November Randoms

Some random thoughts and diversions from this month:

  • If webmail ever got around to looking this good, I would use it a lot more often.
  • I have been getting way way way inundated with requests for design and coding work in the Seattle area lately. If you’re good, and you live around here, you should drop me a line. No need for a cover letter or anything… just drop me a link to your portfolio and I’ll keep you in mind when the next request comes up.
  • Crest Lemon Ice Toothpaste: Come to where the flavor is.  I know Vanilla Mint was the early star for Crest, but this Lemon Icey dealio is the new leader in the clubhouse.
  • I don’t know what possessed me to buy “Calcium Enriched” milk at the store the other day, but let me pass some valuable information on to you: it’s awful.  Don’t buy it.
  • Four people got fired from The Apprentice this week, and two people got fired from The Marthapprentice. I know ratings are down on these two great shows, but does anyone know the back story behind the mass firings? I mean, that’s four fewer shows NBC can air now. To add to the confusion, this was all filmed before ratings numbers were even known. What’s going on here?
  • I’m convinced that any cold-fighting effects of Airborne are psychosomatic. But since it tastes decent, I will continue to drink it.
  • Dan Cederholm is right. Laced shoes are almost always overkill. I’ve been slip-on only for several months now and I may never go back. I suggest Eccos and Borns.
  • Terrell Owens is a jackass and I pity the team that will inevitably decide to take him in next year. I don’t care how good you are… you don’t diss your teammates publicly and you don’t put yourself above your team. If you have him on your fantasy team right now, you should drop him on principle. And if you have Jamal Lewis on your team, by the way, you should drop him on incompetence.
  • The motor on one of the windows of my Saab broke a few months ago and the dealership ordered a new part for me. Still no part, and now I just found out that there are apparently none of these parts available anywhere in the world. One woman has been waiting since May. What the hell? This is a 2001 car. Has anyone ever waited this long for a part?
  • James Archer’s new Fruitcast site wins my Gradient-Of-The-Year award. Yum. The site was designed by Joseph Wain.
  • Paul Mayne’s new “e-mail blender” is cool… the perfect diversion to plant subliminal thoughts of Mrs. Fields cookies in your head.
43 comments on “November Randoms”. Leave your own?
  1. Miguel says:

    Do you know the story behind Airborne ? Check out this link for a quick overview. It’s pretty amazing what celebrety word-to-mouth will do to your business. Does it really work that well though ?

  2. Dustin Diaz says:

    Dan Cederholm just needs to wear flip flops instead of waiting for slip-on type slippers to get back in fashion again.

  3. Kevin Tamura says:

    For me Eccos have run a little big but damn they comfortable.

  4. Let the laceless unite.

    For the record, during the summer month (singular here in New England) I exclusively wear flip flops. The other 11 months, I usually sport the “Jungle Moc” from Merrell. Borns look rather nice as well.

    And Mike’s right — once you go slip-on, you never go back.

  5. The new Yahoo! Mail that is in closed beta right now actually looks quite a lot like RoundCube. I’m liking it a lot.

  6. Ryan says:

    Amen to the slip-on. It’s time for a new pair and I’ve been eyeing these fuzzy things. MMMmmmmmm.

  7. Eric Meyer says:

    I’d go slip-on if I could find shoes that I liked and that didn’t slip off whenever I walked. I don’t know if I just walk weird or what, but every slip-on pair I’ve tried in the past decade has been a disaster even during the short “just trying these out” prance around the shoe store.

  8. NeillHARMER says:

    Borns are the most comforatble shoes I’ve ever worn. I’m only on my first pair (they are slip ons) and they will not be my last.

  9. Scott Smith says:

    You’re right about Airborne, it’s just a placebo.

  10. Dean says:

    Whoa – all those shoe sites are terrible – I had to dig to get links to see shoes. You laceless lovers should redesign their sites!

  11. Dave Simon says:

    T.O. will return to the bay area next year… in silver and black. Like all the other problem children of the NFL. (No, Rice wasn’t a problem child, but Romo, Moss and a few others were!)

  12. Beth says:

    I’m a big Apprentice fan, and I noticed off the bat there were two more candidates on Trump’s show than Martha’s, so they must’ve planned a huge firing from the get go as a ratings boost.

    Last season Trump’s show fell by 4 million viewers, the same number it fell by this season (which makes it ironic he sites Martha as sucking his ratings dry) so they must’ve expected a ratings decline. After last week’s episode I’m pretty sure Trump regrets using his firing wild card so soon.

    Also, it’s funny you should mention Airborne, Martha talks about it in her new business book.

  13. I always use laced shoes but never untie them. Shoehorns are my friends.

  14. AkaXakA says:

    Laced shoes are almost always overkill.

    Och! My podotherapist would KILL me if I told her that.. And to be honest it really is much better for your feet to have the proper support that laced shoes give you.

    Sorry for being a spoil sport.

  15. Jonathan says:

    T.O. is now done for the year, according to the Eagles.

    ESPN story

  16. jordan says:

    T.O. is a cocky show-off, but he’s a good player. This puts the Eagles in the unfortunate position of depending on somebody that no one likes.

  17. Crocs are my new favorite slipon. Perfect for the bike commute bag (they weigh nothing!).

    Dave, the Raiders will not pick up T.O. Not a chance in the world when you have Moss and Porter working the outside already.

  18. Bradley says:

    Roundcube Webmail is pretty nice. I’m running it on my server right now. Note that it is in alpha, so only the basics work right now.

    But it just feels right. Can’t deploy it to any of my clients yet, until it’s a little more mature, but I got this thing up and running on my server in less than 5 minutes. 5 minutes people.

    If installing your own webmail sounds daunting… well, it was as easy as any other PHP/MySQL app I’ve installed.

  19. I’m with Roger on this one. I buy shoes with laces, put them on, tie them tight, and never do it again (by choice). Although I don’t see a need for a shoehorn. One shoe to the back of the other and lift foot. Its a pain for the first week, then it smooth sailing.

  20. kareem says:

    Agreed with Josua and Roger… bought my Gravis Lokash in Austin three years ago, tied ’em once, and they’re still going strong.

  21. kingbenny says:

    I’ve been using Roundcube for my webmail for a couple of months now.. haven’t had any trouble with it, despite its alpha nature and claims. The drag-and-drop functionality is awesome.

  22. I live by Airborne, however fake it may be. ;)

  23. Why are wide receivers so cocky? You would think that quarterbacks would be cockier since they are the ones that control the offense.

    Then again, you have to have leadership values to be a QB so someone as cocky as T.O. would not have the mindset to be a QB.

    If it were up to T.O. He’d be the quarterback and he’d throw it to himself every play.

    When he is released by the Eagles in 3 weeks, the Texans and the Packers have the first crack at him. I think he’ll be picked up by somebody in the playoff race this year who is in desperate need of a receiver. Think about it, T.O. has dug himself into a deep hole and he’s probably going to turn on the damage control just a tad so his signing value next year will be higher.

    If he’s blackballed by the league I’m sure he’ll show up on a crappy reality show somewhere or the surreal life. He’s a bigger drama queen than most celebrities.

  24. David says:

    Base London make excellent (and stylish) lace-less shoes.

  25. Jason Jang says:

    Sidenote from a learning webdesigner/developer/whatever: I saw the watermark on your comment boxes (the large numbers). and i thought man, that looks really cool. And i thought they were images since each comment has it’s own class. then i realized it’s large sized text. genius.

    end of sidenote.

  26. I wear Crocs, but I’ve had a few people come up to me and tell me I was wearing gardening shoes. They’re NOT gardening shoes! They’re more comfortable than any other shoe I’ve ever worn, though.

  27. Mike Rundle says:

    Dude laceless shoes are the titties, I wear flip-flops all day long, everyday.

    Mike, you know which ones I’m talking about ;)

  28. You’ll have to excuse their absolutely horrible blue-on-blue main navigation color scheme, but Tom’s of Maine’s Cinnamint toothpaste has a great taste without all the sugar. I’ve found it at both QFC and Bartell’s.

  29. Dustin Diaz says:

    Very True Chris.
    The new Y! mail is easily going to take out all other web based emails very quickly.

    It was pretty cool. We got promotional 7″x5″ stickers posted all over the Y! campus letting us know we finally got something for the “G” guys to kiss with Y! mail alpha…. it had a guy bending over. It really is a beautiful application.

  30. Joseph Wain says:

    James Archer’s new Fruitcast site wins my Gradient-Of-The-Year award

    That’s good, right? Tell me that’s good.

  31. Garret says:

    Contact:
    roundcube@gmail.com

    interesting…

  32. James Archer says:

    It should be known that Joseph Wain (who spoke above) was the fella who actually designed the Fruitcast for us. It was he who harnessed his inner rundle to bring all that delicious gradient goodness. Way to go, Joe! :-)

  33. Chris K says:

    Dissing Lewis again? What’s he done? Oh that’s right, absolutely NOTHING.

  34. Dan says:

    Since I moved to the Caribbean (and moved back, and now spend 6 months there and 6 months in Sag Harbor, NY) in 1991, my only footwear are flip flops.

    I HATE bending over to play with my shoes. I maintain 15 or so yachts in Sag in the summer and I’m constantly off/on with the flip flops. Probably 40 times/day.

    When I want to dress up, I wear my newer flip flops!

  35. I used to like T.O. – even thought he was pretty funny. He talked a lot of shit, but he backed it up. Now he’s stepped over the line though – you just don’t talk bad about your teammates in public.

    What do you think of Chad Johnson?

  36. Mike D. says:

    Miguel: Yep, I heard the backstory on Airborne. I do think it’s basically just a bunch of vitamins though. Not that that’s a bad thing to ingest.

    Chris P: Hmmmmm, the new Yahoo Mail sounds interesting. Can’t wait to check it out.

    Eric: I’ve found that I have to go a half-size smaller on slip-ons in order to keep them on. Try that. Either that or maybe get your Achilles tendons removed.

    Beth: Interesting about the extra contestants on The Apprentice. Good call. Sounds planned from the beginning.

    Rundle: Yes, I know what flip-flops you’re talking about, and you should be ashamed of yourself. :)

    Joseph: Yes! The Fruitcast design is great! I love it. Just added you to the post actually.

  37. Erik says:

    I love Roundcube as well; I just installed it on my server. Works great for Alpha code, but still lacks A LOT of features that make it really usable. However it seems they plan to include most of those missing elements in the next release, which is fantastic.

    But if you want the ultimate in webmail interfaces, you gotta check out Zimbra. Granted, its a huge bundle to install weighing in at 150MB, and its meant to replace Exchange, but the client interface is just amazing. AJAX abounds, as do features that make it feel a desktop mail app. I’ve never had a piece of software suprise me so much. I almost forgot that I was in a browser.

  38. Why are wide receivers so cocky?

    Slate explained this in 2002:

    Sports psychologist Chris Carr, who worked with the Arizona Cardinals, points out that the wide receiver is the most individualized offensive position in a team sport. It’s bound, then, to attract “me-first” players.

    But more importantly, the very nature of the position can turn sane, well-adjusted men into malcontents. The wideout is the only skill player locked in a Darwinian struggle to touch the football on every play. Think about it: The defense can’t keep the ball away from the quarterback, who handles the snap, or the running back, who is stationed close enough to the quarterback to receive the handoff. But the defense can hang cornerbacks and safeties all over the team’s most talented wideout, forcing the quarterback to lob the ball elsewhere. Irvin says, “For all the talent you have, for all the ability you have, they can take you out of the game.”

  39. John Whittet says:

    You might want to check out Goowy, a flash-based webmail service (and more). The lack of a POP/IMAP option is what killed this one for me.

  40. Scott Evans says:

    My company just today announced Laszlo Mail, a webmail application written using OpenLaszlo (so it’s a flash app). Have a spin and let us know what you think.

    I’m one of the developers on the mail team, so it was an amusing coincedence to read your post today.

  41. Nick says:

    But if you want the ultimate in webmail interfaces, you gotta check out Zimbra. Granted, its a huge bundle to install weighing in at 150MB, and its meant to replace Exchange, but the client interface is just amazing. AJAX abounds, as do features that make it feel a desktop mail app. I’ve never had a piece of software suprise me so much. I almost forgot that I was in a browser.

    You may have forgotten that you were in a browser, but did you maybe also think you’d landed in 1995 with a Pentium 200? I tried Zimbra, and maybe their demo site just had many concurrent users but it was slooooooww. Impressive interface, but sloooow.

  42. Hardy says:

    so who do i replace Jamal with? I was on my honeymoon and got saddled w/Jamal Lewis and Michael Pittman of all backs…d’oh! It’s not like running backs grow on trees :(. of coarse recievers DO as TO will find out…Grew up a Niner fan so I can’t say I’m surprised by his antics, after he flipped out and his head got too big for him in Texas it was all down hill (was it ever uphill, i forget how many superbowls TO brought to any of his teams).

  43. zach says:

    If you can’t find a new motor for you Saab, it might be time to start calling junkyards. I have no idea about your car, but you may be able to get a motor out of an 02 or 03 if they’re still compatible and it might hold you over for a bit..

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