Chris M Johnson

Excuses, Excuses

2010-01-25T00:00:00-05:00

This site has been left idle for almost half of its existence. Every few months, I usually circle back trying to figure out why I struggle with adding new content. And every few months, I usually am able to pinpoint the reason(s) and attempt to correct for it. I don’t like the design. I don’t like the admin interface. I’m too busy to sit down and write. For the most part, this just amounts to me coming up with lame excuses to make myself feel better.

Over the last year, since I switched to a Mac, I’ve found myself becoming more and more comfortable with the command-line. Whether it’s simple tasks around my local machine, connecting and managing remote servers, or managing subversion. A large chunk of my time is in the command-line. And I’ve found I like the command-line. (Just not as an editor, but that’s a story for another day.)

This wont be a how-to on Jekyll or even how I have mine set up. If that’s what you’re after, it is already well documented.

With that revelation, I’ve decided to take a new approach for this site. I’ve gone the way of a static site generator. While there are many options to choose from, I chose to go with Jekyll. To be honest, it was merely the first I tried and suited my needs nicely, so I can’t really compare it to the other options. Also, this isn’t meant as a knock on the previous systems I’ve dabbled with (Wordpress, Textpattern, Chyrp, Habari) which are all great solutions as well. But for me, their interfaces always seemed to be a deterrent.

Each of those gave me one more website I need to check. One more thing on the internet that deserved my attention. But it required me to work, so why would I give it priority over the other fun things the internet has to offer? With Jekyll, I’m now able to update my site using my own text editor and some simple command-line work. Nothing new to add to my daily process, just more of the same svn and mate functions.

Or maybe I’m just fooling myself with yet another lame excuse for lack of content.

Account Deletion

2008-04-18T00:00:00-04:00

There are new start ups showing up all over the place, and if you are an early adopter you can easily find yourself with an excess of accounts that you may or may not actually be using. While some of the Web 2.0 generation provide you an option for closing down an account, I am baffled by those that do not. Websites are ready and willing to collect your information for a user base, but they make you jump through hoops to let you go.

Building Better Groups

2008-04-03T00:00:00-04:00

I’ve written previously about my distaste for group assignments. While that was written early in my career at RIT the experiences have not improved over the years. Now, as a graduating senior, I have so few positive group experiences that I can count them on one hand. But, there is still hope! I have come up with some tips to help build a better group. While these are all drawn from my educational experiences, I am quite confident that the same principles can be taken in to the workplace, or other venues and still be applicable.

Know Your Abilities

Obviously, knowing what you are capable of will make a great deal of a difference when getting the most out of a group experience. This helps you ensure that you take on the right tasks to be able to positively contribute to the group.

Know Your Peers’ Abilities

Next step once you know what you can handle is to figure out what those around you can handle. Preferably this would be done before the groups are formed that way you can take abilities in to account to construct your group. However, in large environments, like RIT, there are just too many peers to have a strong handle on what each can bring to the group.

Diversify

While there is a convenience factor to working with friends, or even just acquaintances, the group dynamic is much better when you have diverse members and diverse backgrounds. Too often groups fall in to the habit of having members that are too similar to one another.

Accountability

It may be hard, especially if you don’t know your group members, but delegating and then holding group members accountable for their responsibilities is the only way to be successful. Having everything be done as collective rarely, if ever, works out fair to all members.

Student Consultancy

2008-03-26T00:00:00-04:00

Over the past two quarters, I think I have learned more about business than I have in all of my quarters combined. Granted, I’m not a business student, but nonetheless the statement still holds true. The main reason for this is the student consultancy projects that Dr. Neil Hair incorporates in to his courses. Instead of lecturing for 10 weeks, and then students “brain dumping over a pint at MacGregor’s”, as Neil puts it, we get a hands-on experience to apply the theories he is teaching us to a real life client.

This morning, Neil gave a presentation to the Henrietta Chamber of Commerce promoting these student consultancy projects and to try and get more contacts for businesses who would be interested in being involved with this concept. The whole room, approximately 50 people (excluding the students there to mingle / network), were very accepting of this idea almost to the point of it being a no-brainer for their business. There were some very good questions raised about how these new internet technologies, that Neil focuses on, really affect local businesses. I think the answers, provided by Neil and the students present, really quelled any resistance that a local business owner might have with trying something new and innovative.

I look forward to seeing student consultancy projects becoming a bigger part of the RIT curriculum. Just like RIT is known for the co-op program, I hope that it eventually can be known for its student consultancy program as well.

Power of a Framework

2007-06-23T00:00:00-04:00

Development frameworks are all the rage right now. Discussions are on going as to which is the best or most useful for speedy development. What is interesting though, is that not much focus is being placed on how frameworks can benefit other parts of the lifecycle.

For any development project to be successful you need an appealing an eye-catching design effort. This is a perfect example of where a framework could be used to improve speed. A framework is a skeletal structure designed to support. It does not have to be some third party solution, it can be any structure that fits with your style and implementation.

But, if it is not some solution I download, then how do I use it?

That’s simple, just look at the way you do things when you design. Look at what process you go through in terms of starting on paper before moving into some computer application. What naming convention do you follow for your files you create? What directory structure do you use when you want to keep things organized? All of these things make up what a framework is. By simply analyzing how you work and consolidating it down to be common across all projects you now have built your own framework for your design style.

Breaking the Mold

2007-06-13T00:00:00-04:00

In development, whether it be software or the web, there are two aspects of every project that need attention. The front-end user interface and the back-end system. In the old school of thought, that would mean two different people or if big enough two different teams.

No longer is that necessarily the case.

With the boom in the entrepreneurial spirit, more and more you see people trying to strike it up on their own. Easiest way to do this? Handle both aspects of that development process. You might not end up as the best programmer and you might not end up as the best designer. But it is a special trait to be able to at least understand both and help the translation process.

You still have to be careful not to spread yourself so thin that you are no longer good at anything. “Jack of all trades, master of none” is the common phrase. Even if you play exclusively for one team or the other, it always helps to at least take a peak at the other team’s play book.

The Curse of Idle Hands

2007-03-01T00:00:00-05:00

Maybe it is just me, but I am never satisfied with the work I do. I am constantly finding myself tweaking and revising each and every project. The saving grace is when it comes to client work, I have a forced deadline to stick to.

Since I know some other designers have trouble designing for themselves, I figure it would be good to go over some of my tips for handling my idle hands.

Get Away

The obvious and easiest method. If you’re not around your computer, you wont have access to the files to continue to tweak and revise. It is as simple as that.

Get More Projects

Picking up some additional work will help cut out the down time when you’re more likely to go back and over analyze your work.

Learn Something New

Another great way to pull your mind away from over thinking your work is to set a goal for yourself to learn something new. Be it professional or personal, if you are focused on spending your free time productively, you are less likely to go back to your projects.

Put a Face On Your Company

2007-02-20T00:00:00-05:00

I, and others I know, have found success starting up businesses that cater to the competitive and professional gaming crowd. I think there is one big reason for this success. To this crowd, it is much easier to put a face and personality to your company. This can make your company much more appealing to the target consumers.

Most of the gaming world is based around online forums and IRC chat rooms. This gives the consumers a chance to get much closer to the staff of the start-up. You of course run the risk of always having to be in a personable and business-oriented mood, but what entrepreneur isn’t?

To some consumers, being able to identify and relate with the company is everything. It gives them a sense of security that they know who is getting their money and who they are getting a product from.

Be Deliberate

2007-02-15T00:00:00-05:00

Today was the last day of my participation in a business simulation for one of my courses. The professor provided a little bit of a wrap-up review to go over how things went through the simulation. He never directly said it, but through everything he talked about one message was clear.

Be Deliberate.

In everything you do, establish up front what your goals and plans are and then make sure that all your decisions from there on out are in accordance with those goals. Everything, even the trivial aspects, should always be brought back to your overall goals.

Tying it back to this simulation one trick I found to making yourself stick to the plan was the format in which we had to submit our decisions to the professor. With each set of decisions we were required to submit a page explaining why we did what we did. The professor graded us on how well we rationalized our decisions with our strategy.

I’ve liked what this has demonstrated so well that I have started to apply the practice to all of my projects and ventures. And another good thing to point out is that this doesn’t have to be strictly for business scenarios. You can lead your life along the same guidelines to help make your life make sense and be deliberate.

Choosing a Rate

2007-02-13T00:00:00-05:00

One of the biggest concerns of a budding freelancer is what to set as their rate. The nice aspect of a full-time / in house position is that your boss sets your wage, and you either accept it or deny it. When you are a freelancer, you are the boss. You have to be the one to decide how much your time is worth. A lot of bloggers / freelancers have their own methods on how they determine their rate, but their is no absolute rule.

There are a few aspects to consider when you are determining your rate. Some of these may be common sense, some might not. And when you take this for your own freelance business, you might not take all aspects into account. In the end, it is still a personal choice that you have to make and be happy with.

Your Experience

This is one of the most obvious considerations. How long have you been doing what you are doing? This doesn’t just have to account for your freelance time. If you have done work for a studio, in classes, or whatever the case may be that all counts as experience.

Your Skill Level

Some people would lump this in with your experience, but in reality they aren’t directly connected like most people think. You can be doing this for 15 years, but never learned more then HTML with tables. The best way to determine, and show, your skill level is to build your portfolio. Collect all of what you done and show it to people to get feedback on your skill level.

Your Expenses

Obviously, you have to be making more then you are spending. But these expenses are not your personal expenses. The expenses I refer to are those of the business. Things like the cost of the software you use, cost of the computing hardware, cost of the space where you will be working from. Your rate should reflect how much it costs you to do business.

Your Preference

Like I keep saying, you have to make your rate fit for you. In the end, whether you charge $50/hour vs $75/hour is a personal preference.

Hopefully this helps clear up some of the common questions when you are deciding on your rate as a freelancer. Again, these are just the key aspects that I consider, not a map to the right rate for you.