• iFrame - Know what they are.
• HTML - It's the English language of the web. To quote Jules Winnfield : "English, Motherfu&$er, do you speak it?"
• Pop-ups - I don't care if you're using _blank to kick open a new browser window or some JavaScript shenanigans, don't pop up a new window for a freekin' link. Understand why this is * a * bad * thing. (yes, I do it for pdf's, but reluctantly.)
• RSS - Don't try to sell me RSS as a replacement for pulling content from databases. It's "syndication" not "making up for a lack of a product feature"

I've "known" Josiah for years through blogging. We met a few years back and I always watched what Coptix was doing. It was at my boss' suggestion to look at what Coptix could do for us. We brought them in, gave them a very tight deadline, and set them on their merry way. Of course, with any project you have some pitfalls and they actually went above and beyond when the client (me) threw monkey wrenches into the plan.

So this is a short post to give them a good recommendation as well as to introduce our latest site: Volunteer State Health Plan.

Coptix did the majority of the work; from interviews, brand development and design while I did the final build-out of the html and css, along with CMS integration. I wish, and this is the project manager's regret, that we could have used their original designs. Very tasteful, fresh, and refined. They were a joy to work with and look forward to future projects.

Putting my life online also involves getting away from desktops and laptops and running applications which require me to be at a physical machine. I originally started a lot of this with webmail; squirrelmail back in 2001 and various webmail setups were more in the mindset of preventing viri from infecting my machines, so ditching Outlook, Outlook Express, Eudora, etc from my computers and going all online for both me and my wife, kept our (then) Windows machines virus-free and even allowed us a smooth transition to Mac and Linux systems. We now have a Windows laptop and a Nintendo DSLite on our home network (casanet) and can check email on either one.

I also ditched some of my photo programs for Flickr and iPhoto when I was on the Mac. I stopped using either one,for something more self-managed and I'm still looking for a good method.

One of my meta changes was to change from self-hosting a couple of blogs and just using resources from Google or Tumblr. I really like not being responsible for hosting my main site or it's email and putting it in the hands of Google (for email) or Tumblr for it's stabibility. More so for GMail, I know I'll have it hosted there for a while and do not have to worry about losing my archive should I change my site's host. I can change back to self-hosting the www site, change to another host like Wordpress.com or just not even host a page anymore and Google will still (thanks to DNS) have my email.

I'm now debating dropping my hosting account, for something like Typepad where I can use Movable Type, have a photo album, a few blogs, and have it on their server. But this is also at a cost of freedom. I feel good when I can setup a bookmark site in MT, like I have for years and years now.

Unfortunately not self-hosting, can easily prevent any updates from work or updates from school networks, if you're behind the great proxy of "x". It can also prevent the freedom of running ads if you decide to try to make any money from your sites.

This is more of a list of thought patterns to layout some options for people who want to have the full online experience but who could care less about hosting providers.

Sure, I could run out to my local grocery store and get some homogenized version of a blueberry pie, complete with corn syrup, but that would still leave me longing for a homemade pie crust and that taste (or soul) that comes with a pie being made by someone's hands as opposed to an assembly line.

I went around Chattanooga on a Saturday afternoon, searching out these home-cooking establishments and most did the ubiquitous pecan pie and lemon meringue pies....most store bought. Not looking good.

Over a nice Vietnamese dinner out with Mom & the Wife, I let them know about my failed hunt for a homemade pie. This is how I typically wind up learning how to do something...from web stuff, or car stuff, or cooking....I learn because I'm not happy with what I find. I really don't have enough patience to be a pastry chef, although a recent attempt at dark chocolate buttercream turned out great...but I digress.

So, the Wife hearing about this hunt, as a part of her venture out to a craft fair called to ask, "if I find a pie here, do you want me to buy it?". Me: "Um, hell yeah". She comes home with one of the most beautiful examples of piedom, a buttermilk custard pie and....yep, you guessed it, a pecan pie. Both homemade, with homemade crusts and good ingredients. But that buttermilk pie, awesome crust, awesome taste, solid and firm, wonderful taste...yep said it twice.

But yeah, it took going to a craft fair in Rock Spring, Georgia, to find a homemade pie. Not in a restaurant, but at a Fair. Then again, this is Fair season, with Fall Fairs turning up every weekend en' masse , complete with kettle corn and homemade foods. Like I said earlier, I'll probably learn how to make pies just to satisfy this monster.

I've been playing around with the latest MT 4, being a long-time user and spent a lot of time....actually getting paid $40k+ a year, at one point, to develop Movable Type-based sites. I'm not sure I'm going to migrate my sites over to version 4 anytime soon. I have a lot of custom work, which will not move easily over. In addition, the new format is more WordPress-y and not as user friendly as I'd like.

I've been looking back toward some database-less solutions, like Blosxom and Linkwalla. I like managing my blog on my server, plus I actually like designing my own templates. One thing I don't like to depend on, are additional servers....too many points of failure.

This blog analysis actually started as I updated a client's website for the first time in years. I had moved the content from about 5 different servers, never reconnecting the CMS to anything. Then when I made the edits, it was easy to just login to the admin interface and make the change. No MySQL issues, no problems. Twittering with Elle, actually got me back down that path of a simple CMS, via the work of Adam Newbold. Then I started thinking, where are the simple blog cms'?

I guess this wondering is the result of working in environments, where databases have been the Achilles Heel. Can't run MySQL, that knocks out a majority of the stable blog platforms. Run Oracle? Then you're limited to a few, but those are gonna cost you. Run MSSQL? Then you get locked into ASP/.NET-based apps, where they're not exactly as easy as PHP or Perl-based solutions to edit.

I feel very fortunate, where I can see the attempts of a lot of companies to bring blogs to corporate environments. I've spoken with companies who work with a lot of large organizations and provide solutions. But a majority just do not provide simple blogging, commenting or management....they feel like a hodge-podge of larger programs....

More on this later....

As much as I hate this type of meta-blogging, I felt I should jot this down as a reminder of this point in time. You really never know how stressed and worked you are until you slow down and just do something different (like a vacation). I love my job, I'm doing what I love to do. But with every job and everyone's life, you have stresses and things you'd like to change and folks....I'm at that point.

I haven't been in this mindset since my time back at Erlanger (circa 2002-2004) when I was completely engrossed in blogs and just doing something different. I'm doing that again but feel I'm connected with people who have similar mindsets, locally, and who all have can-do attitudes instead of the "what?" attitudes I dealt with for years.

Stopped in Charleston, very nice and overly HOT...friggin' hot town. Strolled through the city market and walked a little through town and decided to go ahead and leave...didn't really dig the town too much. Ok, another two hours on the road to Savannah.

Got to Savannah and were absolutely shocked at how many places were being renovated or changed since my last visit in 2003. Some of this meant, no parking anywhere. Couldn't find a spot on a Wednesday afternoon. We were also shocked at how "touristy" it became.

I started going to Savannah in 1996, right as "The Book", "Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil", started to take off. You got to see some of the funky, coolness of the town and this set off the first wave of renovations and brought Savannah to national attention. I dug the town during this time, laid back very arty because of SCAD, very...i dunno, "me". I almost moved down there..

Now, we're noticing a 2nd wave of attention, thanks to Paula Dean. The Days' Inn is now some fancy new Days Inn, the Best Western where we spent our honeymoon is now a little fancier, the new Lady & Sons' is where one of my favorite antique stores was. It's just bringing a lot of tour-rons to this funky place, making it more family-friendly and knocking it to being a mild place. River St. has (in my times) been a tourist trap...nice places to eat, but everyone had all of the same products....pirate t shirts, Paula Dean books and sauces, and "The Book".

So after being disappointed and having a little meltdown because of the heat, the humidity, and being damn tired, we decided to head up I-16 to Macon, GA for dinner. Hit a nice thunderstorm outside of Pooler and kept driving two hours up the road. Finally, after a decent dinner we headed up I-75 through Atlanta and finally home...after about 14 hours on the road...making a giant loop from when we started on Sunday.

After an evening on the questionable beds....

It's not that they're "bad" beds, just not "good" beds but for what we're paying (yes, cheap bastard me), they're fine. Woke up grabbed my camera and the first spot of caffeine for the day and headed out for a few pics and to survey the area. I don't think I can just describe how nice it is to wake up and walk out the door and see the sun, sand and ocean. Granted, I live in the mountains in the country, so it's a vast difference.

We hung out on the beach for a few hours, where I lost my brand new sunglasses after being twirled about, underwater, by a riptide. I have a nice two or three inch set of scratches on my back from being tossed around...lovely. Didn't ruin my mood, though.

After we got tired of being wet and sandy, we drove around Myrtle Beach and noticed how different is really is from N. Myrtle Beach, where we're staying. Much more congestion, many more tourists, etc. More commercial. N. Myrtle is more laid back and seems "older".... don't have to deal with droves of people. Needless to say, this is the land of SUVs and minivans.

One question did arise....what's the deal with "Pancake Houses"? It seemed like there were dozens of Bob's, Sally, Slider's etc.

Day Three

This was is our last full day on the beach, so we woke up and watched the sunrise, then went back to bed for another hour. Writing about a vacation, a time of relaxation and basicially being boring, is really boring. We stayed all morning and part of the afternoon at the beach, then we went to the pool, sat under the shaded palm tree and camped out there for the rest of the day.

Oh...our camera doesn't like this weather. So my pics of the sunrise and even last night by the ocean look like shit and my camera actually rebooted. Had the camera since 2002 and never had that problem. Damn.

We didn't have a place to stay, so we kept driving along Ocean Blvd until we found something nice. At this little curve of the Blvd, with a beautiful view of the beach, we found this little place with a 3 night deal. Stopped off and got the price and decided to make this our 1st stop. For what we would normally pay for a couple of evenings, we got a night free plus a good sized kitchen. Now, growing up, this place would have been a last stop, but it's nice and quiet, just a little behind the times, but the folks are very nice.

We ventured out to the beach once we got everything in and almost immediately the day hit us and we were dog tired. Came back, took a nap and drove around looking for a spot to eat. Found a seafood buffet, over-priced imho, but wasn't bad. Some rude-ass people behind us but it's ok. Came back to Cherry Tree and walked by the ocean at night and played a little game with the high tide.

As we sat watching these waves coming in, we thought about what it was like to look back across the Atlantic Ocean, knowing that your birthplace was months and thousands of miles away. Imaging what our ancestors thought as they landed on a foreign beach, no shelter, just for a new start. Then we thought about how beautiful and scary it must have been to only have this water illuminated against the moon.

Being the geek that I am, one of the fields I built into this new blog system was a "location" field. So while I'm incommunicato, I'm still planning on keeping a travel journal with pics. But then again, I might just like sitting on a beach, sans-laptop, sans-internet, for a majority of the time.