I notice that I often avoid certain large tasks because I know I don’t have time to complete them. If I have a meeting in 30 minutes, I don’t want to open up PowerPoint and design the next generation of business intelligence tools. All that will happen is that I get things set up, start…
There is a product development philosophy that I strongly believe in, especially for the Software-As-Service world (a.k.a. Extranet). I call that philosophy the “Pendulum”. The pendulum oscillates between features and quality in a product. A feature is a new thing that the product should do. Quality is a catch-all for improving the performance, removing bugs,…
I just recently saw this posting by Eric Meyer on how browser makers and big companies interact and how browsers (and developers) are put in a bad situation. The short version is: Browser makers want to update their browser to follow standards. Terrible developers complain that their f**ked up HTML and JS will break if…
Every Sunday, I have extr time with the kids. We want to go into town nd do little shopping. Yet, every Sunday, I forget that most stores are closed. Our favorite Sushi place is closed. Even Guitar World (we needed to buy some picks) was closed. Why is this? The weekend is the one part…
I remember the 2000 primaries. Al Gore was battling Bill Bradley. I don’t remember all of the details, but specifically, I remember feeling guilty after the election. I thought, Bill Bradley would have been a better candidate. Right now, I am having deja vu. Is Barack Obama the new Bill Bradley? Will I feel remorse…
Forums have led a strange existence on the web for a long time. I have seen the evolution from AOL and bulletin boards to more sophisticated technologies with lots of features. The problem is, I feel that forums have not evolved and become more useful. My favorite type of forum is Experts Exchange. By using…
Recently, we got the Wii for the family. It has been a really interesting and well designed experience so far. Alot of great innovations are baked into this thing. The last week, we added a few new features. First, I downloaded the internet channel. The Wii connects to our family Wi-Fi network just like a…
Apparently a very old post of mine is on StubleUpon. Wow, this is from December of 2005. This link drove almost 200 visitors to the page. I haven’t ever used StumbleUpon before. I know what it does, but I just haven’t had the energy to try it. It’s amazing to me that so many people…
Toys R Us’ website sucks. I have been trying to buy a Wii controller using some gift cards for weeks from them. Here is the pattern of my unhappiness: Search stinks. If I search for Wii controller, show me a page of Wii controllers. How hard is that?? Makes me click 5 times to get…
The Dow Jones Industrial Average took a plunge this morning. It got me thinking. I wonder what the Dow looks like for the last 16 years. 8 years of Bill Clinton and 8 years (almost) of Bush. I used data/sceenshot from Investor.com Notice how the Bush years aren’t quite as good as the Clinton years. …
I was discussing with Katie about Ethan and how he is so hard on himself. He is nearly a perfectionist and works really hard. I am so proud of him. However, he has incredibly low self-esteem. I wonder where he gets this from? (cough!Katie!cough!) I need to instill in him some of the Lipka confidence. …
Matthew is going to the potty by himself these days. He still needs help wiping his butt though. The other night, we hear his regular yoddle, “Mooooommmm, I’m Dooooonnnnne!” I went in to help him. The first thing he does is hand me a whisk. He says, “Thank you daddy, I don’t need this anymore.…
Hillary Clinton is a genius. I never thought of this, but she just pulled out the unbeatable strategy. Crying. Think about it. When a man cries, he is not strong and usually ridiculed. When a woman cries, men immediately give up and woman bond together. I think it’s from some evolutionary gene or something. Crying…
This is an interesting technique for preloading graphics. Resources: One here. This guy originated it, but it’s pulled down now. #preloadedImages { width: 0px; height: 0px; display: inline; background-image: url(path/to/image1.gif); background-image: url(path/to/image2.gif); background-image: url(path/to/image3.gif); background-image: url(path/to/image4.gif); background-image: url(); } This is much easier than using JS to do it. I need to experiment with it…