Dont Trust This Guy why not take my word for it? A blog by Jim Jeffers

I recently came accross a this great little note on Signals vs. Noise about dropping out. The article summarizes three different stories where professionals in various careers simply dropped out to lead a less complicated life. The stories spoke bounds to me. I can’t express enough how much I question what it is I do and why. I look around me and wonder the same about others sometimes. So many of us aren’t doing what we want. There tends to be a lot of focus on getting by and making more. Often it won’t be out of the norm for me to hear one of my friends say, “I want to be making X amount of dollars by the time im X years old.”

Why? Why so focused on money? Who gives a shit really. Why not say things you’d like to be doing in the future. Why don’t we set more passionate goals than financial goals. Finance in general is just a shallow cold boring and crude aspect of life. Money is a means to an end at times but it never is that ‘end’ you are so desparately looking for. If you’ve ever watched television shows such as the Sopranos or Nip/Tuck you can see a fictitious example of people who seem to have it all but lead remarkably unhappy lives. It is my belief that money is nothing more than a tool. A tool that will get you straight to nowhere, no matter how much you have, if you are not pursuing the things that truly matter to you.

It is just merely a matter of your perception really. Who is the more ambitious of the two? Is it the poor cabbie who simply drives around the same streets, reflects on his life, has time to see his family, and leads a simple yet enrichening life? Or is it the professional athlete under constant demand for physical performances and social appearances, driving an expensive luxury car, wearing some of the finest clothing, rolling around with more money than they know what do with? I leave it up to you to decide. Maybe you’ll have to find your way to the top to find out it might not be what you wanted afterall. Heck even I don’t really know, but I do think about these things if you can’t tell.

Tomorrow morning I will be waking up early to head out to the polls and put in my two cents on how I think things ought to be as I see it. After all it is my right. Personally, I haven’t been very unhappy with the way things have been going. Since Bush was re-elected I became totally disillusioned in our society as a whole, not because he is a republican but because of what he has done.

Often, I wonder why the majority of us can just sit back and support the leadership that has driven us into the disastrous situation we are in today. What is it that people care about? Obviously, some things must matter more to many of us than the loss of life, which has all happened for no legitimate cause or reason in Iraq. Is it preventing the gays from getting married? Is it to keep taxes low? Is it about shutting down abortion clinics? Is it to support campaign issues tied to religious values? I would like to think all of us went out to vote to protect our rights. I would hope we all took the big picture into consideration and looked at where the world is going and what we can do on an individual basis to improve it. But is that too much to ask for?

Many of my peers today seem focused on working, earning, and prospering. Money and material possessions are a key motivation amongst many. This is the result of the capitalistic society we have been born into in this country. I appreciate it in many ways but I also am disgusted by it at the same time. I think pure capitalism is inhumane. Think about companies like Wal-Mart that have become a prime example of capitalistic thinking in full strength. Making money is important, but the more you take the less everyone else gets. Where do you draw the line? When does it become inhumane to to earn that additional buck or two? What’s the human cost doing so? What’s the worldly cost of doing so?

I guess what I’m trying to say is that by our methodology we subscribe to a more cold approach to life in general. We THINK we want a world where people tell us all of the chips are in place for us to be successful. If we push harder than the rest we’ll get what others could not in life. But I don’t think we have to live in a dog eat dog world where we let healthcare run out of control and let the less fortunate sit on the street. Many citizens simply ‘play the game’. Work to spend. Work to spend. Work to spend. While my thoughts have been unclear throughout this particular writing; the main principle I had in mind while writing it was this: When you think about what you want to do, when you think about where you want to see the world headed, when you think about the changes we can make in our society… do not be influenced by the popular motto ‘Play to win.’ Instead.. play to improve, but above all, play to give. Learn from the wealthiest people in our society. Remember if you are fortunate enough to earn a great amount of money you have a gift many don’t. Be sure to take care of those who need it most. With that mind set I think we all may make clearer decisions that have more value than purely that of short-sighted self interests.

I am growing very VERY VERY tired of wordpress comment spam! Becuase it’s so standardized and widespread it’s an open target to these attacks. Here’s an analogy.. using wordpress instead of a homebaked or less popular blogging system is like using a PC instead of a mac when it comes to viruses! Geez. Oh well this is not meant to be a rant, rather I want suggestions. What do you guys suggest I switch to?

Presently, I’m considering Mephisto. I don’t like wordpress becuase I think it’s too feature rich andheavy weight. I want something lightweight that’s easy for me to hack into and add my own code on. I truly dislike the notion of upgrading. Once I setup a blog the code is hacked apart by myself so much that upgrading just isn’t an option. So what are your thoughts? What do you recommend? Should I just build my own blogging software? Should I try out Mephisto? Are there any other decent CMS systems that are preferabbly Rails based?

I wrote this snippet today to cycle through the present working directory and do some cleaning up so to speak. We got a ton of images from one of our clients and they all need to be setup as galleries for slideshow pro in flash. So I needed a few things to be done.. first of all the images were all conveniently placed in their own directories for each album, however, the thumbnails were stored together with the large photo files so I needed to separate them from each other. I wrote this snippet… my first time writing a ruby script to do some nifty stuff with directories and files quickly. This will actually rename all of the directories to be more web friendly i.e. ‘Bay Area’ becomes ‘bay_area’ etc. etc. and then it will rename all of the images uniformly but place thumbnails in a tn subdirectory and large images in an lg subdirectory. Finally, it also generates a SSP friendly XML doc for each directory.

# Gallery creator..
# This ruby file should be placed into the working directory
# containing all of the directories you wish to be converted
# into galleries.

# USER DEFINED SETTINGS
# ----------------------------

# ignore:
# Array of directories you wish to ignore.. i.e. parent, and current.
ignore = ['.','..']

# large_id:
# A string used to identify images to be moved into the large directory.
large_id = "555"

# small_id:
# A string used to identify images to be moved into the thumbnail directory.
small_id = "72"

# SCRIPT BEGINS:
# Don't change unless you really want to.
# ----------------------------

# Initialize directory object...
directory = Dir.new(Dir.pwd)

# Cycle through directory
directory.each do |d| 

  # Only go through directories and ignore directories specified by user.
  unless File.ftype(d) != "directory" or ignore.include?(d)

    # Jump into directory and parse files.
    Dir.chdir(d)
    Dir.foreach(Dir.pwd) do |f|

      # Create directories for thumbnails or large images.
      %w(tn lg).each do |newdir|
        unless File.exists?(newdir)
          Dir.mkdir(newdir)
        end
      end  

      # Cycle through files.
      unless File.ftype(f) != "file"

        # Create new file name and set target directory.
        if f =~ /#{large_id}/
          newname = f.split(large_id.to_s).each{|i| i.downcase!}.join("")
          newdir = "lg"
        elsif f =~ /#{small_id}/
          newname = f.split(small_id.to_s).each{|i| i.downcase!}.join("")
          newdir = "tn"
        else
          newdir = nil
        end

        # Open the old file...
        oldfile = File.new(f)

        # Jump to large directory if possible.
        unless newdir.nil?
          Dir.chdir(newdir)

          # Write new file if it doesn't exist.
          unless File.exists?(newname)
            File.open(newname,"w+") do |n|
              n.write(oldfile.read)
            end
          end

          # Move back and delete the old file.
          Dir.chdir("../")
          File.delete(f)
        end

        # Log event.
        puts "Renamed: #{f} to #{newname} moved to '#{newdir}'"

      end
    end

    # Return to parent
    Dir.chdir("../")

    # Rename to web friendly urls.
    newdir = d.split(" ").each{|i| i.downcase!}.join("_")
    File.rename(d,newdir)

    # Build the XML docs.
    xml = "< ?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"UTF-8\"?>\n\n\n”

    dir_for_xml = Dir.new(”#{newdir}/lg/”)
    dir_for_xml.each do |filename|
      unless ignore.include?(filename) then xml += ”  \n” end
    end

    xml += “\n”

    File.open(”#{newdir}.xml”,”w”) do |n|
      n.write(xml)
    end

  end
end

In my case it’s important to note that the files were grouped together with names like: ‘torrey-ridge555_1.jpg’ and ‘torrey-ridge72_1.jpg’. Detecting the ‘555′ or ‘72′ safely solved the problem in my case ofcourse there could be some situations where something this easy could backfire. To make the file names uniform I simply split the file by the identifier and joined it back together.

Ok so I’m having a slight problem building my CMS for a client. I want to utilize the same model to handle the photos for their case studies as well as their services. Each has their own model. So the Photo model belongs to a Project or a Service. But in reality it belongs to a project OR a service. Thus I have a problem using acts_as_list.

class Photo < ActiveRecord::Base
  belongs_to :service
  belongs_to :project

  acts_as_taggable
  acts_as_list :scope => :project_id

  file_column :image, :magick => { :versions => { “thumb” => “50×50″, “medium” => “640×480>” } }
end

If I could do something like:

acts_as_list :scope => :project_id || :service_id

Then this would be a piece of cake but it’s not that easy. How would you solve this? I know it’s not that challenging.

My little company Sumo Creations is in need of massive help I’ve got several commitments on my plate and a biggie next month! Right now I’m literally a one man show I can’t keep it up I wish I could or else I’d be rich. I’m focused on building a simple company that produces high quality results however with that being said let me explain my offer.

What I’m looking for…

I’m not looking for a lot of people just a handful of skilled individuals. Here are the ingredients to my cookbook:

• CSS/XHTML Guru

• Much of my work always requires this. I’m very good at CSS/XHTML so I have high expectations here. If you’re comfortable converting PSD’s to CSS templates let’s talk.

• I don’t care how glossy or web 2.0 you can make a page look. I care about how usable it is and functional it is. I’m looking for someone who has a good eye for font, placement, and structure. You should have a good eye for detail. If you are interested reply to this post via comment.

• I’m looking for a quality rails developer. If you love ruby and you can fly on rails I just need to see a couple of snippets and may ask you for a work sample.

Compensation

I honestly dislike people asking me what my rate is as a designer/developer. I understand as a freelancer you typically make more money on a project per project basis where I can know clear in advance I can a lot this much to an individual to perform a given task. This often works out in the contractors favor where I might offer to pay you $550 to do a PSD/XHTLM conversion that might take you 8-10 hours as opposed to me paying you $40/hr. If you do prefer hourly don’t bother submitting bids. I have predefined rates for you if you are interested let me know:

• CSS/XHTML Guru: $35/hr
• Web Designer: $40/hr
• Ruby Developer: $45/hr

Contractors Only

I’m not at the point yet where I’m ready to take on full on employees.. I need to restructure my tax status from an LLC/SP to an LLC/S-Corp so until then I’m only hiring out via W-9 but you will be well compensated just be sure you save a good amount to cover your self-employment tax.

Telecommuting is totally cool!

I don’t need to meet you in person. I got my first job as a Flash designer when I was only 15 working for a company in Texas while I lived in Arizona. My only communication to the company was over the phone! You are welcome to meet me in person anytime though!

All in all.

I’m really pleased business is going well for my company. All of my work has been through word of mouth and personal selling. I have always been so busy I never even had time to build the site for Sumo itself but if I have a few good people this won’t be a problem and I expect business to boom even more once our site is launched and after I wrap up my projects for this next month.

I’ve been doing this work for a LONNNGG Time. I expect quality! Show me you know your stuff. I might request a short work sample to see how you tackle a task. If you are interested just drop a comment, express your interest, share any links, and include your email address. I’ll get in touch.

Recently, I worked on a design to revamp the online retailer Group Mobile. I’ve never actually designed an e-commerce site before and overall I have discovered that I find the majority of e-commerce web sites to be lacking in innovation when it comes to design. It’s all the same thing again and again. Typical uninspired page designs utilizing big menus for every single product category offered by the retailer each with hidden dropdown menus containing a list of equally long options. I just don’t see it as an effective solution for browsing. Think about it when you goto these large e-tailer websites do you typically browse through them or do you just find a link directly to the product via a search on a site like pricegrabber.com?

The fact of the matter is that these sites may be accessible from the perspective that there are no broken links. This means every page is connected in someway so a bot could successfully browse through and index every product on the site. And hopefully all of the product information on the website is up to date. But at the end of the day it seems that the act of browsing through these large e-commerce sites was never a major consideration in the design. If you’re going to search you’d better know what you want and type in a direct product search. Wandering through an e-commerce site like these is often a difficult, boring, and almost meaningless experience.

A Shopping Consideration

When I started brainstorming a design for Group Mobile I thought about what you might do when you shop for a computer in a store. There are normally two possible situations that typically occur:

1. You know what you want and are just trying to find it.
2. You have a vague idea of what you are looking for and are hoping to find items that might catch you’re eye.

Half and Half Design

So with that being said I wanted the site to be easy to navigate manually but also have search accessibility. My approach for the design was to cater to both. One half of the page contains a search bar at the top of the page as well as the bottom. This side also provides customers with content such as the product information for the current product you are browsing etc. etc. Basically the right hand side of the page is the meat, it’s what you found, it’s what you are looking for.

The left hand side of the page however is a bit different than most. I’ve dedicated nearly an entire half of the page to browsing the store. If you click one one of the major product categories you get taken to a list page. But not only does the menu button of the category you’re browsing get highlighted as the present category; you also get a micro list of all of the products for that category which would have the current product you’re browsing highlighted as well. The idea here is that now when you shop you see every similar competitive product offering to the product you are considering along with it’s price and photo.

The goal is to expose users to all product offerings rather than hiding them behind a meaningless list of names which may even be hidden behind a drop down menu. Now without any extra clicks or steps I can see the alternative products and how much they all cost in a fraction of the page. Of course there are some disadvantages to this approach. If you have an abundance of products this micro-list would be overwhelming and take up the entire side bar. Likewise, if you have an abundance of categories it could get cumbersome to have a vertical menu that is so long. So these are considerations you would have to make when designing your navigation for an e-commerce site. For Group Mobile I feel this style works because there will only be 6 major product categories (right now I only have three in the mockup) and not more than 10 products to a given category at most.

Dual Navigation

While you saw the actual shopping navigation was located on the left hand side of the page in a vertical menu. There is also a separate nav on the top right hand side of the page dedicated to additional information related to Group Mobile the company as well as additional product information such as industry news, product FAQs, and general tools to help you become a better shopper. These services offered by the site are some of which help it differentiate itself from basic e-commerce sites which simply show you the product but don’t explain much about what to look for in the products themselves. These value added services should not be hidden from the customer so we provide as clear, distinct, secondary navigation to expose customers to them as well.

Exposing Information

Ultimately, the thought process behind this layout was to expose the user to as much as possible while not getting too cluttered. I’m not sure if I completely achieved this goal so I’m interested in hearing what your thoughts are. Do you think it’s overwhelming? Do you think it’s clear? Would you be thrown off by the fact that there are two separate navigation elements on every page? Let me know what you think I’m interested in getting as much feedback on this design as possible.

Well it’s time. I finally will be buying a car that is not a Porsche 944! These cars are great fun as I have owned two since the inception of my driving career. This exact vehicle I have owned for the last four years and have used as a daily driver. The surprising thing about these little cars is that they just keep running strong if you put in the time to keep them running. The only bad part about this particular vehicle is that the air conditioning is out of service. And I’ve had more than my fair share of the heat this summer so I feel it is time for me to part ways and move on. If you are in interested check out my ad on Craigslist.

Why am I selling?

It’s time for me to move on. This car is great fun but it’s not really practical. I’ve been having to drive more and more now and I just need something a little bigger with more space for passengers. It’s hard for me to part with this car. I’ve spent a lot of time with it!

What does it have?

It’s a 1984 with Black paint and Black Leather interior. It has the highly desirable and rear black Fuchs rims which Porsche produced in the 1980’s. The interior has the optional wrap around leather sport seats which if I recall were made by recaro for Porsche. The windows, mirrors, and sunroof are power. It’s a 5 speed manual transmission. There are only 40,000 miles on the current clutch. All in all it’s a lot of car for under $3,000. The car has 206,000 miles on it now.

I’m asking $2995.

As I said I’m ready to part with it. Here’s a clean, working Porsche for the same cost as a MacBook Pro. For more info see the add on Craigslist.

Generating an excel document is not so difficult to achieve but limited unfortunately. You cannot write formulas or generate charts via the existing available tools but you can achieve usable results overall. Here is a snippet I used to generate sales forecasts involving data pulled together from two active record objects. Here is the gem you’ll need.

• Update: the link I was posting to prior points to a new Ruby project. The correct link can be found here.

  # Builds an excel report.
  def report
    # Grab time span for report
    get_span

    # Define stats levels to include.
    status = %w(high medium low lost won)

    # Create workbook.
    file = "#{session[:user_id]}_#{Time.now.strftime("%m%d%G%s")}_forecast.xls"
    workbook = Excel.new("#{RAILS_ROOT}/reports/#{file}")

    heading = Format.new(
       :color     => "green",
       :bold      => true,
       :underline => true
    )

    data = Format.new(
       :color     => "black",
       :bold      => false,
       :underline => false
    )

    workbook.add_format(heading)
    workbook.add_format(data)

    # Cycle through each status level
    status.each do |status|
      start_column, start_row = 2, 3
      worksheet = workbook.add_worksheet(status)
      opportunities = get_opportunities_that_are(status)

      #Cycle through the opportunities
      row = start_row
      totals, dates = [], []

      for opp in opportunities
        worksheet.write(row,start_column,opp.client,heading)

        column = start_column + 1
        opp.find_forecasts_within(@span[0],@span[-1]).each do |i|
          worksheet.write(row,column,i.volume,data)
          totals[column] = i.volume + totals[column].to_i
          dates[column] = i.date.strftime("%b '%y")
          column += 1
        end    

        row += 1
      end

      # Generate the totals row and monthly headings
      column = start_column+1
      @span.length.times do
        worksheet.write(row,column,totals[column],heading)
        worksheet.write(start_row-1,column,dates[column],heading)
        column += 1
      end

    end

    workbook.close
    redirect_to :action => 'show'
  end

I was just browsing around and noticed I finally come up first and fourth for my own name on Google! Now I have some SEO results actally worth bragging about right?  I mean it’s gotta be a popular search term.  On another note I have totally discredited my name to the world.  I doubt the sarcasm initially registers as well.. sarcasm across Google.  What do you think?  Now I just need to claim Jimmy Jeffers and James Jeffers.  Then I’ll have all bases covered.
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