As Far As I Can Tell

Winter gave me a magical moment today, as it�s prone to do at least a few times per year. While driving I was held up by an Amtrak train. It blew the snow on the tracks into such an incredible cloud that the train disappeared as soon as it crossed my path. The flurry continued with the train and I was never able to see it again.

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I�ve been using the same alarm clock for months now, but only today discovered a hidden feature of it. I�m the sort of person who hits snooze a lot before waking up. Actually, I pick up the alarm clock after the first buzzer and bring it back to bed with me. Then with each round of snoozing it�s already in my hand for easy access.

I�ve been annoyed for a while that the button seems incredibly hard to push. I have to press it hard or hit it multiple times to get the alarm to stop. This morning was I cognizant enough to realize that the amount of times it has to be pressed is increased by one every time you hit snooze. So on the fourth round; you have to press it four times to silence it.

I hope that this is true, and not just some sort of sleepy-time hallucination.

Update:
Apparently this was something I made up in my dreamy state. It’s Meredith’s alarm clock and she said it definitely doesn’t do what I’ve described. Rather than being so awake that I was able to discover this, I was really so sleepy that I made it up.

Hello everyone. I’d like you to meet my new neice, Katherine Ruth Bodkin. She’s been around since January 22, at 2:10p.m., but I’m not going to meet her until Sunday.

The project I’ve been working on at work for months now has finally launched. applejacks.com isn’t my design, though I was the lead front end programmer. We had a variety of difficult issues to overcome during its development. The site is conceived as a “game” of sorts, to find out who changed the Apple Jacks to be shaped like jacks (which they normally aren’t).

One of the key things I worked on was a panel that the participants can use to log clues. By creating it in Flash we were able to have a multi-screen process that interacts with the server, but without reloading the current page. JavaScript talks to Flash, Flash talks to Perl, the chain reverses, and the user can continue to log clues on that page. My tasks were mainly JavaScript/Flash based, and the timeline was long-term enough that I was actually able to do things in a manner that I’m happy with.

The site is tied into a larger media campaign that utilizes TV ads and packaging to drive people to the web. While that’s fine, I’m a little freaked out by the way which the campaign is talked about at work. It’s being positioned as the creation of an “online community” and “tween phenomenon”. It utilizes viral marketing techniques and those annoying banner ads that come up over the content of the page you’re viewing. We’re partnered with the very evil DoubleClick for banner media, which makes me uncomfortable. In the same day I both installed software to get rid of DoubleClick style cookies on my personal computer, and added DoubleClick tracking codes to this website.

While I’m at work I’m able to hide my head in the sand and focus on the technological challenges at hand. Once the project is over though, I’m reminded that it’s really just a website to trick kids into eating more sugary cereal; hardly something to be proud of.

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In freelance related news I’ve completed a photography website for Scott Gruss that I started a few months ago. By client request its ultra minimal to match his work. I co-designed the visuals and did all Flash programming and interaction design.

I’ve been spurred out of dormancy once again by comments from friends. I’m in the middle of re-designing this weblog, which always makes me want to wait until it’s done before posting. That’s sort of silly though, and I have something interesting to let you know:

Today I was wondering how I could participate in the Democratic primary election in Michigan. A small amount of research showed me that it’s actually easier in Michigan than any other state. The Michigan Democrats are making voting history by allowing citizens to cast their vote on the Internet. Now there’s no excuse not to cast your ballot. Sign up at applytovote.com.

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I’ve been very busy this new year. So busy in fact that I’m falling behind on various things. There are some branch reviews going on for new Moped Army branches, but I haven’t been able to contribute much. I have a stack of books I got for Christmas but I haven’t read a word. I want to start designing and building the Rocket Star website, but I’ve only gone a little ways and stalled.

This lack of time is coming from working full-time and teaching. The class is going well, but I underestimated how much time outside of the scheduled hours it would require. Luckily, things will get easier as time goes by.

Overall though, I’m very satisfied with this new year. I promise that I’ll have photos from the holidays online soon, as well as the new site design.