4/15/10

Photo album complete

It's done.  The project that has pervaded my life for 3 weeks now is finished.  Well, I'm calling it "finished" or else I'll never be able to put it down.  I remember listening to an interview with Cameron Moll, who said that there exists a point in design that we must call "finished," even though it's not finished and we could continue working indefinitely on perfecting it.  That point is somewhere between satisfaction and the point of diminishing returns, and I think I'm there.
Now it's on to more important work, like my thesis proposal.
Come stop by, take a look, let me know what you think. Give me feedback on what can be improved. I'll add it to my list of fixes, reserved for an undetermined date in the future - Phase 2.
BMV Photos

4/10/10

The purging and the soul

Recently I've realized that I need to organize my online life.  I have so many accounts in so many online services that I don't even remember where I am.  So the purging has begun.  I started with mybloglog and snapfish.  There will be many more to come.

In the meantime I am streamlining my online life by arranging each service into a certain function: web development stuff here, personal stuff there, networking stuff way, way over in the corner.  This will hopefully stop the scatter-brained and inefficient approach to "staying connected" (I'm falling out of love with that phrase... I think I was "over-connected" for a time).

I just cleaned my back porch today, to follow along with my online endeavors (I should have been doing my homework but ohwellitcanwait).  This cleaning and organizing is all part of a spiritual purge, in hopes of a tighter vision and more focused energy on tackling life.  After the cleansing of the porch (despite my nasal passages full of dust), I feel the effects already.

Online life in a nutshell:

  • Batch IP Locator: my batch IP address geocoding test-site turned side-project that is garnering a respectible traffic, considering my marketing consists of a couple forum posts and a twitter account (112,755 geocodes as of this moment).  Some day I may opt to retool it to bring in some side cash, and it would then officially be my "business endeavor" (everyone's got to have one, right?).
  • SnippetLib: since becoming obsessed with web design early last year, I've learned, then subsequently lost, tons of little snippets of code to achieve those most menial and mundane tasks that turn into a full-day of searching forums and head-banging-into-the-wall syndrome.  So I built a wordpress blog (first one, and I love it so far) and threw them all in there.  It has since transformed into my outlet for web development, which had been flowing into this xanghe blog and causing great confusion (for me).
  • vietmap.info: bought this domain name 2 years ago with the intent of creating something great... still haven't started yet.  But eventually I'm thinking of a user-built database of Vietnamese stores and services.  I really don't like forgetting about the wonderful little bún shop at the corner of something and something street.  This would be my outlet for tinkering, if I ever get it off the ground.  (Note: google maps now has metropolis areas in Vietnam to the street level - I'm glad I waited, because all the good food in Vietnam are the mom-and-pop stalls!)
  • benhamatake.com: I've come to terms with my ego.  Currently this domain redirects to this blog, but there's much in store for this one.
  • Twitter: Random tweets.  That's about it.
  • Flickr: Used to be the treasure trove of all our photos, but now my pro account has expired and we're putting the money into benhamatake.com.  It's still there with our photos, but only 7 sets.  We were sad enough about that to develop our own picture management application (coming soon).
  • xanghe: The blog that started it all.  It really did, and has been the binding link between all of the above nonsense.  It's on the fourth re-design.  It started as a silly expression of Asian-American angst.  It has been the depository of all kinds of thoughts and news and superfluity, all coalescing into a barely-recognizable mess of me.  That's about to change.
Focus.  Energy.  Order.  That's my new call.  With all of the other online distractions I have going on, this will be the one that brings me back down to earth.  In this blog will I write the things of my soul.

travel log
  • 02.13.08 - to the temple with Luan and his mom, good to be back
  • 02.14.08 - Mẫu's alive! and staying for the weekend
  • 02.15.08 - floor hockey and Thái food makes for some strange dreams
  • 02.17.08 - frisbee and swamp monster at the park: fun but I'm pooped!
  • 02.19.08 - just read Triết's response to my last post - game on!
  • 02.20.08 - raining and expected to continue through Sunday - thank goodness!
  • 02.21.08 - 3-hour nap is a bad idea right before bed
  • 02.23.08 - to the beach to watch kites, a baptism @ 5pm, and homemade bulgogi - what a day!
  • 02.25.08 - just gave myself a haircut - woo, cold head!
  • 02.26.08 - 75° and spring cleaning - couldn't feel better
  • 02.27.08 - fed the elders bún đậu tonight - think it's their first time
  • 03.01.08 - working on new background...
  • 03.02.08 - finalized javascript to change background without muffing up my other scripts
  • 03.03.08 - fhe: "In his strength I can do all things" (Alma 26:12)
  • 03.07.08 - some decisions are harder than others, but some are downright excruciating
  • 03.08.08 - there is life after work... i almost forgot
  • 03.11.08 - the distance between good and bad is much shorter than between better and best
  • 03.12.08 - conversion is sometimes a gradual process, so much so that we don't even notice
  • 03.14.08 - for some reason everything was a little harder today, looking forward for bed!
  • 03.15.08 - last night after blog reading, I missed OnlyBlue, today I find she's back
  • 03.16.08 - best day of my life!
  • 03.19.08 - "Pray for the answer that they've been looking for"
release notes v1.0 - FINALLY DONE!
  • 12.07 - first thought of starting a new blog
  • 01.08 - busy with election stuff but blog design still on back burner
  • 01.13.08 - first idea to imitate jk rowling with the "desk" theme
  • 01.28.08 - start sketching current design, breaking down development into phases
  • 02.02.08 - election only days away but still drafting final plans
  • 02.04.08 - v0.6 LAUNCH
    • main components (blog body, sidebar, header, etc) designed and implemented
    • styling for font, links, drop caps, etc. finished
  • 02.07.08 - v0.8 LAUNCH
    • image style to imitate polariod
    • moveability - post-it notes and static clings can be repositioned by drag and drop
    • release notes styled and written
  • 02.16.08 - travel log (beta) added in hopes of catching the mundane
  • 02.22.08 - lightbox 2.03 reinstalled and working fine (hopefully - let me know otherwise)
  • 02.26.08 - v0.9 LAUNCH
    • travel log seems to be working, so I'll keep it
    • lightbox also seems to have passed the test, so it's a keeper
    • some credits/info added to bottom (will expand)
    • keeping old Viet terms in archive for future viewing
  • 03.18.08 - v1.0 LAUNCH
    • installation and testing of time-sensitive background completed (for now)