Japh

The Trouble with Magic

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 12:35:00 +1000

One of my favourite quotes, that I’ve posted here before, is:

“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”
~ Arthur C. Clarke

I love it, because it’s so true, and I don’t think we marvel enough at the technological advancements humans have made over time.

The problem is, if you believe in magic, there are no limitations.

This is a problem we as technology experts come across quite often. As far as our non-technical clients are concerned, what we do is magic. So, if we’re doing magic, one magical endeavour is no more or less difficult than another. You don’t need to read very many “Clients From Hell” posts to realise that is the perception.

Sometimes analogies are used to explain things to clients, such as “building a website is like building a house …”. But no one believes building a house is done by magic. I can imagine that what the client might actually hear is more like “building a website is like building a house, if houses were built with magic, …”

Some people in the IT industry actually like this mystical aura that surrounds it because it affords them a certain amount of awe even for performing the most basic tasks. But it also makes life difficult when it comes time to explain that something can’t be done.

This is where we have a problem. Clients then think, “wait … first you tell me you can do magic, now you’re telling me you can’t?”

It’s important to give clients a little more education, this is part of managing clients’ expectations. They don’t need to know everything (not everyone who hires a plumber can do plumbing), just enough to explain that you have epic ninja skills, not a robe and wizard hat. If you have a “Client From Hell”, perhaps you’re leaving too much mystery in your magic.

P.S.

I’m speaking from the position of an offender. I’m definitely sometimes guilty of leaving too much mysterious in my magic.

Where'd my @treehouse account go?

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 03:28:35 +1100

Yesterday I went to the Treehouse website ( http://teamtreehouse.com/ ) to check for new content. I noticed the homepage had changed, so I was pretty excited to log in and check out any new lessons that might also have been added since my last visit.

I pressed my keyboard shortcut for 1Password to login me in, but I just got an incorrect password message. That’s pretty weird as I haven’t changed my password, and if I had, I’m religious about keeping 1Password up-to-date,

I figure that’s no big deal, obviously something odd has happened, so I opt to reset my password. I enter the email address I’ve been using for Treehouse since I first signed up on November 7th last year. No dice, apparently no account exists with that email address.

I’m starting to get a little worried now, so I double-check my email history to make sure I entered the correct email address. Yep, definitely correct. I see my Treehouse welcome email. Several support tickets, and even where I had my account verified.

I tried visiting my account profile ( http://teamtreehouse.com/japh )… all I get is a 404 page, and Mike the Frog staring back at me. What’s going on?! I had almost as many badges as Jim ( http://teamtreehouse.com/jim ), are they all lost?

Now I decide to tweet and let @treehouse, @ryancarson, and @nickrp know something’s up. I also sent an email to support. I’m secretly hoping the tweet can speed along the support ticket. @nickrp replies letting me know a ticket is a good idea. I appreciate the reply, at least I know someone else knows.

I’ve been following along with @carsonified for a few years now (and @nickrp and @jimrhoskins too actually), and my dealings with them in sales and support have always been fantastic. Other people’s faith might have been shaken by this issue, but I just feel like while it’s inconvenient right now, they’re going to sort everything out as quick as they can and I’ll be blown away by the speed and friendliness.

In fact, I’ve just now gotten a reassuring tweet from @treehouse, “We’re on it :)”

I decided to write this blog post partly to document what’s happened, but also partly because I can’t sleep because I’m worried about what’s happened to my account.

——-

Even before I finished writing this post, my account has been restored. It seems to be a fresh account, with most of my badges added to it today (so I guess I lose a record of when I actually earned them, which is a shame because that’s one of the things that makes them useful), and it isn’t verified. I reset the password immediately and added my billing details. Re-filled out my account, and now my profile is back.

Hopefully that’s all sorted now, though I really would love to know what actually happened there, and if anyone else also had the same issue.

What is Japh getting me for Christmas?

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 21:20:56 +1100

Come on now, you know you shouldn’t ask these questions. You’ll ruin the surprise! ;)

Y U NO BLOG ABOUT CATS?

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 17:26:00 +1100

You make a good point there, John. That was remiss of me, please accept my apologies. I am no expert on cats, so I have commissioned this post and hopefully this will make up for it.

A post about cats, by Emi:

Cats. Love them or hate them, I believe they’re destined to become the dominant species on Earth. They have the coping mechanisms needed to survive the inevitable nuclear holocaust / zombie attack / alien invasion. It’s Science:

Cats were revered in Egypt. This shows they are master manipulators, who could quickly negotiate a position of strength with alien invaders:

Cats on average sleep 12 - 14 hours a day. A well rested mind can prepare for nuclear or zombie disaster and make plans accordingly:

Cat urine glows under black light. They can set elaborate traps for those pesky aliens, and lead them into certain death:

Cats have a 220o field of view compared with 180o for humans. Their sense of smell is 14 times stronger than a human’s. They can jump up to 5 times their height in one leap. They could outmanoeuvre zombies without even lifting a paw.

Cats have even taken over the internet:

In conclusion, cats are amazing. They will always land on their feet.

*facts gathered through random google search, may not be reliable.

'Fluid' vs 'Responsive': Different names for the same fad?

Sun, 04 Dec 2011 23:16:12 +1100

The previous debate that included ‘fluid’ was usually about going for either a centred or fluid layout for a website. Centred sites were fixed width, usually based on the most common screen width at the time, and fluid sites were percentage based or other relative units and would fill the width of the viewport regardless of what width that might be.

As screens have gotten wider, fluid width sites aren’t practical because over a certain width paragraphs become one big long line,and things like that aren’t conducive to reading.

Now we have ‘responsive’ websites, where the CSS of the website is determined in response to the capabilities of the browser. This is most often the width of the viewport, but can also be the height and other capabilities. It can also be either completely adaptive (adapts to any sized viewport at all), or stepped where there are really just several fixed widths and the most appropriate is the one used.

Responsive sites are much more intelligent about their display than fluid ones. Entire sections may be completely repositioned depending on the viewing dimensions available, rather than just squished up.

"I do not carry such information in my mind since it is readily available in books. …The value..."

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 12:42:58 +1100

“I do not carry such information in my mind since it is readily available in books. …The value of a college education is not the learning of many facts but the training of the mind to think.”

- Albert Einstein

The only book I need (Taken with Instagram at Ionata Web...

Thu, 09 Jun 2011 09:03:59 +1000

The only book I need (Taken with Instagram at Ionata Web Solutions)

Hooray! #FriWebDrinks (Taken with Instagram at Preachers)

Fri, 27 May 2011 17:48:45 +1000

Hooray! #FriWebDrinks (Taken with Instagram at Preachers)

Hanging at the beach

Sun, 22 May 2011 14:53:54 +1000

Hanging at the beach

Mmm… bubbles!! (Taken with Instagram at Mo Mo Bubble Tea...

Fri, 20 May 2011 13:37:17 +1000

Mmm… bubbles!! (Taken with Instagram at Mo Mo Bubble Tea and Coffee House)

My new personal mug for the office! (Taken with Instagram at...

Tue, 17 May 2011 12:44:54 +1000

My new personal mug for the office! (Taken with Instagram at Ionata Web Solutions)

Hanging with all the #FriWebDrinks guys. Good times! (Taken with...

Fri, 13 May 2011 21:36:04 +1000

Hanging with all the #FriWebDrinks guys. Good times! (Taken with instagram)

Angry Nerds t-shirt arrived! (Taken with instagram)

Sun, 08 May 2011 15:32:51 +1000

Angry Nerds t-shirt arrived! (Taken with instagram)

Time for my medicine! (Taken with instagram)

Wed, 20 Apr 2011 22:32:30 +1000

Time for my medicine! (Taken with instagram)

I love Master Classes! (Taken with Instagram at Ionata Web...

Fri, 15 Apr 2011 10:42:14 +1000

I love Master Classes! (Taken with Instagram at Ionata Web Solutions)

You put the lime in the coconut, you mix them both together...

Sat, 09 Apr 2011 18:45:30 +1000

You put the lime in the coconut, you mix them both together (Taken with Instagram at Myer)

I have a complex. I’m regularly working with or along side...

Wed, 06 Apr 2011 14:22:08 +1000

I have a complex. I’m regularly working with or along side someone else, and without these I always feel self-conscious. (Taken with Instagram at Ionata Web Solutions)

New guest bean today: Huila Alma del Huila (Taken with Instagram...

Fri, 01 Apr 2011 12:43:48 +1100

New guest bean today: Huila Alma del Huila (Taken with Instagram at Next Door Cafe)

"If I find a sandwich in the forest, it’s a completely rational question to ask how that..."

Thu, 31 Mar 2011 10:05:00 +1100

“

If I find a sandwich in the forest, it’s a completely rational question to ask how that sandwich got there. Given we haven’t seen anyone make the sandwich, it’s possible the sandwich is simply an accident. But as it’s a reasonably complex and convenient structure, it’s fair to ask if there was an intelligence behind its creation.

The universe might not be a sandwich, but all the pieces in place that led to the development of our race are complex and convenient enough to make the question of intelligence behind it a sensible one.

Once you start getting in to questions like, is that god interventionist? Is it Jehovah, or Allah? Does he want gay people to get married?, you are diverting from the core question. Atheism, agnosticism, and theism are all merely positions on the fundamental question: is there some kind of intelligence behind the design of this complex system we call the universe?

And it’s a completely fair question.

”

- Shaun

Construction in the CBD (Taken with Instagram at Aubergine Cafe)

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 19:53:00 +1100

Construction in the CBD (Taken with Instagram at Aubergine Cafe)