Alex Jones: Web Technologist, Barbecue Acolyte, Information Junkie, Austinite

Don’t tell people how to do things…

“Don’t tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results.”
George S. Patton

Posted in Quotes & Toasts

We Are All Mad

“When we remember we are all mad, the mysteries disappear and life stands explained.”
Mark Twain

Posted in Quotes & Toasts

The Magnetic Interface Design Toolkit

I must admit the Magnetic Interface Design Toolkit is pretty neat. But not $40 neat.

The idea of having a physical template to play with is great, especially if I don’t have to print out a whole bunch of elements and then take scissors to the printouts. All the better that a whiteboard is used as the backing. I love whiteboards. I want an office with at least one wall covered floor-to-ceiling with a whiteboard.

Found via GUUUI.

Posted in Design & UI

The Ones We Love

Here’s to the ones we love,
The ones we love so much,
If the ones we love don’t love us back,
Fuck ‘em here’s to us!
Unknown

Posted in Quotes & Toasts

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is my mom’s birthday, sadly this is the first time in my 27 years that I haven’t been there to celebrate with her in person.

Posted in General

When We Drink, We Get Drunk

When we drink, we get drunk.
When we get drunk, we fall asleep.
When we fall asleep, we commit no sin.
When we commit no sin, we go to heaven.
So, let’s all get drunk, and go to heaven!
Traditional Irish

Posted in Quotes & Toasts

Blanket Statements in Web Design

Brandy at mediadiva.net posted a conversation she had with a coworker concerning the use of blanket statements in about Web Design. For those of us designing and developing sites professionally, certain blanket statements are a regular fixture at meetings. In addition to the three she mentioned (pop up windows are bad, Flash is bad and everything should be a click away from everything else) we are faced with people who have read an article in an industry magazine, lightly touching on a subject, or even worse spoke with a sales rep from a company peddling some new technology that will “revolutionize the way people use the Web”. It’s the statement of the day that gets me. How do you respond to well-intentioned ignorance when it surprises you in the midst of a conversation?

I often wonder if these same people second-guess electricians wiring their house or tell a mechanic that they should use a different color hose for their oil line because they saw a picture of a car with a blue hose in Popular Mechanics.

Posted in Design & UI

We Fear Change

Erik at NSLog(); posted a text clippling titled Company Policy which is sadly, all too true. Companies, large and small succumb to the comfort of habitual thinking and practices at the drop of a hat, stifling new team members and ignoring opportunities because they do not match their personal experiences.

This made all the worse when working in the field of Web Development as some feel they know everything from their previous experience with print design. These past experiences form organizational boundaries around the new team members, dousing them with cold water when they attempt to move beyond. Yet, the new medium requires that we think in ways contrary to past methods. Not all of the time mind you, but for a good portion of it.

We are punished for pointing out a new horizon.
We are punished for doing the job for which they were hired.

We are punished because management and their coworkers don’t understand and are too scared of the cold water.

“The way we have always done it” and “I know what works” are dangerous phrases, which shouldn’t be allowed in the workplace.

Posted in Design & UI

Cheating, Stealing, Fighting and Drinking

Here’s to cheating, stealing, fighting, and drinking.
If you cheat, may you cheat death.
If you steal, may you steal a woman’s heart.
If you fight, may you fight for a brother.
And if you drink, may you drink with me.
Unknown

Posted in Quotes & Toasts

July 03

Sarah and I will be driving down to Austin on July third for an extended weekend. Man, we’re excited!

Posted in General