September 2004 Archives

Finally, a few months after my original entry, I finally taught a standards-based design course, focusing on XHTML/CSS and semantic markup, to my co-workers at the office.

The Class

The class consisted of four people, all responsible for creating and updating our company's global intranet presence. Everyone had a good understanding of HTML walking in the door, but little to no experience with CSS.

I took my original outline (see previous entry) and tailored it a little bit to make a nice PowerPoint. I then conjured up with a few exercises to work on over two four-hour sessions scheduled on seperate days. It went much better than I expected.

I'm dying to post a recent PowerPoint I put together at work showing the benefits of standards-based design for SEO. But in-light of recent happenings at Friendster, and my own caution towards posting anything that points to the company I work for, I can't show you.

To sum it up in a sentence, a website we built that hightlights certain products my company distributes for other suppliers is getting Google rankings ranging from #3-#7 when searching on the product's name or number. How's that for value-add service!

Last week I sent a long feedback message to meetup.com. A few days ago, I received a response that, as far as I can tell, addresses none of my concerns. Frankly, I'm not impressed.

Maybe you'll have better luck finding their point. Here's the response:

Hello Sean

You ask some great questions that are totally fair, and some things that we discussed quite a bit.

Here at Meetup HQ we take the attitude that people are basically good. While it's true that some (hopefully small) number of Meetup Groups will be run by folks who will takeover or "railroad" a group, we think the overwhelming majority will be run by well-meaning and well-serving individuals. We believe that, but we've also built in some things to ensure Organizers behave in a respectful way towards their group.

I wrote the following to meetup.com recently, to critique and offer solutions to some serious issues I think were overlooked in their redesign:

I'm writing to comment on your new redesign and how I think it is affecting meetup.com adversely, and if not addressed could kill the momentum you have worked so hard for over the past few years.

While your redesign has given much more power to the individual groups to manage their own meetups, it now requires a level of attention and involvement that I think the majority of your users don't have or want. The beauty of the original meetup.com was its simplicity. All that had to be done is sign up. Notifications and reminders were sent automatically, and the level of participation needed by anyone in the group was simply clicking a button to RSVP and vote on venues. I'm sure the new design will provide a whole new level of controls to enable a part of your audience that craves this, but I would hazard a guess that "most" of your audience still expects the level of simplicity involved in the original design. Unfortunately, I think your new design doesn't support that anymore.

For the past year, I've had the pleasure and privilege of watching Eli grow into an amazing personality. In that time, I've learned many, many things from him. He's taught me that its possible to be completely fearless. He also taught me that a nuzzle and a purr will get you out of nearly any trouble.

Most of all, he taught me that if you just be yourself with no regrets , no worries, no self doubt, that unconditional love will be returned to you.

As is the case with so many beautiful things, Eli wasn't meant to have a long stay in this world. Last night, just one month from his first birthday, Eli was killed by a motorist in front of our house.

I have few fears in life:

• Death
• Fuzzy Spiders
• Bumpy Plane Rides

Okay, maybe not death so much (why fear the inevitable?), but I freak over big furry spiders and can't stand turbulence.

I understand the thermodynamics of warm and cool air pockets emanating from the ground, and I understand the fundamentals of aeronautics, but I still can't help wondering if the wing of the plane is going to snap off if the bump gets too rough. See, I also understand Newton's laws and its a long way down.

Time to order another drink. "Oh, flight attendant!"