Last weekend, Cam and I drove up to South Lake Tahoe for a couple days of snowboarding and escape. Tahoe is too far from us for a one-day there-and-back trip. But it’s close enough (~4 hour drive, sans traffic) for a weekend getaway. It was Cam’s first attempt at boarding. I say, she did remarkably well given her lack of any prior experience skateboarding or surfing. read more
Until the past few days, you might not have imagined how a small, isolated country somewhere in the South Pacific could have such a significant impact on the Web. We’re early on in the second day of Webstock, a web conference, shaking down in Wellington, New Zealand. And what a conference it is.
I acquired a taste for them a year ago when I visited Australia for the first time. John and Sara had a pack of them at their place when Dave, Joe, and I stopped by for a barbie one night after Web Essentials 2004 was over. Maxine asked, “Would you like a Tim Tam, Doug?” Me: “What’s a Tim Tam?” Maxine, shocked at my response: “You’ve never had a Tim Tam?!”
Inspirational, energetic, insightful, encouraging. That’s how I’d describe the Web Essentials conference in Sydney, Australia last week. An excellent crowd filled with so many wonderful people. It seems the WE05 team is on to something very successful. read more
My first night in London, I forced myself to stay awake by taking the tube to SOHO, finding fish and chips for dinner, and deciding to watch an Italian film, “The Consequences of Love,” at the Curzon. Not the best choice for keeping one’s self awake after an 11 hour flight to London, but somehow it worked. Billed as a “psychological thriller”, this film’s pacing should have put me to sleep. But I managed to follow to the end. read more
A couple weeks ago, my girlfriend and I flew to Orlando, Florida to spend some time with my father. Since he works for Disney, we took a day and hopped through a few of the parks for free. I hadn’t been to Magic Kingdom since I was a kid. It’s odd how you see things differently as an adult. Not unexpected, just odd. read more
Just arrived in London. It’s gray outside, and probably a little cooler than I thought June would be. But I’m glad to be here, regardless. A rather uneventful flight (always a good thing) except for the man sitting next to me smacking the Enter key on his laptop keyboard every 2 seconds throughout the night. read more
Once again, I find myself in Hong Kong on business. After leaving San Francisco at 1:20am early Wednesday morning, our plane landed at about 7:00 AM local time Thursday morning. Out of the fourteen hours of our flight last night, I slept for about seven of them. Never very solidly, as we kept hitting patches of mild turbulence every half hour or so. I drank plenty of water during the flight, and am continuing to do so. Nevertheless, jet lag is already punishing me in full force. read more
After two years of sharing space with good friends at Adaptive Path, Stopdesign finally moves into its own office. Over the past week, I’ve been painting, moving, and assembling, creating a clean, comfortable space that Stopdesign calls home. I now sit high above Market Street in a funky little office with lots of windows and incredible views over downtown San Francisco.
Update: Good news! The templates I reference below are finally available for download by anyone to use. See the followup post: Photo Gallery Templates available.
Over the past two months, I’ve been lying low when it comes to the writing on this site. I’ve responded to very few emails, and fallen severely behind on the blog and news reading with which I normally keep myself updated. In the past two months, I’ve opened up my feed reader exactly two times. Both times, I quickly got disgusted with how many unread items popped up before my eyes. Too much to keep up with, especially after getting back from a month-long tour of Down Under.
While I’ve been busy the past few weeks, so too, have some of the folks I got to meet in the fine, windy city of Wellington, New Zealand. Next week, Thursday 9 December, will be the first official meeting of the Web Standards Group in Wellington. It’s free, casual, and open to anyone who’s interested. read more
In sorting through the 980 (!) photos I took in Australia and New Zealand last month, I thought this particular image was worthy of posting here separately from all the others. The Kiwis I met at the conference in Sydney told me Wellington had some of the best coffee in the world. After noticing something in my last “flat white” at the Wellington Airport, I think I understand why that might be true… read more
The last three days I spent in Wellington couldn’t have been better. The weather was ideal: clear skies with a few clouds, mild temps, and a low breeze blowing off the harbor — apparently kind of a rare environment for Wellington. The days were relaxed, nothing was planned, and I got to meet quite a few local webbers. read more
Best taken while suspended upside-down, dangling by a rubber band strapped to your ankles. Begins with intense anxiety. Guaranteed rush to the head follows. Heart continues pumping for at least 30 minutes after.
I mentioned in a previous entry that I’m actually going to make it to New Zealand’s North Island for a brief stay. Thursday — 21 October — I’ll be flying from Christchurch into Wellington around mid-day. I’m spending a couple days there, and I really don’t have much planned. I just want to see and experience New Zealand’s capital city, enjoy the coffee, see a few LoTR sites, and hang out with more Kiwis. read more
On Friday, Mt. Hutt was still closed, and I had almost given up hope of boarding in NZ. But after walking around Methven, John and I learned that one small club field was actually still open: Broken River. Not willing to forfeit another day of boarding, we jumped at the chance. A 90-minute drive away from Methven, and we were switchbacking a narrow, rocky road up to the club field. After parking at one of the tight bends and dropping our gear into a lift that would pull it up to the changing room, we had another 20 minute hike up the mountain in front of us, just to get to the ticket window. After buying a lift ticket, collecting our gear from the lift, and changing into our boots, another 15 minute hike up to the first rope tow. read more
I arrived in New Zealand late last night, after quite a bit of drama at the Cairns airport earlier in the day. I almost didn’t make it to NZ for multiple reasons. For the biggest bit of drama, if you know me, ask me about getting detained for knocking a security guard on his bum, most likely ending in him having a black eye this morning. read more
For those of you loosely following along on the OZ/NZ adventure, I just wrapped up five very relaxing days at Airlee Beach and the Whitsunday Islands. It was a perfect spot to use as a base for exploring the nearby islands, and ended up being a great spot from which to head out to the Great Barrier Reef. read more
A few times while traveling around Australia, either I’ve noticed a slight glitch on a site (Stopdesign, or a client site), or someone else points out a bug or problem with some file on a site I have control over. I left my laptop and cables, etc. in Sydney to shed the weight, so I haven’t had access to the tools I normally have at my disposal. Any of these changes are usually quick edits or corrections of previous oversights, assuming I have any type of net connection and my normal toolset with me. However, I’ve been missing some sort of text editor that can work on files remotely via S/FTP. read more
I stepped off the plane yesterday in Cairns and immediately got hit with a warm tropical breeze. It was a drastic change from the cool San Francisco-like weather of Melbourne. I loved Melbourne, and wished I could stay longer, but this short trip mandates that I keep moving so I can experience everything I planned. read more
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