Infinite Web Design

(via Donklephant)

A poignant monologue regarding the danger of the desire for absolute knowledge and power and the beauty of the scientific endeavor.

(via Donklephant)

The Washington Post reported on Rush Limbaugh’s outrageous attack on Michael J. Fox for political ads backing candidates who support stem cell research. Mr. Fox suffers from Parkinson’s Disease, one of many terrible ailments that stem cell research may help cure. Mr. Limbaugh accused him of faking his symptoms and not taking his medication to increase the impact of the ads. This is an appalling lack of sensitivity for a person dealing with a serious illness. I’ve listened to Mr. Limbaugh’s show since I was a child, though I generally disagree with his views on social policy I find it interesting to hear the conservative side of political issues. I’m curious if he would similarly attack Nancy Reagan for her pro-stem cell research stance.
Continue reading Michael J. Fox, Rush Limbaugh, and Stem Cells

(via Forever Geek)

Weird Al Yankovic, who was by the by one of my favorite artists in middle school (I owned all his albums on cassette), has released a wonderful educational song that I think even the Boy Scouts of America would love. The song is really quite catchy, and it’s a free download from his website along with the James Blunt parody You’re Pitiful (MP3 Download).

Pass a law that says if 75% of eligible voters don’t go to the polls, the election is invalid and will have to be held again in one month. This will mean another 30 days of condescending, mind-eroding, profoundly annoying campaign ads.

(from The Outfit)

Ah, the joy of the political season, when we listen to politicians spout nonsense and vitriol and get to choose between candidates that are jerks, morons, crooks, or worse. I’ve been enjoying the political ads here in Michigan where we have spirited Gubernatorial and Senate races. We have such inspiring candidates as our incumbent Governor Granholm, Dick DeVos (”intelligent design”, seriously?), Debbie Stabenow (obsessed with Canadian trash), and Mike Bouchard.
Continue reading Tis the Season

I downloaded Firefox 2.0 RC2 Portable and I’m really pleased with the experience. It’s everything I liked about Firefox 1.5 with some subtle improvements. The upgrade only took about 5 minutes and went smoothly.

A few things helped out with making things go smoothly including:
Continue reading Firefox 2.0 RC2 Portable

Congratulations to the Detroit Tigers who are headed to the World Series for the first time since their 1984 Championship (when I was just 4 years old). It’s great to see the team doing well again after near historic lows just a few years ago. It’s good for fans and it’s good for Metro Detroit. I’ll be rooting for them in the World Series.

(via Boing Boing)

That’s my Dad’s favorite saying, oft repeated after seeing a particular appalling example of human stupidity. Today I’d like to highlight a prime example of stupidity and weak minds at work that rears its head again and again - book banning. This time it came up in Houston, Texas when Alton Verm, of Conroe tried to get the school board to ban Farenheight 451, a novel by Ray Bradbury (story on the Courier website).

The great irony is that Mr. Verm proposed banning a book about book burning during the National Library Association’s Banned Books Week. Banning books is the act of intellectual cowardice. Those who fear the spread of knowledge are relying on a state of ignorance to hold their world together. Sometimes this comes in the form of government officials attempting to hold onto power by keeping the citizenry uninformed. This time it comes in the form of a parent, who has admittedly not even read the book in question, trying to keep a book with content that he is told he would object out of the hands of students. He wants ban the school from providing this book to its students. Apparently, his 15 year old daughter reading this book would undermine her fragile belief system.

No belief is sacred or should be safe from challenges in a free, open society. While respect for the beliefs of others is important, it is only through the free and open exchange of ideas and through exposure to many viewpoints that children can form a functional, reasonable world view. Trying to ban books is not the path to becoming a better person or society. It is simply a path to willful ignorance and dysfunction.

The school district in question should be applauded for the way they have handled Mr. Verm and his daughter. They have refused to remove the book from the curriculum, but they provided a book with similar themes but less “offensive” language for the young Ms. Verm to read instead. This respects her and her father’s right to refuse to learn or be exposed to new ideas without caving to their unreasonable demands that their self imposed ignorance be imposed on all students.

Brad and I have been working together for a while now running Infinite Web Design and we’ve learned a few things about how to and how not to run a small business. The life of an entrepreneur is not for everyone. Hopefully a few of the following tips will help out those of you who are getting started or considering running your own business.
Continue reading Small Business Tips

I’ve spent a fair amount of time over the years studying, debating, and working to understand the creation, distribution, and use of information. I strongly believe in the freedom of information. Freedom of speech, thought, and conscience are not just nifty ideas they are the foundations of a just society and a happy life. Information and knowledge yearn to be free. Ideas have a need to grow and spread or wither and die based on their validity and usefulness.
Continue reading Freedom isn’t always fun

I was at The Bang! on Saturday and my friend Tom was talking about how some of the music just wasn’t danceable. He made one of the more profound comments I’ve heard in a while. The problem, he said, is that “DJs don’t dance”. Simple and true. DJs often play music that is hard to dance to. You’ve seen it when you’re out at a club and a new song comes on. Suddenly the dance floor clears out. A few people try to hang in there but the beat is so bad that their gyrations start to look more and more like a seizure. The song may be a great one. It may be the song everyone sings along with on the road trip. It may be awesome at the start of the Detroit Pistons game. However, the song just doesn’t work when you try to dance to it. If the DJ had to dance to their own music this could be avoided. They’d quickly recognize that the song they were bobbing their head and singing along to failed to move their feet.

The same thing can happen when you don’t use the things you build as a designer. Try filling out the forms you built and you’ll realize that the instructions are not as clear as you thought. Try using the web app for a while before you expect someone else to. We’ve found that this is especially useful when looking at the backend of a site. Try administering the site yourself for a while. Use the form you built to add a lot of content. Do it for days on end. You’ll find what works and what doesn’t then. You’ll find out which steps could be automated with a little more effort or creativity when you have to do them. Just like the DJ who has to dance to his own music you’ll find out what really moves people and what doesn’t.
Continue reading DJs Don’t Dance