This evening I came home from a long day of work to find my wife sobbing at her computer… okay, that’s not true. BUT, she was quite upset. Because today, Google redesigned the front-end of its fairly popular web-based aggregator, Google Reader, and she was less than thrilled about it.

“I liked the way it was before! I was used to it! Why did they have to change it! Why! WHY! WHHHHY!” She said.

It seemed similar to the many that ranted about the new Facebook face-lift a few months ago. Though, I think that one was a bit more warranted since it actually made the site more confusing to navigate. Anyway, I digress.

Personally, I like the new Reader look. Actually, the only thing that appears different (to me, at least, but I have a bad memory when it comes to things like this. I actually didn’t even notice that Facebook changed until someone pointed it out) is the left-side column which now has categories that can be expanded and collapsed. Makes it look a lot cleaner if you ask me. Plus, I can play with that new aspect of the site when I get bored!

Anyway, Steph (that’s my wife) actually admitted that most of the people were blogging that they liked the new Google Reader look. She apparently is in the minority. Well, sorry honey, I agree with the masses on this one.

I love this comic. Who knew SQL injection could be so funny?!? Enjoy!

And it’s bi-directional too… which wouldn’t so much be in “sync” if it wasn’t, right? Anyway, after downloading this neat little app and installing it on your BlackBerry, all your Google Calendar events and Gmail contacts will be synced up with your BlackBerry. Pretty nifty…

Personally, I seldom use Google Calendar, but I also hardly used Facebook or Twitter until I discovered an app for them. So maybe Google Calendar will follow suit. Actually, it would probably be incredibly useful to have something like this synced with my smart phone.

Anyway, it literally just synced up my Google Calendar (nothing on it, of course) and my Gmail contact (137 apparently). I’ll probably blog on this again after I explore this promising app some more.

Last week Gizmodo posted about the evils of Beta. Not the Greek letter itself, but premature software (and hardware) that is in its Beta form before official release. Surely you’ve seen sites that have the word “Beta” somewhere in the logo. Heck, the word seems to go hand-and-hand with all those “Web 2.0″ sites out there!

Personally, I don’t see what all the fuss is about Beta being evil. I say there’s nothing better than trial by fire, especially when the user is aware that it’s in a “testing” form. What I think the real problem is—and the point the writer is trying to make—is when companies release careless Beta. Pushing something when it’s not even ready to be tested. That is just being silly and irresponsible.

This all reminds me of a web app I designed for a client’s intranet over the spring and summer. The app had 3 phases, 1 of which we got through before they started actually using the app in business. To encourage testing, I placed the word “Beta” in the header… but then the client flipped out thinking I sold him inferior software. Of course I didn’t, but I guess some people don’t understand that things must be tested in real world environments. I mean, I worked really hard to cover every situation I could think of, but there’s no guarantee I will make it flawless. In fact, the odds are very much against me not making a mistake. I ended up taking the word Beta out to appease him.

Those of you that follow me on Twitter may have read that I had a job interview for a FT web developer position. It was offered to me, but I ended up not taking it for various reasons: security and compensation being the 2 biggest. That, and I wasn’t sure if life as a .Net code monkey was really for me. Yes, I enjoy development—mostly in PHP though—but I think I enjoy the XHTML and CSS aspect of sites more for the tech-meets-artist in me. Anyway…

Today Josh Catone over at sitepoint.com posted 10 Essential Tips For Landing Your Next Job, which I found timely and relevant. Especially considering the current state of the job market. He made some great points you should consider before applying to a job… like not using the same cover letter for every job. My wife taught me this one a few years back. I do keep a cover letter template which contains the “guts” of my letter. However, I usually rewrite the first and last paragraphs for every job I apply to.

Some other ones in his list I try and follow are blogging (which I’m getting better at these days), Networking Offline (I ALWAYS have business cards with me, and it pays off), and Don’t Stop Learning (I enroll in online classes constantly).

President-elect Obama and I have something very much in common: we are both obsessed with our BlackBerries. Unfortunately, come January 20th, Mr. Obama will more than likely have to give up his precious, and it probably won’t be easy. Personally, I know I would have a hard time in his situation, and I just run a modest web design shop.

And apparently, his wife hates his BlackBerry habits too.

This past summer, news cameras recorded him [Barack] checking his BlackBerry while watching his daughter’s soccer game, only to have Michelle Obama slap at his hands, prompting him to return the device to its holster.

This part made me laugh, sorta… because similarly, my wife lectures me on my BlackBerry habits and gives me dirty looks when I place the device on the coffee table—within arm’s reach—while watching TV together. I’m probably real close to getting slapped myself.

I have trouble disconnecting, and can finally admit that. It does, however, make it easy when it comes to managing my business. I just need to work on separating my work-life from my private-life. It’s tough.

And yes, I’ve been salivating over those BlackBerry Storm commercials too. Makes me wish my contract was up. True words of an addict, I guess.

That’s the clever tag-line I came up with (and my wife approved of) for my latest web app project, Lil’ Text. At the moment it’s a typical URL-shortener, which takes a long URL like this:

http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2008/11/09/photoshop-gets-real-best-ad-ever/

and makes it this:

http://liltext.com/6

The advantages are numerous, but people mostly use URL-shorteners for microblogging, SMS, and email.

Of course, I don’t want to just create something that exists on hundreds of sites. I have a plan to eventually take it to the next level… which I will reveal at a later date (don’t want anyone creating it before I do, obviously).

Over this past weekend though, I made some more progress by implementing bookmarklets for both Twitter and Plurk. I want to take this a step further (probably some time this week) and give users the ability to “customize” these bookmarklets to their own liking, which could really drive people to use the site a bit more, I’m hoping.

Anyway, I’m pretty excited about this project, and will keep you—my loyal readers—updated with my progress!

After many months of BlackBerry ownership, I finally got around to installing the software onto my computer, running a backup, and adding more applications.

I started by downloading some free games, but quickly removed most of them due to strange quirks. Actually, the only one I kept was Pac Man. They were free, so I wasn’t too upset. Though having Space Invaders at my fingertips got me all sorts of excited.

Anyway, one of the most interesting installations I found while scouring the web was a theme that made my BlackBerry look like an iPhone. Much better than the default themes they give you with the phone, plus this one is also FREE (though they do ask for donations)! Check it out here!

I know I’ve been awful at posting or improving my professional site, but you must believe me when I say my work-life has been crazy. Anyway…

I WAS able to squeeze in an interview at Freelancedom.com. Click here to read it now!

Feel free to comment on my awesome beard too.

I feel I must apologize for the current condition of my site. I’m trying out a CMS to see how these things work (so far so good), but haven’t had a lot of time to dedicate to building it to look respectable yet.

Basically, the grand plan is to include a blog here where I will probably talk about web design and development as well as some interesting bits about me, maybe, as well as have a home for my portfolio, resume, list of services, et cetera.

Well, that’s it for now. I have some interesting things brewing in my head that I think are blog-able, so come back real soon!