

Karl Rove: I am not going to bet you. You probably
will shoot a secret service guy in the foot.

Vice President Dick Cheney: No, I swear! I’ll shoot
someone for real! And not a security guy. A normal guy.

Karl Rove: I don’t know. Make it an old guy.
And you have to shoot him in the face! No bullet proof vest or
anything.

Vice President Dick Cheney: You’re on! Shall we make it our normal bet?

Karl Rove: $1 Dollar. It’s a bet.

I am not saying this is exactly what happened, but I think we all know it might be true. Article: Dick Cheney shoots old man in the face. Says, “I thought he was a bird”.

I bought the new Gillete Fusion Razor with battery. I didn’t have high hopes, but I had to know, would a battery powered razor be any better than a normal razor? The answer, I can answer from this morning is yes. The thing vibrates, so it feels like it is much harder to cut myself. It also makes me feel like technology is cool.

Emotionally, I love my fusion razor.

On NPR I heard an engineer saying he wanted to infuse my cell phone with a GPS and artificial intelligence so that it could tell where I was and figure out whether to ring me or not. I thought this was the stupidest thing in the world. I want a big button on my phone called MUTE. I either want it to mute or not mute. How hard is that? Why do I have 6 different profiles?? I want MUTE and NOT MUTE. Please for the love of god someone join Motorola and fix these gadgets from hell.

Emotionally, I hate my motorola cell phone.

I have been frustrated for years with Macromedia’s complete lack of support for Homesite. Even though it solves my problems, I do not like being treated that way. I want new Beta software, all the time! So I have been looking for something that is like Homesite, but actively being worked on.

Dreamweaver failed the test for 2 simple reasons.
1. The Advanced Find and Replace feature was HARDER to use, not easier. I use this feature all the time.
2. The left file explorer would not allow me to split the tree so that the folders were at the top and the files were at the bottom.

I am VERY picky about my html editors because I use it so often and I need it to be fast and easy. Right now I am trying HTMLPad 2005. It looks promising, I will update later. Also I am going to try Best Address HTML Editor. I tried TopStyle, which is great for CSS, but just doesn’t do what I need from an HTML Editor.

The BEST tool would have a JavaScript debugger built in, but that is just too much to ask. Maybe one day.

This morning, something wonderful happened.

Matthew (Age: one and a half) said to Katie: “Potty!”
Katie brought the boy to the bathroom and had him sit down. The next thing you know… SLAM BAM THANK YOU MAMM! He did it!

Matthew, I love you. Please keep it going. Let’s not make this a one-time thing. Follow-through, that is important. Don’t drop the ball. You da man!

Today, is a great day.

Pretty good game. The Pittsburgh Steelers won the game. Several plays (interceptions) could have changed the game. Each team had a chance to win and the defenses stepped up. In general, the Seattle Seahawks wide receivers dropped the ball several times in several key plays. I think that may be the ultimate difference. This game could have gone either way.

The commercials were pretty good. I really liked the FedEx commercial early in the game. There was another I laughed at, but I can’t remember it. Katie loved the United Airlines commercial because it looked so beautiful. I thought the Pepsi commercials were stupid. I hated the big production number for Burger King.

Speaking of Burger King, I have liked their recent campaign of putting the King overlayed on top of NFL games. I thought Burger King missed a huge opportunity to replay the best plays of the Superbowl with the King. Poor Form, King.

Next step: Pray for a brilliant draft pick for the Jets. Please God, stop torturing me.