April 22, 2008
I have a theory: a few decades ago, if the scientists who noticed that the planet was getting warmer chose a different phrase than 'global warming' to rally public support for their cause, serious work on the problem would have begun much earlier.
The problem with the phrase 'global warming' is that it's a scientist's point of view, not a citizen's point of view. Yes, the planet as a whole may be getting warmer, but most people don't grasp that - they see that they've had a unusually cold winter and laugh at the idea that their world is getting warmer. Why should they believe a scientist who says something they can clearly see is not true? The scientists were ...
March 13, 2008
Sitting there in the SXSW panel, I don't even remember which one and it hardly matters anyway, I was overcome - and I do mean overcome, with attendant panicky feelings - that I can't stand the web. I mean, I hate the web. No, not the web per se, but websites. If I see one more horizontal navigation bar, I think I'm going to scream. Like, out loud. They all look the same. It's the same damn thing over and over and over again. I am so damn tired of it.
But there's a problem with railing against all that sameness. The web needs horizontal navigation bars and/or left/right side navigation. It's necessary for usability. Given the amount of stupidity I ...
February 25, 2008
The boys have just arrived after spending the weekend at Norm's. They're here all this week -
all day, every day - because it's spring break. AAPS didn't used to have this week off, they just did an Easter break, but somewhere along the line, the School Board decided that in a college town where the U has this week off, the schools need to be off, too. I'll note that the U doesn't have a long Easter break, but the AAPS didn't cancel theirs, so that kind of shoots the 'we need to match their schedule' argument, no? So now the kids get two weeks off school, spaced about 3 weeks apart. Can you feel my enthusiasm?
Luckily, Keith ...
October 17, 2007
Ed links to a post on Seth Godin's blog.
Seth has this to say about not re-inventing the wheel when it comes to web design:
I'm going to go out on a limb and beg you not to create an original design. There are more than a billion pages on the web. Surely there's one that you can start with? If your organization can't find a website that you all agree can serve as a model, you need to stop right now and find a new job.
Not a site to rip-off, but an inspiration. Fonts and colors and layout. The line spacing. The interactions. Why not? Your car isn't unique, and your house might not be either. If you've ...
September 24, 2007
Because they can't even write proper course materials to teach basic concepts.
About 2 years ago, when Jack was in 5th grade, I had a run-in with his teacher over homework which failed to acknowledge that
both 36 and 25 are square numbers, no matter how they are displayed in an array.
Same homework problem, albeit in a new typeface, came home with Sam tonight. I despair.
In other AAPS news, a letter came home apologizing that the existence of the '
convenience fee' in the new meal account system "was not well communicated in the first letter you received." Well, no, the first letter said FREE FREE FREE and didn't mention much of anything about the regressive tax they're levying ...
September 4, 2007
Last year, the Ann Arbor Public Schools started using an online lunch money system. I could pay some money into my kids' accounts and when they went through the lunch line, whatever they chose (lunch, milk, muffins, etc.) would be deducted. I got a reminder email when the balance fell below $5 (an amount set by me) and I made payments in chunks of $20 (their minimum). I could even get reports of what they purchased (which is how I found out about the Muffin Boy Jack). There were no charges for the service - it was just really nice and easy to use.
I'm guessing you can see where this post is going.
This year they switched to some crappy outfit ...
Team FJM (Special Ops) needs 11 electrical outlets to maintain full-powered functionality. (4 phones, 2 PSPs, 2 Nintendo DSs, 2 cameras, 1 computer) Our current bivouac only has 10 available.
Adverse conditions today dictate covert operations. We will be infiltrating several buildings, including one designed personally by the chief architect of the enemy forces, Gehry. His monstrous eyesores have struck fear and loathing into the hearts of thousands, and for an unlucky few, even caused blindness with their egregious ugliness. Pray that we return safely. 
