Random News

Ken Elston Wins

Despite the sweeping control of the Republican, Democratic newcomer Ken Elston took the city council spot in Manassas. I am proud to have contributed to his campaign web site with my buddy Jim Van Meer.

On Teaching Advanced Web Design

In researching and thinking about Advanced Web Design, a course I might be teaching in the spring 0f 2015, I am changing my mind on the type of projects I want to implement for the class. Rather than focusing on technologies, which students could learn on themselves, I would like to turn my attention to digital design such as online editorial experiences, online marketing campaigns and web typography. Now I just need three more enrollments to make it happen.

Poplar Spring Relaunched

The new owners of Poplar Spring Inn had hired a development firm to replace the old site I had designed and developed. They turned a simple, usable, fast-performance web site into a busy, eye-candy, slow-performance site. Unlike the old site, which I carefully crafted to boost performance using MODX, the new site is jammed with all types of plugins, CSS and JavaScripts using WordPress. Take a look at the code and you’ll see what I mean. As for the new design, all the contents are hidden below the giant image on every page. The typography is also a big mess. The good thing is I am now off the hook.

Obsessive Reading

My wife complaint that I hold a book on my hand every chance I get. I am not trying to be a snob or anything, but I am juggling with three books at the moment. I am reading Robin Kelley’s Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original. It’s 500-page long, but it is also so engaging. I am also reading John Pollock’s jQuery: A Beginner’s Guide. It’s roughly 350 pages, but he makes the concepts so easy to understand. I am also reading Sue Apfelbaum and Juliette Cezzar’s Designing the Editorial Experience: A Primer for Print, Web, and Mobile to see if I could use it for Advanced Web Design’s textbook.