Victor
-
My Web Hosting Recommendation: Pair.com
•
1 min read
Apparently a lot of people are suffering from downtime at Dreamhost lately. I’ve run one site with them and found everything they did frustrating, from the control panel to the uptime to the customer support. I’ve been a Pair.com customer since 1999 and love them. They’re not the cheapest, though when I consider they’ve had…
-
Where to Go Online to Find a Job
•
1 min read
This is another question I hear a lot, especially from managers, is just where to find talent these days. The real straight dope is that you should already be connected and have a wishlist of people you want to hire. But in the cases when that’s not possible I created a list of job sites…
-
Awesomeness
•
1 min read
I was hanging out with my peeps last week and a couple times Paul used the word awesome, as when we were talking about building tools for customers and he said, “The tools should make them feel capable of awesomeness.” Making people feel capable of awesomeness. That in itself is awesome. So this is my…
-
Dan Willis Gets a Blog
•
1 min read
UX Crank purports to be cranky, but is actually a delightful look at experience design from one of the most intelligent, friendly guys in the Washington D.C. area — Dan Willis, Director of User Experience for the Public Broadcasting Service here in the U.S.A. Onto the RSS reader it must go.
-
Authority vs. Truth
•
1 min read
If you haven’t yet heard David Weinberger’s position on authority vs. truth in media — the disclosure of accuracy in mainstream media vs. Wikipedia — you should, it’s one of his best ideas. If you visit the article on “conservativism” at Wikipedia, you’ll see–at least as of this writing–a strong warning at the top, complete…
-
Business Design Career Advice
•
3 min read
I’ve gotten this question from students and others entering the field a few times, and frankly still ponder it for my own purposes, so I’m going to lay down some thoughts on it here. The question is: I’m very passionate about pursuing design strategy and bridging the gap between developing engaging user experiences (product side)…
-
Given my feelings on the humanitarian, labor, and political problems in China, I’m not too sorry they’re going to take an economic hit on product safety issues. It was just a matter of time.
-
Meg Whitman on the Strategic Advantage of Design
•
1 min read
Alex Kirtland blogged Whitman’s comments from eBay’s Q2 analyst conference call, where she said “making improvements to the user experience is one of our main strategic priorities.” See Alex’s post for the full quotes. As I gather more examples I’m feeling more confident in my theory that strategic delivery points — gaining a sustainable competitive…
-
Innovative Friends: Alex Wright
•
1 min read
I’m psyched that Alex Wright now calls New York home. He is one of the few thinkers of technology and information that can simultaneously ply his trade during the day and theorize with the best in his spare time. I’m looking forward to his new book Glut: Mastering Information Through the Ages in which he…
-
How to Manage Your Incoming Email
•
1 min read
I haven’t had a chance to check out Mark Hurst’s newish book, Bit Literacy, but I was just listening to a talk he did for Ted a couple years ago on how to manage your incoming email, and I’m going to dive in and try it. Here’s the essential steps: The overarching goal is to…
-
Note to Self: Resist Accepting Millions of Dollars
•
2 min read
Something to keep in mind just in case someone ever wants to throw several million my way… I still don’t think you should raise as much as you can, for several reasons, but I’ll just highlight the most important. You will spend what you raise. If you raise $10 million, you will quickly ramp up…
-
How Can Start Ups Grow?
•
1 min read
Another perspective that might be lost in the rush toward innovation… “Assistant professor Mukti Khaire believes that small companies can grow by developing intangible social resources such as legitimacy, status, and reputation. In an interesting twist, her research on this insight is that these intangible resources may be best acquired by following a road of…
-
Great Design Story of Spaghetti Sauce
•
1 min read
It feels unnecessary to link to any particular Ted Talk since so many of them are so good, but I will point out one or two of the many I’ve been watching lately while I fight off a cold from my sofa. Malcolm Gladwell tells the story of the man who invented the spaghetti sauce…
-
Photographer Recommendation in New York
•
1 min read
I splurged on a new headshot recently and was lucky to find Carla Coria, a photographer here in Brooklyn, New York who does amazing work with a simple studio and a digital camera. She made prep easy and effective, the shoot as fast and painless as possible, and a week later had a final shot…
-
BLKN 2.0 Meetup
•
1 min read
Our lovely borough of Brooklyn now has its own web meetup… Some of the best networking I’ve ever done is while walking my dog, Henry, in Prospect Park. This morning, after I had just met yet one more person who works on web projects, I thought, we all take the train to Manhattan to attend…