Redlines to the rescue

This strikes me as a great example of the power of visuals to get a point across in milliseconds. Article: MySpaceTV vs YouTube: 12 Things MySpace Copied

Maple's new playmate

Pepper pants by Corinne S.

I am so happy that Maple has hit it off with our neighbor's new puppy Pepper. They run each other ragged in our combined back yards and it makes me so happy! Admittedly this takes some pressure off me walking Maple, which is probably not good, but it's still a fabulous addition to our lives. It's also great to see Joyce falling in love with her dog. :-)

My big brother

Big brother by Corinne S.

TJ stayed over at my house last night because he had a meeting in Seattle today. We took Maple and my neighbor's dog Pepper for a walk around the neighborhood and then Benjamin brought home delicious Penn Thai takeout (that's the same people who own my favorite Chantanee Thai in Bellevue). After his meeting today TJ headed back to Leavenworth only to discover that his room in forest service housing had been broken into. What a bummer!

Big kids and babies

Aawwww by Corinne S.

Yesterday with Miller & Nathan's coed baby shower. Baby Mabry is due on July 28th. This isn't Miller's "isn't that cute?" face. The hat is part of an outfit Benjamin and I gave Mabry for her baby shower. I had so much fun shopping for baby clothes at Bootyland on Saturday after my hair cut. I bought enough clothes for a small tribe.

Leanne's pretty family

The family by Papa Morris

It makes me happy to see my friends' happy. Life is great journey.

Progressive politics + tech job = Fuse Technical Director

Former Driving Votes co-founder Matt Lerner sent me information about a local tech job opportunity for a new progressive political organization. Check it out and forward as appropriate.

Over the last few months I've been advising an exciting new political start-up in Washington State called Fuse. We are currently looking for a technology director to act as a founding member of Fuse who will direct and implement our technology strategy. The ideal candidate would be a senior web developer, but we would also consider someone from a product management, development, or design background if they were a good fit. This is a unique opportunity for someone to use their technical skills to make a difference in the world. It's critical that we make this hire within the next month. If you care about progressive politics, please forward this job description broadly to your network. If you refer a candidate to us that we hire, I will personally provide you with a special Finders Beer™. Have candidates email fusewashington@gmail.com if interested. About Fuse: Fuse was founded by some of the best organizers in Washington State and is backed by leading local and national funders. The mission of Fuse is to use the Internet to reshape state politics. The executive director of Fuse is Aaron Ostrom, who is an amazing guy with big plans. Does state politics sound boring to you? Think again. Most of the legislation that affects us on a daily basis occurs at the state level--and state politics is often where innovative ideas are incubated before they become national policy. Thanks, Matt

Be a good little guinea pig

Guinea Pig by Futuregirl

Here's another place to sign up to participate in usability studies--Amazon.com Usability Sign-Up. This is in addition to the ones I've blogged before, such as Adobe, Microsoft, and Fieldworks (market research).

Cuties

Silk worm by Papa Morris

Clearly Leanne's baby Asha is still adorable.

Last night in Poland

Poland -75 by Rob Gruhl's Quick & Dirty Page

Apparently this is what Benjamin and I missed by not going out drinking on our last night in Poland. :-)

Too busy for...

I didn't get a chance to blog the London portion of our trip. I still hope to, but memories do fade. I posted a precious few photos from the trip on Flickr, and there will be more one of these days. Last Monday I started my new job at Amazon.com. I'm working in the Digital Media team on Amazon Unbox. That's Amazon's ~year old digital video download store--movies, tv shows, etc. They're fast at work on some projects so it's been busy for me from the get-go. I still have remnants of my cold from the trip and I'm working long-ish hours, so I'm exhausted and haven't had much time for blogging. Hopefully I will see some of you Friday night for anime night. For others, let's get together in person to relax and chat. I'll be blogging and photo-posting as I can, but if it's quiet for a while, you'll know why. Change is good for the soul, but it's hard work!

More days gone by

What is it with flood and famine? Not only is my parents' house for sale, but Benjamin's parents' house is for sale, too. His dad is retiring at long last and they're moving up to their house in West Seattle full-time. Benjamin's childhood home in Kelso is for sale. If you know anyone who'd like a modern house on a large wooded lot, tell them to check out this Kelso home for sale.

Big day for the fam

After more than a decade in the making, my parents' house on Vashon is finally on the market. I'm not sure that this is either a sad day or a happy day, but it's certainly momentous. If you know anyone who's in the market for a $1.4 million home on Vashon island, send them to this link. ;-) You can also see additional photos of the house on Flickr.

Gamers will laugh

If you think the PS3 is misguided, you'll probably enjoy this. Benjamin laughed a lot. PS3 song

Great presentations

There is a World's Best Presentation Contest on a beta site called SlideShare.net. I particularly like this presentation called Shift Happens. I think the facts are presentated in a really startling and compelling way. I think the first 25 slides about education and globalization are the most effective and maintain the most cohesive theme. After that it shifts gears to a broader Internet and information growth theme, some of which is interesting, but it feels a bit more like hype. I was dubious of the facts and wished for sources, which I later found. If you're interested in the history and future of this presentation and thoughts from the author of the original presentation, check out the post Two Million Served on The Fisch Bowl. It was originally an internal presentation given to the staff at Arapahoe High School in Colorado.