Media Round Up

A few years ago the blogging scene exploded, blogs for any  thing and everything became available. Photoblogs, video blogs, podcasts, and various text blogs on various platforms.

Journalism got opened up to the public any one could be a reviewer / journalist in their own way. Some of the old physical media journalists kept up and some held where they were.

Blogs became profitable with ads and sponsorship and then there was a backlash against paid for posts/ sponsored posts and their ilk.

Ive discussed the various blogging platforms http://abcdit.blogspot.com/2010/05/blog-live-journal-meme-or-notes.html although i did miss the various types of blog out there maybe i'll discuss that later.

This post is more about the Blogs that survived the media cull, and now successfully produce quality online content. These are my favorites not the best on the web or maybe they are.

TWIT.TV Leo Laporte and crew bringing the best in technology based blogs, Mac, security, phone Home entertainment in a verity of formats, Video, audio, text. Sponsored by several services  but with informative, entertaining journalism always worth a listen.

www.smashingmagazine.com/ a web based developer/ designer based blog rounding up and gathering posts and feeds on a common theme with hard back publications to support the blog.

http://it.toolbox.com/ not a stand alone blog but a network of tech based blogs always with something to read. I especially like the security monkey..

Wired.com is it a mag or is it a blog, i think its like a chicken and egg. The blog supports and extends the magazine and vice versa.

John Underkoffler points to the future of UI | Video on TED.com

John Underkoffler points to the future of UI | Video on TED.com

Misadventures in Development

Development of anything, whether its a website, a piece of code, a system or an interface, can run in many ways. if your lucky these will be smooth and a kin to a steady loop of progress, feedback development and reassessment.
Serenely calm and always moving forward. If you get a project like this can you call me! I'd like proof time lines, and dates. I'd like to see a successfully perfect development.

To be honest most my developments are fairly clean, straight forward and with only a few small rapid sand weir falls to deal with.
Then every so often you have the one that feels like I'm swimming uphill, the role has changed the brief has changes the feature creep has not only creeped but, crawled and down right vaulted.
I have read horror stories of people who have been caught out like this. I hoped never to be caught out but I have been.

Development should be managed, if your not managing your development pray that the manager is managing... If you find they are not, then manage your self, make sure your part is done, and try help the others along too.

Development should be defined, timescales, targets, results, and outcomes predefined. If you find these changing, stop discuss, develop these targets and measures. make sure your target and deliverable are achievable, deliverable and that what ever your value the deliverable is not undervaluing you.
If targets are there management of the work to gain results is measurable and manageable.

I'm not just ranting, I am just offering advice, My nightmare came from a project that was more than deliverable.  I was engaged only on a consultation bases, this changed to a developer bases, Then as a developer I found that I had to steer the role, the management and the development. All the while trying to do this, the project changed, the development environment was changed, the deliverable changed due to other factors. The client changed servers, suppliers, setups, with no respect for development, with no forethought for his requirements for deliverables.

read the quotes from the link, think carefully about what you are asked to do, plan, provide statemnets of intent. And believe me that when your nightmare comes it will be a doozy.