Auto-Backup/Auto-Sync app

Very quick ideation here just to get the idea down somewhere. I’ll come back later and expand on this idea.

Basically, the gist is to have an application to back up my iTunes library, which I have residing on an external hard drive that I carry with me to and from work. I currently don’t really make backups too often, and I’d like to have a way to automatically create a disk image when I plug in the drive. The upshot is that *theoretically* I should be able to use the library at home even if my hard drive isn’t plugged in.

Comp 2

Clicky-pops!

I finally got around to working on a more polished comp for the site (and it only took having to recover from oral surgery!) I expanded on the idea of the timeline and translated into something more physical(trenches) to help with the flatness that plagued the last comp.

I am still not sure what the back end is going to look like. My original thought was to develop a Ruby on Rails application, but Lynda.com, but we no longer have a work account at Lynda.com, so I’m not sure I’ll be going that route for now. I guess I could always get a personal account (believe it is only like $30/year or something like that for the basic). My options are as follows:

• Tumblr
• Ruby on Rails (need to learn)
• Wordpress (need to keep on top of updating- the reason why my old site no longer exists)
• Joomla! (Not familiar at all with this CMS)
• Develop my own PHP/mySQL back end.

I guess it is time to put the thinking-cap on!

P.S. That awesome typeface for the headline is Archer, by Hoefler & Frere-Jones. Anyone care to donate $279 to a great cause?

iPhone/OS X Park Map App

Little off-topic here, but as I try to plan our trip to the Smokies this weekend, I find that planning for a hike of a specific type (short, flat) is a bit arduous- especially having to go back and forth between the park map, brown book and computer (to find out trail closings/bear warnings). I think it would be very handy to have one place that could aggregate all of that information into one easy place.

Hurdles/Issues:

• The National Park System map is free, and since it is a government document, is public domain so copyright issues would not apply to that. The National Geographic Trails Illustrated Map, or TOPO map would be ideal, but there would be legal channels I’d have to navigate.
• The Brown Book IS copyrighted, but judging by the communal nature of how the book was compiled, I don’t forsee a tough battle to get rights to use the text.

Benefits:

• An added benefit would be the ability to mark off trails and campsites that you have already been to.
• Could integrate with Google Maps/Flickr when internet is available to provide contextual photos and information.
• The GPS and compass functionality of the iPhone 3GS would make way finding very easy.
• Could integrate a trail journal, as well as geo-tagged photos.

Comp 1

Behold! Something to feast your eyes upon!

Here is a very initial pass at what the new face of my website will be:

Please note both the left and right columns- it is how I shall be dividing up my post categories- Red for portfolio/design/art, Green for thoughts/written content (blog), and blue for my interactions with the rest of the web. The blue is the part that will be the most restricted, with some sort of authentication needed to actually view the posts. I think, at least for now that I’ll keep the posts visible for everyone, but the details hidden…

enjoy!

Privacy

What has been potentially the biggest obstacle in my development of the new site is the same issue that has been plaguing the internet since its conception. Privacy. I realize it is foolish to think that anything I do on the tubes is really and truly private, but when you get down to it, you just don’t want everyone knowing everything about you.

What then to do with a site which by its nature should tell the world everything that I do on the web… I think I have come to a decision. Instead of allowing full access to everyone and everything in the world to see everything about me, I’ll have a public AND private timeline. I haven’t quite decided on what type of authentication system I’m going to deploy, and how hard it will be to view my private timeline, but I think this solution will provide me with the privacy and publicity I am looking for.

Portfolio

A place to showcase my work across multiple disciplines and mediums.

Although the majority of my work is digital (I am a web designer, after all), the presentation should be pretty straightforward. I do have some 3-dimensional work that I would like to include, so whatever way I choose to present work should ideally facilitate both types. Here is a general list of the different types of work I would potentially show:

• Website design
• Illustration
• Photography
• Books
• Packaging
• Video
• Writing?

Aggregation

I would like a single place where I can aggregate all as much of my activity as I need/would like.

With the advent of social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Linked-In and Digg (to name a very few), people including myself interact with the web a lot more than in the past. These sites more often than not have some easy(-ish) way to publish one’s activity, or if not publish it, access it in such a way that you can interact with it while not actually on the site. With a little bit of technical know-how, it is possible to weave all of these separate timelines into one single timeline.

All of these timelines aggregated into one singular stream help to paint a portrait of one’s activity in the cyber world, and in effect embody that person in an etherial way. It is an avatar, in almost every sense of the word.

The question arises of how much information is too much information. While cyber-crimes such as identity theft are certainly serious issues, the more pertinent question to ask is, “How much am I comfortable with other people knowing.” The answer, of course will vary from person to person. Some people choose to restrict access to their Twitter profiles, and that certainly has its place. The truth is, once you put something onto the internet, it is there, forever. Your information is around for everyone to see, it is just a matter of how interested a person is and to what length a person is prepared to go to get at that information.

What I’d like to accomplish

It woud be prudent at this point for me to establish what I would like to accomplish out of my site. I would like to expand on each of these bullet points in subsequent posts in order to establish a more coherent picture.

• I would like a single place where I can aggregate all as much of my activity as I need/would like.
• A place to showcase my work across multiple disciplines and mediums.
• A place to “play”
• A place where people can interact with me.
• A place where I can update multiple instances of my online presence (avatar).

Words

Here are some words/ideas to start with:

• Time Line
• Changing
• Nature
• Pixel
• Earthy
• Crunchy
• Crisp
• Dirty vs Clean
• Avatar
• Portrait