For those of you who (like me) feel that the established interface for commenting on blog posts only works when there are a few comments… and quickly begins to suck eggs when the comment threads get longer and begin to comment on each other… I’d like to suggest Disqus. I’m going to hold off on this site until I feel that it’s justified. Anyway, here’s a screen grab to give you a better idea of the interface design:

Published by Mike Houghton . . Jun 19, 2008 . Filed under: Links Elsewhere, Thoughts

Video from Weezer: Pork and Beans (NOTE: click image to play in new window)
Mike Houghton emailed this video to me recently. Seeing it spurred some thoughts on how Weezer took a simple idea and created something from it. In this case Weezer has taken a simple thought - “I’m going to do what I want to do, I ain’t gotta prove a thing to you” – and made a catchy little song with an amusing, light video.
I’ve been interested for a while now in how others take a simple idea and make it spring to life. I’m sure that we all have inspirational moments where if we could just somehow “catch” them and “own” them, maybe something worthwhile (or at least thought provoking) could come from them.
Refreshing!
Published by Gary Brooks . . Jun 06, 2008 . Filed under: Thoughts
While reading some of the obits for the late Alton Kelly, I reflected that his work and the work of his peers in San Francisco made use of the same kind of eclectic adaptation and cross-cultural borrowings as the music of the time. The SF Gate story mentions the use of the public library by Kelly and partner Stanley “Mouse” Miller to find inspiration. While the artists were in the libraries, the bands in San Francisco listened to anything and everything; check out this set from radio station KPMX one night in 1967 when it was guest-hosted by two guys named Phil Lesh and Jerry Garcia.
I found a nice selection of what look like all pre-1970 posters here (note that two of the posters are for concerts by the also recently deceased Bo Diddley).
Published by Doug . . Jun 04, 2008 . Filed under: Thoughts, Alton Kelly, art, graphics
So I’m imagining the actors as clients… and their physical orientation as the direction of their opinions… and wondering what I’d do if the elevator were actually a conference room, and I was presenting my opinions… perhaps about a new design. What about you?
Link courtesy of: CenterNetworks
Published by Mike Houghton . . May 29, 2008 . Filed under: Links Elsewhere, Thoughts
I haven’t dug too deeply into GoodBerry yet, but I’ve seen enough to make me wonder. Are the “website in a box” solutions that seem to be growing in popularity something to be embraced by the design and development community, or should we continue to promote an ultra-customized, higher budget approach? I have to say that there is something really appealing about the high feature / low cost aspect of solutions like ExpressionEngine, Joomla!, WordPress, GoodBarry, and others.
From the design side, I can always sell a customized interface, but what about the application side? Then again, much like stock photography, what if my client is bent on something from TemplateMonster.com? Does this trend bother you? Either way, how have you chosen to adapt?
Published by Mike Houghton . . May 27, 2008 . Filed under: Links Elsewhere, Thoughts
Hey everybody. Welcome to the dusty, dirty, and draft version of the new Refresh Tallahassee site. After you’ve taken a look around, please create an account. By doing so, you’ll become “legit” (which means I’ll be able to add your profile to the Members page. I’ve also added the ability to post jobs and buy books - both of which will provide some budget for our upcoming meetings.
Moving forward, I’m interested in your thoughts. It’s about time to have another meeting. Maybe we can discuss where to go from here when we get together again.
Published by Mike Houghton . . May 20, 2008 . Filed under: Thoughts