A blog about David Chartier

Closing up the Vox blog

nobody@vox.com(David Chartier) — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 22:05:32 -0700

After a long run with Vox, I have unfortunately decided that I must say adieu. Vox is a great service, and Six Apart is a great blogging company, but I need a few things out of a personal blog that Vox simply can't deliver.

We've had some good times Vox, you and I. I've done quite a bit of evangelizing for you actually, as I really do think you're a great choice for most bloggers. With that in mind, I hope you can believe me when I say: it's not you, it's me.

If y'all would like to keep in touch with my personal blogging, I'm moving to DavidChartier.com. In case you're curious, I'm powering the site with Realmac Software's fantastic RapidWeaver app, which is more or less a great mashup that takes the best stuff from Adobe's Dreamweaver and Apple's iWeb and rolls it all into a killer website and blogging app. I don't have all my photos and videos back up over there yet, but I'll definitely be transitioning all that stuff over the next couple weeks and months.

Please join me over over at the new site, as I don't plan on updating or checking in on Vox (besides to read my friends' blogs here, of course) from here on out.

As always, thanks for reading, and I hope you'll continue at my other site(s).

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Nephew Joey's first sledding trip involves laundry basket, dog leash

nobody@vox.com(David Chartier) — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 21:57:30 -0700

First time sledding

Yep, that's my brother, hauling his ~7 month-old kid (my nephew!) around on his first sledding trip. Yep, the sled used here is a McGuyver-esque mash-up of a laundry basket and a dog leash. Absolutely hilarious.

You should see what my brother can do with a soldering iron, an orange, and an empty can of Mountain Dew.

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My nephew Joey: The little creeper

nobody@vox.com(David Chartier) — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 21:53:25 -0700

The little creeper

This video's from way back in November 2007, but it's still a good'un. This kid's adorable. Can't wait until I can afford to get out to Spokane, WA more often. Also can't wait until my brother and sister-in-law come to their senses and start looking at moving to Chicago after we make our own move there this coming summer. :)

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Another artist I now love, thanks to Apple's ads

nobody@vox.com(David Chartier) — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 10:42:40 -0700

yael naim _ new soul

I love Apple's marketing, but aside from the clever and simply way it portrays its products, the marketing team often users great songs from little-known artists. I've fallen in love with a lot of these artists, and Yael Naïm is yet another; I'm downloading her entire album in DRM-free goodness from the iTunes Store as I write this. Naïm's "New Soul" was used in Apple's latest ad for its new MacBook Air notebook. The song is great, but Naïm's video for it is even better, and Naïm herself is adorable. Check out the video here, and check the rest of her album from my affiliate link below:

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Strange singing BART lady

nobody@vox.com(David Chartier) — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 17:13:02 -0700

She sings something indecipherable in various areas of BART in San Francisco. I'm sure this is nothing new to the locals, but as a visitor I couldn't help but find her... odd.

photo.jpg

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DEVO at Microsoft's Macworld party

nobody@vox.com(David Chartier) — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 22:08:54 -0700

They're way too loud for a hall of this size, but there they are. Sorry the pic isn't better.

photo.jpg

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The greatest new family and friend support tool for Mac nerds like me

nobody@vox.com(David Chartier) — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 15:41:04 -0700

For my friends and readers who don't often watch all this tech and nerd stuff, Apple released a new operating system back in October called Mac OS X Leopard (version 10.5, to be exact). While it does tons of fancy new things many people might not notice (at least consciously) or care about, one bit advancement is the ability to control another Leopard user's screen with just the click of a mouse (and their permission of course) in iChat, Apple's chat program that works over AOL's AIM service.

I've had family members and friends pick up new Macs or upgrade to Leopard since October and the holidays, and this feature has already become a god-send to me for helping people fix problems or learn how to use something. A nice touch is the fact that audio chat gets turned on as well, so we can speak with each other while I'm poking around or explaining how to do something.

I know there are plenty of other programs and services out there that have offered this for a while, but many of them cost money in one way or another, and none are as simple for both parties as iChat's single click to start the Screen Sharing feature (well, technically, it's two clicks: the first is on my part to ask permission, the second is on the recipient's part to grant it).

So to my friends, especially the long distance ones, who are considering picking up your first Mac or just upgrading, I'm always happy to help. With this new Screen Sharing feature though, I can hopefully be more useful.

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I didn't pass my thesis

nobody@vox.com(David Chartier) — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 05:53:38 -0700

I was hoping that this past fall '07 semester would be my last in college. The undergraduate BFA multimedia design program I'm in at the University of Colorado at Denver's requires seniors to create a thesis design project and write a short accompanying paper.

After moving to Colorado with some friends in 2000, taking a year and a half off to get in-state tuition, then only being able to afford to go back part time ever since, I've been anxious to finish school.

A couple years ago though, I got a job writing for Weblogs, Inc. at sites like TUAW and Download Squad, which led to my current position at Ars Technica. Since I was a kid I've had a sort of far-off pipe dream of writing some day. While I was never very good at writing the short stories or fiction that I always thought I would have to write to get anywhere, I am now combining two of my loves—writing and technology. It's literally a dream come true.

As you can imagine, this does nothing for my wish to just get done with school. After plodding along part time for so many years, the fact that I'm on track in a real career doing work that I absolutely love made me realize that I might not be a great designer. My heart hasn't been in design work for a while, and I haven't been keeping many of the skills I've learned sharpened very well either. I was a good designer for a while, and I can certainly brush up on my skills and get back into the work again. But I've been caring so much more about writing that the designer in me suffered.

All this led to me not treating this thesis project with the respect and devotion it deserves. Despite being truly interested in the topic I'm tackling in the thesis (a motivational motion graphics video covering the use of technology to stifle human rights), I treated the project last semester as one last annoying hurdle before getting out of school and on with my life as a writer, and perhaps a designer on the side or even a hobbyist. Something to "just get done with and out of the way." As a result, I obviously didn't put in the time the project needed, I procrastinated, I wasn't motivated to run down to campus when my adjunct professors were available, etc. Naturally, I have some gripes about the process and other matters outside of my control (but not someone else's), but now isn't the place for those things. The end result is still the same: I failed.

I'm going to try again this semester and this time I have to pass. I've been in school too long, I have too much ahead of me as a writer and perhaps even a designer, and too many family and friends are counting on me to finish, but finish well. I've worked out a tentative schedule with Ars for spring so writing and my project and peacefully coexist. I'll also need to cut back on a few personal luxuries and give my time management skills a kick-in-the-pants, but I'm getting my heart back into design and creating a project this semester that I am proud of and can pass with.

In my efforts to start writing more across all my personal sites, I will certainly try to blog my experience during the semester. Given how important this project is though, writing about it will certainly get knocked off the todo list anytime it's necessary. I can always recap when the project is done and the diploma is hanging on my wall.

Wish me luck. Here goes nothin'.

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Kitteh: 1

nobody@vox.com(David Chartier) — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 09:53:29 -0700

The quality just doesn't stop at I Can Has Cheezburger.

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Five cheezburgers - we needz dem!

nobody@vox.com(David Chartier) — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 14:03:47 -0700

Only you can help get an 8 week-old Oscar to the front page of the new Loldogs site.

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