...I can't decide whether this is retarded or genius.

This special spoon-fork combo is specially designed for ramen. It is perfect for twisting up noodles while also ladleing broth. Basically, it's a glorified spork. It was designed by Masami Takahashi for a Japanese ramen chain restaurant. Here in the states you can buy it from MOMA for $12 a piece, biggest rip off ever! I remeber back in college one of my friends went on a diet that consisted almost exclusively of ramen, mainly because the food there gave everyone IBS. She would have killed for one of these. Beth says she really wants one for christmas, but I have literally never seen her eating ramen.

Speaking of Japanese garbage, I really want a Tamagachi pet. If someone knows where to find one, or if they even make them anymore please leave a comment. I think that it would be the perfect office distraction, especially for places that filter the internet to eliminate all the fun stuff.

I had asked vaan to find products, he brought a Vernier caliper. I rejected it basically since it is too much an engineering product and the product, I felt is complicated for the first exercise. Then, I suppose with Thulasi guidance they found the Mousquito repellant plug in device for redesign.

The context of this design exercise is USER INTERFACE DESIGN,

and the product is PLUGIN MOUSQUITO REPELLANT.

We had taken the reference of the already created design methodology and followed it step by step.

Brief Research:

First we noted down all possible information we had from using this product

a. The cost f the product varies from Rs. 50 to Rs. 85 in the market.

b. The refil cost alone is Rs. 45

c. Function : It repels mosquito's by vaporising the liquid from the refill, by heating the liquid.

d. Simlar products available in the market are Mortein, Goon Night etc.,

e. Literature search from the net , similar products and literature on how the machine works are documented in an acrobat file.mousquite_lit_search.

f. Visual Documentation of the products are documented on a power point presentation. A brief write up of the literature search and the findings are documented.08tra01_moustorepllant

g. Look at similar products that are available - Car refresher works on similar giving out smell. It works through the air from the AC ducts channelized to the freshener tube. There is a minimum and maximum opening for the air to come out. Balaji went figuring out the mechanism in the freshner, they were so involved.

The next part of brief research is personal using of the product and documenting every actions, when doing this exercise look at all best and worst case scenarios of how the product can be used, like product in not working condition, think of worst case scenarios and then try using them in that cases, these will allow more involvement and internalization of the product when doing research.

The actions that go in using the product are

a. Remove the wrapper, to take the product out.

b. Fit the refill bottle by screwing on to the product

c. Hold the product to carry it to the lug

d. Plug it in to the socket and switch on .

e. After 8 to 12 hours switch off

f. To refill, remove the product from plug, remove the bottle.

g. Dispose the existing product.

Listing of Interfaces: the next area to concentrate during brief research and understanding the product is list of all the external and internal interfaces. Since this exercise is in product interface design, understanding of the interfaces is critical, and an interface is a means of communication, an in-between layer between two entities. When listing down interfaces , list down the element and its function that it is performing.

External Interfaces

a. Plug - to fix on the wall

b. Hole on top of the product - for vapour to come out.

c. Light inside to show the product is on.

d. Refill to be mounted in clockwise and and remove in anticlock wise

f. When inserting on the plug holder and taking out from plug - firm grip

g. When not on the plug, seated on a flat surface at the bottom of the product

Internal interfaces

a. Heating coil for heating the liquid

b. light for visual interface

c. Wires connecting the light , coil and the plugs.

d. Plastic panels - top, bottom and the plug planel.

e. Screws for mounting the panel.

f. plug fitments can be horizontal and vertical mounted.

_______________________________________________________________________________

Problem Statement :

The next methodology is identifying the design problem statement to improve the interface of the product.

Take the complete list of interfaces, noted down in the previous work and try to find problem areas in them

a. Plug when rotated 90 degrees, comes back because of wire tension

b. When removed from the plug, the body slips, make a better grip , holding in design.

c. The product should not easily attract dust, the white color shows dust patches.

d. Holes for the vapour now points only on top, the ventilation holes to be improved to all room spreading of the vapours.

e. Forgetting to put of the switch off in the morning , a provision for autocut off with 8 and 12 hrs indicationfor adjusting timing of cutoff.

f. When light fuse goes off, we are not sure if the product is working, we assume that the product is not funtioning and discard the costly apparatus. An alternate provision for knowing the product is working.

g. The internal wire routing is done very randomly, a proper routing pattern to be given.

h. The refill bottle fitment to the product, no visual interface present how we are mounting, clock wise or anticlock wise mounting direction to be indicated.

i. The refill cap goes unused when fitting on the product, can it be reused in some way or can a provision for mounting the cap on the product be given or can be cap be eliminated all together.

j. The light inside the unit can also be used as a night lamp. Better visibility of the light is required.

k. A product with out screws to be designed.

l. The product hits the body and damages the product and hurts the person, so a compact product that very little projects out from the wall to be designed.

m. The product to be made very compact.

__________________________________________________________________________________

Product Configuration

During the product configuration stage, study the existing product and document all the views by sketches, document both the internal and the external configuration.

Capture all the dimensions. Make quick sketches, and then later make layouts in any cad software. This phase is to capture all the information that is available to us as values.

When doing the sketches ourselves, we try to understand the different elements that goes in to the product and all those elements add to the visual appeal of the product.

The internal configuarion of how the different parts are linked and the exploded views of the parts are captured.

______________________________________________________________________

Concept Design / IDEA Generation

Brainstorming is the best way to generate more amounts of ideas, when generating ideas we need to come up with quick thinking.

Idea generation phase is the most enjoyable phase in the full design exercise. Let your creativity flow and come up with out of the box ideas, wild ideas, workable ideas, obvious solutions. Document all the ideas in to this sheet as verbal formats.

The methodology of doing this is, put the product in the center, we have come up with 13 problem areas identified to improve the product interface of the product. Take each of the problem area and come up with 3 to 4 ideas to make it better. Do not limit your thinking by only a single idea, always the first idea does not work out to be the best.

After completion of this exercise you would be having about 30 to 40 different concept, for the problem statement that we have arrived at.

The interesting phase in the idea generation phase is putting it all together, to form an interesting product.

I decided tonight, while drinking alone and reading shelter mags that it was time to make the blue/brown  to  red/gold switch a little early this year (I usually do this 'round about September 15th).  perhaps it's the Autumn Pottery Barn catalog,   I received this week or the effing hot hot heat--but it just feels like time to switch it up a little bit.

pull out the red pillows, switch the iron lantern for the wooden vessel full of seagrass and it's a whole new room!  and the red painting just went from background to center stage.  this isn't hard kids, you just need the right stuff!

'member the Spring/Early Summer look? --click here.

1. PHOTOSHOP / COREL DRAW

2. Ms.OFFICE (Ms.Word, Excel, dan Pwr Point)

Kelebihan:

• Proses belajar bisa dirumah / kantor.
• Waktu yang Flexible sesuai kebutuhan.
• Pengajar yang langsung datang ke tempat anda.
• Bisa untuk segala usia
• Proses belajar One on One antara pengajar dengan pembelajar sehingga belajar bisa lebih fokus.
• Anda dapat berkonsultasi langsung dengan pengajar.
• Anda juga mendapat Copy Materi dan Sertifikat tanda belajar.

Jangan tunda lagi...

Segera Hubungi Kami :

021-50 15 79 49

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All spaces, especially home offices, need a signature piece of furniture. Something that catches the eye and sets the space apart from all those dreary gray cubicles. In our opinion, even in a modern, technological, gadget obsessed world there's always a place for large chunks of handcrafted wood. The Crescendo is such a piece. It can fit in either an ultra-modern workspace or a low-tech artist studio. Simple, elegant, and minimal. Something designers, and those who love them, strive for...

Another post I wrote for Unplggd...

1) Title Tag - The title tag is the most powerful on-site SEO technique you have, so use it creatively! What you place in the title tag should only be one thing, the exact keyword you used for the web page that you are trying to optimize. Every single web page should have it's own title tag.

2) ALT Tags - ALT tags were meant to be for text browsers because the images didn't show in text browsers and the ATL tags would tell the visitor what it's about. You should put your main keyword(s) in the ALT tags, but don't over do it because you could get dropped in the results or even worse banned for life!

3) Link Popularity - Link popularity is the most powerful SEO tool out of all them. Most search engines don't even consider web sites if there is not at least one or two links pointing to the web site. Having another site(s) link to your web site is important when it comes to getting your site a good ranking. Your keywords should be in the links you get and keep the keywords short. When you receive requests for a link exchange, check the site out before linking with them, check for spam (Repeat keywords, hidden text, etc.).

4) Keyword Density - This is also vital and should be used with research. You should use the keyword(s) once in the title tag, once in the heading tag, once in bold text, and get the density between 5% to 20% (Don't over do it!). Also use your keyword(s) both low and high on the web page, keyword(s) should be in the first sentence and in the last one.

5) Page Size - Your web page's speed is important to your visitors and the search engines. Why? Because the robots will be able to spider your web page faster and easier. Try your best to keep your web page over 5k and under 15k in size.

6) Rich Theme - Search engines are looking at themes more and more. Build content (Articles, FAQ, tips, etc.) much as possible and keep the web pages around 200 to 500 words. Create content that's related to your market and link them out to other related content on your site. Try to get 200 web pages or more.

7) Web Site Design - This is also important, if you want to get indexed! Text content should out weigh the HTML content. The pages should validate and be usable in all of today's leading edge browsers. Stay away from flash and Java Script, search engines dislike them both a lot.

8) Insite Cross Linking - This will help you get all of your web pages indexed by the search engines. Your web pages should be no more than three clicks away from the home page. Link to topic related quality content across your site. This will also help build you a better theme through out your web site. On every page you should link back to your home page and your main service(s).

About The Author Matt Colyer is the owner of the Marhen.com Network which includes www.linkexchangeit.com and is a part-time SEO. He also is a php, CGI and ASP developer. You can read more articles like this at www.marhen.com/articles/index.php.

A Mass Customization Revolution

The Industrial Revolution

The great social and economic changes due to the introduction of machine and power tools and large-scale industrial production began in 1760. Through the first 70 years of this century, the US was the industrial giant of the world. In 1960 the words "Made in Japan" was thought to be a joke. By 1980, those same words had become the standard for manufacturing. In 1985, U.S. manufacturing was in a deep depression. Products were too costly, of poor quality and not innovative enough.

Now, again, America is ranked No. 1 in manufacturing (World Competitiveness Report, 1996).

Mass customization

America’s No. 1 standing is primarily due to the manufacturing revolution that has been under way since 1985. This quiet revolution is built on the unsurpassed innovative spirit of the American people. Innovation is one of the qualities upon which America is founded. American manufactures are the world’s leading innovators. The right combination of technology and people is a good foundation for any company. These technologies are leading to a major new phenomenon: mass customization, which is the ability to customize products literally in quantities as small as one, while producing them at mass-production speeds. Mass customization in the Information Age is replacing the mass-production model of the Industrial Age.

The ultimate outcome will be simultaneous manufacturing. Here, even as the customer is giving the order, the product starts to be manufactured. It may seem like a fairy tale, but the time is fast approaching when a customer will stand at a retailers fitting room, download their personal measurements into a computer, choose the pattern and variety of material wanted for their clothing and before they leave the outlet their order is in production. Now that’s a truly empowered customer!

Over the past few years, there have been a number of articles written on lasers. Each author lists applications as it relates specifically to their area of expertise. However, what EdgeWISE Tools would like to do in this article is to stimulate you to visualize all the different ways you can use a laser to produce a variety of products. Let your imagination go. Don’t fear the unknown. Those that can see the future have the greatest opportunity to succeed beyond their wildest dreams. "Carpe Diem" - seize the moment!

Why use a Laser?

In 1985, thermal contact cutting tools were developed for roll feed plotters. The "Hot Tip" became the first large format cutting system introduced to the sign industry. This process became the corner stone that most plotter manufactures built on. Through evolution, the cutting hardware has changed and significant strides have been achieved. We have seen progressive steps taken to where technology is today.

Most old manufacturing technology uses contact cutting tools; where the tool actually contacts the surface, it is meant to cut. The cutting tools must be re-sharpened or replace often and as the tool wears out the quality is compromised. This antiquated method has become an additional source of income for the manufactures because they now get to market one or more consumable tools. Contact manufacturing with all its additional costs can now be replaced with a more economical solution.

The next giant evolutionary leap in cutting manufacturing is the replacement of contact cutting tools with non-contact tools. The next logical step is to use laser technology for mass customization. The traditional high cost of laser technology has delayed the development of the Roll Feed Laser (RFL). A day is like a year in technological development terms. However, recently the cost of laser technology has been reduced to the point where today it has become an affordable means of manufacturing.

Roll Feed Laser

In 1988, research and development began on the first Roll Feed Laser system (RFL). This research developed more than just a new product. It developed new concepts in manufacturing and new ways to manufacture. The realization of mass customization is appearing using lasers. The combination of these two things EdgeWISE Tools calls the laser manufacturing revolution. This laser manufacturing revolution we are beginning to see is becoming bigger than anyone has yet imaged. There are literally hundreds’, if not thousands’, of markets and industries that have yet to be discovered.

Can you change?

As history has proven, there are always those people that lack the foresight and intuition to respond to the changing trends of time. Ten years ago, in 1986, industry scoffed at the idea of a large format, computerized, cutting system becoming the main work tool for the trade. The resistance to change at that time was severe. Seven years ago most plotter manufactures laughed at the idea of a low wattage Roll Feed Laser system and could not see the potential for manufacturing one. Look at what is happening today, Since 1990, the number and diversity of applications for low wattage CO2, Nd:YAG and Diode laser systems have exploded. The CO2 laser market has grown on average of 60% per year. More people are recognizing the benefits of using a CO2 laser over other traditional manufacturing tools. Machinery like dies, routers, hot knives, and mechanical engravers are being replaced with affordable low wattage RFL systems. Ink jet printers, in some applications, are losing ground to the advancing low wattage laser used for marking.

What does this mean?

In what other business can you invest in a piece of equipment to produce such a variety of different products? Products can be manufactured using plastic, woods, fabrics, rubber, and metals. Because the kerf is very narrow and the laser controlled by a computer nearly any design can be cut. It is just as easy to cut one design as it is to cut a million. Comparing this too most manufacturing equipment, you could invest $50K to $500K on an offset printing press. However, you can only use this equipment to print on a specific type of material. A silkscreener, sign maker, engraver, or for that matter most everyone in the manufacturing field, will purchase a specific piece of manufacturing equipment to accomplish a specific task. A machinist may be one of the only people that will purchase a piece of equipment and be able to work a small number of different materials. The machinists’ limitations show up in the restricted types of designs he can shape. Nevertheless, even a machinist’s tools cannot work with the variety of materials and designs that one can attain using a Roll Feed Laser.

Acquiring capital equipment is usually difficult for a new or growing business. Capital investment is one of the major issues for a new or growing business. To a start-up company, or a company that is seeking to reinvest, capital investment is the one main issue that is becoming harder to justify. A piece of capital equipment that is designed for just one purpose is not cost effective when a multifunctional alternative is available. The capital investment to produce an exclusive product has become such an immense cost that these moneys are rapidly shrinking. Switching to the use of a laser for manufacturing is a contemporary new process. A process that, if not adhered to, could cost the business owner market share, and ultimately his market completely. Most of us have known someone that this has happened to in the past. Reluctance to change can cause the demise of any very good company. EdgeWISE Tools is unaware of any other process that can produce the variety of products and open up design creativity as much as what you get when you use the RFL. Nowhere else can you work with paper to plastic to wood and pretty much everything in-between and back again with one piece of equipment. The only challenge now is left up to the ingenuity of the owner or operator to produce the product.

Since a laser does not come in contact with or use force on the material being manufactured spoilage can be drastically reduced. Lasers will increase a companies yield. Some surveys show a yield rate of 95% to 99%. Having owned a graphic arts manufacturing facility in the late 1980’s, on the best of days the yield was 80% to 85% and on average the yield rate would be 75% to 80%. The lack of contact with materials attributes to the higher yield rates. Because the process of using a laser is automated, the process tends to be far more repeatable than most methods. Once the process starts, it is frozen and day to day repeatability is maintained.

The future is at hand!

Imagine the industrial revolution...now imagine the industrial revolution with mass customization. A comparable example mass-customization is the jeans industry. Only the affluent could afford to purchase a pair of custom-made jeans from a tailor. Most consumers can only buy jeans in sizes manufactured to suit the cost of production, not body shapes. As mass-customization technology is available, manufacturers need to again provide the American people with a quality product. The jeans and roll feed laser industries are forerunners in the race to make mass-customized products accessible to consumers

The industrial revolution made products affordable by mass-production. This mass-production required only one setup to produce thousands of pieces. The cost for tooling is one of the largest expenses, which controls the break-even-point. During the industrial revolution, customization was compromised to maintain low manufacturing costs. Today, however, you have the opportunity to choose to take the next step to processing power, user-friendly software, low wattage laser technology, and minimal to no setup time. As you contemplate capital investments, consider end-product quality, cost-effectiveness, and efficiency of roll feed laser technology.

Written in 1996 by:

Patrick J. Momany, Founder of EdgeWISE Tools, Inc. www.ewt-inc.com

Edited by:

Marty Kalberer, Laser Systems Engineer.

About The Author EdgeWISE Tools founder Pat Momany — didn’t start out at the high-tech edge of the fabric cutting industry. Problems that need solving get his inventive juices flowing, and his penchant for saying, "Sure, we can do that," before figuring out how, add up to an enterprise that’s reinvented itself several times. Now with that trademark inventiveness and can-do attitude, Seattle-based EdgeWISE is pushing the limits of fabric cutting, in a system custom-designed to cut out the huge scientific balloons NASA plans to send to the very edge of Earth’s atmosphere. pmomany@edgewisetools.com

I often wonder how serious people are when it comes to their websites. I thought that most everyone knew that the phrase "Build it and they will come" no longer applies on the internet but I'm not sure how many people really believe it.

I look at sites everyday as part of my sales strategy and I can't tell you how many of them violate the obvious elements of good website design and submission.

What even amazes me more is that they can't figure out why they don't get sales or visitors.

Do yourself a favor and attempt to apply the following tactics to your site. They won't cost you a thing except a little time and effort to apply them.

** About Page **

Always include an about page on your site. Don't be afraid to tell your story and let people know who you are and how you arrived where you are.

Opening yourself up and letting people know who you are adds an element of trust. It exposes your personality, capabilities and knowledge. All factors that let your readers know you are genuine.

** Include all your contact information **

Let your visitors know that you are available. Encourage questions, email and phone calls. Include your name, address and phone number. If you can, it's also helpful to place a photo on your site. Familiarity is key and it can add one more link in the ladder of trust.

** Headlines **

Create compelling headlines. Peak the interest of your readers. This is your chance to grab their attention and incite them to read on.

Don't be flashy or obnoxious. Simply tell it like it is. Capture their attention with descriptive, informative words. Get your readers involved in your information. Ask questions. Make them think.

You might be surprised to learn that just one compelling headline can bring instant sales almost overnight.

**Create your meta tags **

This is the first place I look when people tell me they aren't getting visitors. I often see sites that have no title or description tag or the tags don't follow the suggested guidelines for proper setup.

Here's an example of how the tags might look for a site that sells hummingbird feeders:

Hummingbird Feeders: Shop For Hummingbird Feeders Online

You will need to do this for each page of your site. Each page needs to have it's own set of tags. I also recommend focusing on one keyword per page, two at the very most. Too many keywords can confuse what your page is about.

Always make sure that your keywords are scattered throughout your text as well, however don't sacrifice good content for nonsense. Your text should be easy to read and should not sound redundant. Make your pages at least 250 words.

** Testimonials**

Solicit feedback from buyers you've had. Ask them to write a small testimonial that you can place on your site. This goes a long way to help convince your visitor that your products and services are sound.

** Linking **

Reciprocal linking is a common and effective tactic for obtaining search engine status and page rank but it's also the most time consuming. It requires making contacts, following up with contacts and updating your website.

While reciprocal linking is an excellent way of establishing page rank it's not the only way. Page rank can also be established by submitting your site to directories, writing articles and setting up blogs.

Don't underestimate the power of website links. Take the extra few hours a day and get your site noticed.

** Offer Guarantees *

Always offer your products with a guarantee. This is often the extra boost a buyer needs to make the purchase.

A good site will offer 100%, no-questions-asked, money-back guarantees. People rarely take advantage of such guarantees but it's this statement that may tip the scales in your favor.

** Submit Your Site **

Last, but not least, don't neglect to submit your site to the search engines. Many of them are no longer free but the fees are nominal and worth the expense. Google still offers a free submit and it's easy, simply type in your URL address, however make sure your meta tags include a title and description tag first.

For the free search engines I don't recommend using automated submissions. Submit them yourself taking care to compose accurate titles descriptions and keywords.

About The Author Elizabeth McGee has spent 20 years in the service and support industry. She has moved her expertise to the world wide web helping businesses find trusted tools, enhance customer service, build confidence and increase sales. You can visit Elizabeth's sites at: http://www.pro-marketing-online.com http://www.homenotion.com

Bliskie powiązania kultury picia kawy ze sztuką, włoscy specjaliści od czarnych ziaren kultywują już od wielu lat. Dostępna właśnie na polskim rynku nowa limitowana wersja ekskluzywnej puszki illy ozdobiona zdjęciami Sebastiao Salgado, po raz kolejny udowadnia nam jak niedaleko pada ziarno od sztuki.

illy od początku istnienia szerzy kulturę picia kawy i podkreśla bliskie powiązania ze sztuką. W swojej działalności uwzględnia wszystkie elementy, które pozwalają cieszyć się filiżanką idealnego espresso. Począwszy od tworzenia mieszanki ziaren, po budowę ekspresu, od szkolenia baristów po projektowanie wnętrz kawiarni. Pod skrzydłami koncernu powstają dzieła będące wyrazem ich przekonań, wartości, a przede wszystkim odzwierciedlające filozofię illycaffe. Dowodem może być chociażby słynna filiżanka illy. Małe, idealnie wyprofilowane naczynie z małym uszkiem zaprojektowane przez Matteo Tuna, co roku proponowane jest w nowych wersjach, zdobionych przez najbardziej znanych i cenionych artystów oraz projektantów.

To właśnie ze zbioru „Workers” pochodzi zdjęcie umieszczone na najnowszej puszce illy. Znamienna dla dokumentalisty, ulubiona forma czarno – białej fotografii przedstawia plantację krzewów kawowca w Brazylii. I jak zawsze u Salgado na pierwszym planie eksponowani są ludzie zmagający się z pracą.

W puszce projektu Sebastiao Salgado kryje się 250 g doskonałej i najpopularniejszej mieszanki illy espresso.

Wyrazisty aromat kawy, jej delikatna nuta smakowa łączy wykwintną woń czekolady, cytrusów i wanilii. W kwestii smaku illy jak zawsze pozostaje niezrównana.

Kawa dostępna jest w sieci supermarketów Real oraz dobrych sklepach spożywczych. Cena 250 g illy espresso to koszt około 40 zł.

I’ve often thought about the No. 1 pencil. What a sad failure. There it was, first out of the gate, all the advantages in the world, and no, it couldn’t hold on to the job, the Wally Pipp of pencils. —Joe Posnanski

The above quote sparked this idea. The "Pencils" type is an approximation of Home Run Script by Doyald Young. (I traced a screen capture of the word because I don't own the font—yet.) I deliberately gave the type a "scribbly"/sketchy treatment. The pink button on the cap is meant to suggest an eraser.

* * *

Some fun facts about pencils:

⋅ The word pencil comes from the Latin word pencillus which means "little tail."

⋅ On March 30, 1858, Hymen Lipman received the first patent for attaching an eraser to the end of a pencil.

⋅ Pencil "lead" is graphite (carbon) and not the chemical element lead. Residual graphite from a pencil stick is not poisonous, and graphite is harmless if consumed.

You can read about the grading and classification system for pencils here.

Works by Ara Peterson

I'm trying to get the patent for a new type of motorcycle. This one is fully enclosed and has 2 doors for easy access into the motorcycle. You don't have to straddle the seat in this motorcycle. The seat I designed is one you just sit back on like a chair. The handle bars are replaced with a round steering wheel and I've doubled the number of tires. I'm toying around with a 4 door model that has a back seat too!

Oh yea, I almost forgot... a gun pops out the top.

The idea behind this design was to create something that felt very retro, very much so like the design style of arcade cabinets from the 70s and 80s.  I guess you guys can be a judge of how well that turned out, but I think I like it.

When I started designing it, I grabbed a few pictures of arcade cabinets from the internet, studied the colors on them, and eventually ended up picking the colors I did.  For anyone that's interested, the main colors are #111111 (the background), #666666 (text), #b9ee22 (neon green), #ee8811 (orange), and #88b9ee (blue).  You can find these colors throughout the page, and the design is _almost_ exclusively made using those colors.  There are a few extra colors thrown in (such as the background of the content container, which is #222222) to make things stand out or transition better (look closely at the bars, you'll see this).

The design isn't perfect, and I'll probably be making some touchups eventually, but I'm happy with it... for now.

...und in handwerklich perfekter Tradition mit den typischen 'Schwalbenschwanz-Zinken' gefertigt wird.

So entsteht der Ausdruck einer Haltung, die sich in jedem Möbelstück offenbart:

Lebendiges Handwerk, das auf zeitlosen Werten beruht. DECARUS

Ah, tem mais nesse site aqui.

1) My wife started a home-based child care business for the Tigard (Oregon) area. I put together a mini-website that lets her edit page content, add pages and manage an activity log that is accessible only to registered parents. More work is necessary, especially for content. I was focusing on high ranking in Google when doing keyword research, registering the domain name and putting content together, but I was a little surprised to see this site come up first a few days after posting it for the query "day care tigard". The challenge now is to make it first for "child care tigard" ... but I have a few ideas.

2) We updated the former splash site for EcoFarms International, LLC, which specializes in growing organic produce year-round. The business users can now post "newsletters" (similar to blog entries) either as a new page or as a PDF upload. The key functionality is the newsletter notification, which is sent to people who signed up for it. I am working on making this a little bit more robust along the lines of Foreclosures 4 Investors, for which I implemented a system that sends in excess of 100,000 e-mails per month.

3) A good friend of mine is getting married, so I put together a simple site with an RSVP form. I spent most of the time on the design (of the website and an invitation), which was based on work provided by Ben Tabb, a web designer here in Portland.

All three sites together took less than 40 weekend-early-morning-and-night hours (the weekdays where slammed with my work at Aisle7). That includes (almost) all design work, all markup and styling work, all programming and framework configuration, all the time spent setting up the sites at the hosting provider and all client communication. That's not bad for three projects. I would say I spent almost 5 of those 40 hours fixing CSS styling around IE 6 quirks, which shows how much this browsers really sucks.

Django is great to work with, but it helped to have a certain development environment setup: I run PyDev on Eclipse (including the extensions). I have the Django SVN trunk checked out and configured as a project in Eclipse. Each new Django project I set up is gets Django as a dependency, which gives me code completion and automatic import statement generation. This configuration also enables me to click on any Django class or method and jump directly to the source, which is better than any documentation.