Dimen Designs

It's been a long, strange week

Monday night for dinner with my family, after-dinner drinks with my cousin Will, and then...
Tuesday I had to get my concentrations approved for my Masters and later that day received a job offer...
Thursday I gave my class presentation...
And I moved into a new apartment to top it all off

And here I am now at Spin Caffe doing email/Internetwork, waiting for my car to be worked on, and reflecting on how many worries in my life disapeared this week.

Lessig is at it again with a great story on how open-source software compliments the software ecosystem:
" The point in each case is not that we'd be better off without proprietary technology, or without property at all. The point, instead, is one that has been obvious since the birth of our republic--that a balance between proprietary and nonproprietary property is better than either extreme. As Bradford Smith, general counsel of Microsoft Corp. has written about software, "Both open-source and commercial software are integral parts of the broader software ecosystem." Either alone, I might add, would produce a weaker "software ecosystem." "

Events

The Ski Co. is showing the new TGR movie, High Life, on the next two Sat. nights, Nov. 8 & Nov. 15

I will not be in Chicago tonight...

Because of job and school obligations, I will NOT be in Chicago tonight for the huge Pyszka/Doolittle house-warming party. 

BUT, I guaranteed Justin that I will come visit before Christmas. You have my word on it. 

Since I'd like to be there but can't, please DD me so I can catch up with everybody. 

Why Wal-Mart Doesn't (completely) suck

It's difficult explaining why globalization helps people and nations because the beneficial effects are distributed over a large percentage of the population while the detrimental effects are concentrated on a small percentage of the population. So a very vocal minority drowns out the Wal-Mart benefits gained by the silent majority. This NPR story explains why Wal-Mart's extreme cost-cutting procedures are not entirely evil. 

Dimen Designs.com is Now Live

Big news in this latest post: the new website, my Dreamweaver/CCS presentation notes, and events (past & present)


Dimen Designs
My new website Dimen Designs is now live thanks to Dave Rea (talk to him about economical hosting services). "Dimen Designs started in 1999 as a cutting edge graphics and web design company. The name comes from 3-D (as in dimensional) and from the pronunciation of the word 'diamond' " (circa sophomore year at college). This blog will migrate over to the new site when I figure out MovableType or GreyMatter.


Notes & photos from presentations
Here are the presentation notes from my GRMMUG presentation entitled "Dreamweaver and Practical CSS: Separating Content from Presentation."

Through the RIT Business College's Technology Management Center, the New Product Forum focused on fostering innovation within the corporate environment. Dr. George Boughton's talk on developing a new 2-stroke engine was the highlight: "Different ideas are not always great- but great ideas are always different."


Events coming and going...
The High Falls Film Festival is showing a documentary called "STOKED: THE RISE AND FALL OF GATOR," which describes the rise and fall of Mark Gator Rogowski, a 1980s skateboarding legend. I first heard about the movie on NPR while driving to Chicago back in September.

The Lounge's fashion show and movie premiere, " How to Make Friends on the Lift This Winter," which benefited the USASA, was a great time. A chance to watch videos and get stoked for the upcoming season. 

Thanks to U of R for bringing NY State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and Pulitzer Prize winning author Oscar Hijuelos to town two weeks ago.

Mr. Spitzer spoke on how to reform corporate irresponsibility, saying that some public- and private-sector people and companies wanted to "hide decision-making where you don't want accountability." When asked whether tough new legislation or the tough new business environment would drive out qualified candidates for Board member positions, he said that it might. Hmmm...

 

Mr. Hijuelos talked about the art of writing and his childhood memories turning into stories and novels.

 

The baseball fantasy that wasn't

I've wanted to post but I've busy with other work. I'll post summaries/photos of events from the last two weeks...

But for now, I wanted to share this baseball fantasy from today's Morning Edition on NPR. Listen to what could have been if only the Cubs and Sox were in the World Series...

The Northeast: The Way It Is

I'm not a big baseball fan and being from Western New York, I am not a Yankees fan either.

But with the league's two most romanticized teams, the Cubs and the Red Sox, both vying for a chance at the World Series, how can you not be a baseball fan?

See this NY Times op-ed column by David Brooks, author of Bobos in Paradise (examines America's new rising class, "Bobos") and writer for The Weekly Standard. The Yankees/Red Sox series represents what it means to be from the Northeast, in all of its cursing, scuzziness, and sarcastic glory.

Using the SHIFT Key Violates the DMCA

It happened: the student who published the article on using the SHIFT key to avoid CD protection might be sued for violating the DMCA.

CEO of the copy protection company:

"This cat-and-mouse game that hackers and others like to play with owners of digital property is over. No matter what their credentials or rationale, it is wrong to use one's knowledge and the cover of academia to facilitate piracy and theft of digital property. SunnComm is taking a stand here because we believe that those who own property, whether physical or digital, have the ultimate authority over how their property is used. Owning copying technology is not an unconditional 'free pass' to replicate or distribute protected work."  Hat Tip: Slashdot

Meetup is Great

The Rochester Webdesign Meetup at Spin Cafe tonight was excellent (thanks Josh, Lew, Jeff, and Josh's biz partner for coming). Not everyone that RSVPed showed up but it made for more intimate conversation. We got so into stuff that another guy in the coffee shop overheard us and wanted to know what was going on. He was a fellow techie and was interested in learning more about us so we told him about Meetup.com.

I left tonight feeling really energized about sharing and learning from people with similar interests. It's nice to know that offline strangers can get together and be really excited talking about a particular subject.

Quick news item:

Oscar Hijuelos, the Pulitzer Prize winning who wrote A Simple Habana Melody (read it this summer and it gives real insight into Cuban life and life in general) is speaking at the U of R on Friday (10/9) at 5:00pm.

When the RIAA Comes a Knockin'

How to avoid getting sued by the RIAA and what to when they serve you a subpoena. Analysis of the record industry's latest CD-protection shows that holding down the SHIFT key will bypass the security. Rip, Mix, Burn...and R.I.P. to the record companies.

Slashdot's discussion over the SHIFT key raises a great question over whether this new trick violates the DMCA. Please read the EFF's recent DMCA analysis paper.

Events:
1) The Lounge night at Prepp's; Wed. night (10/8)
2) Developing Leaders in On-Line Age; Thurs. (10/9) @ 7:30am
3) Rochester Webdesign Meetup; Thurs. night (10/9), 7pm @ Spin Caffe
4) Bonfire at Kenny's house; Fri. night (10/10)

The Future of Mobile Phones

When I was in Chicago back in September, we went out for beers and somebody (Mark?) had one of the camera phones. Shane and I though it was pretty cool, taking instant photos and being able to email them. Well, here's the future of mobile phones:

"Shoppers can take out their Nokia 3650 camera phone at Barnes & Noble, Border's, or just about any other book store, and just take a picture of the ISBN on the book to comparison shop at Amazon.com right on the screen of their wireless Web browser," [Charles Jensen, CEO of NeopMedia] said.