From an MSN search for “jeredb”

I have been playing this great game with my co-workers. Reflex Blue Trivia. All the graphical knowledge that you can muster. I was just listening to a speech by Merlin Mann and the introduction goes:

As somebody who was tagged while working at AdaptivePath as someone who exposed too much mental sausage, I think there is alot of people who like Merlin Mann’s weiners. They’re really alot of fun to see him talk about, the mental sausage that he’s continually generating.

I think my co-workers think of me like that … or I hope so.

So on Friday of last week, my new office hosted a conference for all the college communicators around the state of Virginia and Washington D.C. Needless to say it was a lot of work to get it up and running but it all started it ran really smoothly.

I sat in on 3 sessions (2 and 1/2 technically): “Research and Creative: How the Right Brain and Left Brain Can Work Together to Develop Stellar Publications” and “Writing for the Web (double session)”

Both of the presenters have connections to my new office so I felt very comfortable in each session. The first one was very eye opening and is congruent with what I have thought about marketing for a long time. It also brought up a little dissonance about my previous position. We didn’t do any research or the research we did was not up really valid. I know that student activities is a rapidly changing environment and we are always aiming at a moving target, but the idea behind the session is amazing. Do real research, apply the real research. Drill down to your core, find a specific niche and stick to it. There are too many universities that have the sweeping shots of campus and classrooms, instead of that, know your audience. Brilliant!

The afternoon was filled with Web design/management discussion. We talked about Information Architecture, which was genius! Find your key audiences (again) and think about/research what they want out of your website. Perspective students, Parents, and People giving money. Those are the biggies. Then figure out what they want. Group it all together or “create gateways” and test your proposed layout with people before throwing it up.

Excellent.

create your own visited states map
or check out these Google Hacks.

I don’t know if driving through counts… but I think so.

This weekend, Esther was meant to be off at a big counseling/psychology conference. She left on Friday morning, leaving me to fend for myself. I actually did really well, managing not to destroy the house, rack up a $1000 in debt, kill the cats, or get fired. But the reality of it was that I really enjoy having Esther around.

I got a call about 3 on Saturday. “Hmmm, who could it be?” says me. It was Esther! She was on her way home already, which was fantastic! The weekend was not lost.

So with the wife home, we decided to go to the movies. “V for Vendetta” was the flavor of the day.

All I can say is WOW. V for Vendetta is one of the best adapted movies I have seen in a long time. The action was intense, the acting was good (although Natalie Portman was mediocre at best). The special effects were awesome, although the center channel in the theatre was buzzing in the lower deeper sounds. That was a minor annoyance. Another thing was the volume was set poorly. Some of the quiet lines of dialogue was too quiet, making V’s lines unintelligable. Outside of the technical annoyances… it was AMAZING!

So other than the movie, I made muffins. Some awesome muffins. Esther snarfed them down quicker than I did. Yay for me!

The Hook is the “underground” student news site that I helped launch. I have been the primary financier and web architect. It’s a little barebones right now, but I hope it picks up.

Reflex Blue Trivia is something that I have started at work. A heavy nod to the Be A Design Cast in the name. It’s for around the office, but if you want to get involved email me.

A pet project of mine is launching today. I have been the unofficial technical advisor to a new campus media organization. We are launching our online newspaper today. Hoorah!

I just found the coolest widgets for Dashboard on OS X.4+!

It’s a widget that allows me to access both Tada Lists and Backpack!

Now these can be used in my organizational systems. Hoorah!

Okay, first off: Great weather. It was in the mid-to-upper 70’s all weekend with a nice breeze keeping the humidity away. Second reason the weekend was great: Esther. That’s obvious. The third reason: The amount of stuff that we did.

Saturday was major landscaping day. We went to Lowe’s and got some pavers and edging rocks and mulch. You can see the results below.

So after the great Saturday of gardening, we went on a super excellent bike ride on Sunday. We rode to colonial Yorktown and around the historic trails. See some pictures below.

Ahh… Life is good.

When the idea of a la carte cable has been floated, I am usually over joyed. I can get ride of a whole lot of channels that I never watch. Here is my list:

• Lifetime
  “Next on Lifetime…” the same old bleh movies about mothers who love their children, etc.
• ESPN
  I know that I’m the only guy every who isn’t addticted to ESPN.
• ABC Family
  I don’t need family friendly programming. Watch what your kids are watching and you don’t have to worry.
• The Weather Channel
  Ever hear of the internet, or a window?
• CNBC
  I don’t care about your stocks!
• CMT
  I have an aversion to country music, even more so on TV.
• BET
  Have never watched it. Ever.
• Disney
  See ABC Family
• INSP
  Don’t need the “God squad” on my TV.
• Animal Planet
  Do I really need to say more?
• QVC, HSN, any channel that sells stuff
  I don’t like to shop. Do you really think I want that gawdy jewelery?