So this is it, Im taking my comcast back from here on I’m going to have to rely on finding my internet from some one else. Kinda makes me feel like I’m being left high and dry.

Who busted the Internet & Turned off the Servers??

I’m not exactly sure what is going on with Web lately, but it seems like it must be spring cleaning for a lot of people. There a couple of servers down that, apparently, I’m connected to. I’m actually just really glad that my host servers haven’t gone out. (they’ve had a few glitches in the past and I got freaked)

For me it started yesterday with Twitter, then my email wouldn’t send, but I could get on the web and browse. I started to get concerned. Now it’s morning and my email is still acting weird, not to mention another web app I’ve got says there server is down for upgrades. Seems kinda fishy. I think a lot of us could do with out various parts of the web, but if some how email broke, on a global scale, our world would erupt.

Every time I write about the internet breaking I go off on some tangent in my head and some how come back with something to write about. All I’ve got this time is Snake Plissken and Escape from New York.

Woopra is a must see for anyone that is interested in stats. Shoot even if you’re not interested in your stats it’s still cool. The online version is fairly normal by all standard; Google, WordPress, maybe even Mint. (though I haven’t seen Mint yet) The basic info is this. Standard Membership, Standard Script copy and paste, then it’s who, where, how long, from where and everything else you can think of.

Yeah, yeah, nothing new. I’ll admit nothing that exciting, all the same stuff. The real deal is the program Woopra offers for download. That is where the juicy stuff is. Once you open the program you automaticaly feel like your watching the stockmarket or something. (made me want to stroke my beard and think about important stuff) Perhaps this is a puff piece of a program, something to make people feel good. I’ll admit for the small timers like me it’s kinda cool to see a ton of useless stats about my site. The bigger picture is what Im excited about.

The Bigger Picture is this. The Evolution of the Internet and its Content. Communication on a global scale at our fingertips. (sounds lofty…& ‘We, already have that’) But this is Another Generation.

Here is my bit.
As the Web grows and evolves their will be a number of sites out there that are large enough to have their own Desktop Application.

I would like to see more or this.
Desktop Applications built with the web in mind, built for a specific purpose and use.

Over the last couple of weeks I began to reach for the top shelf. I’ve been spending the costly price on the Web and I’ve been building with high priced images. Ode to the PNG image format. What is it, it’s a damn expensive image, thats what it is. (a bitmap image format that employs lossless data compression) Which means it holds its value when you open it change it and re-save it, unlike a jpg.

Perhaps this is gibberish, but Im pretty sure most everyone out there knows what happens when you use a cheap jpg image. They look like crap and you wish you wouldn’t have used it after you’re done posting it.

Anyway, the point is, A good png image with a transparent background can be dropped on top of any color or image and will work great. (that is if you built your image right) Is it worth the price? Sometimes when you really need it, yes. I could spend 5kb on a gif or i could spend 40kb on a png. I figure as long as your layout page load is under 500kb it’ll be ok.

This is the age of high speed internet. If you dont have it than you’re not surfing, you’re swimming.

I would just like to announce that our Original Poster Boys ‘MercyMe‘ have had another revision of the their ever expanding Blog. This is one of my favorite parts of my job. Also, one of my favorite parts of the way web2.0 and blogging has redefined the way we view the web and its content.

With ever changing content and updates that roll in about every week, it seems like we are always having to find another little space to put a new item. With blogging type content you had better be prepared to add, add and add some more. I mean it when I say, ‘You had better be prepared‘. If you’re not, the next thing you know you’ll have a completely jumbled site with crap all over it. Your viewers wont be able to focus on much and you end up with people that only read the posts. At that point all your extras go to waste.

I think we accomplished most of our Goals with the latest revision of MercyMe. We’ve cleaned up the navigation and simplified it by putting it in a standard horizontal arangment. We took all the extras and condenced them into images that we placed in a single sidebar. There’s no explination need for what they have available, if you cant figure out what you’re clicking on than you may need glasses.

Bart has recently start Twitter, so we brought that in for you to check out. The MercyMe web crew, who is awesome by the way, has had a pretty killer audio player on the Official Website for a while now so we decided to add that for you’re listening pleasure. The Blog Roll seems to have expanded to a double column. (I swear those blog rolls are like rabbits) And finally we added a little section at the bottom for those who are curious about what has been going on in the past or just looking for something specific.

I hope you all enjoy what you see and if you have any suggestions or you just like to say nice things, I’m all ears.

Happy Blogging,

I talked to some people today and there are some good things in the near future.

Im calling my superintendent tomorrow and im giving my early notice. I had set my date for May 9th to be my last day of work, yet this last week seems like it lasted a month. Im making Monday my last day, and im going to start putting all my energy into the blog development.

Im totaly exited and will be grateful for the break from manual labor. One of the nice things is that I saved up all my vacation time over the last year and half so i’ll have a great paycheck to walk away with. Now I’ll be able to spend more time getting back out there and reading more of everyones posts. I think my reader has about 400 unread posts in it right now.

I’ll keep you posted on the latest happenings.

So, apparently Natalie Grant is kinda famous. Perhaps everyone out there new this, but wow!!! I just wanted to say it here, thanks everyone that went and checked it out and commented and told your friends.

I am definitely blessed to be working in the industry at this point in time, doing what i am doing. Projects like these in a community like ours has begun to open a lot of doors for me in the world of the web. It means a lot to me to know that Brody and I have a ton of people out there supporting what were doing.

Thanks!!!

Randy

So it occurred to me again that i live in 2 very different worlds. #1 of computer screens, images, and code typing. #2 of tractors, boots and manliness.

Most days I site around and develop new clever way to make websites easier to manage and organize. Updating plugins and widgets. Redefining my CSS and HTML use to be more streamlined and compatible. It also seems that im spending a equal amount of time doing the same types of things out in the construction world. Updating my techniques of operating equipment and time management on a job, and redefining what a finish job site should look like.

Construction is in my blood, but Web and Graphics are my trade of passion. (passion in a work sense) I grew up watching my dad run his tractor and helping him wire houses (he was an electrician). I was running a backhoe and digging ditch lines at 14. We had a family computer, but you can remember what it was like back then. The 483IBM PC wasnt much to look at. I used to edit pictures pixel by pixel and play DoomII until I got caught by my parents at 2am. Them wondering what i am doing up at that hour. We didnt even have Internet, i think we were off the grid for that, and 28.8kb wasnt much to look at.

I suppose what im getting at is a little bit of personal reflection. Over the next 6mo im going to leave my roots of construction behind, the old faithful bill payer, and shoot for the future. I always find myself thinking, “I should have done this years ago”. Honestly though Im glad ive taken my time. life is an interesting thing when you’re willing to learn from all you do.

Why? Why?

Who thought this was a good idea, when something doesnt work you would think, “maybe we should make this work”. Nope lets just keep making it and see what happens.

I really honestly hope that IE starts to get better. I really hope that this version is more compatible, a little more lenient.

For those of you that dont know. The world of Internet browsers can be broken down to 3 majors. Internet Explorer, Safari & Firefox. There are more, there are a lot more, but these are the most used. (not the cream of the crop, just the top used)

I’ll admit i dont know technical reasons why IE sucks so bad, but when i build a site i have IE open right there just to make sure it’s happy.

If i found a Gene and he said, “you have one wish but it has to be about Internet Browsers” I would wish that IE would go sit on the side like Netscape Navigator.

Unfortunately it’s true that usually the first label to introduce a new product into the market will hold a vast majority of the consumers. Lucky for us its been about 20yrs since then and were starting to get wise to there games.

Im not sure if you’ve seen this yet or heard of it. MercyMe has one on their site its kinda cool.

Ive been thinking about setting one up so that every one can watch me brush my hair and stuff. I’ve always wanted to show off my iron chef skills with a butter knife. (i have mad skills)

if I was a teacher i would put there name on the good side of the chalk board.