Month: June 2016

All I Want From Adobe CS4…

So word came out today that apparently Adobe Creative Suite 4 is right around the corner. Greeeeeaaaaat.

There are only three things I want from this new release:

1. A new install/update process that doesn’t feel like Adobe is rewriting every line of code on my entire hard drive. This includes the congruent request that Adobe not launch and quit five different “agents” sequentially in order to accomplish the above.

2. A new codebase that doesn’t feel like it’s chewing up every last bit of processing power on my new enough 2.4 GHz iMac with maxxed out RAM. Unless Adobe has signed my machine up as a node in the SETI project without telling me, I don’t understand why something as simple as the Save-To-Web command should invoke ten seconds of beachballs.

3. The long-needed “I-Work-On-The-Web-So-Turn-Off-All-This-Color-Profiling-Crap-Until-I-Say-Otherwise” button.

Chances of any of that being in the next release? I say slim. But I hope I’m wrong. My opinion is that over the last few years, Adobe Creative Suite has become the Microsoft Office for right-brained people. They simply ran out of really useful things that people needed so they just piled on things people didn’t.

Personally, I’m about one more disappointing release away from giving something like Pixelmator a shot.

Seeking Web Developer at Newsvine

People often ask what things are like at Newsvine after the MSNBC acquisition. Specifically, has the culture changed at all and does it still feel like a startup? The answer to those questions are, thankfully *no* the culture hasn’t been disrupted a lot and thankfully *yes* it still feels like a startup (minus the working for 1929-level salaries).

One of the many nice things about life post-acquisition is that we’re beginning to work on many projects that touch both Newsvine.com (little ant of 1.5 million users) and MSNBC.com (big elephant of over 35 million users).

As such, we’re expanding a bit…

The Newsvine Team is looking for an experienced, self-motivated, and passionate front-end developer to join us in building products and services for the Newsvine platform. Your primary responsibility will be to design and develop site features and functionality in a multi-tier web environment using PHP, CSS, JavaScript, and the YUI JavaScript library. Additional responsibilities include daily site support and maintenance. The ideal candidate is able to work on small teams under tight deadlines with little supervision. A computer science degree or equivalent is a plus, but experience, skill, and attention to detail are more important.

The ideal candidate will have a strong command of the following knowledge areas:

  • X/HTML, CSS, DOM, and JavaScript
  • PHP or similar scripting language
  • Mastery of web standards and cross-browser compatibility

Preferable Job Qualifications:

  • Experience working on large-scale, high-availability web sites
  • Successful industry experience using latest DHTML and ajax technologies
  • Experience with SQL and relational database implementations serving as the backend to production web applications
  • Experience with, or an interest in, working with the YUI JavaScript library
  • Familiarity with Subversion a plus

The job will be based out of the lovely Newsvine offices in Seattle, down by the waterfront pictured here. If you’re interested, please send an e-mail and resumé to “newsvinejobs at newsvine.com”.

Paparazzi 2.0: Coolspotters Launches

A few days ago, my ex-colleagues from ESPN.com launched a new site: Coolspotters.

It’s a soon-to-be gigantic database of public figures and the products they use. Want to see what watch Barack Obama wears? How about what jeans Steve Jobs wears? Or anything at all about Gisele Bundchen

It’s all right there for your perusing pleasure, but even better, it’s 100% powered by the community (of course) so you can add photos and details if you happen to snap that candid shot of Anna Kournikova pulling up in her Escalade.

The site is interesting to me on many levels:

  • Although I’m not generally interested in what public figures buy (although millions of people are), I’m very interested in the concept of how to express your consumer tastes on the web. I’m equal parts salesman, connector, and maven in the Gladwellian sense and product “endorsements” on the web have the ability to touch all three disciplines. Whoever successfully discovers how to get everyone to express their product endorsements on the web without seeming salesy is going to be a huge financial success.
  • Coolspotters was created by a very talented group of friends who I’ve worked with for years and funded by the same people who funded us at Newsvine. In that sense, they are a sister company to us.
  • The site has really fantastic click appeal. In other words, without registering or otherwise even “getting” the site, you can click around for hours (see previous words re: Bundchen and Kournikova). This is something I always wanted to do better at Newsvine; showcasing content that is a lot lighter on the brain and the attention span.
  • The design, courtesy of Aaron Weyenberg and Mark Boulton, is of course fantastic.

So anyway, check out Coolspotters.com and let the fellas know what you think in the comments below.

The Least Appetizing KFC in the World

Believe it or not, the KFC pictured below (about two blocks from my house) is still open for business. Walking into a KFC is sketchy enough when it looks like an actual restaurant, but I can’t imagine walking into this construction zone and ordering a bucket of extra crispy.

Note: I *would* brave the mess if they’d finally bring back Chicken Littles — the best fast food item ever invented. You can sign the petition here.

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